“To wear smoked-glass Goggles all the Time”
Even if the progress was slow AH-NI-GHI´-TO knew that every night when she lay down to sleep she was one day nearer her father’s camp, where she hoped to meet “dear old Dad,” whom she had not seen for over two years.
The ever dreaded Melville Bay, full of icebergs and large sheets of ice, was crossed at last. Captain Sam expected the north water to be free from the large pans of ice. He did not fear the great white icebergs, for the sun shone during the twenty-four hours without setting, and he could keep out of their way. Sometimes he would run the old ship right alongside of one of these “palaces of the Ice King” and fill the water tanks with pure cold water which formed in pools where the ice had been melted by the hot rays of the sun.
Sometimes AH-NI-GHI´-TO saw these large masses of ice turn “somersaults,” as she called it. This was caused by the water washing against the sides of the berg until the part in the water was lighter than that above the water, and the berg became top-heavy and tumbled over. At first there was a low rumbling noise, then as it gained headway it grew to a roar, like the increasing sound of an approaching train. This was followed by the boiling and foaming of the water (filled with pieces of ice which had broken off) as far as the eye could see, until at the shore the waves dashed high.
The poor old “ice palace” would roll over and over and rock and sway and totter until at last it regained its balance. But now the part which before had been under water was above it and glistened like polished silver, with lots of little rainbow colours in between, where the sun glinted from drops of sea water.
Here it would stay until some other time when it again became top-heavy by the washing of the waves, and the same thing would happen to it. Each time it would become smaller, until at last it was only a lump of ice floating idly about on the water. Such pieces are liked by the seals and walrus to crawl upon out of the cold water into the warm sunshine, and there take their sun-bath.
“Iceberg, ‘Palace of the Ice King’”
AH-NI-GHI´-TO thought it must be a very cold bed, but these animals all have such a thick blanket of fat wrapped entirely around them, just under the skin, that it does not seem cold to them.
One morning about four o’clock AH-NI-GHI´-TO’S mother came on deck to look around, when just alongside, on quite a large cake of ice she saw a beautiful snow-white bear. He had been swimming about in the hope of finding a seal or two for his breakfast, and coming to this cake of ice, thought he would get up on it, stretch his legs, and get a nice drink of water.