GLACIAL PERIOD. 
9 
when it added its burden of ice to that com¬ 
ing from the upper valley ; such was the glacier 
of the Simplon, whose moraines, of less an¬ 
tiquity, may now be seen by the roadside lead¬ 
ing over the Alps to Italy ; such were the two 
gigantic twin glaciers that drained the north¬ 
ern slopes of the mountain-colosses around 
Monte Rosa and Matterhorn, united at Stalden, 
and thence, losing their independence, became 
simply lateral tributaries of the great glacier 
of the Rhone ; such were, farther on, the gla¬ 
ciers coming down from all the side-valleys 
opening into the Rhone basin ; such were the 
glaciers of the St. Bernard, and even those 
of Chamouni, which in those early days crossed 
the Tete Noire to unite below Martigny with 
those that filled the valley of the Rhone. Thus 
the outlines of this glacier may be followed 
from its present remnant at the summit of 
the Yalais, where the Rhone now springs forth 
with the growing grandeur of these ancient glaciers, even 
while they were retreating into the heart of the Alps. In 
proportion as they left the plain, the landscape must have 
gained in imposing effect in consequence of the isolation of 
these immense masses of ice, which in their united extension 
may have recalled rather the immensity of the ocean, than 
the grandeur of Alpine scenery. 
1 * 
