258 HARRY FIELDING REID 



Don the Djimara Glacier is still retreating, as are also two glaciers 

 in the valley of the Ouroukh. The Mayl Glacier, on the northern 

 slope of Mount Kazbek, was the scene of two terrible outbreaks 

 which destroyed the baths of Kermadon in July, 1902. Two ava- 

 lanches, originating in seven large snow-fields, came down a lateral 

 gorge, and then passed over the surface of the glacier, following a 

 course six miles long. The slopes of the mountains are not steep 

 enough to cause this catastrophe, and it is probable that it was induced 

 by an earthquake. 



Siberia. — A number of small glaciers exist near the sources of 

 the Oka River in the mountains southwest of Lake Baikal. Some 

 of these were described by M. Radde in 1885. They are at present 

 much smaller than they were then, and one of them seems to be 

 on the point of disappearing. The Alatau or Kuznezk Mountains, 

 200 or 300 miles north of the Altai, do not contain any glaciers at 

 present, but they show traces of former glaciation in the smoothed 

 rocks and large moraines. In the Alatau of Sungaria there are 

 many glaciers; those on the northern slope being generally larger 

 than those on the southern. Two of the former have been sur- 

 veyed. The mean height of the peaks in this portion of the range 

 is about 13,000 feet. There are many glaciers in the Tyan Shan 

 mountains which are rarely visited. The peaks of this chain have 

 altitudes of from 16,500 to 17,500 feet; a new determination of the 

 height of Mount Khantengri makes it 22,600 feet. Some of these 

 glaciers are in a marked state of retreat; others do not indicate any 

 definite variations. It seems in general that, if the glaciers are 

 decreasing, there must be shorter intervening periods of growth, at 

 least for some of the glaciers.' 



REPORT ON THE GLACIERS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR 1903.^ 



In May, 1903, the Muir Glacier was visited for the first time 

 since the earthquake of 1899. Mr. C. L. Andrews, deputy collec- 

 tor of customs at Skagway, and Mr. Case went from Skagway to 

 the Muir Glacier in an open boat, photographed the end of the ice, 



^ Report of M. Schokalsky. 



^ A synopsis of this report will appear in the Ninth A nnual Report of the Inter- 

 national Committee. The report on the glaciers of the United States for 1902 was 

 given in this Journal, Vol. XI, pp. 287, 288. 



