A Week 
Riso was to me quite unexpect- 
kk for myself the dangers of an 
ves of the guides necessary to such 
The attempt to ascend 
ed, for I did not wish 
ascent, and much less 
with them. 
Having made known Sar intentions to the hotelier, he imme- 
diately sent for Couttet, who selected from the most trastworthy 
of the guides, eighteen for us; and six more, after seeing the pre- 
ration of eatables and drinkdlides the landlord had prepared for 
our journey, volunteered to accompany us, for the privilege of 
free access to our haversacks. Every thing being arranged the 
night previous, we breakfasted the following morning, July 15th, 
at 4o’clock. The hotel presented at this early hour a lively 
scene, while the guides were depositing in the different hav- 
ersacks the provisions which had been j repared, and which 
were truly in amount enormous for the ti e we anticipated be- 
ing absent. 
One hour later and we were already skirts base of the 
mountain, myself and two friends on mules; and in this way we 
proceeded, till we entered the thick growth of pines that clothes 
the mountain side, through which we wound our way, until the 
broken fragments of rocks and the trunks of fallen trees prevet 
ed the further progress of the mules, when we dismounted an bi 
sent them back, while we proceeded on foot through the pines, 
which now becoming less and less thrifty, soon ceased alto- 
gether, and nothing but the barren rocks, with only here and 
there a scraggy shrub, till about 9 o’clock we arrived at the point 
of perpetual snow, where we halted to take a second dejeuner a 
la fourchette, (breakfast. ) 
It was at this point we determined to enter upon the Glacier 
des Bossons, and crossing it, to ascend the mount on the opposite 
side, which would, we hopiuleed: be easier and less dangerous 
than continuing our course up the glacier to the Grandes Mulets, 
Which was the point we wished to gain asa resting place for 
the night. 
Here I made an experiment to test the diurnal advance of the 
glacier. I took three large blocks of stone, with the smoothest 
faces I could find, and having placed them in a straight line 
about ten feet distant from each other, I sighted (in the usual 
