iles long, two miles broad, and
seven or eight hundred feet deep, and that was only a wee bit of it, for
I was told by men who had travelled over it that it covered the
mountains of the interior, and made them a level field of ice, with a
surface like rough, hard snow, for more than twenty miles in extent."

"You don't say so, sir!" said Mivins in surprise. "And don't they
_never_ melt?"

"No, never. What they lose in summer they more than gain in winter.
Moreover, they are always in motion, but they move so slow that you may
look at them ever so closely and so long, you'll not be able to observe
the motion--just like the hour hand of a watch,--but we know it by
observing the changes from year to year. There are immense glaciers
here in the Arctic regions, and the lumps which they are constantly
shedding off into the sea are the icebergs that one sees and hears so
much about."

Mivins seemed deeply impressed with this explanation, and would probably
have continued the conversation much longer had he not been interrupted
by the voice of his mischievous satellite, Davie Summers, who touched
his forelock and said: "Please, Mr Mivins, shall I lay the table-cloth,
or would it be better to slump dinner with tea this afternoon?"

Mivins started. "Ha! caught me napping! Down below, you young dog!"

The boy dived instantly, followed first by a dish-clout, rolled tightly
up and well aimed, and afterwards by his active-limbed superior. Both
reached the region of smells, cruets, and crockery at the same moment,
and each set energetically to work at their never-ending duties.

Soon after this the ice suddenly loosened, and the crew succeeded, after
a few hours' hard labour, in warping the _Dolphin_ once more out of the
pack; but scarcely had this been accomplished when another storm, which
had been gradually gathering, burst upon them, and compelled them once
more to seek the shelter of the land.

Numerous walrus rolled about in the bays here, and they approached much
nearer to the vessel than they had yet done, affording those on board a
good view of their huge, uncouth visages, as they shook their shaggy
fronts and ploughed up the waves with their tusks. These enormous
creatures are the elephants of the Arctic Ocean. Their aspect is
particularly grim and fierce, and, being nearly equal to elephants in
bulk, they are not less terrible than they appear. In form they
somewhat resemble seals, having barrel-shaped bodie