96 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



first tract we had passed, where the confusion was so 

 extreme, must be tlie part that lay nearest the bare 

 land; in proportion as the glacier left the land, it 

 became less disturbed. In the haycock district the 

 disturbance had not produced cracks in the surface to 

 any extent, only upheaval here and there. How these 

 haycocks were formed and what they looked like inside 

 we were soon to find out. It was a pleasure to be able 

 to advance all the time, instead of constantly turning 

 and going round; only once or twice did we have to 

 turn aside for the larger haycocks, otherwise we kept 

 our course. The great, clean-swept stretches of surface 

 that we came upon from time to time were split in 

 every direction, but the cracks were very narrow — about 

 half an inch wide. 



We had difficulty in finding a place for the tent that 

 evening; the surface was equally hard everywhere, and 

 at last we had to set it on the bare ice. Luckily for 

 our tent-pegs, this ice was not of the bright, steely 

 variety; it was more milky in appearance and not so 

 hard, and we were thus able to knock in the pegs with 

 the axe. When the tent was up, Hassel went out as 

 usual to fetch snow for the cooker. As a rule he 

 performed this task with a big knife, specially made for 

 snow; but this evening he went out armed with an axe. 

 He was very pleased with the abundant and excellent 

 material that lay to his hand; there was no need to go 

 far. Just outside the tent door, two feet away, stood a 



