68 SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGIST'S HAMMER. 



as the features of that spot may appear from the Brevent, 

 eight miles away, I assure the reader that here exists a 

 spectacle of awe-inspiring sublimity. A lateral portion 

 of the glacier terminates here abruptly. Below is a 

 smoothed slope of rocky surface, at the foot of which 

 yawns a profound transverse gulf, beyond which, looking 

 down the mountain, rises, to the altitude of fifty or sixty 

 feet, the rocky mass which obstructed this section of the 

 glacier. A torrent rushes from a cavernous opening at 

 the foot of this glacier segment, and, roaring down tft 

 smoothed declivity, plunges with headlong madness into 

 the dark gulf, dashing itself into a white mist, which 

 rises like a liberated spirit toward heaven. While we 

 stand here, awed by the tremendous voice of the waters 

 and the majesty of the bristling mountain of ice which 

 rises above us, huge boulders, loosened from the glacier's 

 front by the afternoon sun, come crashing and ricochet- 

 ing past the spot on which we stand, notifying us that 

 other positions may be more secure. 



Escaping to the nearest bank, we find ourselves in the 

 vicinity of a spot called Pierre a T^chelle, to which we 

 shall again refer. A little to the left of this descends a 

 spur of Aiguille du Midi, which is known as Mont Mi- 

 mont. On its flank, overlooking the glacier, is Pierre 

 Pointue, one of the halting places in the ascent of Mont 

 Blanc. This is the limit of the mule-path and about 

 three or four hours from Chamonix. 



The customary path from Pierre Pointue leads to the 

 border of the glacier, in the vicinity of the great gulf, 

 and thence along its margin to Pierre a 1'fehelle. Here 

 the traveler strikes diagonally across Glacier des Bossons 

 to the Grands Mulcts. Deflecting toward the right, he 



