, 1881-11-13
Na1 lN@CtdC 1N1NHQ.
John Muir ia S.tn FrNneis eiseu Itlfilttin

Herald island came in sight ut o'clock p. 1u:,
| and when we reached the edge Ut the pack it
| our way through it, however. without .grea!
| difficulty. ts the ice Was mostly light and had
openings Of clear wafer here and there. though
| In some close-pncked fields the Corwin was
pretty roughly bumped, and had to steam her
best to furce fl pnssage. AT 10 O'clock p m-
we came to anchor in the midst III huge cakes
and blocks about sixty~tive feet thick, within
.U4 or 1U1 yards OF the Shore
After SO many futile efforts had been made
to reach this little ice-bouna island everybody
the summit Of its sheer grant cliffs. AT first
II party Of eight jumped from the. bowsprt-
CHAINS and ran across she narrow belt Of mar
gin Ice and mildly begin to climb up an excess-
siyely steep gully. which carne to un end III an
inaccessible slope n few hundred feet above the
train OF grant powders. which shut over the
heads Of those below III II fur more dangerous
manner Shan any OF the pnrty seemed to appre.
clate- Fortunately nobody was hurt. all1 all
made OUT to get down in safe While this
snarkabIe piece Of 1nouuratneerug and Arctic
exploration WIS in progress, ii light skin-covered
n strip or water that stretched In front OF an
accessible rtvine. the bed ct m ancient glacier,
which felt assured would conduct by IN easy
Crude to the summit Of tho isl,nd The slope of
this raylne for the first 10O feet or so wus very
steep put ifasmnch rs # W. fuM vt of rt,. icy
tue face OF It with@ai lx thar bud brought
from the ship for the purpose. Beyond this
was mot the slightest difficulty in our way, the
glacier having graded Il fine, hronl road
Kcllct, who discovered this Island in 1879,
and landed on it under unfuvor.yabe circum-
The sides are indeed. in general, extremely
sheer aud precipitous all around, though skilled
tnount's'tecrs would find many gutiies and
stnpcs by which they might react the summit.
! tir5. pushed on to the head Of the 9.ncier val
ley, und thence along the backbone OF the island
to the highest point. which found to be about
LOO feet above the level ut tho sea- This puint
is aboutn mile and half from the northwest
end. ans, four and y half from the northeas- end,
1t has been cut ncarIy in two By the s!:.ci-
uction it has undergone, the width at this low
esl portion beln1 npout half q mile. aud the
average width about two miles. The entire
isl1nd IS Il Inass Ut Erlnit, with the exception
OF Il patch Of 1netamorphsc slate ntar the CEN
trc. and no doubt owes its existence With SO con-
siderable Il hight to the superior resistance this
yrlnt offered tn the degrading action OF the
northern ice sheet, traces ut which are here
ria and Alaska and down through Bcbrinx Strait
southwark beyond Fancouver's Island. Truces
OF the subsequent partial glhciation 1t hns been
subjected to are also manifested In glacial val
lcys OF considerable depth rs compared with the
size of the island. / noticed four Ut these. be-
sides mauy marginal glacial grooves around the
still exists near the middle OF the island. also
noted several scored and polished patches on
the hardgst nnd npst @ ct tue o1tswe
it docs nlone out In the Polar Sea- is tine glacial
monument.
the midnight hour spent alone On the high
est summit WAS one of the most impressive |
hours Of my life. The deepest silence seemed
to press down on ail tho vast. i1nmeasurable,
virgin landscape The sun near the horizon |
retdercd the edges uf belted cloud-bArS near |
tie base of the SKY, aud the jn9ced Ice bowlders
STRETCHING Indemnity uorthwnrd. while more |
than lUU miles Of that mysterious WranRelt Land !
Was seen blue in the northwest, u wavertny line |
of hill unG 'iule over the white. and blue ice
prairie. and pale gruy mountains hcyund. well |
to Tx the eve of Il mount.lineer. but |
it was the fur north thnt ever found myself |
hk4 f1slf f,1is,
have watched here all tho strange night, but |
was compelled to remember the charge given |
the ship MS soon us should find it possible, Us
there wis ten miles OF shifting. drifting ice be-
tween US uid the open sen.
1thoretore began the return journey about /
. clock In tue morning. after taking the compAss
Wranrel Lnnd. and making Il hnsty collection Of
species Of poppy quite snowy, and making con-
siderable masses Of color on the sloplug upiands,
three or four species Of saxifrage, out: s,lene,
lrlhn, dwarf-willow. steIluria, two golen com
t)SftMc. twn scdEes, one grass, and rernnicn, |!
together with Il considerable number OF moses
1nd lchens, some Of them quite snowy aud so |
Abundunt us 10 form tho bulk Ut tho color over /
the 9:r1ay grant, /
Innutnerable eulls md murres breed on tho /
kept u p u constant din OF domestic notes. Some
IT them arr. sitting OH their eggs. others have
'onng. and 1t seems astonishing that either eggs
II the young cnn tiud resting; place ellis so
severely prectptous. The nurseries formed
lively plcture-the parents cunning and going
With food to seek 1t, thousands IN rows stnnd-
ng on narrow hedges like bottles on a grucer's !
'helveJ the feeding OF the little ones, tho multi
.ude Of wings, ETC.
A fox was seen near the top OF the northeast
snd OF the island, and after we had all returned
q tho ship and were getting under way, the Cap
ain discovered Il polar bear swimming deiiber-
ltely toward the ship between some hontlug
blocks sstthlnn few yards Of u.s. After he had up
sroached within about dozen yards the Cap /
ain shot at him, when he turned and made
taste to get Away. not diving. however, but
fast, and keeping his head turned to
q the neck and stained the blue water with his
'loo1- lie was Il ,ioble-looknx animal and Of
nornous strength, living oruveiy and wurm
lnid eternal ice.r
We looked carefully. everywhere for traces of
he crew Of the Jeannette along the Shore. as
EPli on the prominent headfands and cliffs about
be summit. without discovering the fnnresl |
Ign If ttelr ever having, touched The island.