78 Professor Favre's Geological Researches 



of Fiz, Du Buet, &c., the high peaks of which formed a frame 

 to charming points of view among the most remote and low- 

 est mountains of Savoy. 



I long contemplated these beautiful scenes with infinite 

 pleasure, when, all of a sudden, I saw, in one of the Aiguilles 

 Rouges, a structure which instantly gave rise to another or- 

 der of ideas, not less grand and elevated than the reverse, 

 into which the contemplation of the grand spectacle under 

 my eyes had thrown me. 



I observed to the north-east, on the most elevated summit 

 of the Aiguilles Rouges, some beds very nearly horizon- 

 tal, contrasting singulai'ly with the vertical beds which 

 form the whole of this chain. The singularity of this hori- 

 zontal layer at such a great height, made me instantly com- 

 prehend the importance of this observation. My guide, Jo- 

 seph Couttet, was well acquainted with all the arrangements 

 of the rocks, as well as with the minerals in the vicinity of 

 Chamounix. I asked him if he knew whether slates or lime- 

 stones had ever been found in this locality. He assured me 

 that they never had — that no one had ever seen them — and 

 that it was useless to go in search of them. The interest I 

 attached to this observation increased every instant. I im- 

 mediately changed my itinei'ary, and determined, after visit- 

 ing the neighbourhood of Lake Cornu (2304 metres by baro- 

 meter), again to go and spend the night at Croix de Flegere. 

 On my way, I had an opportunity of seeing different curious 

 objects, among others the Lac Noir. This lake, some hun- 

 dred paces in length, is placed in the centre of an immense 

 space, dazzling with snow. The latter penetrates into the 

 lake ; all the portion of the water which is above the snow 

 is of the purest sky-blue. In the centre of the lake, which 

 is without snow, and thi'own, so to speak, into the shade by 

 that at the margin, the water is of a fine black. The great 

 plates of snow thus remaining between two waters, are per- 

 forated with a multitude of holes of various forms (produced 

 by cuiTents caused by the action of the sun), presenting a 

 kind of Gothic architecture of the most singular nature. I 

 likewise examined the position of the eclogites, serpentines, 

 and remarkable traces of the erratic phenomenon. 



