320 THE LIFE OF JAMES J). FORBES. [< HAP. 



annual motion of the ice at this point was therefore 

 about 430 feet. 



After having finished this interesting investigation, as 

 it was only half-past 9 A.M., Forbes proceeded to cany 

 out an idea he had long entertained, of attempting the 

 ascent of the Aiguille du Moine. 



' I had carefully examined it/ he writes, ' from the 

 rocks of the Tacul, and it was on that side that we now 

 proceeded to make the attempt. There is a great bed of 

 snow which, from a distance, seems to present no diffi- 

 culty, but which, on a nearer approach, we found ex- 

 tremely steep, and its lower part to be in a glacial state : 

 had the upper portion been thus, we should have had 

 great difficulty in ascending. Once there, however, the 

 passage from the snow to the rock appeared to be the 

 most serious part of the undertaking, and even Couttet 

 thought that if we could accomplish this we should 

 succeed. At length we found a passage from the snow 

 to the rocks, which were very rough and steep indeed, and 

 after a climb of 2J hours from the Taldfre, we attained 

 the ridge of the Aiguille, and this we hoped to follow to 

 the summit ; but an abrupt turret of granite occupying 

 the whole of this ridge, which is perfectly precipitous 

 towards the Glacier de Taldfre, put a complete stop to 

 our progress at about midday. . . . 



' I then observed the barometer, which gave to our 

 position a height of 10,360 feet above the sea, or 740 

 feet below the summit of the Aiguille/ 



Shortly afterwards he paid another visit to the Jardin, 

 in company with Professor Schutz of Aarau, whose 

 acquaintance he had made at Chamounix, and on this 

 occasion was able to record some important observations 

 on the mysterious process by which snow is converted 

 into glacier ice. 



Journal, July 3lst. 



c Near the side and medial moraine of the Glacier de 

 TaWfre/ he writes, ' the structure of the glacier is icy and 

 vertically veined, but elsewhere it is decidedly snowy, 



