384 III)- ^Vni'i'iciln inoliKjisf. J)."ioiiilM'r, lHi»I 
tliiiiiiod hordcr of tlic ico, wmv seen lu sevcnil plncos. sometimes^ 
as shown l)y the follo\vin<i; (juotation, consistin<i cliiclly of sub- 
trlacial ilrifl. t-lscwliciv of englaoial drift. 
Tlie border moraines north of the Arsnk fjord ice-river are visible far 
out on the sea off Ivigtut. Dr. Hoist examined one tliat surrounds the 
southernmost strij) of land at a distance from land of about 2,000 feet. 
It is not one continuous ridire, but consists of several disconnected por- 
tions arranged in a semi-circle. One of tliese jjortions was about SOO" 
feet wide and tliirty five feet high. This moraine was mainly a ground- 
moraine, jirobabh'^ forced up liy some elevation of the ledge under the 
ice. 
Another border moraine to the north of Ivornok's nortliern ice-river, 
was of a different character. The stones, at least at the surface, were 
greatly in preponderance over the gravel. They were angular and of 
varying size. The moraine showed some iircuations, but taken as a 
, whole it was parallel to the land. In some exceptional instances it ap- 
proached closely to the land, even so as to touch one of the projecting 
points, l)ut generally it was located some distance awaj' from land. Its 
width was estimated at 100 feet, and its hight at more than fifty feet; it 
should be remembered, however, that it might have had a core of ice. 
Its length was about one and a half mile. South of this moraine, and 
farther in on the ice. were seen three more moraines, the greatest one 
extending about 1,000 feet in length. Two of them were parallel, one 
inside the otlier. 
Still more impressive teslimony of a lariic amount of eni>;lacial 
and finally sui)t'r<il:ici:il)(lrift is «>;ivt'n liy Mr. I. ('. Ivusscll in his 
description, as follows, of the 3Iahispina iilacier or ice-sheet lying 
between the base of Mt. St. Klias and the ocean. 
This is a pleateau of ic» having an area of between 500 and (500 square 
miles, and a surface elevation in the central part of between 1,500 and 
1.600 feet. It is fed by the Agassi/., Seward, ^larvine, and Hayden gla- 
ciers, and is of such volume that it has api)arently displaced the tea and 
holds it back by a wall of d('l)ris deposited about its margin. All of its 
central portion is of clear white ice, and around all its margins, excepting 
where tlie Agassi/, and Seward glaciers come in, it is bounded by a fringe 
of debris and by moraines resting on the ice. Along the seaward bor- 
der the belt of fringing moraines is about five miles broad. The inner 
margin of the moraine belt is composed of rocks and dirt, without vege- 
tation, and separated more or less completely into belts bj-^ strips of clear 
ice. On going from the clear ice toward the margin of the glacier one 
finds shrubs and flowers scattered here and there over the surface, Far- 
tlier seaward the vegetation becomes more dense and the flowers cover 
the wiiole surface, giving it the appearance of a luxuriant meadow. 
Still farther toward the margin dense clumps of alder, with scattered 
spruce trees, become conspicuous, while on the outer margin spruce 
trees of larirer size form a verital)le forest. That this vegetation actuallv 
