1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 121 



[ SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE ILLECELLEWAET AND ASULKAN 

 GLACIERS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



' " BY GEORGE AND WILLIAM S. VAUX, JR. 



With but a very few exceptions it seems to be a rule at the- 

 present time that all glaciers are receding up the valleys into which 

 they extend. Whether this will be a permanent recession, or 

 whether a period will come during which an advance will take place, 

 time alone will tell. That there has been a permanent recession 

 the numerous moraines below the prominent glaciers bear ample 

 witness, but they also show that there have been many advances 

 between the periods of recession. 



The glaciers of the Canadian Rockies offer many attractions to 

 those interested in their action, both on account of the newness of 

 the region in which they are located and their marked activity. 

 The Canadian Pacific Railway, without which this region would be 

 almost inaccessible, was first opened but a little over a dozen 

 years ago, and before that time it was practically an unbi'oken 

 wilderness. Among the most accessible glaciers from the line of 

 the railway are those in the vicinity of the Glacier House, which 

 is situated in the heart of the Selkirk range, at an elevation of 

 4,122 feet above sea level. With this point as a centre a score of 

 glaciers may be reached. It seems to form a natural station for 

 their observation. 



The most accessible, and in some respects one of the most re- 

 markable, is the Great or Illecellewaet Glacier, situated about one 

 and one-half miles in a direct line from the station. The immense 

 ne've which feeds it, lies on the top of the range forming the divide, 

 and from it several branches flow down into as many valleys. The 

 Great Glacier is notable on two accounts : its freedom from dirt at 

 its foot, and the remarkable rapidity of the ice fall. One of the 

 first persons to make observations on this glacier was Di'. William 

 S. Green, F.R. G.S. , who in 1888 spent some time in surveying^ 

 and exploring the region. He records that in twelve days the cen- 

 tre of the ice moved twenty feet, while at the side it moved only 



