58 
Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
Owing to the action of the water, which, now and again, detached 
large masses of the ice, its lower end presented the appearance of 
an ice-cliff stretching across the lake. Here and' there along the 
face of this cliff could be seen an arched cavern, whose dark recesses 
were in striking contrast with the greenish hue of the adjacent ice 
and the silvery whiteness of the great mass behind. On both sides 
of the glacier the rocks extended in elevated knolls, by no means 
comparable in effect to the grandeur of the lofty pinnacles, among 
which some of the Swiss glaciers meander. A little to the left of 
my point of view, and stretching away in the distance from the 
upper shore of the lake, was an expanse of mountain pasture on 
which a herd of cattle was browsing in the vicinity of a well-known 
Saeter. The lake itself occupied a rock-cut basin, and close by I 
could see prominent portions of rock protruding in rounded bosses, 
and bearing on their surfaces characteristic glacial markings. Some 
stranded boulders were also conspicuous objects. One, poised fan- 
tastically on the bare rock at a little distance, looked as if it were 
a good specimen of a rocking-stone. Moving for a few paces to the 
left, I came upon the outlet, which I inspected with an eye to its 
fitness for the proposed dam and sluice for regulating the outflow. 
It was a slight channel worn out of the solid rock, and hence it 
appeared to me to be eminently well adapted for such a purpose, 
and an adequate dam could be constructed at a small cost. 
In now considering the ways and means of getting access to the 
glacier-lake basin in the higher regions, I soon realised the im- 
practicability of my project for that day. Already the third post- 
meridian hour had passed, and the guide had no knowledge of the 
locality beyond the ice-cliffs. To make further progress it was 
necessary to signal to the people in the Saeter for the boat (only 
one being kept) ; and after getting by this means to the other end 
of the lake, it was necessary, judging from the map and the land- 
scape before me, to climb some two miles along the steep and rocky 
side of the glacier. Hor was it a certainty that the great reservoir 
could be approached in this direction at all. Hence, for the re- 
maining portion of my description, I have to rely to some extent on 
indirect evidence — evidence, however, which I consider trustworthy. 
It consists (1) of notes taken by myself of statements made to Mr 
Nasheim by natives who had visited this little frequented district ; 
