300 THE LIFE OF JAMES I). FORBES. [CHAP. 



the glacier from Les Egralets, and returned to the Mont- 

 anvert. ... In passing the great Moulin this year par- 

 ticularly fine I found a piece of wood , which on exami- 

 nation appeared to have once formed part of a ladder, a 

 very stout one, as it had holes for the insertion of rungs. 

 This may probably have been a portion of De Saussure's 

 ladder, much chafed by the glacier. It was almost at 

 the same spot that I found similar fragments in 1832. 



'September l'3th. I found myself rather breathless 

 from yesterday's fatigues, but not otherwise unwell. . . / 

 After having fixed the position of numerous blocks <>n 

 the glacier, with a view to the future observation of 

 their winter progress, and determined the position of true 

 north and the variation of the compass on the map of the 

 Mer de Glace, ' I descended to the source of the Arveiron. 

 While returning from thence to Chamounix, below tlic 

 chalet of Planaz, I was struck by a singular thought : 

 What is the origin of the mass of blocks which we ride 

 over every day on the ascent to Planaz, while on our 

 way to the Montanvert ? I was struck with them from 

 having to consider the course of the torrents of Grepon 

 and Fouilli, or Blaitiere, which descend into the valley 

 of Chamounix, and which both struggle with difficulty 

 and by a crooked course behind the wall of debris which 

 lies along the foot of the mountain, until they join the 

 Arve in the plain below. What are these debris? are 

 they not the lateral moraine, corresponding to that of 

 Lavanchi ? I sent Auguste early next morning to break 

 a number of the blocks at random, and he brought me 

 twelve or fifteen specimens, all undistinguishable from 

 one another, and from the granitic blocks of Lavanchi.' 



Forbes's time at Chamounix was cruelly short, three 

 days only on the glacier : and then, with health at least 

 improved, he recrossed the T&te Noire to Martigny, where 

 he was joined by Mr. E. C. Batten, the companion of his 

 sojourn at Bonn in 1837, who was travelling with his 

 bride and her sister. They all travelled together to 

 Leukerbad and the Gemmi, on the top of which they 

 parted, and Forbes was able to revisit the glaciers of 



