178 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



no person could be found that knew it, nor could he gain the least 

 intelligence with respect to any of his questions ; he was obliged, there- 

 fore, at all events, to take a journey in search of it and endeavour to 

 find it himself.' 



Such a passage and the following narrative give a curious idea 

 of the state of ignorance in which Geneva lived of objects within 

 its daily horizon, even after ' the discovery ' of Chamonix. With 

 many doubts as to the right road, anxiously looking out for any 

 glimpse of the snows, and seriously disquieted when they lost 

 sight of them, the two Delucs arrived late at night at Sixt, 

 where * their guide gave them no hope of finding any accom- 

 modation/ Fortunately, despite the lateness of the hour, the 

 convent opened its gates and received them most hospitably. 



The peasants of the village could give no information as to 

 the snow mountain they were in search of, but offered to lead the 

 travellers to some chalets, where a hunter who knew more might 

 possibly be met with. 1 This plan was carried out, the chalets 

 reached, and the hunter secured. But they followed him with 

 uneasy minds, for their frozen summit had [entirely disappeared. 

 When, after some rough scrambling, they reached the ridge of 

 rocks known as the Grenier des Communes, which had long 

 formed their skyline, ' they perceived themselves upon the brink 

 of one of the most frightful precipices, which separated them 

 from the summit they came in search of.' 



There was nothing for it but to go back, after having gazed 

 ' with admiration as well as horror ' at Mont Blanc, which appeared 

 before them in all its majesty. An accident to the most im- 

 portant member of the party, the thermometer, compelled them 

 to return to Geneva. 



It was not till 1770 that the Delucs again attempted to carry 

 out their design. Led by an ' apprentice to a hunter,' they 

 climbed ' from one jutting point to another up the clefts of an 

 immense wall of stone which was almost perpendicular,' only to 

 find themselves ' upon the very same precipice they had been on 

 five years before.' They consoled themselves by scram bh'ng to 

 the highest point of the ridge, the Grenairon. In this effort they 

 had to take the lead from their poor-spirited guides . The conduct 



1 It appears that the mountain was known as the Mortine in Valorsine, but 

 had no name on the Sixt side. Buet was properly the name of a lower point. 



