In Another Hour The Sun Came Out, The Fog Cleared Away,
And About Noon - Up Again, Above The Horizon, Grow The
Pale Lilac Peaks, Warming Into A Rosier Tint As We
Approach.
Ice still stretches toward the land on the
starboard side; but we don't care for it now - the schooner's
Head is pointing E. and by S. At one o'clock we sight
Amsterdam Island, about thirty miles on the port bow;
then came the "seven ice-hills" - as seven enormous glaciers
are called - that roll into the sea between lofty ridges
of gneiss and mica slate, a little to the northward of
Prince Charles's Foreland. Clearer and more defined grows
the outline of the mountains, some coming forward while
others recede; their rosy tints appear less even, fading
here and there into pale yellows and greys; veins of
shadow score the steep sides of the hills; the articulations
of the rocks become visible; and now, at last, we glide
under the limestone peaks of Mitre Cape, past the marble
arches of King's Bay on the one side, and the pinnacle
of the Vogel Hook on the other, into the quiet channel
that separates the Foreland from the main.
[Figure: fig-p170.gif]
It was at one o'clock in the morning of the 6th of August,
1856, that after having been eleven days at sea, we came
to an anchor in the silent haven of English Bay,
Spitzbergen.
And now, how shall I give you an idea of the wonderful
panorama in the midst of which we found ourselves?
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