(Roc6j> Qllounfain T3t?onbev(anb 



fire-line, I came to the place where a ragged- 

 edged and beautiful glacier meadow had re- 

 posed, a poetic park among the spruces dark 

 and tall. Commonly these meadows are suf- 

 ficiently saturated to defy fire, but this one was 

 burning, though slowly and with but little 

 blaze or smoke. The fire was working toward 

 the centre from the edges and eating downward 

 from one to three feet. This kind of meadow 

 usually carries a covering stratum of a kind of 

 peat or turf which is composed almost entirely 

 of matted grass or sedge roots that are almost 

 free from earthy or mineral matter. These mead- 

 ows lack warmth or soil sufficient to germinate 

 tree seeds or to grow trees. Often they remain 

 beautiful treeless gardens for generations, while 

 wind and wash slowly bring sediment, or until 

 a flood or landslip brings soil. The deep burning 

 of the surface and the consequent deposit of 

 ash on the new surface probably offered an 

 abiding-place to the next adventurous tree seeds. 

 Glacier meadows occasionally have this kind of 

 ending. 



Two prospectors were found at work in a 

 138 



