old route, which led right across the plain, and up the steep masses of snow and ice which hang on this side of the Mont Blanc, so delicately and dangerously poised, that the slightest noise, or concussion of the air, even that proceeding from speaking, may move them from their situation, and they fall, rushing down the declivities with overwhelming velocity, widening as they proceed, till at last they extend from one side of the mountain to the other, and cover the plain below with debris. It was one of those avalanches, or slips of snow, which, in this very spot, involved and buried under its mass, in a deep crevice, the three unfortunate men who were lost in the expedition formed by Dr. Hamel.

At last the sun shone upon us with animating heat, and welcome it was, for our pace was too steady and slow to give us an opportunity of keeping ourselves warm by exercise. Cold and benumbed as we were, we could hardly otherwise have borne the fatigue we had now to encounter, or undertake to pass the dangerous point which we found in the direction of our march; though it was some consolation that we knew it to be the last trial we had to undergo, there being afterwards two enemies only to

contend with the rarified air, and the fatigue arising from climbing the almost perpendicular ascent which leads directly to the summit.

The approach to this last danger was from the Plateau. We had to descend to a ledge projecting from the side of a wide crevice, and hanging over an abyss; thence to ascend a cliff, sloping into the gulf, and exceedingly steep. It was a wedge of ice, covered with frozen snow, propped, like a buttress, against a perpendicular precipice of the glacier, the face of which rose a few feet above the termination of the slope. Having scaled this part of it, we found a declivity of snow, inclining towards the precipice at an angle of about 50°. Turning to our left, we were obliged to walk along the edge of this precipice for some minutes, and then in zig-zag to ascend the hill until we came to a plain. It was a very difficult thing to keep a footing on this declivity, from the awkward position in which we were obliged to move forward, supporting ourselves with one hand buried in a hole cut in the snow. Besides, it was a hazardous enterprise for those in the rear to follow in the steps, which were also cut, but were soon worn away by the advance of the party.

Having accomplished this, our success was now

considered quite certain, and we congratulated each other on this happy circumstance, which inspired each member of the party with fresh animation and spirit.

While engaged in passing this last difficulty,

our attention was arrested by a loud noise, or hissing sound, which the guides knew to proceed from a vast body of ice and snow falling in avalanche. It lasted some moments, and finished by a report which must have been caused by the precipitation of some immense mass upon a rock or plain. In an instant the awful calm which had been disturbed resumed its reign. A great avalanche had fallen. The guides thought that it was upon the Italian side of the mountain, but were mistaken, as was afterwards discovered.

A slightly-inclined plain of snow, presenting no difficulty, allowed us to quicken our pace, and proceed with more comfort; for the pain which we suffered from the cold had become most acute, producing a shivering throughout the limbs, too great to be much longer endured, and which nothing but the increased rapidity of our march could alleviate. An ascent of snow rose between us and the summit of the Rochers Rouges. It was here that I felt the first symptoms of the effect produced on the body by the