whole surface of the water as far as the eye could reach was covered by
dense masses of ice, and had not the breeze freshened so that we were
able to avoid the ice pack, we might never have made our way to the
open sea. Some of the icebergs were beautifully formed, and the
countless prisms of which they were composed glowed in the sun's rays
with the delicate colour of the rainbow.

Next day the wind had fallen to a calm, and we rode upon a sea of
glass. We had left the pack ice, but before us stretched an island of
such extent that the end of it could not be seen. This island rose to
the height of twenty feet. It was perfectly flat, with steep,
perpendicular sides, which made it inaccessible to man. From the
masthead, however, it was possible to observe its surface, which we saw
to be covered by a vast number of penguins, so we knew a landing must
be available somewhere, for these birds are wingless. This island was
composed entirely of ice, it being, as Hartog reckoned, a glacier which
had broken off from the main continent into the sea. It was drifting
north, and would gradually melt in the warmer atmosphere to which the
current was taking it, but many years must elapse before this would
happen.

That evening we remained in the vicinity of the island. The twilight of
this region in which we now found ourselves continued without fading
into night, and to add to the beauty of the scene an aureola appeared
in the sky. It was a sight, once seen, never to be forgotten. A world
of perpetual day.

With the return of sunlight Hartog determined, if possible, to effect a
landing, and leaving the "Arms of Amsterdam" in charge of Janstins, the
cutter was manned, in which the captain and I set out for the shore.