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veller. We entrusted the choice of these to themselves; and our obliging hostess hastened to prepare every thing that was necessary in the shape of provisions for the expedition. The next day, at a quarter past 5 A. M. we set out. The morning was delightful, and the thermometer at 109 R. We took, at first, the direction of the glaeier of Bossons, but, before coming to it, we diverged to the left, and began the ascent in a forest. At seven o clock we were already above this forest, at the cottage inhabited by Pierre François Favret, formerly one of the guides of M. de Saussure, who had made the ascent, and of whom the son was with us. Here one of our guides, Julien Devouassou, son-in-law of Dr Paccard, had nearly poisoned himself. He had bought at Cha mouny what he conceived was syrup of vinegary and, arriving at a rivulet, he wished to try his syrup before mix ing it with water. He swallowed a little. It was concentrated sulphuric acid, which burned his mouth and stomach in a dreadful manner. His sufferings were great, and he vomited much. By good luck this accident happened near the cottage, where I found ashes, which I made him swallow, diluted with water. The alkali instantly neutralized the acid, and the guide was soon in a state to continue his march with us.

From the cottage we mounted in a zig-zag direction towards the South Needle. At half-past eight we rested at Pierre-pointue, where the mountain projects between the glacier of Bossons and that of Pélerins, but nearer the first; (therm. 139.) From this place we saw, for the first time, the top of Mont Blanc, and we were yet in sight of the Priory. From thence we turned a little towards the right, Sand, at nine o'clock, crossed the torrent called the Black Water, but which, in place of water, was filled with enormous blocks of granite, which had rolled down from above. On the left was the pinnacle of La Tour. A quarter of an hour afterwards we pass ed Nant Blanc; and at a quarter before ten we sat down to breakfast around a large stone between the glacier of Bossons and Mont Rasselache. The guides called it the Ladder-stone, because they ordinarily leave here the ladder which is used in crossing the glacier. (Barom. 21.1,7-therm. at

tach. 129 the other 15). Atten minutes past eleven we again began our march, and in five minutes attained the glacier of Bossons, which we had to traverse obliquely, in the direction of the Grand-Mulet. About a hundred paces from the edge of the glacier, we met with scenery which no pen is able to describe. We stopped every moment to remark some strik ing configuration of the ice, and the only words uttered were, "Look to the right! Look to the left!" Sometimes it was a precipice of which no eye could trace the bottom-sometimes a mass of ice more than a hundred feet in height. Soon, however, the ladder was put in use; and the question was, How should we be able to cross a gulf of twenty feet in breadth, with no visible bottom, divided lengthwise in two by a slender partition of ice, of at most a foot in thickness, and of which the upper edge was ten feet lower than the margin of the two hol lows thus united? Arrived at the edge, the ladder was let down, its end resting on the slender wall isolated in the middle of the abyss. One of the guides descended, and one of the party followed him, and, standing by the side of the ladder upon the wall of ice of a foot in breadth, he remained motionless, leaning upon his stick, and endeavouring to avoid the sight of the two blue gulfs ready to swallow him up on the least loss of equilibrium. The guide now turned the ladder to the opposite side of the ravine, and, the traveller having ascended, he turned it again as before, for the second of the party to pass, and so on with the others. When the ladder is a few inches longer than the breadth of the chasm, it is laid across in the form of a bridge, and each crawls over on all-fours. Other chasms are also met with, which are connected by bridges of snow, of no great thickness. Sometimes those in the rear of a party find these bridges pierced by the footsteps of the person who has preceded them; in this case, it is proper to diverge a little to one side.

In spite of all these difficulties and dangers, we crossed the glacier without the slightest accident. At a quarter past one we were above the junction of the glacier of Bossons with that of Tacconay, between which is the mountain of Côte, and, after having

1

ascended a slope of snow, inclined a bout 66%, we arrived, at three o'clock, at the foot of the Grand-Mulet, upon its west side. The rocks which appear in the middle of the ice possess here as little solidity as those of the Needle of Gouté ; and we mounted so slowly, that it was half-past four when we arrived at the most elevated part of the Grand-Mulet. A black cloud which was now forming on the west side decided us to remain here for the night. (Bar. 19.3,6-therm. 10.) The top of this rock assuming the form of the letter L, that is to say, being at a right angle, we arranged our ladder and some sticks, so as to form a hypotheneuse; and a little straw, spread on the horizontal part of the rock, formed a mattrass, upon which we lay down side by side. Scarcely were we covered, when it began to rain, and soon after the thunder reverberated majestically around us. I attempted to expose the point of the electrometer beyond our tent, but the balls were put in motion with such violence, that I soon desisted is The night was stormy; but the next morning the rain had ceased, and the air was so pure, that we saw the Lake of Geneva, and other distant objects, very distinctly. We hoped that towards mid-day the atmosphere above would become clearer; but as this was still uncertain, we resolved to bivouac another night in our tent, after the manner of the Cossacks. Coutet sent two of our men to the Priory for an addition to our provisions; and during the lucid intervals I employed myself in again boiling the mercury in one of my barometrical tubes, which had been injured. We here tried the temperature of boiling water, which we found to be 72°. I also made some arrangements to set off fireworks upon our return from the summit; for I was curious to know if rockets rose well in air so very rare. I had also luminous balls and stars prepared with arsenic; Bengal fire prepared with antimony; and a bag with a mixture of nitre, sulphur, and orpiment, to illuminate the top of Mont Blanc, and the pinnacles of the surrounding mountains.

At five o'clock it began to hail, and from this time to midnight the atmosphere was cloudy; but on the 20th at one o'clock in the morning the firmament appeared studded with

H

stars, although the valley was yet cons cealed in mist. Coutet having gone out to examine the weather, told us that it promised well; but that it would be prudent to wait yet a little longer before deciding upon ascending. About five o'clock the top was already lighted by the sun, the air was serene, it was perfectly calm, and our guides, announced to us that we might begin our march. M. Selligue, who had been for sometime indispos ed, and who feared the return of rain before the end of our journey, prefer red, to remain at the Grand-Mulet. Two of our guides who had never been at the top were asked by Coutet to remain with Mr Sbut they refused; however, two of the others consented to stay behind. Wel departed fromthe Grand-Mulet at twenty minutes past five, viz. Messrs Dornford, Henderson, and myself, with eight guides, (Ther. 29.) We now entered on the snow, which was here pretty deep, and directed our course towards the Needle of Goûté, and afterwards ascended in a zig-zag direc‐ tion, to avoid the chasms or almost perpendicular slopes towards the summit, which we now saw from this side at a quarter before seven. The day was delightful; and far below us were seen the white clouds, like a tranquil sea, pierced here and there by the pinnacles of the highest mountains, which Coutet named to me Fours, the Needle of Varens, Buet, &e.

About seven o'clock the mists began to dissipate, and we could now see the Priory. As we ascended we found the snow harder and of less depth; and it appeared as if it had not snowed for some time. snage da

At twenty minutes past seven we arrived at the first of three platforms of snow, which succeed one another in the space between the top of Goûté and Mont Maudit. After having traversed this first platform, we mounted at a quarter before eight an inclined plane of from 95° to 30°, that led to a second, which we began to cross at ten minutes past eight, having on our right those great seracs+ of ice,

*The eastern shoulder of Mont Blanc is thus named.

Seracs are parallelopipeds, cubes, and other regular forms, which the ice and snow takes at great heights, and are thus named from a species of white cheese of a similar appearance made in the mountains.

which are observed from Chamouny, The sky seen from the sides of these white masses of ice appeared of a very dark blue, almost black. After having ascended another steep slope, we arrived at half-past eight at the last great platform, bounded on the right by the most elevated part of the Dome du Gouté, on the left by the last rocks we met with on this side, and on the south by analmost perpendicular slope, at the top of which, but a little higher, was the summit of Mont Blanc. Here our guides wished us joy, saying that now all our difficulties were surmounted. Never, they said, had an ascent more t happily succeeded; and never had it been done more quickly or with so little difficulty. In truth, the snow had acquired the solidity which made walking on it easy; our footsteps did not sink too deep, and it was not too hard. None of the party felt indisposed, although we had experienced for some time the effects of the rarity of the air. My pulse was 128, and I was very thirsty Our guidos reminded us to breakfast here as higher up, they said, the appetite for eating is lost. A cloth was spread upon the snow at the commencement of the great platform, which served us for chairs and table. Each eat heartily his half chicken; and I arranged many things for the observations and experiments which I intended to make when we got up. I wrote two notes to announce our arrival at the summit, leaving a blank for the hour to be afterwards filled up. I meant to tie them to a pigeon which I had with me, and which I wished to unloose on the top of the mountain, to see how it flew in air so rare, and to know afterwards if it could find its way back to Sallenches, where its com panion was. We kept also a bottle of our best wine to drink upon the summit to the memory of Saussure.

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-At nine o'clock we set out to reach the top, which now rose before us. "Would you take a thousand pounds to go down in place of going up?" said one of my companions to his countryman. I would not now return for any money," replied he.We were all full of hope and joy to see ourselves so near the end of our journey. The favourable weather, the calm which reigned around us, the celestial air which we had respired during our repose, gave birth in our

We traversed the great platform of snow, at the entrance of which we had breakfasted. During this passage I had occasion to remain a little be hind, and it was not till near the angle on the right that I rejoined our company. We ascended nearly to the half of its height the great slope of snow, which, occupying all the breadth of the platform, rose to the summit of Mont Blanc. But as be tween this plane and the top there were ridges of ice almost vertical, we were obliged to cross the slope hori zontally towards the left, to gain the last great rocks, (2300 toises,) from whence we already saw Italy, and from which, on turning to the right, we should mount to the summit which was not more than 150 toises above us. We walked singly, the one after the other; for it was found convenient to put our feet in the foot! steps made by the first guides, who were changed at intervals on account of the great fatigue.

We thus advanced in a line nearly horizontal, crossing the plane at the middle of its height; that is to say, at an almost equal distance from the ridges on our right, and the platform of snow on our left. Nobody spoke, for at this height speaking fatigued, and the air conveyed the sound but feebly. I was still the last of the party, and I walked only about twelve paces at once, when leaning upon my stick I stopped to make fifteen inspi rations. I found that in this manner I could advance without exhausting myself. Furnished with green spec tacles and a crape before my face, my eyes were fixed upon my steps, which I counted, when all at once I felt the snow recede from my feet. Think ing I only shipped, I struck in my stick on my left, but in vain; the snow which was accumulating on my right overturned me, covered me, and I felt myself drawn downwards with an irresistible force. I fancied at first that I was the only one of the party to whom this accident had occurred,

moments before the accident, and found it to be only 28°. Farther on, likewise, the mass of snow was thicker, especially in the upper part, for the wind generally blows the loose snow towards the top. On this account, the sliding naturally commenced at this place, and the snow descended straight towards the ravine, whilst around me it took an oblique direction downwards. This seems to be the cause why the three first individuals in the line fell into the gulf, and were covered with snow so deeply that they could not recover themselves; while the fifth and sixth, who also had fallen in, were yet able, by their exertions, to rid themselves of the snow which surrounded them. Coutet, on coming out of the snow, had his face of a blue colour, with all the symptoms of asphyxia. Mathieu Balmat, a very strong man, and one of our chiefs, who marched fourth, was the only one able to stop himself while the snow was in motion. Overturned, and already drawn to a certain distance, he had the presence of mind to sink his large stick, as an anchor, into the firm snow. The two other guides were, like the three travellers, buried in the snow and carried to the chasm, without, however, falling into it.

The guides estimated the surface of snow which was in motion at nearly 100 toises in breadth, and 250 in oblique height. The snow which slid down had not recently fallen, for it was of considerable firmness. Those of our guides who had the most experience among the snows, had not

These were Pierre Balmat, brother of Mathieu, and eldest son of P. Balmat, one of the old guides of M. de Saussure; Pierre Carrier, a smith to trade, who had already been eleven times at Mont Blanc: and Auguste Terraz. This last, and P. Balmat, had never made the ascent of Mont Blanc. These were the two guides who refused to remain at the Grand-Mulet. All the three carried provisions, instru ments, and other things, as well as the pigeon and the living chicken. None of them were married.

+ Joseph Marie Coutet, one of our two principal guides, (his father had been also with M. de Saussure,) and Julien Devoaussou, he who had nearly poisoned himself by the oil of vitriol.

David Coutet, brother of Joseph Marie, our chief, and David Foligue.

* When M. de Saussure passed this place, he had the good fortune to find that an avalanche had the preceding night carried away from the slope a great part of the loose snow. I shall quote here part of § 1985 of the work of M. de Saussure, where, speaking of this place, he says:"The next day we traversed the second platform, at the entrance of which we had passed the night; from thence we ascended to the third, which we also crossed, and we were in half an hour at the bottom of wards the east, the rock is reached which the great slope, by which, inclining toforms the left shoulder of the summit of Mont Blanc. On commencing the ascent, I was already out of breath from the rarity of the air; however, by stopping at every thirty paces to respire for a moment, but without sitting, I held out; and I arrived in forty minutes at the beginning of the avalanche which had fallen the preceding night, and the noise made by which reach ed our tent.

in the hope that, after having rested our "There we stopped for some moments, legs and our lungs, we should be able to cross the avalanche pretty quickly, and at one breathing space; but this we found impossible; that species of fatigue which results from the rarity of the air is absolutely insurmountable; and when it is at its height, the most imminent danger could not make me move a step farther. But I encouraged my guides by saying to them that it was the less dangerous, as all the loose snow which covered the top had been

swept away.

"Beyond this_avalanche the slope became steeper, and terminated on our left in a frightful precipice; and we had to cross a large cleft, the passage of which was likewise interrupted by a rock of ice, which stretched to the edge of the slope. The first guides had cut steps in the hard snow with a hatchet; but they had made them rather at too great a distance; and to reach the footsteps it was requisite to stride as far as we could, at the risk of missing the steps and sliding irremediably down the precipice. Higher up the snow was soft

and the surface broke under our feet; er, and above this we found loose flakes of

snow, to the depth of eight or nine inches, which rested upon a second crust of hardened snow. We walked thus up to the middle of the leg, at the risk of sliding to the side of the precipice, our only security from which accident was the superior crust,