Chapter 16—A Watch for Icebergs
The next day, the 3rd of April, from early dawn the horizon wore that peculiar aspect which the English call “blink.” It was of that misty white color which signifies that icebergs are not far distant; in fact the Great Eastern was plowing those seas on which float the first blocks of ice detached from the icebergs in Davis’s Straits. A special watch was kept, in order to avoid the rude collision with these enormous blocks.
There was a strong westerly wind blowing; strips of clouds, or rather shreds of vapor, hung over the sea, through which glimpses of blue sky appeared. A dull thudding noise came from the waves tossed by the wind, and drops of water, seemingly pulverized, evaporated in foam.
Neither Fabian, Captain Corsican, nor Doctor Pitferge had yet
