1875 ALEXANDRA HAVEN. 67 



occupied the higher portion of each of the valleys, 

 but none of them appeared to reach the sea. This 

 fiord is protected from the entry of any large floes by 

 an island at its mouth, to which was given the name 

 of the Three Sisters, from a similar number of con- 

 spicuous conical hills rising from its base. 



Wishing to anchor at the entrance of the fiord 

 ready to take advantage of any movement in the outer 

 ice, we sounded our way towards the shore, opposite 

 to a large valley, off which I expected to find a bank 

 with shallow water. Instead of this we obtained no 

 bottom with fifty fathoms at a distance of fifty yards 

 from the beach. JSTot finding an anchorage, we re- 

 traced our course about a mile to a small rocky bay 

 scarcely large enough to receive the two ships, situated 

 at the extreme end of one of the spurs of the Prince of 

 Wales Mountains. I named it Alexandra Haven. 



As soon as the ships were secured, the sportsmen 

 started in all directions to explore the neighbourhood. 

 In the valley off which I had endeavoured to anchor, 

 was found what in these regions may be termed a 

 richly vegetated plain extending about two miles back 

 from the coast, and fronting two valleys each contain- 

 ing a glacier. These glaciers coming from opposite 

 directions abut the one against the other, maintaining 

 a constant struggle. Those amongst us who were for- 

 tunate enough to visit the locality, which was named 

 Twin Glacier Valley, were well repaid by the grandeur 

 of the scene. 



The summer thaw of ice and snow had produced a 

 broad watercourse down the valley, which at this date 

 was occupied by a pellucid stream of some twenty 



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