in the Neighbourhood of Chamouniv, in Savoy. 77 



of that village, any one who was acquainted with them. But 

 I shall give only the observations which I made in my expe- 

 dition to the Aiguilles Kouges, properly so called, disregard- 

 ing, for the present, such as refer to the other portions of this 



chain. 



I had little expectation, m traversing these mountains, to 

 make any observations possessed of interest. They have 

 been described by Dr Berger ;* and his memoir not present- 

 ing any curious results, they have been abandoned by natu- 

 ralists. But the most remarkable observation relating to 

 this chain escaped M. Berger, and my visit to them was not 

 made in vain. 



I selected the day on which Mr Smith ascended Mont 

 Blanc, in order to ascend the Aiguilles Eouges. On the 11th 

 of Auo-ust 1847, when he left Chamounix, in order to sleep at 

 the Grand-Mulets, I spent the night at Croix de Flegere 

 (1878 metres, the mean of four of my barometrical observa- 

 tions) ; and on the following day, while he was climbing 

 Mont Blanc, I ascended the aiguille named Gliere (2855 

 metres by barometrical measurement), which is also called 

 Floria. But the true Floria is almost inaccessible, and the 

 o-uides, by a little deception, of which travellers are often 

 made the dupes, transfer the name from one of the aiguilles 

 to another. It thence follows that travellers are sometimes 

 flattered by having easily reached the summit of an inacces- 

 sible mountain. 



I reached the top of Gliere some hours before Mr Smith 

 gained the summit of Mont Blanc. I watched with gi'eat in- 

 terest the progress of his little band, which, no doubt, was at 

 that moment the most elevated in the old world, and which 

 seemed about to be lost in these deserts of eternal snow. I 

 saw the details of their ascent through my telescope, their 

 arrival at the summit, and their descent. The weather was 

 remarkably calm and warm, which favoured both Mr Smith's 

 enterprise and my own. 



From the aiguille on which I stood I had an admirable 

 view, not only on the central chain, but likewise on the chain 



* Journal ilf Phys. do Chomie, ot d'llist. Naturclle. 



