GLACIAL STUDIES IN GREENLAND. 655 



less about their edges. The aggregation of these made up the 

 great mass of the ice pack. 



The ice of the floes was often very thick, and, although no 

 measurements were made, it seemed within safe limits to esti- 

 mate the depth at fifteen to twenty feet and occasionally more. 

 It retained so much of its integrity of structure as to give exqui- 

 sitely beautiful tints of green and blue. The blue tones appeared 

 to be chiefly due to light transmitted from the sky, the green to 

 light that arose from beneath the water, thrown back by sub- 

 merged, projecting shelves. The intergradation of tints was beau- 

 tiful beyond expression. 



A few, but only a very few, icebergs were embraced in the 

 ice pack ; from which the inference is drawn that either the East 

 Greenland glaciers do not freely put forth icebergs, or that they 

 still remained locked up in the icebound harbors of the coast. 

 The same inference must be extended, I suppose, to the glaciers 

 of the west side so far as skirted by this current. The process 

 of developing fantastic forms among the icebergs was apparently 

 identical, in large part, with that involved in the sculpturing of 

 the ice floes. 



But I have run ahead of my narrative somewhat. On encoun- 

 tering the border of the pack off Cape Desolation about nine 

 o'clock on the morning of the 12th, the course of the vessel was 

 turned westward and skirted its edge until midday, when the 

 pack was found more scattered, and the Falcon entered it, worm- 

 ing her way from opening to opening, for the greater part, but 

 forcing a passage by direct collision when necessary. The floes, 

 however, continued to be measurably thickset, particularly toward 

 the coast. A direct crossing of the stream seemed to grow more 

 difficult as it was penetrated, and towards evening the course of 

 the vessel was directed to the westward to escape the closer 

 packed ice near the coast. Several hours were required to reach 

 the more open portion, and during the night, and most of the 

 following day, there were frequent encounters with belts of ice. 

 These were usually separated by tracts of open water. The 

 northern limit of the ice pack, as seen by us, lay nearly opposite 



