Another very striking difference in the appearance of the glaciers above and below the snow-line is due to the prevalence of débris on the lower portion. The melting that takes place {185} below the snow-line removes the ice and leaves the rocks. In this manner the stones previously concealed in the névé are concentrated at the surface, and finally form sheets of débris many miles in extent. So far as my observations go, there is nothing to indicate that stones are brought to the surface by any other means than the one here suggested. Upward currents in the ice that would bring stones to the surface have been postulated by certain writers, but nothing sustaining such an hypothesis has been found in Alaska. The moraines on the lower extremities of the Alpine glaciers may frequently be separated into individual ridges, which in many instances would furnish instructive studies; but in no case has the history of these accumulations been worked out in detail. With the appearance of moraines at the surface come a great variety of phenomena due to unequal melting. Ridges of ice sheathed with débris, glacial tables, sand cones, etc., everywhere attract the attention; but these features are very similar on all glaciers where the summer's waste exceeds the winter's increase, and have been many times described. The general distribution of the moraines of the lower portion of the Alpine glaciers of the St. Elias region merits attention. The moraines themselves exhibit features not yet observed in other regions. From Disenchantment bay westward to the Seward glacier the lower portions of the ice-streams are covered and concealed by sheets of débris. About their margins the débris fields support luxuriant vegetation, and not infrequently are so densely clothed with flowers that a tint is given to their rugged surfaces. On the extreme outer margins of the moraines there are sometimes thickets and forests so dense as to be almost impenetrable. The best example of forest-covered moraines resting on living glaciers, however, is found along the borders of the Malaspina ice-field. PIEDMONT GLACIERS.