V (Mountain of the Show Cross) 
of the Mount of the Holy Cross is the vertical face, nearly 
3,000 feet on the side, with a cross of snow which may he seen 
at a distance of fifty to eighty miles from other mountain-peaks# 
i 
This is formed hy a vertical fissure about 1,500 feet high, with 
a sort of horizontal step, produced hy the breaking down of the 
side of the mountain, on which the snow is lodged and remains 
more or less all the year. late in the summer the cross is 
very much diminished in size by the melting of the snow which 
has accumulated in the fissures. A beautiful green lake lies 
at the base of the peak, almost up to timber-line, which forms 
a reservoir for the waters from the melting snows of the high 
peaks. From this, one of the main branches of the Roches 
Moutonnes Creek flows down the mountain-side, forming several 
charming cascades on its way. The worn rocks or "sheep-backs* 
in the valley of the creek display most remarkable examples of 
the curious markings on the surface of gneiss -produced by the sep 
aration of the different constituents of the rocks." (page 74) 
