rock ponderously to and fro, creating a
terrific commotion in the water when conjoined with that caused by the
plunge into the sea and the reappearance a second or two later of the
detached mass. The sea was seen to heap itself up in a long well-
defined ridge, similar--though, of course, on a tremendously magnified
scale--to that caused by the plunge of a stone into the water. This
ridge spread out in a circular form all round the spot where the mass
had fallen, and at once began to travel outward in the form of an
immense breaker some six or seven feet in height. Onward it rolled, its
smooth glassy front capped with a foaming crest presenting a singular
and somewhat alarming spectacle. The fears of the beholders, however,
if they had any, were groundless, for, though the threatening wave swept
forward with a velocity of some twelve knots per hour, it swept
harmlessly enough over and along the cylindrical sides of the _Flying
Fish_, hissing and roaring most ominously, but failing to throw so much
as a single drop of spray on her deck. This wave was quickly followed
by several others, each of which, however, was less formidable than the
preceding one. Meanwhile, the drama, it appeared, had only begun. The
oscillation of the parent berg, though it was probably quite unaffected
by the portion of the circular wave which dashed furiously against its
sides, became momentarily more and more violent, accompanied by a
rapidly increasing agitation of the sea in its neighbourhood, an
agitation so great that the surface of the ocean soon assumed the
appearance of a boiling cauldron, the foaming surges leaping wildly
hither and thither with a continuous roar like that of the surf beating
on a rocky shore, and soon assuming such dimensions that they even broke
over the deck of the _Flying Fish_, and dashed themselves into a cloud
of spray against the strong walls of the pilot-house. Other fragments
now began to detach themselves with dull heavy roaring crashes from the
rocking berg; and, as though the action were contagious--or more
probably, in consequence of the jarring vibration of the air from such a
strong volume of sound--one after the other, the remaining bergs began
to go to pieces. Then, indeed, the sight and the accompanying sounds
became truly awe-inspiring. The air resounded with the continuous roar
of the dismembering bergs; the eye grew dizzy and bewildered as it
watched their swaying forms; and the surface of