HIDDEN GLACIER 



57 



arctic willows, was absolutely barren (fig. 29), and a sim- 

 ilar barrenness was observed on other fresh-formed streams 

 of glacial waste. The perpetual stream of cold air flowing 

 down from the ice above may be in part responsible for 



FIG. 29. WASTE PLAIN OF HIDDEN GLACIER IN JUNE, 1899. 



The rock fragments washed from the glacier are built into a delta plain, to which addition 

 is being made. In the foreground is an alluvial fan encroaching on the plain ; in the dis- 

 tance, Russell Fiord. 



this, but I conceive the chief cause to be rapidity of dep- 

 osition. The high grade of the plain, in comparison with 

 the breadth of its channels and the moderate coarseness of 

 its gravel, gave the impression that it was being built up 

 with great rapidity. 



As in Russell Fiord and its other appendages, the valley 

 walls exhibit the flowing contours of glacial sculpture in 

 magnificent development. There are many places where 

 the smooth curves of the mountain side, carved out in 

 harmony with the flow-lines of the ice, suggest the sweep- 

 ing contours of a gigantic ship, rather than the billowy 

 backs of a flock of sheep described by the word mou- 

 tonnee. A system of flutings can often be traced in sim- 

 ple curvature for a half mile, and no one familiar with the 



