The World of Ice

other strange things, they meet with red snow and a whi

d Tom Singleton all this time

, a botanical box and geological hammer, and a musket, were off along the coast on a semi-scientific cruise. Young Singleton

ned the cliffs-"you see, I'm a great dab at ornithology, especially when I've got a gun on my

ould be worth while communicating your views on the subject to one of the sc

going to screw up my energies as much as possible, and make coloured drawings of al

d him generally to throw off anxiety in regard to his father's fate, and join in the laugh, and jest, and game as heartily as any one on board, there were times when his heart failed him, and he

air. We know that your father came up this inlet, or strait, or whatever it is, and he had a good stock of provisions with him, according to the account we got at Upernavik, and it is not more than a year since he was there. Many

hake of his head; "but think of yon brig

they might have got to land by jumping from one piece to another. Such things have happened before frequently. To say truth, at every point of land we turn, I f

right. God grant

tance like a road of hard white marble. Many large rocks lay scattered over it, some of them se

," exclaimed Fred, pointing to a bird that hovered ove

said his friend, st

o the use of fire-arms, to

ther! I've

the whole cliff vomited forth an innumerable ho

pwards I can't help hitting something; but I particularly want yon fellow, because he

the careful manner in which, on this occasion, he wound himself in and out among the rocks and blocks of ice on the shore in the hope of obtaining that sea-gull. At last he succeeded in getting to within about fifteen yards of it, and t

g so that day, he nevertheless managed to put several fine specimens of gulls and an auk into his bag. The last bird amused him much, being a creature with a dumpy lit

was rich in variety of colouring. Amid several kinds of tufted grasses were seen growing a small purple flower and the white star of the chickweed; The sight of all this richness of vegetation growing in a little spot close beside the snow, and amid such cold Arctic scenery, w

od deal of green-stone and gneiss, and some of the spires of these that shot

g a cape towards which they had been walking for several hours. On passing this point they stopped w

water whose dimensions entitled them to be styled lakes spangled the white surface of the floes; and around these were sporting innumerable flocks of wild-fowl, many of which, being pure white, glanced like snow-flakes in the sunshine. Far off to the west the ice came down with heavy uniformit

he sterile region beyond the Arctic Circle, were one of the sunniest regions of the south, for a warm glow rested on the bosom of the snow, as if the sun were shedding upon it his rosiest hues. A little farther to the north the red snow ceased, or only occurred here and there in patches; and beyond it there appeared another gorge in the cliffs, within which rose a tall

express his admiration. "I did not think that our world containe

me to the conclusion that fairy tales are all stuff, and very inferior stuff too! Why, this reality is a thousand million t

been a matter of dispute among learned men. But

d the astonished world that the substance which they had been accustomed to associate with the idea of the purest and most radiant whiteness had been seen by them lying red upon the ground, attributed the phenomenon to innumerable multitudes of minute creatures belonging to the order Radiata; but the discovery of red snow among the central Alps of Europe, and in the Pyrenees, and on

hich it was coloured, Fred continued to gaze with a look of increasing earnestness towards the tall column, around which a bank

no work of nature, but a monument set up to att

n't think so, Fred; it is larger than you suppose, for the fog

re's own constructing. It was a single, solitary shaft of green limestone, which stood on the brink of a deep ravine, and was marked by the slaty limestone that once e

f the interior, which here presented an unbroken perpendicular front-a sweep of solid glassy wall, which rose three hundred feet above the water-level, with an unknown depth below it. The sun gli

er a word, and it would be idle to attempt to transcribe the language in which, at length, their excited feelings sought to escape. It was not until their backs had been for some time tu

ot of the cliffs, a loud boom rang out in the dis

gleton, hastily pulling out his watch

I know, when we started, and we must have b

'clock in t

started, and that we've been walking all night, a

ke haste. He said that he would not fire unless there seemed some prospect of the

rom behind a lump of ice, where it had been regaling itself on a dead seal, and saunt

Fred, as he cocked his musket and sprang fo

hammer. Only make sure you don't miss. Do

, when suddenly they came to a yawning crack in the ice, about thirty feet wide, and a mile long on e

't that d

o attack a Polar bear with a musket charged only with small shot, and a geological hammer, would have been about as safe and successful an operation as trying to stop a locomotive with one's hand. Neither of

g shot-quick!"

to say, "Did you speak, gentlemen?" Then, not receiving a reply, he walke

us operations of his little pantry, that most of the cabin talk reached his ear, and travelled thence through his mouth to the forecastle. The captain was fully aware of this fact, but he winked at it, for there was nothing but friendly feeling on board the ship, and

eter, whom they had taken on board at Upernavik; and they were further informed that the ice was in motion to the westward, and that there was every probability of their bein