ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. 53 



lightest puff of wind appeared to freeze us ; and we 

 saw the guides getting their packs ready they were 

 very light now and preparing to descend. Accord- 

 ingly, Ave left the summit at half-past nine, having 

 been there exactly half an hour. "\Ve learned after- 

 wards that we had been seen from Chamouni by tele- 

 scopes, and that the people there had fired cannon 

 when they perceived us on the summit: but these we 

 did not hear. "\Ve were about three hours and a half 

 getting back to the Grands Mulcts; and, with the 

 exception of the Mur de la Cote (which required the 

 same caution as in coming up), the descent was a 

 matter of great amusement. Sliding, tumbling, and 

 staggering about, setting all the zigzags at defiance, 

 and making direct short cuts from one to the other 

 sitting down at the top of the snow-slopes, and launch- 

 ing ourselves off, feet first, until, not very clever at self- 

 guidance, we turned right round and were stopped 

 by our own heads : all this was capital fun. The 

 guides managed to slide down very cleverly, keeping 

 their feet. They leant rather back, steadying them- 

 selves with their poles, which also acted as a drag, 

 by being pressed deeply into the snow when they 

 wished to stop, and so scudded down like the bottles 

 from the Grands Mulets. I tried this plan once, but 

 before I had gone a dozen yards I went head-over- 

 heels, and nearly lost my baton ; so that I preferred 

 the more ignoble but equally exciting mode of transit 

 first alluded to. 



