A CHASM. 



177 



twelve to thirty feet. Its depth, we estimated to 

 have exceeded four hundred and iifty feet, as our 

 line of a hundred yards, with a stone fastened to 

 the end, did not appear to reach two-thirds of the 

 way down. The river, itself, looked shallow, from 

 boulders of ice, that had fallen in from the top, 

 appearing to turn the stream. This, however, we 

 could not prove ; for, notwithstanding we hurled 

 down huge blocks of ice, and pieces of rock that 

 were scattered about near the edge, they broke all 

 to pieces before reaching the water, by rebounding 

 from side to side, causing strange rumbling noises 

 to re-echo from the depths below. 



In some places the chasm was completely arched 

 over with solid ice, and in others it appeared to 

 have been closed, or bridged, by blocks having 

 fallen in from above, or part of the precipitous 

 walls having given way. Even when open, we 

 could not always see the stream, although we 

 heard it rushing along its tortuous channel, as 

 the walls inclined inwards, one overhanging the 

 other. From the under-faces of these projecting 

 sides hung clusters of gigantic icicles, exceeding 



