Travels in Alaska 



about two miles wide, two hundred feet high, and its 

 surface for a mile or so above the front is strewn with 

 moraine detritus, giving it a strangely dirty, dusky 

 look, hence its name, the " Dirt Glacier," this detritus- 

 laden portion being all that is seen in passing up the 

 river. A mile or two beyond the moraine-covered 

 part I was surprised to find alpine plants growing on 

 the ice, fresh and green, some of them in full flower. 

 These curious glacier gardens, the first I had seen, 

 were evidently planted by snow avalanches from the 

 high walls. They were well watered, of course, by the 

 melting surface of the ice and fairly well nourished by 

 humus still attached to the roots, and in some places 

 formed beds of considerable thickness. Seedling 

 trees and bushes also were growing among the flowers. 

 Admiring these novel floating gardens, I struck out 

 for the middle of the pure white glacier, where the 

 ice seemed smoother, and then held straight on for 

 about eight miles, where I reluctantly turned back 

 to meet the steamer, greatly regretting that I had 

 not brought a week's supply of hardtack to allow me 

 to explore the glacier to its head, and then trust to 

 some passing canoe to take me down to Buck Station, 

 from which I could explore the Big Stickeen Glacier. 

 Altogether, I saw about fifteen or sixteen miles of 

 the main trunk. The grade is almost regular, and the 

 walls on either hand are about from two to three 

 thousand feet high, sculptured like those of Yosemite 

 Valley. I found no difficulty of an extraordinary kind. 

 Many a crevasse had to be crossed, but most of them 

 were narrow and easily jumped, while the few wide 



