e and health, and that the
living and the bodies of the dead alike were brought back to
the United States; and that in the robust-appearing General
Greely of to-day there is nothing to indicate the terrible
strain of that dread winter in the realm of ice.]

THE MUIR GLACIER.

SEPTIMA M. COLLIS.

[No other country in the world possesses so many unique wonders
of nature as the United States. The Yosemite Valley,
Yellowstone Park, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, and Sequoia
Groves each stands alone in its peculiar beauty or grandeur;
and to these we may add the Muir Glacier in Alaska, before
which the famous glaciers of the Alps shrink into
insignificance, and which has no rival outside the Arctic zone.
"A Woman's Trip to Alaska," by Mrs. Collis, gives a vivid and
picturesque description of this glacial wonder, which we here
append. The sketch given is preceded by a statistical one, in
which we are told that this glacier sheds from its front "one
hundred and sixty million cubic feet of ice every twenty-four
hours."]

The previous chapter has briefly outlined the main facts within my
knowledge concerning the Muir Glacier which I had gathered from my
reading, and upon which I had to create the image of what I expected to
see. True, I had seen photographs of it; yes, and I had seen photographs
of the Canyon of the Yellowstone, and of the Nevada Falls, and of
Niagara, just as I have seen paste diamonds; I knew their shapes, and
that is all I ever gathered from their portraits. Neither the
expression, nor the complexion, nor the sound of the voice of nature are
to be found upon the dull surface of the photograph; you simply get the
general lines, some of the shadows, very erroneous perspective, and that
is all. We had come to a stand-still while we were at lunch. I had
observed the slackening of speed; next the stoppage of the machinery;
then the absolute stillness of the ship; and finally a darkening of the
saloon. We were evidently at a halt under the shadow of some immense
elevation. A passenger on tiptoe looked through the port-hole, and
uttered an exclamation of amazement; then we all rushed to similar
apertures; climbed on the chairs; looked over the men's shoulders; in
fact, did all kinds of unreasonable things, and at last stampeded up the
companion-way to the deck.

I pray heaven that neither age nor infirmity may ever effa