26 



MARION EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 



Upon returning to the ship, several members of the crew who had 

 taken special pride in the work of the expedition Avent to the com- 

 manding officer and requested permission to erect some sort of a 

 monument ashore at Port Quervain to mark the northernmost point 

 ever attained by a United States Coast Guard vessel on the eastern 

 side of North America. Accordingly a written record was wrapped 

 in a weatherproof covering and placed in a cairn built on top of a 

 promiment near-by hill. The men amassed an impressive i)ile of 

 stones for their purpose and topped it all Avith a 3-inch brass cartridge 

 case inscribed " Marion Expedition, 1928." 



At 7.05 p. m. on August 10, 1928, the Marlon began proceeding 

 toward Ata, where the guide, Peterson, was returned to his home at 

 9.10 p. m. This little outpost village consisted of a few tiny houses 

 built on a rockv lowland at the base of towering mountains. The 



A FLANK VIEW OF A GREENLAND GLACIER 



Figure 21. — Looking back towards the glacier tbat discharges at Port Quervain, Green- 

 land. The steep slope passed over by the ice .iiist before reaching the sea breaks the 

 glacier up into small pieces. Therefore, this ice stream never produces large bergs. 



house of the native outpost manager was visited by some of the offi- 

 cers, who were given strong black coffee there in a room which 

 contained a hard Avooden sleeping bench, a few chairs, and a potted 

 ]5lant on a stand by the Avindow. There Avere some inexpensive 

 framed prints on the Avails. The outpost manager then visited the 

 Marion, accomi^anied by his Avife and grown daughter. The latter, 

 a tall, splendid-looking Eskimo girl, Avas dressed in fine sealskin 

 clothing and Avore the bright and elaborately decorated high boots 

 that are possessed by all native Avomen of any means. 



Several bergs Avere grounded off Ata near the Marion's anchorage. 

 A little fleet of seal hunters in kyaks Avere soon seen among them, 

 approaching from Ata Sound. Each tiny boat had a Avhite cloth like 

 a little square sail at its boAv. We Avere told that these were not used 

 for propulsion, but Avere for thekyakers to hide behind while stealing 

 up close to unsuspecting seals. Some of the natives Avere induced to 



