326 MY LIFE 



telling him we didn't know what a kafe was, he said, " Why. 

 a hotel or eating-house, to be sure ; the French call it ' kafe.' " 

 So we told him where we were going for the night, and he 

 went with us. The next day we went on by diligence to 

 Geneva, where we stayed a day, and then walked with our 

 knapsacks to Chamouni; but the heat was so intense that we 

 stayed at a small inn on the way for the night. We walked 

 up to the Flegere to see the grand view of the Aiguilles and 

 Mont Blanc, and the next day joined a party to Montanvert, 

 the Mer de Glace, and the Jardin, having a guide to take 

 care of us. The day was magnificent; we saw the sights of 

 the glacier, its crevasses and ice-tables, and when passing 

 round the precipice of the Couvercle above the ice-fall of the 

 Talefre glacier, there were masses of cloud below us which 

 partially rolled away, revealing the wonderful ice-pinnacles 

 brilliantly illuminated by the afternoon sun, and affording a 

 spectacle the grandeur and sublimity of which I have never 

 since seen equalled. Only a portion of our party reached 

 the Jardin, where I made a hasty collection of the flowers, 

 and by the time we got back to the hotel, having made the 

 steep descent from Montanvert in the dark, we were all pretty 

 well exhausted. 



The next day I and my friend walked over the Tete Noir 

 to Martigny. From here we took a chaise to Leuk, and 

 then walked up to Leukerbad and hired a porter to carry our 

 knapsacks up the Gemmi Pass, in order that we might enjoy 

 the ascent of that wonderful mountain road. Before reach- 

 ing the top snow began to fall, and we reached the little 

 inn on the summit in a snow-storm. It was crowded, and we 

 had to sleep on the floor. Next day we walked down to 

 Thun, whence we returned home via Strasburg and Paris. 

 Although I enjoyed this my first visit to snowy mountains 

 and glaciers, I had not at that time sufficient knowledge to 

 fully appreciate them. The three visits I have since made 

 have filled me with a deeper sense of the grandeur and the 

 exquisite scenery of the Alps. My increased general knowledge 

 of geology, and especially of the glacial theory, have added 

 greatly to my enjoyment of the great physical features of the 



