General observations as to natural conditions, 363 



no fissures along the route we followed, but out in the glacier itself there 

 was a chaos of enormous breaks in the ice. 



29nd— 30th June (Lat. 81°51' N., long. 35°40' W.). 



Nyeboes Lake is remarkable in several respects. The surface of the 

 water was at this time at a level of 270 metres. The lake was full of 

 calved blocks, but still frozen over save for the part nearest the shore 

 and outside the mouth of the river. 



From Nyeboes Bræ a tongue of ice runs out into the lake, sloping 

 fairly sharply down from the upper portion towards the lake itself, but 

 terminating in a sheer cliff which rises about 15 m. above the surface 

 of the water. Three distinctly marked water-lines on the ice showed 

 the considerable heights to which the water had formerly reached. The 

 shore near the lake was strewn in all directions with icebergs and large 

 and small blocks of calved ice, left high and dry at the places where 

 they had stood when the water subsided. On the south-western side of 

 the lake was a fairly steep slope, from which stones had fallen down towards 

 the water. The exact level of highest water was here very distinctly 

 marked, the stones being covered with a thin layer of the clay deposited 

 by the water. The calf ice extended right up to this limit, the smaller 

 blocks naturally reaching highest, as they would have been able to float 

 in shallower water. The larger of the stranded icebergs, which we estim- 

 ated as about 20 metres high, had in many cases cut up the face of the 

 ground, the mass of ice turning over as the water subsided, and tearing 

 a furrow for itself among the loose stones before coming to a final resting 

 place. It was an imposing sight to see the huge rocks which these ice- 

 bergs had carried down before them or thrust aside out of their path; 

 the effect gave one a good idea of the tremendous weight and power 

 of the ice. Naturally, the icebergs had in many cases toppled over and 

 been smashed to pieces. On the opposite side of the lake and in towards 

 Valmuedalen the banks were more horizontal — in Valmuedalen the 

 water even flows in, when at its highest level, over flat stretches of raised 

 sea bottom — so that the icebergs here lay for the most part in the same 

 position as they had occupied in the water, having simply bored them- 

 selves deep down into the loose sand and taken root, so to speak. Here, 

 as at Ymers Nunatak, the pillar-shaped bergs appeared to be by far 

 the most numerous. The vertical height from surface of the water to 

 uppermost water mark on the ice was 45 metres, the actual high water 

 mark on land, however, lying 10 metres higher, reckoning from the clay 

 deposit. It must have been several years since the water had reached 

 such a level, as plants several years old (poppies and potentilla) were 

 found growing right down to the water's edge. It would therefore seem 

 that the lake was now in process of filling, and with regard to its period, 

 the following may be stated: 



In view of the fact that there is ice on the lake from the last winter, 

 there must consequently have been water the year before ; it is probable, 

 LI. 26 



