348 THE LIFE OF JAMES D. FORBES. [CHAP. 



Suphelle Brae. 'I sketched it,' he writes, 'from the 

 hamlet of Suphellen, from whence, as from the sea, it 

 appears as if in complete continuity with the snow-fields 

 above. But when I had mounted some way over the 

 ice itself, I discovered, to my surprise, that a very 

 lofty cliff of rock entirely separates the upper from the 

 lower glacier, the latter being in fact what is termed 

 by the later Swiss writers a glacier reman ie, formed 

 altogether of icy fragments precipitated by avalanches 

 from the steep and pinnacled glacier above. It is an 

 exceedingly remarkable arrangement, which has no pa- 

 rallel in the greatness of its scale in the Alps ; but it 

 recalls the glacier remanie which is imposed upon the 

 glacier of La Brenva. Indeed, we have only to suppose 

 the declivity down which that glacier descends from 

 Mont Blanc to be somewhat greater than it is, in order 

 to cause a complete instead of a partial separation (for 

 there is an island of rock in the centre of it, traversed 

 by avalanches) of the lower from the upper ice. Like 

 the small superimposed glacier of La Brenva, the Suphelle 

 Brae presents a distinct, though far from delicate veined 

 structure everywhere near the contact with the surface 

 on which it rests, after the type of ordinary glaciers. The 

 upper part of compact whitish ice (like the glacier of 

 Bossons) is nearly amorphous. It is dangerous to ascend 

 too high, on account of the frequent ice-falls from above. 

 I was unable to ascertain clearly whether the upper 

 and lower glacier unite in winter. I heard a rumour to 

 that effect, but I scarcely think it likely/ 



Having exhausted the glaciers of Fjaerlands-fiord, they 

 started on horseback for Justedal, a charming ride 

 through one of the few Norwegian valleys really com- 

 parable to those of Switzerland. ' The first glacier we 

 visited was the Krondal Brae, which descends from the 

 snow plains of Justedals Braeen in a magnificent sheet, 

 remarkably uniform, yet very steep. It is of course 

 much crevassed ; yet I have seldom seen so abrupt an 

 ice-fall so unbroken in its character. When it reaches 

 the valley it compacts itself, and then commence a -series 



