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NATURAL HISTORY. 



Narrative of a Journey from the 

 villiige of Chamouni to the sum- 

 mit of Mount Blanc, undertaken 

 on Aug. 8, 1787. Vy Colonel 

 Beaufoy. 



[From the Annals of Philosophy.] 



THE desire of ascending to the 

 highest part of remarkably 

 elevated land is so natural to every 

 man, and the hope of repeating 

 various experiments in the upper 

 regions of the air is so inviting to 

 those who wish well to the inter- 

 ests of science, that, being lately 

 in Switzerland, I could nol resist 

 the inclination I felt to reach the 

 summit of Mount Blanc. One of 

 the motives, however, which 

 prompted the attempt was much 

 weakened by the consideration 

 that I did not possess, and in that 

 country could not obtain, the in- 

 struments that were requisite for 

 many of the experiments which I 

 was anxious to make ; and the 

 ardour of common curiosity was 

 diminished when I learned that 

 Dr. Paccard and his guide, who in 

 the year 1786 had reached the sup- 

 posed inaccessible summit of the 

 hill, were not the only persons 

 who had succeeded in the attempt j 



for that, five days before my ar- 

 rival at the foot of the mountain, 

 M. de Saussure, a professor in the 

 university of Geneva, had gained 

 the top of the ascent. But while 

 I was informed of the success 

 which had attended the efforts of 

 M. de Saussure, I was told of the 

 difficulties and dangers that ac- 

 companied the undertakings and 

 was often assured, with much la- 

 borious dissuasion, that, to all the 

 usual obstacles, the lateness of the 

 season would add the perils of 

 those stupendous masses of snow 

 which are often dislodged from the 

 steeps of the mountain, together 

 with the hazard of those frightful 

 chasms which present immeasur- 

 able gulfs lo the steps of the tra- 

 veller, and the width of which 

 was hourly increasing. M. Bour- 

 rit, whose name has often been 

 announced to the world by a va- 

 riety of tracts, and by many ex- 

 cellent drawings, confirmed the 

 account, and assured me that he 

 himself had made the attempt on 

 the next day to hat on which M. 

 de Saussure descended, but was 

 obliged, as on many former occa- 

 sions, to abandon the enterprise. 

 Having formed my resolution, I 



sent 



