- MONT BLAJ^C AI^D THE MER DE GLACE. 37 



Mer de Glace. But our ambition is not satisfied to ac- 

 complisli what everybody else is capable of achieving. 

 Above us shoots the needling pinnacle of Charmoz, the 

 flutings of whose precipitous slopes are laden with drifted 

 snow. We dare not think of scaling this mountain spire, 

 but here is a moderate acclivity clothed with grass and 

 low bushes, which tempts us in that direction. Who vol- 

 unteers for a scramble up a more considerable height? 



There is no pathway here, save occasionally a goat- 

 path zigzagging aimlessly, and our goal, if we have one, 

 leads over a field which it would be temerity, if not an 

 impossibility, for anyone to traverse encumbered with 

 those entanglements known as female apparel. The ladies, 

 perforce, must remain behind. They may amuse them- 

 selves with collecting Alpine flowers and putting them in 

 press. 



To relieve the ladies from wearisome waitinef, and from 

 the anxiety of a prolonged absence, we scramble hastily up 

 the slope, to accomplish as soon as possible all that we 

 shall dare undertake. Alas, how soon breath fails when 

 man attempts to kick against the force of gravitation! 

 Almost at the outset we find ourselves excessively disa- 

 bled. We stretch ourselves out on the ground like dead 

 men, and pant with all our might. Lying with our faces 

 turned toward heaven, a raven black as nis^ht sails over 

 us and calls out Kaw ! and sails on in disdain. A few 

 minutes suffice to revive us. Then we rise, and foolishly 

 repeat our scramble and our exhaustion. But we make 

 rapid headway. 



For some distance we find the surface covered with 

 dwarf huckleberries (Vaccinium), Alpine roses {liliododen- 

 dron), and heaths (Erica), with a scattered intermixture 



