8 
GLACIAL PERIOD. 
Again, on the other side of the first chain of 
high peaks, the glacier of the Rhone, descend¬ 
ing the valley toward the Lake of Geneva, has 
everywhere left traces of its ancient extension. 
We find the valley crossed at various distances 
by concentric moraines, until we reach the 
lake. There are no less than thirteen con¬ 
centric moraines immediately below the pres¬ 
ent termination of the glacier of the Rhone, 
the one nearest to the ice and the last formed, 
marking its present boundary. Others are vis¬ 
ible half a mile, a mile, and two or three miles 
beyond, near the villages of Obergestelen and 
Miinster. One of the largest and finest of 
these ancient moraines of the glacier of the 
Rhone stands at Viescli, and extends across 
the whole valley, while the Rhone, already 
swollen by many mountain-torrents, has cut 
its way through it. Lower down, we meet 
with traces of other ancient glaciers, reach¬ 
ing laterally the main glacier, which occupied 
the centre of the valley. Such was the glacier 
of Yiesch, when it extended as far down as 
the village ; * such was the glacier of Aletscli, 
* It is desirable that the reader should look up these local¬ 
ities upon a map of Switzerland, that he may be impressed 
