Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-03-21
The IcebeTgs.

I
living man, yet from the deck of
the Congress, while lying in Dis
CO harbor counted one hundred
icebergs, floating in majesty 10
warmer seas. Some of them
were mile long, and two hun
dred feet high. 1t is q law of
iceberss, that the proportion a.
b)ve the water to the proportion
below the water is as one to seven
that is, were tie Gase cf berg
one hundred feet high on the sur
face of the sea, its height would
be seven hundred feet. 1t has
been ascertained by measurement
! that some have stranded in water
half mile in depth. Some have
been seen having an area of six
suuar. miles, with an altitude Of
six hundred feet. Sir John Ross
saw several aground in Baffin's
Bay, in two hundred and sixty
fathoms Of water, and he compu-
ted one to weigh l,259. 397,673
tons. Such berg as that would
be a speculation to one OF our ice.
merchants. Each of the one
hundred icebergs which | saw at
Disco had some picturesque form.
There was one the base of which
was not unlike the stern Of an i'm
mense ship. A hundred feet
high, it had at either end Il peak,
and between the two a valley, the
color of indigo. 1t marched rap.
idly to the south. To our left
there were three in a line, the
middle one reminded me of the
Sphinx of Egypt. To our right
were three others, forming the
arch of circle, the central one of
pearly whiteness. Beyond was
another covering many acres ;
from its centre arose q peak like
the cone of Vesuvius, its sides
covered with f,agn ents OF ice re-
sembIing a confused mass OF lava.
One day a magnificent berg
stranded in the mouth OF the
harbor. 1t was a perpendicular
wall of ice, hundred feet high
at either end, with a depression
in the centre. 1t was less than
nine hundred feet from the ship.
Loading a sixty pound Parrott
with a conical shot the captain
fred al the icy target. Tie frst
shot fell short; the second entered
the berg we'll up leaving a WELL
defined circular hole, without pro-
ducing any other effect; the third
shot was a shell which struck,
scattered the ice but did not en-
ter; the fourth was another shell,
which left a circular mark, but
did not explode. This expert
ment proved the solidity of an
iceberg and what a formidable
obstacle it must be to encounter! !
The next day the captain and
myself took a small boat to as
certain, by a closer view, what
effect our shot had had. We
could see where the shot had
made an impression, but there
TODD the berg in al its icy gram
deur and solemn defiance. One
ball had entered SO far as to force
the ice out on the opposite side,
where it remained in huge mass.
1t required ten minutes for our
hardy sailors to pull around its
immense base.
We approached its very base,
and looked up its lofty and beau
tiful sides; but we had scarcely
returned to the ship when with
the loud booming of a thousand
cannon, the berg split in the cen.
ire and one OF its lofty peaks rolled
over Just where we had been,
causing the white foam to rise
fifty feet, and sending wave alter
wave tar up on the distant shore
Had we remained there few
minutes longer, our grave would
have been in the "deep blue sea.
DR.. Ne,cmap IN, the Methodist.