o the pilot-house; the door was closed to
exclude the cold air of the upper regions which they were about to
visit; and an ascent was made to an altitude of eight thousand feet,
where the night was passed in an atmosphere so completely motionless
that, on their descent next morning, Lieutenant Mildmay's observations
showed them to be in the exact spot which they had occupied on the
previous evening.

It was decided over the breakfast-table that morning, that the journey
northward should be prosecuted, as far as possible, upon the surface of
the sea; and the _Flying Fish_ was accordingly put in motion on the
required course immediately upon her descent. Their rate of progress
was particularly slow, not exceeding, on the average, a speed of six
miles per hour, as drift ice was remarkably abundant, mostly in small
detached blocks, though they occasionally encountered a floe of several
acres in extent; and, far away to the northward, quite a large
assemblage of bergs were seen. This slow rate of progress would have
been wearisome to a veteran Arctic navigator in possession of such means
for the accomplishment of a quick passage as those enjoyed by the
inmates of the _Flying Fish's_ pilot-house; but to them everything was
novel and interesting, and, almost before they knew it, they found
themselves in the immediate vicinity of the bergs. These varied greatly
in size, some of them being no larger than a dwelling-house of moderate
dimensions, whilst others fully equalled, if, indeed, they did not
exceed, the proportions of the monsters seen on the previous evening.
They were grouped so closely together that a passage between them seemed
to be not wholly unattended with danger; and the party were in the act
of discussing the question which channel it would be most prudent to
take, their eyes being meanwhile fixed on the huge towering cliffs of
ice before them, when a gigantic overhanging mass was seen to detach
itself from its parent berg and plunge, a distance of some two hundred
and fifty feet, with a terrific splash into the water and disappear.
The deep thunderous roar of its plunge smote the ears of the watchers
next moment, and they looked on with breathless interest to see what
would follow. The mass, from its enormous size, would weigh, they
considered, fully five thousand tons; and they were not surprised to see
that the loss of so much weight had seriously disturbed the balance of
the berg, which at once began to