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228 THROUGH NORWAY WITII A KNAPSACK.
year would be just capable of melting the snows of the
year ; below it the beat would overpower the snow, and
above it the snow would prevail. Therefore, above this
line there must be continual accumulation of snow; for
as the whole year’s heat would be less than sufficient to
melt the whole year’s snow-fall, there must be an annual
increase of snow. What would become of this, under
these circumstances ? It is obvious that it would
increase in depth; and the greater the height the greater
the rate of this increase: thus it would top up, till it
exceeded the angle of repose, and then slip down in
avalanches.
There would be two kinds of avalanches. In the
winter, when much snow had recently fallen,—and this
snow, from the absence of the sun to overpower the
continuous cold of both night and day, remained a dry,
incoherent powder,—it would accumulate till it slipped
down in great sweeping strata of dust, and thus form
the " dust avalanche " (the " staublauinen") : too well
known as a winter visitor to some of the Swiss valleys.
In the summer time, even above the snow-line, the sun’s
rays would be powerful enough to thaw the surface of
the snow; and the water sinking into the snow would
partly freeze again below the surface, while that upon
the surface would freeze during the night: thus a half-
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frozen, coherent mass of snow woiild form, and when
this gave way would slide down in lumps, like the
well-known summer avalanche of the Alps.
Now let us suppose this roof-shaped mountain to be
furrowed down its sides by the wear of descending
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