tO THE FORMS OF WATEL IN 



§ 1 4. Ice-cascade and Snows of the Col du Geant. 



1 19. Instead of climbing to the height where we rot* 

 si" and. we might have continued our walk upon the Mei 

 de Glace, turned round the promontory of Trelaporte, 

 and walked right up the Glacier du Geant. We should 

 have found ice under our feet up to the bottom of the 

 cascade. It is not so compact as the ice lower down, 

 but you would not think of refusing to call it ice. 



120. As we approach the fall, the smooth and un- 

 broken character of the glacier changes more and more. 

 We encounter transverse ridges succeeding each other 

 with augmenting steepness. The ice becomes more 

 and more fissured and confused. We wind through 

 "tortuous ravines, climb huge ice-mounds, and creep 

 cautiously along crumbling crests, with crevasses right 

 and left. The confusion increases until further advance 

 along the centre of the glacier is impossible. 



121. But with the aid of an axe to cut steps in the 

 steeper ice-walls and slopes we might, by swerving to 

 either side of the glacier, work our way to the top of 

 the cascade. If we ascended to the right, we should 

 have to take care of the ice avalanches which sometimes 

 thunder down the slopes; if to the left, we should have 

 to take care of the stones let loose from the Aiguille 

 Noire. After we had cleared the cascade, we should 

 have to beware for a time of the crevasses, which fui 



