As it was,
Captain Morgan deemed it wise to lessen the speed as the ship approached
the iceberg.
"This is wonderful, Leo," said Mrs. Harris; "can you tell us where and
when icebergs are formed?"
"Oh yes, Mrs. Harris, icebergs that float down the Atlantic are born on
the west coast of Greenland. Up there great valleys are filled with snow
and ice from hill-top to hill-top, reaching back up the valleys, in some
instances from thirty to forty miles. This valley-ice is called a 'Mer
de Glace,' and has a motion down the valley, like any river, but of
three feet more or less only per day. If time enough is allowed, vast
quantities of this valley-ice move into the gulf or sea. When the sea
is disturbed by a storm the ice wall or precipice is broken off, and
enormous masses, often a hundred times larger than a big building, fall
and float away with the report of the firing of a park of artillery, and
these floating mountains of ice are lighted in their lonely pathways by
the midnight sun."
Before dinner, came the regular promenade which presented many contrasts.
A pretty bride from the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky walked with her
young husband whom she had first met at a New England seaside.
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