352 The American Geologist. December, i899 
and forward in rear of the picket line. I here take occasion 
to remark in this part of my narrative that during my twenty- 
two years of service on the frtjntier I never experi- 
enced a more desolate and miserable night. Not only was 
the night black, but the rain was continuous. Occasionally 
the mighty glacier would crack as it settled in its passage to 
the valley below, with a vibration that would cause the men 
to stop in their tramp and the horses to nicker with appre- 
hension, if not fear. Then would follow a deafening roar as 
some thousands of tons of ice was detached from one of the 
hundreds of glaciers that fringed the mountain sides. As 
these high fields of ice and snow would come crashing down 
onto the main glacier they would bound from wall to wall 
of the canyon, and the echo would die out finally down the 
valley many thousand feet below. Like all other nights, 
this one came to an end. At daybreak another allowance of 
whisky was issued to the outfit, and the animals were packed 
and the party proceeded on its way toward the summit. 
Four or five miles were covered, when a section of the gla- 
cier was encountered that was so bisected with crevasses of 
such width that for a while it was a question of getting 
through. But taking the train down a long narrow peninsula of 
badly crevassed ice, an outlet was found which could be 
doubled back on. The expedition was now in a position where 
it was as dangerous to go back as it was to go ahead. The 
mental strain on all at this stage of the journey was terrific. 
Progress was very slow; not more than a quarter of a mile an 
hour for the next three or four hours was made. Working in 
and out of this mass of crevasses we finally crossed what was 
known as the fourth bench, and found ourselves on better foot- 
ing. Up to this point the glacier had been free from snow. A 
zone was now reached where the snow and slush were about 
knee deep, through which we plodded. Looking up toward 
the summit of the pass, the eye could not define where the sky 
line began and the snow ceased. In the middle of this zone, 
which was limited only by the range of vision, was a beautiful 
stream of clear water, with a deep blue bottom.' It seemed in 
perspective, being so rapidly foreshortened by the fog, to be 
a blue column ascending into the sky. Following up the 
banks of the stream there suddenly flashed out through the 
