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mass of the glacier. The solidification of the snow into clear ice 
which marks the change from neve to glacier, usually takes place 
at the foot of these falls at an elevation of 8000 feet to 10,000 feet; 
but one glacier, that of the Nisqually, begins higher on the moun¬ 
tain. The five glaciers on the northern and western slopes, with 
which I am familiar, all have a very rapid fall. Their downward 
paths are rugged and the crystal ice breaks into a thousand pyra¬ 
mids on the hidden declivities beneath it. But it flows ever 
onward, now opening deep crevasses, now uniting, now spreading 
out, now narrowing in, as its banks require, a plastic mass of 
rigid material. The lower ends of these glaciers differ widely in 
their elevations above the sea. White River glacier, one of the 
largest, if not the largest on the mountain, descends with a grad¬ 
ually lessening slope and ends upon an open grassy plain amid 
brilliant colored flowers, at an elevation of about 3500 feet, perhaps a 
quarter of a mile from the narrow canon, into which its river 
plunges. The glacier of Carbon River descends through a gorge 
to about 3300 feet above the sea ; protected by the cliffs from all 
but the morning sun a fid having great bulk at its upper end, it 
descends lower than any other that I know of; at its end it is about 
300 feet across and fifty feet thick. The north glacier of the Puy¬ 
allup breaks over a cliff and slips away in muddy rivulets five thou¬ 
sand feet above the sea ; and the south glacier, having much less 
impetus and volume, ends in the narrow canon of the river at 4300 
feet. Of the other glaciers I cannot speak of my own knowledge. 
Turning from the mountain’s icy coat to its fiery origin, there is 
an interesting question suggested by the three summits. They lie 
in a semi-circle, the opening to the west; did they once form the 
eastern half of a huge crater ; is the mountain but a part of its for¬ 
mer self? The only crater now recognizable on the summit, I am 
told, is that on the eastern side of the Dome ; it is slightly inclined 
to the east and its western rim forms the highest point on the 
mountain. I have seen it from a distance, a black ring of rocks 
always kept bare by the hot stream still issuing from the crater’s 
edge. There are four other craters north and northwest of Mt. 
Tacoma on its lower slopes ; all between 5000 feet and 6000 feet 
above the sea. The first is in Crescent mountain, a distinct peak 
due north of the Liberty Cap. The second is filled by Crater 
Lake ; the third lies half a mile east and the fourth is in Tolmie’s 
