230 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE chap. 



ceeded subsequently in approaching the spot 

 — where with a leap like that of Niagara, 

 one of these glaciers plunges down into the 

 sea — the eye, no longer able to take in its 

 fluvial character, was content to rest in 

 simple astonishment at what then appeared 

 a lucent precipice of grey-green ice, rising 

 to the height of several hundred feet above 

 the masts of the vessel." ^ 



The cliffs above glaciers shower down 

 fragments of rock which gradually accu- 

 mulate at the sides and at the end of 

 the glaciers, forming mounds known as 

 " moraines." Many ancient moraines occur 

 far beyond the present region of glaciers. 



In considering the condition of alpine 

 valleys we must remember that the glaciers 

 formerly descended much further than they 

 do at present. The glaciers of the Rhone 

 for instance occupied the whole of the Valais, 

 filled the Lake of Geneva — or rather the 

 site now occupied by that lake — and rose 

 2000 feet up the slopes of the Jura ; the 

 Upper Ticino, and contributory valleys, were 



1 Letters from High Latitudes. 



