148 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



after its management, while the husband remains in the plain to see to 

 the field labours. These good people lodged me in their chalet in 1781. 

 They had not much spare room, because their son, who had just married, 

 had come with his wife to pass some days on the mountains with his 

 mother. They found, however, a corner and some dry hay for me, 

 and I had my share of a lamb which had been killed to feast the 

 newly married pair. Although they were of the most perfect straight- 

 forwardness, and had an address and manners appropriate to their 

 condition, one saw that they were conscious of their prosperity and 

 the power they had of living in different conditions.' [Voyages, 839.] 



I return to de Saussure's letter to his wife. It ends thus : 



' Next morning I mounted my mule to cross another ridge which 

 has to be passed on the way to Courmayeur. It is called the Col de 

 la Seigne, and is about the same height as the Bonhomme, but much 

 gentler. We crossed it without difficulty or fatigue. I saw the 

 magnificent glaciers at the back of Mont Blanc and the tremendous 

 mountains of snow and granite between which they issue. This 

 route through the A116e Blanche is above all description, so I shall 

 not attempt any, the more as the express messenger I am sending to 

 carry this letter to Martigny is growing impatient. Farewell, my 

 dear angel ; rest assured that I shall always take care of myself, and 

 that you will see me return better in health and richer in knowledge 

 than when I set out.' l 



Of the peasants of Courmayeur de Saussure gives in the 

 Voyages the following account : 



' The people of Courmayeur are very good folk, and although they 

 talk the Savoyard patois and like to be held Savoyards, they share 

 to some extent the physical and moral qualities of Italians dark 

 complexions, aquiline noses, black hair and eyes, and something of 

 that tendency to boastfuhiess and exaggeration which is characteristic 

 of southern races. I may give an instance. Descending alone and 

 on foot by a steep and narrow path above Courmayeur, I overtook 

 a peasant mounted on a mule laden with two great bales of hay, 

 which was going very slowly. It was impossible to pass without his 

 drawing his mule to one side. I very politely begged him to do this, 

 pointing out that the flies attracted by his mule and the heat were 



1 The messenger to whom this missive was entrusted made a mistake which 

 naturally infuriated de Saussure ; he brought it back with him from Martigny, 

 leaving there in its place a letter de Saussure was expecting from his wife. The 

 ordinary post at that date between Geneva and the Val d'Aosta by the Mont Cenis 

 and Turin was too slow to be any use to the traveller. It was not till he reached 

 the Great St. Bernard that any home news reached him. 



