230 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
ceeded subsequently in approaching the spot 
—where with a leap like that of Niagara 
one of these glaciers plunges down into the 
sea — the eye, no longer able to take in its 
fluvial character, was content to rest i 
simple astonishment at what then appeared 
a lucent precipice of grey-green ice, rising 
to the height of several hundred feet above 
the masts of the vessel.” * 
The cliffs above glaciers shower down 
fragments of rock which gradually accu- 
mulate at the sides and at the end of 
the glaciers, forming mounds known as 
‘“ moraines.’ Many ancient moraines occur 
far beyond the present region of glaciers. 
In considering the condition of alpine 
valleys we must remember that the glaciers 
formerly descended much further than they 
do at present. The glaciers of the Rhone 
for instance occupied the whole of the Valais, 
filled the Lake of Geneva—or rather the 
site now occupied by that lake —and rose 
2000 feet up the slopes of the Jura; the 
Upper Ticino, and contributory valleys, were 
1 Letters from High Latitudes. 
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