1903] CURIOUS ICE FORMATIONS iii 



certain that there was no flow of ice between the two ; away to 

 the west they could see the long sweep of the Koettlitz Glacier 

 growing rough and disturbed as it fell to the level of the sea. 



The snow plateau to the south of Black Island was found 

 to be from loo to 150 feet above the level to the north, rising 

 to the general barrier level ; it afforded a comparatively smooth, 

 easy crossing, undisturbed until within two miles of the Bluff, 

 to reach which the travellers had again to cross lines of morainic 

 material in which the volcanic rocks of the region were mixed 

 with numerous boulders of granite. Taken together, these 

 various observations gave a moderately clear outline of the ice 

 condition in this region. The space inside the Brown Island 

 is governed locally by the Koettlitz Glacier, but it is evident 

 that the ice of the barrier itself is moving, or has moved, 

 around the end of the Bluff, and close along its northern shore ; 

 thence it is pressing, or has pressed, northward through the 

 two channels which separate the islands, the greater part pass- 

 ing round to the west of Black Island. 



All this led up to a highly important and interesting dis- 

 covery. We could not doubt that the decayed and water-worn 

 ice on which we had landed on February 8, 1902, marked 

 what was nothing less than the end of the lateral moraine of 

 the Great Ice Barrier. When it is considered what a colossal 

 agent for transportation this moraine must be, it is curious to 

 find that it ends in such a tame manner. 



Whilst these efforts at exploration had been going on in 

 various directions, the ship had been left in the charge of Mr. 

 Royds. With people constantly going and coming, the numbers 

 on board varied much; sometimes there might be ten or a 

 dozen hands available for work, at others no more than four or 

 five could be got together ; but, whatever the number, all were 

 kept steadily employed on the one most important task — that 

 of freeing the boats. 



I have already explained the calamity that had befallen us 

 in this respect — how these indispensable articles of the ship's 

 furniture had been placed on the ice, how they sank below the 

 water level, and how we were forced to shovel away the snow 



