SCENERY AND TOPOGRAPHY 



two or three times. So here in the Ferrar Glacier 

 Valley it was difficult at first to realize that it was 

 four miles wide, and that the cliffs at the side were 

 four or five thousand feet above the glacier. Very 

 characteristic were the smooth walls of the valley, free 

 from any of the ridges or spurs which partly block the 

 view in a river-cut valley (see Figure 15). It was as if 

 a gigantic carpenter had planed off every projection 

 on the great walls. And indeed the Ice King with his 

 glacier had done precisely that bit of crustal shaping! 



Yet it must not be thought that the scene lacked • 

 variety or even color effects. The cliffs were built up 

 of alternating layers of reddish granite, black dolerite 

 and yellow Beacon Sandstone, Below these appeared 

 the broad belt of dark brown talus, contrasting with 

 the flashing white surface of the great glacier. As for 

 the latter, every few yards often exhibited fresh ice 

 structures. Here were deep irregular bowls with their 

 floors covered with fan crystals of ice. Alongside were 

 topsy-turvy icicles joined at the lower ends only. Far- 

 ther on, the solid ice was marked by glassy arabesques, 

 probably where stones had sunk into the glacier. Again 

 there were dome-shaped roofs covering pools of water, 

 through which one fell at frequent intervals. Bound- 

 ing the glacier was a colonnade of ice pinnacles some 

 thirty feet high. The sun glistening on the ice minarets 

 made a most impressive sight. 



A week or two later we explored a most unexpected 

 region in the Antarctic. Below the Taylor Glacier 

 lies a huge valley, some twenty-five miles long and 

 several miles wide, in which there is hardly a vestige 



III 



