GLA 
the Arve, and (ravelling in a tolerable road, 
passed some villages or hamlets, whose inha- 
bitants behaved with much politeness ; they 
invited us to go in and rest ourselves, apolo- 
gized for our reception, and offered us a 
taste of their honey. After amusing Our- 
selves some time amongst them, we re- 
sumed our road, and entered a beautiful 
wood of lofty firs, inhabited by squirrels. 
The bottom is a fine sand, left tliere by the 
inundations of the Arveron ; it is a very 
agreeable walk, and exhibits some extra- 
ordinary appearances. In proportion as 
we advanced into this wood, we observed 
the objects gradually to vanish from our 
sight; surprised at this circumstance, we 
were earnest to discover the cause, and our 
eyes sought in vain for satisfaction, till hav- 
ing passed through it, the charm ceased. 
Judge of our astonishment, when we saw 
before us an enormous mass of ice, twenty 
times as large as the front of our cathedral 
of St. Peter, and so constructed, that we 
have only to change our situation to make 
it resemble whatever we please. It is a 
magnificent palace, cased over with the 
purest crystal ; a majestic temple, orna- 
mented with a portico, and columns of se- 
veral shapes and colours ; it has the appear- 
ance of a fortress, flanked with towers and 
bastions to the right and left, and at bot- 
tom is a grotto, terminating in a dome of 
bold construction. This fairy 'dwelling, this 
enchanted residence or cave of fancy, is 
the source of the Arveron, and of the gold 
which is found in the Arve. And if we 
add to all this rich variety, the ringing 
tinkling sound of water dropping from its 
sides, with the glittering refraction of the 
solar rays, whilst tints of the. most lively 
green, or blue, or yellow, or violet, have 
the effect of different compartments, in the 
several divisions of the grotto, the whole is 
so theatrically splendid, so completely pic- 
turesque, so beyond imagination great and 
beautiful, that I can hardly believe the art 
of man has ever yet produced, nor ever 
will produce a building so grand in its con- 
struction, or so varied in its ornaments. 
Desirous of surveying every side of this 
mass, we crossed the river about four hun- 
dred yards from its source, and mounting 
upon the rocks and ice, approached the 
vault; but while we were attentively em- 
ployed in viewing all its parts, astonished 
at the sportiveness of fancy, we cast our 
eyes at one considerable member of the 
pile above us, which was unaccountably 
supported; it seemed to hold by almost 
GLA 
nothing : our imprudence was too evident, 
and we hastened to retreat ; yet scarcely 
had we stepped back thirty paces before it 
broke off all at once with a prodigious 
noise, and tumbled, rolling to the very spot 
where we were standing just before.” 
GLACIS, in fortification, that mass of 
earth which serves as a parapet to the co- 
vered way, sloping easily towards the cham- 
paign, or field. The glacis, otherwise called 
esplanade, is about six feet high, and loses 
itself by an insensible diminution in the 
space of ten fathoms. 
GLADIATORS, persons who fought for 
the amusement of the public in the arenas 
of amphitheatres in the city of Rome, and 
at other places under the dominion of the 
Romans. The term is derived from their 
use of the gladius, or sword ; and the ori- 
gin of this horrid custom is said to have 
been the practice of sacrificing captives to 
the manes of chiefs killed in battle. It 
seems, however, more probable, that it 
arose from the funeral games of antiquity, 
when the friends of the deceased fought in 
honour of his memory ; an instance qf which 
occurs in the twenty-third book of the 
Iliad, at the burning of the body of Patro- 
clus, Achilles having ordained every solemn 
rite usual upon those occasions, Homer 
adds, 
“ The prizes next are ordered to the field, 
For the bold champions who the cacstus 
wield.” 
The leather which composed the caestus be- 
ing loaded with lead, enabled the combat- 
ants to give each other mortal blows, though 
the hands only were used. Epeus, of gi- 
gantic stature, challenged the whole of the 
Grecian chiefs, who were terrified at his 
bulk, and Euryalus alone accepted his de- 
fiance : 
“ Him great Tydides urges to contend, 
AFarm with the hopes of conquest for 
his friend ; 
Oflicious with the cincture girds him 
round, 
And to his wrist the gloves of death are 
bound.” 
The captives slain on this occasion were 
not commanded to fight; they had beep 
led to the pile, and died with the sheep, 
oxen, coursers, and dogs, that their bodies 
might be burnt by the flames which con- 
sumed that of Patroclus : 
“ Then, last of all, and horrible to tell, 
Sad sacrifice ! twelve- Trojan captives 
fell.” 
