322 Some Account of the Mer-de-Glace. 



spring or wet season, and to be carried irregularly forwards by the pro- 

 gressive motion of the glacier. 



I did not care to repass the glacier by my old route, even had it been 

 practicable, neither did I wish to descend into the valley without examin- 

 ing the ice a little higher up ; so I coasted along the side of Les Aiguilles, 

 until the ice appeared to be smoother, and then recrossing the Moraine, 

 found myself once more on the glacier. The surface here was tolerably 

 level and not at all slippery, partly owing to the bubbles and broken flaws 

 in the ice, and partly from a sort of rough crust by which it was in many 

 places covered. Upon this ice, which was as safe and pleasant walking as 

 a London pavement, I loitered half way across the glacier, until it became, 

 though still level, intersected by fissures varying in width up to about eight 

 or ten feet, and of a considerable depth, and the rain began to fall sharply. 

 Some of these fissures it was easy to leap over, so secure was the footing ; 

 others I followed until they narrowed or ceased altogether, and one very broad 

 one was crossed by a snow bridge. Just as the misty rain and the dusk of 

 evening began to render my path an unpleasant one, and to make me rather 

 feelingly attentive to the occasional crash of the falling ice, I heard a halloo 

 some way up the glacier, and after a few minutes met the guide, to our 

 mutual satisfaction, for he it seemed had been guilty of great neglect, in 

 not warning a stranger of the folly of attempting so dangerous a route. 



We left the glacier together, and he led the way along a mountain path. 

 The mountains on the western side of the glacier are slaty, and dip 

 under the ice at about 70° ; so that the weather, stripping off some of the 

 upper beds, had formed a narrow ledge, not above a foot wide but very 

 safe, owing to the inclination of the mountain. While we were upon this 

 path, a flock of goats joined us, and not a little annoyed me by treading on 

 my heels, and threatening to trip me up where a fall would have been fatal. 



All along this side of the glacier the ice had melted away from the rock, 

 and left a shelving cavity between, shewing the fallacy of that theory 

 which supposed the glaciers to be the product of a congelation carried on 

 during the summer nights in the valleys, whereas the contrary is evidently 

 the true state of the case. It is indeed now well known, that, indepen- 

 dently of the effect of the sun's rays on the surface of the ice, which is 

 considerable, that part of it which is in contact with the soil is constantly 

 melting, and contributos chiefly to those perpetual streams which flow 

 forth at the mouth of every glacier. Were this not the case, there seems 

 reason to apprehend that the glaciers would be continually on the increase, 

 and finally take possession both of the primary and secondary valleys of 

 the great Alpine chain. 



This path led us, just after dark, to the cottage on the summit of the 

 mountain, and thence I reached Chamouni in about twenty minutes, wet 

 through and rather tired, but with no ailment that was not effectually re- 

 moved by a good supper and a few hours' sleep. 



