THE RIVER KATARINA AND LAKE PEARSON 279 



Afterwards, travelling by day, we made our way to the peninsula, 

 rocks often jutted out into the fairway, but these were easy to 

 locate, as we had been through the channel before and had some 

 knowledge of its reefs. A number of icebergs had been blown 

 down out of the western channel, but the water had fallen con- 

 siderably since our last visit, and when we reached the peninsula 

 we found it impossible to resume "our former camp there, so we 

 were forced to pass an uncommonly cold night on a bare bit of 

 beach without so much as a bush to shelter us. 



From time to time we spent a good while on this peninsula. It 

 was studded with erratic boulders, and the soil on it varied from 

 six to twelve inches in depth. On this visit I saw a red-crested wood- 

 pecker. The views from the higher part of the peninsula were 

 infinitely grand. The gigantic glacier, the dark forests, the innu- 

 merable icebergs floating below the black cliffs — all these combined 

 to make up pictures which I should like to be able to reproduce. 



In time the weather moderated,- and we made a last essay to 

 penetrate to the farther end of the main Fjord. As we proceeded 

 the water became shallower, so that it was necessary occasionally 

 to take soundings. There were also many rocks. We once more 

 noticed dry sticks and leaves drifting past, and presently ahead of 

 us, through a gap in the Cordillera, we caught a glimpse of flat 

 country. This time we fulfilled our desire and attained to the 

 termination of the Fjord, where we came to the mouth of a river of 

 considerable size. It swung out from round the base of a cliff, 

 and had thrown up a slight bar where it joined the waters of the 

 lake. I named it the River Katarina. 



We camped at this point and began at once to explore the 

 valley of the river. It flowed over a stony bed, presenting much 

 the appearance of a large Scotch trout-stream. The canadon 

 through which it passed was very wide, and the stream wound 

 greatly. At the time of our visit the river was very shallow, and 

 there was not water enough to float the launch, in fact a stone 

 picked up from the bottom lodged itself between the blades of the 

 propeller and we had to haul up for repairs. This business of 

 repairing was one we often had to perform, and necessity being the 

 mother of invention, the dodges we resorted to were original. 



