22 GLACIERS OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES AND SELKIRKS. 



for the snow. That which is not precipitated into the valley as avalanches 

 melts away in the course of the summer and this water, along with that from 

 Mt. Victoria, forms slender cascades, which are partially absorbed by the 

 ne"ve" and, in part, work their way to the bed of the valley and are incorporated 

 into the subglacial drainage. In these various ways the upper Victoria receives 

 the precipitation from about two square miles of collecting area. Through 

 pressure, rain, and surface melting, due to the intense solar action, as well as 

 the chinook winds, this mass of granular snow is compacted into a very fine 

 granular ice. Powerful winds sweep over the bare peaks and ridges and spread 

 over the neVe" more or less fine matter, organic as well as inorganic. This 

 material is concentrated at the surface, when sufficient melting has taken place, 

 and gives a rather sharp line of demarcation between the older snow and that 

 which falls freshly upon it. In consequence of the melting and the presence 

 of the foreign matter, the neVe* acquires a characteristic stratification, which in 

 the case of the Victoria persists to its nose. Owing to the avalanches of snow 

 and ice from Mts. Victoria and Lefroy these strata are rendered more or less 

 irregular. The great weight of this snow and underlying ice forces the entire 

 mass valleyward and thus prevents indefinite accumulation. 



3. DOUBLE TRIBUTARY. 



a. Mitre Glacier; the host. Upon either side of the small peak known as the 

 Mitre (elevation 9,470 feet), there descend two steep snow slopes, which give rise 

 to two ne"ve"-covered streams of ice (see plate vn, figure 2). That to the right is 

 intersected by a great crevasse, caused by the glacier drawing away from the 

 snow and ice which adhere to the rocky slope, and forming what is known as 

 the " bergschrund. " This schrund renders this stream impracticable, but the 

 other may be safely ascended with a guide, to the Mitre Pass leading over 

 into Paradise Valley. Here from an elevation of 8,480 feet the descent is 

 very rapid for about 1,200 feet, when the two streams unite into a single glacier, 

 for which the name Mitre, first proposed by Allen for the entire tributary, may 

 best be retained. For a very short distance the glacier is permanently covered 

 with ne"v6, but in midsummer this soon disappears and discloses a very weak and 

 poorly defined medial moraine (plate vn, figure 2). It flows lazily down 

 the straight valley, one and one-third miles, between Mts. Lefroy and Aberdeen, 

 attains an average width of one-third to one-half a mile, and joins the Victoria 

 with a breadth of 3,200 feet. 



b. Lefroy Glacier; the parasite. Upon the eastern and northern slope of 

 Mt. Lefroy, because of its exposure and other favorable conditions, there has 

 arisen another hanging glacier similar to although smaller than that just de- 

 scribed upon Mt. Victoria. Plate iv and plate vn, figure i, give views of this 

 elevated glacier, clinging to the steep mountain slope, the latter view being 

 taken from the summit of Mt. Aberdeen, looking westward and from an elevation 

 of 10.340 feet. From the steep, vertical ice face great blocks are avalanched 

 2,000 feet into the valley, much of the ice being ground into dust and shot 



