112 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 



constantly rolling on to the upper end of the moraine during 

 the whole time we were near it. We were thus here enabled 

 to see the actual formation of a moraine. The ice below the 

 junction of this tributary with the main glacier being much 

 broken up by crevasses ; rocks and gravel, from the moraines 

 on the two sides of the ti'ibutary, are scattered over the space 

 between them, and the moraines, at first siglit, appear to lose 

 their distinct form ; but although tliere is no clear ice between 

 the moraine that originates on the east of the tributary and 

 the west side of the glacier, the identity of that moraine is 

 sufficiently marked by its colour, and by the regular rise, above 

 the general surface of the glacier, of its top, which remains 

 tolerably even for some way down, being beyond the limit of 

 the disturbance caused by the ci'evasses along the edge of 

 the glacier ; about half way down to the lower end of the 

 glacier, however, the full action of these crevasses reaches the 

 whole of the moraine, and it is scattered or lost sight of in 

 the general confusion of surface. 



An epoch of peculiar destructiveness to the mountains 

 passed by the glacier is marked on one part of this moraine 

 by an accumulaticn of huge masses of rock, from 20 to 30 feet 

 square, and as much as 15 feet high, and the stones found 

 on it are generally larger than those on any of the other mo- 

 raines ; the true west lateral moraine, below the tributary 

 glacier, is not very large, nor is its top much elevated above 

 the bottom of the valley, excepting quite at its end. This is pro- 

 bably owing to the level of the valley on this side being higher, 

 rather than to the top of the glacier boing lower. The bottom 

 of the valley slopes from the cliffs at its sides inward. On the 

 east, the edge of the glacier is at some distance from the cliff, 

 and the bottom of the valley has dipped considerably wliere 

 it meets the foot of the moraine, the summit of which, on 

 that side, is high above the valley. On the west side, the 

 glacier edge is close to the cliff: the bottom of the valley 

 will therefore be higher. I did not notice any difference of 

 level in the two sides of the valley. 



The lateral moraine of the south-east side of the glacier is 

 very large. Its top rises, on an average, probably 250 feet 

 above the bottom of the valley. Along its foot runs a stream, 



