Letters from high latitudes : being some account of a voyage, in 1856, in the schooner yacht "Foam", to Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen . ooner s head to the wind, the sails flappingwith the noise of thunder—blocks rattling against the deck,as if they wanted to knock their brains out—ropes dancingabout in galvanised coils, like mad serpents—and everythingto an inexperienced eye in inextricable confusion; till gradu-ally she pays oif on the other tack—the sails stiffen into deal-boards—the staysail sheet is let go—and heeling over onthe opposite side, again she darts forward over the sea li
Letters from high latitudes : being some account of a voyage, in 1856, in the schooner yacht "Foam", to Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen . ooner s head to the wind, the sails flappingwith the noise of thunder—blocks rattling against the deck,as if they wanted to knock their brains out—ropes dancingabout in galvanised coils, like mad serpents—and everythingto an inexperienced eye in inextricable confusion; till gradu-ally she pays oif on the other tack—the sails stiffen into deal-boards—the staysail sheet is let go—and heeling over onthe opposite side, again she darts forward over the sea likean arrow from the bow. Stand by to make sail ! Outall reefs ! (I could have carried sail to sink a man of war !)—and away the little ship went, playing leapfrog over theheavy seas, and staggering under her canvas, as if giddywith the same joyful excitement which made my own heartthump so loudly. In another hour the sun came out, the fog cleared away,and about noon—up again, above the horizon, grow thepale lilac peaks, Avarming into a rosier tint as we still stretches toward the land on the starboard side;. 192 LE TTERS FR OM HIGH LA TITUBES. [XI. but we dont care for it now—the schooners head is pointingE. and by S. At one oclock we sight Amsterdam Island,about thirty miles on the port bow j then came the sevenice-hills —as seven enormous glaciers are called—that rollinto the sea between lofty ridges of gneiss and mica slate,a little to the northward of Prince Charless and more defined grows the outline of the moun-tains, some coming forward while others recede ; their rosytints appear less even, fading here and there into paleyellows and greys; veins of shadow score the steep sides ofthe hills ; the articulations of the rocks become visible ; andnow, at last, we glide under the limestone peaks of MitreCape—past the marble arches of Kings Bay on the one side—and the pinnacle of the Vogel Hook on the other, into thequiet
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