In Camp at Glacier Bay 



water. I have not yet compared this fossil wood with 

 that of the opposite shore deposits. That the glacier 

 was once withdrawn considerably back of its present 

 limit seems plain. Immense torrents of water had 

 filled in the inlet with stratified moraine-material, 

 and for centuries favorable climatic conditions al- 

 lowed forests to grow upon it. At length the glacier 

 advanced, probably three or four miles, uprooting and 

 burying the trees which had grown undisturbed for 

 centuries. Then came a great thaw, which produced 

 the flood that deposited the uprooted trees. Also the 

 trees which grew around the shores above reach of 

 floods were shed ofl", perhaps by the thawing of the 

 soil that was resting on the buried margin of the 

 glacier, left on its retreat and protected by a cover- 

 ing of moraine-material from melting as fast as the 

 exposed surface of the glacier. What appear to be 

 remnants of the margin of the glacier when it stood 

 at a much higher level still exist on the left side and 

 probably all along its banks on both sides just below 

 its present terminus. 



June 26, We fixed a mark on the left wing to meas- 

 ure the motion if any. It rained all day, but I had a 

 grand tramp over mud, ice, and rock to the east wall 

 of the inlet. Brown metamorphic slate, close-grained 

 in places, dips away from the inlet, presenting edges 

 to ice-action, which has given rise to a singularly 

 beautiful and striking surface, polished and grooved 

 and fluted. 



All the next day it rained. The mountains were 



[ 283 ] 



