XL] FAILURE OF HEALTH. 377 



'I must not omit to express my admiration of the 

 beauty and evident fidelity of your mountain outlines. 

 It is surprising how much light drawings like these 

 throw on the topography of an intricate country, and 

 how much pleasure they give to one's self and others. 

 No part of my notes of travel have I consulted oftener 

 than such panoramic sketches, or with a stronger wish 

 that I had multiplied them more/ 



To A. ADAMS-REILLY, ESQ. 



* I must take the chance of this still finding you at 

 mouni not a great chance I fear just to acknow- 

 ledge your letter from Courmayeur, and to say how much 

 I appreciate your indefatigable energy in the investiga- 

 tion of the topography of Mont Blanc, and to give you 

 my warmest congratulations on your success. With 

 what zest you must have booked your mountains one 

 after another old friends with new faces and in new 

 associations. 



' I do not pretend to judge of the precise import of 

 your triangulation from the slight, though attractive, 

 <-h which you gave me of it. You must have 

 -urcd many angles which you do not mention nor 

 set down, and these I trust will be sufficient to make 

 the triangulation a connected one, for it is not so in your 

 sketch. For you are aware that it is not enough that 

 adjacent triangles touch at one angle : they must have 

 a side in common. There are two breaks in the con- 

 tinuity of your sketch : one at Mont Joli and one at the 

 Col de la Seigne. 



' You would be sure, I think, to triangulate the Aig 

 du Gdant from the Cramont and the M. de la Saxe : 

 for by means of this you could complete the circuit so 

 far as to be a check to Chamouni. Another year it 

 would be very advisable to measure what surveyors call 

 a " base < >f verification " in the vicinity of Courmayeur, for 

 which the ground is well adapted. 



1 now, my dear sir, let me exhort you to take care 

 "f yourself. You have gone through immense fatigue ; 



