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44
or central mounlai™, to l i e root of the tertiary or calcareons, ^vhich terminate their widU.
on both fide., may be eonfidered as twicc, and in many places tliree times more extenfive
on the weliem fide than on the caftem. And the fimnnit of their valleys is likewife confiderably
more elevated on the primary fide than on the feeondary.
Thefe obfavations and ren.arks, ,Yhich 1 h a , e had an opportmiity of .naking, from my
profelfional charafler of engineer, in my feraal palTages aerofs the Alps, have led me to
conjeflnre, that the enrrcnt of the fea at the grand debacle mnll have been from wetl to
to eaft, and U,at, in eonfeqnence of the rafting of the waters with great impetuofity from
thefnramit of thofe elevated piles, their ailion towards the eaft mnft have been mneh
greater and more violent than towards the weft, and of eourfe mnft have excavated thofe
valleys deeper which their current had already begun to trace.
Similar obfervation, have induced me to attribute to the fame direffion the canfe of
the lefs degree of breadth which esifls towards the eaft, from the fummit of the primitive
monntains to the begin.fing of the plains of Lon.bardy, comparatively to that on the
wefternfide; for the waters finding notliing to change their direffion, or oppofe their
eourfe, have confequently had, fince that event, only one uniform and regidar afl ion, fo
that the mountains and hills on the confines of Italy, formed by their fediment, eould not
have been originally fo elevated, fo numerous, and fo eonfirfed, as thofe which were
formed toward, the weft, where probably the waters „ e r e ftopped a much longer time by
a kind of granitic barrier, of which the primitive chain of the Alps is corapofed, and which,
by oceafioning a different affion and rc-aftion, may be eonfidered as the original and
primary caufe of that extreme confhfion which is feen in the various ftrata of the mountains,
fo confpicuous, and indeed general, towards the weft, although fcarcely, or but partially
fo. towards the eaft. To the fame caufe may be likewife attributed the exiftence of
thofe b ed. of fand and pebble,, which are totally foreign to the place where they are found,
a., alfo the enormous banks of puddiug-ftone, or lapis concretus, and calcareous matter,
refting freqnendy on mountains of granite, or on grey roek-ftone, mixed „id, portion, of
quarts i in fhort, thofe elevations of fcbifti and lamellated horn-fionc, and others whofe
beds or ftrata are eititer parallel or .ig-xag, bnt generally perpendicular to the hori.on;
others again exhibiting wide ftrata and abrupt fide.,, which feem to have been broken in
two, their fummi t , filled with fofiils, and their bafis refting on another fpecies of rock, not.
containing any. Many more example, might here fubjoin, were they not perfeflly known
to naturalifts, and to thofe who have frequented moimtainou, eountries. And as I purpofe,
45
in the eourfe of tiie prefent work, to particnkrize whatever relates to lithology, I ihall now
annex a few remarks relative to the paflage of tile Col de Tende.
This moimtain, which we liave already defcribed as being fo formidable during the
winter, is therefore merely fo from if, being more elevated above the adjacent valleys than
Mont Cenis, and there being no plain on its fummit. The following inftance will alfo
ferve to demonftrate, that the fnow fall, there at a much earlier feafon than on the northern
paflage,; for on the 7th of Auguft, being compelled, by a ti-emendou, fall of ftiow, and
the moft terrific hurricane I ever experienced, to take refuge in the building called La Ca,
the afylum already noticed, I was aftoniftied to find it the next morning full three feet
deep in a garden belonging to the barrack,, where a detachment of foldiers was poiied to
prevent fmugghng; a circumftance I had never met with on the top of Mont Cenis, or tile
the two St. Bernaid,, at that time of the year.
Again, on the 21d of September, ti-averfing the fame mountain, on my return from
Turin, I wa, overtaken by a ftorm not lefs tieniendous tiian the firft, mixed with fnow,
fleet, and an extremely cold wind, fo tiiat in a few minute, both myfelf and mule became
an abfolute craft of frozen fnow, rcfembling more an ambulating maf, of ice tiian a living
being. In thi, dreadfuUy uncomfortable ftate, and with the gicateft diflieulty, did I
attempt to defcend the mountain, having made feveral ineflreitiial efibrts to diiinount from
my mule, fo folid and coherent was the ice wliich covered n, both. About midway from
the fummit, I was a litde ftartied at tivo figures which were on the left fide of the road,
and which I could but with diflieulty perceive through the thick fliower of fnow which
continued falling without intermiiTion. Having approached them as near as my unwieldy
fituation would allow, I found tiiera to be foldiei-s bdongmg to the regiment of Saluee,
and in tiieir way to Nice. One of them feemed nearly covered, or, in fafl, oveiwhelmed
by the fnow, and the other endeavouring to extiieate him; but the poor feUow wa, to all
appearance dead; h i , blood, which had been in a great meafure coagulated by the extreme cold,
wa, unfortunately rendered more fo by a glaf, of brandy inadvertently adminiftered by his
companion in the hopes of giving him additional ftrength. Seeing that there was no hope
of extricating thi, mifcrable being, and fearing left we might fhare a firailar fate, I prevailed
on the otiicr (though not without the utmoft difficulty) to take hold of my mule's
bridle, in order that we might fooner reach our afylum ; which, although at no great diftance,
appeared formidable, having to wade through at leaft three feet of fnow. No fooner
were we arrived at tjie building, than we difpatehcd the men wliich are generally there in
I
1