1903] EXPLORATION OF NORTH AliM 213 



the 1 6th we picked up the ample supply of food which we had 

 left in our depot opposite the Solitary Rocks, and that evening 

 took up our old quarters in the Knob Head Moraine. I 

 mention these movements because at this point I had deter- 

 mined to do a small piece of exploration which is of some 

 interest. The reader will see that we were now in the large 

 glacier basin which I described, and will remember that I 

 mentioned amongst other outlets its northern arm. This arm 

 of the glacier descended with a very steep incline to the right 

 of the Solitary Rocks, and then its valley seemed to turn 

 sharply to the eastward. The direction of flow of the ice- 

 streams in the glacier basin had always been something of a 

 mystery for us, and we had thought that the main portion of 

 the ice must discharge through this valley. 



On the 17th, therefore, we started to descend it to see 

 what the conditions actually were, and after rattling down over 

 a sharp gradient for several miles we found ourselves turning 

 to the east. We followed a long string of morainic boulders 

 through a deep valley on a moderate incline, but early in the 

 afternoon the descent became steeper and the surface of the 

 ice much rougher, until at length our sledge bumped so heavily 

 that we thought it wise to camp. 



Our camp life by this time had become wholly pleasant 

 except to poor Lashly, who had a fierce attack of snow- 

 blindness. We pitched our tent behind a huge boulder which 

 must have weighed at least five hundred tons, and here we 

 were pleasantly sheltered from the wind, whilst close by us 

 trickled a glacier stream from which we were able to fill our 

 cooking-pot and obtain an unlimited quantity of drinking-water. 

 We had a splendid view of the great ice masses sweeping down 

 from above, but looking downward we were much puzzled, for 

 the glacier surface descended steeply, and beyond it stood a 

 lofty groin of rock which seemed a direct bar to its further 

 passage. This sight made us very anxious to proceed with our 

 exploration, and as we could not advance further with our 

 sledge, it became necessary to arrange for a long absence from 

 our camp. Accordingly we rose very early on the following 



