CHAPTER XXII.
in camp.
A little after noon, the iceberg was within a mile of the land.
After their dinner, the crew climbed up to the topmost block, on which Dirk Peters was stationed. On our approach the half-breed descended the opposite slope, and when I reached the top he was no longer to be seen.
The land on the north evidently formed a continent or island of considerable extent. On the west there was a sharply projecting cape, surmounted by a sloping height which resembled an enormous seal's head on the side view; then beyond that was a wide stretch of sea. On the east the land was prolonged out of sight.
Each one of us took in the position. It depended on the current whether it would carry the iceberg into an eddy which might drive it on the coast, or continue to drift it towards the north.
Which was the more admissible hypothesis?
Captain Len Guy, West, Hurliguerly, and I talked over the matter, while the crew discussed it among themselves. Finally, it was agreed that the current tended rather to carry the iceberg towards the northern point of land.
"After all," said Captain Len Guy, "if it is habitable
