Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/98

 in dis way to pull and haul on de ropes." He did not seem to have a thought that there was, a moment before, very little expectation on the part of "de gentlemens" that any of them would have further occasion for his services.

This adventure inspired the crew with greater confidence. I suppose they thought that, as two cannon-balls never strike in the same spot, another iceberg would not very likely lay in our course; and so it fell out. The cry of "breakers" was often heard from the forecastle-deck, but in the end the sound proved to come from off the bow, and we passed on unharmed.

At length the wind blew itself out, the snow ceased falling, the clouds broke, the sun shone out brightly, and we lay becalmed not far from the centre of Melville Bay. The snow and ice were shovelled from the deck and beaten from the rigging. I went aloft again with my glass. There were no ice-fields in sight, but the reflection of them was still visible in the sky to the westward.

The sea was dotted over with icebergs, and it seemed wonderful that we should have passed safely between them. One near by particulary excited my admiration. It was a perfect "triumphal arch," through which the schooner might have passed with perfect ease.

The schooner lay motionless during the night, but early in the morning a fair wind sent us again upon our course, and this wind held steadily through the day. Icebergs rose before us and set behind us in solemn procession. My journal designates them as "mile-*stones of the ocean." The lofty, snow-crowned highlands behind Cape York rose at length above the