constantly acquired material and from the in- 

 fluence of converging water-channels which it 

 followed. A quarter of a mile from its birth- 

 place it was about fifty feet deep and twice as 

 wide, with a length of three hundred feet. Com- 

 posed of new snow and coasting as swiftly as a 

 gale, it trailed a white streamer of snow-dust 

 behind. A steeper or a rougher channel added 

 to the volume of snow-dust or increased the 

 agitation of the pace-keeping pennant. The 

 morning was clear, and, by watching the wig- 

 wagging snow flag, I followed easily the for- 

 tunes of the slide to the bottom of the slope. 

 After a swift mile of shooting and plunging, the 

 slide, greatly compressed, sprawled and spread 

 out over a level glacier meadow, where its last 

 remnant lingered for the warmth of July. 



Dismissing this slide, I watched along the 

 range to the north and south, and from time to 

 time saw the white scudding plumes of other 

 slides, which, hidden in the canons, were merrily 

 coasting down from the steep-sloping crest. 



These slides, unless they had run down an 

 animal, did no damage. They were composed of 



86 



