CHAMOUNI. 



like a black thread. The ^laeiers, which add so much 

 to the hiMuty of tin- huul.cape, when the valley is 

 clothed in green, produce no efleet in the midst of 

 all this white ; but the pyramids of ire, whose steep 

 sides ha ve remained bare, appear like emeralds under 

 the fresh white snow which covers their summits. 

 The whole prospect, when illuminated by the sun, 

 has, with all its grandeur and dazzling light, some- 

 thing dead and melancholy. The severity of the 

 winter, and the shortness of the summer, which 

 scarcely allows sufficient time for the labours of the 

 field, render it highly important to hasten, if possible, 

 the melting of the snow. The contrivance used for 

 this purpose by the inhabitants of the higher part of 

 the valley, is both simple and elegant, and attended 

 with small expence. It consists in scattering black 

 earth on the top of the snow, which, by absorbing 

 more of the sun's rays than the white surface, facili- 

 tates the clearing of the fields, and advances the la- 

 bours of agriculture about three weeks. 



Their chief crops are flax, barley, oats, beans, and 

 potatoes. Flax succeeds better in the valley than 

 in the open country, and the potatoe crop is uncom- 

 monly productive. No wheat is sown except on some 

 small spots in the bottom of the valley, and no more 

 corn is raised than what is necessary for the consump- 

 tion of the inhabitants. Their principal crop is hay 

 for the cattle during winter. Every proprietor di- 

 vides his lands into two equal portions ; the one half 

 is laid out in corn fields, the other in meadows. This 

 arrangement continues for six years, after which the 

 meadows are ploughed up, and the corn fields con- 

 verted into meadow. The whole of the bottom of 

 the valley is laid out in this manner. But the chief 

 source of their wealth arises from the pasturages 

 among the mountains. The wealthier peasants have 

 meadows, and even dwelling houses at different 

 heights. They live in the lower part of the valley 

 during winter ; but at the approach of spring they 

 quit their winter habitations, and ascend gradually to 

 the more elevated pasturages, following the progress 

 of vegetation. At the approach of autumn they re- 

 descend by the same gradations, and thus pass the 

 summer in a pleasant and varied style, enjoying a per- 

 petual spring. Besides the pasturages, which are 

 private property, there are others common to all the 

 inhabitants of the valley. These commons are very 

 valuable to the middling ranks of the community ; 

 but it is much to be regretted that the poorer sort, 

 for whose benefit they are chiefly intended, cannot 

 avail themselves of the advantage. For not only is 

 money required to purchase cows, but it is also ne- 

 cessary to have the means of supporting them during 

 the winter; and though by collecting the dried 

 leaves of the ash tree, and by cutting hay in the un- 

 frequented parts of the mountains, it is possible for 

 one man to maintain a single cow during the winter ; 

 yet this is nothing compared to the advantage gain- 

 ed by those who possess a few acres of meadow land, 

 and can send six or seven cows to the common pas- 

 tures. Their cattle, as we formerly observed, is the 

 chief source of their wealth. It is by the sale of 

 their butter and cheese that they are furnished with 

 the means of purchasing foreign luxuries, and those 

 necessaries and conveniences which even their simple 

 style of life requires. Next to cheese, the most va- 

 luable production of the valley is honey. It is of a 



rs* 



white colour, and has a brilliant gram resem- 

 bling sugar. It has a:. taste, and an aro- 

 matic odour. It is sold in little barrels winch cost a 

 crown a piece. It has long been a puzzling enquiry 

 how the honey of Chamouni acquires those peculiar 

 properties. The bees are the same as those of the 

 neighbouring villages, and the hives of Chamouni are 

 often recruited from them, and yet, beyond the pre- 

 cincts of the valley, ihe honey is not distinguished 

 by any of those peculiar qualities. Saussure conjec- 

 tures that it may be owing to the larch trees which 

 abound in Chamouni, the leaves of which exude, at 

 certain seasons, a kind of manna, in which the bees 

 take great delight. Though the profit arising from 

 the culture of bees in the valley is very considerable, 

 yet the trouble and risk are proportionally great, ari- 

 sing not only from the length and severity of 

 winter, but chiefly from the too early appearance of 

 fine weather, which tempts the bees to go abroad be- 

 fore the valley is cleared, by which means they die 

 among the snow, or, if forcibly detained, destroy one 

 another in the hive. 



Honey is perhaps the only native luxury of which 

 Chamouni can boast. Fruit of any kind is rarely 

 met with, and the vine is entirely unknown. The 

 apples, cherries, and plums, which grow there, are 

 all of the wild kind, and seldom arrive at maturity. 

 The oak, the chesnut, and walnut tree, are never 

 seen.j 



The population of the valley is very considerable 

 for its extent. If we were to judge, however, of the 

 number of the inhabitants, from the crowds which 

 appear in every village upon the arrival of a stranger, 

 we should form rather too high an estimate of its po- 

 pulation, for, on those occasions, every male person 

 in the district presents himself, in the expectation of 

 being hired as a guide. The valley is divided into 

 three parishes; Ouches, inthe south west; Argentiere, 

 in the north east ; and the Priory in the middle. 

 Bourrit, who visited the country about 30 years ago, 

 gives the following statement of the population, viz. 

 300 in the district of Vaudagne, 1000 in the parish 

 of Ouches, 1200 in the Priory, 500 in Argentiere. 

 It is probable that since that period the number of 

 the inhabitants has considerably increased, for even 

 then the progress of population was very discernible, 

 owing no doubt to the great influx of strangers from 

 all parts of Europe during the summer months * 

 practice which had begun only a few ye:.rs before 

 Bourrit wrote, and which, it is likely, has since that 

 time become more general, unless checked, perhaps, 

 by the present disturbed state of the continent. The 

 effect of these visits upon the industry of a people 

 secluded from the world, like those of Chamouni, 

 must obviously be very great, not only by circula- 

 ting a quantity of money, and exciting a new demand 

 for the productions of the valley, but by improving 

 the roads, and opening, as it were, a direct communi- 

 cation with foreign countries. Accordingly Bourrit 

 remarks, that those who a few years prior to his ar- 

 rival had only three or four hives of bee, had then 

 4-0 ; that cheese and butter, which had formerly beeu 

 made for home consumption only, was then a great 

 article of exportation ; that woods, which used to rot 

 on the place where they grew, had been cut down, 

 and the land cleared and converted into corn fields 

 and meadows; that small and very inconvenient 



