THE MALASPINA GLACIER 63 



upon climate and ocean currents, or Coville upon some 

 botanical features of the regions about us, or Ritter upon 

 the shore forms of sea life, or Emerson upon volcanoes 

 and lava beds, or John Muir on his experiences upon the 

 glaciers and his adventure with his dog Stikeen in cross- 

 ing a huge crevasse on a sliver of ice, or Charles Keeler 

 on the coloration of birds, or Fuertes on bird songs, or 

 Grinnell on Indian tribes and Indian characteristics, and 

 so on. On Sunday evenings Dr. Nelson conducted the 

 Episcopal service and preached a sermon, while at all 

 times books and music and games added to the attraction 

 of the Social Hall. 



PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND. 



After several days in Yakutat Bay we steamed north- 

 ward again, bound for Prince William Sound. The fog 

 and cloud hid the St. Elias Range, but the great Malaspina 

 Glacier was visible on our right. This is the largest of 

 the Alaska glaciers, covering 1,500 square miles. It has 

 a front of fifty miles on the sea, and runs back thirty miles 

 to the St. Elias Range from which it is fed. It is a vast 

 plain of ice with lakes and rivers, and with hills of rocks 

 and gravel that have trees and alders growing upon them. 

 One of our hunting parties touched the skirts of it and saw 

 where the earth and alders had slid off over quite an area, 

 exposing the ice. Its Yakutat side seems stagnant; it no 

 longer discharges bergs into the sea and will in time 

 probably drop its vast burden of medial moraine upon the 

 ground beneath. We caught glimpses of its numerous 

 feeders below the clouds along the base of St. Elias, but 

 of the glacier itself we saw only the earth-covered mar- 

 gin it presents to the sea. The discharge of roily water 

 from beneath it is so great that it colors the sea over an 

 area equal to its own; c glacier milk' some one called it, 

 and the Pacific had a milky tinge for thirty miles off shore. 



