->A\ Erratics of the A Ips. 295 



valley of Bagnes in 1818, in the form of a dike, 500 feet high. 

 (Agassiz, Etudes, p. 156.) In either case, the glacier of the Aar 

 would be be arrested in its downward course, or else compelled to 

 mount above and override the barrier, and in this way the rock im- 

 mediately behind the barrier would be protected from a large share 

 of the denudation the parts of the valley above and below must have 

 undergone. If this view be adopted, the Kirchet may be considered 

 as a portion of a more ancient bottom of the valley, and it may 

 be inferred that the deeper channel on both sides of it, which de- 

 scends nearly 500 feet lower, has been excavated by the glacier of 

 the Aar. *> 98 & 8l 8*"* bnid92 ..gdmrla 10 hd 



In the annexed figure the heavy line Mg. Bjitiei' oal& 



a be, is a cross section of the valley of I 'iiili £ %i siiij Qio6h 

 Hash, either above or below the Kirchet ; 

 d f e, the Kirchet, stretching across the 

 valley, whose section at this point is a d 

 fee; and f is the fissure, narrow and 

 sinuous, in which the river Aar now flows 



This fissure, undoubtedly cut by the river itself, indicates both the 

 mode and the extent of its excavating power, and in contrast with 

 it the larger opening a b c, shews the vastly greater power of the 

 ancient agent — the glacier. 



The Kirchet is the boundary between the upper and lower valleys 

 of Hasli (Ober and Nieder Hasli.) About two miles above it there 

 is an ancient terminal moraine, consisting of vast piles of boulders 

 chiefly of granite and gneiss, mixed with soil, and probably 200 feet 

 in height. It had formed a bank across the valley, but a deep pas- 

 sage has been cut through it by the river. A little beyond this, the 

 limestone is succeeded by gneiss and mica slate, and about two miles 

 farther up at Guttanen, the gneiss is succeeded by granite, which 

 continues to the Grimsel, a distance of eight miles. {Studer, Geologie 

 der Schweiz, p. 178),* From the point where the crystalline rocks 

 commence the valley contracts, the flat bottom, so striking a feature 

 lower down, disappears, the ascent becomes much more rapid, the 

 road perilous, and the scenery wild. Striated and grooved rocks, so 

 rare in the limestone district, are now seen everywhere. The 

 " hospice," or hotel of the Grimsel (at R in the map), stands amidst 

 savage rocks, at an elevation of 6158 feet above the sea, and close to 

 the Pass which connects the valley of Hasli with that of the Rhone, 



q aJi as afooi jo bnuotn aidifr jfol bus ^iml d/iuw bJi b^ba^ua 



* The first volume of the Geologie der Schweiz was published in 1851, in 12mo, 

 with a small map of the Alps and Northern Appenines. The second, which will 

 complete the work, is expected to appear before the end of the present year, 

 and will be accompanied by a map on a larger scale, carefully coloured. A 

 Manual of the Geology of Switzerland from the hands of the eminent Bernese 

 Professor, will be regarded as a great acquisition by all who cultivate the 

 science. 



