THE GRANITE HARBOUR EXPEDITION 



387 



To the north-east two medial moraines stretched out from the 

 ridge and enclosed an area which we called the Harbour (see 

 p. 391). In a warm summer this is probably a lake. One 

 striking " piebald " debris cone was half white and half black. 

 It was twenty-five feet high, and the eastern portion had 

 resulted from the weathering of a huge " erratic " of sandstone, 

 while a similar mass of dolerite had broken up to form the 

 western half of the heap. 



Even so far up and away from the sea we found some 

 lichens. These diminutive plants were busily etching the 

 surface of the granite just as in more clement climes. 

 Beautiful rounded and polished platforms were quite abundant 

 on the ridge. Occasionally a hard band of porphyry would 



project and show almost a glaze where the coarser granite had 

 been weathered and dulled. 



We could now see uninterruptedly to the great ice 

 plateau. Only one nunatak lay between us and the outlet ice- 

 falls near Mount Gran. We saw many examples of perched 

 blocks, some being deposited on top of polished faces of 

 granite. One huge block, which I sketched, had been lowered 

 gently by the ice on to four " legs," at one corner composed 

 of two small stones. Between Mount Suess and Gondola 

 Ridge was a definite " col " or low pass containing small tarns 

 and covered with debris. We returned to the camp by this 

 route, and had no difficulty in clambering down its eastern 

 outlet. 



The 2nd of January was a cold gloomy morning. The 

 clouds settled down and swathed everything" in a clammy 



