A MONTH WITH THE MUIR GLACIER. 43 



pouring into a vast amphitheatre, and then uniting their vol- 

 ume, preparatory to their exit through the entrance into Muir 

 Inlet. These numerous local glaciers nnited to form nine 

 main streams whose individuality could be determined all 

 across the amphitheatre by the long lines of medial moraines 

 which swept around in majestic curves from every quarter, 

 like great railroad embankments in approaching some grand 

 central depot. Such is a faint description of the scene upon 

 which we gazed. Strength and beauty were here united as 

 probably nowhere else in the world. But the shades of night 

 slowly fell upon us, even in that high latitude, and we were 

 compelled to come down closer to the thundering noises of 

 the active glaciers and seek the prosaic quarter of our tents, 

 and to go about the more detailed investigation of the mar- 

 velous phenomena before us. The results I will now pro- 

 ceed to give. 



The Muir Glacier enters an inlet of the same name at the 

 head of Glacier Bay, in latitude 58° .50', longitude 136° 40', 

 west of Greenwich (see Fig. 22). This bay is a body of 

 water about thirty miles long, and from eight to twelve miles 

 wide (but narrowing to about three miles at its upper end), 

 projecting in a northwest direction from the eastern end of 

 Cross Sound. The promontory separating it from the Pacif- 

 ic Ocean is from thirty to forty miles wide, and contains 

 the lofty mountain-peaks of Crillon, Fair weather, Lituya, 

 and La Perouse, whose heights have already been indicated. 

 To the east, between Glacier Bay and Lynn Canal, is a pen- 

 insula, extending considerably south of the mouth of the 

 bay, and occupied by the White Mountains, probably having 

 no peaks exceeding ten thousand feet. 



Near the mouth of Glacier Bay is a cluster of low isl- 

 ands named after Commander Beardslee, of the United 

 States Navy. There are twenty -five or thirty of these, and 

 they are composed of loose material — evidently glacial debris 

 — and are in striking contrast with most of the islands and 

 shores in southeastern Alaska. These, also, like all the other 

 land to the south, are covered with evergreen forests, though 



