1180 The American Naturalist. [December, 
** As soon as topographic work was well under way a line of march 
towards St. Elias was decided upon. All of our rations, bedding, 
tents, etc., had to be carried or * packed' by the men, the character of 
the country not allowing the use of animals. At first the trips from 
camp to camp had to be repeated several times. Profiting by experi- 
ence we abandoned everything that was not essential, and as our work 
progressed we found that many things deemed indispensable at first 
could be left behind. Our line of march was toward the northwest, 
with the triangular summit of St. Elias as our guide. Fortune favored 
usin many ways. We found passes in the mountains leading in the 
direction we wished to travel, and no insurmountable difficulties in the . 
way, although great patience and judgment were required in treading 
the net-work of crevasses in the ice fields. Probably more than nine- 
tenths of the journey was across glaciers and snow fields. 
** On the first of August we were midway between Yakutat Bay and 
St. Elias, but still at the base of the mountains. Our camp was in the 
last and highest grove of trees that it was practicable to reach. The 
timber line is there about 1500 feet high, and all trees disappear a few . 
miles to the west. An island of rock surrounded by vast glaciers, but 
clothed with beautiful flowers, rank ferns, and dense spruce trees, fur- 
nished a delightful spot for our base camp. We named this lovely 
oasis in the desert of ice * Blossom Island.’ From there our work in 
the high mountains began. On following. up Marvin Glacier, which 
flows to the west of Blossom Island for about fifteen miles, we reached 
an elevation of 4000 feet, and found an easy pass, although filled with 
glacial ice, leading westward across what from a distance seemed an 
impassable mountain range. We named this * Pinnacle Pass ’ on ac- 
count of the tapering spires overlooking it. West of Pinnacle Pass we 
descended to a glacier that has its source to the north of Mount Cook, 
and separates the mountain range from the St. Elias range. On cross- 
ing this glacier and approaching the mountain wall which rises to the 
west of it, we again found a pass leading toward St. Elias that afforded 
an easy path to the Conrad glacier, one branch of which rises on the 
northern slope of the great mountain. Following up this branch we 
at last, after twenty days’ hard work above snow line, found ourselves 
encamped at the base of St. Elias. The weather had been clear for 
ten days and we had every prospect of a good day’s climb on the 
morrow. Rising at three in the morning we began what we believed 
to be the final ascent, but, after a few hours, storm clouds settled 
down around us, snow began to fall and all landmarks were lost to 
view. The snow continued for thirty hours without cessation, and it 
