450 OLD ALPINE JOTTINGS. 



conviction that would first force itself upon the mind. 

 An inspection of some of the models in the Jermyn 

 Street Museum will in part illustrate my meaning. 



In connection with this question of mountain sculp- 

 ture, the sand-cones of the glaciers are often instruc- 

 tive. The Aletsch, Unteraar, and Gorner glaciers 

 present numerous cases of the kind. On July 20, 1864, 

 I came upon a fine group of such cones upon the Mor- 

 teratsch glacier. They were perfect models of the Alps. 

 I could find among them a reduced copy of almost 

 every mountain with which I am acquainted. One of 

 them showed the peaks of the Mischabel to perfection. 

 How are these miniature mountains produced ? Thus: 

 sand is strewn by a stream upon the glacier, and begins 

 immediately to protect the ice underneath it from the 

 action of the sun. The surrounding ice melts away, 

 and the sand is relatively elevated. But the elevation 

 is not mathematically uniform, for the sand is not of 

 the same depth throughout. Some portions rise higher 

 than others. Down the slopes little rills trickle, par- 

 tially removing the sand and allowing the sun to act to 

 some extent upon the ice. Thus the highest point is 

 kept in possession of the thickest covering, and it rises 

 continually in reference to the circumjacent ice. All 

 round it, however, as it rises, the little rills are at work 

 cutting the ice away and aiding the action of the sun, 

 until finally the elevated hump is wrought into hills 

 and valleys which seem a mimicry of the Alps them- 

 selves. 



There is a grandeur in the secular integration of 

 small effects here adverted to almost superior to that 

 involved in the idea of a cataclysm. Think of the ages 

 which must have been consumed in the execution of 

 this colossal Alpine sculpture ! The question may, of 

 course, be pushed to further limits : Think of the ages, 



