102 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBEBGEN. 
curved neck of a haughty swan carved in the purest 
crystal. Often whilst we gaze the neatly poised float- 
ing object we are watching will plunge head foremost 
into the waves, and what was but recently its sub¬ 
merged portion will float above the sea, the centre of 
gravity having become altered by the melting of the 
ice of which it is composed. Then the attention is 
roused by a report as of the firing of the heaviest 
ordnance, and the awful din is caused by the sudden 
rending of some vast frozen drift. The lurid light 
known by the sailors as the ice blink played 
over all. 
“ Quod simul ac primum sub divo splendor Aquai 
Ponitur : extemplo, coelo stellante, serena 
Sidera respondent in Aqua radiantia mundi. 
Jamne vides igitur, quam parvo tempore imago 
iEtheris ex oris ad terrarum accidat or as.” 
Lucret. lib. iv. 215. 
This novel episode was a fresh illustration of the* 
altered condition of the aspect of nature viewed under 
the Arctic circle. It is cpiite impossible for any one. 
who has not seen the ice in these regions to form any 
adequate idea of its wonderful appearance. The surge 
of the heavy sea is breaking upon the outer edge of 
the huge floating masses of ice, and the distant pros¬ 
pect is laden with heavy looking blocks, interspersed 
with flatter snow, covering all the fields on which little 
