"On the 10th of August the ice dividing, it began to float, and then we observed that the large piece of ice, to which the ship had been moored, touched the bottom, as all the others passing by struck against without moving it. We then began to fear being inclosed between the ice, that we should either be frozen in or crushed to pieces, and therefore endeavoured to avoid the danger by attempting to get into another latitude, in doing of which the vessel was forced through the floating ice, which made a tremendous noise, and seemingly to a great distance; at length we moored to another mountain, for the purpose of remaining there that night. "During the first watch the ice began to split with an inexpressible noise, and the ship keeping to the current, in which the ice was now floating, we were obliged to cut the cable to avoid it; we reckoned more than 400 large mountains of ice, which were 10 fathoms under and appeared more than 2 fathoms above water. "We afterwards moored the vessel to another mountain of ice, which reached above 6 fathoms under water. As soon as we were fixed we perceived another piece beyond us, which terminated in a point, and went to the bottom of the sea; we advanced towards it, and found it 20 fathoms under water, and 12 above the surface. "The 11th we reached another large shelve of ice, 18 fathoms under water, and 10 above it. "The 21st the Dutch got pretty far in among the ice, and remained there the whole night; the next morning they moored their vessel to a large bank of ice, which they ascended, and considered as a very singular phenomenon, that its top was covered with earth, and they found near 40 eggs thereon. The colour was not the common colour of ice, but a fine sky blue. Those who were on it had various conjectures from this circumstance, some contending it was an effect of the ice, while others maintained it to be a mass of frozen earth. It was about eighteen fathoms under water, and ten above."[332:A] Wafer relates, that near Terra del Fuega he met with many high floating pieces of ice, which he at first mistook for islands. Some appeared a mile or two in length, and the largest not less than 4 or 500 feet above the water.