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After detailing the preparations he had made for the successful prosecution of his journey, and giving an account of his progress during the first five hours after his departure, by five hours after his departure, by which time he had arrived at the second glaciere, called the Glaciere de la Cote, the Colonel thus continues his narrative: "Our dinner being finished, we fixed our cramp irons to our shoes, and began to cross the glaciere; but we had not proceeded far, when we discovered that the frozen snow which lay in the ridges between the waves of ice, often concealed, with a covering of uncertain strength, the fathomless chasms which traverse this solid sea; yet the danger was soon in a great degree removed, by the expedient of tying ourselves together with our long rope, which, being fastened at proper distances to our waists, secured from the principal hazard such as might fall within the opening of the gulf. Trusting to the same precaution, we also crossed upon our ladder, without apprehension, such of the chasms as were exposed to view; and sometimes stopping in the middle of the ladder, looked down in safety upon an abyss which baffled the reach of vision, and from which the sound of the masses of ice, that we repeatedly let fall, in no instance ascended to the ear. In some places we were obliged to cut footsteps with our hatchet; yet on the whole the difficulties were far from great, for in two hours and a half we had passed the glaciere. We now, with more ease and much more expedition, pursued our way, having only snow to cross; and in two hours arrived at a hut, which had been erected in the year 1786 by the order and at the expense of M. de Saussure."

At this hut the travellers slept; and the following is a very striking account of the night scene which was observed at this elevated station: "At two o'clock I threw aside my blankets, and went out of the hut to observe the appearance of the heavens. The stars shone with a lustre that far exceeded the brightness which they exhibit when seen from the usual level; and had so little tremor in their light, as to leave no doubt on my mind, that, if viewed from the summit of the mountain, they would have appeared as fixed points. How improved in those altitudes would be the aids which the telescope gives to vision!—indeed the clearness of the air was such, as led me to think that Jupiter's satellites might be distinguished by the naked eye; and had he not been in the neighbourhood of the moon, I might possibly have succeeded. He continued distinctly visible for several hours after the sun was risen, and did not wholly disappear till almost eight."

With the morning dawn the company proceeded on their expedition; and the following passage will convey a very distinct idea of the dangers and horrors to which this journey is exposed.—"Our route was across the snow; but the chasms which the ice beneath had formed, though less numerous than those that we had passed on the preceding day, embarrassed our ascent. One in particular had opened so much in the few days that intervened between M. De Saussure's expedition and our own, as for the time to bar the hope of any further progress; but at length, after having wandered with much anxiety along its bank, I found a place which I hoped the ladder was sufficiently long to cross. The ladder was accordingly laid down, and was seen to rest upon the opposite edge, but its bearing did not exceed an inch on either side. We now considered, that should we pass the chasm, and should its opening, which had enlarged so much in the course of a few preceding days, increase in the least degree before the time of our descent, no chance of return remained. We also considered, that if the clouds, which so often envelope the hill, should rise, the hope of finding, amidst the thick fog, our way back to this only place in which the gulf, even in its present state, was passable, was little less than desperate. Yet after a moment's pause the guides consented to go with me, and we crossed the chasm. We had not proceeded far, when the thirst, which, since our arrival in the upper regions of the air, had been always troublesome, became almost intolerable. No sooner had I drank than the thirst returned, and in a few minutes my throat became perfectly dry. Again I had recourse to the water, and again my throat was parched. The air itself was thirsty: its extreme of dryness had robbed my body of its moisture."

After surmounting a succession of similar dangers, and continuing to experience the same disheartening sensa-