great monster split and fall into the watery deep, which has been sounded
to a depth of some 800 feet without finding anchor.

The glacial wall is a rugged, uneven mass, with clefts and crevices,
towering pinnacles and domes, higher than Bunker Hill monument, cutting
the air at all angles, and with a stupendous crash sections break off
from any portion without warning and sink far out of sight. Scarcely two
minutes elapse without a portion falling from some quarter. The marble
whiteness of the face is relieved by lines of intense blue, a
characteristic peculiar to the small portions as well as the great.

Going ashore in little rowboats, the vast area along the sandy beach was
first explored, and it was, indeed, like a fairy land. There were acres
of grottoes, whose honey-combed walls were most delicately carved by the
soft winds and the sunlight reflections around and in the arches of ice,
such as are never seen except in water, ice, and sky.

MOUNTAINS OF ICE,

remnants of glaciers, along the beach, stood poised on one point, or
perchance on two points, and arched between. These icebergs were dotted
with stones imbedded; great bowls were melted out and filled with water,
and little cups made of ice would afford you a drink of fresh water on
the shore of this salt sea.

At five o'clock in the morning, with the sun kissing the cold majestic
glacier into a glad awakening from its icy sleep, the ascent was begun.
Too eager to be among the first to see the top, many started without
breakfast, while others chose the wiser part, and waited to be physically
fortified.