Mr Scoresby on the Se^en Icebergs of Spitzbergen. S19 
noise fall into the sea. But as the water is in most places shal- 
low in the front of these icebergs, the masses which are dislodged 
are commonly reduced into fragments before they can be float- 
ed away into the main sea. This fact seems to account for the 
rarity of icebergs in the Spitzbergen sea. 
The front surface of icebergs is glistening and uneven. Where- 
ever a part has recently broken off, the colour of the fresh 
fracture is a beautiful greenish-blue, approaching to emerald- 
green ; but such parts as have long been exposed to the air, are 
of a greenish-grey colour, and at a distance sometimes exhibit 
the appearance of cliffs of whitish marble. In all cases, the ef- 
fect of the iceberg is to form a pleasing variety in prospect, with 
the magnificence of the encompassing snow-clad mountains, 
which, as they recede from the eye, seem to rise crag above 
crag,” in endless perspective. 
On an excursion to one of the Seven Icebergs in July 1818, 
I was particularly fortunate in witnessing one of the grandest 
effects which these Polar glaciers ever' present. A strong north- 
westerly swell having for some hours been beating on the shore, 
had loosened a number of fragments attached to the iceberg, 
and various heaps of broken ice denoted recent shoots of the sea- 
ward edge. As we rowed towards it with a view of proceeding 
close to its base, I observed a few little pieces fall from the top, 
and while my eye was fixed upon the place, an immense co- 
lumn, probably fifty feet square, and one hundred and fifty feet 
high, began to leave the parent ice at the top, and leaning ma^ 
jestically forward, with an accelerated velocity fell with an aw- 
ful crash into the sea. The water into which it plunged was 
converted into an appearance of vapour or smoke, like that 
from a furious cannonading. The noise was equal to that of 
thunder, which it nearly resembled. The column which fell 
was nearly square, and in magnitude resembled a church. It 
broke into thousands of pieces. This circumstance was a hap- 
py caution ; for we might inadvertently have gone to the very 
base of the icy cliff, from whence masses of considerable magni- 
tude were continually breaking. This iceberg was full of rents, 
as high as any of our people ascended upon it, extending in a 
direction perpendicularly downward, and dividing it into innu- 
merable columns. The surface was very uneven, being furrow- 
