RETURN TO CHAMOUNY.
answered by a figure of speech very common
in Savoy, which suited the purpose
admirably of concealing his ignorance, under
a veil of knowledge, — Monsieur, la
cause est bien claire; la terre mange la neige.
“ Sir, the cause is very clear ; the earth
eats up the snow.”
Returning to Argentière, where we had
left our char, our voiturier, a youth we had
brought from Annecy, was no where to be
found. The people at Argentière told us
that after he had taken care of his horse,
he set out to follow us on foot. It was now
evening, and we were obliged to return,
not without some anxiety for his safety,
which was considerably increased by our
hearing nothing of him till near midnight,
when he came back to the priory, greatly
exhausted, having lost his way among the
mountains, and wandered into the Canton
of the Valíais.
The evening was most brilliant, and the
lofty pyramids above Argentière, with the
Aiguille Vert, the Aiguille de Dru, and
Mont Blanc, were all splendidly illuminated,
whilst the lower part of the valley was in
deep shade. The trees in this part of the
valley are principally firs and larches ; there
COL UE FERRET. 21
are walnut-trees, oaks, and chesnut-trees,
lower down in the valley. We saw the
effect of sun-set on Mont Blanc, but it was
not so striking as when observed at the
distance of sixty miles from the mountain.
I supped with an English gentleman. Sir
James S., who passed us on the summit of
the Col de Balme : he had crossed the Col
de Ferret the preceding day from Cor-
mayeur, on the Italian side of the Alps : he
said he had for many years travelled among
the Alps, and had crossed them in almost
every direction, and was accustomed to
climbing; but he had been in the greatest
danger, owing to the conduct of the guide,
who, instead of taking him over the most
frequented pass, led him by a shorter, but
much steeper ascent, which was a soft slate
rock. They had ascended so high that it
was more dangerous to recede than to
advance, when they found the rock so
steep and slippery, that even his dog could
scarcely keep his ground with his claws,
and they were obliged to climb on their
hands and knees, and even then with difficulty
could avoid gliding backwards, and
falling from an immense height into the
valley of Ferret. A priest who was with
c 3