TEN YEARS' ALPINE TRAVEL (1774-84) 151 



gigantic rampart, from the mouth of Val d'Aosta. He at once 

 recognised that the character of the boulders showed that they had 

 come from the recesses of the central chain. But as to the mode 

 of their transport, so obvious to our eyes, he remained absolutely 

 blind ; he was too firmly imbued with the current belief in the 

 agency of prehistoric floods. 



It must be matter of astonishment to every modern moun- 

 taineer who reads the Voyages that anyone with de Saussure's 

 opportunities of observation should have failed to recognise a 

 connection between the moraines of existing glaciers and these 

 monuments of their great predecessors. But de Saussure passes 

 on, serenely unconscious of the inference that to our eyes seems in- 

 evitable. Yet he had noted that in the valley of Chamonix great 

 banks marked former fluctuations of the ice, and that it was the 

 glacier that had brought the Pierre des Anglais to the Montenvers. 



But the usually cautious philosopher on this occasion went out 

 of his way to make matters worse. So unsuspicious was he of 

 any possibility of error that he paused to congratulate himself 

 on his demonstration. After reminding his readers that he had 

 pointed out that the erratic blocks on the northern flank of the 

 Alps ' have been carried there by impetuous currents descending 

 from the heights,' he argued that it follows that on the opposite 

 flank a similar agency had produced a similar effect, and that 

 ' in the great flood the waters burst forth with equal fury on both 

 sides of the chain.' He concluded : 



' I know not if I am under an illusion, but it appears to me that, 

 short of the evidence of eye-witnesses, it is impossible to imagine 

 monuments that bear witness to and verify a fact with greater force.' 



So far as the identity of the active agency on both sides of the 

 Alps was concerned, his argument was sound, but unfortunately 

 he was altogether mistaken as to the nature of that agency. 



The Hospice of the St. Bernard was on many occasions used by 

 de Saussure as a centre for excursions. It had the advantage of 

 its great height ; he also found there a capable and congenial 

 companion in the Abbe Murith, at one time Prior of the convent, 

 and afterwards Cur6 of Liddes. This worthy priest was the 

 first climber of the Velan (12,353 feet), the snowy dome which 

 overlooks the Hospice. He would seem to have had more success 

 on the mountains than in the management of a parish, for his 



