Beport of the Besearches of M. Agassiz. 301 



my directions. It was agreed, that so long as I did not re- 

 , quest to be drawn up, I should be allowed to descend, as far 

 at least as M. Escher could distinctly hear my voice. I 

 reached a depth of 80 feet without encountering any obstacle, 

 attentively examining the lamellar structure of the glacier, 

 and the small stalactites of ice, which were attached on all 

 sides to the walls of the pit. These stalactites were from 2 to 

 5 or 6 inches long, and only a few lines in diameter ; and they 

 were bent like hooks fixed in the walls. It was evident that 

 they were produced by an exudation from the walls of the pit ; 

 for if they had resulted from the water falling from the sur- 

 face of the glacier, they would not have been so uniform, nor 

 so equally distributed over the whole surface of the sides. 

 Those which were really derived from the cascade of water 

 from above were much larger, were more closely united to 

 the wall of the ice, and were, moreover, limited to one of the 

 sides of the passage. The bands of the blue ice became per- 

 ceptibly broader as I descended ; they were less sharply marked 

 than above, and the remainder of the mass, of an inferior de- 

 gree of whiteness, was less distinctly contrasted with the inter- 

 mediate deeper coloured laminae. At a depth of about 80 feet, 

 I encountered a ridge of ice which divided the pit into two 

 compartments, and I endeavoured to enter the widest ; but 

 could not penetrate more than 5 or 6 feet, because the pas- 

 sage became divided into several narrow canals. I caused 

 myself to be raised a little, and making the rope deviate from 

 the vertical line, I got into the other compartment. I had 

 observed in descending, that there was water at the bottom 

 of the pit, but supposed it was at a very great depth ; and as 

 my attention was especially directed to the vertical bands, 

 which I continued to trace by means of the light reflected by 

 the brilliant walls of the ice, I was very much astonished when 

 I suddenly felt that my feet were immersed in water. I im- 

 mediately directed that I should be raised, but my order was 

 misunderstood, and I found I was descending instead of as- 

 cending. I then uttered a cry of distress, which was heard, 

 and I was raised before it was necessary to have recourse 

 to swimming. I felt as if I had never before encountered 

 water so cold. Fragments of ice floated on its surface, conse- 



VOL. XXXV. NO. LXX. OCTOBER 1843. X 



