THE FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER, WESTLAND. 



The Franz Josef Glacier, remarkable for the low altitude of its 

 terminal face, is situated on the western side of the Southern Alps, 

 a little over sixty miles as the crow flies south-west of Hokitika, 

 and not many miles north of Mount Cook. The front of the glacier 

 lies approximately in latitude 43 26' south and longitude 170 n' 30" 

 east of Greenwich. It is now easily reached by motor-coach from 

 Hokitika (road-distance ninety-five miles), or from the. rail-head at 

 Ross, fifteen miles south-west of Hokitika. 



The terminal face of the Franz Josef Glacier is approximately 

 692 ft. (as determined in 1909) above sea-level, and about eleven 

 miles from the sea-coast. It has a width of about half a mile. The 

 nominal head of the glacier, at Graham Saddle, seven miles and a half 

 to the south-east, has an elevation of 8,759 ft., but neighbouring 



" ^FiG. 23. The Franz Josef Glacier. 



peaks, Mount de la Beche and Minaret Peaks, rise to heights of over 

 10,000 ft. 



About half-way from Graham Saddle to the terminal face 

 the feeding snowfields converge in order to enter a comparatively 

 narrow valley. Here is the " Great Icefall," and thence down- 

 wards the upper surface of the glacier is everywhere less than 

 three-quarters of a mile wide. The low altitude to which the ice 

 descends may be attributed to the narrowness of the containing 

 valley and its steep grade. As determined by observations made 

 in 1908, the surface of the glacier, towards the centre of the valley, 

 but near the terminal face, moves at the rate of about 2 ft. per day 

 in summer. Higher up, towards the icefall, the motion is no doubt 

 more rapid. In winter. the motion is presumably slower. 



