ON the 10th April, the expedition assembled, with attendant sledge» 

 and all gear, at the village of Neqe (Robeson Bay) whence we 

 were to make our start out over the inland ice. It was decided to 

 make the ascent at Clemens Markham's Glacier, some little distance 

 away, a place frequently used by the Eskimos on their way to the 

 settlements north of Cape Alexander and farther on. The Neqe district 

 is a regular meeting place in winter and spring for a great number of 

 Polar Eskimos, as the strong current round the promontories prevents 

 the ice from becoming ve:y thick, and it is consequently liable to be 

 broken up by any gale or spring tide ; the place is therefore a favour- 

 ite winter haunt of walrus, which are caught in great numbers from 

 the young ice. This was also the case now, but unfortunately the ice 

 had just broken up. 



On the 11th April, therefore, the ice was too thin to bear the 

 weight of our heavily laden sledges across to the place of ascent. 



On the 12th and 13th April a violent snowstorm was raging, and 

 we had to wait until the 14th before striking camp and moving off. 

 After a run of 13 km. or so over level young ice we reached the gla- 

 cier. The ice here ran about 3 km. out over the land; to the norths 

 however, the open water appeared to reach right in to the coast. 



Clemens Markham's Glacier is one of the more easily negotiable 

 of the active glaciers. It runs out into the sea, sloping gently down 

 through a ravine between perpendicular walls of cliff, from 2 — 4 km. 

 across. At its outflow into the sea, the glacier ends in a steep pre- 

 cipice, the height of which, measured barometrically, is 30 metres. 

 Bergs are not formed to any very great extent, and when this does 

 take place, the loosened portion glides as a rule gently and slowly 

 forward until partly borne up by the water, which is deep right in 

 to the face of the ice. The berg then breaks оЯ and floats away, 

 generally without any loss of equihbrium. On either side lie great 

 masses of stone, the lateral moraines, which run straight out into the 

 sea; these consist almost exclusively of stones, without clay or graveL 

 The intervals between the banked moraines and the glacier itself are 

 in winter filled up at many places with great snow drifts, and it was 

 over one of these that we made our way up on to the glacier. 



In the middle of the glacier, the wind had completely cleared the 

 ice of snow, and we were therefore obliged to drive over the snow 



