HAYES' JOURNEY IX 1860. 11 



the party not being roped together, fallen through a crevasse ; and, 

 as none of the party seemed to have the slightest experience of 

 glacier travel, the wonder was that more mishaps did not occur. 

 The ice was at first rough and broken, and almost free from snow. 

 As they penetrated further in, the surface of the glacier became 

 smoother, the great inequality nearer the edge was probably owing 

 to the inequality of the surface over which it spread itself. 

 After journeying for about 5 miles, they pitched their tent on 

 the ice, and slept soundly, though the temperature was several 

 degrees lower than what it was the night before. On the following 

 day they travelled 30 miles, and the ascent, which during the last 

 march had been an angle of about 6°, diminished to about one- 

 third of that angle of observation ; and from a surface of hard ice 

 they had come iipon a plateau of compacted snow, through which no 

 true ice could be got by digging down to the depth of three feet. 

 At that depth, however, the snow assumed a more gelid condition, 

 and, though not actually ice, they could not penetrate into it further 

 without great difficulty. The snow was covered with a crust which 

 the foot broke at every step, making the travelling very laborious. 

 About 25 miles were made the following day, the track being much 

 the same character, and at about the same elevation. The tem- 

 perature had now fallen to 30° below zero (of Fahrenheit), and a 

 fierce gale meeting them in the face, drove them to the shelter of 

 their tent, and, after resting for a few hours, compelled them to 

 return, though Dr. Hayes had intended proceeding one day further 

 when he first set out. The temperature was now 34° below zero 

 during the night, though at Port Foulkes, during their absence, it 

 was 22° higher. All of them were more or less frost-bitten, and 

 one of the party seemed likely to give in altogether. The cold was 

 so intense that all of them had to quit the shelter of the tent and 

 run about on the ice to save themselves from getting benumbed. 

 They were now at an altitude of 5000 feet above the sea, 70 miles ' 

 from the coast, in the midst of a vast frozen Sahara, immeasurable to 

 human eye. Neither hill nor dale was anywhere in view. They 

 had completely sunk the strip of land which lies between the mer 

 de glace and the sea, and no object met the eye but their feeble tent, 

 which bent to the storm. " Fitful clouds swept over the face of the 

 full-orbed moon, which, descending towards the horizon, glimmered 

 through the drifting snow that whirled out of the illimitable 



1 Lathe American ' Proc. Philosoph. Soc.,' Dec, 1861, and ' Proc. Royal (leogr. 

 Soc.,' vol. ix. p. 186, Dr. Hayes mentioned the distance which lie penetrated into 

 the interior 08 fifty miles. With every respect to him, I think that he has orer- 

 estimated the distances travelled hy his party on the glucier. 



