THE WHITE WORLD 



Monday and several of the following days were bright 

 and clear, enabling us successfully to carry out our plans 

 of making botanical and zoological collections, and to 

 explore the little-known icefields at the head of the fiord. 



The fiord which we planned to explore extends eight 

 miles inland from the point on which we were encamped, 

 and is from two to three miles wide, though from the 

 clearness of the atmosphere it was difficult to make either 

 of these distances seem half so great. The solemn gran- 

 deur of the scenery exceeded anything which it had been 

 our privilege elsewhere to behold. The mountains arose 

 on either side to a height of something more than four 

 thousand feet, which, indeed, is not so high as may be 

 found in many other parts of the world; but the interest 

 is not exhausted in the consideration of any single feature 

 of the scene. Opposite to the entrance of the fiord was 

 the picturesque outline of the peaks capping the island of 

 Sermersut, which alone separated us from the waters of 

 the ocean, while at the head of the fiord a broad projec- 

 tion from the inland ice sheet came down on both sides 

 of a high mountain peak to the water's level and broke 

 off into icebergs, which were slowly floating outward to- 

 ward the sea. 



Nothing could be more striking than the contrast be- 

 tween the opposite sides of the fiord. The flanks of the 

 mountains on the south side, facing the north, were deeply 

 covered with snow fields and furrowed with glaciers. 

 Above the snow fields a series of sharp, needle-like peaks 

 projected just enough to give savage variety to the scene. 

 On this flank the local glaciers presented an object-lesson 

 most perfect of its kind. A series of glaciers approached 

 the water level at the base of the mountain to distances 

 approximately proportionate to that separating them from 

 the ice front at the head of the fiord. Near the entrance 

 was one coming down to within about one thousand feet 

 of the water level. Farther east was one reaching to 

 within about five hundred feet of the level. Farther east 

 still, another came to within about three hundred feet; 

 while still beyond, and within about half a mile of the 

 main projection of the ice front, was one extending to the 

 water's edge, and sending off miniature icebergs to aid in 

 cumbering the waters of the fiord. 



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