masses of granite, which are gradually 
transported to a lower leyel, and accumulate in 4 
_ plain below, forming what is called the moraines des 
. tage The Glacier de Boisson is bounded on the east 
_ pines, of which are crushed. to 
pieces rein i pressure of the walls. of ice ; 
and the ground in the neighbourhood. is torn 
convulsions. were. constant 
, as if 
ly faccompanyin 
ing the 
and descent’ of the icy cliffs. A few hundred yard: 
intervene between this region of sterility and 
ion, and the rich and ivated fields in the 
. Glacier de Bois has quite. a different character 
from that.of Boisson ; and though it does not rise into 
such oe and varied shapes, yet its vast extent and 
its remarkable situation, and. perhaps the. difficulty of 
reaching it, render it a still. more interesting object to 
the, traveller. In order to examine this glacier, we 
, pent a half pent one Fe mules ; 
: ascending a steep and rugg ivity, through 
a wood of firs, we reached, in 52 minutes, that part of 
the ascent. where it was necessary to exchange our 
mules for long poles.pointed. with iron. The footpath 
crosses a deep ravine cut out by an avalanche; and at 
the end of other 43 minutes, we obtained a splendid view 
of the Aveyron, ing out with great fury from be- 
low its icy covering, and throwing itself over a lofty 
precipice, At the end of two hours from our setting 
out, we reached the summit of Montanvert, which is 
5724 feet above the level of the sea, and 2568 above 
that of the valley. 
After resting half an hour in the temple erected for 
the accommodation of travellers, by M. Felix Desportes, 
the French resident at Geneva, we descended the hill 
till we reached the Mer de Glace. At first sight, this 
immense field of ice, about 6 miles long and 14 wide, 
_ has the same ap ce.as if a tumultuous and highly 
agitated sea been suddenly. frozen ; but upon. exa- 
mining it more narrowly, we found it intersected with 
numerous and ravines, some of which are 100 
feet deep. On the sides of these crevices the ice is 
most perfect, and has a fine blue colour; while on the 
surface, which is granular and porous, the congelation 
appears to have been less complete, By the assistance of 
our long poles we entered upon the Mer de Glace, and 
from our recollection of Saussure’s description of the ha- 
zards which attend such a journey, we were not a little 
surprised at the apparent absence of all danger. The as- 
_ the yawning chasms ; 
Hencedina difficnl «We passed a huge block of, grad 
a ier divides itself 
_ Into two branches, called the Glacier of Lechaud, and 
GLACIERS. 
285 
the Glacier of Tacul, we discover the aiguilles of Gleciers 
Lechaud, and the Great and Little Jorasse, the lofty “7 
peaks of the Giant and of Tacul. The black desolation 
which presented itselfon every. side; the dreary and 
unbroken silence which rei wadiecaat. and the subli- 
mity and novelty with which every object was marked, 
gave to the present scene a peculiarly impressive cha» 
racter, of which it is impossible to form, the least con- 
ception. The soundof the waters rushing below, at 
the depth of 80 or 100 feet, which is the pores height 
of the glacier, and the crashing noise of large stones 
loosened by the melting of the ice and tumbling into 
the chasms, begin to remind the traveller that his si- 
tuation, is not without danger. A similar but louder 
noise arises during winter from the. formation of the 
chasms, which sometimes shakes the whole mass with a 
noise like thunder, and. which is the general harbin- 
ger of a, change of weather. In many places there is 
something like a vertical stratification in the icy mas- 
ses, stretching in the direction of the valley, and the 
surface of the ice has an appearance as if intersected 
by veins. Towards the edge of the Mer de Glace, the 
ice is covered with pounded granite, and huge masses 
of this rock mark the boundary between the glacier 
and the mountain. In those places where the ice is. 
covered with sand, it appears completely black, like the 
darkest cairngorms, while in other places the perfect 
ice is green. Upon breaking this apparently black 
ice, however, we found it quite transparent, and remark- 
ably pure and hard. : 
We now descended Montanvert by another road, in Mouth of. 
order to see the extremity of the glacier, where it deli- * Avey- 
vers the waters of the Aveyron, The whole of the glacier 
is supported on a granite base, which terminates. to- 
wards the plain in a lofty proeren The Aveyron fors 
merly issued from below the glacier, through a frozen 
vault, where the rock had very little height ; but it now 
discharges itself at a much higher point,.,producing a 
waterfall of great height and impetuosity. Sometimes. 
it issues. with dreadful force, and then abates, and over 
those parts of the rock where no water flows, huge mas- 
ses, of ice ave constantly precipitating themselves, with - 
a noise like that of the loudest artillery. 
In ascending the valley, for the purpose: of crossing 
the Col de Balme, we saw also the glaciers .of| Argen- 
tiere and Trient, which do not merit any particular 
description. The glacier of Argentiere lies. at the foot 
of the lofty aiguille of the same name. . It is covered at 
its extremity with blocks of granite, and almost black- 
ened. by a profusion of granite sand. 
There is another species of glacier of a very interest 5 ter. 
ing nature, but essentially different from those which neous gia- 
we have deseribed,. One of them is in France near cier of 
Beaume, and the other in the Carpathian mountains of Beaume.. 
Hungary. The. first of these glaciers is near the vil+ 
lage of Beaume, in a deep eave. The mouth of the cave 
is 45 feet wide, andvafter reaching by a long. descent a 
hall 100 feet high, a ladder of about 40: feetlong con- 
ducts to the glacier. _ About the began. of. the last 
century it-was completely filled with ice, which was re- 
newed every summer. ‘lhe water, which descended on 
all sides from the surface, formed huge pyramids of so- 
lid ice, peer hanging from the rock, and partly shoot- 
ing up from below. . In winter, this eayern, which ‘is 
700 or 800 feet below ground, was filled with smoking 
water. The ground above it was formerly covered 
with huge trees, which kept off the sun’s rays; but in 
1724, a country-house having been erected on the place, . 
the trees were cut, and the ice carried away for the use~ 
