But Far The Greater Portion Of The Vast Expanse Looking Smooth In The
Distance Is Torn And Crumpled Into A Bewildering Network Of Hummocky
Ridges And Blades, Separated By Yawning Gulfs And Crevasses, So That
The Explorer, Crossing It From Shore To Shore, Must Always Have A
Hard Time.
In hollow spots here and there in the heart of the icy
wilderness are small lakelets fed by swift-
Glancing streams that flow
without friction in blue shining channels, making delightful melody,
singing and ringing in silvery tones of peculiar sweetness, radiant
crystals like flowers ineffably fine growing in dazzling beauty along
their banks. Few, however, will be likely to enjoy them. Fortunately
to most travelers the thundering ice-wall, while comfortably
accessible, is also the most strikingly interesting portion of the
glacier.
The mountains about the great glacier were also seen from this
standpoint in exceedingly grand and telling views, ranged and grouped
in glorious array. Along the valleys of the main tributaries to the
northwestward I saw far into their shadowy depths, one noble peak in
its snowy robes appearing beyond another in fine perspective. One of
the most remarkable of them, fashioned like a superb crown with
delicately fluted sides, stands in the middle of the second main
tributary, counting from left to right. To the westward the
magnificent Fairweather Range is displayed in all its glory, lifting
its peaks and glaciers into the blue sky. Mt. Fairweather, though not
the highest, is the noblest and most majestic in port and
architecture of all the sky-dwelling company.
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