MONT BLANC. 3 



and the little store which they had carried with them afforded but a 

 feeble supply for twenty men. 



This region of the mountain presents to the view nothing but snow of" 

 the purest and most dazzling whiteness, forming a very singular contrast 

 with the sky, which appears remarkably black. " No living creature," 

 says our author, " is to be seen in these desolate regions, nor is the 

 least trace of vegetation to be discovered. It is the habitation of cold 

 and silence ! My guides were so firmly prepossessed with the fear of cold$ 

 that they shut every aperture of the tent with the utmost exactness ; so 

 that I suffered very considerably from the heat and vitiated air, which 

 had become highly noxious, from the breaths of so many people in so 

 small a room. I was frequently obliged, in the course of the night, to 

 go out of the tent in order to relieve my breathing. The moon shone 

 with the brightest splendour, in the midst of a sky, black as ebony. 

 Jupiter, rayed like the sun, arose from behind the mountains of the east; 

 The light of these luminaries was reflected from the white plain, or 

 rather basin, in which we were situated, and, dazzling, eclipsed every 

 star, except those of the first and second magnitude. At length we 

 composed ourselves to sleep. We were, however, soon awakened by the 

 noise of an immense mass of snow (jivalanche) which had fallen down 

 from the top of the mountain, and covered part of the slope over which 

 we were to climb the next day. 



" We began our ascent to the third and last plain, and then turned on 

 our left in our way to the highest rock, which is on the east part of the 

 summit. The ascent is here very steep, being about thirty-nine degrees 

 inclined to the horizon, and bounded on each side by precipices. The 

 surface of the snow was so hard and slippery, that our pioneers were 

 obliged to hew out their footsteps with hatches. Thus we were two 

 hours in climbing a hill of about 530 yards. Having arrived at this last 

 rock, we turned to the westward, and climbed the last ascent, whose 

 height is about 300 yards, and its inclination above 28 or 29 degrees. 

 On this peak the atmosphere is so rare, that a man's strength is exhausted 

 with the least fatigue. When we came near to the top, I could not 

 walk fifteen or sixteen steps without stopping to take breath, and I 

 frequently perceived myself so faint, that I was under the necessity of 

 sitting down from time to time, and in proportion as I recovered my 

 breath, I felt my strength renewed. All my guides experienced 

 similar sensations in proportion to their respective constitutions. We 

 arrived at the summit of Mont Blanc at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. 

 I now enjoyed the grand spectacle that was under my eyes. A thin 



