GLACIERS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 91 



ter of peaks, with Mount Rainier, or, as it is coming to be 

 called, Tacoma, as the center. This central peak is upward 

 of li,400 feet in height, and two or three neighboring peaks 

 are upward of 10,000 feet. This great elevation, coupled 

 with the higher latitude and the increasing moisture of the 

 climate, favors the production of a most imposing series of 

 glaciers. Even the passing traveler upon the railroad is 

 made aware of their existence by the milky whiteness of the 

 waters of the Cowlitz, the Xisqually, the Puyailup, and the 

 White River, which are crossed on the way from Portland, 

 Oregon, to Seattle in the State of Washington. All of these 

 streams originate in glaciers far up on the flanks of the 

 mountains to the east and south. 



Of this series, that on the north side of Mount Taco- 

 ma, at the head of White River Valley, is the largest, and 





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Fig. 15.— Mount Tacoma. looking eastward toward the summit, from Crater Lake. 



reaches down to within 5,000 feet of the sea-level. This 

 glacier is about ten miles long, and, though comparatively 

 narrow in its lower portion, is in places as much as four 

 miles wide. The extreme summit of the mountain has been 

 ascended only by two or three parties, and the task is beset 

 with such difficulties that it is not likely to be ascended 

 often. Above the 9,000-foot level it is wholly enveloped in 

 snow ; while just below that limit, and close up to the realm 

 of perpetual ice and snow, flowers make the air fragrant with 



