^76 Account of the Descent of the Glacier of the 
strophe, ten are still alive, the eleventh was taken out dead, and 
the twelfth has not yet been found, 
The avalanche, consisting of a mixture of snow, ice and 
stones, covers the fields and the meadows below the village for 
the length of at least 2400 feet, and for a width of 1000. The 
mass which has descended is nearly 150 feet high ; so that the 
Avhole body of ice precipitated is about ^60,000,000 cubic feet. 
The amount of the damage has been estimated at 20,000 francs. 
It is a remarkable circumstance attending this event, that 
some barns on the other side, below the glacier, and which the 
avalanche had almost covered, remained uninjured, and were 
never touched by the hurricane ; but, what is still more difficult 
to conceive, two persons only have lost their lives in this disas- 
ter, although several families were carried away with their 
houses^ and buried in their ruins, and in the wreaths of snow. 
The prompt assistance afforded by the pastor, who did not suf- 
fer personally, and of the two sacristans who escaped, contribu- 
ted to save several lives. 
This is not the first time that the village of Kanda has expe- 
rienced a disaster of this nature. In 1636 it was destroyed by 
a similar avalanche, by which 36 persons lost their lives. It is 
said that the whole glacier of Weisshorn then fell. Two other 
avalanches, less considerable, took place in 1736 and 1786, but 
not exactly in the same place. 
On the present occasion, only a small part of the glacier fell 
down ; and it is difficult to conceive how the remainder, depri- 
ved of its support, can be sustained. Enormous clefts can be 
perceived in it by good telescopes, and these had been long ago 
noticed by the chamois hunters. The part of the glacier which 
has fallen is said to have been separated from the rest by similar 
clefts. There is thei’efore great reason to dread, that the 
glacier cannot much longer maintain itself upon this steep ridge, 
and thaj; the rest of the village of Randa may be completely de- 
stoyed by the avalanche which still threatens it. No human 
skill can prevent this catastrophe, and therefore the inhabitants 
of the unfortunate commune must either fortify themselves 
* M. Venetz rernark^ed, that the precipitated blocks consisted chiefly of a mix- 
ture of ice in grains, and of old snow. Hence it appears that the glacier was at 
an elevation where the sno\y seldom melts. 
