82 THE FORMS OF WATER IN 



first upon the Glacier du Geant; realise its width in 

 its own valley, and see how much it is narrowed at 

 Trelaporte. The broad ice-stream of the Lechaud is 

 still more surprising, being squeezed upon the Mer de 

 Glace to a narrow white band between its bounding 

 moraines. The Talefre undergoes similar compression. 

 Let us now descend, shake out our chain, measure, 

 and express in numbers the width of the tributaries, 

 and the actual amount of compression suffered at Tre- 

 laporte. 



204. We find the width of the Glacier du Geant to 

 be 5,155 links, or 1,134 yards. 



205. The width of the Glacier de Lechaud we find 

 to be 3,725 links, or 825 yards. 



206. The width of the Talefre we find to be 2,900 

 links, or 638 yards. 



207. The sum of the widths of the three branch 

 glaciers is therefore 2,597 yards. 



208. At Trelaporte these three branches are forced 

 through a gorge 893 yards wide, or one- third of their 

 previous width, at the rate of twenty inches a day. 



209. If we limit our view to the Glacier de Lechaud, 

 the facts are still more astonishing. Previous to its 

 junction with the Talefre, this glacier has a width of 

 825 yards; in passing through the jaws of the granite 

 vice at Trelaporte, its width is reduced to eighty-eight 

 yards, or in round numbers to one-tenth of its previous 

 width. (Look to the sketch on the next page.) 



