286 A Week among the Glaciers. 



feet to sit astride of them as on horseback, and trust to the steadi- 

 ness of his nerves and the firm grasp of his knees, to accomplish 

 a safe transit. The ascent of these bridges is much easier and 

 less hazardous than the descent, in consequence of being com- 

 pelled, while descending, to look continually into the gap of the 

 depth below, exhibiting the precariousness of the position. 



We traversed these seas of ice and snow from about 10 o'clock, 

 A. M. till between 5 and 6 o'clock, P. M. when we arrived at the 

 Grand Mulets, which we should have reached at least two hours 

 sooner, had it not been for a newly formed crevasse of very great 

 extent ; (I say newly formed, because my guides said that the 

 year previous when they made the ascent to the Grand Mulets 

 it did not exist.) It was of various width throughout its length, 

 from fifty feet to one fourth of a mile ; and in following along its 

 side we were obliged to ascend about one thousand feet above 

 the Grand Mulets before we could find a place to cross it, being 

 about two thirds up the length of the crevasse, where turning 

 abruptly, at nearly a right angle, it was filled for the distance of 

 two hundred feet or more by avalanches, which had fallen from 

 the Grand Plateau, or summit of the mount, and illustrated in 

 the grandest and most impressive manner, the way in which 

 gravity hurls down and piles up these immense masses of snow 

 and ice to the height of hundreds of feet, and so equally poised 

 upon pedestals of ice, that have been wasted by the heat of the 

 sun, till it seems impossible that they could bear the enormous 

 superimposed weight. In crossing the chasm at this point, we 

 passed under these shelving masses, some of which projected one 

 hundred feet over our path. The scene was one of wild mag- 

 nificence ; and it was at this point that our guides enjoined the 

 strictest silence, and to tread with the utmost lightness and pre- 

 caution, which injunction I regarded at the time as being merely 

 an attempt ad captandiim, in order to enhance in our estimation 

 the value of their services. Being excessively fatigued, and being 

 here screened from the wind and dazzling rays of the sun, I pro- 

 posed to halt and rest, to which my guide in the most peremptory 

 and positive manner objected, saying if I attempted to stop at this 

 point, he should be obliged to take me up and carry me from 

 underneath this shelving ice, while at the same time, pointing to 

 the water which was dripping slowly from its summit, and trick- 

 ling down its side and base, he said it would not stand another 



