92 THE FOKMS OF WATER IN 



upon the heights. Contrary to expectation, the men 

 could be seen and directed through the shower. 



231. To reach the position occupied by the theodolite 

 at the end of our second line, I had to wade breast-deep 

 through snow which seemed as dry and soft as flour. 

 The toil of the men upon the glacier in breaking through 

 tne snow was prodigious. But they did not flinch, and 

 after a time the leader stood behind the farthest stake, 

 and cried, Nous avons fini. I was surprised to hear 

 him so distinctly, for falling 3now had been thought 

 very deadening to sound. The work was finished, and 

 I struck my theodolite with a feeling of a general who 

 had won a small battle. 



232. We put the house in order, packed up, and shot 

 by glissade down the steep slopes of La Filia to the 

 vault of the Arveiron. We found the river feeble, but 

 not dried up. Many weeks must have elapsed since any 

 water had been sent down from the surface of the 

 glacier. But at the setting in of winter the fissures 

 were in a great measure charged with water ; and the 

 Arveiron of to-day was probably due to the gradual 

 drainage of the glacier. There was now no danger of 

 entering the vault, for the ice seemed as firm as marble. 

 In the cavern we were bathed by blue light. The 

 strange beauty of the place suggested magic, and put 

 me in mind of stories about fairy caves which I had read 

 when a boy. At the source of the Arveiron our winter 

 visit to the Mer de Glace ends ; next morning youi 

 deputy was on his way to London. 



