MONT BLANC AND THE MER DE GLACE. 41 



of succor from this source, we make our zigzag descent 

 two hundred feet (210 feet) to the glacier. Half way down 

 we encounter a cabin, wherefrora, with further proffers of 

 guidance, is exposed a collection of pretended minerals of 

 Mont Blanc. quartz and tourmalines and amethysts and 

 beryls. Assured again of the utter impossibility of cross- 

 ing without a guide, we persist in suspecting the disinter- 

 estedness of the counsel. 



The border of the glacier presents an array of obsta- 

 cles which had been concealed from view. It is a great 

 mistake to suppose that the entrance upon a glacier is 

 like stepping from the sidewalk into the street. Here is 

 a belt some rods in width, possessing features which defy 

 description. It is strewed with immense rounded frag- 

 ments of alpine granite, with intervening piles of sand 

 and mud and ice and smaller rocks. To thread our 

 way between the boulders is impossible, we must leap 

 the chasms from boulder to boulder, or climb directly 

 over them. Considering that these impediments are breast 

 high, and sometimes eight and ten feet high, and round 

 and smooth, the degree of agility demanded is as extraor- 

 dinary as it is real. Next we leap upon a boulder 

 which proves to be a mass of ice coated with sand and 

 mud. Xay. the very soil on which these boulders rest is 

 underlaid by ice as solid and clear as crystal. Down we 

 leap, upon the grimy surface of the glacier at last, but 

 only to find ourselves in a corner. Across our path 

 stretches an open chasm which is almost too broad to 

 leap, and which is overhung on right and left by huge 

 boulders. There is no alternative ; we must mount 

 another boulder ; and so, finally, after a wearisome strug- 

 gle, we are in a position to begin our work. 



