therefore drag with him, into the abyss, those to whom he had been fastened for mutual security. The batons were first handed across, to the first guide who had passed, then the knapsacks, and we followed. Our situation was the more embarrassing, from our uncertainty of the strength of the mass of ice. We greatly feared that, by losing its equilibrium, poised as it was in the crevice, and by the weight of one or two persons on it, it might roll over, consigning to destruction those who might have the unhappy lot to be on it at the moment. The accompanying sketch is an attempt to represent our situation.

From this we passed along the edge of a crevice of great width for some distance, seeking for a bridge to cross it. We at length found one, crossed it, and, returning on the other side of the chasm, were enabled to distinguish the peril we had escaped, from the nature of the part we had been walking on, and where even now some of the guides stood. It was a shelf of snow, very thin, and hanging like a cornice over the crevice, as the sketch represents. It is but one instance of the countless hidden dangers which every moment threaten the life of the adventurer on the treacherous glacier.

Numerous blocks of ice, to which the term

"serac" is applied, covered the plain. These are large fragments of frozen snow, almost rectangular. They take their name from the resemblance they bear to a compact cheese, called "serac," which is made from skimmed milk, and pressed in rectangular cases. We now ascended a second steep acclivity of hard snow, to the second or little plateau, having the remains of avalanches on it, but not in such quantities, or in such masses, as on the former; we therefore passed it without much trouble. It was on this plateau, in this elevated station, that De Saussure slept on the second night of his ascent*.

* "At four o'clock in the afternoon, we attained the second of the three great plains of snow which we had to traverse, and on it encamped, at an elevation of 1455 toises above Chamonix, 1995 above the level of the sea, and 90 toises higher than the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe. We did not venture to the last of the plains, because it is exposed to avalanches, and the first of them is likewise liable to the same danger.

"It was the abode of coldness and silence, and when I looked back on the arrival of Dr. Paccard and Jacques Balma, towards the close of day, on these deserts, without shelter, without succour, and without even the certainty that men could live in these places to which they had ascended, in intrepidly following up their undertaking, I could not but admire their extraordinary courage and determination."De Saussure.

My attention was now attracted by the sun rising, his rays falling on Mont Blanc and the Dôme du Goûté, clothing them in a variety of brilliant colours, quickly following one another, from a light tint of crimson to rich purple, and then to bright gold. These rapid alternations of reflected splendour, on a surface so vast and sublimely picturesque, presented a scene of dazzling brilliancy too much almost for the eye to encounter, and such as no powers of language could adequately pourtray.

From this plain we ascended a long steep hill, so steep indeed, that, following each other in the zig-zag direction in which we were obliged to climb, my head was generally on a line with the knee of the guide just before me. It was fatiguing, and dreadfully cold. In fact, so tedious was our progress in ascending these peaks of ice, that we all felt much exhausted, particularly as we had taken no refreshment since we started in the morning.

At last we attained the Grand Plateau, the largest of the plains of ice on the mountain, having the base of Mont Blanc on the further side, the Dôme du Goûté on the right, a precipice of ice and snow, with the Rochers Rouges, and the Mont Blanc du Tacul, on the left. The view from this situation is very fine:

these mountains, all rising directly from the plain, have a most striking appearance; but stupendous as they are, the gigantic mass we were about to climb towers high above and casts them into insignificance. The deception, in regard to the relative heights of the three mountains, which exists till the Grand Plateau is attained, has always surprised those who have reached it. Some large crevices intersect it, and others extend immediately under Mont Blanc, where the guides were lost in 1820. There is also a great accumulation of broken ice and snow from avalanches, on the part close to Mont Blanc and the Dôme.

The sun was shining on some parts of the plateau, but far from us. As we felt the cold bitterly, we agreed to stop at the commencement of the plain, in a crevice of from fifteen to twenty feet in width. In it we found a bridge of snow, which, on examination, was considered strong enough to bear the whole party at once; and from its position in the chasm, it afforded shelter from the north wind, which had blown strongly the whole morning, and was extremely piercing at this elevated situation. We therefore chose this bridge to breakfast upon.

It was past seven, and we had been walking for more than four hours, without