CHAP. viii. GNEISS TERRACES. 133 



clad mountain, some 800 feet higher still. My tent was 

 pitched opposite these terraces, on a shelf of lichen- 

 covered rock, which commands a full view of the valley 

 below, through which a mountain stream foams and frets, 

 coming from the next succeeding lake through which we 

 were to pass. 



The prospect from the highest terrace was grand in- 

 deed : quiet lakes and rugged rocks, deep jagged ravines, 

 and green wooded valleys, were all within view. I shall 

 endeavour to describe the prevailing character of these 

 terraces, commencing from the highest one. 



The sloping sides of these abrupt steps are rounded, 

 polished, and furrowed by glacial action. Cuts half an 

 inch deep, and an inch or more broad, go down slope 

 and over level continuously. Bounded and water-worn 

 boulders are perched here and there on the edge of the 

 uppermost terrace. These strange memorials of the drift 

 begin to be more common. Not many have yet been 

 seen in this part of the country ; but now they are getting 

 numerous. No lichen or even moss grows on many parts 

 of these stern old rocks. They seem to preserve their 

 original integrity, and have apparently contributed little 

 to the detrital matter in the ravine which lies below 

 them. 



Descending towards the valley, we come to a spot, 

 however, where the lichens have succeeded in effecting a 

 lodgement. Small, circular grey time-stains, from the size 

 of a sixpence to a foot in diameter, encrust the rock, and 

 begin the process of decay. They are like ' fairy rings,' 

 dark in the centre, and shining at the circumference with 

 brilliant lustre, when the sun first strikes them. Most of 



