94 ELISHA KENT KANE. 



On the 19th of June, having encamped, Morton 

 ascended a lofty berg, in order to examine their 



r 



future route and survey the surrounding desolation. 

 From this point he beheld an extensive plain which 

 stretched away toward the north, which proved to 

 be the Great Glacier of Humboldt, as it appeared 

 toward the interior, which also fronted on the bay. 

 From this point the advance of the party was perilous. 

 They were frequently arrested by wide and deep 

 fissures in the ice. This difficulty compelled them 

 to turn toward the \vest. Some of these chasms 

 were four feet wide and contained water at the 

 bottom. From this point they beheld the distant 

 northern shore, termed the "West Land." Its. ap- 

 pearance was mountainous and rolling. Its distance 

 from them seemed to be about sixty miles. 



At length, by the 21st of June, the party attained 

 a point opposite the termination of the Great Glacier. 

 It appeared to be mixed with earth and rocks. 

 Travelling on, they reached the head of Kennedy 

 Channel, and saw far beyond it the open water. 

 Passing in their route a cape, they called it Cape 

 Andrew Jackson. Here they found good smooth 

 ice , for during the last few days they had toiled 

 over rotten ice, which not unfrequently threatened 

 to break beneath them. Having entered the curve 

 of a bay, they named it after Kobert Morris, the 



