The Birth Of An Iceberg

From Dr. llayes' Land of Dosolation. It would be iiupossible with mere words alone, to couvey any adequate idea ot' the action of tbisnew-boru ohildoi the Arntic iïost. ïliink of n solid luiup of ice, a third of a mile deep, and more tlian halt a mile in lateral diameter, hurlo j, like a move tuy, away into the water, and set to rolling to and fro by the Ímpetus or the act as if it was nature's mereest f'ootball ; now down one side, until the hugc bulk was nearly capsized ; then back again ; then down the other side once more with the same unresisting forcé; and so on up, and down andup, swaying to and fro tor hours bofore it comes finally to rest. Picture tuis, and you wil have an image of power not to be seen by the action of any other force upou th earth. AVaves of enormous magnitude wcr rolltd up with great vioience against th clucier, coverinu; it with spray; billow anie tcaring down the fiord, tboir pro ress marken by the crackling and crumbiing iee, which was everywhere in a state oï wildest agitatiun lor the space of sevural miles. Over tlie smaller icebergs the; water broke conipletely, as if a tempest were piling up the seas, and heaviDg them fiercely against the shore ïhen, to add still turther to tho comniotion thus occasioned, the great, wallowing iceberg, which was the causfs of it all, was dropping fragmenta trom its sides with each oauillation, the reporta ot' tlie rupture reaching the oar above the general din aud clamor. Other bergs were set in motion by the waves : and these also dropped pieces from tfaeir sides ; and at last, as it' it were the grand iinale of the piece - the clash of cymbals, and the bass drum ot nature s grana orchustra - a monstrous berg near thö rniddle of the fiord split in two ; and, above the sound ot' breaking waters and lulling iet;, this last disruption filled the air witli a peal thit rang among the bergs and crags, and, echoiug trom hill to lull, died away only in the voirt beyond thu mountaiu tops; whilo to the noisy tuni!, the oaberga ot the fiord daneed their wild ungainly d:meo upon the waters. It was many boon before this state of wild mirest was suuceeded by the caira which li, id preceded the cotumenecraent of it ; and when, at length, the iceberg that had been born came quietly to rest, and the other icebergs had ceased thoir dance upon the troubled sea, and the wavi's had ceased their lashinge, it seem'd to nies that, iti boholdiirg this brrth of ni iceberg, I had beheld one of the most sublime exhibitions of the great forcea oí' nature. It was in truth a convulsión. " Boy, how did yon tnaliam to get such a big string of fishV" "1 hooked i teui, sir."