S?6 Account of the Fall of the Glacier of the Weisshorn. 



On the whole, nine houses in tJie village are totally destroyed^,' 

 and the other thirteen more or less damaged; eighteen grana- 

 ries, eight small dwellings, two mills, and seventy-two barns are 

 destroyed, or irreparably injured. Of twelve persons who were; 

 buried in this catastrophe, ten are still living; one was taken 

 out dead, and the twelfth has not yet been found. 



The avalanche, formed of a mixture of snow, ice, and stones, 

 covers the fields and the pasturages situated below the village for 

 the length of at least 2400 feet, and extends in breadth about 

 1000 feet. The mass which has fallen measures on an average 

 150 feet in height. The damage is estimated at about 20,000 

 francs. 



It is remarkable that some barns on the other side below the 

 glacier which were almost covered with the fragments, were 

 thereby protected from the hurricane, and escaped uninjured 5 

 but what is much more extraordinary, is, that only two persons 

 lost their lives, though some families were carried away with 

 their houses, and buried under the ruins and drifted snow. The 

 prompt assistance afforded by the clergyman, who did not suffer 

 personally, and of the two sextons, who escaped, contributed to 

 save several persons. 



It is not the first time that such a disaster has befallen the 

 village of Randa. In I63G it was destroyed by a similar ava- 

 lanche, when 36 persons lost their lives. It is said that at the 

 time the whole glacier of the Weisshorn had fallen down. Two 

 other less considerable falls happened in 1/36 and 1786, but 

 not precisely in the same place. 



This time only a small part of the glacier fell down, and it is 

 difficult to conceive how the rest, deprived of its support, can 

 maintain its position. With a good telescope enormous clefts 

 are discovered in it, which were long since perceived with much 

 dismay by some chamois hunters ; and the part of the glacier 

 which has fallen was, as it has been affirmed, separated from 

 the mass by similar clefts. It is therefore much to be feared 

 that the glacier cannot much longer support itself on the very 

 steep summit, and that the remains of the village of Randa are 

 destmed to destruction by the inevitable fall of the impending 

 glacier. The unfortunate inhabitants must, therefore, abandon 

 the place ; and, not to remove them too far from their meadows, 

 it is hoped that a village will be erected about half a league 

 further up towards Tesch. But this measure will require the as- 

 sistance of the government and other communes of the canton. 



LXIV. Me^ 



