POLITICS AND HOME LIFE (1781-92) 351 



pas " ; pastures and easy rocks, child's play. Mistouflet [his 

 grandchild] would have got up if I had been on the top 

 with my box of sweetmeats.' De Saussure went on to a loftier 

 summit, the Roche Michel (11,437 feet), whence he enjoyed 

 a fine panorama and took observations. Several of the guides 

 are reported to have suffered from the rarity of the air 

 but there seems good reason for suspecting that the cold blast 

 on the summit which forced de Saussure to seek a more shel- 

 tered spot for his experiments had much to do with their alleged 

 sufferings. 



Arrived at Turin, de Saussure found himself the lion of the day, 

 and seems to have enjoyed the position. He writes home : 



' My Voyage [on Mont Blanc] has made a great impression here ; 

 an amiable Marquis [the Marquis de Breze] has translated it very well 

 into Italian, and everyone, down to the hotel waiters, is reading and 

 talking about it. We went yesterday to the Casino of the Nobility, 

 where we met two nieces of my protector, the Marquis de Breze, 

 pretty, but loud.' 



He was presented to the King at Moncalieri, and sends his wife a 

 long account of the King's clothes and his own and Theodore's. 

 This new experience of a Court and its etiquette seems to have 

 given him a great deal of amusement. The King was gracious, 

 and promised to have the roads to Chamonix seen to. After the 

 fatigues of the royal reception the father and son sought for 

 refreshment at the Opera Bouffe : 



' We went two or three times for our 25 soldi. Theodore was 

 immensely entertained by the ballets, which are charming. The 

 theatre, which is extremely pretty, was quite full of ladies, very much 

 dressed with unbelievable feathers on the back of their heads ; when 

 they turned them they entirely blocked the front of the box. Theo 

 and I were in the box of the Corps Diplomatique and in the two best 

 places highly honourable, but one sees much better in the pit.' 



Some more royal visits and an excursion to the Superga, where 

 de Saussure admired greatly the new tombs of the Kings of 

 Sardinia, filled up the rest of the stay. Then they ' put off 

 their beautiful lace, packed up their beautiful swords and their 

 beautiful buttons, and put on their mountain clothes.' During 

 this visit to the Court Madame de Saussure, we may fancy, got 



