1870 ICE- WAVES. 19 



I was about two miles ahead of the sledge, but could 

 see nothing and do nothing, so turned back and sought 

 refuge in the drag-belt and the company of my sledge 

 crew. Steered by sastrugi, which I had observed ran 

 directly from the point for which we wanted to shape 

 a course. With a very little care this plan answered 

 admirably, and enabled us to go on knowing we were 

 losing no ground.' 



On the 7th the camp was pitched a mile east of 

 Cape Alexandra. Aldrich writes : ' We crossed a 

 fox track and a few lemming tracks to-day. These 

 are the only signs of life we have come across for a 

 long time. The land is entirely covered in snow, 

 except a few bare places on the face of the cliffs. 



' The health of the crew is very good, except stiff 

 legs, which are pretty general, and only to be expected. 

 The two worst are the Sergeant-Major and Jas. Doidge.' 

 After passing Cape Albert Edward, Aldrich refers 

 to the extremely low and level character of the shore, 

 and describes a remarkable formation of what he desig- 

 nates ' ice-waves.' 



6 Several low ridges from thirty to forty feet high, 

 and varying from a few hundred yards to about a mile 

 in length, show up in front of the cliffs. Their general 

 direction is S.E. and N.W., hence on the east coast 

 of the bay they extend at, or nearly at, right angles 

 from the land, while to the south-westward they are 

 nearly parallel with it. I imagine these ridges are 

 composed of hard ice under the snow, though I had 

 no means of penetrating it to a sufficient depth to find 

 whether or no land lay underneath. 



'In passing between Ward Hunt Island and the 



c2 



