I now suspect the
cause of the commotion; and it is a mercy that the consequences have not
been more terrible. When the circumstance which has just taken place
happens, the whalers say that an iceberg has calved--that is, a huge
lump of ice has broken away from the base of the berg, and has floated
up to the top of the water. The noise we heard was when it struck
against other parts, and first came to the surface. The loss of a large
mass, of course, makes the berg lop-sided; and should another lump break
away, it may go right over. Should we survive till the morning, we
shall probably see the calf floating near us. I have known large ships
overwhelmed by bergs falling on them. You know that it is the custom to
moor ships to the lee side of a berg, to prevent their drifting to
leeward with a contrary wind. A friend of mine, who gave me the
account, belonged to a whaler, the _Thomas_, of Hull, Captain Taylor,
fishing in Davis's Straits. Well, one day they lay moored to an
iceberg, with a long scope of warp out, and thought themselves quite
secure. On a sudden, without any notice, as they were sitting at
dinner, a tremendous noise was heard and a blow was felt, just as if the
ship had struck on a rock. Up went the bow in the air, till the keel
showed above water, and the taffrail was almost under it. All thought
the ship must go down; but still she floated, not much the worse for the
blow. It was found, what all the old whale-men knew well enough, that a
calf had broken away from the bottom of the berg, but fortunately had
struck the keel fairly, without injuring the ship's bottom. Sometimes a
calf falls from the top of a berg; but I hope one will not come down on
our heads, for if it does, it will settle us outright."

Andrew said this quite calmly, though he felt that what he was
describing might any moment happen. He afterwards reminded us that
pieces were more likely to fall from the summit in the day-time, when
the sun was shining on it, than at night, and that therefore we should
not let the thought oppress us.

It may be supposed that we did not sleep, nor attempt to sleep, any more
that night. As there was no moon, we had not any means of ascertaining
how the time passed; but we calculated that it was about two o'clock in
the morning when the last occurrence I have described took place. The
air had been very light when I first looked out; now it was a perfect
calm, so that not even a ripple was he