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LXIII. Account of the Fall of the Glacier of the Weisshorn^ 

 which happened on the 27th of December 1819, and the De- 

 struction of the Village of Randa, in the Valley of Vispaeh. 



X H E village of Randa is situated about six leagues above Vis^ 

 pach, on the south or right branch of the valley of Vispaeh, 

 commonly known under the name of the Valley of St. Nicolas. 

 The village is about 2400 feet from the right bank of the Visp, 

 on the steep declivity of a hill composed of fragments, the stony 

 ground of which has been converted by the industry of the in* 

 habitants of Randa into pastures. Opposite to this hill is an- 

 other of the same nature, above which are the rocks covered by 

 the Glacier of Randa; the highest summit of which, called the 

 Weisshorn, is elevated about 9000 feet above the village. The 

 breadth of the valley at the height of the village (nearly 250 feet 

 above the river) is about half a league. 



On the 27th of December, 1819, about six o'clock in the 

 morning, towards the eastern and very steep side of the highest 

 summit of the Weisshorn, a part of the glacier became loose, fell 

 ■with a noise like thunder on the mass of ice below, and an- 

 nounced, by the most dreadful crash, the ravages with which the 

 valley was threatened. At the moment when the snow and ice 

 struck on the lower mass of the glacier, the clergyman of the 

 place and some other persons observed a strong light*, which 

 however immediately vanished, and every thing was again en- 

 'veloped in the darkest night. A frightful hurricane, occasioned 

 by the pressure of the air, instantly succeeded, and in a moment 

 spread the most tremendous devastation. The fall of the glacier 

 itself did not hurt the village, but the hurricane which it occa- 

 sioned was so powerful that it threw mill-stones several toises 

 up the mountain, tore up by the roots distant larch trees of the 

 largest size ; threw blocks of ice of four cubic feet over the vil- 

 lage a distance of half a league; it tore off the top of the stone 

 belfry, levelled several houses with the ground, and carried the 

 timbers of others more than a quarter of a league beyond the 

 village into the forest. Eight goats were whirled from a stable 

 to a distance exceeding 100 toises; and it is remarkable that one 

 of them was found alive. More than a quarter of a league above 

 the valley, the barns opposite the glacier are seen stripped of 

 their roofs. 



• It is very desirable to obtain a satisfactory information of this phenome- 

 non, which, as far as we know, has not yet been observed in similar cases; 

 and which, in the darkness of the night, was much too conspicuous to leave 

 any doubt of its reality. 



Oil 



