44 



SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGISTS HAMMER. 



sasfe of the Mer de Glace; but with it comes the exhila- 

 ration and the determination to accomplish the transit 

 without a guide. If worst comes, there is a man hang- 

 ing upon our heels, expecting that the next moment will 

 find us suing for his assistance. The peril arises from 

 the absence of any discernible path, and our ignorance 

 of the route indicated as easiest by the continued ex- 

 perience of the guides. 



DIFFICULT PASSAGE ON THE MER DE GLACE. FROM A PHOTO- 

 GRAPH BY J. LEVY ET CIE., PARIS. 



The farther border is reached in safety, if there be 

 any border-line between the ice and the earth into 

 which it graduates by insensible degrees. Another con- 

 test with huge boulders of protogine, and we strike a 



