GLACIERS. 



chasms between the summits of the Alps, 

 objects more grand, sublime, and terrific, 

 than are any Others of the phenomena of 

 nature which remain stationary. These 

 tremendous spires and towers, of uncer- 

 tain and brittle fabric, seem to forbid the 

 attempts of travellers to explore the depth 

 between them, or even the rocks and rich 

 vallies around them ; but courage and 

 perseverance have been attended with 

 commensurate success, and we are ena- 

 bled by their labours to learn previously 

 concealed wonders,and to reason upon the 

 causes which produced them. In treating 

 on this subject, it must be remembered, 

 with satisfaction, that great part of our in- 

 formation is derived from the exertions of 

 several gentlemen distinguished for pati- 

 ent investigation andintrepid exploration. 



M. Bourrit, Precentor of the Cathedral 

 Church at Geneva, mentions, in the rela- 

 tion of his journey to the glaciers of Sa- 

 voy, the enterprise of Messrs. Windham 

 and Pocock, in 1741, who, inspired by the 

 artless relations of the peasants, descrip- 

 tive of the sublimity of their country, 

 when they descended with honey and 

 chrystals fbrsale,determinedto visit those 

 frightful regions of ice which had receiv- 

 ed the appellation of Les Montagnes 

 Maudites, or the accursed mountains ; the 

 gentlemen alluded to took every precau- 

 tion for securing their safety ; but enter- 

 taining many well-grounded fears, natu- 

 rally arising from a first attempt, they did 

 not reach any considerable distance be- 

 yond the edge of the ice in the valley of 

 Montanvert, yet their example operated 

 so powerfully as to induce several others 

 to imitate them, and proceed to the boun- 

 dary whence they returned; at length M. 

 de Saussure had the resolution and cou- 

 rage to penetrate across the ice to the 

 very extremities of the vallies; Mr. Coxe 

 followed soon after ; and every possible 

 information may be obtained from their 

 publications which the nature of the sub- 

 ject will permit. 



The most astonishing phenomenon at- 

 tending the glaciers is their near ap- 

 proach to the usual vegetation of sum- 

 mer ; for what can be more wonderful 

 than to view wheat ready for the sickle, 

 parched brown by the rays of the sun, 

 separated only by the intervention of a 

 few feet from the chilling influence of an 

 endless bed of ice, which seems impene- , 

 trable to its rays. 



Many systems and theories have been 

 ingeniously suggested to ascertain the 

 first cause of the glaciers, their main- 

 tenance, and whether they increase or di- 



VOL. VI. 



minish in extent, of which Grunner's, im. 

 proved and illustrated with actual obser 

 vation by M. de Saussure, is the most ra- 

 tional and probable, and Mr. Coxe impli- 

 citly adopts it. Admitting that a person 

 could be raised sufficiently above the 

 summits of the Alps of Switzerland, Sa- 

 voy, and Dauphine, to comprehend the 

 whole at one view, he would observe a 

 vast chaos of mountains and vallies, with 

 several parallel chains, the highest of 

 which are situated in the centre, and the 

 remainder gradualfy lessening as they re- 

 tire from it. The central chain he would 

 find to be surmounted by stupendous 

 fragments of rock, towering in rude 

 masses, which bear vast accumulations of 

 snow and ice, where they are not deci- 

 dedly perpendicular, or do not overhang 

 their bases ; on each side he would see 

 the intervening chasms and gulphs, filled 

 with ice, descending thence even into the 

 verdant vallies rich with foliage and cul- 

 tivation. The inferior ranges of moun- 

 tains, next the central, present the same 

 appearance in a lesser degree, but in 

 those more remote the snow and ice is 

 confined to the most elevjfted points; and 

 others, still further removed, are covered 

 with grass and plants, which, in their 

 turn, give place to the hills and vallies 

 common in any part of the world. 



Mr. Coxe divides the glaciers, in the 

 above general survey, into two classes ; 

 the first occupy the deep vallies situated 

 in the bosom of the Alps, and the second 

 adhere to the sides and summits of the 

 mountains. Those in the vallies are far 

 more extensive than the upper glaciers, 

 some are several leagues in length, and 

 that of Des Bois is three miles broad and 

 fifteen long ; but they do not communi- 

 cate with each other, and there are few 

 parallel to the central chain ; their upper 

 extremities are connected with inaccessi- 

 ble precipices, and the lower proceed, as 

 already mentioned, quite into the vales ; 

 the depth of these astonishing accumula- 

 tions of frozen fluid vary from eighty to 

 six hundred feet, and they generally rest 

 on an inclined plane ; urged forward by 

 their own enormous weight, and but 

 weakly supported by the pointed rocks 

 inserted in their bases, they are univer- 

 sally intersected by yawning chasms, of 

 dreadful aspect to the curious investiga- 

 tor, who beholds fanciful representations 

 of walls, towers, and pyramids, on every 

 side of him ; but upon reaching those 

 parts where the glacier rests upon an ho- 

 rizontal plane, his progress is seldom im- 

 peded by considerable fissures, and he 



B 



