1857 THE BRENOA GLACIER 211 



myself entirely under Commodore Tyndall's orders ; but 

 I suppose we shall be three or four days more at the 

 Montanvert, and then make the tour of Mont Blanc. I 

 have tied up six pounds in one end of my purse, and 

 when I have no more than that I shall come back. 

 Altogether I don't feel in the least like the father of 

 a family ; no more would you if you were here. The 

 habit of carrying a pack, I suppose, makes the "quiver 

 full of arrows " feel light. 



115 ESPLANADE, DEAL, 

 Sept. 3, 1857. 



MY DEAR TYNDALL I don't consider myself returned 

 until next Wednesday, when the establishment of No. 

 14 will reopen on its accustomed scale of magnificence, 

 but I don't mind letting you know I am in the flesh and 

 safe back. 



The tour round Mont Blanc was ?, decided success ; 

 in fact, I had only to regret you were not with me. The 

 grand glacier of the Alle"e Blanche and the view of Mont 

 Blanc from the valley of Aosta were alone worth all the 

 trouble. I had only one wet day, and that I spent on 

 the Brenoa Glacier ; for, in spite of all good resolutions to 

 the contrary, I cannot resist poking into the glaciers 

 whenever I have a chance. You will be interested in 

 my results, which we shall soon, I hope, talk on together 

 at length. 



As I suspected, Forbes 1 has made a most egregious 

 blunder. What he speaks of and figures as the " structure " 

 of the Brenoa is nothing but a peculiar arrangement of 

 entirely superficial dirt bands, dependent on the structure, but 

 not it. The true structure is singularly beautiful and 

 well marked in the Brenoa, the blue veins being very 

 close set, and of course wholly invisible from a distance of 



1 James David Forbes, 1809-1868, Professor of Natural Philo- 

 sophy at Edinburgh, 1833 ; Principal of the United College, 

 St. Andrews, 1859. Since 1841 he had been investigating the 

 nature of glaciers. See p. 216. 



