Mocle of Living on the Glacier. ' 281 



tion of the glacier and the rock, to see in some degree the 

 former in the act of polishing and furrowing the walls of its 

 bed, and to study the various effects which all this produces 

 on the rocks, according to their hardness and the nature of 

 their composition ! Lastly, let me say, that it was here that 

 we first observed the remarkable phenomenon of the niveaux 

 des roches poUes et moutonnces^ which will enable us henceforth 

 to determine the greatest thickness of the ancient sheet of ice 

 which covered our country at any given point in the Alps, and 

 that with a precision so much the more rigorous, because the 

 traces the ice has left of its action on the rocks on which it 

 has operated, are indelible, and form a striking contrast with 

 the rugged and angular rocks which surmount them. 



But let us return to our hut. Mid-day approaches, the 

 whole party are re-assembled round the kitchen fire, and 

 each one brings with him an appetite with which, for sharp- 

 ness, that experienced on the plains cannot be compared. 

 Although, therefore, the fare was but little varied, all agreed 

 that it was a real enjoyment to dine in the open air at the 

 Hdiel des Neuchdtelois, round the large flat block of gneiss 

 which served as our table. We had little else to eat but mut- 

 ton and rice, but whether it is that the mutton of these high 

 mountains is really better than elsewhere, or that the sharp 

 air renders the palate less fastidious, it is certain that we 

 never tired of it. Sometimes we had for variety some goat'*s 

 meat, which we likewise found excellent. A cup of coffee and 

 a cigar were the necessary adjuncts to our dinner, and it seem- 

 ed to us that both the one and the other had a more exquisite 

 perfume under the sky of the Schreckhorn and the Finsteraar- 

 horn. This was the hour for lively conversation, animated 

 discussions, and the proposal of daring projects. After din- 

 ner we all returned to our occupations, one in one direction 

 and another in the opposite ; or perhaps we remained at the 

 Hotel to write out our notes and observations. The evening 

 thus arrived for the most part more speedily than we could 

 bave wbhed. After the little rills of water on the surface of 

 the glacier began to be dried up, which, in serene days, gene- 

 rally took place between four and five o'clock, the boring was 



VOL. XXXIII. NO. LXVI. OCTOBER 1842. T 



