258 



of the year (August) — were usually almost empty of water. 

 Several of these valleys are very short, some only a few hundred 

 metres in length; others are widely forked and reach far in- 

 land; but all show a strong tendency to come to an abrupt 

 termination against a steep wall. This is the same peculiar 

 type of valleys that has often been described from certain desert 

 regions. Here the explanation I offered just now for the valleys 

 at the E. plateau precipice, does not hold good; it seems to 



Fig. 25. The quaternary coast on the W. side of Jameson Land. 

 (C. Kruuse phot. 17: 8: 1900.) 



me most likely that here the streamlets that we now see in 

 the valleys rise from springs which have gradually succeeded 

 in carrying away the masses of earth lying before and over them. 



But few watercourses reach the interior of the land. Their 

 valleys are usually broad, not specially marked, and show no 

 unusual characteristics. 



Already in Scoresby's time Jameson Land hadf attracted 

 attention because of its freedom from snow and ice, and nev- 

 ertheless it lies between the inland ice and Liverpool 'Land, 

 which — at least in part — is so rich in glaciers and ice. 

 That permanent ice is not altogether wanting has already been 



