071 the Strata of Mont Blanc, 647 



low-traveller of mine (who, in 1827, ascended Mont Blanc), 

 has given, in his Narrative of the Ascent^ a good view of it, 

 with the glaciers and aiguilles, as taken from the Breven with 

 a camera obscura ; and also another from the Col de Balme ; 

 both of these convey a perfect idea of the perpendicularity 

 of the stratification, though the former is out of proportion. 

 Mr, De la Beche has the best view from the Breven, in his 

 Sections and Views, Mr. Hawes, who ascended with Mr. Fel- 

 lows, thinks Mr. Fellows's drawings rather too imaginative ; 

 and I think so too. The same remarks apply to Mr. Auldjo's 

 views. J. R.'s sketches {Jigs, 70, 71.) are illustrative; and 

 are, therefore, though not novel, worth preserving. 



The granite of Mont Blanc is said to contain gold. Gold 

 is very common in all soils and in most river beds ; though 

 in quantity too minute to be observable. It is universally 

 distributed, and may be procured from decayed vegetable 

 matter. It is obtained in small quantities near Simplon, on 

 the route of that name : most alluvial deposits have traces of 

 it. See the localities and river beds named by Leonhard and 

 Phillips and Jameson. The washing of the sand of the Rhine 

 at Baden produced, in 1827, 2317 kr. 53 J gr. of gold; from 

 1828 to 1829, 2999 kr. 44l|gr. {Allgemeine Handlung Zei" 

 tung, Oct. 1829.) Gold is also found in the rivers of the north 

 of Moldavia ; in the Goldbach near Audel, in Treves ; near 

 Endkirch on the Moselle ; and in the Guldenbach near Strom- 

 berg, in the neighbourhood of Coblentz. (Gruithuisen, 

 Analeldenfur Erd und Himmels-Jcunde, part iii. p. 36.) 



The chloritic granite, of which J. R. has spoken, comes 

 from the Col de Geant : the red granite from the Aiguille de 

 Blaittiere. A far more striking discovery would be that of 

 sulphur in the granite, which has been, in some cases, found. 

 — ^. B. Clarke. 



And stopp'd at once amidst their maddest plunge — 

 Motionless torrents I silent cataracts ! 

 Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven 

 Beneath the keen full Moon ? Who bade the Sun 

 Clothe you with rainbows ? Who, with living flowers 

 Of loveliest blue *, spread garlands at your feet ? — 

 God! let the torrents like a shout of nations 

 Answer ! and let the ice plains echo, God ! 

 God ! sing ye meadow streams with gladsome voice ! 

 Ye pine groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds ! 

 And they, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow. 

 And in their perilous fall shall thunder— God ! 



Hymn before Sunrise in the Vale of Chamonix, 



* Gentmna major [? acaulis], which grows on the very edge of the ice. 

 [See p. 249.] 



T T 4' 



