168 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



scratches were very fresh and clear, distinct on all freshly 

 exposed surfaces near the water-level, while upon the south 

 side of Ikamiut fiord, facing the north, the glacial groovings 

 parallel to the axis of the fiord were very distinct up to a 

 height of 2,000 feet. Upon the side of the fiord facing the 

 sun the alternations of heat and cold had caused the faces of 

 the rock to crumble to such an extent that the markings 

 were nearly all effaced ; but upon the south side they were 

 still very distinct, and could be traced up the fiord to the 

 front of the retreating glacier. 



Now that the main glacier has retreated for a distance of 

 about eight miles up the whole length of the Ikamiut fiord, 

 local glaciers are creeping down the flanks of the mountains 

 at right angles to the former movement ; and one glacier of 

 considerable size is moving directly toward the front of the 

 main glacier as it impinges upon the eastern side end of the 

 mountain, thus showing how complicated are the movements 

 accompanying both the advance and the retreat of the great 

 ice-sheet, and accounting for the different directions in which 

 glacial scratches often cross the same rock surface. It is 

 evident that along this fiord from which the ice has retreated 

 the local glaciers are furrowing and scratching the flanks of 

 the mountain at right angles to those which were produced 

 when the fiord was full of ice. 



The glacier coming in to the head of Ikamiut fiord bore 

 upon its back an enormous medial moraine, fed chiefly by 

 branches from the north. This extended back as far as the 

 eye could see, or until it was concealed by the freshly fallen 

 snows. For the first five miles back from the front this 

 moraine was fully half a mile wide, and contained many 

 angular boulders from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. 

 Mingled with these, and with the sand, mud, and gravel 

 accompanying them, were numerous perfectly rounded pebbles 

 a few inches in diameter, showing the vigor of the superglacial 



