deepest parts is not up to your chin, may be
the death of you if you venture upon it in winter, when the ice is
thin, and you break through. Without help, you may be able neither to
swim out or climb out.

But oceans and seas are the waters where danger may nearly always be
expected. The sea may be as smooth as glass, the skies bright, and not
a breath of wind be stirring; or a gentle breeze, just enough to
ripple the water, may send our vessel slowly before it, and in a few
hours the winds may be roaring, the waves dashing into the air, and
the skies dark with storm-clouds.

If we are upon a large and strong steamer, we may perhaps feel safe
enough among the raging waves; but if our vessel be a fishing-boat, or
a small pleasure-craft, we have good reason to be afraid Yet many a
little sloop like this rides bravely and safely through the storms.
But many other little vessels, as strong and as well steered, go to
the bottom of the ocean every year. If the sailor escapes severe
storms, or sails in a vessel which is so stout and ably managed as to
bid defiance to the angry waves, he has other dangers in his path. He
may, for instance, meet with icebergs. If the weather is clear and the
wind favorable, he need not fear these floating mountains of ice. But
if it be night, or foggy, and he cannot see them, or if, in spite of
all his endeavors, the wind drives him down upon them, then is his
vessel lost, and, in all probability, the lives of all upon it.
Sometimes, however, the passengers and crew may escape in boats, and
instances have been related where they have taken refuge on the
iceberg itself, remaining there until rescued by a passing ship.

[Illustration]

But, be the weather fair or foul, a ship is generally quick to leave
the company of so dangerous a neighbor as an iceberg. Sometimes great
masses of ice take a notion to topple over, and, looking at the matter
in what light you please, I think that they are not to be trusted.

Then there is the hurricane!

A large ship may bravely dare the dangers of an ordinary storm, but
nothing that floats on the surface of the water can be safe when a
whirlwind passes over the sea, driving everything straight before it
Great ships are tossed about like playthings, and strong masts are
snapped off as if they had been made of glass.

[Illustration]

If a ship is then near a coast, her crew is seldom able, if the wind
blows towards the land, to prevent her from being das