BOUNDARY OF THE GLACIATED AREA. 193 



and still preserving glaciers on its flanks, would have lent 

 material aid in this seaward movement. The shores and 

 islands about Puget Sound have the appearance of being the 

 terminal deposits of confluent glaciers coming down from 

 the flanks of Tacoma on the southeast, and from the lower 

 portions of the Cascade Range farther north, joined by 

 smaller glaciers from the Coast Range on the west. It is 

 clear that the earlier glacial movements on the Pacific coast 

 were local in character, and must be studied independently 

 of those east of the Rocky Mountains, and can be understood 

 only by reference to the glaciers which still linger at the head 

 of all its numerous valleys, inlets, and fiords. In these the 

 investigator has a vera causa ever before his eyes to guide 

 his steps and to assist his imagination. 



