The tour of Mont Blanc and of Monte Rosa : being a personal narrative, abridged from the author's "Travels in the Alps of Savoy," &c.

Front matter

uictoria R'S-

COLLECTION OF VICTORIAN BOOKS

AT

Contents

PAGE

introductory Sketch of Glaciers and their Scenery . ix-xl

THE TOUE OF MONT BLANC.

Chapter II. The Glaciers Of La Miage And La Brenva

The Ascent of the Allee Blanche — Moraine of Miage — Its Height and Extent— Chamois — Tributary Glaciers — Scene of desolation on a moraine — La Brenva — Its remarkable Structure — A superimposed glacier — Interesting contact of the ice with the Rock beneath — Increase of the Glacier of La Brenva in 1818 — A Tradition . . 18

Chapter III. Environs Of Courmayeur Geology

Mineral Springs of Courmayeur and St. Diclier — Remarkable relations of Limestone and Granite in the Val Ferret — Montagne de la Saxe — Croix de la Bernada and Mont Chetif — Symmetry of the Geology on either Side of the Alps — Ascent of the Cramont — Observations on Solar Radiation 36

VI CONTENTS.

1 CHAPTER IV.

THE PASSAGE OF THE COL DU GEANT.

Passes of the Chain of Mont Blanc — History of this Pass- Preliminary obstacles — Departure from Courmayeur — Ascent of Mont Frety — Experiment on the comparative intensity of moonlight, twilight, and that of a total Eclipse Granite and granite blocks on Mont Frety — Arrival on the Col — The View — History of De Saussure's sojourn— and of his Observations — The Descent — Difficulties of the Glacier — Follow the track of a Chamois — Reach the Mer de Glace — Montanvert 48

Chapter V. From Courmayeur To Chamouni, By The Col Ferret And Col De Balme

Piedmontese Val Ferret — Glacier of Triolet — View from the Col — Swiss Val Ferret— Martigny to Chamouni — Glacier of Trient — Col de Balme — Glacier of Argentiere . . 88

CHAMOUNI.

Chapter VI. Description Of The Mer De Glace Of Chamouni

Physical Geography of the Ice- World — Glacier de Le'chaud Glacier du Geant — Source of the Arveiron — Hameau des Bois — Cote du Piget — Ancient Moraine of Lavanchi — Le Chapeau — Mauvais Pas — Cattle traversing the Glacier — - Blue Colour of Ice — Montanvert — Accommodations — The View — Les Ponts — L'Angle — Passage of the Glacier — Les Charmoz — Trelaporte 102

Chapter VII. Description Of The Mer De Glace Continued

Trelaporte — A Traveller crag-fast amongst Precipices— The Moraines of the Mer de Glace — " Moulins" — Discovery of De Saussure's Ladder — Tacul — Lake — Bivouac under a rock — Thunder- Storm — The Chamois Hunter — Superb Glacier Table — Glaciers of Lechaud and Talefre — Jardin — Pierre de Ber anger . 133

CONTENTS. Vll

TOUE OF ST. BEBNAED AND MONTE EOSA.

Chapter VIII

JOURNEY FROM CHAMOUNI TO VAL PELLINE, BY THE VAL DE BAGNES, AND COL DE FENETRES.

Traces of Ancient Glaciers from Les Montets to the Tete Noire Arrival at the Great St. Bernard — Find M. Studer — Return to Orsieres — The Val de Bagnes — Chable — The Inhabitants — Glacier of Getroz — The Debacle of 1818 — Chalets of Torembec — Economy of Chalets, and manners of the inmates — Glacier of Chermontane — Col de Fenetres View into Italy — Valley of Ollomont — Goitres — Arrival at Val Pelline 157

Chapter IX. From Val Pelline To Evolena By The Col De Collon

Ascent of the Val Pelline or Biona — Geology — Syenites — Chalets of Prarayon — Head of the Valley — Ascent of the Col de Collon — Remains of Travellers lost in a Tourmente Glacier d'Arolla — Its structural Bands — Magnificent view of Mont Collon — Opportune Meeting with Pralong History of the Victims — Arrival at Evolena . . 185

Chapter X

FROM EVOLENA IN THE VALLEY OF ERIN TO ZERMATT IN THE VALLEY OF ST. NICOLAS, BY THE GLACIERS OF FERPECLE AND ZMUTT.

A Night at Evolena — Wretched accommodation — Departure for Abricolla — Aspect of the Glacier of Ferpecle — A Night in the Chalets— Ascent to the Glacier — The Motta Rotta The Stockhorn — Magnificent view of Monte Rosa and Mont Cervin — Dangerous descent — Precipices — The Bergschrund — Pralong returns — The Glacier of Zmutt — Structure of the Mont Cervin — Arrival at Zermatt . . 203

Chapter XI. The Environs Of Zermatt

Valley of St. Nicolas from Visp to Zermatt — Torrents — The Bies Glacier — Position of Zermatt — Glacier Marks on the Rocks — Glacier of Gorner— The Riffelberg — View and Bearings from it — Sketch of the Geology of this part of the Alps— Simple Minerals . . 230

Vlll CONTENTS.

Chapter XII. From Zermatt To Gressonay By The Col Of Mont Cervin

Detainment at Zermatt — Ascent of the Pass of Mont Cervin The Col — Fortifications — The Descent — Highly Electric State of the Atmosphere — Custom-House Officers — Breuil — Val Tournanche — Chamoix — Col de Portala — Val d'Ayas — Brussone — Col de Ranzola — Arrival at Gressonay — M. Zumstein 249

Chapter XIII. Gressonay Monte Rosa

The German Valleys of Monte Rosa — Peculiar race of questionable origin — Their manners and dialect — Topography of Monte Rosa — Attempts to ascend it by Vincent and Zumstein — An Excursion to the Glacier of Lys — Its retreat — Its Structure — Return to»Staffel . . . . 263

Chapter XIV. Tour Of Monte Rosa Concluded From Gressonay To Visp

BY MACUGNAGA AND MONTE MORO.

Passage of the Col d'Ollen — Alagna — Riva — The Col Turlo Val Quarazza — Its Polished Rocks — Macugnaga — The People and their habitations — Excursion to the Glacier of Macugnaga — The Weiss Thor, a remarkable Pass — Structure of the Glacier — Glaciers of the Second Order — Geology of the Chain of Monte Rosa — Pedriolo — Gigantic fragments of rock — Return to Macugnaga — Pass of Monte Moro — View of Monte Rosa — Descent to Saas — Glaciers of Schwartzberg andAllalein — Gabbro — Saas — Stalden — Peasants' Theatricals — Visp 278

Chapter Xv.* Passage Of The Col Du Tour

Glacier of Le Tour little Visited — Leave the Col de Balme — Ascend the Glacier — Its Features — Attain the Ridge — Its Unexpected Elevation — Exceeds the Col du Geant — Proposed as an Experimental Station — Descent on the Glacier of Salena — Fine Protogine — Topography — Difficult Route — Sudden Fog — Extrication — Reach Orsieres in the Val Ferret 301

* This Chapter ought to have followed Chapter V. It is referred to at p. 92, note, being extracted from " Norway and its Glaciers, &c."

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH

OF

As the present volume contains a description of many glaciers, particularly those of the Chain of Mont Blanc, and consequently refers with more or less detail to many of the aspects of these astonishing elements of Alpine scenery, I have thought that it might conduce to the interest and utility of the work to prefix a strictly popular account of what glaciers really are^ and what are the leading features of their class. Tourists are often so entirely taken by surprise when they see a glacier for the first time, and find it altogether different from what they expect, that they are completely bewildered, and afterwards regret not to have noticed the points most worthy of attention.

What is a Glacier t

When we approach a chain of mountains whose tops are constantly covered with snow, their acclivities green, and their bases clothed with wood, we should

a

X INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

naturally expect to find a tolerably well marked line fixed by the level at which the snow never completely melts. Now this is very rarely, if ever, the case. The zones marked out by the limits of growth of particular plants, the superior limit, for instance, of the chestnut, the beech, or the pine, are generally more clearly defined than the level of perpetual snow. This is soon found to be due, in a great measure, to the forms of the- mountain sides, in whose hollows the snow of winter by accumulating resists the summer's heat, which, had it lain only to its average depth, must infallibly have caused it to disappear. Such cases occur even in climates where glaciers, properly speaking, are never found. The highest mountains in Britain, for instance, those on the boundaries of Aberdeenshire and Inverness- shire, occasionally retain a portion of the winter's snow on their shady sides during the entire summer, without exhibiting any approach to the structure of a glacier.

A glacier, in the customary meaning of the term, is a mass of ice, which, descending below the usual snowline, prolongs its course down the cavity of one of those vast gorges which furrow the sides of most mountain ranges. It is better represented by a frozen torrent than by a frozen ocean. Any one placed so as to see a glacier in connection with the range from which it has its origin, at once infers that it is, in some sense or other, the outlet of the vast snow-fields which occupy the higher regions. It is impossible to doubt that it results from, and is renewed by the eternal ice-springs of those riverless wilds. None who has ever seen or

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XI

even clearly conceived a lava-stream, can fail to find in it the nearest analogue of a glacier. Stiff and rigid as it appears, no one can doubt that it either flows or once has flowed. Were the glacier like the flood of molten stone, the result of one great eruptive action, then its existence beneath the limits of the general snow line would be inexplicable. It melts — it must melt ; it lies on warm ground yielding crops perhaps within a hundred yards of its lower extremity ; the sun beats perpetually upon its icy pinnacles, which, though they reflect much, must retain some of the incident heat ; and we see, accordingly, in a summer's day, the glacier oozing out its substance from every pore — above, beneath, within. And yet with all this the glacier wastes not ; always consuming, it is never destroyed. Evident, therefore, it must be upon this ground alone, that a glacier glides imperceptibly down its valley, and this independent of all direct measurements of its motion. These, as we shall presently show, fully corroborate the inference.

The glacier therefore moves progressively, or, if the reader pleases, it flows. The flood of water of the arrowy Ehone passes so swiftly, that the passenger almost giddily follows with his eye the bubbles which mark its flight — the lava stream must be watched for some seconds or minutes, perhaps hours, to mark its progress — the stately march of the glacier is yet a stage more slow ; months and even years are but the units of division of its dial.

But what is its dial ? To answer that question, we must describe the configuration of the ice, which differs

Xll INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

considerably from that of ice under most other circumstances. The lower extremity of a glacier, where it terminates in the valley, is almost always abrupt ; sometimes so steep as to be nearly inaccessible, presenting a continuous rampart, from the base of which, through a vault deep in the mass of ice which hangs in half fallen fragments from the green roof, issues a turbid river partly the produce of the melting ice, and partly, no doubt, of the springs which rise under the glacier as elsewhere, and which give a certain volume to this stream even in the depth of winter. At other times the glacier rises from its very base in isolated jagged pinnacles, fissured in every direction, and absolutely inaccessible. This is commonly the case where the glacier terminates at the embouchure of a ravine, where it is very steeply inclined ; the former character prevails more where the limit of the glacier is determined by its gradual descent into the warmer regions of a very gently sloping valley. There is yet another distinction between the terminal appearances of glaciers ; and it is one of the most striking to the eye of the intelligent traveller. If the ground beneath the precipice of ice be covered with the debris of rocks discharged from the upper and lower surfaces of the glacier ; if the vegetation be scanty and feeble, and great surfaces of rock lie exposed without a trace of soil or even lichen, as if some crushing mass had lately ground down its naturally uneven surface, then is the glacier in a diminishing or retreating state : the waste of ice below is not compensated by the supply above, and the retreat

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. Xlll

will continue until the diminished waste corresponds to the actual supply, by the progressive movement of the ice. If, on the other hand, the termination of the glacier touches the grass or cultivated land without much intervention of scattered blocks — if we see lying by its edge the trees which have been torn up, or cut over in its former progress — if the green sward is not only torn by the insinuation of the icy ploughshare, which is kept by its enormous weight in contact with the subjacent rock, but is likewise wrinkled into ponderous folds far in advance of the glacier front — there we have plainly proof of the excess of the supply above the waste — the glacier is in progress.*

Now, suppose the first difficulty of ascent overcome, and that whether by choosing the less steep parts of the abrupt face, or by following the line of rocky masses which the glacier rolls down, and of which it forms a girdle, extending from side to side — or lastly, by climbing the walls of the valley itself in which the glacier lies, we have reached the upper surface of the ice. We then see, what so many have seen from the Montanvert at Chamouni — a gently sloping icy torrent from half a mile to three miles wide, more or less undulating on its surface, and this undulating surface more or less broken up by crevasses \ which, generally nearly ver-

* In the year 1818, the front of the glacier of the Rhone advanced 150 feet.

t The translation of the French word crevasse into the English erevice, is so evidently inapplicable to these vast fissured chasms, that we shall constantly adopt the French spelling.

XIV INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

tical in their direction, have a width of from a few inches to many feet or fathoms, and a length which sometimes extends almost from side to side of the glacier. In all this, there is little or no resemblance to water tranquilly frozen. The surface is not only uneven but rough, and the texture of the ice wants the uniformity of that formed on the surface of lakes. The hollows, which appear but trifling when viewed from a height, and compared with the expanse of ice, are individually so great as to render the passage amongst them toilsome in the extreme, even independent of the crevasses ; and the traveller who has to walk for several hours along a glacier will often prefer scrambling over stones or rocks on the side, to the harassing inequalities which appeared at first so trivial.

In a day of hot sunshine or of mild rain the origin of the hnmmocky ridges is apparent : the intervening hollows have every one of them their rill, which, by a complicated system of surface draining, discharge the water copiously melted by the solar influence, the contact of warm air, and the washing of the rain. These rills combine and unite into larger streams, which assume sometimes the velocity and volume of a common millrace. They run in icy channels excavated by themselves, and, unlike the water escaping from beneath the glacier, being of exquisite purity, they are both beautiful and refreshing. They seldom, however, pursue their uninterrupted course very far, but reaching some crevasse or cavity in the glacier mechanically formed during its motion, they are precipitated in bold cascades into its

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XV

icy bowels ; there in all probability to augment the flood which issues from its lower termination. Nothing is more striking than the contrast which day and night produce in the superficial drainage of the glacier. No sooner is the sun set, than the rapid chill of evening reducing the temperature of the air to the freezing point or lower — the nocturnal radiation at the same time violently cooling the surface — the glacier life seems to lie torpid ; the sparkling rills shrink and come to nothing ; their gushing murmurs and the roar of their waterfalls gradually subside ; and by the time that the ruddy tints have quitted the higher hill-tops, a deathlike silence reigns amidst these untenanted wilds.

Winter is a long night amongst the glaciers. The sun's rays have scarcely power to melt a little of the snowy coating which defends the proper surface of the ice ; — the superficial waste is next to nothing ; and the glacier torrent is reduced to its narrowest dimensions.

Moraines.

Pursuing our survey, we next notice the bands of fragmentary rocks which traverse the glacier in nearly parallel lines — sometimes confined to its edges, sometimes dividing its breadth into two compartments so distinct that we can hardly help fancying that we see two glaciers, separated by a vast mound of blocks which rise from the bottom of the valley.

The slightest examination shews that these accumulations of debris (to which the name of Moraines has

XVI INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF been given), are perfectly superficial, and conform themselves so entirely to the configuration of the icesurface, that on many glaciers scarcely one stone lies upon another, every one covers the ice immediately. Thus, on the Aar glacier, where the ridge of stones seems to form a heap, or rather two parallel heaps, upon the level ice, it is found that the ice itself is heaped up under the stones, and gives the entire form to this sort of backbone, which divides the surface into two nearly equal parts, rising in some places to a height of eighty feet above its general level. So irreconcileable are the facts with the theory formerly adopted of these moraines, that they were stones which, having fallen on the sides of the glacier, gradually settled down upon the centre, as being its lowest part.* As a general fact, it may be stated, that every glacier has two moraines at least, composed of the masses which, detached by gravity, aiding the effect of moisture, and the freezing of water in the cracks of the neighbouring rocky heights, fall on the edges of the glacier, and form two borders, or selvages, which accompany it, generally speaking, throughout its entire length. These are called Lateral Moraines. Besides these, there are the parallel bands of debris which divide the glacier in the direction of its length, and of which we have just spoken. There can be no question that the origin of these has been, for the first time, correctly stated in the works of Charpentier and Agassiz. But this brings us back again to the movements of the glacier ; for these mo- * Saussure, Voyages dans les Alpes, § 537.

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XV11

raines are the divisions on the dial of which we have above spoken, and upon which we read the chronology of glacier history. A simple statement of facts will at once illustrate and prove this.

The higher parts of glaciers are always contained in valleys extending above the limits of vegetation ; and, indeed, the walls or sides of these ravines are extremely precipitous in most cases, so that even the snow covers them imperfectly. The exposed rocks are subject to great changes of temperature, owing to the intense effect of solar radiation at these heights. The snow in contact with their surfaces is melted almost every summer's clay, and the moisture is absorbed into the minute fissures of the stone. The nocturnal frosts congeal this water, and the powerful expansion thus occasioned has the effect of loosening and disintegrating the hardest rocks, in a manner which has no parallel under other circumstances. Atmospheric causes, therefore, produce their maximum of destructive effects in the neighbourhood of glaciers ; and, as a matter of course, the detached fragments, descending by their weight, often rebound from cliff to cliff, until they fall shivered into smaller morsels upon the surface of the ice. Such an eboulement leaves a distinct proof of its occurrence by the heap of rubbish resting on the glacier. If this had no progressive motion, the fragments would remain piled under the rock whence they fell ; until, perhaps in the succeeding spring, being joined by another group, they would accumulate at those points where the bounding rocks were, by their nature or position, most liable to the

XV111 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

recurrence of these events. If, however, the glacier flows on in the interval, the previous mass of debris has been carried some distance downwards on the surface before the second fall took place ; and thus, supposing only one discharge of fragments annually, the movement of the glacier for each year would be marked by the spaces intervening between the successive heaps.

There is an instrument invented in France, for the measurement of minute intervals of time, in which, instead of a hand revolving upon a dial or ring, the dial itself revolves, and the hand remains fixed : this fixed hand is provided with a minute -dotting apparatus, by means of which the slightest pressure of the finger leaves imprinted on the white surface of the dial a small black point, thus marking, and permanently registering, the instant of the occurrence of the pressure by the position of the dial relatively to the fixed hand ; and as this operation may be repeated any number of times during the revolution of the dial, there are as many marks as we please, whose intervals indicate the periods of their occurrence. Just so we find on the surface of the glacier, a dial, divided unequally by the fallen blocks, which, detached from one promontory of rock, or descending down one water-course, bear testimony to the intermediate motion of the surface on which they fall. It is evident, then, how a moraine is formed : it is the scattered accumulation of debris along a line whose length, reckoned from a fixed point, may be roughly considered as proportional to the time elapsed since their fall. To produce such a continuous mound of stones as

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XIX

we often see bordering a glacier in its whole extent, it is therefore not necessary (as we might at first sight suppose) that they should have fallen from every part of its walls ; a single rock near its upper extremity may be the source of the entire lateral moraine or mass of fragments — lying partly upon the edges of the ice, partly on the slope or shore which bounds the glacier, and partly wedged between the ice and the soil.

Whenever the confluence of two glacier-branches occurs, there must be a union of the moraines which bordered the sides of the respective ice-flows. These moraines, carried forward by the progressive motion of the surface on which they repose, cannot stop short by their union with one another. They cannot be buried in the confusion which sometimes occurs at the confluence of the two glaciers, because (as we shall afterwards attempt to explain) the glacier throws to the surface any extraneous bodies enveloped in its mass : therefore the two moraines must unite and advance in the centre of the now united glacier stream. This united stream of superficial fragments is called a medial moraine ; and is to be seen in greater perfection on the glacier of the Aar than, perhaps, anywhere else in the Alps. The two streams of blocks are never quite confounded, and for many miles along the united glacier may be traced the characteristic colours of the stones derived from one and the other parent branch. As a general rule, where - ever a tributary ice-stream joins the main glacier (suppose on the left bank), it brings also its tributary moraines. Its right moraine joins the lateral moraine of the gla-

XX

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF cier, and forms a medial moraine, its left moraine being now the lateral one of the united glacier.

As these facts are important to be distinctly apprehended, some slight figures may tend to illustrate them. Thus, figure 1 represents a plan of an ideal glacier composed of five streams, a, b, c, d, e, each of which has its lateral moraines, and the union of these represented by the dotted lines, 1, 2, 3, 4, forms the superficial trains of rocks which are carried along on the surface of the ice. A mere prominent rock or islet in the ice, as that between d and e, may yield also its small contribution of blocks. The section in figure 2 represents

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XXI

a glacier having a steep wall, a, where consequently the debris are ingulfed between the wall and the ice, producing friction, and an inclined shore, b. on which the lateral moraine has been deposited. There is also shown, at c, the position of an ancient moraine, deposited at a time when the glacier was elevated enough to have submerged the promontory a ; one of the medial moraines is shown at d. The ice rises to a greater height under it than at any other part, owing to a circumstance to be mentioned immediately. An exact idea of the general phenomena of moraines will be obtained from the map of the Mer de Glace of Chamouni accompanying this work.

Motion of Glaciers.

From what has been said, it follows that the direct proofs of the movement of a glacier must be sufficiently numerous upon its surface. Any well-marked block having its position ascertained by a reference to a fixed object on the slope of the valley, will be found in the course of a year to have passed onwards. Saussure's ladder, left on the Glacier du Geant in 1788, was recognised by its fragments not many years ago on the lower part of the same glacier, not far above the Montanvert, having traversed in the interval, a space of 13,000 feet, or two and a-half miles. About 1830, M. Hugi attempted to measure the forward progress of the ice of the glacier of the lower Aar, by ascertaining in successive years the position of a conspicuous block on

XXII INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

the medial moraine. The measurement was repeated later by M. Agassiz, but the results materially disagreed. In 1842, the writer of the present volume undertook observations on the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, not merely for ascertaining the annual, but even the daily motion of the ice, which was for the first time observed in June of that year. Subsequent observations of various kinds enabled him to fix the annual motion at various parts of this extensive and diversified glacier, and also its relative amount at different seasons of the year. Strictly scientific details have been carefully avoided in this work ; but it cannot be without interest to mention the rate of motion of several different points of the Mer de Glace, the relative position of which may be found by a reference to the map, and to chapters VI. and VII. of this volume. They are arranged in an ascending order from the lowest point of the glacier :

Eng. feet per annum.

Near the source of the Arveron, where the glacier

has a small inclination, 223

Between the previous station and the Chapeau, where the glacier is steep, about 100 yards from

north bank of glacier, 848

A little below Montanvert, 130 yards from west

bank, 626

Do. do. centre, 876

Between Montanvert and "Les Ponts," nearside, 486

Do. do. near centre, 823

At the " Angle" near the side, 482

Somewhat higher up near the side, 496

GLACIERS AND THEIR SCENERY. XX111

Eng. feet per annum.

" Pierre platte" C, on Glacier de Lechaud (mean of

Glacier de Lechaud between the last and the Tacul, 328

Glacier du Geant towards centre, 413

Higher part of Glacier de Lechaud, 529

Exit of glacier of Tal6fre towards the side, . . . 432

Do. do. centre, . . . 526

The motion varies at different seasons. It is less in winter than in summer ; but even then the motion is very considerable.

This progressive movement of the ice towards the valley has been variously explained. The theory attempted to be deduced from the numerous experiments recorded in my former work (Travels in the Alps of Savoy, &c.,) is briefly this : that a glacier is, in truth, a sluggish stream moulding itself, notwithstanding the apparent hardness and fragility of the ice, over the inequalities of its bed and the irregularities of its confining banks, and retaining its coherence throughout, notwithstanding the numerous cracks by which its surface is fissured, in consequence of an inherent plasticity of its substance, which only become sensible under intense and long- continued pressure, producing a very slow motion. It will be observed from the preceding table that the velocity is much greater at the centre of the stream than at its sides, conformably to the laws of rivers.

What a curious internal historical evidence, then, does a glacier bear to the progress of events which

XXIV INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF

have modified its surface. It is an endless scroll — a stream of time — upon whose stainless ground is engraven the succession of events, whose dates far transcend the memory of living man. Assuming, roughly, the length of a glacier to be twenty miles, and the velocity of its progression (assumed uniform) one-tenth of a mile, or 500 feet, the block which is now being discharged from its surface on the terminal moraine may have started from its rocky origin in the reign of Charles I. ! The glacier history of 200 years is revealed in the interval ; and a block ten times the volume of the greatest of the Egyptian monoliths which has just commenced its march, will see out the course of &six generations of men ere its pilgrimage too be accomplished, and it is laid low and motionless in the common grave of its predecessors.