﻿WRITINGS 
  OF 
  ST 
  FOND 
  AND 
  SCROPE. 
  3 
  

  

  he 
  resided 
  at 
  Montelimart, 
  exactly 
  upon 
  the 
  opposite 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  Rhone), 
  sub- 
  

   sequently 
  turned 
  the 
  current 
  of 
  attention 
  to 
  a 
  different 
  district, 
  more 
  accessible 
  to 
  

   tourists, 
  nearer 
  to 
  Paris, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  close 
  vicinity 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  provincial 
  town. 
  

   Clermont 
  and 
  its 
  environs, 
  including 
  the 
  Puy 
  de 
  Dome, 
  naturally 
  withdrew 
  geo- 
  

   logists 
  from 
  the 
  remoter 
  and 
  more 
  scattered 
  volcanic 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  Southern 
  

   Cevennes, 
  and 
  so 
  much 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  and 
  published 
  upon 
  Auvergne 
  proper, 
  

   as 
  to 
  render 
  any 
  attempt 
  at 
  addition 
  (at 
  least 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  general 
  description) 
  

   altogether 
  superfluous. 
  M. 
  Bertrand's 
  accurate 
  local 
  descriptions 
  and 
  map 
  of 
  the 
  

   singular 
  basin 
  of 
  Le 
  Puy 
  (the 
  ancient 
  Velay), 
  and 
  the 
  masterly 
  pencil 
  of 
  Mr 
  Scrope, 
  

   have, 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  measure, 
  exhausted 
  the 
  descriptive 
  geology 
  of 
  that 
  most 
  curious, 
  

   but 
  most 
  difficult 
  field 
  of 
  study. 
  An 
  easier, 
  but 
  rather 
  more 
  neglected 
  subject 
  

   remained 
  in 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  the 
  Vivarais, 
  the 
  favourite 
  ground 
  of 
  Faujas, 
  to 
  which 
  

   I 
  acknowledge 
  that 
  I 
  was 
  first 
  attracted 
  by 
  the 
  panorama 
  of 
  the 
  basaltic 
  colonnade 
  

   of 
  Jaujac 
  in 
  Mr 
  Scrope's 
  incomparable 
  atlas. 
  Having 
  previously 
  inspected, 
  for 
  my 
  

   own 
  instruction, 
  the 
  other 
  four 
  great 
  volcanic 
  centres 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  of 
  France, 
  

   viz., 
  the 
  Monts 
  Dome, 
  the 
  Monts 
  D'Or, 
  the 
  Cantal, 
  and 
  Le 
  Puy, 
  I 
  meant 
  to 
  finish, 
  

   as 
  my 
  predecessors 
  had 
  done, 
  with 
  a 
  hasty 
  survey 
  of 
  Vivarais. 
  But 
  I 
  found 
  there 
  

   a 
  united 
  attraction 
  of 
  scenery 
  and 
  geology, 
  together 
  with 
  that 
  isolation 
  and 
  re- 
  

   moteness 
  which 
  lends 
  a 
  peculiar, 
  though 
  doubtless 
  a 
  selfish 
  charm 
  to 
  a 
  prize 
  

   which 
  we 
  imagine 
  that 
  others 
  have, 
  in 
  some 
  degree, 
  overlooked, 
  which 
  caused 
  me 
  

   to 
  fix 
  my 
  quarters 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  first 
  village 
  which 
  I 
  reached, 
  and 
  again, 
  two 
  years 
  

   later 
  (in 
  1841), 
  to 
  revisit 
  every 
  point 
  of 
  geological 
  interest, 
  to 
  extend 
  my 
  notes, 
  

   and 
  to 
  prepare 
  a 
  map 
  and 
  drawings 
  of 
  the 
  volcanic 
  phenomena. 
  These 
  were 
  in- 
  

   tended 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  at 
  once 
  reduced 
  into 
  a 
  digested 
  form, 
  and 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  

   Transactions 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  Societies 
  ; 
  but, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  a 
  fresh 
  subject 
  of 
  in- 
  

   terest 
  was 
  opened 
  to 
  me, 
  and 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  withdrew 
  my 
  attention 
  entirely 
  from 
  any 
  

   other 
  voluntary 
  pursuit 
  requiring 
  much 
  leisure 
  ; 
  and 
  since 
  that 
  time 
  the 
  theory 
  

   of 
  glaciers 
  has 
  occupied 
  nearly 
  all 
  my 
  spare 
  moments.* 
  I 
  now 
  resume 
  my 
  ori- 
  

   ginal 
  intention 
  of 
  describing 
  the 
  ancient 
  volcanoes 
  of 
  the 
  Vivarais, 
  with 
  the 
  hope 
  

   of 
  being 
  able 
  to 
  infuse 
  into 
  the 
  general 
  reader 
  some 
  small 
  share 
  of 
  the 
  admira- 
  

   tion 
  with 
  which 
  my 
  first 
  visit 
  filled 
  me, 
  and 
  which 
  a 
  second 
  did 
  not 
  abate. 
  I 
  

   shall 
  first 
  describe 
  the 
  track 
  by 
  which 
  I 
  originally 
  entered 
  these 
  valleys, 
  as 
  serv- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  the 
  circumstances 
  of 
  contrast 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  above 
  alluded. 
  

  

  The 
  spring 
  of 
  1839 
  was 
  late 
  and 
  cold, 
  and 
  in 
  France 
  and 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  Le 
  Puy, 
  

   a 
  town 
  situated 
  625 
  metres, 
  or 
  nearly 
  2000 
  English 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea,f 
  was 
  not 
  

   the 
  first 
  place 
  to 
  feel 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  summer. 
  Notwithstanding 
  its 
  great 
  ab- 
  

   solute 
  height, 
  the 
  country 
  rises 
  still 
  higher 
  in 
  every 
  direction, 
  save 
  the 
  narrow 
  

   gorge 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  river 
  Loire 
  struggles 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  circuit 
  of 
  lofty 
  hills 
  forming 
  

  

  * 
  These 
  pages 
  were 
  written 
  in 
  1847. 
  

   ■j" 
  Bertrand. 
  

  

  