The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-09-03
The Birth Of an Iceberg.

DR.. Hayes, the arctic explorer, In 70
cent article in Appleton's Journal. upon
tho formation and career Of iccbcrgs,
gives the following grnphic description Of
the birth of one Of these monsters Of the
deep, rs witnessed by himself;-
II have spoken Of the long line Of the
glacier front, stretching away to the oppo-
site shore, In glittering white and blus
and green; but II was not an unbroken
front. Near Its centre there was a dark
rock nearly embedded In the ice-the Ice
being on both sides Of It, and ovcrtopping
Il. 0 e
This rock had been an island. The
icc-stream, pouring out Into tho ford. had
at length touched this island, and, en-
croaching more and moro upon Il from
year to year, moulding itself to tho rock.
had finally attained the position which I
have described.
II asked my guide, Phillip, II he had
observed any change In Il during the pc
riod of his residence in the ford.
"'Oh. yos,' sand he. n very great change.
When first came here, could pull NIL
the way around tho rock in my boat
"'How far was the rock then from the
face OF the icc-streamp
IA good English half mile
".How long was the rockr
"At least rs long IS the distance was
from the ice-strcam.'
".How did you learn all this''
81 have gone to II many time, and
have brought away from II many barrel
of eggs, and many bag Of eider-down,'
Making MI proper allowance for the
general disposition Of people to magnify
distances, here Is yet most valuable OBJ
servation-a mile Of flow, according to|
Philip, In fve-and-twenty ycars-almost
seven inches for each day My own OBJ
servation of an icc-strcam, continued thro'
almost year. showed. rs has been pro-
viously stated. n daily rate Of five inches.
Suppose Philip to have even doubled the
distance In his rough guessing. We have
still u rate Of flow equal to three inches
and a half per day. An inspection Of the
numerous brcakings from Its front shows
that II must have been considerable indeed,
judging from the great numbers Of Ice
bergs that were scattered down the ford,
all of which were It's children. Many oil
tho largest Of them had fingered in the
ford ever since Philip came there. Miss
Ing the deepest channel, they had ground
ed, and held on for years and years, until
they had been gradually reduced by melt
Ing. and by pieces breaking from them,
but never yet were small enough to tide
over tho rocky bottom and reach the sea
outside. look upon these 'ancicnts' with
reverence.
"I,ut hark! what was thatp
1--WE still stood upon tho summit Of the
bluff. overlooking the ford and the ice-
stream.
Tho icc-strcam had been constantly
emitting sounds, rs I have said before,
sometimes by tho breaking on Of u small
fragment from It's front, sometimes by n
partial crack opening far up In tho body
Of It, rs It strained In Its rocky bed; but
now loud report, MS of 'dccp.mouthcd
thunder broke from It's profoundcst
dcpths-secmingly, indeed, rs II from tho
very bowels Of the earth. It fairly shook
the ground on which we stood.
"Philip said, quietly, The icc-strcam
Is going TO calvc.'
"An instant aftcrward the report was
repeated, louder and still more startling.
The shock beneath my feet was moro sens
IDLY felt; II seemed like the first warning
cry Of coming earthquake.
"Philip said again, see! II Is rising
"a portion of the glacier was being
lifted by the sea. A great wave was roll
ing hack with this movement Of tho leo.
and was dashed wildly against the icc In
front.
can instant more. the sound, which was
before so deep and loud, now broke thro'
the mir with crash that was almost deaf.
enins-a when heavy gun Is fired near
by. ra
81 knew that mOnstrous crack was
opening In the icc-strcam.
"Thc position OF the crack was soon
seen. A fragment, Of enormous propor-
tons, had been discngnscd. Its front
rui,ei itself nloft rs if It were some great
leyiathan endowed with life, and while ID |
rose the crack opened wide. The un- |
wicldy mass plunged forward. crashing |
against other icc-masscs. scattering the |
broken fragments to right and len with |
irresistible forcc. Then the inner side
rose up and tho front sank down, while |
vnst volumes Of watcr that had bccn liftcd
with Il went roaring and Kissing over lis |
sides into tho foaming and violently agi-
tatesi sea. 1tt ~ - -
"Thus. nm iceberg has been born.
ut would be impossible. with mere
words alone. to give any adequate idea of
the action Of this newborn child Of the
arctic frosts. Think Of q solid mass of
Ice, third Of mile deep and moro than
half mile In diameter. hurled like
mere toy into the water. and set to rolling
to and fro by the impetus Of the "c.-a
II II were Natures mercst footha'i-oowhs