510 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
the spurs. These crevasses reach pretty well across the glaciers, 
and are so close together that only thin walls of ice are left be- 
tween them. The other system of crevasses is from quite a 
different cause. These are formed by the influx of the Hoch- 
stetter glacier. The latter propels the ice on the western side, 
and thereby causes that side to move quicker than the eastern 
part. The crevasses got worse and worse, and at last we were 
obliged to get out as best we could, and to make for the slope of 
the hills. We reached the eastern margin of the glacier, and 
continued to follow it until we got to the valley coming down 
from' Mount Malte Brun. This is a green oasis, with rocks all 
round, and a nice little brook flowing through the middle of it, 
which disappears under the glacier. It has no opening at all, 
and is closed westerly by the eastern side of the Tasman glacier, 
a steep moraine 300ft. high ;—the contrast between the grey 
moraine and the green lawn at the bottom is most striking. The 
next day we proceeded up the glacier for surveying purposes, and 
returned the same day. 
The ensuing day, the 25th of March, was devoted to the 
ascent of the Hochstetter Dome. Westarted at 5 o’clock in the 
morning. The weather was beautiful, and no cloud visible. 
We walked up the glacier by nearly the same route we had 
taken the day before. After travelling for some distance we 
reached the foot of the steep ice-slope which descends from the 
ridge of Mount de la Béche at 9.30, and remained there half-an- 
hour before continuing our ascent. The further we proceeded 
up the glacier the more the crevasses vanished, and the latter 
part was a flat glacier, for miles as smooth as an asphalt pave- 
ment, with an incline of only three degrees, although the line of 
perpetual snow lies. much higher than this place, which is only 
about 5000ft. above the level of the sea. The eastern wall of 
Mount de la Béche is one of the most remarkable sights round 
the Tasman glacier. It is covered with a coating of ice several 
hundred feet thick, splintered up into large blocks of a quadri- 
lateral shape. This form of crevasses is peculiar to polar 
regions. These blocks are formed by immense quantities of 
frozen snow, which has not yet been transformed into crystallised 
ice. The ice is not blue as it is in the icefall of the Hochstetter . 
glacier, but quite white throughout. This furrowed coating of 
snow reaches up to the range of Mount de la Béche, which is 
the highest point of the mass of elevation that divides the Tas- 
man glacier from the Rudolf glacier. I have calculated the 
height of Mount de la Béche at 10,170ft., so that it is the third 
mountain in height in the Southern Alps ; the highest mountain 
being Mount Cook, the height of which is 12,340ft., and the next, 
Mount Tasman, 10,648ft. All the other ‘mountains which form 
the enclosure of the basin of the Tasman glacier are about 
10,000ft. high, and only Mount Cook attains a height of over 
12,000ft. Mount Cook has been measured several times, and 
particularly accurately by Mr Roberts, of the Westland Survey 
Department, who fixes it at 12,349feet. According to my own 
