FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 301 
such fantastic blocks and yawning crevasses that to ascend is 
well-nigh impossible. By use of the ice-axe a knife edge ridge 
among the seracs and pinnacles was finally scaled. From this 
vantage point there were several magnificent! views, the finest of 
which was the impressive U-shaped valley seen in looking down 
the glacier. In order to get into position for a photo of this, it 
was necessary to turn about and in doing so the ice-ax slipped 
off into a thirty foot depression at the bottom of which was a 
narrow crevasse. Glock was out of sight exploring the east face 
for a place to descend to the ground, hoping thereby to ascend 
above the ice fall by climbing along the valley wall. The descent 
and recovery of the ax were accomplished but not without the 
greatest thrill of the whole trip. Glock gave up his attempt 
and we learned later that the best way to attain the surface 
above the lower ice fall was to go up a path along the valley 
wall without first ascending the frontal face. 
At a point four miles above the terminus is the Great Ice-fall. 
Here the ‘‘ice falls over a thousand feet between colossal preci- 
pices on either side.’’ Along this abrupt slope and at its foot 
the ice is riven into a forest of slender pinnacles, and the sight 
is said to be one of the most imposing in the Southern Alps. 
From this point to the lower ice-fall the surface is everywhere 
rough, uneven, and in places very steep. 
Individually, Franz Josef glacier has several remarkable 
features. The low elevation of its terminus in latitude 43°26’ 
is unusual and may be accounted for by the heavy precipitation 
of the west coast, the steepness of the descent, the large con- 
tributing snowfields and the precipitous confining walls on 
either side. On the date of our visit the sun did not strike the 
lower ice before 9:30 A.M. and not all of it before 10:00 A.M. 
At 3:00 P.M. the ice was again in the shadow of the eliffs al- 
though the sun did not set for nearly two hours. This means 
that the total number of effective melting hours is greatly re- 
duced at least during several months of the year. Again the 
region is one of considerable cloudiness as the high precipitation 
would suggest. Another unusual feature is the absence of sur- 
face moraines and glacier tables due, as pointed out above, to 
the highly broken character of the ice. The strong cascades, the 
multitudinous crevasses, and the scarcity of striated pebbles are 
other more or less individual characteristics. Generically the 
