CHAPTER I.
THE AIGUILLE DE DRU. -
VALLEY OF CHAMOUNY.
UPPER END OF THE
- THE COL DE BALME.
SECONDARY STRATA, GEOLOGICAL INFERENCES
FROM THEIR POSITION. ANNUAL APPEARANCE
OF RED SNOW ON THE ALPS. ----
DIMINUTION OF ALPINE SNOW BY EVAPORATION,
INHABITANTS OF CHAMOUNY.
T h e most striking object in the valley of
Chamouny, next to the glaciers, and far
better worth the labour of the journey to
see than Mont Blanc, is the Aiguille de
Dru, a taper spire of granite, which shoots
up to the height of eleven thousand feet
above the level of the sea, and is apparently
detached from all the surrounding mountains.
The upper part, or spire, rises
nearly to a point, in one solid shaft, more
than four thousand f e e t: it is utterly inac-
VOL. II. B
