June-October 1881, Cruise of the Corwin, Part II Image 31

both main lateral moraines in good state of preservation. We came to anchor about 11:30 P.M. opposite the first harbor on the N. side, all the harbors being still full of ice and most of the Bay also. Anchored to the ice. There is a native settlement here of a few huts and another at the mouth of the next inlet a few miles from here. June 12. Snow, rain and sleet nearly all day. The view up the inlet was very striking – lofty mountains on both sides rising from the level of the water, and proclaiming in telling characters the story of the inlet’s creation by glaciers that have but lately vanished. Most of the slopes precipices seemed particularly dreary not only on account of the absence of trees, but of vegetation of any kind in any appreciable amount. No bits of shelf gardens were to be seen, though not wholly wanting when we came to climb. The vegetation was very dwarfed, and sparse, and scattered. No green meadow-hollows. The rock was fast disintegrating and all the mountains appeared in general views like piles of loose stones dumped from the clouds. In the afternoon Dr. Ross and I set out across the ice to the cliffs. We found a great many seal holes and cracks of a dangerous kind, and a good deal of water on top of the ice that made the walking very sloppy. There were dog sled tracks trending up and down the inlet. The ice is broken along the shore by the rise and fall of the tides, but we made out to cross on some large cakes wedged together.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/3032/thumbnail.jp