THE GLACIERS OF GREEXLAXD. 89 



alize that they could be formed by the ordinary granulating 

 processes of the winter snows. My impression is, that the sur- 

 face of the plateau-ice, the mer de glace of the island, is made 

 ii}) of these agglomerated nodules, and that they are forced out 

 and discarded by the advance of the more compact ice from 

 higher levels.* 



The winter of 1853 and 185-t was spent by Dr. Kane in Yan 

 Rensselaer Harbor, in latitude 78° 60'. From this point Dr. 

 Hayes and a small party were sent inland for the purpose of 

 securing, if possible, some game to eke out their ship-sup- 

 plies of food. They reported that, " after penetrating the 

 interior about ninety miles, their progress was arrested by a 

 glacier four hundred feet high, and extending to the north 

 and west as far as the eye could reach." On his second ex- 

 pedition, in I860, Dr. Hayes penetrated this same region 

 again, starting from Port Foulke, about twenty miles to the 

 southwest — venturing, this time, some distance out on the 

 surface of the glacier. The following is his own vivid de- 

 scription of the ice-field, beginning with the narrative of his 

 first expedition. 



At length we emerged upon a broad plain or valley, wider 

 than any we had yet seen, in the heart of which reposed a 

 lake about two miles in length by half a mile in width, over 

 the transparent, glassy surface of which we walked. On either 

 side of us rose rugged bluffs, that stretched off into long lines 

 of hills, culminating in series in a broad-topped mountain- 

 ridge, which, running away to right and left, was cut by a gap 

 several miles wide that opened directly before us. Immediately 

 in front was a low hill, around the base of which flowed upon 

 either side the branches of the stream which we had followed. 

 Leaving the bed of the river just above the lake, we ascended 

 to the top of this hillock ; and here a sight burst upon us, 

 grand and imposing beyond any power of mine adequately to 

 describe. From the rocky bed, only a few miles in advance, a 

 sloping wall of pure whiteness rose to a broad level plain of ice 



Arctic Explorations," vol. i, pp. 334-336 



