94 



ALASKA GLACIERS 



The only observed fact bearing on its recent history 

 of change is the absence of trees from the valley walls 

 near it. 



Two of the hanging glaciers are shown, at the left, in 

 figure 50. The cascading tributary and other branches 

 of the Serpentine appear at page 124 of volume i, in a 



plate repro- 

 ducing photo- 

 graph NO. 292 

 of Curtis's 

 series. 



Surprise 

 Glacier reach- 



FIG. 51. SURPRISE AND CATARACT GLACIERS. ^^ 1116 IlOrCl 



Surprise Glacier (at right) has its source in a valley system be- from the WCSt, 

 yondCataractGlacier. 



a deep and long branch valley. Its sources were not 

 visible, being concealed by the curvature of its valley, 

 but its moderate grade and the lofty ice cliff in which it 

 ends, mark it as an important ice river. 



Its near neighbor, Cataract Glacier, occupies a narrow 

 and lofty mountain trough, from the end of which it sends 

 a steep, tapering tongue down to the sea. It is interme- 

 diate in type between the hanging glaciers of the Ser- 

 pentine valley and the cascading glaciers of the west wall 

 of College Fiord. 



The valley containing Harriman Glacier is a continua- 

 tion of the main trough of the fiord and holds the same 

 general southwest trend. The glacier curves toward the 

 west and then toward the south, disappearing from view 

 at a distance of nearly ten miles. As the most distant 

 portion seen has a gentle slope and lies far below the 

 bordering mountains, it is probable that the sources are 

 still several miles beyond. Its general width is about a 

 mile and a half, but its high-grade tributaries are so thick- 



