164 AJfUHS HELLAXD OX THE FJORDS, LAZES, 



and present in many lands ; we next remark that where the line of 

 perpetual snow lies high up, the cirques chiefly occur at higher 

 levels : where the limit of snow descends, the cirques are also found 

 at lower levels. According to Professor Gastalcli the Alpine cirques 

 are found at heights between 2000 and 3000 metres ; around the 

 Justedalsbraeen they are numerous at the level of 1200 metres ; on 

 the Jotunfjelds at heights above 1600 metres. The bottoms of the 

 cirques on Istinden Mountain, in rinmark, are 800 metres above 

 the sea ; nay, in Kvalo Island, in the same district, according to 

 Mr. Lorange. cirques lie only a few feet above sea-level. Comparing 

 these heights with the snow-line, which is 2500 metres in the Alps, 

 898 to 1460 metres (according to Prof. Sexe i near the Justedals- 

 braeen, 1600 metres (according to Prof. Keilhau) in the Jotunfjelds, 

 and 900 metres in Seiland Island in Finmark, we see that cirques 

 are chiefly found near the limit of perpetual snow, which is 

 to be expected when we remember that this limit is most favourable 

 for the formation of isolated glaciers. That the cirques also occur at 

 lower levels than the snow-line is in harmony with the occurrence 

 of glaciers, which, as is well known, are found much lower down 

 than the limit of perpetual snow ; and the occurrence of a cirque in 

 Kvalo only a few feet above the sea-level harmonizes with the 

 other observations, when it is seen that these cirques are filled with 

 glaciers. 



In Greenland, alon:: the mainland round Disko Bay. where the 

 mountains are low and the conditions unfavourable to small isolated 

 glaciers. I saw no cirques ; but on arriving at the Waigat and the 

 Umanak Fjords, where the mountains are higher and isolated glaciers 

 verv numerous, cirques also are numerous : and as isolated glaciers are 

 here capable of being formed and maintained at an inconsiderable 

 height above the sea, the cirques also occur often at but slight 

 elevations. The fact that the cirques are commonly situated on the 

 north sides of the mountains or the south sides of the valleys, shows 

 a dependence on the glaciers ; for the north sides of the mountains, 

 where the snow is less exposed to the sun's rays and to warm south 

 winds, are favourable to the formation of glaciers. As to the way 

 in which the glaciers excavate the cirques. I may quote another 

 observer. Lieutenant Lorange (Xorwegian Eoyal Engineers), who 

 mapped the country round Justedalsbrseen. He, though not a pro- 

 fessional geologist, independently formed the opinion that the cirques 

 and some fjord-valleys of Xorway were formed by glaciers. "Cnder 

 the glaciers in cirques, where a space intervened between the bed of 

 the cirque and the ice, he saw a great many stones, some of which, 

 sticking fast in the glacier, were quite lifted up from the bed of the 

 cirque, while others were touching or resting on it ; he thinks it pro- 

 bable that as the temperature around the glaciers constantly varies 

 about the freezing-point, the incessant freezing and thawing of the 

 water in the cracks in the rock may split it, and the glaciers may 

 do the work of transportation for the fragments thus broken loose. On 

 examining the interior of an empty cirque, we observe that a 



