We had to proceed very slowly, as there
were almost daily fogs and occasional snow-storms; but one morning the
ship rounded to, almost under the shadow of what seemed to be a giant
iceberg. Captain Burrows came on deck, rubbing his hands in glee.
"'Son,' said he, 'that is no iceberg; that's ancient ice, perpetual ice,
the great ice-ring--palaecrystic ice, you scientific fellows call it. I
saw it once before, in thirty-seven, when a boy; that's it, and, son,
beyond that there is something. Take notice that that is ice; clear,
glary ice. You know a so-called iceberg is really a snowberg; it's
three-fourths under water. Now, it may be possible that, that being ice
which will float more than half out of water, the northern currents may
go under it--but I don't believe it. Under or over, I am going to find
one of 'em, if it takes till doomsday.'
[Illustration: "What seemed to be a giant iceberg...."]
"We sailed west, around close to this great wall of ice, for two weeks,
without seeing any evidence of a current of any kind, until there came
on a storm from the northwest that drove a great deal of ice around the
great ring; but it seemed to keep rather clear of the great wall of ice
and to go off in a tangent toward the south.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230