FIRST WESTERN EXPEDITION 165 



of honeycomb. We found that this honeycomb ice was very 

 common in this part of the Koettlitz. 



We tried to find an easier way out of the numerous undu- 

 lations which now characterized the surface, but unsuccessfully, 

 and so plugged on south-west. We used to u pully-haul " up 

 one side {i.e. hand over hand) and then toboggan down the 

 other. P.O. Evans was an expert steersman, while we others 

 used to keep the ropes clear. But we had some nasty falls, 

 especially Evans, who got a cut deep in his palm from a piece 

 of" bottle-glass" ice, in spite of his thick mits. 



At noon we came across a picturesque tunnel in the ice, 

 about three feet wide, seven feet high, and one hundred feet 

 long. It had been cut out by thaw-waters which had now 

 drained away. 



In and out wound the lanes, forming a regular network 

 through all sorts of picturesque pinnacles. Here was one 

 like a yacht on stocks, there a perfect wedding-cake twelve 

 feet high, again a lady's bonnet, and so on, in infinite 

 variety. 



The long promontories of " bastions ' along which we 

 skirted are probably dissected undulations of the original 

 glacier surface, fifty to a hundred feet high. They are all 

 steep to the north, and covered with sloping plough-shares on 

 the south. The bergs which we left ten miles back were like 

 jumbled blocks, and were not separated by simple channels — 

 which looks as if they had been floating separately at some 

 period and then frozen together again. This may explain the 

 presence of the sponges and fish which we found so far from 

 any open water. 



On the 24th I wrote : " This is the day of my release 

 from the joys of cooking ! We have done four weeks. A 

 rotten night, cold, and pillow (of books, etc.) slipping away 

 on the smooth surface. Every one restless. Smooth ice no 

 good to sleep on, though I had a jersey under me. Bright 

 next morning, and we took photos till 10 a.m. Then we 

 made across country towards a hanging valley. Some of the 

 lanes were overhanging, and I took a photo of Debenham 

 and Evans sitting under a ledge. Sheets of plate-glass pro- 

 jecting from low bastions were common, but there was no 

 undulating country. More common were sharp bottle-glass 

 angles sticking up abominably from about eighteen inches to 



