Januaey 4, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



35 



two of ray associates, Lawrence Martin and B. 

 S. Butler, made an expedition to the western 

 margin of the Floral Hills, where they had a 

 clear view, and took photographs of the east- 

 ern margin of the Malaspina Glacier. At 

 that time no unusual conditions were noticed. 



In the summer of 1906, I made a second 

 expedition to Alaska, having for its object 

 the crossing of the Malaspina Glacier from 

 east to west. It was my purpose to follow 

 Kussell's route as far as the Marvine Glacier, 

 crossing it about where he did, then cross the 

 route of Prince Luigi and Mr. Bryant, and 

 proceed thence westward to the western mar- 

 gin if possible, in the meantime making side 

 trips up the tributary glaciers and to varioui! 

 parts of the margin of the Malaspina. 



This plan was most unexpectedly interfered 

 with. The Marvine Glacier, which in 1890 

 Professor Eussell crossed with ease, carrying 

 his entire mountain-climbing outfit, was 

 transformed from a smooth ice surface to a 

 labyrinth of crevasses, across which we found 

 it totally impossible to carry supplies. Even 

 the passage of the glacier unburdened would 

 have been a task which no one short of expert 

 Alpinists could attempt; and I doubt very 

 much if even they could possibly cross the 

 glacier from side to side. 



The evidence of our photographs of 1905, 

 and of the views which we had from the 

 neighboring mountains, clearly demonstrate 

 that this remarkable change in the glacier has 

 occurred since August, 1905. In 1906 we 

 passed along the eastern margin of the Malas- 

 pina Glacier from the point of emergence of 

 the Marvine Glacier from its mountain valley 

 west of Blossom Island down the Kwik Val- 

 ley to the sea. Thence southwestward along 

 the shores of Yakutat Bay to Point Manby we 

 saw the ice front from a boat During his 

 retreat in 1891, Professor Eussell traveled 

 freely from Point Manby to the Kwik River 

 along this seaward margin of the glacier. 

 Now it is impassably crevassed throughout 

 the entire distance. 



As we passed along the margin of the 

 glacier, we found abundant evidence that the 

 forward movement which has broken it is still 

 in progress. The ice was even then being 



broken into blocks; ice fragments were fall- 

 ing from its face; moraine was tumbling down 

 the front and into the crevasses; new streams 

 were emerging from the moraine-covered 

 front; and during the interval of a month 

 which elapsed between our traverse up the 

 glacier margin and our return, there were 

 numerous changes in detail. 



In places where the moraine on the glacier 

 was occupied by forest, the crevassing had 

 greatly disturbed the tree growth. The trees, 

 some of which must have been at least fifty 

 years old, stood at all angles and were fre- 

 quently seen to fall down the ice front and 

 into the crevasses. That the ice movement 

 was wholly of the present season was proved 

 by the fact that all the overturned trees had 

 developed leaves before the disturbance 

 affected them. 



By this advance of the Marvine tributary 

 to the Malaspina Glacier, the eastern portion 

 of this piedmont glacier has been trans- 

 formed to a sea of crevasses. The crevassed 

 area starts with the width of the Marvine 

 Glacier at its emergence from the mountain 

 valley, but expands toward the sea into a bulb- 

 shaped area of crevasses which includes the 

 entire portion of the Malaspina Glacier bor- 

 dering upon Yakutat Bay. Thus the cre- 

 vassed area cuts across the routes followed by 

 Bryant and Prince Luigi, so that at the 

 present time a journey to Mount St. Elias 

 from their point of starting (the Osar Eiver) 

 is out of the question. 



We were unable to closely examine the 

 tributaries of the Malaspina Glacier west of 

 the Marvine; but from a distant view it is 

 evident that no such disturbance as that 

 caused by the advancing Marvine Glacier is 

 present to the westward, as far as one could 

 see. The Seward Glacier, next west of the 

 Marvine, is, however, badly crevassed near the 

 point of its emergence from its mountain 

 valley; and one of my party, Benno Alex- 

 ander, who was with Prince Luigi, asserts that 

 it is far more broken than in 189Y. Whether 

 this represents the beginning of an advance 

 similar to that of the Marvine can not now be 

 stated. 



The Hayden Glacier, which joins the Malas- 



