26 



Upon returning to the ship, several members of the crew who had 

 taken special pricle in the work of the expedition went to the com- 

 manding officer and requested permission to erect some sort of a 

 monument ashore at Port Quervain to mark the northernmost point 

 ever attained by a United States Coast Guard vessel on the eastern 

 side of North America. Accordingly a Avritten record was wrapped 

 in a weatherproof covering and placed in a cairn built on top of a 

 promiment near-by hill. The men amassed an impressive pile of 

 stones for their purpose and topped it all with a 3-inch brass cartridge 

 case inscribed " Marion Expedition, 1928." 



At 7.05 p. m. on August 10, 1928, the Marion began proceeding 

 toward Ata, where the guide, Peterson, was returned to his home at 

 9.10 p. m. This little outpost village consisted of a few tiny houses 

 built on a rocky lowland at the base of towering mountains. The 



A FLANK VIEW OF A GREENLAND GLACIER 



Figure 21. — Looking back towards tbe glacier that discliarges at Port Quervain, Green- 

 land. The steep slope passed over by the ice just before reaching the sea breaks the 

 glacier up into small pieces. Therefore, this ice stream never produces large bergs. 



house of the native outpost manager was visited by some of the offi- 

 cers, Avho Avere given strong black coffee there in a room Avhich 

 contained a hard wooden sleeping bench, a few chairs, and a potted 

 plant on a stand by the window. There were some inexpensive 

 framed prints on the walls. The outpost manager then visited the 

 Marion^ accompanied by his wife and grown daughter. The latter, 

 a tall, splendid-looking Eskimo girl, was dressed in fine sealskin 

 clothing and wore the bright and elaborately decorated high boots 

 that are possessed by all native women of any means. 



Several bergs Avere grounded off Ata near the Marion^ anchorage. 

 A little fleet of seal hunters in kyaks Avere soon seen among them, 

 approaching from Ata Sound. Each tiny boat had a Avhite cloth like 

 a little square sail at its boAv. We Avere told that these Avere not used 

 for propulsion, but were for the kyakers to hide behind Avhile stealing 

 up close to unsuspecting seals. Some of the natives Avere induced to 



