CHAPTER V 

 Ice Formations in the Salt Marshes 



''or to reside 

 In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice'' 



— Shakespeare 



THE salt marshes, intersected by winding 

 creeks and cut by larger estuaries, are 

 always scenes of beauty and interest in 

 winter. Usually there are pools and veins of 

 blue water which relieve the universal whiteness, 

 but, in severe seasons, all alike is icebound. As 

 far as the eye can see, all is glistening ice. At 

 dead low tide, the smallest creeks are roofed 

 over at the level of the marsh and the tide rushes 

 and gurgles back and forth unseen below. 

 Creeks a little larger are choked with huge cakes 

 of ice that balance on their edges, fill their depths 

 or form ice bridges at various parts of their 

 courses. In the still larger creeks, the banks are 

 capped, coated, pillared and buttressed in ice, 

 while the body of the creek is covered with a 



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