Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 001.djvu/65

tions, the company at length arrived at about 150 fathoms below the level of the summit. Their feelings at this moment are well depicted in the following passage. "The pernicious effects of the thinness of the air were now evident on us all: a desire, almost irresistible, of sleep came on. My spirits had left me: sometimes, indifferent as to the event, I wished to lie down; at others I blamed myself for the expedition; and, though just at the summit, had thoughts of turning back without accomplishing my purpose. Of my guides many were in a worse situation; for, exhausted by excessive vomiting, they seemed to have lost all strength, both of mind and body. But shame at length came to our relief. I drank the last pint of water that was left, and found myself amazingly refreshed.—My lungs with difficulty performed their office, and my heart was affected with violent palpitation. At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces, and were immediately asleep."

We have only room for one other extract, in which an account is given of the effect produced upon the mind of the spectator by the view from the vast height to which the travellers had attained. "When the spectator begins to look round him from this elevated height, a confused impression of immensity is the first effect produced upon his mind; but the blue colour, deep almost to blackness, of the canopy above him, soon arrests his attention. He next surveys the mountains, many of which, from the clearness of the air, are to his eye within a stone's throw from him; and even those of Lombardy seem to approach his neighbourhood: while, on the other side, the vale of Chamouni, glittering with the sunbeams, is to the view directly below his feet, and affects his head with giddiness. On the other hand, all objects, of which the distance is great and the level low, are hid from his eye by the blue vapour which intervenes, and through which I could not discern the Lake of Geneva, though, at the height of 15,700 English feet, which, according to Saussure, was the level on which I stood; even the Mediterranean sea must have been within the line of vision. The air was still, and the day so remarkably fine, that I could not discover in any part of the heavens the appearance of a single cloud."

In this expedition the latitude of Mount Blanc was very accurately determined, and some experiments were also made respecting the power of a burning-glass at the summit of the mountain, compared with its effect in the vale of Chamouni. The chief interest of the narrative, however, is derived from the information which it communicates respecting the dangers of the journey itself, and from the corroboration it has given to the testimony of other travellers respecting the effect produced upon the human body in such elevated situations. We do not know that any account has yet been published of the attempts which have been made, subsequent to that of Colonel Beaufoy, to accomplish the same journey,—but we have reason to believe, that of late years the summit of the mountain has been frequently gained.

MY DEAR BROTHER,

The enclosed account was drawn up at the request of Robert Græme, Esq. when all the circumstances were fresh in my own recollection, and that of all with whom I had occasion to confer on the subject. Since you requested me to send yoii a correct copy of the whole case, I have renewed my inquiries among the friends of the young woman, and submitted my account to several persons, who were most capable of supplying any omissions, or correcting any mistakes. I can confidently vouch for the general accuracy of the statement, but would not wish its credibility to rest entirely on my single testimony. I have therefore procured the signature of the young woman's father, and of several gentlemen, with whom you are more or less acquainted, and who frequently saw her during her illness. The account of her recovery, on the 8th of