tudes."

"That I know, my dear Doctor, for when I was a cabin-boy on the
sloop-of-war, _Fly_--"

"In 1818," continued the doctor, "at the end of March, or it might
have been the beginning of April, you passed between two large fields
of floating ice, in latitude forty-two."

"That is too much!" exclaimed Shandon.

"But it's true; so I have no need to be surprised, now that we are two
degrees farther north, at our sighting an iceberg."

"You are bottled full of information, Doctor," answered the commander;
"one needs only draw the cork."

"Very well, I shall be exhausted sooner than you think; and now,
Shandon, if we can get a nearer view of this phenomenon, I should be
the gladdest of doctors."

"Exactly, Johnson," said Shandon, summoning the boatswain; "I think
the wind is freshening."

"Yes, Commander," answered Johnson, "we are making very little
headway, and soon we shall feel the currents from Davis Strait."

"You are right, Johnson, and if we mean to make Cape Farewell by the
20th of April, we must go under steam, or we shall be cast on the
coast of Labrador.--Mr. Wall, give the order to light the fires."

The mate's orders were obeyed; an hour later the engines were in
motion; the sails were furled; and the screw, turning through the
waves, was driving the _Forward_ rapidly in the teeth of the northwest
wind.

CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT POLAR CURRENT.

Soon more numerous flocks of birds, petrels, puffins, and others which
inhabit those barren shores, gave token of their approach to
Greenland. The _Forward_ was moving rapidly northward, leaving behind
her a long line of dark smoke.

Tuesday, the 17th of April, the ice-master caught the first sight of
the _blink_[1] of the ice. It was visible at least twenty miles off to
the north-northwest. In spite of some tolerably thick clouds it
lighted up brilliantly all the air near the horizon. No one of those
on board who had ever seen this phenomenon before could fail to
recognize it, and they felt assured from its whiteness that this blink
was due to a vast field of ice lying about thirty miles farther than
they could see, and that it came from the reflection of its luminous
rays.

[Footnote 1: A peculiar and brilliant color of the air above a large
expanse of ice.]

Towards evening the wind shifted to the south, and became favorable;
Shandon was able to carry sail, and as a measure of economy they
extinguished the furnace fires. The _Forward_ un