76 SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGIST'S HAMMER. 



The snow which falls on the summit of Mont Blanc re- 

 quires 50 years to reach the foot of Glacier des Bossons. 

 Like a stream of water, its velocity is slackened when its 

 valley is widened, and accelerated when it narrows. When 

 it reaches the brink of a steeper descent it breaks, often 

 with a report like the bass voice of the mountain calling 

 to the sky. The fissure at first is but an inch or two, 

 but it widens sometimes to a hundred feet, and acquires 

 a depth of a thousand. If the declivity is steep, the 

 glacier is parted at intervals of a few feet. A short dis- 

 tance above the chinks are narrow. Approaching the brink 

 of the decline they grow wider. On the steep slope the 

 whole stream, like water, is thrown i^to a state of wild 

 confusion. 



We escape from this labyrinth of ice by clambering up 

 an almost vertical ascent called the Montee de la Cote. It 

 is rifted in all directions by yawning crevasses, and the 

 only practicable passage from block to block is by means 

 of ladders. Sometimes we are suspended over a frightful 

 chasm. Sometimes we are compelled to scale a vertical 

 cliff of ice. Sometimes there is no alternative but to 

 travel at the foot of an icy precipice over piles of snow 

 and ice hurled down from the long slope above. 



The rocks of the Grands Mulcts now appear in sight, 

 tne pinnacles of a mountain protruding 660 feet above 

 the field of ice. Perched up on the side of the lower 

 one can be seen the two cabins erected by the guides of 

 Chamonix for the accommodation of voyageurs. The best 

 view of these is from a position beyond and above. From 

 this position the pointed architecture of the Aiguilles du 

 Midi may be seen rising in the background. From a 

 somewhat higher position we obtain an enchanting view 



