130 Report of the Brozvn-Harvard Expedition. 



of this, yet in a way that never interferes with the stern 

 grandeur of the Hfeless masses. 



The more northern landscapes differ from those thus 

 far described mainly in the facts that the greater heights at- 

 tained lead to grander impressions of massiveness and 

 strength, and involve greater ruggedness and variety of form ; 

 and that the softening influences of soil, water, and vegeta- 

 tion are present to a far less degree. Here nature introduces 

 us to her masterpieces of form. Deep fiords with steep, pre- 

 cipitous shores, break into the coast. Islands are few, and 

 the high land contends directly with the unbroken force of 

 the sea. The lofty summits are still often rounded, though 

 quite as often the conditions of erosion have been such that 

 they form long ridges of great sharpness and of jagged out- 

 line. The bays and streams have cut off huge portions of 

 the mountain sides, which fall sharply to the narrow valleys, 

 wherein masses of rough boulders are piled deeply, while 

 heaps of coarse talus form a steep transition between moun- 

 tain and hollow. The projecting buttresses of the flanks 

 often inclose huge basins or amphitheatres. The summits 

 are rent and shattered into bare heaps of broken stones and 

 boulders of all sizes. Plant life is still abundant on the lower 

 levels, but finds little hospitality on the bleak, higher slopes. 

 Watercourses are rarely visible at any distance. Snow is 

 seen in summer only in numerous large drifts and patches, 

 never covering even the loftiest mountains continuously. 

 From the high latitude of the country, its position on the 

 cold side of the ocean, and the great altitude of its moun- 

 tains, one might naturally expect to find the snow-line at a 

 comparatively low elevation. The reason for its absence 

 doubtless lies in the small amount of annual precipitation, the 

 winter's snowfall not exceeding five or six feet. 



