THE ASCENT OF MONT BLANC 



895 



convincing idea as to the height you are 

 on. The many peaks and aiguilles of 

 the Mont Blanc range perhaps interest 

 you more, for they are the only near 

 things in the view ; but, however lofty 

 and imposing they may have looked from 

 below, even the highest is now insignifi- 

 cant, for all are beneath you. 



Yet I confess I scarcely took more 



ttime to enjoy this unique vista than it 

 has taken to write these few words of 

 description, for the cold was so intense 



I that five minutes after arriving at the 

 summit we were all ready to begin the 

 descent. 



THJS MOST EXTRAORDINARY OBSERVATORY 

 EVER BUIET 



And I should not fail to speak of the 

 Janssen Observatory at the summit, the 

 I boldest monument ever erected to the 

 ^lory of science, situated here at the apex 

 of Europe (see page 897). Dr. Janssen, 

 late president of the French Academy of 

 Science, procured the necessary funds 

 and superintended its erection. As the 

 summit of Mont Blanc is entirely com- 

 posed of a vast mass of snow and ice sev- 

 eral hundred feet deep, resting upon a 

 <:luster of granite pinnacles (small groups 

 of rock appear just below the summit on 

 three sides, the nearest, la Tournette, be- 

 ing only 171 feet below it), the observa- 

 tory would have to be built upon the 

 snow, and so every one received his pro- 

 posal with incredulity. Though the snow 

 at the top is constantly subsiding and 

 feeding the glaciers below, the height of 

 the mountain remains almost constant 

 from the accession of fresh deposits. So 

 it was not feared that the observatory 

 w^ould sink into the snow, but with it. 

 M. Eiffel, of the Tower fame, was con- 

 sulted, and he agreed to engineer the 

 project if a rock foundation could be 

 found. 



With incredible difficulty a horizontal 

 tunnel was driven into the ice, 49 feet 

 below the summit, for a distance of 96 

 feet, In quest of rock, but the only stone 

 encountered was a solitary plumstone! 

 M. Eiffel then gave up the plan, but Dr. 

 Janssen carried the tunnel 75 feet fur- 

 ther, but with no better success. 



The report of the engineer In charge 



gives a lively idea of the difficulties in- 

 volved in this work — how the workmen 

 suffered from the cold and mountain 

 sickness and mutinied, most of them re- 

 fusing to work at any price. 



HOW THE OBSERVATORY SANK IN THE 

 SNOW 



But the Doctor was still undismayed 

 and went on with his original plan of 

 erecting a building on the snow. In the 

 winter of 1891-1892 the observatory was 

 constructed, partly of wood and partly 

 of Iron, at Meudon, near Paris, taken 

 to pieces and transported to Chamonix. 

 At the end of September one-fourth of 

 the material had been carried as far up 

 as the Petits Rochers Rouges, only 750 

 feet below the summit, and the rest as 

 far as the Grand Mulcts. At the be- 

 ginning of the next summer the part left 

 near the summit was found to be buried 

 in 25 feet of snow. By the end of the 

 season the frail structure was up, though 

 it was not completely finished till 1894. 

 The heavier parts were slowly hauled 

 up the final slope by the help of little 

 hand windlasses. 



That the apprehension as to its sta- 

 bility was only too well founded is now 

 apparent. When I visited it the roof was 

 was nearly level with the snow surface 

 of the summit, so that we lay down upon 

 it to rest. Only the ironwork tower was 

 above the snows. The interior seemed 

 almost completely filled with snow and 

 the whole structure is in a dilapidated 

 condition. I understand that the observ- 

 atory has since been restored at great ex- 

 pense. 



A huge Instrument, called a meteoro- 

 graph, costing $3,500, has been installed. 

 It is wound up to run eight months, the 

 period of time during which no one can 

 visit the observatory, and it registers 

 barometric pressure, maximum and 

 minimum temperatures, force of the 

 wind, etc. We now know how cold it 

 may get at this great altitude ; a tempera- 

 ture of 54.4 below zero (Fahrenheit) 

 has been registered by the thermometer 

 outside the observatory. However, it 

 must get colder than that, for if I re- 

 member rightly, the thermometer on the 

 top of the far lower summit of our 



