32 H. F. Reicl — Studies of Muir Glacier. 



After falling into a crevasse the water sometimes reaches the 

 bed of the glacier and sometimes flows along a channel in the 

 ice. We saw a very good example of such a channel. When 

 we first came to the glacier, early in July, there was a large open- 

 ing like a sewer in the face of the ice-front near the eastern shore, 

 some fifty or a hundred feet above tide-water, from which issued 

 a strong stream of very muddy water. The opening must have 

 been 200 square feet in cross-section, of which one-half was 

 occupied by the stream. Now, muddiness is a characteristic of 

 water which has flowe'd along the bed of a glacier, clearness of 

 the surface water ; I therefore infer that this stream was part of 

 the water which flowed along under the ice in the shalloAV side 

 of the glacier and was diverted into some channel or crevasse 

 which ended in the ice-front. During our stay the mouth of 

 the stream steadily sank, until it was on a level with the water 

 of the inlet. This may have been due to either of two causes : 

 (1) the course of the channel may have been upward as it ap- 

 proached the ice-front, so that as the ice melted and broke .away 

 the section exposed was at lower levels; or (2) the stream may 

 have deepened its bed by cutting and melting (see page 42, note). 



On each side of the inlet large streams issue from the end of 

 the ice at a number of points, and after rapid courses of between 

 a mile and a mile and a half empty into the inlet, forming quite 

 large deltas. These streams were about thirty feet wide and two 

 feet deej). The current is so swift that they roll down stones as 

 large as one's fist ; but the principal material that they carry off 

 is in the form of fine mud. We used this water largely in our 

 camp, and found that although most of the mud would precipi- 

 tate when allowed to stand for a few hours, still the water re- 

 mained quite turbid even after three or four days. The muddy 

 character of the water in the inlet a little west of the middle of 

 the ice-front shows that another stream must discharge in that 

 region, either under or through the ice. A small part of the 

 drainage of the glacier passes down Main valley, but this does 

 not amount to very much. I think the principal sources of the 

 stream in this valley are from the snow-fields and smaller glaciers 

 on its sides. 



Moraines and Debris Cones. 



The moraines of Muir glacier, seen from an eminence, are very 

 striking. Coming from many quarters, they sweep in bold curves 



