TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND 

 SPORT. 



FROM 'BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.' 



ALBEKT SMITH'S ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. 



[MAGA. JANUARY 1852.] 



TAVEXTY-SEVE^ years ago when children's 

 books were rare presents, and so were prized, 

 and read, and read again, until the very position of 

 the paragraphs was known by heart I had a little 

 volume given to me at the Soho bazaar, called ' The 

 Peasants of Chamouni,' which told, in a very truth- 

 ful manner, the sad story of Dr Hamel's fatal at- 

 tempt to reach the summit of Mont Blanc in 1820. 

 'I daresay that it has long been out of print ; but I 

 have still my own old copy by me, and I find it was 

 published by Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy, in 1823. 

 My notions of the Alps at that time were very 



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