5(54 THE LIFE OF JAMES I). FO/iBES. [APPEND. 



on ice or rocks, the man whom nature has intended for a guide, 

 through darkness, stoim, and bewildering mist; but he sup- 

 plemented this instinctive process, to which so many guides 

 trust entirely, by the closest and mgst accurate observation. 

 I have been with him on the ' calotte ' of Mont Blanc, in cloud and 

 snow-storm, when we could not see many paces before us, and 

 when, to my eyes, every part of the mountain seemed just like 

 every other part. I well remember the unhesitating confidence 

 with which he pronounced that the trackless waste was here rather 

 too steep, there rather too flat, there again too rounded, for the 

 passage we were seeking, and led us through worse than 

 darkness directly to the narrow strip, by which alone access 

 to the Mur de la Cote could be won. His calm, unperturbed 

 manner, his absolute freedom in moments of danger from either 

 panic or hurry, were of inestimable service in the chief guide of 

 an expedition, and were admirably calculated to maintain the 

 sense of security in others. I never saw a sign of jealousy 

 towards him on the part of the other guides, who seemed tacitly 

 to acknowledge his pre-eminence. He had a great and genuine 

 love for nature. I speak from very many opportunities of 

 observation, and it is my deliberate belief, that he was as 

 keenly alive to the beauties of scenery, and drew from them as 

 refined an enjoyment, as any of the numerous highly educated 

 persons with whom he travelled. 



It was characteristic of him, that he never thought any of the 

 duties of his calling beneath him. To the last day of his active 

 career as a guide, he would lavish every care and attention 

 which his kindly nature could prompt, to render the tour of 

 Mont Blanc, or a trip to the Montanvert, easy and pleasant to 

 a lady. He would carry any weight, or go to any distance, to 

 do a service to any traveller he had undertaken to guide, 

 and never betrayed the smallest sense that such drinks TV 

 was beneath the notice of a man who corresponded with 1m if 

 the men of science in Europe, and who, had he been merce- 

 narily inclined, might have made his fortune by putting his 

 own price on his services. But this he never did. Tt was a 

 part of the simplicity of his nature that, especially in the 

 later years of his life, he fell into a habit very rare for a 

 Savoyard of being unduly reluctant to receive payment for 

 the many services he rendered, in all sorts of capacities, to 

 all sorts of people. 



In such a nature, gratitude and patience were as inherent as 

 self-sacrifice. I have seen him under the severest physical trials, 

 once in great danger of losing his sight from inflammation 

 of the eyes, once in great danger of losing his hands from frost- 



