ime, and by
rigging the boat's sails on the pikes, we shall be sheltered from the
wind; and, my lads, let me tell you, we might be much worse off, so let
us be thankful."

This conversation took place while we were making our breakfast.
Instead of tea, we knocked off, with the boarding-pikes, lumps of ice,
which we ate, and found perfectly fresh. This, Andrew explained, arose
either from the iceberg having been formed of the accumulation of the
snow of many winters on the coast of Greenland, and thus having been
always fresh; or if formed out of salt water, from the ice, when
freezing, having ejected the saline particles. He told us that water,
when freezing, has the property of purifying itself, and of squeezing
out, as it were, all extraneous or coarse matter.

Our not over-luxurious repast being finished, Andrew proposed our
attempting again to ascend the berg to plant a signal-post and flag to
attract the notice of any passing ship. Terence was for spreading out
the boat's sail; but Andrew reminded him that on the white iceberg that
would not be readily seen, and advised our fastening our coloured
handkerchiefs together instead.

"We must first, however, get to the top of the berg," said Terence;
"and, to my mind, these boarding-pikes will serve us a good turn."

No sooner thought of than tried. With the boarding-pikes we chopped
steps out of the side, where it was too precipitous to surmount without
such aid; and by fixing the pikes below us, we shoved ourselves up with
them. In this manner, after considerable labour, we reached a high
pinnacle of the berg. It was not broad enough for us to stand on
without fear of falling off, so we sat astride on it while we chopped a
hole deep enough to fix one of the spars in, which we had hauled up for
the purpose. At the top we secured four red cotton handkerchiefs,
which, as they blew out, might be seen at a considerable distance. We
beat the ice tightly round the heel of the spar, and it appeared to
stand firmly and well.

"Now, on whatever side of the berg a ship approaches, it will be seen
that some human beings are on it," observed Andrew, as we prepared to
descend, having first carefully surveyed the horizon on every side.

At this juncture we had a loss, which caused us great dismay, and, we
thought, would prove a very serious inconvenience. After lighting the
fire, Andrew had put the flint and steel into his jacket pocket, along
with his handkerchief,