DIAMONDS

The sailor fears that icebergs will cut his path. His nights become more chaotic than usual. He hardly sleeps at all. When he sees flocks of Cape larks flying around in the distance, he suspects that he is about to enter an area of coastal ice. He is wrong and manages to get around the drifting blocks. He writes: ‘Seeing an iceberg in fine sunny weather. It must be the most beautiful sight a sailor could lay eyes on, a thousand ton diamond set on the sea, glittering beneath the southern sun. It might be enough to last me the rest of my life.’

(Thinking Like an Iceberg, pp. 24-25)