INTERIOR LAND CHANGES. 411 



cases of mountain-falls, which involved a large sacrifice of human life, much of it might 

 have been avoided by heeding the warnings given. But thus it happens, that men are 

 slow to believe themselves endangered, and when the disaster comes, the survivors of 

 friends, relatives, and property are apt to dwell only upon the physical evils of their 

 condition, forgetful of their own imprudence, and of the millions of terrestrial sites secure 

 from the catastrophe. 



An elevated piece of table-land between the cantons of Valais and Berne, which rises 

 nearly to the snow line, was the scene of the same phenomenon in the year 1714 and 1749. 

 Three sharp peaks ascend from it to the height of 10,620 feet above the level of the sea, 

 called Les Diablerets, or the Devil's horns. Originally there were four, but one was 

 demolished at the two periods named, covering the plain with its fragments. The 

 shuttered blocks and heaps of rubbish upon it are indeed so extensive, as to lead to the 

 conclusion that the group of the Diablerets has lost other members in bygone ages, but 

 of any occurrence of this nature prior to 1714 no account exists. The event of that year 

 has been related in the following words : " Before the first catastrophe a subterraneous 

 noise was heard, and some of the herdsmen, who had brought their herds to the pastures 

 in the vicinity, took this hint and returned home ; others, however, were buried under the 

 rocks. When the mount precipitated itself down, the whole country in its vicinity 

 trembled, and a thick smoke rose to a considerable height in the air. It was only dust, 

 which was detached from the rocks when they broke to pieces. The compression of the 

 air was so great, that some of the trees which were near the places along which the rocks 

 descended were bent to the ground or broken. Many of the summer huts of the Alpine 

 herdsmen were destroyed, fourteen persons lost their lives, and a large number of cattle 

 and sheep were killed. One of the herdsmen belonging to the village of Aven in Valais 

 was among those who had not returned home, and was considered as having lost his life. 

 His children were declared orphans by the court. Three months afterwards, on 

 Christmas Eve, he suddenly appeared in his village pale, thin, covered with rags, 

 resembling a spectre. All the inhabitants of the village were frightened. The doors of 

 his own house were shut to him. Some people ran to the priest, requesting him to 

 exorcise the supposed spectre. After some delay, the man succeeded in convincing the 

 people that he was alive, and then he told them, that the moment on which the 

 mountain-slip took place, he had been on his knees praying to the Preserver of life, when 

 an enormous fragment of rock in descending struck the ground before his hut, and 

 resting leant over against the rocky wall at the base of which his hut was built. It was 

 immediately followed by a terrible crash, and by an immense quantity of stones and 

 rubbish, entirely covering the piece of rock which protected his hut. When all became 

 quiet, he continued, ' I was no longer in fear ; I did not lose my courage ; and directly I 

 set myself to work to open an issue. A few pieces of cheese which I had made were my 

 food, and a rill of water, which descended among the ruins, quenched my thirst. After 

 many days, which I was unable to count in the long darkness of my subterraneous prison, 

 I discovered, by creeping about among the rocks, an opening. I saw again the sun's 

 light, but my eyes were for some time unable to bear it. The Almighty, in whom I 

 always confided, and who always kept alive my hope of preserving life, has sent me 

 back to my family, to be a witness and a proof of his power and bounty.'" The second 

 slip of the Diablerets in 1749 took place without injury to the peasantry, who obeyed a 

 warning given by the mountain to escape in time ; but five Bernese citizens, travelling 

 in the neighbourhood, refused to fly, believing the fears of the people to be unfounded, and 

 the house in which they remained is thought to be five hundred feet below the present 

 surface. 



A part of Mont Grenier, about five miles south of Chamberry in Savoy, gave way in 



