Looking in that direction, he dimly discerned a vast outline of darker substance than the enveloping mist.

From it came also a sound of falling waters, and against it the sea was beating angrily.

At the same time he was conscious of a deadly chill in the air, and came to a sudden comprehension that the iceberg, to which he attributed all his present distress, was still close at hand.
Its mere presence brought a new terror; for he knew that unless the attraction of its great bulk could be overcome, his little raft must speedily be drawn to it and dashed helplessly against its icy cliffs.
This thought filled him with a momentary despair, for there seemed no possibility of avoiding the impending fate.

Then his eyes fell on a pair of oars lashed, together with their metal rowlocks, to the sides of his raft.

In another minute he had shipped these and was pulling with all his might away from that ill-omened neighbourhood.
The progress of his clumsy craft was painfully slow; but it did move, and at the end the dreaded ice monster was beyond both sight and hearing.