IN GREEN ALASKA 



glimpses of the engulfed forests beneath them, one 

 feels as if the mountains must all have been ground 

 down and used up in supplying this world of ma- 

 terial. But they have not. Peak after peak many 

 thousand feet high still notches the sky there in the 

 north. 



The western part of the Muir Glacier is dead, that 

 is, it is apparently motionless, and no longer dis- 

 charges bergs from its end. This end, covered with 

 soil and boulders, tapers down to the ground and 

 is easily accessible. Only the larger, more central 

 portion flows and drops bergs into the sea, present- 

 ing the phenomenon of a current flowing through 

 a pond, while on each side the water is all but mo^ 

 tionless. 



Not very long ago the Muir had a large tribu- 

 tary on the west, but owing to its retreating front 

 this limb appears to be cut off and separated from 

 the main ice sheet by a boulder and gravel-strewn 

 ice plain a mile wide. One day three of us spent 

 several hours upon the detached portion which is 

 called the Morse. It is a mighty ice sheet in itself, 

 nearly or quite a mile wide. It is dead or motionless, 

 and is therefore free from crevasses. Its rim comes 

 down to the gravel like a huge turtle shell, and we 

 stepped on it without difficulty. At first it was very 

 steep, but a few minutes' climbing brought us upon 

 its broad, smooth, gently sloping back. The exposed 

 ice weathers rough, and travehng over it is easy. 



49 



