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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 





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ing away continuously into the clouds far 

 above. Down its sides tumble three mag- 

 nificent glaciers broken to fragments by 

 the steep descent. The tongues of all 

 three come down to the level of the val- 

 ley, where they stop abruptly without 

 moraines, as though melted back by the 

 heat. 



Near the foot of these glaciers occurs 

 the most conspicuous fissure to be found 

 anywhere in the valley. It is 200 to 400 

 feet wide, with perpendicular walls, one 

 of which stands about 35 feet higher than 

 flie other. The depth could not be ascer- 

 tained because it is filled by a beautiful 

 lake of clear, green water. Standing just 

 at the foot of the glaciers, this fissure is 

 one of the most picturesque spots in the 

 whole valley (see page 146). Along the 

 sides are numerous snow-drifts, from 

 which miniature bergs break off and float 

 away in the clear water. 



WARM WATER FROM SNOW-DRIFTS 



Fed by the glaciers and melting snows, 

 Fissure Lake would be expected to be icy 

 cold, but on the contrary it is decidedly 

 tepid in spots, where heat evidently is re- 

 ceived from below. One of the most 

 amusing incidents of the whole trip oc- 

 curred when our chemist, poking his 

 thermometer into everything, discovered 

 this fact. 



I was coming along a little behind, and 

 he, pretending to need my assistance, 

 asked me to tell him the temperature of 

 the water coming out from under the 

 edge of a snow-field. Willing to answer 

 even a foolish question, I had the words 

 "ice cold" on the tip of my tongue when 

 my fingers touched the water. The speak- 

 ing expression froze on my face and I 

 carefully dipped my hand in again. It 

 was actually warm ! How he did laugh 

 at my discomfiture ! 



The snow-fields which surround the 

 valley send trickling rills down the slopes, 

 but these dry up and disappear long be- 

 fore the floor of the basin is reached. 

 From the glaciers, however, comes a con- 

 siderable stream, which runs, in spite of 

 all obstacles, clear through the valley, 

 dwindling to almost nothing before pass- 

 ing out of the hot area. These waters 

 thus so nearly forget to run that we 

 christened the stream the River Lethe. 



