Yet it was necessary, for the purpose of scientific observation, that each southward-floating berg be definitely identified. Oceanographers were now aboard the Iroquois, to study this matter of iceberg drift, that shipping might be better protected in future years. It was necessary that they should know each berg they met, no matter where they encountered it. But to recognize a berg that was continually altering its own appearance was an accomplishment that not even the learned oceanographers possessed. As yet, no way to identify bergs had ever been devised.
But Captain Hardwick was a resourceful man, and one day he declared that he had solved the problem. “I’m going to paint them,” he declared. His hearers laughed incredulously. But the captain cared little for their amusement. He ordered some shells brought from the magazine and some paints from the storeroom. Then, under the captain’s personal supervision, the gunner loaded shell after shell with paint. Bright reds and greens and blues and other startling colors were used. When all was ready, the captain smiled with satisfaction. “I’m going to try it out on the very next berg we see,” he laughed.
An hour later the lookout announced that a berg was visible. It took the cutter more than an hour to reach it, however, for it was sixteen miles