THE COL DU GfiANT 245 



Exchaquet's prolonged residence at Servoz, where he was 

 engaged as ' Directeur-General of the Mines of Faucigny,' gave 

 him opportunities for mountain excursions by which he fully 

 profited. He went up the Buet five or six times, and at all hours 

 of the day, in order to study the variations in the temperature. 

 He climbed the Pointe de Tanneverge and several summits over 

 the Val d'Hliez. He got very near to the top of one of the Aiguilles 

 des Courtes above the Talefre Glacier. He explored among the 

 lesser summits of the western wing of the Bernese Oberland 

 round the Sanetsch Pass, and as far east as the Gemmi and the 

 Lotschen Thai. Though he never reached any peak rivalling 

 Mont Blanc or Mont Velan, his climbs above the snow-level and 

 the extent of his wanderings entitle him to rank high among the 

 early pioneers. By his success in overcoming the famous seracs 

 he gave proof of his Alpine qualifications, and by his modesty 

 in describing his adventure he afforded Bourrit an additional 

 reason for ignoring a predecessor who diminished to some extent 

 the exploits of the Precentor. 



Exchaquet found a companion for his first attempt in a Mr. 

 Hill, a member of one of several English families then resident 

 at Geneva. They took with them three guides, and slept on the 

 rocks at the Couvercle, the meeting -place of the glaciers that 

 form the Mer de Glace. Next morning, when they assailed the 

 formidable icefall, they found the crevasses numerous and large. 

 'Mr. Hill,' writes Exchaquet, 'not being accustomed to glaciers, 

 greatly delayed our progress, so, seeing how little advance we had 

 made in two hours, and reckoning that it would take many 

 more to get through the bad part of the glacier, we resolved to 

 return rather than risk having to pass the night among the snows 

 of the Tacul.' 



Mr. Hill subsequently went round Mont Blanc by the Col 

 de Bonhomme and Col de la Seigne to Courmayeur. Thence 

 with a friend, the guide Marie Couttet of Chamonix, and a local 

 hunter, he climbed to the top of the pass and returned the same 



Mont Blanc, 12 feet long, was placed in his apartment with these lines attached : 

 ' Sur sea bases eternelles 

 Le Mont Blanc est moins assure 

 Que dans nos coaurs fideles, 

 De tes lois 1'Empire sacre.' 



Nothing is reported of what Napoleon thought of this somewhat cumbrous 

 piece of furniture and flattery. 



