of 



came a stratum of ice. This overlay the sum- 

 mit of the main ranges, and was pierced by only 

 a few of the higher, sharper peaks which were 

 sufficiently steep to be stripped of snow by 

 snowslides and the wind. 



The weight of this superimposed icy stratum 

 was immense; it was greater than the bottom 

 layers could support. Ice is plastic rubbery 

 if sufficient pressure or weight be applied. 

 Under the enormous pressure the bottom layers 

 started to crawl or flow from beneath like 

 squeezed dough. This forced mass moved out- 

 ward and downward in the direction of the least 

 resistance, down the slope. Thus a glacier 

 is conceived and born. 



Numbers of these glaciers immense ser- 

 pents and tongues of ice extended down the 

 slopes, in places miles beyond the line of per- 

 petual snow. Some of these were miles in length, 

 a thousand or more feet wide, and hundreds of 

 feet deep, and they forced and crushed their 

 way irresistibly. It is probable they had a sus- 

 tained, continuous flow for centuries. 



A glacier is one of the natural wonders of the 

 259 



