Vol. S 2.] 



OF ARCTIC EUROPE AND ITS ISLANDS. 



73J) 



6. Spitsbergen. 



Spitsbergen, especially its western 

 coast, presents the most sublime and 

 magnificent scenery that I have met 

 with in Polar lands. Its western shore 

 is as easy of approach in summer as 

 that of Norway, and secure anchorages 

 and harbours can always be reached. 

 It is a land pre-eminently suitable for 

 the study of glacial effects, for not only 

 do we find there the forces of land-ice, 

 but also, as it is an area of rapid emer- 

 gence, the phenomena connected with 

 glacio-marine action can be seen in 

 progress. Along the shores of the great 

 estuaries, such as Ice Fiord, old sea- 

 beaches and terraces, containing the 

 shells of recent mollusca in great 

 quantities, are frequent. But the only 

 novel observation which I have to record 

 is that, owing to the rapid elevation of 

 the land, we can examine in detail 

 immense deposits originally formed 

 under water in front of glaciers. 

 These deposits in many cases now lie 

 between the present shore-line and the 

 edge of the glacier of to-day, and their 

 thickness and extent make them de- 

 serving of attention. A very notable 

 formation of this nature is to be found 

 at the head of Green Harbour, one of 

 the minor indentations on the southern 

 side of Ice Fiord. The front of the 

 glacier that now occupies the valley is 

 about a mile distant from the present 

 shore-line. Fronting this glacier, the 

 terminal face of which is about 50 feet 

 in height, and extending entirely across 

 it for 1| mile in length, is a range of 

 low hills, some 50 to 70 feet high 

 and \ mile in width. These hills have 

 undergone much subaerial erosion, and 

 channels have been cut in them by 1 he 

 numerous streams issuing from under 

 the glacier. Following up one of these 

 watercourses, which average from 25 

 to 50 yards across, with a very level 

 bottom, we find sections of mud and 

 clay, rising like walls on either side to 



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