IN CLOUDS AND RIVERS, ICE AND GLACIERS. 



13Z 



to the base of the ice-cliffs, saps them, as the 

 Arctic waves sap the Greenland glaciers, and 

 receives from them the broken masses which 

 it has undermined. As we look down upon 

 the lake, small icebergs sail over the tranquil 

 surface, each resembling a snowy swan ac- 

 companied by its shadow. 



350. This is the beautiful little lake of 

 Margeliu, or, as the Swiss here call it, the 

 Margolin See. You see that splash, and imme- 

 diately afterward hear the sound of the plung- 

 ing ice. Tho glacier has broken before our 

 eyes, and dropped an iceberg into the lake. 

 All over the lake the water is set in commo- 

 tion, thus illustrating on a small scale the 

 swamping waves produced by the descent of 

 vast islands of ice from the Arctic glaciers. 

 Look to the end of the lake. It is cumbered 

 with the remnants of icebergs now agiouad, 

 which have been in part watted thither by 

 the wind, but in part slowly borne by the 

 water which moves gently in this direction. 



851. Imagine us below upon the margin of 

 the lake, as I happened to be on one occasion. 

 There is one large and lonely iceberg about 

 the middle. Suddenly a sound like that of a 

 cataract is heard ; we look toward tha ice- 

 berg and see water teeming from its sides. 

 Whence comes the water ? the berg has be- 

 come top-heavy through the melting under- 

 neath ; it is in the act of performing a somer- 

 sault, and in rolling over carries with it a 

 vast quantity of water, which rushes like a 

 waterfall down its sides. And notice that the 

 iceberg, which a moment ago was snowy- 

 white," now exhibits the delicate blue color 

 characteristic of compact ice. It will soon, 

 however, be rendered white again by the ac- 

 tion of the sun. The vaster icebergs of the 

 Northern seas sometimes roll over in the 

 same fashion. A week may be spent with 

 delight and profit at the jEggischhorn. 



51. THE BEL ALP. 



35.2. From the ,Eggisehhorn I might lead 

 you along tlu: mountain ridge by the Bel.ten 

 See, tha fish of which we have already 

 tasted, to the Rieder Alp, and thence across 

 the Aletsch to the Bel Alp. This is a fine 

 mountain ramble, but you and I prefer mak- 

 ing the glacier our 'highway downward. 

 Easy at some places, it is by no means child's 

 play at others to unravel its crevasses. But 

 the steady constancy and close observation 

 which we have bitherto found availing in 

 difficult places do not forsake us here. We 

 clear the fissures ; and, after four hours of 

 exhilarating work, we find ourselves upon the 

 slope lending up to the Bel Alp hotel. 



853. This is one of the finest halting-places 

 in the Alps. Stretching before us up to the 

 ^Eggischhorn and Margelin See is the long 

 last reach of the Aletsch, with its great me- 

 dial moraine running along its back. At hani 

 is the wild gorge of the M-issa, in which the 

 snout of the glacier lies couched like the head 

 of a serpent. The beautiful system of tha 

 Oberaletsch glaciers is within easy reach. 

 Above us is a peak called the Sparrenhorn, 

 "ccessible t.o the most moderate climber, and 



on the summit of which little more than an 

 hour's exertion will place you and me. Below 

 us now is the Oberaletsch glacier, exhibiting 

 the most perfect of medial moraines. Near us 

 is the great mass of the Aletsch horn, clasped 

 hy its neve's, and culminating in brown rock. 

 It is supported by other peaks almost as noble 

 as itself. The Nestliorn is at hand ; while 

 sweeping round to the west we strike the 

 glorious triad already referred to, the Weiss- 

 horn, the Maiterhorn, and the Dom. Take 

 one glance at the crevasses of the glacier im- 

 mediately below us. It tumbles at its end 

 down a Bteep incline, and is greatly riven. 

 But the crevasses open before the steep part 

 is reached, ami you notice the coalescence of 

 marginal and transverse crevasses, produc- 

 ing a system of curved fissures with the con- 

 vexities of the curves pointing upward. 

 The mechanical reason of this is now known 

 to you. The glacier-tables are also numerous 

 and line. I should like to linger with you 

 here for a week, exploring the existing gfa- 

 ciers. and tracing out the evidences of others 

 that have passed away. 



52. THE RIFFELBEKG AND GORNER 

 GLACIER. 



354. And though our measurements and 

 observations on the Mer de Glace are more 

 or less representative of all that can be made 

 or solved elsewhere, I am unwilling to leave 

 you unacquainted with the great system of 

 glaciers which stream from the northern 

 slopes of Monte R^sa and the adjacent moun- 

 tains. From the Bel Alp we can descend to 

 Brieg, and thence drive to Visp ; but you 

 anl Lprefer the breezy heights, so we sweep 

 round 'the promontory of the Nessel, until we 

 stand over the Rhone valle3 r , in front of Visp. 

 From this village an hour's walking carries 

 us to Stalden, where the valley divides into 

 two branches : the one leading through Saaa 

 over the Monte Moro, and the other througij 

 St. Nicholas to Zeimatt. The latter is our 

 route. 



355. We reach Zermatt, but do not halt 

 there. On the mountain ridge, 4000 feet 

 above the valley, we discern the Riffelberg 

 hotel. This we reach. Right in front of us 

 is the pinnacle of the Matterhorn, upon the 

 top of which it must appear incredible to you 

 that a human foot could ever tread. Con- 

 stancy and skill, however, accomplished this, 

 but in the first instance at a terrible price. In 

 the little churchyard of Zermatt we have seen 

 the graves of two of the greatest mountaineers 

 that Savoy and England have produced ; and 

 who, with two gallant young companions, fell 

 from the Matterhorn in 1865. 



356. At the Riffelberg we are within an 

 hour's walk of the famous Gorner Grat, 

 which commands so grand a view of the 

 glaciers of Monte Rosa. But yonder huge 

 knob of perfectly bare rock, which is called 

 the Riffelhorn, must be our station. What 

 the Cleft Station is to the Mer de Glace, the 

 Riffelhorn is to the Gorner glacier and its 

 tributaries. From its lower side the rock, 

 easy as it may seem, is inaccessible. Here, 



