﻿NOTES 299 



and during much of the summer the atmosphere was more or less 

 charged with smoke, rendering distant photograph) unsatisfactory 

 or quite imp< »ssible. 



Covered with a veneering of rock debris over its lower third, the 

 Victoria glacier at Lake Louise is not the most interesting of the 

 series to the casual observer, who is liable to carry home the idea 

 that it is simply a stone heap, and a rather uninteresting pile at 

 that. Geologically, however, this glacier is the most active and 

 varied of any of those that van be conveniently reached in the entire 

 region, and nearly six weeks were devoted to the study of it and its 

 tributary, the Lefroy. In spite of the many visits which a camp 

 alongside tin- glacier tor this length of time permitted, as well as 

 numerous visits during two previous seasons, not one tailed to 

 reveal some new feature or to shed important light on one previousl) 

 observed. This longer stay at the Victoria permitted measurements 

 of the forward flow of ice under variable conditions of temperature, 

 the construction of an accurate cross-section, the determination of 

 the amount of surface melting, and the varying amounts of drainage 

 and sediment discharged — work which was not feasible on the other 

 glaciers, to each of which but seven to ten days could he devoted. 

 A detailed survey was made of each of the five glaciers, from the 

 nose around each way to the neve field, by means of plane-table or 

 compass and steel tape, and full data for a map of the ice and mo- 

 raines and for a general description were procured. Especial atten- 

 tion was given to the structure of the ice itself, with the hope of 

 shedding more light on some of the points still under discussion. 



Only the most general statements concerning those results of the 

 field studies in which the scientific public may he interested will 

 now he noted. The glaciers generally were found to he still in 

 retreat, the Wapta, at the head of Yoho valley, having exceeded its 

 average of the last three years by a few feet, while the Illecillewaet 

 at Glacier House receded but one-third of the average which it has 

 maintained during the last seventeen years. The Asulkan, in an 

 adjoining valley, which had been advancing for about two years, has 

 remained practically stationary during the last year. The Victoria 

 presents an oblique front of nearly half a mile, and its lower eight 

 hundred feet, completely veneered with rock as above stated, has 

 pushed out into the forest at a comparatively recent date. This part 

 has remained quiet apparently for a number of years, but accurate 

 measurements to stones embedded in the face show that a very 

 gradual wastage occurred during the summer, with a small stream 

 of clear, ice-cold water as confirmatory evidence. Farther up. f< >r 



