Our great concern, at present, is to look out for a hole to run into." "Why have you come so close to the danger, with your knowledge of the consequences ?" "To own the truth, Sir John, natur' is natur', and I'm getting to be a little near-sighted as I grow old; besides, I'm not so sartain that the danger is the more dangerous, for taking a good, steady look plump in its face." Noah raised his hand, as much as to say he wished no answer, and both of us were immediately occupied in gazing anxiously to leeward.

The ship was just opening a small cove in the ice, which might have been a cable's length in depth, and a quarter of a mile across its outer, or the widest part.

Its form was regular, being that of a semicircle; but, at its bottom, the ice, instead of forming a continued barrier, like all the rest we had yet passed, was separated by a narrow opening, that was bounded on each side by a frowning precipice.

The two bergs were evidently drawing nearer to each other, but there was still a strait, or a watery gorge between them, of some two hundred feet in width.

As the ship plunged onward, the pass was opened, and we caught a glimpse of the distant view to leeward.