x.j ALPINE TRAVELS, 1850. 337 



the pinched and ghastly appearance which all presented. 

 Both the guides looked nearly bloodless ; but none of us 

 felt unwell. We took some brandy as a precaution 

 (probably a needless one) against the cold, and tied our 

 handkerchiefs over our ears. Charlet now told us that 

 when here twelve years before, he had succeeded in 

 descending on the glacier of Salena by turning round 

 the north side of the peak under which we stood, 

 in the direction of the glacier of Trient. It was by 

 descending upon this first that he had gained the level 

 of the glacier of Salena afterwards. 



' The question now was, should we retrace our steps to 

 Chamoimix, or push on to Orsi&res ? Charlet feared that 

 our non-appearance at Col de Balme or Le Tour might 

 create uneasiness; but after some discussion it was agreed 

 that the opportunity of proceeding was too tempting to 

 be lost, especially as the weather appeared fine towards 

 Y.'il Ferret. After scarcely a minute's delay, then, we 

 resolved to seek a safe place of descent to the level of 

 the neve connected with the glacier of Trient, which we 

 had to effect over an almost precipitous surface of 

 hardened snow (which in some places presented an 

 overhanging edge of alarming appearance), but which 

 admitted of a passage at one point with little difficulty 

 or danger. This snow cliff scarcely existed when Charlet 

 formerly passed an instance of the great changes under- 

 gone by the glacier regions. Being now on the level of 

 the neve, we turned towards the right hand, and found 

 a wall of rock cut through by a magnificent gateway, 

 flanked by two pinnacles of highly crystalline protogine 

 not many yards asunder, between which we passed with 

 the greatest ease, and, descending a snow slope of no 

 great height, we found ourselves on the neve of the 

 glacier of Salena. The abruptness of the change and 

 the beauty of the portal (like the ports of the Pyrenees, 

 but still narrower) rendered this a very striking and 

 K-IHM in which we now found our- 

 selves is* enclosed by precipitous rocks, everywhere in- 

 terspersed with glaciers and perpetual snow. 



z 



