587 
\ 
GLACIER. 
Tides, of the Alps. Thofe on the very fannr.it, liow- 
ever, tliough they Jiave the appearance_of,ice, are not fo 
in reality, but coiifill; entirely of fnow hardened by the 
extreme cold. M. Saulfiire found that Av.hich covered 
the top of Mont Blanc to be penetrable, though with 
difficulty, by a ftick; but below this liard cruft was a 
fnow like fait, without coherence. The Tides are covered 
with a mixture of ice and fnow ; by reafon 5 f tlie lupe- 
rior power of the fummer fun to difl'olve the fnow, which 
afterwards congeals into impenetrable ice. 
Several conjectures have been made concerning tl^ for¬ 
mation of thefe extraordinary bodies of ice. Mr. Coxe 
agrees with M. Gruner in opinion, that they are pro¬ 
duced by the continual dilTolution of the fnow in Tam- 
mer, and its congelation by the fucceeding frofts. Hence, 
on the fummits of the mountains where the fun has very 
little power, the glacier is foft, and contains but little 
ice : as we defeend the mountains, the confiftence be¬ 
comes firmer, becaul'e there is a confiderable mixture 
of fnow-water, the congelation of which augments the 
hardnefs; and in the valleys, the glacier is hardeftof all, 
becaufe tlie portion of water is there much fuperior to 
that of the fnow ; and from its rugged and ihelving fur- 
face, has the exaCt appearance of a ftormy lea fuddenly 
feized by a froft. 
The mountains which furround this valley or fea of 
ice, are, ift. Mount Charmos on the right; 2d, Mount 
Mallet in tlie back ground ; 3d, Periades; 4th, the Great 
Jorra, of an extraordinary heiglit; 5th, I’Aiguille du 
Moine ; 6th, that of Dm ; but the Montanverd, or green 
mountain, is the moll curious, being half covered with 
ice and fnow, and, in intermediate fpaces, with rich paf- 
tures, wiiere cattle feed, l ifts fea of ice is fuppofed to 
extend about twelve leagues. A more curious, and at 
the fame time a more terrific, feene than this cannot be 
conceived, at once prefeniing the image of the frozen 
ocean and the verdure of the temperate zone. It is j>of- 
fible to defeend from the Montanverd on the fea of ice, 
and even to crofs it, but the dangers are immenfc, on 
account of the large crevices which it is aeceffiiry to ftep 
over, that are more than an hundred feet deep. It is mat¬ 
ter of much furprife, on coming to this part, to find the 
waves of ice, which at i'omediftance appear fticonlidera- 
ble, to be more than eighty or an hundred feet in height. 
From lifts majeftic I'cene we are taken by a fteep and 
narroiv path, tlirough a foreft of firs and larches, which 
employs about an liour to delcend, in order to return to 
a place wliere.there is a wooden bridge to crofs the Ar- 
v'eron; when another moft aftonifiiing objedt prel'ents it- 
felf, an entire mountain of ice, formed by the fall of a 
glacier, feen from tlie Montanverd, which defceiids into 
the valley. High mountains of granite liirroniid thefe 
glaciers, and form, by their irregular ftrata, fupeib 
cafeades, mixing their waters with the Arveron, which 
ilfues from a mod beautiful arched grotto above an liuii- 
dred feet high, compofed entirely of ice. The wonder¬ 
ful etfedf s ot mafi'es of ice contrafted with the impending 
woods and ricli paftures that crown this grand and un¬ 
common feene, added to the frightful nolle fo frequently 
heard of enormous bodies of it breaking oft' from the 
mountain and daffiiiig themfelves to pieces in the Ar- 
veroii, ‘‘cannot but create,” fays M. Beaumont, “ an 
admiration and furpril’e more readily felt than expreffed, 
and highly deferving the attention of the fpeculative 
Iraveller.'” 
Tliel'e vaft refervoirs of ice and fnow, befides fupply- 
ing the Arveron, give birth to many otlier important 
rivers, whole I'oiirces deeply intereft curiolity. As an 
example, the account which Bourrit gives of that of 
the Rlioiie, is particularly worthy of notice, “ At length 
we perceived - till ougli the trees a mountain of ice as 
fpleiidid as the fun, and flalhiiig a limilar light on tlie 
environs. This firlt afpedt of the glacier of the Rhone 
infpired us v/ith great expedlatioii. A moment after¬ 
wards this enormous mal's of ice having difappeared be¬ 
hind thick pines, it foon after met oiir fight between 
two vaft blocks of rock, whicli formed a kind of por¬ 
tico. Surprized at the inagMificence of this fpeclacle, 
and at its atimirable contrails, vve beheld it with rap¬ 
ture. At length we reached this beautiful portico, be¬ 
yond which we were to difeover all the glacier. 'V\'e 
arrived: at this fight one would fuppofe one’s felf in 
another world, fo much is the imagination imprell'ed 
with the nature and immenfity of the objedls in view. 
To form an idea of tliis fuperb I'pcdlacle, figure in your 
mind a fcaflbldiiig of tranfparent ice, .filling a fpace of 
two miles, riling to the clouds, and darting Hallies of 
light like the fun. Nor were the feveral parts lets mag¬ 
nificent and furpvifing. One might fee as it were tlie 
ftreets and buildings of a city, eredfed in the form of an 
ampiiitlieatre, and embellifiied with pieces of water, cal- 
cades, and torrents. Tlie eft'edls were as prodigious as 
the immenfity and the heiglit; the moft beautiful azure, 
the moft refplendent white; the regular appearance of 
a thoufand pyramids of ice, more eal'y to be imagined 
than del'cribed. Such is the al'pedl of the glacier of the 
Rhone, reared by nature on a plan whicli ilie alone can 
execute : we admire the majeftic courfe of a river, with¬ 
out lufped'ting that what gives it birth, and maintains 
its waters, may be ftili more majeftic and magnificent.” 
An intereftiiig queftion has arifen concerning thefe 
glaciers of Swiircrlaiid, Whether they are to be confi- 
dered as in a ftate of increale, or diminution ? Mr. Coxe 
is of opinion that they occafionally increafe anddecreale ; 
in proof of which he adduces the following obfervation: 
“ The borders of the glacier of Montanverd are moftly 
Ikirted with trees quite to tlie vaft arch of ice under 
whicli the Arveron rifes ivltli confiderable force. Thofe 
trees whicli Hand at a little dift^nce from the arch are 
about eighty feet high, and arc undoubtedly of a very 
great age. Between thefe and the glacier the trees are 
of a later growtli ; as is evident from their texture and 
inferior fize. Others, ftili fnialler, have be.en over- 
tunied and enveloped in the ice: there I'eenis to be a 
kind of regular gradation in the age of thefe feveral 
trees, from the htrgeft whicli are ftandiiig, to the fnialleft 
tliat lie proftrate.”—Hence Mr. Coxe concludes, that 
the glacier once extended as far as the row of fmall firs ; 
but tliat, upon its gradual ditlbhuion, a number of trees 
ftiot up on the fpot it had occupied; fince v/hicli time 
the ice lias again advanced, and overtiuaed the. laft 
grown trees before they had attained to any conliderable 
lieight. This he thinks alfo confirmed by the lollowing 
fadt: “ Large (tones of granite are ufually toinid at a 
fmall diftance from the extremities of the glacier. Tlicle 
ftones have certainly fallen from the mountains upon 
the ice; liave been carried on in its progrefs ; and have 
tumbled into tlie plain upon the diifoluiioii or finking 
of the ice wliich fupported them. Thefe (tones, which 
tlie natives call moraine, form a kind of border towards 
the foot of the valley of ice, and liave been puflied for¬ 
ward by the glacier in its advances: they extend even 
to the place occupied by tiie larger pines.” In oppofi- 
tioii to thofe wftio niaiiilaiii that there is a conftant accu¬ 
mulation of ice and (now in the alpine regions, he alio 
oft'ers the following remarks. 1. Between tlie years 
1776 and 1785, the glacier of Grindelevald had dimi- 
nilhed to Inch a degree, that the fpot wliich its extre¬ 
mity occupied in the former year, was at lead iftur hun¬ 
dred paces from that occupied by it in the latter. 2. In 
the year 1785 tlie Murailles de Glace', which in 1776 he 
had deferibed as forming the border of the glacier of 
Bofibn, no longer exifted ; and young trees liad iliot up 
in the parts which were then covered by the glacier of 
Montanverd. 
In the Tyrol or Rhaetian Alps, now called the Bren¬ 
ner, the glaciers are known by the general name of fer- 
ner, and in the fouth by that of vedretta. They receive, 
moreover, their particular name from the valley in 
which they are formed, or from the mountain {glaciere) 
