er twining round
ruined palaces of crystal. The masses assumed every variety of form and
size; and many of them bore such a striking resemblance to cathedrals,
churches, columns, arches, and spires, that I could almost fancy we had
been transported to one of the floating cities of Fairyland. The rapid
motion, too, of our ship, in what appeared a dead calm, added much to
the magical effect of the scene. A light but steady breeze urged her
along with considerable velocity through a maze of ponds and canals,
which, from the immense quantity of ice that surrounded them, were calm
and unruffled as the surface of a mill-pond.

Not a sound disturbed the delightful stillness of nature, save the
gentle rippling of the vessel's bow as she sped on her way, or the
occasional puffing of a lazy whale, awakened from a nap by our
unceremonious intrusion on his domains. Now and then, however, my
reveries were interrupted by the ship coming into sudden contact with
huge lumps of ice. This happened occasionally when we arrived at the
termination of one of those natural canals through which we passed, and
found it necessary to force our way into the next. These concussions
were occasionally very severe--so much so, at times, as to make the
ship's bell ring; but we heeded this little, as the vessel was provided
with huge blocks of timber on her bows, called ice-pieces, and was,
besides, built expressly for sailing in the northern seas. It only
became annoying at meal-times, when a spoonful of soup would sometimes
make a little private excursion of its own over the shoulder of the
owner instead of into his mouth.

As we proceeded, the ice became more closely packed, and at last
compelled us to bore through it. The ship, however, was never
altogether arrested, though often much retarded. I recollect, while
thus surrounded, filling a bucket with water from a pool on the ice, to
see whether it was fresh or not, as I had been rather sceptical upon
this point. It was excellent, and might almost compete with the water
from the famous spring of Crawley. In a few days we got out of the ice
altogether; and in this, as the ships are frequently detained for weeks
in the straits, we considered ourselves very fortunate.

We all experienced at this time a severe disappointment in the
non-appearance of the Esquimaux from the coast. The captain said they
would be sure to come off to us, as they had always been in the habit of
doing so, for th