60 
ICEBERGS. 
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r. The first that we approached was entirely inaccess- 
ible. Our commander, in whose estimates of distance 
|l and magnitude I have great confidence, made it nearly 
ill a mile in circumference. With the exception of one 
||i rugged corner, it was in shape a truncated wedge, and 
its surface a nearly horizontal plateau. The next pre- 
sented a well-marked characteristic, which, as I oh- 
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j||. served it afterward in other examples, enabled me to 
|| follow the history of the berg throughout all its changes 
jjjl of equilibrium : it was a rectilinear groove at the water- 
line, hollowed out by the action of the waves, 
ii : These “grooves” were seen in all the bergs which 
had remained long in one position. They were some- 
! times crested with fantastic serratures, and their tun- 
j nel-like roofs were often pendant with icicles. On a 
j ;I grounded berg the tides may he accurately guaged by 
} I these lines, and, in the berg before me, a number of 
I them, converging to a point not unlike the rap of a 
1 1 fan, pointed clearly to those changes of equilibrium 
|i Avhich had depressed one end and elevated the other. 
I A third was a monster ice mountain, at least two 
i'l hundred feet high, irregularly polyhedral in shape, 
" and its surface diversified wdth hill and dale. Upon 
lj;j this one we landed. I had never appreciated before 
ihj the glorious variety of iceberg scenery. The sea at 
j Ij the base of this berg was dashing into hollow caves 
ill 
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