The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1852-12-07
The GLACIERS IN SWITZERLAND.

Those who have hoard tho lectures delivered
within few years by Professor Agassiz, upon
the Swiss glaciers. will perhaps bo interested
in brief account of visit recently made to
the Unteraar glacier. which was the subject OF
his Investigations in $780, and whose move
ments and changes have since been studied by
other Swiss naturalists.
NV friend G. and arrived in the Hospice
of Grinsel on the evening of the 18th Sep'em-
her, having walked through the wild region ly-
ing between tho valley of the Rensas and the
sources of the Arr. in violent rain storm. II
was still raining when wc rose on the morning
of the 18th. though tho clouds looked little
brighter Thinking il useless to wait for fair
weather. which is rare here nj this season OF
the year, we decided at brenkfastto push on to
Meyrngen in spite OF the rain, but two young
American students i'm Germany, were bent on
exploring the glacier, and rs the hosts baromer
bad risen by nine o'clock to s'set fair we dcc-
ded to lose a days journey and mako up par
ty with them. So at 10 o'clock we four started
with two guides and man from the Hospice,
who carried a backload ofprovsicns
The clouds were scattering fast, but for pre-
cautions against deluge, wc had arrayed our
selves in ancient suits of mine hosts, which
had weathered many an alpine storm, and were
preserved to serve travellers in similar cxgen
ces. Behold us then arrayed in coats and
jackets that might have graced tho stalwart
shoulders of Tell himself. and yellow homespun
trousers of ludcrous width and brevity. de-
cdedly pastoral effect was given to these pic
tnresque costumes, by the Alpenstocks, which
have their uses, as will be seen later.
Striking tho valley of the Aar, our road lay
over quite an elevation of granite, on the fur
ther side of which wo crossed the river by
foot bridge, and then rose to tho top Of a cliff
on its left bank, perhaps a hundred feet high.
After following its edge for quarter ofa mile,
sometimes seeming almost TO ovcrhang the tor
rent below. we descended to an oval meadow,
| through which the river flows for mile and
half bringing down in tho freshets of early sum
mer great quantities of coarse gravel which it
deposits in long beds. The valley is enclosed
| by vast ramparts of naked granite, sending out
spurs, which sometimes interock, forcing the
| stream into narrow and winding channels.
Approaching tho upper end of the meadow,
our view was bounded by the terminal morainc
of tho glacier from under which issue tho mil
ky, ice cold waters of the Aar already well
grown stream. This moraine is a steep mound,
n hundred feet or moro in height spanning
the whole width Of the valley, apparently of
| gravel mixed with largo angular masses of
rock but in fact ice with n coating of these
materials, of considerable thickness at bottom
but quite thin at top. Ascending this, with
some difficulty from the con tant sliding ofthe
masses under our tread, we saw the same mate
| rial rising before us. though not so stcepy.-
! The clouds had already dispersed, tho sun
shono brightly, and our heavy coats had been
surrendered to the guides for carriage. An
hour of fsomewha: tedious march ovcr the rocks.
| through which the ice was occasionally vsible,
| L,.o,,s.L. i--l .i,~ .-r - 4 -.-r-- Al -
glacier itself, where. purified and divcstcd by
| its own movement of its rocky coat ii stretch
| ed before us in gentle ascent, glistcning
"sea of ice" It's depth is said to be one hun
dred to two hundred feet. and its width about
two miles, though from tho grand scale on
which everything is exhibited, and the absence
of houses, trees or other objects Of known size
to serve as standards. il seems much less. 1t
was only when some of the party wander to
the side, that we corrected our notions of OK.
tension, on seeing that ten Minutes wall,
brought one over less than quarter the whole
width and at that distance tho human figure
was almost lost to view.
On either side at tho foo, Of tho bounding
mountains arc tho "latcral moranes," longiiu-
dnal ridges of ice, raiscd from fifty to eighty
| feet above the clear surface, covered with an
gular masses of rock, like the terminal moraine
which is, in fact mainly formed by their union.
Those rocks arc the debris. annually brought
down from the steep mountain sides by the ac-
ton Of frost, and f avalanchcs.
AS tho body of the glacier moves down the
valley, for it docs move at the rate of few in
ches per day. it carries these with it, and de-
posites them in the mound which we have al
ready described at its end. The weight Of ice
and snow in the upper regions, daily increased
by fresh additions and the expansive influence
of low temperatures upon The ice itself. are the
forces which impcl this mighty mass. In cold
stormy winters these forces arc moro active
and their effects moro apparent; if tho waste
from the lower extremity is proporlionate to
the increase above, the end of the glacier main
tans fixed position. If not. the icc either ad-
yances, pushing its morainc before il or else re-
cedes. leaving the old morsine and forming
a new one behind it, This glacier seems 10 bo
now advancing. The Rhonc glacier which we
passed yesterday has on the contrary heen ro-
treating for many years and has left three dis
iinct mounds, now grass grown, at distances of
so to $50 feet apart.
The surface of the glacier is apparently of
snow, eranulated and just passing into ice; it
il is white. though somewhat soilcd by dust
and gravel, but the crevasses where tho plane
of the surface changes from gradual to n see-
per descent, disclose clear pale blue. At
perhaps mile from the terminal moraine the
crevasses become large and numerous Thcv
are mostly transverse to the axis, vary in length
from fifty feet to several hundred, and in width
from two to ten feet at top, but narrowing rap
idly below. Their shape was various: sorno
like fantastic goblets were full TO tho brim Of
clear and sparkling water, whose crystal depths
were colored with the azure of their ICY vase;
others were deep from which stole up ever the
sad murmur of streams wandering in darkness
far below, like winding caverns of the same
pale dreamy dreamy blue the chaunting of sy-
rens hiring one to destruction. A sort of fas-
cination tempts one 10 lean far over, and to
peer into that icy abyss, when slip of the
foot or the breaking oftho trusted staff would
put ones life beyond the reach of mortal aid,
and ones body mortal search. A grand but
awful burial that. where tho body preserved by
the cold purity of its crystal tomb, should rest
unchanged for ages, till the sea and the earth
shall give up their deadl