solemn silence. Even the most careless among them
must have been forced to recognise the might and majesty of God in the
event, as well as His mercy in having led them to the _right_ side of
the berg at such a dangerous moment.

But the scene had not yet closed. For some time the ice mountain rocked
grandly to and fro, raising a considerable swell on the sea, which, all
round, was covered with the foam caused by this tremendous commotion.
In a few minutes several rents took place, sounding like the reports of
great guns. Rotten as it was, the berg could not stand the shock of its
change of position, for it had turned fairly upside down. Crack after
crack took place, with deafening reports. Lumps of all sizes fell from
its sides. Then there was a roar, long continued like thunder; a moment
after, the whole berg sank down in ruins, and, with a mighty crash, fell
flat upon the sea!

The _Hope_ was beyond the reach of danger, but she rose and sank on the
swell, caused by the ruin of this berg, for some time after.

It was on the afternoon of the same day that the brig received her first
really severe "nip" from the ice.

She had got deep into the pack, and was surrounded on all sides by large
bergs, some of these being high, like the one that has just been
described, others low and flat but of great extent. One, not far off,
was two miles long, and its glittering walls rose about fifteen feet
above the sea. The sky was brighter than usual at the time. This was
owing to one of those strange appearances which one sees more of in the
Arctic regions than in any other part of the world. The sun shone with
unclouded splendour, and around it there were three mock suns almost as
bright as the sun itself, one on each side and one directly above it.
Learned men call these bright spots _parhelia_. Sailors call them
sun-dogs. They were connected together with a ring of light which
entirely encircled the sun, but the lower edge of it was partly lost on
the horizon.

Although this was the first time that these mock suns had been seen by
Gregory and some others of the crew of the _Hope_, little attention was
paid to them at the time, because of the dangerous position into which
the brig had been forced. The pack had again closed all around her,
obliging her to take shelter in the lee of a small berg, which, from its
shape, did not seem likely to be a dangerous protector.

There was a small bay in the berg. Into this t