This was an iceberg, and of the
largest size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern
ocean. As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was
of a deep blue color, the waves running high and fresh, and
sparkling in the light, and in the midst lay this immense
mountain-island, its cavities and valleys thrown into deep shade,
and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun. All hands were
soon on deck, looking at it, and admiring in various ways its beauty
and grandeur. But no description can give any idea of the strangeness,
splendor, and, really, the sublimity, of the sight. Its great
size;- for it must have been from two to three miles in
circumference, and several hundred feet in height;- its slow motion,
as ts base rose and sank in the water, and its high points nodded
against the clouds; the dashing of the waves upon it, which, breaking
high with foam, lined its base with a white crust; and the thundering
sound of the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling down
of huge pieces; together with its nearness and approach, which added a
slight element of fear,- all combined to give to it the character of
true sublimity.
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