86 THE ICE AGE IN NORTH AMERICA. 



ern part of the view of the inland ice, as seen from Kelertin- 

 gouit, overlapped the northern part of it as seen on former 

 occasions, while northward it extended to at least 71° 15' north 

 latitude, so I had now viewed the section of the interior be- 

 tween 68° 30' and 71° 15', equal to 190 English miles, and had 

 everywhere found a straight, unbroken crest of snow-covered 

 ice, concealing the land so absolutely that not a single crag 

 appeared above its surface. 



The height of this straight, unbroken crest of snow was 

 now the object of attention — the principal object for which 

 the ascent was made. On bringing the theodolite to bear upon 

 it, I found that it appeared to be slightly depressed below my 

 station ; but, as it was distant more than one hundred miles, 

 it was only lower in appearance and not in reality. On the 

 assumption that it was no more than one hundred miles dis- 

 tant, after making allowance for the refraction and curvature 

 of the earth, its height was found to be considerably in excess 

 often thousand feet.* 



Northward from this point explorations have been carried 

 on incessantly since the middle of the last century begin- 

 ning with the expeditions of Drs. Kane and Hayes between 

 the years 1855 and 1862. These remarkable men were 

 associated from 1853 to 1855, in the second Grinnell Expe- 

 dition in search of Sir John Franklin, which succeeded in 

 exploring the coast on the east side of Smith Sound from 

 Cape Alexander, in latitude 78°, to Washington Land, in 

 latitude 80°; while in 1861 and 1862 Dr. Hayes conducted 

 an independent expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, in lati- 

 tude 82°, and resurveyed portions of his former field. 



In the neighborhood of Cape Dudley Digges, about lati- 

 tude 76° , Dr. Kane's party encountered a glacier which he 

 describes as follows: 



This glacier was about seven miles across at its "de- 

 bouche " ; it sloped gradually upward for some five miles back, 



*" Explorations in Greenland," "Choice Literature," 1884, pp, 170, 253, 

 308. 



