200 
THE ICE-MARSHES. 
to seaward, and I foolishly sought upon this trip to 
vary the travel by following the ice-belt. But, upon 
reaching Refuge Harbor, I found the snow so heavy 1 
and the fragments from the cliffs so numerous and 
threatening, that I was obliged to give it up. A large 
chasm stopped my advance and drove me out again 
upon the floes. 
Getting beyond a table-land known as Kasarsoak, 
or “the big promontory,” I emerged from the broken 
ice upon a wide plain. Here I first saw with alarm 
that the ice had changed its character: the snow which 
covered it had become lead-colored and sodden by the 
water from beneath, and ice-fields after ice-fields stretch¬ 
ing before me were all covered -with stained patches. 
As I rode along these lonely marshes, for such they 
were, the increased labor of the dogs admonished me 
that the floe was no longer to be trusted. It chilled 
my heart to remember the position of our boats and 
stores. Nearly nine hundred pounds of food, exclusive 
of the load now upon my sledge, were still awaiting 
Two hundred more, 
including our shot and 
bullet-bags, were at the 
Cape Hatherton station; 
and Metek’s load was 
probably by this time 
lying on the ice opposite 
McGary Island. Like 
Robinson Crusoe with 
