THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 139 



great mountain. As I was resting for a moment after having 

 eaten a hastily prepared breakfast, some of the rocks up near 

 the summit of the moraine broke loose and came thundering 

 down, plunging out of sight in the heaped-up snow at the foot 

 of the moraine cliff. That was a cliff of rock in motion; 

 pressed by the millions of tons of ice behind, it was moving 

 down the mountain side and I was right in its path. There was 

 no need for alarm, however, it was probably moving no faster 

 than a few feet in a century; there was plenty of time to get 

 out of its way. 



Xear my camping place I found a little flower which I had 

 long wished to see. I had often read of it in the writings of 

 John Muir; Cassiopc Mertensiana, the books call it. John 

 Muir always called it cassiope, and if you have ever seen the 

 picture of Muir and Roosevelt taken on Glacier Point, 

 Yosemite, you have seen a sprig of this same plant in the 

 buttonhole of Muir — great-souled man of the out-of-doors — 

 he loved it as Linnaeus loved the twin flower ! 



After breakfast I started to climb the rocky ridge to the 

 east of my camp. I intended to spy out a route to the summit 

 so as to be ready to attempt the ascent the following morning. 

 I found that this ridge lay between the glacier, at the foot of 

 which was my camp, and another glacier equally large which 

 swept down the southeastern side of the mountain. Between 

 these two glaciers the ridge I was on ran like a great Cyclopian 

 stair apparently right up to the summit. Carried away with that 

 exhilerating motion which makes it hard to turn back when 

 one has set his face toward the heights of a great mountain, I 

 climbed on and on. I had not intended to attempt the ascent 

 that day, but finally changed my plans and made up my mind 

 to go to the top if possible. I supposed I was far above all 

 vegetation, other than the gray lichens on the stones, for on 

 each side of me a few feet away were the everlasting snows. 

 I was surprised, therefore, after a time to notice down among 



