The next journey carried us to the top of the glacier, and it was a very serious day's business. I have already described, in the last chapter, the rugged character of the gorge through which we were obliged to travel, in order to reach a point where we could scale the glacier. The laden sledge could not be dragged over the rocks and blocks of ice, and the men were therefore compelled to carry our equipments, piece by piece, on their shoulders. Reaching the spot where, with Mr. Sonntag, I had before made an ascent, we prepared to hoist the sledge. The scenery was here quite picturesque. We were standing in a little triangular valley, with a lake in its centre. At our left rose the great glacier, and at our right a small stream of ice poured through a deep gorge. Before us stood a massive pillar of red-sandstone rock, behind which these two streams uniting, wholly surrounded it, making it truly an island--an island in a sea of ice. The little lake exhibited a phenomenon which I found quite instructive in connection with my present journey. It had been well filled with water at the close of the thaw season, and the ice was formed upon it before the water had subsided. When the lake had drained off under the glacier the ice was left with no other support than the rocks. In many places it had bent down with its own weight, and in one instance I observed that, the pressure being finally exerted on the corners of the remaining slab, this ice, in a temperature below zero, and six inches thick, had been twisted into a shape resembling the mold-board of a farmer's plow. [Sidenote: SCALING THE GLACIER.] The first attempt to scale the glacier was attended with an incident which looked rather serious at the moment. The foremost member of the party missed his footing as he was clambering up the rude steps, and, sliding down the steep side, scattered those who were below him to right and left, and sent them rolling into the valley beneath. The adventure might have been attended with serious consequences, for there were many rocks projecting above the snow and ice at the foot of the slope. The next effort was more successful, and the end of a rope being carried over the side of the glacier, the sledge was drawn up the inclined plane, and we started off upon our journey. The ice was here very rough and much broken, and was almost wholly free from snow.