100 I. a Russell— Expedition to Mount St. Elias. 



its beginnings have never been seen ; but our general knowledge 

 of the fountains from which glaciers flow assures us that not 

 only scores but hundreds of other secondary and tertiary glaciers 

 far back into the mountains contribute their floods to the same 

 great stream. 



After being received on board the Corwin, late in September, 

 we had an op]3ortunity to view the great sea-cliffs of the Hubbard 

 glacier near at hand. Captain Hooper, attracted by the magnifi- 

 cent scenery, took his vessel up Disenchantment bay to a point 

 beyond Haenke island, whence a view could be had of the eastern 

 extension of the inlet. So far as is known, the Corwin was the 

 first vessel to navigate those waters. Soundings made between 

 the island and the ice-foot gave forty to sixty fathoms. At the 

 elbow, Avhere the southeastern shore of the bay turns abruptly 

 eastward, there is a low islet not represented on any map previous 

 to the one made by the recent expedition, which commands even 

 a wider prospect than can be obtained from Haenke island. . 

 Future visitors to this remote coast should endeavor to reach this 

 islet, after having beheld the grand panorama obtainable from 

 the summit of Haenke island. The portion of Disenchantment 

 bay stretching eastward from the foot of Hubbard glacier is 

 enclosed on all sides by bold mountains, the lower slopes of 

 Avhich have the subdued and flowing outlines characteristic of 

 glaciated regions. Several glaciers occur in the high-grade lateral 

 valleys opening from the bay; but these have recently retreated, 

 and none of them have sufficient volume at present to reach the 

 water. The general recession, in which all the glaciers of Alaska 

 are participating, is manifested here by the broad debris fields, 

 which cover all the lower ice-streams not ending in the sea. 

 The absence of vegetation on the smooth rocks recently aban- 

 doned by the ice also tells of recent climatic changes. 



A debris-covered glacier, so completely concealed by continu- 

 ous sheets of stones and earth that its true character can scarcely 

 be recognized, descends from the mountains just east of Hubbard 

 glacier. It is formed by the union of two principal tributaries^ 

 and, on reaching comparatively level ground, expands into a 

 broad ice-foot, but does not have sufficient volume to reach the 

 sea. Another glacier, of smaller size but of the same general 

 character, lies between the Hubbard and Dalton glaciers. 



In a rugged defile in the mountains just west of Haenke island 

 there is another small dirt-coverecl glacier, Avhich creeps down 

 from the precipices above and reaches within a mile of the water. 



