256 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT BE SAUSSURE 



The following charming letter was addressed to his sisters-in- 

 law : 



1 llth July. 



' While Theo writes to his mother I will write a line to his two aunts, 

 and perhaps there is good reason I should, lest they forget me ; for 

 they are giving such a double share of affection to their sister that 

 there may be none left for her vagabond of a husband ! My wife in 

 her letters never ceases to extol to me the kindness of her sisters, their 

 indulgence, their attentions, and the charming fete which made her 

 cry with emotion, and made me, too, weep in sympathy amidst the 

 frost that surrounds me. She described to me this fete and the 

 outflow of tenderness that accompanied it in colours so vivid that I 

 vow I fancied myself there, and it was one of the greatest pleasures 

 I have enjoyed since I left Geneva. 



' But in truth this tender companionship of the three sisters makes 

 the chief charm of my life ; it is my greatest pleasure when I am with 

 them and my dearest recollection when I am absent. And the best 

 proof of my eagerness to return to you is that I am giving up the 

 excursion I meant to make in the Valais. I should have liked to 

 make it ; had this part of the journej 7 only taken three weeks, as I 

 hoped, my whole absence would only have been about five weeks, 

 but on no account would I lose eight or nine weeks' of our stay at 

 Genthod, as I must if I carried out my first plan. For I must stay 

 four or five days more here to finish my experiments, which do not 

 advance any too quickly, as the weather is often against us. We have 

 not had any more of those terrible storms like the one you had also 

 at Genthod, but in revenge we have two or three showers every day, 

 with an accompaniment of hail or snow. Ail the same, we are as well 

 as possible, and Etienne has great difficulty to cook enough to satisfy 

 our appetites. One would think we lived in a forge ; as the coke will 

 only burn when blown, our bellows are extremely exhausted and 

 husky. Our guides, who are also ravenous, seize the stove as soon 

 as we have done with it, so that one constantly hears the bellows 

 mixed with the noise of the snow and rock avalanches all round us. 

 We are perfectly sheltered from them ; it is one of the chief amuse- 

 ments of Etienne and the guides to set rolling great boulders which, 

 falling on the frozen slopes, produce really magnificent torrents of 

 stones and snow. 



' But I am afraid of chilling you by telling of nothing but frost 

 and snow and icy crags, and I would far rather warm your hearts and 

 inspire them with feelings as lively and as tender as those I have for 



