138 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



many climates and floras, ranged one above an- 

 other, as you would in walking along the low- 

 lands to the Arctic Ocean. 



And to the variety due to climate there is 

 added that caused by the topographical features 

 of the different regions. Again, the vegetation 

 is profoundly varied by the peculiar distribution 

 of the soil and moisture. Broad and deep mo- 

 raines, ancient and well weathered, are spread 

 over the lower regions, rough and comparatively 

 recent and un weathered moraines over the middle 

 and upper regions, alternating with bare ridges 

 and domes and glacier-polished pavements, the 

 highest in the icy recesses of the peaks, raw and 

 shifting, some of them being still in process of 

 formation, and of course scarcely planted as yet. 



Besides these main soilbeds there are many 

 others comparatively small, reformations of both 

 glacial and weather soils, sifted, sorted out, and 

 deposited by running water and the wind on 

 gentle slopes and in all sorts of hollows, pot- 

 holes, valleys, lake basins, etc., — some in dry 

 and breezy situations, others sheltered and kept 

 moist by lakes, streams, and waf tings of waterfall 

 spray, making comfortable homes for plants 

 widely varied. In general, glaciers give soil to 

 high and low places almost alike, while water 

 currents are dispensers of special blessings, con- 

 stantly tending to make the ridges poorer and 

 the valleys richer. Glaciers mingle all kinds of 



