x.] 4LPINE TRAVELS, 1850. 335 



Tour on its northern side rendered necess t ary that most 

 tiresome of delays, ' monter pour redcscendre,' they 

 got fairly upon the glacier at a high level. But instead 

 of skirting its northern rocks, the route now followed for 

 the Col du Tour (which would have landed them on the 

 Glacier de Trient, without further trouble) they wan- 

 dered towards the centre of its basin, and only extricated 

 themselves from a labyrinth of crevasses by bearing to 

 thi-ir left : a course which eventually brought them to the 

 foot of a rounded, snow-covered eminence at the north- 

 east corner of the glacier, where they found space to 

 1'iviikfast on a small islet of rock. "The chief part of 

 the ascent/ he writes, 'was now accomplished, and we 

 stood face to face with the Aiguille d'Argentiere, 1 which 

 had a splendid appearance, being curtained with steep 

 glaciers on its northern side. We continued to advance 

 lily, but with labour, over the snow fields which 

 still separated us from the rocky ridge of the Alps, but 

 our fatigue was soon forgotten in the pleasure of watching 

 the summits which gradually displayed themselves/ 



In five hours from the Col de Balme, they reached a 



point at the head of the Glacier du Tour, a little to the 



soutli of its north-east corner, from which they looked 



'down on the Glacier de Salena lying some hundred feet 



below. 



'The weather had still an unsettled appearance. Mists 

 concealed many of the summits behind us, and also the 

 limn- distant chain of the Great St. Bernard before us. 

 Thr snow had drifted with violence into this ravine, and 

 took shelter from the force of the wind on a platform 

 of rock, a few feet below the level of the drifted snow. 



' Having reconnoitred our position, I proceeded to ob- 



vo the Km*] nrter. By a single direct barometrical 



K>n with (ieneva (the barometers were carefully 



laivd l.y I'rni'rssor Plantamour at Geneva, a few days 



r), 1 obtained 11,284 feet above the sea, or 140 



1 I the Chardonnot. But at that time both tin- topography 



ton .f that part of the chain of M>nt I'.lanc wa 

 ^ioiu 



