ALASKA, THE GREAT ICE LAND. 173 



St. Elias than Yakatat, with three Indians on board, 

 but no canoes. The United States navy, however, in 

 the shape of Captain Nicholls, came to our rescue by 

 offering us the use of one of the large boats belonging 

 to the vessel, which after we had landed would enable 

 us to return to Yakatat, there to await the return of 

 the Pinta in September. 



Early next morning anchor was dropped in the so- 

 called Icy Bay, which in reality was no bay at all, 

 opposite to a spot indicated by the Indians as the best, 

 but without shelter from the almost ceaseless swell on 

 which the ship rolled uneasily. The breakers were 

 thundering upon a steep shore composed of sand and 

 shingle ; beyond these were visible the tree-tops of an 

 extensive forest, and beyond the forest a long white 

 line of ice, which gradually approached the sea on 

 either side, enclosing the trees as it were in its icy 

 arms, till glacier and ocean met and formed a long 

 frontage, extending as far as the eye could see, of 

 arctic cliffs. The task we now had before us was to 

 land our stores, which comprised several boat loads. 

 After delaying for some hours in hopes of the surf 

 abating without observing any improvement, Lieute- 

 nant Emmons succeeded in reaching the beach on the 

 crest of a huge billow, paying out rope from a small 

 anchor which he had dropped as an assistance in 

 putting off again. 



