diff options
Diffstat (limited to '14012-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/14012-h.htm | 11807 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image1.jpg | bin | 0 -> 28740 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image10.jpg | bin | 0 -> 11542 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image11.jpg | bin | 0 -> 14357 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image12.jpg | bin | 0 -> 16299 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image13.jpg | bin | 0 -> 37809 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 47667 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image3.jpg | bin | 0 -> 10502 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image4.jpg | bin | 0 -> 50648 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image5.jpg | bin | 0 -> 15762 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image6.jpg | bin | 0 -> 38595 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image7.jpg | bin | 0 -> 14299 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image8.jpg | bin | 0 -> 10743 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14012-h/images/image9.jpg | bin | 0 -> 12246 bytes |
14 files changed, 11807 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/14012-h/14012-h.htm b/14012-h/14012-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..242fca4 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/14012-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11807 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ice-Caves Of France And +Switzerland, by G.F. Browne</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= "text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<style type="text/css"> +A { + TEXT-DECORATION: none +} +P { + MARGIN-TOP: 0.75em; + MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.75em; + TEXT-ALIGN: justify +} +H1 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +H2 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +H3 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +H4 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +H5 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +H6 { + TEXT-ALIGN: center +} +HR { + WIDTH: 33% +} +HR.full { + WIDTH: 100%; + HEIGHT: 5px +} +A:link { + COLOR: blue; + TEXT-DECORATION: none +} +LINK { + COLOR: blue; + TEXT-DECORATION: none +} +A:visited { + COLOR: blue; + TEXT-DECORATION: none +} +A:hover { + COLOR: red +} +PRE { + FONT-SIZE: 8pt +} +BODY { + MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; + MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% +} +.linenum { + LEFT: 4%; + POSITION: absolute; + TOP: auto; +} +.note { + MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; + MARGIN-LEFT: 2em; + MARGIN-RIGHT: 2em; +} +.blkquot { + MARGIN-LEFT: 4em; + MARGIN-RIGHT: 4em; +} +.pagenum { + FONT-SIZE: smaller; + LEFT: 92%; + POSITION: absolute; + TEXT-ALIGN: right; + DISPLAY: none; +} + +.sidenote { + CLEAR: right; + MARGIN-TOP: 1em; + PADDING-LEFT: 1em; + FONT-SIZE: smaller; + FLOAT: right; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; +WIDTH: 20% +} +.poem { + MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; + MARGIN-RIGHT: 10%; + TEXT-ALIGN: left; +} +.poem BR { + DISPLAY: none; +} +.poem SPAN { + DISPLAY: block; + PADDING-LEFT: 3em; + MARGIN: 0px; + TEXT-INDENT: -3em +} +.poem SPAN.i2 { + DISPLAY: block; + MARGIN-LEFT: 2em; +} +.poem SPAN.i4 { + DISPLAY: block; + MARGIN-LEFT: 4em; +} +.poem .caesura { + VERTICAL-ALIGN: -200%; +} +LI.indent { + MARGIN-LEFT: 5%; +} +.smalldiv {text-align:left; margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;} +.caption {font-size: 0.65em;} +.centerme {text-align: center;} + +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14012 ***</div> + +<div> +<!-- Page i --><a name="Page_i"></a> + +<hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<!-- Page ii --><a name="Page_ii"></a> + +<h1>ICE-CAVES</h1> + +<br /> +<h4>OF</h4> + +<br /> +<h2>FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND.</h2> + +<br /> +<hr class="full" /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h4>A NARRATIVE OF</h4> + +<br /> +<h3>SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATION.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h4>BY THE</h4> + +<br /> +<h1>REV. G.F. BROWNE, M.A.</h1> + +<br /> +<h6>FELLOW AND ASSISTANT TUTOR OF ST CATHARINE'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;<br /> +MEMBER OF THE ALPINE CLUB.</h6> + +<!-- Page iii --><a name="Page_iii"></a> <br /> +<br /> + <!-- Page iv --><a name="Page_iv"></a> + +<h4>1865.</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> + <a name="PREFACE"></a><!-- Page v --><a name="Page_v"></a> + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The existence of natural ice-caves at depths varying from 50 to 200 +feet below the surface of the earth, unconnected with glaciers or snow +mountains, and in latitudes and at altitudes where ice could not under +ordinary circumstances be supposed to exist, has attracted some attention +on the Continent; but little or nothing seems to be practically known in +England on the subject. These caves are so singular, and many of them so +well repay inspection, that a description of the twelve which I have +visited can scarcely, as it seems to me, be considered an uncalled-for +addition to the numerous books of travel which are constantly appearing. +In order to prevent my narrative from being a mere dry record of natural +phenomena, I have interspersed it with such incidents of travel as may be +interesting in themselves or useful to those who are inclined to follow my +steps. I have also given, from various sources, accounts of similar caves +in different parts of the world.</p> + +<p>A pamphlet on <i>Glacières Naturelles</i> by M. Thury, of +Geneva, of the existence of which I was not aware when I commenced my +explorations, has been of great service to me. M. Thury had only visited +three glacières when he published his pamphlet in<!-- Page vi --><a +name="Page_vi"></a> 1861, but the observations he records are very +valuable. He had attempted to visit a fourth, when, unfortunately, the +want of a ladder of sufficient length stopped him.</p> + +<p>I was allowed to read Papers before the British Association at Bath +(1864), in the Chemical Section, on the prismatic formation of the ice in +these caves, and in the Geological Section, on their general character and +the possible causes of their existence.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to say, with regard to the sections given in this book, +that, while the proportions of the masses of ice are in accordance with +measurements taken on the spot, the interior height of many of the caves, +and the curves of the roof and sides, are put in with a free hand, some of +them from memory. And of the measurements, too, it is only fair to say +that they were taken for the most part under very unfavourable +circumstances, in dark caves lighted by one, or sometimes by two candles, +with a temperature varying from slightly above to slightly below the +freezing-point, and with no surer foot-hold than that afforded by slippery +slopes of ice and chaotic blocks of stone. In all cases, errors are due to +want of skill, not of honesty; and I hope that they do not generally lie +on the side of exaggeration.</p> + +<p>CAMBRIDGE: <i>June</i> 1865.</p> + +<!-- Page vii --><a name="Page_vii"></a> <a name="CONTENTS"></a> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="smalldiv"> +<table summary="Table of Contents"> +<colgroup> +<col width="462" /> +<col width="50" /></colgroup> + +<tbody> +<tr> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left" valign="top"><b>PAGE</b></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_1">THE GLACIÈRE OF LA +GENOLLIÈRE, IN THE JURA</a></td> +<td align="right">1</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">THE GLACIÈRE OF S. +GEORGES, IN THE JURA</a></td> +<td align="right">19</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_32">THE LOWER GLACIÈRE +OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES, IN THE JURA</a></td> +<td align="right">32</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_46">THE UPPER GLACIÈRE +OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES</a></td> +<td align="right">46</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_60">THE GLACIÈRE OF +GRÂCE-DIEU, OR LA BAUME, NEAR BESANÇON, IN THE VOSGIAN +JURA</a></td> +<td align="right">60</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_85">BESANÇON AND +DÔLE</a></td> +<td align="right">85</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_97">THE GLACIÈRE OF +MONTHÉZY, IN THE VAL DE TRAVERS</a></td> +<td align="right">97</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_118">THE GLACIÈRE AND +NEIGIÈRE OF ARC-SOUS-CICON</a></td> +<td align="right">118</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_130">THE SCHAFLOCH, OR +TROU-AUX-MOUTONS, NEAR THE LAKE OF THUN</a></td> +<td align="right">131</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_157">THE GLACIÈRE OF +GRAND ANU, NEAR ANNECY</a></td> +<td align="right">157</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_182">THE GLACIÈRE OF +CHAPPET-SUR-VILLAZ, NEAR ANNECY</a></td> +<td align="right">182</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_202">THE GLACIÈRES OF +THE BREZON, AND THE VALLEY OF REPOSOIR</a></td> +<td align="right">202</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_210">LA BORNA DE LA GLACE, IN +THE DUCHY OF AOSTA</a></td> +<td align="right">210</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_212">THE GLACIÈRE OF +FONDEURLE, IN DAUPHINÉ</a></td> +<td align="right">212</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">OTHER ICE-CAVES:--</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_237">THE CAVE OF SCELICZE, IN +HUNGARY</a></td> +<td align="right">237</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_240">THE CAVE OF YEERMALIK, IN +KOONDOOZ</a></td> +<td align="right">240</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_244">THE SURTSHELLIR, IN +ICELAND</a></td> +<td align="right">244</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_249">THE GYPSUM CAVE OF +ILLETZKAYA ZASTCHITA, ORENBURG</a></td> +<td align="right">249</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_253">THE ICE-CAVERN ON THE +PEAK OF TENERIFFE</a></td> +<td align="right">253</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XVI.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_256">BRIEF NOTICES OF VARIOUS +ICE-CAVES</a></td> +<td align="right">256</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XVII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_282">HISTORY OF THEORIES +RESPECTING THE CAUSES OF SUBTERRANEAN ICE</a></td> +<td align="right">282</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XVIII.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_300">ON THE PRISMATIC +STRUCTURE OF THE ICE IN GLACIÈRES</a></td> +<td align="right">300</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> +<h4>CHAPTER XIX.</h4> +</td> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_308">ON THE MEAN TEMPERATURE +OF THE REGIONS IN WHICH SOME OF THE GLACIÈRES OCCUR</a></td> +<td align="right">308</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><br /> +</td> +<td align="right"><br /> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_313">APPENDIX</a></td> +<td align="right">313</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> + +<!-- Page viii --><a name="Page_viii"></a> <br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<!-- Page ix --><a name="Page_ix"></a> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<div class="smalldiv"> +<table summary="List of Illustrations"> +<colgroup> +<col width="547" /> +<col width="34" /></colgroup> + +<tbody> +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_6">ICE-COLUMNS IN +THE GLACIÈRE OF LA GENOLLIÈRE</a></td> +<td align="right">6</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_24">ENTRANCE TO THE +GLACIÈRE OF S. GEORGES</a></td> +<td align="right">24</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_26">VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE +GLACIÈRE OF S. GEORGES</a></td> +<td align="right">26</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_39">LOWER GLACIÈRE OF +THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES</a></td> +<td align="right">39</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_41">SECTION OF THE LOWER +GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES</a></td> +<td align="right">41</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_50">SECOND CAVE OF THE UPPER +GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES</a></td> +<td align="right">50</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_52">VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE +UPPER GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES</a></td> +<td align="right">52</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_77">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE +GLACIÈRE OF GRÂCE-DIEU, NEAR BESANÇON</a></td> +<td align="right">77</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_91">BATH IN THE DOUBS, AT +BESANÇON</a></td> +<td align="right">91</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_108">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE +GLACIÈRE OF MONTHÉZY, IN THE VAL DE TRAVERS</a></td> +<td align="right">108</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_110">GROUND PLAN OF THE +GLACIÈRE OF MONTHÉZY</a></td> +<td align="right">110</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_173">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE +GLACIÈRE OF GRAND ANU, NEAR ANNECY</a></td> +<td align="right">173</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><a href="#Page_248">ICE-CAVE IN THE +SURTSHELLIR</a></td> +<td align="right">248</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> + +<!-- Page x --><a name="Page_x"></a> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + <br /> +<br /> + <a name="Page_1"><span class="pagenum">[Page 1]</span></a> <a name= +"CHAPTER_I"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF LA GENOLLIÈRE, IN THE JURA.</h3> + +<p>In the summer of 1861, I found myself, with some members of my family, +in a small rustic <i>pension</i> in the village of Arzier, one of the +highest villages of the pleasant slope by which the Jura passes down to +the Lake of Geneva. The son of the house was an intelligent man, with a +good knowledge of the natural curiosities which abound in that remarkable +range of hills, and under his guidance we saw many strange things. More +than once, he spoke of the existence of a <i>glacière</i> at no +great distance, and talked of taking us to see it; but we were sceptical +on the subject, imagining that <i>glacière</i> was his patois for +<i>glacier</i>, and knowing that anything of the glacier kind was out of +the question. At last, however, on a hot day in August, we set off with +him, armed, at his request, with candles; and, after two or three hours of +pine forests, and grass glades, and imaginary paths up rocky ranges of +hill towards the summits of the Jura, we came to a deep natural pit, down +the side of which we scrambled. At the bottom, after penetrating a few +yards into a chasm in the rock, we discovered a small low cave, perfectly +dark, with a flooring of ice, and a pillar of the same material in the +form of a <a name="Page_2"><span class="pagenum">[Page 2]</span></a> +headless woman, one of whose shoulders we eventually carried off, to +regale our parched friends at Arzier. We lighted up the cave with candles, +and sat crouched on the ice drinking our wine, finding water, which served +the double purpose of icing and diluting the wine, in small basins in the +floor of ice, formed apparently by drops falling from the roof of the +cave.</p> + +<p>A few days after, our guide and companion took us to an ice-cavern on a +larger scale, which, we were told, supplies Geneva with ice when the +ordinary stores of that town fail; and the next year my sisters went to +yet another, where, however, they did not reach the ice, as the ladder +necessary for the final drop was not forthcoming.</p> + +<p>In the course of the last year or two, I have mentioned these +glacières now and then in England, and no one has seemed to know +anything about them; so I determined, in the spring of 1864, to spend a +part of the summer in examining the three we had already seen or heard of, +and discovering, if possible, the existence of similar caves.</p> + +<p>The first that came under my notice was the Glacière of La +Genollière; and, though it is smaller and less interesting than +most of those which I afterwards visited, many of its general features are +merely reproduced on a larger scale in them. I shall therefore commence +with this cave, and proceed with the account of my explorations in their +natural order. It is probable that some of the earlier details may seem to +be somewhat tedious, but they are necessary for a proper understanding of +the subject.</p> + +<p>La Genollière is the <i>montagne</i>, or mountain pasturage and +wood, belonging to the village of Genollier, an ancient priory of the +monks of S. Claude.<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> The cave itself lies at <a name="Page_3"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 3]</span></a> no great distance from +Arzier--a village which may be seen in profile from the Grand Quai of +Geneva, ambitiously climbing towards the summit of the last slope of the +Jura. To reach the cave from Geneva, it would be necessary to take train +or steamer to Nyon, whence an early omnibus runs to S. Cergues, if +crawling up the serpentine road can be called running; and from S. Cergues +a guide must be taken across the Fruitière de Nyon, if anyone can +be found who knows the way. From Arzier, however, which is nine miles up +from Nyon, it was not necessary to take the S. Cergues route; and we went +straight through the woods, past the site of an old convent and its +drained fish-pond, and up the various rocky ridges of hill, with no guide +beyond the recollection of the previous visits two and three years before, +and a sort of idea that we must go north-west. As it was not yet July, the +cows had not made their summer move to the higher châlets, and we +found the mountains uninhabited and still.</p> + +<p>The point to be made for is the upper Châlet of La +Genollière, called by some of the people <i>La Baronne</i>, <a +name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> though the +district map puts La Baronne at some distance from the site of the +glacière. We had some difficulty in finding the châlet, and +were obliged to spread out now and <a name="Page_4"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 4]</span></a> then, that each might hunt a specified portion of +the wood or glade for signs to guide our further advance, enjoying +meanwhile the lilies of the mountain and lilies of the valley, and fixing +upon curious trees and plants as landmarks for our return. In crossing the +last grass, we found the earliest vanilla orchis (<i>Orchis nigra</i>) of +the year, and came upon beds of moonwort (<i>Botrychium Lunaria</i>) of so +unusual a size that our progress ceased till such time as the finest +specimens were secured.</p> + +<p>Some time before reaching this point, we caught a glimpse of a dark +speck on the highest summit in sight, which recalled pleasantly a night we +had spent there three years before for the purpose of seeing the sun +rise.<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> My +sisters had revisited the Châlet des Chèvres, which this dark +speck represented, in 1862, and found that the small chamber in which we +had slept on planks and logs had become a more total ruin than before, in +the course of the winter, so that it is now utterly untenable.</p> + +<p>From Arzier to the Châlet of La Genollière, would be about +two hours, for a man walking and mounting quickly, and never losing the +way; and the glacière lies a few minutes farther to the north-west, +at an elevation of about 2,800 feet above the lake, or 4,000 feet above +the sea. <a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>A +rough mountain road, leading over an undulating expanse of grass, passes +narrowly between two small clumps of trees, each surrounded by a low +circular wall, the longer diameter of the enclosure on the south side of +the road being 60 feet. In this enclosure is a natural pit, of which the +north side is a sheer rock, of the ordinary limestone of the Jura, with a +chasm almost from the top; while the south side is less steep, and affords +the means of scrambling down to the <a name="Page_5"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 5]</span></a> bottom, where a cave is found at the +foot of the chasm, passing under the road. The floor of this small but +comparatively lofty cave is 52 feet below the surface of the earth, and +slopes away rapidly to the west, where, by the help of candles, the rock +which forms the wall is seen to stop short of the floor, leaving an +entrance 2 or 3 feet high to an inner cave--the glacière. The roof +of this inner cave rises slightly, and its floor falls, so that there is a +height of about 6 feet inside, excepting where a large open fissure in the +roof passes high up towards the world above. At one end, neither the roof +nor the floor slopes much, and in this part of the cave the height is less +than 3 feet.</p> + +<p>It would be very imprudent to go straight into an ice-cave after a long +walk on a hot summer's day, so we prepared to dine under the shade of the +trees at the edge of the pit, and I went down into the cave for a few +moments to get a piece of ice for our wine. My first impression was that +the glacière was entirely destroyed, for the outer cave was a mere +chaos of rock and stones; but, on further investigation, it turned out +that the ruin had not reached the inner cave. In our previous visit we had +noticed a natural basin of some size and depth among the trees on the +north side of the road, and we now found that the chaos was the result of +a recent falling-in of this basin; so that from the bottom of the first +cave, standing as it were under the road, we could see daylight through +the newly-formed hole.</p> + +<p>The total length of the floor of the inner cave, which lies north-east +and south-west, is 51 feet; and of this floor a length of about 37 feet +was more or less covered with ice, the greatest breadth of the ice being +within an inch or two of 11 feet. Excepting in the part of the cave +already mentioned as being less than 3 feet high, we found the floor not +nearly so dry, nor so completely covered with ice, as when we first saw +the glacière, three years before, in <a name="Page_6"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 6]</span></a> the middle of an exceptionally hot +August. Under the low roof all was very dry, though even there the ice had +not an average thickness of more than 8 inches. It may be as well to say, +once for all, that the ice in these caves is never found in a sheet on a +pool of water; it is always solid, forming the floor of the cave, filling +up the interstices of the loose stones, and rising above them, in this +case with a surface perfectly level.</p> + +<p class="centerme"><img alt="ICE-COLUMNS IN THE GLACIÈRE OF LA +GENOLLIÈRE." src="images/image1.jpg" width="350" height="293" /> +<br /> + <span class="caption">ICE-COLUMNS IN THE GLACIÈRE OF LA +GENOLLIÈRE.</span></p> + +<p>We found four principal columns of ice, three of which, in the loftiest +part of the cave, are represented in the accompanying engraving: I call +them three, and not two, because the two which unite in a common base +proceeded from different fissures. The line of light at the foot of the +rock-wall is the only entrance to the glacière. The lowest column +was 11-2/3 feet high and 1-2/3 feet broad, not more than 6 inches thick in +the middle, half-way up, and flattened symmetrically so as <a name= +"Page_7"><span class="pagenum">[Page 7]</span></a> to be +comparatively sharp at the edges, like a huge double-edged sword. It stood +clear of the rock through its whole height, but scarcely left room between +itself and the wall of the cave for a candle to be passed up and down. The +other two columns shown in the engraving poured out of fissures in the +rock, streaming down as cascades, the one being 13-1/2 and the other 15 +feet high; and when we tied a candle to the end of an alpenstock, and +passed it into the fissures, we found that the bend of the fissures +prevented our seeing the termination of the ice. An intermittent +disturbance of the air in these fissures made the flame flicker at +intervals, though generally the candle burned steadily in them, and we +could detect no current in the cave. The fourth column was in the low part +of the cave, and we were obliged to grovel on the ice to get its +dimensions: it was 3-1/4 feet broad and 4-1/3 feet high, the roof of the +cave being only 2-3/4 feet high; and it poured out of the vertical fissure +like a smooth round fall of water, adhering lightly to the rock at its +upper end like a fungus, and growing out suddenly in its full size. This +column was dry, whereas on the others there were abundant symptoms of +moisture, as if small quantities of water were trickling down them from +their fissures, though the fissures themselves appeared to be perfectly +dry.</p> + +<p>In one of the fissures there was a patch of what is known as +sweating-stone, <a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> with globules of water oozing out, and +standing roundly upon it: the globules were not frozen. This stone was +exceedingly hard, and defied all our efforts to break off a specimen, but +at last we got two small pieces, hard and heavy, and wrapped them in +paper; ten weeks after, we found them of course quite dry, and broke them +easily, small as they were, with our fingers. The fissure <a name= +"Page_8"><span class="pagenum">[Page 8]</span></a> from which the +shortest of the four columns came was full of gnats, as were also several +crevices in the walls of the cave, especially in the lowest part; and we +found a number of large red-brown flies, <a name="FNanchor6"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> nearly an inch long, running rapidly on +the ice and stones, after the fashion of the flies with which trout love +best to be taken. The central parts of the cave, where the roof is high, +were in a state provincially known as 'sloppy,' and drops of water fell +now and then from above, either splashing on wet stones, or hollowing out +basins in the remaining ice, or, sometimes, shrewdly detecting the most +sensitive spot in the back of the human neck. We placed one of Casella's +thermometers on a piece of wood on one of the wet stones, clear of the +ice, and it soon fell to 34°. Probably the temperature had been +somewhat raised by the continued presence of three human beings and two +lighted candles in the small cavern; and, at any rate, the cold of two +degrees above freezing was something very real on a hot summer's day, and +told considerably upon my sisters, so that we were compelled to beat a +retreat,--not quite in time, for one of our party could not effect a thaw, +even by stamping about violently in the full afternoon sun.</p> + +<p>While we were in the cave, we noticed that the surfaces of the columns +were covered by very irregular lines, marked somewhat deeply in the ice, +and dividing the surface into areas of all shapes, a sort of network, with +meshes of many different shapes and sizes. These areas were smaller +towards the edges of the columns; the lines containing them were not, as a +rule, straight lines, and almost baffled our efforts to count them, but, +to the best of my belief, there were meshes with three, four, and up to +eight sides. The column which stood clear of the rock was composed of very +<a name="Page_9"><span class="pagenum">[Page 9]</span></a> limpid +ice, without admixture of air; but the cascades were interpenetrated by +veins of looser white ice, and, where the white ice came, the surface +lines seemed to disappear. As we sat on the grass outside, arranging our +properties for departure, my attention was arrested by the columnar +appearance of the fractured edge of the block of ice which we had used at +luncheon. It was about 5 inches thick, and had formed part of a stalagmite +whose horizontal section, like that of the free column, would be an +ellipse of considerable eccentricity; and, on examination, it turned out +that the surface areas, which varied in size from a large thumb-nail to +something very small, were the ends of prisms reaching through to the +other side of the piece of ice, at any rate in the thinner parts, and +presenting there similar faces. Not only so, but the prisms could be +detached with great ease, by using no instrument more violent than the +fingers; while the point of a thin knife entered freely at any of the +surface lines, and split the ice neatly down the sides of the prisms. When +one or two of the sides of a prism were exposed, at the edge of the piece +of ice, the prism could be pushed out entire, like a knot from the edge of +a piece of wood. In some cases there seemed to be capillary fissures +coincident with the lines where several sides of prisms met. Considering +the shape of the whole column, it is clear that the two ends of each prism +could not be parallel; neither was one of the ends perfectly symmetrical +with the other, and I do not think that the prisms were of the nature of +truncated pyramids. On descending again, I found that the columns were +without exception formed of this prismatic ice, either in whole, as in the +clear column, or in part, as where limpid prisms existed among the white +ice which ran in veins down the cascades. In the free vertical column the +prisms seemed to be deposited horizontally, and in the thicker parts they +<a name="Page_10"><span class="pagenum">[Page 10]</span></a> did not +pass clear through. We carried a large piece of ice down to Arzier in a +botanical tin, and on our arrival there we found that all traces of +external lines had disappeared.</p> + +<p>This visit to the glacière was on Saturday, and on the following +Monday I determined to go up alone, to take a registering thermometer, and +leave it in the cave for the night; which, of course, would entail a third +visit on the next day. Monday brought a steady penetrating rain, of that +peculiar character which six Scotch springs had taught me to describe as +'just a bit must;' while in the higher regions the fog was so hopeless, +that a sudden lift of the mist revealed the unpleasant fact that +considerable progress had been made in a westerly direction, the true line +being north-west. Instead of the rocks of La Genollière, the +foreground presented was the base of the Dôle, and the chasm which +affords a passage from the well-known fortress of Les Rousses into Vaud. +There was nothing for it but to turn in the right direction, or attempt to +do so, and force a way through the wet woods till something should turn +up. This something took the form of a châlet; but no amount of +hammering and shouting produced any response, and it was only after a +forcible entrance, and a prolonged course of interior shouting, that a man +was at length drawn. He said that he had been asleep--and why he put it in +a past tense is still a mystery--and could give no idea of the direction +of the châlet on La Genollière, beyond a vague suggestion +that it was somewhere in the mist; a suggestion by no means improbable, +seeing that the mist was ubiquitous. One piece of information he was able +to give, and it was consoling: I was now, it seemed, on the +Fruitière de Nyon, and therefore the desired châlet could not +be far off, if only a guide could be found. On the whole, he thought that +a guide could <a name="Page_11"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 11]</span></a> not be found; but there were men in the +châlet, and I might go up the ladder with him and see what could be +done. He led to a chamber with a window of one small pane, dating +apparently from the first invention of glass, and never cleaned since. An +invisible corner of the room was appealed to; but the voice which resided +there, and seemed like everything else to be asleep, pleaded dreamily a +total ignorance of the whereabouts of the châlet in question. Just +as, by dint of steady staring through the darkness, an indistinct form of +a mattress, with a human being reclining thereon, began to be visible, +another dark corner announced that this new speaker had heard of a <i> +p'tit sentier</i> leading to the châlet, but knew neither direction +nor distance. Here the space between the two corners put in a word; and, +as the darkness was now becoming natural, seven or eight mattresses +appeared, ranged round the room, some holding one, some two men, most of +whom were sitting up on end with old caps on, displaying every variety of +squalor. The voice which had spoken last declared that the distance was +three-quarters of an hour, and that if the day were clear there would be +no difficulty in reaching the châlet; as it was, the man would be +very glad to try.</p> + +<p>A change of cap was the only dressing necessary for the volunteer, and +we faced the fog and rain, which elicited from him such a disgraceful +amount of swearing, that it was on all accounts well when the rain ceased +for a few minutes, the mists rolled off, and the clouds lifted +sufficiently to betray the surface of the Lake of Geneva, luxuriating in +the clear warmth of an early summer's day, and making us shiver by the +painful contrast which our own altitude presented. The deep blue of the +lake brought to mind the story of the shepherd of Gessenay (Saanen), of +whom it is told that when he was passing the hills with <a name="Page_12"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 12]</span></a> some friends for a first +visit to Vevey, and came in sight of the lake, which he had never seen +before, he turned and hurried home incontinent, declaring that he would +not enter a country where the good God had made the blue sky to fall and +fill the valleys.</p> + +<p>In this bright interval we came upon a magnificent fox, and the +peasant's impulse was, 'Oh, for a good gun!' an exclamation which would +have sounded horrible to English ears, if I had not been previously broken +in to it by an invitation from a Scotch gamekeeper to a fox-hunt, when he +promised an excellent gun, and a <i>stance</i> which the foxes were sure +to pass.</p> + +<p>The rain now came on again, and the guide thought he had had plenty of +it, and must return for the afternoon milking; and just then, as good luck +would have it, we stumbled upon an immense clump of nettles which had been +one of our landmarks two days before, so that he was no longer necessary, +and we said affectionate adieux.</p> + +<p>The glacière was in a state of ruin. Only the right-hand column, +not speaking heraldically, was standing, the others lying in blocks frozen +hard together on the ground. The column which still stood was much +shrunken, and seemed too small for its fissure, the sides of which it +scarcely touched. The wind blew down the entrance slope so determinedly, +that a candle found it difficult to live at the bottom of the first cave; +and a portion of the current blew into the glacière, and in its +sweep exactly struck the fallen columns, the edges of which were already +rounded by thaw. Much of this must be attributed to the recent opening of +the second shaft (p. 5), which admits a thorough draught through the first +cave, and so exposes the glacière to currents of warmer air; and I +should expect to find that in future the ice will disappear from that part +<a name="Page_13"><span class="pagenum">[Page 13]</span></a> of the +cave every summer, <a name="FNanchor7"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> whereas in 1861 we found it thick and dry +(excepting a few small basins containing water) and evidently permanent, +in the middle of a very hot August. The low part of the cave was so +completely protected from the current, that the candle burned there quite +steadily for an hour and a half: still, like the others, the column at +that end of the glacière was broken down, and it therefore became +necessary to attribute its fall to some other agency than the current of +external air. There had been a very large amount of rain, and the surface +of the rock in the fissures was evidently wet; so I have no doubt that the +filtering through of the warm rain-water had thawed the upper supports of +the ice-cascades, and then, owing to their slightly inclined position, the +pedestal had not provided sufficient support, and so they had fallen. One +of them, perhaps, had brought down in its fall the free column, which had +stood two days before on its own base, without any support from the rock. +Very probably, too--indeed, almost certainly,--the fall of the large mass +of rock, which once formed the bottom of the basin on the north side of +the road, has affected the old-established fissures, by which rain-water +has been accustomed to penetrate in small quantities to the +glacière, so that now a much larger amount is admitted. On this +account, there will probably be a great diminution of the ice in the +course of future summers, though the amount formed each winter may be +greater than it has hitherto been. Constant examination of other columns +and fissures has convinced me, that, before the end of autumn, the +majority of the glacières will have lost all the columns which +depend upon the roof for a part of their support, or spring from fissures +in the wall; whereas those which are true stalagmites, and <a name= +"Page_14"><span class="pagenum">[Page 14]</span></a> are +self-supporting, will have a much better chance of remaining through the +warm season, and lasting till the winter, and so increasing in size from +year to year. Free stalagmites, however, which are formed under fissures +capable of pouring down a large amount of water on the occasion of a great +flood of rain, must succumb in time, though not so soon as the supported +columns.</p> + +<p>A curious appearance was presented by a small free stalagmite in the +retired part of the cave. The surface of the stalagmite was wet, from the +drops proceeding from a fissure above, and was lightly covered in many +parts with a calcareous deposit, brought down from the fissures in the +roof by the water filtering through. The stalagmite was of the +double-edged-sword shape, and the limestone deposit collected chiefly at +one of its edges, the edge nearer to that part of the cave where thaw +prevailed; so that the real edge was a ridge of deposit beyond the edge of +the ice.<a name="FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> +Patches of limestone paste lay on many parts of the ice-floor.</p> + +<p>In the loftier part of the cave, water dropped from the roof to so +large an extent, that ninety-six drops of water in a minute splashed on to +a small stone immediately under the main fissure. This stone was in the +centre of a considerable area of the floor which was clear of ice; and it +struck me that if the columns were formed by the freezing of water +dropping from the roof, there ought to have been at some time a large +column under this, the most plentiful source of water in the cave. +Accordingly, I found that the edge of the ice round this clear area was +much thicker than the rest of the ice of the floor, and was evidently the +remains of the swelling pedestal of a column which had been about 12 feet +in circumference. This departed column may account for a fact which I +discovered in <a name="Page_15"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 15]</span></a> another glacière, and found to be of very +common occurrence, viz., that in large stalagmites there is a considerable +internal cavity, extending some feet up from the ground, and affording +room even for a man to walk about inside the column. When the melted snows +of spring send down to the cave, through the fissures of the rock, an +abundance of water at a very low temperature, and the cave itself is +stored with the winter's cold, these thicker rings of ice catch first the +descending water, and so a circular wall, naturally conical, is formed +round the area of stones; the remaining water either running off through +the interstices, or forming a floor of ice of less thickness, which yields +to the next summer's drops. In the course of time, this conical wall +rises, narrowing always, till a dome-like roof is at length formed, and +thenceforth the column is solid. Of course, the interior cannot be wholly +free from ice; and it will be seen from the account of one of these +cavities, which I explored in the Schafloch, that they are decked with ice +precisely as might be expected. <a name="FNanchor9"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> Another possible explanation of this +curious and beautiful phenomenon will be given hereafter.<a name= +"FNanchor10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The temperature was half a degree lower than when there were three of +us in the cave two days before. I deposited one of Casella's registering +thermometers, on wood, on a stone in that part of the floor which was free +from ice, though there was ice all round it at some little distance. The +thermometer was well above the surface of the ice, and was protected from +chance drops of water from the roof.</p> + +<p>The next morning I started early from Arzier, having an afternoon +journey in prospect to the neighbourhood of another glacière, and +was accompanied by Captain Douglas Smith, of the 4th Regiment. On our way +to La Genollière, <a name="Page_16"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 16]</span></a> we came across the man who had served as guide +the day before, and a short conversation respecting the glacière +ensued. He had only seen it once, many years before, and he held stoutly +to the usual belief of the peasantry, that the ice is formed in summer, +and melts in winter; a belief which everything I had then seen +contradicted. His last words as we parted were, '<i>Plus il fait chaud, +plus ça gèle</i>;' and, paradoxical as it may appear, I +believe that some truth was concealed in what he said, though not as he +meant it. Considering that his ideas were confined to his cattle and their +requirements, and that water is often very difficult to find in that part +of the Jura, a <i>hot</i> summer would probably mean with him a <i>dry</i> +summer, that is, a summer which does not send down much water to thaw the +columns in the cave. Extra heat in the air outside, at any season, does +not, as experience of these caves proves abundantly, produce very +considerable disturbance of their low temperature, and so summer water is +a much worse enemy than extra summer heat; and if the caves could be +protected from water in the hot season, the columns in them would know how +to resist the possible--but very small--increase of temperature due to the +excess of heat of one summer above another. And since the eye is most +struck by the appearance of the stalagmites and ice-cascades, it may well +be that the peasants have seen these standing at the end of an unusually +hot and dry summer, and have thence concluded that hot summers are the +best time for the formation of ice. Of course, at the beginning of the +winter after a hot summer, there will be on these terms a larger nucleus +of ice; and so it will become true that the hotter the year, the more ice +there will be, both during the summer itself and after the following +winter.</p> + +<p>The further process of the formation of ice will be this:--the colds of +early winter will freeze all the water that <a name="Page_17"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 17]</span></a> may be in the glacières from +the summer's thaw, in such caves as do not possess a drainage, and then +the frost will have nothing to occupy itself upon but the ice already +formed, for no water can descend from the frost-bound surface of the +earth.<a name="FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +As soon as the snow begins to melt to so great a degree that the fissures +are opened up once more, the extremely cold water resulting therefrom will +descend through the limestone into a cave perfectly dry, and filled with +an atmosphere many degrees below the freezing point, whose frost-power +eagerly lays hold of every drop of water which does not make its escape in +time by the drainage of the cave. Thus the spring months will be the great +time of the formation of ice, and also of the raising of the temperature +from some degrees below freezing to the more temperate register at which I +have generally found it, viz., rather above than below 32°. Professor +Tyndall very properly likens the external atmosphere to a ratchet-wheel, +from its property of allowing the passage of hot rays down to the surface +of the earth, and resisting their return: it may equally be so described +on other grounds, inasmuch as the cold and heavy atmosphere will sink in +the winter into the pits which lead to glacières, and will refuse +to be altogether displaced in summer by anything short of solar +radiation.</p> + +<p>We found the one column of the previous day still <a name="Page_18"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 18]</span></a> standing, though evidently +in an unhappy state of decay. The sharpness of its edges was wholly gone, +and it was withered and contorted; there were two cracks completely +through it, dividing it into three pieces 4 or 5 feet long, which were +clearly on the point of coming down. Externally, the day was fine and +warm, and so we found the cave comparatively dry, only one drop falling in +a minute on to the stone where ninety-six had fallen in the same time the +day before. The thermometer registered 32° as the greatest cold of the +night, and still stood at that point when we took it up.</p> + +<p>We spent some little time in exploring the neighbourhood of the pits, +in order to find, if possible, the outlet for the drainage, but the ground +did not fall away sufficiently for any source from so low an origin to +show itself. The search was suggested by what I remembered of the +Glacière of S. Georges three years before, where the people believe +that a small streamlet which issues from the bottom of a steep rock, some +distance off, owes its existence to the glacière.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_19"><span class="pagenum">[Page 19]</span></a> <a name= +"CHAPTER_II"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF S. GEORGES, IN THE JURA.</h3> + +<p>The best way of reaching this glacière from Geneva would be to +take the steamer to Rolle, or the train to one of the neighbouring +stations, between Geneva and Lausanne, and thence pass up the slope of the +Jura by the road which leads through Gimel. For the train, the Allaman +station would be the most convenient, as an omnibus runs from Allaman to +Aubonne, where the poste for Gimel may be caught. But from Arzier there is +a short cut of less than two hours along the side of the hills, leaving +that village by a deep gorge not unfitly named <i>L'Enfer</i>, and a dark +wood which retains an odour of more savage bygone times in its name of the +'Bear's Wood,' as containing a cavern where an old bear was detected in +the act of attempting to winter.<a name="FNanchor12"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The village of S. Georges has very respectable accommodation for a +single traveller, <i>au Cavalier</i>. The common day-room will be found +untenable by most Englishmen, however largely they may delight in rough +quarters; but there is a double-bedded room at the end of a bricked +passage up-stairs, which serves well for bedroom and sitting-room in one. +The chief drawback in this arrangement is, <a name="Page_20"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 20]</span></a> that the landlady inexorably removes +all washing apparatus during the day, holding that a pitcher and basin are +unseemly ornaments for a sitting-room. The deal table, of course, serves +both for dressing and for feeding purposes, but it is fortunately so long +that an end can be devoted to each; and on the whole it is possible to +become considerably attached to the room, with its three airy windows, and +the cool unceasing hum of a babbling fountain in the village-street below. +The Auberge is a large building, with a clock-tower of considerable +height, containing the clock of the commune: as soon as the candle is put +out at night, it becomes painfully evident that a rectangular projection +in one corner of the room is in connection with this tower, and in fact +forms a part of the abode of the pendulum, which plods on with audible +vigour, growing more and more audible as the hours pass on, and making a +stealthy pervading noise, as if a couple of lazy ghosts were threshing +phantom wheat. The clocks of Vaud, too, are in the habit of striking the +hour twice, with a short interval; so that if anyone is not sure what the +clock meant the first time, he has a second chance of counting the +strokes. This is no doubt an admirable plan under ordinary circumstances, +but it does certainly try the patience of a sleepless dyspeptic after a +surfeit of café-au-lait and honey; and when he has counted +carefully the first time, and is bristling with the consciousness that it +is only midnight, it is aggravating in the extreme to have the long slow +story told a second time within a few feet of his head.</p> + +<p>The Cavalier had retained a guide overnight, Henri Renaud by name, and +he appeared punctually at eight o'clock in the morning, got up in the +short-tail coat of the country, and a large green umbrella with mighty +ribs of whalebone. The weather was extremely unpleasant, a cold pitiless +rain rendering all attempts at protection <a name="Page_21"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 21]</span></a> unavailing; but, fortunately, the +glacière is only an hour and a quarter from the village. The path +is tolerably steep, leading across the <i>petit Pré de Rolle</i>, +and through woods of beech and fir, till the summit of one of the minor +ridges of the Jura is reached, whence a short descent leads to the mouth +of the glacière, something more than 4,000 feet above the sea. The +ground here slopes down towards the north; and on the slope, among +fir-trees, an irregular circular basin is seen, some seven or eight yards +across,<a name="FNanchor13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +and perhaps two yards deep, at the bottom of which are two holes. One of +these holes is open, and as the guide and I--for my sisters remained at +Arzier--stood on the neck of ground between the holes, we could see the +snow lying at the bottom of the cave; the other is covered with trunks of +trees, laid over the mouth to prevent the rays of the sun from striking +down on to the ice. This protection has become necessary in consequence of +an incautious felling of wood in the immediate neighbourhood of the mouth, +which has exposed the ice to the assaults of the weather. The commune has +let the glacière for a term of nine years, receiving six or seven +hundred francs in all; and the <i>fermier</i> extracts the ice, and sells +it in Geneva and Lausanne. In hot summers, the supplies of the artificial +ice-houses fail; and then the hotel-keepers have recourse to the stores +laid up for them by nature in the Glacières of S. Georges and S. +Livres. Hence the importance of protecting the ice; the necessity for so +doing arising in this case from the fact that the entrance to the cave is +by a hole in the roof, which exposes the ice to direct radiation, unlike +all other glacières, excepting perhaps the <i>Cueva del Hielo</i> +on the Peak of Teneriffe.<a name="FNanchor14"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_22"><span class="pagenum">[Page 22]</span></a> + +<p>Autumn appears to be the usual time for cutting the ice, when it is +carried from the cave on men's backs as far as the commencement of the +rough mountain-road, and is there packed on chars, and so conveyed to the +nearest railway station. Renaud had worked in the cave for two years, and +asserted that they did not choose the night for carrying the ice down to +the station, and did not even care to choose a cool day. He believed that, +in the autumn of 1863, they loaded two chars a day for fifteen days, and +each char took from 40 to 50 quintaux; the quintal containing 50 kilos, or +100 livres.<a name="FNanchor15"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> In Professor Pictet's time (1822) this +glacière supplied the Hospital of Geneva, whose income depended in +part on its privilege of <i>revente</i> of all ice sold in the town, with +25 quintaux every other day during the summer. In my anxiety to learn the +exact amount of ice now supplied by the glacière, I determined to +find out the <i>fermier</i>; but Renaud could tell nothing of him beyond +the fact that he lived in Geneva, which some promiscuous person +supplemented by the information that his name was Boucqueville, and that +he had something to do with comestibles. On entering upon a hunt for M. +Boucqueville a fortnight later, it turned out that no one had heard of +such a person, and the Directory professed equal ignorance; but, under the +head of 'Comestibles,' there appeared a Gignoux-Bocquet, No. 34, +Marché. Thirty-four, Marché, said, yes--M. Bocquet--it was +quite true: nevertheless, it was clear that monsieur meant Sebastian +aîné, on the Molard. The Molard knew only a younger +Sebastian, but suggested that the right man was probably M. +Gignoux-Chavaz, over the way; and when it was objected that +Gignoux-Bocquet, and not Gignoux-Chavaz, was the name, the Molard replied +that it made no matter,--Chavaz or Bocquet, it was all the same. <a name= +"Page_23"><span class="pagenum">[Page 23]</span></a> When M. +Gignoux-Chavaz was found, he said that he certainly was a man who had +something to do with a glacière, but, instead of farming the +Glacière of S. Georges, he had only bought a considerable quantity +of ice two years ago from the Glacière of S. Livres, and he did not +believe that the <i>fermier</i> of S. Georges lived in Geneva. Part of the +confusion was due to the custom of placing a wife's maiden name after her +husband's name: thus Gignoux-Chavaz implies that a male Gignoux has +married a female Chavaz; and when a Swiss marries an English lady with a +very English name, the result in the Continental mouth is sufficiently +curious.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the entrance to the glacière, the end of a +suggestive ladder is seen under the protecting trunks; and after one or +two steps have been taken down the ladder, the effect of the cave below is +extremely remarkable, the main features being a long wall covered thickly +with white ice in sheets, a solid floor of darker-coloured ice, and a high +pyramid of snow reaching up towards the uncovered hole already spoken of. +The atmosphere of the cave is damp, and this causes the ladders to fall +speedily to decay, so that they are by no means to be trusted: indeed, an +early round gave way under one of my sisters, when they visited the cave +with me in 1861, and suggested a clear fall of 60 feet on to a cascade of +ice.<a name="FNanchor16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a> +There are three ladders, one below the other, and a hasty measurement gave +their lengths as 20, 16, and 28 feet. The rock-roof is only <a name= +"Page_24"><span class="pagenum">[Page 24]</span></a> a few feet thick +in the neighbourhood of the hole of entrance.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="ENTRANCE TO THE GLACIÈRE OF S. +GEORGES." src="images/image2.jpg" width="348" height="361" /><br /> +<span class="caption">ENTRANCE TO THE GLACIÈRE OF S. +GEORGES.</span></div> + +<p>The total length of the cave is 110 feet, lying NE. and SW., in the +line of the main chain of the Jura. The lowest part of the floor is a sea +of ice of unknown depth, 45 feet long by 15 broad; and Renaud tried my +powers of belief by asserting that in 1834 the level of this floor was +higher by half the height of the cave than now; a statement, however, +which is fully borne out by Professor Pictet's measurements in 1822, when +the depth of the glacière was less than 30 feet. Indeed, the floor +had sunk considerably since my previous visit, when it was all at the same +level down to the further end of the cave; whereas now, <a name="Page_25"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 25]</span></a> as will be seen in the +section, there was a platform of stones resting on ice at that end. There +are two large fissures passing into the rock, one only of which can be +represented in the section, and these were full of white ice, not owing +its whiteness apparently to the admixture of air in bubbles, but firm and +compact, and very hard, almost like porcelain. Small stalactites hung from +round fissures in the roof, formed of the same sort of ice, and broken off +short, much as the end of a leaden pipe is sometimes seen to project from +a wall. With this exception, there was no ice hanging from the roof, +though there were abundant signs of very fine columns which had already +yielded to the advancing warmth: one of these still remained, in the form +of broken blocks of ice, in the neighbourhood of the open hole in the +roof, immediately below which hole the stones of the floor were completely +bare, and the thermometer stood at 50°. At the far end of the cave, +the thermometer gave something less than 32°; a difference so +remarkable, at the same horizontal level, that I am inclined to doubt the +accuracy of the figures, though they were registered on the spot with due +care. The uncovered hole, it must be remembered, is so large, and so +completely open, that the rain falls freely on to the stones on the floor +below.</p> + +<p>By far the most striking part of this glacière is the north-west +wall, which is covered with a sheet of ice 70 feet long, and 22 feet high +at the highest part: in the neighbourhood of the ladders, this turns the +corner of the cave, and passes up for about 9 feet under the second +ladder. The general thickness of the sheet is from a foot to a foot and a +half; and this is the chief source from which the <i>fermier</i> draws the +ice, as it is much more easily quarried than the solid floor. Some of my +friends went to the cave a few weeks after my visit, and found that the +whole sheet had been pared off and carried away.</p> + +<a name="Page_26"><span class="pagenum">[Page 26]</span></a> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt=" VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE GLACIÈRE +OF S. GEORGES." src="images/image3.jpg" width="390" height="219" /><br /> + <span class="caption">VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE GLACIÈRE OF S. +GEORGES.</span></div> + +<a name="Page_27"><span class="pagenum">[Page 27]</span></a> + +<p>On some parts of the wall the sheet was not completely continuous, +being formed of broad and distinct cascades, connected by cross channels +of ice, and uniting at their upper and lower ends, thus presenting many +curious and ornamental groupings. On cutting through this ice, it was +found not to lie closely on the rock, a small intermediate space being +generally left, almost filled with minute limestone particles in a very +wet state; and the whole cavern showed signs of more or less thaw.</p> + +<p>It was natural to examine the structure of the ice in this +glacière, after what we had observed on La Genollière. The +same prismatic structure was universal in the sheet on the wall, and in +the blocks which lay here and there on the floor and formed the sole +remains of former columns. It was to be observed also in many parts of the +ice-floor itself. The base of one large column still remained standing in +its original position, and its upper end presented a tolerably accurate +horizontal section of the column. The centre was composed of turbid ice, +round which limpid prisms were horizontally arranged, diverging like the +feathers of a fan; then came a ring of turbid ice, and then a second +concentric ring of limpid prisms, diverging in the same manner as those +which formed the inner ring. There were in all three or four of these +concentric rings, the details showing a considerable amount of confusion +and interference: the general law, however, was most evident, and has held +in all the similar columns which I have since examined in other +glacières. The rings were not accurately circular, but presented +rather the appearance of having been formed round a roughly-fluted pillar +on an elliptical base.</p> + +<p>The examination of the ice on the wall gave some curious results. The +horizontal arrangement of the prisms, which we had found to prevail in +vertical columns, was <a name="Page_28"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 28]</span></a> here modified to suit the altered conditions of +the case, and the axes of the prisms changed their inclination so as to be +always perpendicular to the surface on which the ice lay, as far as could +be determined by the eye. Thus, in following the many changes of +inclination of the wall, the axes of the prisms stood at many different +angles with the vertical, from a horizontal position where the wall +chanced to be vertical, to a vertical position on the horizontal ledges of +the rock. The extreme edges, too, of the ice, presented a very peculiar +appearance. The general thickness, as has been said, varied from a foot to +a foot and a half; and this diminished gradually along horizontal lines, +till, at the edges of the sheet, where the ice ceased, it became of course +nothing. The extreme edge was formed of globular or hemispherical beads of +ice, like the freezing of a sweating-stone, lying so loosely on the rock +that I could sweep them off in detail with one hand, and catch them with +the other as they fell. Passing farther on towards the thicker parts of +the ice, these beads stood up higher and higher, losing their roundness, +and becoming compressed into prisms of all shapes, in very irregular +imitation of the cellular tissue in plants, the axes of the prisms +following the generally-observed law. There seems to be nothing in this +phenomenon which cannot be accounted for by the supposition of gradual +thaw of small amount being applied to a sheet of prismatic ice.</p> + +<p>One fact was remarkable from its universal appearance. Wherever an +incision was made in this sheet of ice, the prisms snapped off at the +depth of an inch, and could be mowed down like corn by means of a stout +knife. Although they broke naturally at this constant depth, and left a +surface of limpid ice without any signs of external or internal division, +still the laminae obtained by chiselling this lower surface carefully, +broke up regularly into the <a name="Page_29"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 29]</span></a> shapes to be expected in sections of prisms cut +at right angles to the axis. The roughness of my instruments made it +impossible to discover how far this extended, and whether it ceased to be +the case at any given depth in the ice.</p> + +<p>The sea of ice on the floor was in a very wet state at the surface, +being at a lower level than the stones on to which the rain from the open +hole fell; and here the prismatic structure was not apparent to the eye, +nor do I know whether it existed at all. In the Glacière of La +Genollière I carried a large block of perfectly prismatic ice into +the outer cave, where it was exposed to the free currents of air passing +from the pit of entrance to the hole newly opened by the falling in of the +ground; and, two days after, the external lines were scarcely perceptible, +while on the occasion of our third visit I found that they had entirely +disappeared, and the whole block was rapidly following their example. This +disappearance of the surface-lines under the action of atmospheric thaw is +probably the same thing as their absence when the flooring of ice is +thinly covered with water. Wherever the flooring rose slightly towards the +edges of the sea of ice, the usual structure appeared again.</p> + +<p>There were no currents of air in the cave, the candles burning steadily +through the whole time of our visit. Excepting for the purpose of +detecting disturbance in the air, there is no need of candles, as the two +holes in the roof supply sufficient light. Some account of the careful +observations made here by M. Thury, at different seasons of the year, will +be found in other parts of this book. We passed, on our return, by the +source of water which springs from the foot of a rock at some distance +from the glacière, and is supposed to form the outlet for the +drainage of the cave; but it is difficult to understand how this <a name= +"Page_30"><span class="pagenum">[Page 30]</span></a> can be the case, +considering the form and character of the intervening ground.</p> + +<p>The two ice-caves so far described are the least interesting of all +that I have visited; but a peasant informed me, a day or two after, that +if we had penetrated to the back of the pyramid of snow which lay half +under the open hole, being the remains of the large collection which is +formed there in the winter, we might have found a deep pit which is +sometimes exposed by the melting of the snow. He had some idea that its +depth was 30 feet a few years ago, and that its sides were solid ice. I +shall have occasion to mention such pits in another glacière; if +one does exist here, it has probably been quarried in the ice by the drops +from the hole in the roof, and there might be some interest attached to an +attempt to investigate it.<a name="FNanchor17"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> + +<p>We reached S. Georges again in a wretched state of wet and cold, and +Renaud went off to bed, and imbibed abundant and super-abundant +kirsch,--at least, when drawn thence the next morning, his manner left no +doubt about either the fact or the abundance of the potations overnight. +Warned by many experiences, I had gone no nearer to a specification of the +bill of fare than a vague suggestion that <i>quelque chose</i> must be +forthcoming, with an additional stipulation that this must be something +more than mere onions and fat. The landlady's rendering of <i>quelque +chose</i> was very agreeable, but, for the benefit of future diners <i>au +Cavalier</i>, it is as well to say that those who do not like anisette had +better make a private arrangement with their hostess, otherwise they will +swallow with their soup an amount sufficient for many generations of the +drag: they may also safely order savoury rice, with browned veal and +wine-sauce, which is evidently a strong point with the Cavalier. All meals +there are picturesque; for the omelette <a name="Page_31"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 31]</span></a> lay on the Castle of Grandson and a +part of the Lake of Neufchâtel, while the butter reposed on the +ruined Cathedral of Sion, and the honey distilled pleasantly from the comb +on to the walls of Wufflens. No one should put any trust in the spoons, +which are constructed apparently of pewter shavings in a chronic state of +semi-fusion. On the evening of the second day, the landlady allowed a +second knife at tea, as the knife-of-all-work had begun to knock up under +the heavy strain upon its powers; but this supplementary instrument was of +the ornamental kind, and, like other ornamental things, broke down at a +crisis, which took the form of a piece of crust.</p> + +<p>Lest this account should raise anyone's expectations too high, it is as +well to add that they have no snuffers in S. Georges, beyond such as +Nature provided when she gave men fingers; and they burn attenuated tallow +candles with full-bodied wicks. Also, the tea is flavoured with vanille, +unless that precious flavouring is omitted by private contract.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_32"><span class="pagenum">[Page 32]</span></a> <a name= +"CHAPTER_III"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE LOWER GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES.</h3> + +<p>I had intended to walk on from S. Georges to Bière, after +returning from the glacière last described, and thence, the next +morning, to the Pré de S. Livres, the mountain pasturage of the +commune of S. Livres,<a name="FNanchor18"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a> a village near Aubonne. But Renaud +advised a change of plan, and the result showed that his advice was good. +He said that the <i>fermier</i> of the Glacière of S. Livres +generally lived in S. Georges, and, if he were at home, would be the best +guide to the glacière; while the distance from S. Georges was, if +anything, rather less than the distance from Bière; so that by +remaining at the Cavalier for another night the walk to Bière would +be saved, and the possibility of finding no competent guide there would be +evaded. Jules Mignot, the farmer in question, was at home, and promised to +go to the glacière in the morning, pledging his word and all that +he was worth for the existence and soundness of the ladders; a matter of +considerable importance, for M. Thury had been unable to reach the ice, as +also my sisters, by reason of a failure in this respect.</p> + +<a name="Page_33"><span class="pagenum">[Page 33]</span></a> + +<p>In the course of the evening Mignot came in, and confidentially took +the other chair. He wished to state that he had three <i> +associés</i> in working the glacière, and that one of them +knew of a similar cave, half an hour from the one more generally known; +the <i>associé</i> had found it two years before, and had not seen +it since, and he believed that no one else knew where it was to be found. +If I cared to visit it, the <i>associé</i> would accompany us, but +there was some particular reason--here he relapsed into patois--why this +other man could not by himself serve as guide to both glacières. As +this meant that I must have two guides, and suggested that perhaps the +right rendering of <i>associé</i> was 'accomplice,' the negotiation +nearly came to a violent end; but the farmer was so extremely explanatory +and convincing, that I gave him another chance, asking him how much the +two meant to have, and telling him that, although I could not see the +necessity for two guides, I only wished to do what was right. He expressed +his conviction of the truth of this statement with such fervour, that I +could only hope his moderation might be as great as his faith. He took the +usual five minutes to make up his mind what to say, going through abstruse +calculations with a brow demonstratively bent, and, to all appearance, +reckoning up exactly what was the least it could be done for, consistently +with his duty to himself and his family. Then he asked, with an air of +resignation, as if he were throwing himself and his <i>associé</i> +away, 'Fifteen francs, then, would monsieur consider too much?' +'Certainly, far too much; twelve francs would be enormous. But, for the +pleasure of his company and that of his friend, I should be happy to give +that sum for the two, and they must feed themselves.' He jumped at the +offer, with an alacrity which showed that I had much under-estimated his +margin in putting it at three francs; and with many <a name="Page_34"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 34]</span></a> expressions of +anticipatory gratitude, and promises of axes and ropes in case of +emergency, he bowed himself out. The event proved that both the men were +really valuable, and they got something over the six francs a-piece.</p> + +<p>The rain had been steadily increasing in intensity for the last +twenty-four hours, from the insidious steeping of a Scotch mist to the +violence of a chronic thunderstorm, and had about reached this crisis when +we started in the morning for the Pré de S. Livres. I had already +tested its effects before breakfast, in a search for the Renaud of the day +before, who had made statements regarding the ice at S. Georges, and the +time of cutting it, which a night's reflection showed to be false. To +search for Henri Renaud in the village of S. Georges, was something like +making an enquiry of a certain porter for the rooms of Mr. John Jones. The +landlady of the Cavalier was responsible for the first stage of the +journey, asserting that he lived two doors beyond the next auberge, +evidently with a feeling that it was wrong so far to patronise the rival +house as to live near it. That, however, was not the same Henri Renaud; +and a house a few yards off was recommended as a likely place, where, +instead of Henri, a Louis Renaud turned up, shivering under the eaves in +company with the <i>fermier</i>, who introduced Louis in due form as the +accomplice. They received conjointly and submissively a lecture on the +absurdity of calling it a rainy morning, and the impossibility of staying +at home, even if it came on much worse, and then pointed the way to the +true Henri Renaud, half-way down the village. When I arrived at the place +indicated, and consulted a promiscuous Swiss as to the abode of the object +of my search, he exclaimed, 'Henri Renaud? I am he.' 'But,' it was +objected, 'it is the <i>marchand de bois</i> who is wanted.' 'Precisely, +Henri Renaud, marchand de bois; it is I.' 'But, it is the cutter <a name= +"Page_35"><span class="pagenum">[Page 35]</span></a> of ice in the +glacière.' 'Ah, a different Henri. That Henri is in bed in the +house yonder,' and so at last he was found. When finally unearthed, Henri +confessed that when he had said <i>spring</i> the day before, he ought to +have said <i>autumn</i>, and that by autumn he meant November and +December. Enquiries elsewhere showed that the end of summer was what he +really meant, if he meant to tell the truth.</p> + +<p>Our route for the glacière followed the high road which leads by +the Asile de Marchairuz to La Vallée, as far as the well-known +Châlet de la S. Georges; and then the character of the way changed +rapidly for the worse, and we took to the wet woods. After a time, the +wood ceased for a while, and a large expanse of smooth rock showed itself, +rising slightly from the horizontal, and so slippery in its present wet +condition that we could not pass up it. Then woods again, and then the +montagnes of <i>Sous la Roche</i>, and <i>La Foireuse</i>, till at last, +in two hours, the Pré de S. Livres was achieved. The fog was so +dense that nothing could be seen of the general lie of the country; but +the <i>thalweg</i> was a sufficient guide, and after due perseverance we +came upon the glacière, not many yards from that line, on the north +slope of the open valley, about 4,500 feet above the sea.</p> + +<p>To prevent cattle from falling into the pit, a wall has been built +round the trees in which it lies. The circumference of this wall is 435 +feet, but there are so many trees at the upper end of the enclosure that +this gives an exaggerated idea of the size of the pit. The men fed while +the preliminary measurements were being made; and when this was +accomplished, they pressed their bottle of wine upon me so hospitably that +I was obliged to antedate the result which its appearance promised, and +plead <i>mal d'estomac</i>. Of all things, it is most unwise to give a +reason for a <a name="Page_36"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 36]</span></a> negative, and so it proved in this instance; for +they promptly felicitated themselves and me on the good luck by which it +happened that they had brought a wine famous on all the côte as a +remedy for that somewhat vague complaint--a homoeopathic remedy in +allopathic doses.</p> + +<p>The glacière is entered by a natural pit in the gentle slope of +grass, not much unlike the pit of La Genollière, but wider, and +covered at the bottom with snow.<a name="FNanchor19"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a> The first ladder leads down to a ledge +of rock on which bushes and trees grow, and this ledge it is possible to +reach without a ladder; the next ladder leads on to the deep snow, and +descent by any ordinary manner of climbing is in this case quite +impossible.<a name="FNanchor20"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> The snow slopes down towards a lofty +arch in the rock which forms the north-west side of the pit, and this arch +is the entrance to the glacière; it is 28-3/4 feet wide, and as +soon as we passed under it we found that the snow became ice, and it was +necessary to cut steps; for the surface of underground ice is so slippery, +unlike the surface of ordinary glaciers, that the slightest defect <a +name="Page_37"><span class="pagenum">[Page 37]</span></a> from the +horizontal makes the use of the axe advisable. The stream of ice falls +gradually, spreading out laterally like a fan, so as to accommodate itself +to the shape of the cave, which it fills up to the side walls; it +increases in breadth from 28-3/4 feet at the top to 72 feet at the bottom +of the slope, and the distance from the top of the first ladder to this +point is 177 feet. Here we were arrested by a strange wall of ice 22 feet +high, down which there seemed at first no means of passing; but finding an +old ladder frozen into a part of the wall, we chopped out holes between +the upper steps, and so descended, landing on a flooring composed of +broken blocks and columns of ice, with a certain amount of what seemed to +be drifted snow. This wall of ice, which was 72 feet long and 22 feet +high, was not vertical, but sloped the wrong way, caving in under the +stream of ice; and from the projecting top of the wall a long fringe of +vast icicles hung down, along the whole breadth of the fan. The effect of +this was, that we could walk between the ice-wall and the icicles as in a +cloister, with solid ice on the one hand and Gothic arcades of ice on the +other, the floor being likewise of ice, and the roof formed by the +junction of the wall with the top of the icicle-arcade. The floor of this +cloister was not 22 feet below the top of the wall, for it formed the +upper part of a gentle descending slope of ice, rounded off like a fall of +water, which seemed to flow from the lower part of the wall; and the +height of 22 feet is reckoned from the foot of this slope, which +terminated at a few feet of horizontal distance from the foot of the wall. +The wall of ice was plainly marked with horizontal bands, corresponding, +no doubt, to a number of years of successive deposits; sometimes a few +leaves, but more generally a strip of minuter débris, signified the +divisions between the annual layers. There had been many columns of ice <a +name="Page_38"><span class="pagenum">[Page 38]</span></a> from +fissures in the rock, but all had fallen except one large ice-cascade, +which flowed from a hole in the side of the cave on to the main stream, +about two-thirds of the distance down from the snow. One particularly +grand column had stood on the very edge of the ice-wall, and its remains +now lay below.</p> + +<p>The flooring of mingled ice and snow, on which we stood, sloped through +about five vertical feet from the foot of the wall, and came to an end on +broken rocks, from which the terminal wall of the cave sprang up. The +effect of the view from this point, as we looked up the long slope of ice +to where the ladders and a small piece of sky were visible, was most +striking. The accompanying engraving is from a sketch which attempts to +represent it; the reality is much less prim, and much more full of +beautiful detail, but still the engraving gives a fair idea of the general +appearance of the cave.</p> + +<p>While I was occupied in making sketches and measurements, Mignot was +engaged in chopping discontentedly at the floor, in two or three different +places. At length he seemed to find a place to his mind, and chopped +perseveringly till his axe went through, and then he suggested that we +should follow. The hole was not tempting. It opened into the blackest +possible darkness, and Mignot thrust his legs through, feeling for a +foothold, which, by lowering himself almost to his armpits, he soon +discovered: the foothold, however, proved to be a loose stone, which gave +way under him and bounded down, apparently over an incline of like stones, +to a distance which sounded very alarming. But he would not give in, and +at length, descending still further by means of the snow in which the hole +was made, he was rewarded by finding a solid block which bore his weight, +and he speedily disappeared altogether, summoning me to follow. I proposed +to light <a name="Page_39"><span class="pagenum">[Page 39]</span></a> +a candle first, not caring to go through such a hole, in such a floor, +into no one knew what; but he was so very peremptory, evidently thinking +that if he had gone through without a pioneering candle his monsieur might +do the same, that there was nothing for it but to obey. The hole was very +near the junction of the floor with the slope of stones where the floor +terminated, and the space between the hole and the slope seemed to be +filled up with a confused mass of snow and ice, in which the snow largely +<a name="Page_40"><span class="pagenum">[Page 40]</span></a> +predominated; so that there was good hold for hands and feet in passing +down to the stones, which might be about 7 feet below the upper surface of +the floor.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="LOWER GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE +S. LIVRES." src="images/image4.jpg" width="341" height="454" /><br /> + <span class="caption">LOWER GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. +LIVRES.</span></div> + +<p>Here we crouched in the darkness, with our faces turned away from the +presumed slope of stones, till a light was struck. The accomplice did not +find it in the bond that he should go down, and he preferred to reserve +his energies for his own peculiar glacière.</p> + +<p>As soon as the candle had mastered a portion of the darkness, we found +that we were squatting on a steeply sloping descent of large blocks of +stone, while in face of us was a magnificent wall of ice, evidently the +continuation of the wall above, marked most plainly with horizontal lines. +This wall passed down vertically to join the slope on which we were, at a +depth below our feet which the light of the candle had not yet fathomed. +The horizontal bands were so clear, that, if we had possessed climbing +apparatus, we could have counted the number of layers with accuracy. Of +course we scrambled down the stones, and found after a time that the angle +formed by the ice-wall and the slope of stones was choked up at the bottom +by large pieces of rock, one piled on another just as they had fallen from +the higher parts. These blocks were so large, that we were able to get +down among the interstices, in a spiral manner, for some little distance; +and when we were finally stopped, still the ice-wall passed on below our +feet, and there was no possible chance of determining to what depth it +went. The atmosphere at this point was a sort of frozen vapour, most +unpleasant in all respects, and the candles burned very dimly. The +thermometer stood at 32°, half-way down the slope of stones.</p> + +<p>We were able to stretch a string in a straight line from the lowest +point we reached, through the interstices of the blocks of stone, and up +to the entrance-hole, and this <a name="Page_41"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 41]</span></a> measurement gave 50 feet. Considering the +inclination of the upper ice-floor, and the sharpness of the angle between +the wall of ice and the line of our descent to this lowest point, I +believe that 50 feet will fairly represent the height of the ice-wall from +this point to the foot of the slope from the upper wall; so that 72 feet +will be the whole depth of ice, from the top of the third ladder to the +point where our further progress downwards was arrested. The correctness +of this calculation depends upon the honesty of Mignot, who had charge of +the farther end of the string, and was proud of the wonders of his +cave.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="SECTION OF THE LOWER GLACIÈRE OF +THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES." src="images/image5.jpg" width="294" height= +"327" /><br /> + <span class="caption">SECTION OF THE LOWER GLACIÈRE OF THE +PRÉ DE S. LIVRES.</span></div> + +<p>A dishonest <a name="Page_42"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 42]</span></a> man might easily, under the circumstances, have +pulled up a few feet more of string than was necessary, but 50 feet seemed +in no way an improbable result of the measurement.</p> + +<p>The ice was as solid and firm as can well be conceived. The horizontal +bands would seem to prove conclusively that it was no coating of greater +or less thickness on the face of a vertical wall of rock, an idea which +might suggest itself to anyone who had not seen it, and I think it +probable that the amount of ice represented in the section of the cave is +not an exaggeration. We were unable to measure the whole length of the +wall in the lower cave, from the large number of blocks of stone which had +fallen at one end, and lay against its face. Probably, from the nature of +the case, it was not so long as the 72 feet of wall above; but we measured +50 feet, and could see it still passing on to the right hand as we faced +it. In trying to penetrate farther along the face, I found a wing of the +brown fly we had seen in considerable abundance on the ice in La +Genollière, frozen into the remains of a column.</p> + +<p>There was so very much to be observed on all sides, and the +measurements took up so much time, owing to the peculiar difficulties +which attended them, that I did not examine with sufficient care the +curious floor of ice through which we cut our way to the lower cavern. +Neither did I notice the roof of the cavern thus reached, which may be +very different from the shape of the upper surface of the floor composing +it. If the ice-wall goes straight up, and the roof is formed of the +ice-floor alone, then it is a very remarkable feature indeed. But, more +probably, the lower wall leans over more and more towards the top, and so +forms as it were a part of the roof. It is possible that, as the wall has +grown, each successive annual layer has projected <a name="Page_43"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 43]</span></a> farther and farther, till at +last some year very favourable to the increase of ice has carried the +projection for that year nearly to the opposite stones, and then an +unfavourable year or two would form the foot of the upper wall. This seems +more probable, from the loose constitution of the floor at the point where +it joins the stones, as if it were there only made up of drift and +débris, while the part of the floor nearer the foot of the wall is +solid ice. It has been suggested to me that possibly water accumulates in +the time of greatest thaw to a very large extent in the lower parts of the +cave, and the ice-floor is formed where the frost first takes hold of this +water. But the slope of the ice-floor is against this theory, to a certain +extent; and the amount of water necessary to fill the cavity would be so +enormous, that it is contrary to all experience to imagine such a +collection, especially as the cave showed no signs of present thaw. The +appearance of the rocks, too, in the lower cave, and the surface of the +ice-wall there, gave no indications of the action of water; and there was +no trace of ice among the stones, as there certainly would have been if +water had filled the cave, and gradually retired before the attacks of +frost, or in consequence of the opening up of drainage. There were pieces +of the trunks of trees, also, and large bones, lying about at different +levels on the rocks. I never searched for bones in these caves, owing to +the absence of the stalagmitic covering which preserves cavern-bones from +decay; nor did I take any notice of such as presented themselves without +search, for the <i>bergers</i> are in the habit of throwing the carcases +of deceased cows into any deep hole in the neighbourhood of the place +where the carcases may be found, in consequence of the general belief that +living cows go mad if they find the grave of a companion; so that I should +probably have made a laborious collection of the bones of the <i>bos +domesticus</i>. <a name="Page_44"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 44]</span></a></p> + +<p>This belief of the bergers respecting the cows is supported by several +circumstantial and apparently trustworthy accounts of fearful fights among +herds of cattle over the grave of some of the herd. The sight of a +companion's blood is said to have a similar effect upon them. Thus a small +pasturage between Anzeindaz and the Col de Cheville, on the border of the +cantons Vaud and Valais, is still called <i>Boulaire</i> from legendary +times, when the herdsmen of Vaud (then Berne) won back from certain +Valaisan thieves the cattle the latter were carrying off from La Varraz. +Some of the cows were wounded in the battle, and the sight of their blood +drove the others mad, so that they fought till almost all the herd was +destroyed; whence the name Boulaire, from <i>ébouëler</i>, to +disembowel,--a word formed from <i>bouë</i>, the patois for <i> +boyau</i>.</p> + +<p>When we left the lower darkness and ascended to the floor of ice once +more, Mignot expressed a desire to see my attempt at a sketch of the +glacière from that point, as he had been much struck during his +negotiatory visit of the night before by the sketch of the entrance to the +Glacière of S. Georges, chiefly because he had guessed what it was +meant for. He was evidently disappointed with the representation of his +own cave, for he could see nothing but a network of lines, with +unintelligible words written here and there, and after some hesitation he +confessed that it was not the least like it. A little explanation soon set +that right, and then he began to plead vigorously for the wall which +surrounded the trees at the mouth of the pit. Why was it not put in? He +was told, because it could not be seen from below; but nevertheless he +strongly urged its introduction, on the ground that he had built it +himself, and it was such a well-built wall; facts which far more than +balanced any little impossibility that might otherwise have prevented its +appearance. After we had reached the <a name="Page_45"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 45]</span></a> grass of the outer world again, he +made me sketch the entrance to the pit, pointing to the containing wall +with parental pride, and standing over the sketch-book and the sketcher +with an umbrella which speedily turned inside out under the combined +pressure of wind, and rain, and years; a feat which it had already +performed <i>des fois</i>, he said, in the course of his acquaintance with +it.</p> + +<p>Before finally leaving the glacière, I examined the structure of +the great stream of ice, at different points near the top of the limiting +wall. From its outward appearance it might have been expected to be rough, +but it was not so; it was knotty to the eye, but perfectly smooth to the +foot, and, when cut, showed itself perfectly clear and limpid. It did not +separate under the axe into misshapen pieces, with faces of every possible +variation from regularity, that is, with what is called vitreous fracture, +but rather separated into a number of nuts of limpid ice, each being of a +prismatic form, and of much regularity in shape and size. It was smooth, +dark-grey, and clear; free from air, and free from surface lines; very +hard, and suggesting the idea of coarse internal granulation. In the large +ice-streams of some darker glacières, this ice assumed a rather +lighter colour by candle-light, but always presented the same granular +appearance, and cut up into the same prismatic nuts, and was evidently +free from constitutional opacity.</p> + +<a name="Page_46"><span class="pagenum">[Page 46]</span></a> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE UPPER GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES.</h3> + +<p>We now put ourselves under the guidance of the accomplice, Louis, who +began to express doubts of his ability to find the upper glacière, +administering consolation by reminding us that if he could not find it no +one else could.</p> + +<p>As we walked on through the mist and rain, it became necessary to +circumvent a fierce-looking bull, and Mignot and the accomplice told rival +tales of the dangers to which pedestrians are exposed from the violence of +the cattle on some montagnes, where the bulls are allowed to grow to full +size and fierceness. Mignot was quite motherly in his advice and his +cautions, recommending as the surest safeguard a pocket-pistol, loaded +with powder only, to be flashed in the bull's face as he makes his charge. +When informed that in England an umbrella or a parasol is found to answer +this purpose, he shook his head negatively, evidently having no confidence +in his own umbrella, and doubting its obeying his wishes at the critical +moment; indeed, it would require a considerable time, and much care and +labour, to unfurl a lumbering instrument of that description. He had the +best of the tale-contest with Renaud in the end, for he had himself been +grazed by a bull which came up with him at the moment when he sprang into +a tree.</p> + +<p>Before very long we reached a little kennel-like hut of boughs, which +no decent dog would have lived in, and no <a name="Page_47"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 47]</span></a> large dog could have entered, and from +this we drew a charcoal-burner. No, he said, he did not know the +glacière; he had heard that one had been discovered near there, and +he had spent hours in searching for it without success. A herdsman on his +way from one pasturage to another could give no better help, and we began +to despair, till at length Louis desired us to halt in a place sheltered +from the rain, while he prosecuted the search alone. We had abundant time +for observing that, like other leafy places sheltered from the rain, our +resting-place was commanded by huge and frequent drops of water; but at +last a joyful <i>Jodel</i> announced the success of the accomplice, and we +ran off to join him.</p> + +<p>At first sight there was very little to see. Louis had lately been +enunciating an opinion that the cave was not worth visiting, and I now +felt inclined to agree with him. The general plan appeared to be much the +same as in the one we had just left, but the scale was considerably +smaller. The pit was not nearly so deep or so large, and, owing to the +falling-in of rock and earth at one side, the snow was approached by a +winding path with a gradual fall. As soon as the snow was reached, the +slope became very steep, and led promptly to an arch in the rock, where +the stream of ice began. The cave being shallow, the stream soon came to +an end, and, unlike that in the lower glacière, it filled the cave +down to the terminal wall, and did not fill it up to the left wall. Here +the ground of the cave was visible, strewn with the remains of columns, +and showing the thickness of the bottom of the stream to be about 6 feet +only. The arch of entrance had evidently been almost closed by a +succession of large columns, but these had succumbed to the rain and heat +to which they had been exposed by their position.</p> + +<p>The left side of the cave, in descending, that is the west <a name= +"Page_48"><span class="pagenum">[Page 48]</span></a> side, was +comparatively light, being in the line from the arch; but the other side +was quite dark, and after a time we found that the ice-stream, instead of +terminating as we had supposed with the wall of rock at the end of the +cavern, turned off to the right, and was lost in the darkness. Of course +candles were brought out, though Louis assured us that he had explored +this part of the cave on his previous visit, and had found that the right +wall of the cave very soon stopped the stream: we, on the contrary, by +tying a candle to a long stick, and thrusting it down the slope of ice, +found that the stream passed down extremely steeply, and poured under a +narrow and low arch in the wall of the cave, beyond which nothing could be +seen. We despatched pieces of ice along the slope, and could hear them +whizzing on after they had passed the arch, and landing apparently on +stones far below; so I called for the cords, and told Louis that we must +cut our way down. But, alas! the cords had been left at the other +glacière! One long bag, with a hole in the middle like an +old-fashioned purse, had carried the luncheon at one end and the ropes at +the other; and when the luncheon was finished, the bag had been stowed +away under safe trees till our return. This was of course immensely +annoying, and I rang the changes on the few words of abuse which invention +or knowledge supplied, as we sat damp and shivering on the verge of the +slope, idly sending down pieces of broken columns which brought forth +tantalising sounds from the subterranean regions. At length Renaud was +moved to shame, and declared that he would cut his way down, rope or no +rope; but this seemed so horribly hazardous a proceeding under all the +circumstances, that I forbad his attempting it. Seeing, however, that he +was determined to do something, we arranged ourselves into an apparatus +something like a sliding telescope. Louis cut a <a name="Page_49"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 49]</span></a> first step down the slope, and +there took his stand till such time as Mignot got a firm grasp of the tail +of his blouse with both hands, I meanwhile holding Mignot's tail with one +hand, and the long stick with the candle attached to it with the other; +thus professedly supporting the whole apparatus, and giving the necessary +light for the work. Even so, we tried again to persuade Renaud to give it +up, but he was warmed to his work, and really the arrangement answered +remarkably well: when he wished to descend to a new step, Mignot let out a +little blouse, and, being himself similarly relieved, descended likewise a +step, and then the remaining link of the chain followed. The leader +slipped once, but fortunately grasped a projecting piece of rock, for the +stream was here confined within narrow walls, and so the strength of the +apparatus was not tested; it could scarcely have stood any serious call +upon its powers.</p> + +<p>After a considerable period of very slow progress, Renaud asked for the +candlestick, never more literally a stick than now, and thrust it under +the arch, stooping down so as to see what the farther darkness might +contain. We above could see nothing, but, after an anxious pause, he cried +<i>On peut aller!</i> with a lively satisfaction so completely shared by +Mignot, that that worthy person was on the point of letting Renaud's +blouse go, in order to indulge in gestures of delight. The step-cutting +went on merrily after this announcement, and one by one we came to the +arch and passed through, finding it rather a trough than an arch; the +breadth was about 4 feet, and the height from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 feet, and, as +we pushed through, our breasts were pressed on to the ice, while our backs +scraped against the rock which formed the roof.</p> + +<p>As soon as this trough was passed, the ice spread out like a fan, and +finally landed us in a subterranean cavern, <a name="Page_50"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 50]</span></a> 72 feet long by 36 feet broad, to +which this was the only entrance.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="SECOND CAVE OF THE UPPER GLACIÈRE +OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES." src="images/image6.jpg" width="352" +height="350" /><br /> + <span class="caption">SECOND CAVE OF THE UPPER GLACIÈRE OF THE +PRÉ DE S. LIVRES.</span></div> + +<p>The breadth of the fan at the bottom was 27 feet; and near the archway +a very striking column poured from a vertical fissure in the wall, and +joined the main stream. The fissure was partially open to the cave, and +showed the solid round column within the rock: this column measured 18-1/2 +feet in circumference, a little below the point where it became free of +the fissure, and it had a stream of ice 22 feet long pouring from its +base. The colour of the column was unusual, being a dull yellowish green, +and the peculiar structure of the ice gave the whole mass the appearance +of coursing down very rapidly, as if the water had been frozen while thus +moving, and had not therefore <a name="Page_51"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 51]</span></a> ceased so to move. At the bottom of the fan, the +flooring of the cave consisted of broken stones for a small space, and +then came a black lake of ice, which occupied all the centre of the cave, +and afforded us no opportunity of even guessing at its depth. From the +manner, however, in which it blended with the stones at its edge, I am not +inclined to believe that this depth was anything very great.</p> + +<p>Renaud, in his impetuosity, had ceased to cut steps towards the bottom +of the slope, and had slipped down the last few feet, of course cutting +the remaining steps before attempting to reascend. We found him strutting +about the floor of the cave, tossing his wet cap in the air, and crying +<i>No one! No one! I the first!</i>, declining to take any part in +measurements until the full of his delight and pride had been poured out. +He shouted so loud that I was obliged to stop him, lest by some chance the +unwonted disturbance of the air should bring down an unstable block from +the roof of the arch, and seal us up for ever. There was no sign of +incipient thaw in the cave, and the air was very dry, so much so as at +once to call attention to the fact. At the farthest end, a lofty dome +opened up in the roof; and possibly at some time or other the rock may +here fall through, and afford another means of entrance. Beneath this dome +a very lovely cluster of columns had grouped itself, formed of the clear +porcelain-like ice, and fretted and festooned with the utmost delicacy, as +if Andersen's Ice Maiden had been there in one of her amiable moods, and +had built herself a palace. This dome in the roof was similar to many +which I afterwards observed in other glacières, being a vertical +fissure with flutings from top to bottom--not a spherical dome, but of +that more elegant shape which the female dress of modern times assumes on +a tall person.</p> + +<a name="Page_52"><span class="pagenum">[Page 52]</span></a> + +<p>Between the base of the circular column and the wall, we found a rare +instance of clear jelly-like ice, without any lines external or internal, +such as is formed in the open air under very favourable circumstances.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE UPPER +GLACIÈRE OF THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES." src="images/image7.jpg" +width="345" height="297" /><br /> + <span class="caption">VERTICAL SECTIONS OF THE UPPER GLACIÈRE OF +THE PRÉ DE S. LIVRES.</span></div> + +<br /> + <a name="FNanchor21"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_21"><sup>[21]</sup></a>[marker is in illustration] + +<p>The ordinary number of undergraduate May Terms had afforded various +opportunities for studying the comparative clearness of different pieces +of ice, but certainly no one ever saw a lemon pippin through an inch and a +half of that material so clearly as we now saw the white rock through +1-1/2 feet. Mignot, indeed, said 2 feet; but it was his way to make a +large estimate of dimensions, and he constantly interrupted my record of +measurements by the assertion that I had made them <i>moins que plus</i>. +We were all disappointed by the actual size of the ice-fall which it had +cost us so much time and trouble to descend, the distance from the <a +name="Page_53"><span class="pagenum">[Page 53]</span></a> first step +to the last being only 26 feet: as this, however, was given by a string +stretched from the one point to the other, and not following the concave +surface of the ice, the real distance was something more than this.</p> + +<p>It was now getting rather late, considering the journey one of us had +yet to perform, and we walked quickly away from the glacière, +agreeing that it was not improbable that in that part of the Jura there +might be many hidden caves containing more or less ice, with no entrance +from the world outside, except the fissures which afford a way for the +water. The entrance to this cave was so small, that the same physical +effect might well be produced by one or two cracks in the rock, such as +every one is well acquainted with who has walked on the fissured limestone +summits of the lower mountains; and, indeed, Renaud positively affirmed +that at the time of his former visit there was not even this entrance to +the lower cave, for the ice-stream reached then a higher point of the +wall, and completely filled and hid the arch we had discovered. It is very +difficult to see how ice can exist in a cave which has no atmospheric +communication with the colds of winter, as would apparently be the case +with this cave if the one entrance were closed; but where the cracks and +small fissures in the rock do provide such communication, there is no +reason why we should not imagine all manner of glacial beauties decorating +unknown cavities, beyond the general physical law to which all the +glacières would seem to be exceptions.</p> + +<p>Mignot now became communicative as to the amount of ice supplied by his +glacière, the lower of the two we had seen; and his statistics were +so utterly confused, that I gave him ten centimes and an address, and +charged him to write it all down from his account-book, and send it by +post. The letter was accordingly written on July 24, and after trying <a +name="Page_54"><span class="pagenum">[Page 54]</span></a> many +unsuccessful addresses in various parts of Switzerland, it finally reached +England in the middle of September. It tells its own tale sufficiently +well, and is therefore given here with all the mistakes of the +original.</p> + +<p>'Mon cher Monsieur Browne,--J'ai beaucoup tardé a vous +écrire les détails promis, sans doute je ne voulait pas vous +oublier; nous sommes affligés dans nôtre maison ma femme et +gravement malade ce qui me donne beaucoup de tourment jour et nuit, enfin +ce n'est pas ce qui doit faire nôtre entretient.</p> + +<p>En 1863. Nous avons exploité comme suit. (Dépenses.)</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="Depenses"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Aoust</td> +<td>27</td> +<td></td> +<td>10 journées pour confectionner les Echelles et les poser.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td>29</td> +<td></td> +<td>3 journées pour couper la glasse.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td>31</td> +<td></td> +<td>11 journées pour sortir la glasse avec les hôtes.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td>31</td> +<td></td> +<td>4 chars a deux chevaux pour ammener</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>Menés</td> +<td></td> +<td>la charge a deux: dès St. Georges a</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>Septembre 1</td> +<td></td> +<td>Gland plusieurs autres journées pour accompagner<br /> + les chars. 70 pots de vin bu<br /> + en faisant ces chargements, pour trois<br /> + cordes pour se tenir.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>Septembre 2</td> +<td></td> +<td>Trois journées pour couper.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>le 3</td> +<td></td> +<td>12 journées pour sortir.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>'Cher Monsieur.--Je ne vous ait pas mis le prix de chaque articles; ni +tout-a fait tous les traveaux mais pour vous donner une idée, je +veux vous donner connaissance du coût général des +dépences pour deux chargements s'élève a 535 francs. +Je vous donne aussi connaissance de la quantité de glasse rendue +235 quinteaux a 3 francs, qui produit 705 <a name="Page_55"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 55]</span></a> francs reste net sur ces deux +chargements 175 francs: par conséquent mon cher Monsieur je n'ai +pas besoin de vous donner des détails des chargements suivants +c'est a peu près les mêmes frais, et la quantité de +glasse aussi.</p> + +<p>'Nous en avons refait trois chargements:--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="chargements"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Un</td> +<td>le</td> +<td>15</td> +<td>Septembre.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>2</td> +<td>le</td> +<td>13</td> +<td>Octobre.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>3</td> +<td>le</td> +<td>14</td> +<td>Novembre</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>'Cela comprend toute l'exploitation de 1863.</p> + +<p>'Vous m'excuserez beaucoup de mon retard.</p> + +<p>'Je termine en vous présentant mes respectueuses salutations. +Vous noublierez pas ce que vous mavez promis' <a name="FNanchor22"></a><a +href="#Footnote_22"><sup>[22]</sup></a>St. Georges, le 24 Juillet, 1864. +<i>Dimanche</i>.</p> + +<p>'JULES MIGNOT.'</p> + +<p>Instead of three francs the quintal, Mignot had previously told me that +he got four francs, delivered at Gland, and five at Geneva. His ordinary +staff during the time of the exploitation was ten men to carry and load, +and two to cut the ice in the cave.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of considerable importance to catch the Poste at Gimel, +and the two Swiss groaned loudly on the consequent pace, unnecessary, as +far as they were concerned, for the Poste was nothing to them. As a +general rule, the Swiss of this district cannot walk so fast as their +Burgundian or French neighbours, unless it is very much to their interest +to do so, and then they can go fast enough. A legend is still preserved in +the valleys of Joux and Les Rousses, to the following effect. While the +Franche Comté was still Spanish, in 1648, commissioners were +appointed to fix the boundaries between Berne and Burgundy, on the other +side of the range of hill we were now descending, and they decided that +one of the boundary stones must be <a name="Page_56"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 56]</span></a> placed at the distance of a common +league from the Lake of Les Rousses. Unfortunately, no one could say what +a common league was, beyond the vague definition of 'an hour's walk;' so +two men were started from the shore of the lake, the one a Burgundian and +the other a Swiss, with directions to walk for an hour down the Orbe +towards Chenit, the stone to be placed half-way between the points they +should respectively reach at the end of the hour. It was for the interest +of the Franche Comté that the stone should be as near the lake as +possible, and accordingly the Swiss champion made such walking as had +never been seen before, and gained for Berne a considerable amount of +territory. There was no such tragic result in this case as that which +induced the Carthaginians to pay divine honours to the brothers whose +speed, on a like occasion, had added an appreciable amount to the +possessions of the republic.</p> + +<p>At length we reached the point where the roads for Gimel and S. Georges +separate, and there, under a glorious sapin, we said our adieux, and +wished our <i>au revoirs</i>, and settled those little matters which the +best friends must settle, when one is of the nature of a monsieur, and the +others are guides. They burdened their souls with many politenesses, and +so we parted. The inclemency of the weather was such, that the people in +the lower country asked, as they passed, whether snow had fallen in the +mountains, and the cold rain continued unceasingly down to the large plain +on which the Federal Camp of Bière<a name="FNanchor23"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_23"><sup>[23]</sup></a> is placed. Here for a few moments the +sun showed itself, lighting up the white tents, and <a name="Page_57"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 57]</span></a> displaying to great +advantage the masses of scented orchises, and the feathery <i> +reine-des-prés</i>, which hemmed the road in on either side. All +through the earlier part of the day, flowers had forced themselves upon +our notice as mere vehicles for collected rain, when we came in contact +with them; but now, for a short time, they resumed their proper +place,--only for a short time, for the rain soon returned, and did not +cease till midnight. Not all the garden scenery about Aubonne and Allaman +(<i>ad Lemannum</i>), nor all the vineyards which yield the choice white +wine of the Côte, could counterbalance the united discomfort of the +rain, and the cold which had got into the system in the two +glacières; and matters were not mended by the discovery that <i> +Bradshaw</i> was treacherous, and that a junction with dry baggage at +Neufchâtel could not be effected before eleven at night.</p> + +<p>There are some curious natural phenomena in this neighbourhood, due to +the subterranean courses which the fissured limestone of the Jura affords +to the meteoric waters. Not far from Bière, the river Aubonne +springs out at the bottom of an amphitheatre of rock, receiving additions +soon after from a group of twenty natural pits, which the peasants call +unfathomable--an epithet freely applied to the strange holes found in the +Jura. It is remarkable that the way seems to stand at different levels in +the various pits.<a name="FNanchor24"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_24"><sup>[24]</sup></a> The plain of Champagne, in which they +occur, is unlike the surrounding soil in being formed of calcareous +detritus, evidently brought down by <a name="Page_58"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 58]</span></a> some means or other from the Jura, and +is dry and parched up to the very edges of the pits. The Toleure, a +tributary of the Aubonne, frequently large enough to be called a +confluent, flows out from the foot of a wall of rock composed of regular +parallelopipeds, and in the spring, when the snows are melting freely, its +sources burst out at various levels of the rock. Farther to the west, the +Versoie, famous for its trout, pours forth a full-sized stream near the +Château of Divonne, which is said to take its name (<i>Divorum +unda</i>) from this phenomenon. Passing to the northern slope of this +range of the Jura, the Orbe is a remarkable example of the same sort of +thing, flowing out peacefully in very considerable bulk from an arch at +the bottom of a perpendicular rock of great height. This river no doubt +owes its origin to the superfluous waters of the Lake of Brenets, which +have no visible outlet, and sink into fissures and <i>entonnoirs</i> in +the rock at the edge of the lake. Notwithstanding that the lake is +three-quarters of a league distant, horizontally, and nearly 700 feet +higher, the belief had always been that it was the source of the stream, +and in 1776 this was proved to be the fact. For some years before that +date, the waters of the Lake of Joux had been inconveniently high, and the +people determined to clean out the <i>entonnoirs</i> and fissures of the +Lake of Brenets, which is only separated from the Lake of Joux by a narrow +tongue of land, in the expectation that the water would then pass away +more freely. In order to reach the fissures, they dammed up the outlet of +the upper into the lower lake; but the pressure on the embankment became +too great, and the waters burst through with much violence, creating an +immense disturbance <a name="Page_59"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 59]</span></a> in the lake; and the Orbe, which had always been +perfectly clear, was troubled and muddy for some little time. The source +of the Loue, near Pontarlier, is more striking than even that of the +Orbe.<a name="FNanchor25"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_25"><sup>[25]</sup></a></p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_60"><span class="pagenum">[Page 60]</span></a> <a name= +"CHAPTER_V"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF THE GRÂCE-DIEU, OR LA BAUME, NEAR +BESANÇON.</h3> + +<p>The grand and lovely scenery of the Val de Travers has at length been +opened up for the ordinary tourist world, by the railway which connects +Pontarlier with Neufchâtel. The beauties of the valley are an +unfortunate preparation for the dull expanse of ugly France which greets +the traveller passing north from the former town; but the country soon +assumes a pleasanter aspect, and nothing can be more charming than the +soft green slopes, dotted with the richest pines, which form the approach +to the station of Boujeailles. It is impossible for the most careless +traveller to avoid observing the ill effects produced upon the trees on +the south side of the forest of Chaux, by the crowded and neglected state +in which they have been left, and the wet state of the soil. The branches +become covered with moss, which first kills them, and then breaks them +off, so that many tall and tapering sapins point their heads to the sky +with trunks wholly guiltless of branches; while in other cases, where +decay has not yet gone so far, the branches wear the appearance of +gigantic stags' horns, with the velvet; and when a number of these +interlace, the mosses unite in large dark patches, giving a cedar-like air +to the scene of ruin.</p> + +<p>Up to this point, an elderly Frenchman in the carriage had been +extremely offensive, from the evil odour of his Macintosh coat; but in <a +name="Page_61"><span class="pagenum">[Page 61]</span></a> answer to a +remark upon the improvement which the railway would effect, by providing +ventilation for the forest, he gave so much information on that subject, +and gave it so pleasantly, and had evidently so good a knowledge of the +topography of Franche Comté, that his coat speedily lost its smell, +and we became excellent friends.</p> + +<p>It is a tantalising thing to be whirled on a hot and dusty day through +districts famous for their wines, the dust and heat standing out in more +painful colours by contrast with the recollection of cooling draughts +which other occasions have owed to such vineyards; though, after all, the +true method of facing heat with success is to drink no wine. At any rate, +the vineyards of Arbois must always be interesting, and if the stories of +the Templars' orgies be true, we may be sure that the chapelry which they +possessed in that town would be a favourable place of residence with the +order; possibly Rule XVI. might there be somewhat relaxed. 'The good wine +of Arbois,' <i>la meilleure cave de Bourgougne</i>, a judicious old writer +says, had free entry into all the towns of the Comté; and when +Burgundy was becoming imperial, Maximilian extended this privilege through +all the towns of the empire. A hundred years later, it had so high a +character, that the troops of Henri IV. turned away from the town, +announcing that they did not wish to attack <i>ceulx estoient du naturel +de leur vin, qui frappe partout</i>;<a name="FNanchor26"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_26"><sup>[26]</sup></a> and the king was forced to come +himself, with his constable and marshals, to beat down the walls, in the +course of which undertaking his men felt the vigour of the inhabitants to +a greater extent than he liked. It is said that when he had taken the +town, the municipality received him in state, and supplied him with wine +of the country. He praised the wine very highly, on which one of the body +had the ill <a name="Page_62"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 62]</span></a> taste to assure him that they had a better wine +than that. 'You keep it, perhaps,' was the royal rebuke, 'for a better +occasion.' Henry had a great opinion of this wine; and the Duc de Sully +states, in his Memoirs, that when the Duc de Mayenne retired from the +league against the king, and came to Monceaux to tender his allegiance, +Henry punished him for past offences by walking so fast about the grounds +of the château, that the poor duke, what with his sciatica, and what +with his fat, at last told him with an expressive gesture that a minute +more of it would kill him. The king thereupon let him go, and promised him +some <i>vin d'Arbois</i> to set him right again.<a name= +"FNanchor27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27"><sup>[27]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The present appearance of the town, as seen from the high level +followed by the railway, scarcely recalls the time when Arbois was known +as <i>le jardin de noblesse</i>, and Barbarossa dated thence his charters, +or Jean Sans-peur held there the States of Burgundy. Gollut<a name= +"FNanchor28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28"><sup>[28]</sup></a> tells a story +of a dowager of Arbois, mother-in-law to Philip V. and Charles IV. of +France, which outdoes legend of Bishop Hatto. Mahaut d'Artois was an +elderly lady remarkable for her charities, and was by consequence always +surrounded by large crowds of poor folk during her residence at the +Châtelaine, the ruins of which lie a mile or two from Arbois. On the +occasion of a severe famine in Burgundy, she collected a band of her +mendicant friends in a stable, and burned them all, saying that '<i>par +pitié elle hauoit faict cela, considerant les peines que ces +pauvres debuoient endurer en temps de si grande et tant estrange +famine</i>.'</p> + +<a name="Page_63"><span class="pagenum">[Page 63]</span></a> + +<p>There is a Val d'Amour near Arbois, but the more beautiful valley of +that name lies between Dôle and Besançon, and, as we passed +its neighbourhood, my friend with the Macintosh informed me that as it was +clear from my questions that I was drawing up a history of the Franche +Comté, he must beg me to insert a legend respecting the origin of +this name, Val d'Amour, which, he believed, had never appeared in print. I +disclaimed the history, but accepted the legend, and here it is:--The +Seigneur of Chissey was to marry the heiress of a neighbouring seigneurie, +and, it is needless to add, she was very lovely, and he was handsome and +brave. A lake separated the two châteaux, and the young man not +unfrequently returned by water rather late in the evening; and so it fell +out that one night he was drowned. The lady naturally grieved sorely for +her loss, and put in train all possible means for recovering her lover's +body. Time, however, passed on, and no success attended her efforts, till +at length she caused the hills which dammed up the waters to be pierced, +and then De Chissey was found. A village sprang up near the outlet thus +made, and took thence its name Percée, or, as men now spell it, +Parcey; and the rich vegetation which speedily covered the valley, where +once the lake had been, gave it such an air of happiness and beauty, that +the people remembered its origin, and called it the Valley of Love. It is +a fact that Parcy was not always so spelled, for Noble Constantin +Thiehault, Sieur de Perrecey, was a witness to the treaty for the +transference of a miraculous host from Faverney to Dôle in 1608, and +old maps and books give it as Perrecey and Parrecey indifferently. The De +Chisseys, whose names may be found among the female prebends of +Château-Chalon, with its necessary sixteen quarters, filled a +considerable place in the history of the Comté from the <a name= +"Page_64"><span class="pagenum">[Page 64]</span></a> Crusades +downwards, and known as <i>les Fols de Chissey</i>, the brave<a name= +"FNanchor29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29"><sup>[29]</sup></a> and dashing, +and witty De Chisseys--qualities which no doubt were possessed by the poor +young man for whom the fair Chatelaine drained the Val d'Amour.</p> + +<p>As we drew nearer to Besançon, each turn of the small streams, +and each low rounded hill, might have served as an illustration to +Cæsar's 'Commentaries.' Now at length it was seen how, whatever the +result of a battle, there was always a <i>proximus collis</i> for the +conquered party to retire to; and it would have been easy to find many +suitable scenes for the critical engagement, where the woods sloped down +to a strip of grass-land between their foot and the stream.</p> + +<p>The Frenchman knew his Cæsar, but he put that general in the +fourth century B.C. He made mistakes, too, in quoting him, which were +easily detected by a memory bristling with the details of his phraseology, +the indelible result of extracting the principal parts of his verbs, and +the nominatives of his irregular nouns, from half a dozen generations of +small boys. He promised me a rich Julian feast in Besançon, and was +greatly affected when he found that the Englishman could give him +Cæsar's description of his native town. He wholly denied the +amphitheatre with which one of our handbooks has gifted it; and this +denial was afterwards echoed by every one in Besançon, some even +thinking it necessary to explain the difference between an amphitheatre +and an arch of triumph, the latter still existing in the town. The Jesuit +Dunod relates that the amphitheatre was to be seen at the beginning of the +seventeenth century, in the ruined state in which the Alans and Vandals +had left it after their successful siege in 406. It seems to have stood +near the present site of the Madeleine.</p> + +<a name="Page_65"><span class="pagenum">[Page 65]</span></a> + +<p>It was a great satisfaction to find that the Frenchman had himself +visited the glacière which was the object of my search, and was +able to give some idea as to the manner of reaching it, for my information +on the subject was confined to a vague notice that there was an ice-cave +five leagues from Besançon. As so often happened in other cases, he +advised me not to go to it, but rather, if I must see a cave, to go to the +Grotto of Ocelles,<a name="FNanchor30"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_30"><sup>[30]</sup></a> a collection of thirty or more caverns +and galleries near the Doubs, below Besançon. Seeing, however, that +I was bent on visiting the glacière, he advised me not to go on +Sunday, for the Cardinal Archbishop had ordered the Trappists at the +Chartreuse near not to receive guests on that day; while Saturday, he +thought, was almost as bad, for nothing better than an omelette could be +obtained on days of abstinence. Saturday, then, was clearly the day to be +chosen.</p> + +<p>The first sight of Besançon explains at once why Cæsar was +so anxious to forestall Ariovistus by occupying Vesontio, although the +hill on which the citadel stands is not so striking as the similar hill at +Salins, and the engines of modern warfare would promptly print their +telegrams on every stone and man in the place, from the neighbouring +heights. The French Government has wisely taken warning from the +bombardment by the Allies, and has covered the heights which command it on +either side with friendly fortifications, in which lie the keys of the +place. Historically, Besançon is a place of great interest. It +witnessed the catastrophe of Julius Vindex, who had made terms with <a +name="Page_66"><span class="pagenum">[Page 66]</span></a> Rufus, the +general sent against him by Nero, but was attacked by the troops of Rufus +before they learned the alliance concluded between the two generals. +Vindex was so much grieved by the slaughter of his troops, and the blow +thus struck, by an unhappy accident, at his designs against the emperor, +that he put himself to death at the gates of the town, while the fight was +still going on.<a name="FNanchor31"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_31"><sup>[31]</sup></a> The Bisuntians claim to themselves the +glory acquired by the Sequani, whose chief city Vesontio was, by the +overthrow of Julius Sabinus, who asserted that he was the grandson of a +son of Julius Cæsar, and proclaimed himself emperor in the time of +Vespasian. The Sequani proceeded against him of their own accord, and +conquered him in the interest of the reigning emperor; and he and his wife +Peponilla lived hid in a tomb for nine years. Here two sons were born to +them; and when they were all discovered and carried to Rome, Peponilla +prettily told the emperor that she had brought up two sons in the tomb, in +order that there might be other voices to intercede for her husband's life +besides her own. They were, however, put to death.<a name= +"FNanchor32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32"><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> + +<p>To judge from the style of the hotels, Besançon is not visited +by many English travellers; and yet it well repays a visit, providing +those who care for such things with a full average of vaulted passages, +and feudal gateways, and arcaded court-yards, with much less than the +average of evil smell. There are gates of all shapes and +times--Louis-Quatorze towers, and fortifications specially constructed +under Vauban's own eye; while the approach to the town, from the land +side, is by a tunnel, cut through the live rock which forms a solid chord +to the arc described by the course of the river Doubs. This excavation, +called appropriately the <i>Porte Taillée</i>, is attributed by the +various inhabitants to pretty <a name="Page_67"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 67]</span></a> nearly all the famous emperors and kings who +have lived from Julius Cæsar to Louis XIV.: it owes its origin, no +doubt, to the construction of the aqueduct which formerly brought into the +town the waters pouring out of the rock at Arcier, two leagues from +Besançon, and was the work probably of M. Aurelius and L. Verus. +Local antiquaries assign the aqueduct to Agrippa, the son-in-law of +Augustus, apparently for no better reason than because he built a similar +work in Rome. The arch of triumph<a name="FNanchor33"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_33"><sup>[33]</sup></a> at the entrance to the upper town has +been an inexhaustible subject of controversy for many generations of +antiquaries, and up to the time of Dunod was generally attributed to +Aurelian: that historian, however, believed that its sculptures +represented the education of Crispus, the son of Constantine, and that the +name Chrysopolis, by which Besançon was very generally known in +early times, was only a corruption of Crispopolis. Earlier writers are in +favour of the natural derivation of Chrysopolis, and assert that when the +Senones lost their famous chief, the Brennus of Roman history, before +Delphos, they built a town where Byzantium afterwards stood, and called it +Bisantium and Chrysopolis, in memory of their city of those names at +home.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel du Nord is a rambling old house, comfortable after +French ideas of comfort, and rejoicing in an excellent cuisine; though it +is true that on one occasion, at least, <i>haricots verts à +l'Anglaise</i> meant a mass of fibrous greens, swimming in a most +un-English sea of artificial fat. It is a good place for studying the +natural manners of the untravelled Frenchman, who there sits patiently at +the table, for many minutes before dinner is served, with his napkin +tucked in round his neck, and his countenance composed into a look of much +resignation. <a name="Page_68"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 68]</span></a> The waiters are for the most part shock-headed +boys, in angular-tail coats well up in the back of the neck, who frankly +confess, when any order out of the common run of orders is given, that a +German patois from the left bank of the Rhine is their only extensive +language. One of these won my eternal gratitude by providing a clean fork +at a crisis between the last savouries and the <i>plat doux</i>; for the +usual practice with the waiters, when anyone neglected to secure his knife +and fork for the next course, was to slip the plate from under the +unwonted charge, and leave those instruments sprawling on the tablecloth +in a vengeful mess of gravy. Chickens' bones were there dealt with on all +sides as nature perhaps intended that they should be dealt with, namely, +by taking them between finger and thumb, and removing superfluities with +the teeth; and French officers with wasp-like waists, and red trousers +gathered in plaits to match, boldly despised the sophistication of spoons, +and ate their vanilla cream like men, by the help of bread and fingers. +The manners and broken French of the stranger formed an open and agreeable +subject of conversation, and the table was much quieter than a Frenchman's +<i>table d'hôte</i> is sometimes known to be: on one occasion, +however, all decorum was scattered to the winds, and the guests rushed out +into the court-yard with disordered bibs and tuckers, on the announcement +by the head waiter of a '<i>chien à l'Anglaise</i>, not so high as +a mustard-pot,' which one of the company promptly bought for twenty-four +francs, commencing its education on the spot by a lesson in +cigar-smoking.</p> + +<p>It frequently happens in France that <i>café noir</i> is a much +more ready and abundant tap than water, and so it was here; +notwithstanding which, the bedroom apparatus was most comfortable and +complete. The chambermaid <a name="Page_69"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 69]</span></a> was a boy, and under his auspices a sheet of +postage-stamps and a lead pencil vanished from the table. When it was +suggested to him that possibly they had been blown into some corner, and +so swept away, he brought a dustpan from a distant part of the house, and +miraculously discovered the stamps perched upon a small handful of dust +therein, deferring the discovery and his consequent surprise till he +reached my room. It was curious that the stamps, which had before been in +an open sheet, were now folded neatly together, and curled into the shape +of a waistcoat-pocket. He was inexorable about the pencil.</p> + +<p>No certain information could be obtained in the hotel respecting the +glacière; so an owner of carriages was summoned, and consulted as +to the best means of getting there. He naturally recommended that one of +his own carriages should be taken as far as the Abbey of Grâce-Dieu, +and that we should start at five o'clock the next morning, with a driver +who knew the way to the glacière from the point at which the +carriage must be left.<a name="FNanchor34"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_34"><sup>[34]</sup></a> Five o'clock seemed very early for a +drive of fifteen miles; but the man asserted that instead of five leagues +it was a good seven or eight, and so it turned out to be. This +glacière may be called a historical glacière, being the only +one which has attracted general attention; and the mistake about its +distance from Besançon arose very many years ago, and has been +perpetuated by a long series of copyists. The distance may not be more +than five leagues when measured on the map with a ruler; but until the +tunnels and via-ducts necessary for a crow line are constructed, the world +must be content to call it seven and a half at least. The man bargained +for two days' pay for the carriage, on <a name="Page_70"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 70]</span></a> the plea that the horse would be so +tired the next day that he would not be able to do any work, and as that +day was Sunday, the great day for excursions, it would be a dead loss. It +so happened that the charge for two days, fifteen francs, was exactly what +I paid elsewhere for one day, so there was no difficulty about the +price.</p> + +<p>We started, accordingly, at five o'clock. The day was delightfully +fine, and in spite of the driver's peculiarity of speech, caused by a +short tongue, and aggravated by a villanous little black pipe clutched +between his remaining teeth, we got through a large amount of question and +answer respecting the country through which we passed. Of course, the +reins were carried through rings low down on the kicking-strap, +ingeniously placed so that each whisk of the horse's tail caught one or +other rein; and then the process of extraction was a somewhat dangerous +one, for there was no splashboard, and the driver had to stow his legs +away out of reach, before commencing operations. The landlord of the inn +at Mühlinen, on the road from Kandersteg to Thun, has a worse +arrangement than even this, both reins passing through one small leather +loop at the top of the kicking-strap; so that when the horse on one +occasion ran away down a steep hill in consequence of the break refusing +to act, the man in his flurry could not tell which rein to pull, to steer +clear of the wall of rock on one side, and the unfenced slope on the +other, and finally flung himself out in despair, leaving his English cargo +behind.</p> + +<p>There has evidently been at some time a vast lake near Besançon, +and the old bottom of the lake is now covered with heavy meadow-grass, +while the corn-fields and villages creep down from the higher grounds, on +the remains of promontories which stretch out into the plain. The people +are in constant fear of inundation, and the driver informed me that in <a +name="Page_71"><span class="pagenum">[Page 71]</span></a> winter +large parts of the plain are flooded, the superfluous waters vanishing +after a time into a great hole, whose powers of digestion he could not +explain. The villages which lie on the shores, as it were, of the lake, +rejoice in church-towers with bulbous domes, rising out of rich clusters +of trees, and the early bells rang out through the crisp air with +something of a Belgian sweetness. Farther on, the road passed through +glorious wheat, clean as on an English model farm, save where some +picturesque farmer had devoted a corner to the growth of poppies. Here, as +elsewhere, potatoes did not grow in ridges, but each root had a little +hillock to itself; an unnatural early training which may account for the +strange appearance of <i>pommes de terre au naturel</i>.</p> + +<p>Anyone who has driven through the morning air for an hour or two before +breakfast, will understand the satisfaction with which, about seven +o'clock, we deciphered a complicated milestone into 14 kilomètres +from Besançon, which meant breakfast at the next village, Nancray. +The breakfast was simple enough, owing to the absence of butter and other +things, and consisted of coffee in its native pot, and dry bread: the milk +was set on the table in the pan in which it had been boiled, and a +soup-ladle and a French wash-hand basin took the place of cup and spoon. A +cat kept the door against sundry large and tailless dogs, whose appetites +had not gone with their tails; and an old woman kindly delivered a lecture +on the most approved method of making a ptisan from the flowers of the +lime-tree, and on the many medicinal properties of that decoction, to +which she attributed her good health at so advanced an age. I silently +supplemented her peroration by attributing her garrulity to a more +stimulating source.</p> + +<p>When we started again, it was time to learn something about the scene +of <a name="Page_72"><span class="pagenum">[Page 72]</span></a> our +further proceedings, and the driver enunciated his views on monks in +general, <i>à propos</i> to the Convent of Grâce-Dieu, the +Chartreuse at which we were to leave our carriage, and obtain food for man +and horse. The Brothers, he said, were possessed of many mills, and were +in consequence enormously rich. Among the products of their industry, a +liqueur known as <i>Chartreuse</i> seemed to fill a high place in his +esteem, for he considered it to be better--and he said it as if that +comparative led into an eighth heaven--better even than absinthe. I had an +opportunity of tasting this liqueur some weeks after, a few minutes below +the summit of Mont Blanc, and certainly no one would suspect its great +strength, which is entirely disguised by an innocent and insidious +sweetness, as unlike absinthe as anything can possibly be: impressions, +however, respecting meat and drink, and all other matters, are not very +trustworthy when received near the top of the Calotte. It has lately been +found that the worthy Brothers of the Grande Chartreuse have been +systematically defrauding the revenue, by returning their profits on the +manufacture of this liqueur at something merely nominal as compared with +the real gains. I could not learn whether the ceremony of blessing each +batch of the liqueur, before sending it out to intoxicate the world, is +performed with so much solemnity at Grâce-Dieu as at Grenoble; and, +indeed, it rests only on the assertion of the short-tongued Bisuntian that +the manufacture is carried on at all at the former place.<a name= +"FNanchor35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35"><sup>[35]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_73"><span class="pagenum">[Page 73]</span></a> + +<p>Having communicated such information as he possessed, the man seemed to +think he had a right to learn something in return, and administered +various questions respecting customs which he believed to prevail in +England. He evidently did not credit the denial of the truth of what he +had heard, nor yet the assertion, in answer to another question, that +English hothouse grapes are three or four times as large as the ordinary +grapes of France, and well-flavoured in at least a like proportion. The +roadside was planted with apple-trees, and these were overgrown with +mistletoe; so, by way of correcting his idea that the English are a sad +and gloomy people, I informed him of the use made of this parasite by +young people in the country at Christmas-time. Instead, however, of being +thereby impressed with our national liveliness, he looked with a sort of +supercilious contempt upon a people who could require the intervention or +sanction of anything external in such a matter, and turned the +conversation to some more worthy subject.</p> + +<p>At length we passed into a pleasant valley, with thrushes singing, and +much chirping of those smaller birds, in the murder of which, sitting, +consists <i>le sport</i> in the eyes of many gentlemen of France. Up to +this point, nothing could have been more unlike the scenery which I had so +far found to be associated with glacières; but now the country +became slightly more Jurane, and limestone precipices on a small scale +rose up <a name="Page_74"><span class="pagenum">[Page 74]</span></a> +on either hand, decked with the corbel towers which result from the +weathering of the rock. It was the Jura in softer as well as smaller type, +for all the desolate wildness which characterises the more rocky part of +that range was gone, and there were no signs of the grand pine-scenery, or +needle-foliage, as the Germans call it; the trees were all oak and ash and +beech, and the rocks were much more neat and orderly, and of course less +grand, than their contorted kindred farther south. The valley speedily +became very narrow, and a final bend brought us face-to-face with the +buildings of the Abbaye de Grâce-Dieu, striking from their +position--filling, as they do, the breadth of the valley,--but in no way +remarkable architecturally. The journey had been so long that it was now +ten o'clock; and as we were due in Besançon at five in the evening, +we put the horse up as quickly as possible, in a shed provided by the +Brothers, and set off on foot for the glacière, half an hour +distant. About a mile and a half from the convent, the valley comes to an +end, the rocks on the opposite sides approaching so close to each other as +only to leave room for a large flour-mill, belonging to the Brothers, and +for the escape-channel of the stream which works the mill. This building +is quite new, and might almost be taken for a fortification against +inroads by the head of the valley, especially as the words <i>Posuerunt me +custodem</i> appear on the face, applying, however, to an image of the +Virgin, which presides over the establishment. The monks have expended +their superfluous time and energies upon the erection of crosses of all +sizes on every projecting peak and point of rock, one cross more sombre +than the rest marking the scene of a recent death. As I had no means of +determining the elevation of this district above the sea,<a name= +"FNanchor36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36"><sup>[36]</sup></a> I made +enquiries as to the climate <a name="Page_75"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 75]</span></a> in winter; and one of the Brothers told me, that +it was an unusual thing with them to have a fall of snow amounting to two +joints of a remarkably dirty finger.</p> + +<p>At the mill, the path turns up the steep wooded hill on the right, and +leads through young plantations to a small cottage near the +glacière, where the plantations give place to a well-grown beech +wood. Here my conductor startled me by announcing that there was 20 +centimes to pay to the farmer of the cave for entrance; an announcement +which seemed to take all the pleasure out of the expedition, and invested +it with the disagreeable character of sightseeing. The poor driver +thought, no doubt, with some trepidation upon the small amount of <i> +pour-boire</i> he could expect from a monsieur on whom a demand for two +pence produced so serious an effect, and it was difficult to make him +understand that the fact and not the amount of payment was the trouble. +When I illustrated this by saying that I would gladly give a franc to be +allowed to enter the glacière free, he seemed to think that if I +would entrust him with the franc, he might possibly arrange that little +matter for me.</p> + +<p>The immediate approach to the glacière is very impressive. The +surface of the ground slopes slightly upwards, and the entrance, from +north to south, is by a broad inclined plane, of gentle fall at first, +which rapidly becomes steep enough to require zigzags. The walls of rock +on either side are very sheer, and increase of course in height as the +plane of entrance falls. The whole length of the slope is about 420 feet, +and down a considerable part of this some grasses and flowers are to be +found: the last 208 feet are covered more or less with ice; though, at the +time of my visit, the furious rains of the end of June, 1864, had washed +down a considerable amount of mud, and so covered some of the ice. There +were no ready means of determining the thickness of <a name="Page_76"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 76]</span></a> this layer of ice, for the +descent of which ten or eleven zigzags had been made by the farmer. In one +place, within 24 feet of its upper commencement, it was from 2-1/2 to 3 +feet thick; but the prominence of that part seemed to mark it out as of +more than the average thickness. Even where to all appearance there was +nothing but mud and earth, an unexpected fall or two showed that all was +ice below. Whether the driver had previously experienced the +treacherousness of this slope of ice, or whatever his motive might be, he +left me to enter and explore alone.</p> + +<p>The roof of the entrance is at first a mere shell, formed by the thin +crust of rock on which the surface-earth and trees rest high overhead; but +this rapidly becomes thicker, as shown in the section of the cave, and +thus a sort of outer cave is formed, the real portal of the +glacière being reached about 60 feet above the bottom of the slope. +This outer cave presents a curious appearance, from the distinctness with +which the several strata of the limestone are marked, the lower strata +weathered and rounded off like the seats of an amphitheatre of the giants, +and all, up to the shell-like roof, arranged in horizontal semicircles of +various graduated sizes, showing their concavity; while at the bottom of +the whole is seen a patch of darkness, with two masses of ice in its +centre, looming out like grey ghosts at midnight. This darkness is of +course the inner cave, the entrance to which, though it seems so small +from above, is 78 feet broad.</p> + +<p>The glacière itself may be said to commence as soon as this +entrance, or perpendicular portal, is passed, and thus includes 60 feet of +the long slope of ice, from the foot of which to the farther end of the +cave is 145 feet, the greatest breadth of the cave being 148 feet.</p> + +<a name="Page_77"><span class="pagenum">[Page 77]</span></a> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +GRÂCE-DIEU, NEAR BESANÇON." src="images/image8.jpg" width= +"394" height="245" /><br /> + <span class="caption">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +GRÂCE-DIEU, NEAR BESANÇON.</span></div> + +<br /> + <a name="Page_78"><span class="pagenum">[Page 78]</span></a> + +<p>Immediately below the portal I found a piece of the trunk of a large +column of ice, 7 feet long and 12 feet in girth, its fractured ends giving +the idea of the interior of a quickly-grown tree, in consequence of the +concentric arrangement of convergent prisms described in the account of +the Glacière of S. Georges. The wife of the farmer told me +afterwards that there had been two glorious columns at this portal, which +the recent rains had swept away. Excepting a short space at the foot of +the slope, and another towards the farther end of the cave, the floor was +covered with ice, in some parts from 3 to 4 feet thick: of this a +considerable area had been removed to a depth of 2 1/2 or 3 feet, leaving +a pond of water a foot deep, with bottom and banks of ice. The rock which +composes the true floor rises at the farthest end of the cave, and the +roof is so arranged that a sort of private chapel is there formed; and +from a fissure in the dome a monster column of ice had been constructed on +the floor, which, at the time of my visit, had lost its upper parts, and +stood as a hollow truncated cone with sides a foot thick, and with seas of +ice streaming from it, and covering the rising pavement of the chapel. +Without an axe, and without help, I was unable to measure the girth of +this column, which had not been without companions on a smaller scale in +the immediate neighbourhood. At the west end of the cave, the wall was +thickly covered for a large space with small limestone stalactites, +producing the effect of many tiers of fringe on a shawl; while from a dark +fissure in the roof a large piece of fluted drapery of the same material +hung, calling to mind some of the vastly grander details of the grottoes +of Hans-sur-Lesse in Belgium: down this wall there was also a long row of +icicles, on the edges of a narrow fissure. The north-west corner was very +dark, and an opening in the wall of rock high above the ground suggested a +tantalising cave up <a name="Page_79"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 79]</span></a> there: the ground in this corner was occupied by +the shattered remains of numerous columns of ice, which had originally +covered a circular area between 60 and 70 feet in circumference.</p> + +<p>The three large masses of ice which rendered this glacière in +some respects more remarkable than any of those I have seen, lay in a line +from east to west, across the middle of the cave, on that part of the +floor where the ice was thickest. The central mass was extremely solid, +but somewhat unmeaning in shape, being a rough irregular pyramid; its size +alone, however, was sufficient to make it very striking, the girth being +66-1/2 feet at some distance from the ice-floor with which it blended. The +mass which lay to the east of this was very lovely, owing to the good +taste of some one who had found that much ice was wont to accumulate on +that spot, and had accordingly fixed the trunk of a small fir-tree, with +the upper branches complete, to receive the water from the corresponding +fissure in the roof. The consequence was, that, while the actual tree had +vanished from sight under its icy covering, excepting on one side where a +slight investigation betrayed its presence, the mass of ice showed every +possible fantasy of form which a mould so graceful could suggest. At the +base, it was solid, with a circumference of 37 feet. The huge column, +which had collected round the trunk of the fir-tree, branched out at the +top into all varieties of eccentricity and beauty, each twig of the +different boughs becoming, to all appearance, a solid bar of frosted ice, +with graceful curve, affording a point of suspension for complicated +groups of icicles, which streamed down side by side with emulous +loveliness. In some of the recesses of the column, the ice assumed a pale +blue colour; but as a rule it was white and very hard, <a name="Page_80"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 80]</span></a> not so regularly prismatic +as the ice described in former glacières, but palpably crystalline, +showing a structure not unlike granite, with a bold grain, and with a +large predominance of the glittering element. But the westernmost mass was +the grandest and most beautiful of all. It consisted of two lofty heads, +like weeping willows in Carrara marble, with three or four others less +lofty, resembling a family group of lions' heads in a subdued attitude of +grief, richly decked with icy manes. Similar heads seemed to grow out here +and there from the solid sides of the huge mass. The girth was 76 1/2 +feet, measured about 2 feet from the floor. When this column was looked at +from the side removed from the entrance to the cave, so that it stood in +the centre of the light which poured down the long slope from the outer +world, the transparency of the ice brought it to pass that the whole +seemed set in a narrow frame of impalpable liquid blue, the effect of +light penetrating through the mass at its extreme edges. The only means of +determining the height of this column was by tying a stone to the end of a +string, and lodging it on the highest head; but this was not an easy +process, as I was naturally anxious not to injure the delicate beauty +which made that head one of the loveliest things conceivable; and each +careful essay with the stone seemed to involve as much responsibility as +taking a shot at a hostile wicket, in a crisis of the game, instead of +returning the ball in the conventional manner. When at last it was safely +lodged, the height proved to be 27 feet. I had hoped to find it much more +than this, from the grandeur of the effect of the whole mass, and I took +the trouble to measure the knotted string again with a tape, to make sure +that there was no mistake. The column formed upon the fir-tree was 3 or 4 +feet lower.</p> + +<a name="Page_81"><span class="pagenum">[Page 81]</span></a> + +<p>I have since found many notices of this glacière in the Memoirs +of the French Academy and elsewhere, extracts from which will be found in +a later chapter. These accounts are spread over a period of 200 years, +extending from 1590 to 1790, and almost all make mention of the columns or +groups of columns I have described; but, without exception, the heights +given or suggested in the various accounts are much less than those which +I obtained as the result of careful measurement. The latest description of +a visit to the glacière states a fact which probably will be held +to explain, the present excess of height above that of earlier times.<a +name="FNanchor37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37"><sup>[37]</sup></a> The +citizen Girod-Chantrans, who wrote this description, had procured the +notes of a medical man living in the neighbourhood, from which it seemed +that Dr. Oudot made the experiment, in 1779, of fixing stakes of wood in +the heads of the columns, then from 4 to 5 feet high, and found that these +stakes were the cause of a very large increase in the height of the +columns, ice gathering round them in pillars a foot thick. So that it is +not improbable that the largest of the three masses of the present day +owes its height, and its peculiar form, to a series of stakes fixed from +time to time in the various heads formed under the fissures in the roof, +though nothing but the most solid ice can now be seen. It would be very +interesting to try this experiment in one of the caves where, without any +artificial help, such immense masses of ice are formed; and by this means +columns might, in the course of a year or two, be raised to the very roof. +Further details on this subject will be given hereafter.</p> + +<p>There was no perceptible draught of air in any part of the cave, and +the candles burned steadily through the whole time of my visit, which <a +name="Page_82"><span class="pagenum">[Page 82]</span></a> occupied +more than two hours. The centre was sufficiently lighted by the day; but +in the western corner, and behind the largest column, artificial light was +necessary. The ice itself did not generally show signs of thawing, but the +whole cave was in a state of wetness, which made the process of measuring +and investigating anything but pleasant. I had placed two thermometers at +different points on my first entrance--one on a drawing-board on a large +stone in the middle of the pond of water which has been mentioned, and the +other on a bundle of pencils at the entrance of the end chapel, in a part +of the cave where the ice-floor ceased for a while, and left the stones +and rock bare. The former gave 33°, the latter, till I was on the +point of leaving, 31 1/2°, when it fell suddenly to 31°. It was +impossible, however, to stay any longer for the sake of watching the +thermometer fall lower and lower below the freezing point; indeed, the +results of sundry incautious fathomings of the various pools of water, and +incessant contact of hands and feet with the ice, had already become so +unpleasant, that I was obliged to desert my trusty hundred feet of string, +and leave it lying on the ice, from want of finger-power to roll it up. +The thermometers were both Casella's, but that which registered 31° +was the more lively of the two, the other being mercurial, with a much +thicker stem: the difference in sensitiveness was so great, that when they +were equally exposed to the sun in driving home, the one ran up to 93° +before the other had reached 85°.</p> + +<p>In leaving the glacière, I found a little pathway turning off +along the face of the rock on the left hand, a short way up the slope of +entrance, and looking as if it might lead to the opening in the dark wall +on the western side of the cave. After a time, however, it came to a +corner which it seemed an unnecessary risk to attempt to pass alone; and +my <a name="Page_83"><span class="pagenum">[Page 83]</span></a> +prudence was rewarded by the discovery that, after all, the supposed cave +could not be thus reached. It is said that this other cave was the place +to which the inhabitants fled for refuge when their district was invaded, +probably by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar with his 10,000 Swedes, and that a +ladder 40 feet long is necessary for getting at it.</p> + +<p>The driver had long ago absconded when I returned to the upper regions; +but the wife of the farmer of the grotto was there, and communicated all +that she knew of the statistics of the ice annually removed. She said that +in 1863 two chars were loaded every day for two months, each char taking +about 600 kilos, the wholesale price in Besançon being 5 francs the +hundred kilos. Since the quintal contains 50 kilos, it will be seen that +this account does not agree with the statement of Renaud as to the amount +of ice each char could take. No doubt, a char at S. Georges may mean one +thing, and a char in the village of Chaux another; but the difference +between 12 quintaux and 50 or 60 is too great to be thus explained, and +probably Madame Briot made some mistake. Her husband, Louis Briot, works +alone in the cave, and has twelve men and a donkey to carry the ice he +quarries to the village of Chaux, a mile from the glacière, where +it is loaded for conveyance to Besançon. He uses gunpowder for the +flooring of ice, and expects the eighth part of a pound to blow out a +cubic metre; and if, by ill luck, the ice thus procured has stones on the +lower side, he has to saw off the bottom layer. Madame Briot said I was +right in supposing March to be the great time for the formation of ice, as +she had heard her husband say that the columns were higher then than at +any other time of the year: she also confirmed my views as to the +disastrous effects of heavy rain. As with <a name="Page_84"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 84]</span></a> every other glacière of which I +could obtain any account, excepting the Lower Glacière of the +Pré de S. Livres, she complained that the ice had not been so +beautiful and so abundant this year as last, although the winter had been +exceptionally severe.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<a name="Page_85"><span class="pagenum">[Page 85]</span></a> + +<h3>BESANÇON AND DÔLE.</h3> + +<p>The afternoon was so far advanced when I returned to the convent, that +it was clearly impossible to reach Besançon at five o'clock, and +consequently there was time to inspect the Brothers and their buildings. +The field near the convent was gay with haymakers; and the brown monks, +with here and there a priest in <i>ci-devant</i> white, moved among the +hired labourers, and stirred them up by exhortation and example,--with +this difference, that while it was evidently the business of the monks so +to do, the priests, on the other hand, had only taken fork in hand for the +sake of a little gentle exercise. One unhappy Jacques Bonhomme made hot +and toilsome hay in thick brown clothes, plainly manufactured from a +defunct Brother's gown; for, to judge from appearances, a cast-off gown is +a thing unknown. It was good to see a Brother, in horn spectacles of +mediæval cut, tenderly chopping a log for firewood, and peering at +it through his spectacles after each stroke, as a man examines some +delicate piece of natural machinery with a microscope; to see another +Brother, the sphere of whose duties lay in the flour-mill, standing in the +doorway with brown robe and shaven crown all powdered alike with white, +and a third covered from head to foot with sawdust; or, best of <a name= +"Page_86"><span class="pagenum">[Page 86]</span></a> all, to see an +antique Brother, with scarecrow legs, and low shoes which had presumably +been in his possession or that of his predecessors for a long series of +years, wheeling a barrow of liquid manure, with his gown looped up high by +means of stout whipcord and an arrangement of large brass rings. The +Brother whose business it was to do such cooking as might be required by +visitors, grinned in the most friendly and engaging manner from ear to ear +when he was looked at; and, by fixing him steadily with the eye, he could +be kept for considerable spaces of time standing in the middle of the +kitchen, knife in hand, with the corners of his mouth out of sight round +his broad cheeks. His ample front was decked with a blue apron, suspended +from his shoulders, and confined round the convexity of his waist by an +old strap which no respectable costermonger would have used as harness. +The soup served was by courtesy called <i>soupe maigre,</i> but it was in +fact <i>soupe maigre</i> diluted by many homoeopathic myriads, and the +Brother showed much curiosity as to my opinion of its taste--a curiosity +which I could not satisfy without hurting his professional pride. When +that course was finished, the large-faced cook suggested an omelette, as +the most substantial thing allowed on eves, proceeding to draw the +materials from a closet which so fully shared in the general abstinence +from water as a means of cleansing, that I shut my eyes upon all further +operations, and ate the eventual omelette in faith. Its excellence called +forth such hearty commendations, that there seemed to be some danger of +the mouth not coming right again. Then salads, and bread and butter, and +wine, and various kinds of cheese were brought, which made in all a very +fair dinner for a fast-day.</p> + +<p>The culinary monk knew nothing of the history of his convent, beyond +the bare year of its foundation, and displayed a monotonous dead level of +<a name="Page_87"><span class="pagenum">[Page 87]</span></a> +ignorance on all topographical and historical questions: to him the <i> +Pain d'Abbaye</i> <a name="FNanchor38"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_38"><sup>[38]</sup></a> meant nothing further than the staff of +life there provided, and he neither knew himself nor could recommend any +Brother who knew anything about the glacière. He was a German, and +we talked of his native Baiern and the modern glories of his capital; and +when his questions elicited a declaration of my profession, he passed up +to Saxony, and pinned me with Luther. Finding that I objected to being so +pinned, and repudiated something of that which his charge involved, he +waived Luther, of whom he knew nothing beyond his name, and came down upon +me triumphantly with the word Protestant. I explained to him, of course, +that the worthy Elector, and his friends who protested, had not much to do +with the Anglican branch of the Church Catholic; and then the old task had +to be gone through of assuring the assembled Brothers that we in England +have Sacraments, have Orders, have a Trinitarian Creed.</p> + +<p>At length, about half-past three, we started for Besançon, +paying of course <i>à volonté</i> for food and +entertainment, as we did not choose to qualify as paupers. The driver told +me on the way that there was another glacière at Vaise, a village +three or four kilomètres from Besançon, and <a name= +"Page_88"><span class="pagenum">[Page 88]</span></a> at no great +distance from the road by which we should approach the town; so, when we +reached the crest above Morre, where the road passes the final ridge by +means of a tunnel, I paid the carriage off, and walked to the village of +Vaise. The public-house knew of the glacière--knew indeed of +two,--further still, kept the keys of both. This was good news, though the +idea of keys in connection with an ice-cave was rather strange; and I +proposed to organise an expedition at once to the glacières. The +male half of the auberge declared that he was forbidden to open them to +strangers, except by special order from a certain monsieur in +Besançon; but the female half, scenting centimes, stated her belief +that the monsieur in Besançon could never wish them to turn away a +stranger who had come so many kilomètres through the dust to see +the ice. She put the proposed disobedience in so persuasive and Christian +a form, that I was obliged to take the husband's side,--not that he was in +any need of support, for he had been longer married than Adam was, and +showed no signs of giving way. It turned out, after all, that though there +was no doubt about the existence of the glacières, there was +equally no doubt that they were <i>glacières artificielles</i>, +being simply ice-houses dug in the side of a hill, and the property of a +<i>glacier</i> in Besançon; so that my friend the driver had sent +me to a mare's-nest.</p> + +<p>The pathway across the hills to Besançon was rather intricate, +and by good fortune an old Frenchman appeared, who was returning from his +work at a neighbouring church, and served as companion and guide. He had +bid farewell to sixty some years before, and, being a builder, had been +going up and down a ladder all day, with full and empty <i>hottes</i>, to +an extent which outdid the Shanars of missionary meetings; and yet he +walked faster than any foreigner of my experience. He talked in due <a +name="Page_89"><span class="pagenum">[Page 89]</span></a> proportion, +and told some interesting details of the bombardment of Besançon, +which he remembered well. When he learned that I was not German, but +English, he told me they did not say <i>Anglais</i> there, but <i> +Gaudin</i>,--I was a <i>Gaudin</i>. This he repeated persistently many +times, with an air worthy of General Cyrus Choke, and half convinced me +that there was something in it, and that I might after all be a Gaudin. It +was not till some hours after, that I remembered the indelible impression +made by the piety of speech of recent generations of Englishmen upon the +French nation at large, and thus was enabled to trace the origin of the +name <i>Gaudin</i>. The old man evidently believed that it was the proper +thing to call an Englishman by that name; thus reminding me of a story +told of a French soldier in the Austrian service during the long early +wars with Switzerland. The Austrians called the Swiss, in derision, +Kühmelkers--a term more opprobrious than <i>bouviers</i>; and it is +said that, after the battle of Frastens--one of the battles of the Suabian +war,--a Frenchman threw himself at the feet of some Grisons soldiers, and +innocently prayed thus for quarter; '<i>Très-chers, +très-honorables, et très-dignes Kühmelkers! au nom de +Dieu, ne me tuez pas</i>!'</p> + +<p>The town of Besançon seems to spend its Sunday in fishing, and +is apparently well contented with that very limited success which is wont +to attend a Frenchman's efforts in this branch of <i>le sport</i>. There +is a proverb in the patois of Vaud which says '<i>Kan on vau dau pesson, +sé fo molli</i>;'<a name="FNanchor39"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_39"><sup>[39]</sup></a> and on this the Bisuntians act, +standing patiently half-way up the thigh in the river, as the Swiss on the +Lake of Geneva and other <a name="Page_90"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 90]</span></a> lakes may be seen to do. It is all very well to +wade for a good salmon cast, or to spend some hours in a swift-foot<a +name="FNanchor40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40"><sup>[40]</sup></a> Scotch +stream for the sake of a lively basket of trout; but to stand in a Sunday +coat and hat, and 2-1/2 feet of water, watching a large bung hopelessly +unmoved on the surface, is a thing reserved for a Frenchman indulging in a +weekly intoxication of Sabbatical sport, under the delirious form of the +<i>chasse aux goujons</i>.</p> + +<p>Clean as the town within the circuit of the river is, the houses which +overhang the water on the other side are picturesque and dirty in the +extreme, story rising above story, and balcony above balcony. It does not +increase their beauty, and to a fastidious nose it must militate against +their eligibility as places of residence, that there is apparently but one +drain, an external one, which follows the course of the pillars supporting +the various balconies: nevertheless, from the opposite side of the river, +and when the wind sets the other way, they are sufficiently attractive. In +this quarter is found the finest church, the Madeleine, with a very +effective piece of sculpture at the east end. The sculpture is arranged on +the bottom and farther side of a sort of cage, which is hung outside the +church, but is visible from the inside through a corresponding opening in +the east wall. The subject of the sculpture is 'The Sepulchre,' and the +ends of the cage or box are composed of rich yellow glass, through which +the external light streams into the cave of the Sepulchre; and when the +church itself is becoming dark, the effect produced by the light from the +evening sky, passing through the deep-toned glass, and softly illuminating +the Sepulchre, is indescribably solemn.</p> + +<a name="Page_91"><span class="pagenum">[Page 91]</span></a> + +<p>When Besançon was supplied by the aqueduct with the waters of +Arcier, there was a great abundance of baths, as the remains discovered in +digging new foundations show; but in the present state of the town such +things are not easily met with. The floating baths on the river are +appropriated to the other sex, and the only thing approaching to a male +bath was of a nature entirely new to me, being constructed as +follows:--There is a water-mill in the town, with a low weir stretching +across the river, down which the water rushes with no very great violence. +At the foot of this weir a row of sentry-boxes is placed, approached by +planks, and in these boxes the adventurer finds his bath.<a name= +"FNanchor41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41"><sup>[41]</sup></a></p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="BATH IN THE DOUBS, AT BESANÇON." +src="images/image9.jpg" width="340" height="157" /><br /> + <span class="caption">BATH IN THE DOUBS, AT BESANÇON.</span></div> + +<br /> + + +<p>A stout piece of wood-work is fixed horizontally along the face of the +weir, and has the effect of throwing the downward water out of its natural +direction, and causing it to describe an arch, so that it descends with +much force on to the weir at a point below the wood-work. Here two planks +are placed, forming a seat and a support for the back, and a little lower +still another plank for the feet to rest upon, without which the bather +would have a good chance of being washed away. The water boils noisily and +violently on all sides and in all directions, coming down upon the +subject's shoulders with a heavy thud, <a name="Page_92"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 92]</span></a> which calls to mind the tender years +when something softer than a cane was used, and sends him forth like a +fresh-boiled lobster. All this, with towels, is not dear at fourpence.</p> + +<p>The citadel is the great sight of Besançon, and the polite +Colonel-commandant attends at his office at convenient hours to give +passes. What it might be to storm the position under the excitement of the +sport of war, I cannot say; but certainly it is a most trying affair on a +hot Sunday's afternoon, even when all is made smooth, and the gates are +opened, by a comprehensive pass. The wall mentioned by Cæsar as a +great feature of the place cut the site of the citadel off from the town, +and many signs of it were found when the cathedral of S. Stephen was +built, the unfortunate church which went down before the exigencies of a +siege under Louis XIV. The barrack-master proved to be a most interesting +man, knowing many details of Cæsar's life and campaigns which I +suspect were not known to that captain himself. He had served in Algeria, +and assented to the proposition that more soldiers died there of absinthe +than of Arabs, stating his conviction that three-fourths of the whole +deaths are caused by that pernicious extract of wormwood, and that he +ought himself to have died of it long ago. He pointed out the difference +between the massive masonry of the period of the Spanish occupation and +the less impressive work of more recent times, and showed the dungeon from +which Marshal Bourmont bought his escape, in the time of the first +Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The floor of one of the little look-out towers is composed of a +tombstone, representing a priest in full ecclesiastical dress, and my +question as to how it came there elicited the following story:--When Louis +XIV. was besieging the citadel, he placed his head-quarters, and a <a +name="Page_93"><span class="pagenum">[Page 93]</span></a> strong +battery, on the summit of the Mont Chaudane,<a name="FNanchor42"></a><a +href="#Footnote_42"><sup>[42]</sup></a> which commands the citadel on one +side as the Brégille does on the other. Among the besieged was a +monk named Schmidt, probably one of the Low-country men to whom the +Franche Comté was then a sort of home, as forming part of the +dominions of Spain; and this monk was the most active supporter of the +defence, against the large party within the walls which was anxious to +render the town. He was also an admirable shot; and on one of the last +days of the siege, as he stood in the little tower where the tombstone now +lies, the King and his staff rode to the front of the plateau on the Mont +Chaudane to survey the citadel; whereupon some one pointed out to Schmidt +that now he had a fair chance of putting an end at once to the siege and +the invasion. Accordingly, he took a musket from a soldier and aimed at +the King; but before firing he changed his aim, remarking, that he, a +priest, ought not to destroy the life of a man, and so he only killed the +horse, giving the Majesty of France a roll in the mud. When the town was +taken, the King enquired for the man who killed his horse, and asked the +priest whether he could have killed the rider instead, had he wished to do +so. 'Certainly,' Schmidt replied, and related the facts of the case. Louis +informed him, that had he been a soldier, he should have been decorated +for his skill and his impulse of mercy; but, being a priest, he should be +hung. The sentence was carried out, and the priest's body was buried in +the floor of the tower from which he had spared the King's life. If this +be true, it was one of the most unkingly deeds ever done.<a name= +"FNanchor43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43"><sup>[43]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_94"><span class="pagenum">[Page 94]</span></a> + +<p>This siege took place in the second invasion or conquest of the Franche +Comté by Louis XIV., when Besançon held out for nine days +against Vauban and the King: on the first occasion it had surrendered to +Condé after one day's siege, making the single stipulation that the +Holy Shroud should not be removed from the town.<a name= +"FNanchor44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44"><sup>[44]</sup></a> The <i>Saincte +Suaire</i> was the richest ecclesiastical treasure of the Bisuntians, +being one of the two most genuine of the many Suaires, the other being +that of Turin, which was supported by Papal Infallibility. Both were +brought from the Crusades; and the one was presented to Besançon in +1206, the other to Turin in 1353. Bede tells a story of the proving of a +Shroud by fire in the eighth century, by one of the caliphs; and as its +dimensions were 8 feet by 4, like that of Besançon, while the +Shroud of Turin measured 12 feet by 3, the people of Besançon +claimed that theirs was the one spoken of by Bede.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral of Besançon is no longer S. Stephen, since the +destruction of that church by Louis XIV. The small Church of the Citadel +is now dedicated to that saint, an inscription on the wall stating that it +takes the place of the larger church, <i>ex urbis obsidio anno 1674 +lapsae</i>, and offering an indulgence of 100 days for every visit paid to +it, with the sensible proviso <i>una duntaxat vice per diem.</i> Soldiers +not being generally made of the confessing sex, or of confessing material, +there is only one confessional provided for the 6,000 souls which the +citadel can accommodate.</p> + +<p>The Cavalry Barracks are in the lower part of the town, and near them +is <a name="Page_95"><span class="pagenum">[Page 95]</span></a> a +large building with evident traces of ecclesiastical architecture on the +outside. It is, in fact, a very fine church converted into stables, +retaining its interior features in excellent preservation. Under the +corn-bin lies a lady who had two husbands and fifteen children, <i> +Antigone in parentes, Porcia in conjuges, Sempronia in liberos</i>; while +a few yards further east, less agreeably placed, is an ecclesiastic of the +Gorrevod family, who reckoned Prince and Bishop and Baron among his +titles. The nave of this Church of S. Michael accommodates thirty horses, +and the north aisle thirteen; the south is considered more select, and is +boarded off for the decani, in the shape of officers' chargers. The north +side of the chancel gives room for six horses, and the south side for a +row of saddle-blocks. It had been an oversight on the part of the original +architect of the church that no place was prepared for the daily hay; a +fault which the military restorers have remedied by improvising a +lady-chapel, where the hay for the day is placed in the morning. With +Spelman in my mind, I asked if the stables were not unhealthy; but the +soldiers said they were the healthiest in the town.<a name= +"FNanchor45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45"><sup>[45]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The Glacière of Vaise had proved, as has been seen, to be a +mare's-nest; and yet, after all, it produced a foal; for while I was +endeavouring to overcome the evening heat of Besançon in a <i> +spécialité</i> for ice, I found that the owner of the +establishment was also the owner of the two glacières of Vaise; and +in the course of the conversation which followed, he told me of the +existence of a natural glacière near the village of Arc-sous-Cicon, +twenty kilomètres from Pontarlier, which he had himself seen. <a +name="Page_96"><span class="pagenum">[Page 96]</span></a> As I had +arranged to meet my sisters at Neufchâtel, in two days' time, for +the purpose of visiting a glacière in the Val de Travers, this +piece of information came very opportunely, and I determined to attempt +both glacières with them.</p> + +<p>Some of the trains from Besançon stop for an hour at Dôle +in passing towards Switzerland by way of Pontarlier, and anyone who is +interested in the Burgundian and Spanish wars of France should take this +opportunity of seeing what may be seen of the town of Dôle and its +massive church-tower. The sieges of Dôle made it very famous in the +later middle ages, more especially the long siege under Charles d'Amboise, +at the crisis of which that general recommended his soldiers to leave a +few of the people for seed,<a name="FNanchor46"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_46"><sup>[46]</sup></a> and the old sobriquet <i>la Joyeuse</i> +was punningly changed to <i>la Dolente</i>. It has had other claims upon +fame; for if Besançon possessed one of the two most authentic Holy +Shrouds, Dôle was the resting-place of one of the undoubted +miraculous Hosts, which had withstood the flames in the Abbey of Faverney. +It was for the reception of this Host that the advocates of the +Brotherhood of Monseigneur Saint Yves built the Sainte Chapelle at +Dôle.<a name="FNanchor47"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_47"><sup>[47]</sup></a></p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_97"><span class="pagenum">[Page 97]</span></a> <a name= +"CHAPTER_VII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF MONTHÉZY, IN THE VAL DE TRAVERS.</h3> + +<p>I rejoined my sisters at Neufchâtel on the 5th of July, and +proceeded thence with them by the line which passes through the Val de +Travers. One of them had been at Fleurier, in 1860, on the day of the +opening of this line, and she added an interest to the various tunnels, by +telling us that a Swiss gentleman of her acquaintance, who had taken a +place in one of the open carriages of the first train, found, on reaching +the daylight after one of the tunnels, that his neighbour had been killed +by a small stone which had fallen on to his head. Where the stone came +from, no one could say, nor yet when it fell, for the unfortunate man had +made no sign or movement of any kind.</p> + +<p>Every one must be delighted with the wonders of the line of rail, and +the beauties through which the engineer has cut his way. In valleys on a +less magnificent scale, cuttings and embankments on the face of the hill +are sad eyesores, as in railway-ruined Killiecrankie; but here Nature's +works are so very grand, that the works of man are not offensively +prominent, being overawed by the very facts over which they have +triumphed. When we reached the more even part of the valley, where the +Reuse no longer roars and rushes far below, but winds quietly through the +soft grass on a level with the rail, the whole grouping was so exceedingly +charming, and the river itself so suggestive of lusty trout, <a name= +"Page_98"><span class="pagenum">[Page 98]</span></a> and the village +of Noiraigue<a name="FNanchor48"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_48"><sup>[48]</sup></a> looked so tempting as it nestled in a +sheltered nook among the headlong precipices, that I registered in a safe +mental pigeon-hole a week at the auberge there with a fishing-rod, and +excursions to the commanding summit in which the <i>Creux de Vent</i> is +found. The engine-driver knew that he was in a region of beauties, and, +when he whistled to warn his passengers that the train was about to move +on, he remained stationary until the long-resounding echoes died out, +floating lingeringly up the valley to neighbouring France.</p> + +<p>We had no definite idea as to the <i>locale</i> of the glacière +we were now bent upon attacking. M. Thury's list gave the following +information:--'<i>Glacière de Motiers, Canton de Neufchâtel, +entre les vallées de Travers et de la Brévine, près +du sentier de la Brévine</i>;' and this I had rendered somewhat +more precise by a cross-examination of the guard of the train on my way to +Besançon. He had not heard of the glacière, but from what I +told him he was inclined to think that Couvet would be the best station +for our purpose, especially as the 'Ecu' at that place was, in his eyes, a +commendable hostelry. Some one in Geneva, also, had believed that Couvet +was as likely as anything else in the valley; so at Couvet we descended.<a +name="FNanchor49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49"><sup>[49]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This is a very clean and cheerful village, devoted to the lucrative +manufacture of <i>absinthe</i>, and producing inhabitants who look like +gentlemen and ladies, and promenade the ways in bonnets and hats, after a +most un-Swiss-like fashion. They carefully restrict themselves to the +making of the poisonous product of their village, and have nothing to do +with the consumption <a name="Page_99"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 99]</span></a> thereof:<a name="FNanchor50"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_50"><sup>[50]</sup></a> hence nature has a fair chance with +them, and they are a healthy and energetic race. The beauties of the +surrounding mountains, with their fitful alternations of pasture and wood, +and grey face of rock, are not marred by the outward appearance, at least, +of that which Bishop Heber lamented in a country where 'every prospect +pleases.' An old lady is commemorated in the annals of Couvet as an +example of the healthiness of the situation, who saw seven generations of +her family, having known her great-grandfather in her early years, and +living to nurse great-grandchildren in her old age. The landlord of the +inn informed us, with much pride, that Couvet was the birthplace of the +man who invented a clock for telling the time at sea; by which, no doubt, +he meant the chronometer, invented by M. Berthoud. At Motiers, the next +village, Rousseau wrote his <i>Lettres de la Montagne</i>, and thence it +was that he fled from popular violence to the island on the Lake of +Bienne.</p> + +<p>The 'Ecu' promised us dinner in half an hour, and we strolled about in +the garden of that unsophisticated hotel for an hour and a half, +reconciled to the delay by the beauty of the neighbouring hills, the +winding of the valley giving all the effect of a mountain-locked plain, +with barriers decked with firs. It will readily be conceived, however, +that three practical English people could not be satisfied to feed on +beauty alone for any very great length of time, and we caught the landlady +and became peremptory. She explained that dinner was quite ready, but she +had intended to give us the pleasure of an agreeable society, consisting +of sundry Swiss who were due in another half-hour or so: she yielded, +nevertheless, to our representations, and promised to serve the meal at +once. We were speedily summoned to the <i>salle-à-manger,</i> and +entered a low smoke-stained wooden chamber, with <a name="Page_100"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 100]</span></a> no floor to speak of, and with +huge beams supporting the roof, dangerous for tall heads. The date on the +door was 1690, and the chamber fully looked its age. There was a long +table of the prevailing hue, with a similar bench; and on the table three +large basins, presumably containing soup, were ranged, each covered with +its plate, and accompanied by a ricketty spoon of yellow metal and a hunch +of black bread. A., who was hungry enough and experienced enough to have +known better, began promptly a most pathetic 'Why surely!' but the +landlady stopped her by opening a side door, and displaying a comfortable +room in which a well-appointed table awaited us:--she had taken us through +the kitchen rather than through the <i>salon</i>, in which were peasants +smoking. We were somewhat disconcerted when we heard that the +unwashed-looking place was the kitchen; but the landlady had made up for +it by scrubbing her husband, who waited upon us, to a high pitch of +presentability, and further experience showed that the 'Ecu' is to be +highly commended for the excellence and abundance and cheapness of its +foods.</p> + +<p>There are many natural curiosities in and near the Val de Travers, +which well repay the labour that must be expended upon them. The <i>Temple +des Fées</i>, on the western side of the Valley of +Verrières, used to be called the most beautiful grotto in +Switzerland; and the great Cavern of La Baume, near Motiers, is said to be +exceedingly wonderful. We were shown the entrance to a line of caverns in +the hills above Couvet, and were informed that it was possible to pierce +completely through the range, and pass out at the other side within sight +of Yverdun. One of the caverns in this valley had been explored by some of +A. and M.'s Swiss friends, and the account of what they had gone through +was by no means <a name="Page_101"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 101]</span></a> inviting, seeing that the prevailing material +was damp clay of a solid character, arranged in steep slopes, up which +progression must be made by inserting the fingers and toes as far as might +be into the clay; and, of course, when the handful of unpleasant mud came +away, the result was the reverse of progression. To anyone who has only +known the rope up the pure white side of some snow mountain, the idea of +being roped for the purpose of grappling with underground banks of +adhesive mud and clay must be horrible in the extreme. Another interesting +natural phenomenon is presented by the source of the Reuse, that river +gushing out from the rock in considerable volume, probably formed by the +drainage of the Lake of Etallières, in the distant valley of La +Brévine; while the Longe-aigue, on the contrary, is lost in a gulf +of such horror that the people call the mill which stands on its edge the +<i>Moulin d'enfer</i>.</p> + +<p>As usual, we were assured that many of these remarkable sights were far +better worth a visit than the glacière, of which no one seemed to +know anything. A guide was at length secured for the next morning, who had +made his way to the cave once in the winter-time and had been unable to +enter it, and we settled down quietly to an evening of perfect rest. The +windows of the bedrooms being guiltless of blinds and curtains, the effect +of waking, in the early morning, to find them blocked up, as it were, by +the green slopes of pasture and the dark bands of fir-woods which clothed +the limiting hills, seemed almost magical, the foreground being occupied +solely by the graceful curve of the dome of the church-tower, glittering +with intercepted rays, and forming a bright omen for the day thus ushered +in.</p> + +<p>In due time the promised guide appeared, a sickly boy of +unprepossessing <a name="Page_102"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 102]</span></a> appearance, and of <i>patois</i> to correspond. +I was at first tempted to propose that we should attack him +stereoscopically, A. administering French and I simultaneous German, in +the hope that the combination might convey some meaning to him; but, after +a time, we succeeded with French alone. Perhaps Latin would have made a +more likely <i>mélange</i> than German, and to give it him in three +dimensions would not have been a bad plan. The route for the +glacière runs straight up the face of the hill along which the +railway has been constructed; and as we passed through woods of beech and +fir, with fresh green glades rolling down below our feet, or emerged from +the woods to cross large undulating expanses of meadow-land, we were +almost inclined to believe that we had never done so lovely a walk. The +scenery through which we passed was thoroughly that of the lower districts +of the Alps, with nothing Jurane in its character, and the elevation +finally achieved was not very great: indeed, at a short distance from the +glacière, we passed a collection of very neat châlets, with +gardens and garden-flowers, one of the châlets rejoicing in +countless beehives, with three or four 'ekes' apiece. Up to the time of +reaching this little village, which seemed to be called Sagnette, our path +had been that which leads to <i>La Brévine</i>, the highest valley +in the canton; but now we turned off abruptly up the steeper face on the +left hand, and in a very few minutes came upon a dry wilderness of rock +and grass, which we at once recognised as 'glacière country;' and +when I told our guide that we must be near the place, he replied by +pointing to the trees round the mouth of the pit.</p> + +<p>Shortly after we first left Couvet, a gaunt elderly female, with a +one-bullock char, had joined our party, and tried to bully us into giving +up the cave and going instead to a neighbouring summit, whence she +promised us a view of unrivalled extent and beauty. She told us that <a +name="Page_103"><span class="pagenum">[Page 103]</span></a> there was +nothing to be seen in the glacière, and that it was a place where +people lost their lives. The guide said that was nonsense; but she reduced +him to silence by quoting a case in point. She said, too, that if a man +slipped and fell, there was nothing to prevent him from going helplessly +down a run of ice into a subterranean watercourse, which would carry him +for two or three leagues underground; and on this head our boy had no +counter-statement to make. She asserted that without ladders it was +utterly impossible to make the descent to the commencement of the +glacière; and she vowed there was no ladder now, nor had been for +some time. Here the boy came in, stating that the cave belonged to a +mademoiselle of Neufchâtel, who had a summer cottage at no great +distance, and loved to be supplied with ice during her residence in the +country, for which purpose she kept a sound ladder on the spot, and had it +removed in the winter that it might not be destroyed. There was a +circumstantial air about this statement which for the moment got the +better of the old woman; but she speedily recovered herself, and repeated +positively that there was no ladder of any description, adding, somewhat +inconsequently, that it was such a bad one, no Christian could use it with +safety. The boy retorted, that it was all very well for her to run the +glacière down, as she lived near it, but for the world from a +distance it was a most wonderful sight; and, as for the ladder, he +happened to know that it was at this time in excellent preservation. The +event proved that in saying this he drew entirely upon his imagination. It +is, perhaps, only fair to suppose that they don't mean anything by it, and +it may be mere ignorance on their part; but the simple fact is, that some +of those Swiss rustics tell the most barefaced lies +conceivable,--<i>unblushing</i> is an epithet that cannot be safely +applied without previous soap and water,--and tell them in a plodding +systematic <a name="Page_104"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 104]</span></a> manner which takes in all but the experienced +and wary traveller. I have myself learned to suspend my judgment regarding +the most simple thing in nature, until I have other grounds for forming an +opinion than the solemn asseverations of the most stolid and respectable +Swiss, if it so be that money depends upon his report.<a name= +"FNanchor51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51"><sup>[51]</sup></a></p> + +<p>As in the case of two of the glacières already described, the +entrance is by a deep pit, which has the appearance of having been at one +time two pits, one less deep than the other; and the barrier between the +two having been removed by some natural process, a passage is found down +the steep side of the shallower pit, which lands the adventurer on a small +sloping shelf, 21 feet sheer above the surface of the snow in the deeper +pit, the sides of the latter rising up perpendicularly all round. It is +for this last 21 feet that some sort of ladder is absolutely necessary. +Our guide flung himself down in the sun at the outer edge of the pit, and +informed us that as it was cold and dangerous down below, he intended to +go no farther: he had engaged, he said, to guide us to the +glacière, and he felt in no way bound to go into it. He was not +good for much, so I was not sorry to hear of his determination; and when +my sisters saw the sort of place they had to try to scramble down, they +appeared to be very glad that only I was to be with them.</p> + +<p>Leaving them to make such arrangements with regard to dress as might +seem necessary to them, I proceeded to pioneer the way down the first part +of the descent. This was extremely unpleasant, for the rocks were steep +and very moist, with treacherous little collections of <a name="Page_105"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 105]</span></a> disintegrated material on +every small ledge where the foot might otherwise have found a hold. These +had to be cleared away before it could be safe for them to descend, and in +other places the broken rock had to be picked out to form foot-holes; +while, lower down, where the final shelf was reached, the abrupt slope of +mud which ended in the sheer fall required considerable reduction, being +far too beguiling in its original form. Here there was also a buttress of +damp earth to be got round, and it was necessary to cut out deep holes for +the hands and feet before even a man could venture upon the attempt with +any comfort. The buttress was not, however, without its advantage, for on +it, overhanging the snow of the lower pit, was a beautiful clump of +cowslips (<i>Primula elatior</i>, Fr. <i>Primevère inodore</i>), +which was at once secured as a trophy. The length of the irregular descent +to this point was between 70 and 80 feet. On rounding the buttress, the +upper end of the ladder presented itself, and now the question, between +the boy and the old woman was to be decided. I worked down to the edge of +the shelf, and looked over into the pit, and, alas! the state of the +remaining parts of the ladder was hopeless, owing partly to the decay of +the sidepieces, and partly to the general absence of steps--a somewhat +embarrassing feature under the circumstances. A further investigation +showed that for the 21 feet of ladder there were only seven steps, and +these seven were not arranged as conveniently as they might have been, for +two occurred at the very top, and the other five in a group at the bottom. +A branchless fir-tree had at some time fallen into the pit, and now lay in +partial contact with the ruined ladder; and there were on the trunk +various little knobs, which might possibly be of some use as a supplement +to the rare steps of the ladder. The snow at the bottom of the pit was +surrounded on all sides by <a name="Page_106"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 106]</span></a> perpendicular rock, and on the side opposite to +the ladder I saw an arch at the foot of the rock, apparently 2 or 3 feet +high, leading from the snow into darkness; and that, of course, was the +entrance to the glacière. I succeeded in getting down the ladder, +by help of the supplement, and looked down into the dark hole to see that +it was practicable, and then returned to report progress in the upper +regions. We had brought no alpenstocks to Couvet, so we sent the guide off +into the woods, where we had heard the sound of an axe, to get three stout +sticks from the woodmen; but he returned with such wretched, crooked +little things, that A. went off herself to forage, and, having found an +impromptu cattle-fence, came back with weapons resembling bulbous +hedge-stakes, which she skinned and generally modified with a powerful +clasp-knife, her constant companion. She then cut up the crooked sticks +into <i>bâtons</i> for a contemplated repair of the ladder, while M. +and I investigated the country near the pit. We found two other pits, +which afterwards proved to communicate with the glacière. We could +approach sufficiently near to one of these to see down to the bottom, +where there was a considerable collection of snow: this pit was completely +sheltered from the sun by trees, and was 66 feet deep and 4 or 5 feet in +diameter. The other was of larger size, but its edge was so treacherous +that we did not venture so near as to see what it contained: its depth was +about 70 feet, and the stone and a foot or two of the string came up wet. +The sides of the main pit, by which we were to enter the glacière, +were, as has been said, very sheer, and on one side we could approach +sufficiently near the edge to drop a plummet down to the snow: the height +of this face of rock was 59 feet, measuring down to the snow, and the +level of the ice was eventually found to be about 4 feet lower. <a name= +"Page_107"><span class="pagenum">[Page 107]</span></a> Although it +was now not very far from noon, the sun had not yet reached the snow, +owing partly to the depth of the pit as compared with its diameter, and +partly to the trees which grew on several sides close to the edge. One or +two trees of considerable size grew out of the face of rock.</p> + +<p>We were now cool enough to attempt the glacière, and I commenced +the descent with A. The precautions already taken made the way tolerably +possible down to the buttress of earth and the shelving ledge, and so far +the warm sun had accompanied us; but beyond the ledge there was nothing +but the broken ladder, and deep shade, and a cold damp atmosphere, which +made the idea, and still more the feel, of snow very much the reverse of +pleasant. A. was not a coward on such occasions, and she had sufficient +confidence in her guide; but it is rather trying for a lady to make the +first step off a slippery slope of mud, on to an apology for a ladder +which only stands up a few inches above the lower edge of the slope, and +so affords no support for the hand: nor, after all, can bravery and trust +quite make up for the want of steps. We were a very long time in +accomplishing the descent, for her feet were always out of her sight, +owing to the shape which female dress assumes when its wearer goes down a +ladder with her face to the front, especially when the ladder has suffered +from ubiquitous compound fracture, and the ragged edges catch the +unaccustomed petticoats. It was quite as well the feet were out of sight, +for some of the supports to which they were guided were not such as would +have commended themselves to her, had she been able to see them. At +length, owing in great measure to the opportune assistance of two of the +batons we had brought down with us for repairs, thanks also to the trunk +of the fir-tree, we reached the snow; and poor A. was planted there, +breaking through the top crust as a commencement of her acquaintance with +it, till such time as I could bring M. down to join her.</p> + +<a name="Page_108"><span class="pagenum">[Page 108]</span></a> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +MONTHÉZY, IN THE VAL DE TRAVERS." src="images/image10.jpg" width= +"372" height="231" /><br /> + <span class="caption">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +MONTHÉZY, IN THE VAL DE TRAVERS.</span></div> + +<br /> + <a name="Page_109"><span class="pagenum">[Page 109]</span></a> + +<p>The experience acquired in the course of A.'s descent led us to call to +M. that she must get rid of that portion of her attire which gives a shape +to modern dress; for the obstinacy and power of <i>mal-à-propos</i> +obstructiveness of this garment had wonderfully complicated our +difficulties. She objected that the guide was there; but we assured her +that he was asleep, or if he wasn't it made no matter; so when I reached +the top, she emerged shapeless from a temporary hiding-place, clutching +her long hedge-stake, and feeling, she said--and certainly looking--a good +deal like a gorilla. The most baffling part of the trouble having been +thus got over, we soon joined A., blue already, and shivering on the snow. +The sun now reached very nearly to the bottom of the pit, and I went up +once more for thermometers and other things, leaving a measure with my +sisters, and begging them to amuse themselves by taking the dimensions of +the snow: on my return, however, to the top of the ladder, I found them +combining over a little bottle, and they informed me plaintively that they +had been taking medicinal brandy and snow instead of measurements,--a very +necessary precaution, for anyone to whom brandy is not a greater nuisance +than utter cold. We found the dimensions of the bottom of the pit, i.e. of +the field of snow on which we stood, to be 31-1/2 feet by 21; but we were +unable to form any idea of the depth of the snow, beyond the fact that 'up +to the ancle' was its prevailing condition. The boy told us, when we +rejoined him, that when he and others had attempted to get ice for the +landlord, when it was ordered for him in a serious illness the winter +before, they had found the pit filled to the top with snow.</p> + +<p>As we stood at the mouth of the low entrance, making final preparations +for a plunge into the darkness, I perceived a strong cold current blowing +out from the cave--sufficiently strong and cold to render <a name= +"Page_110"><span class="pagenum">[Page 110]</span></a> knickerbocker +stockings a very unavailing protection. While engaged in the discovery +that this style of dress is not without its drawbacks, I found, to my +surprise, that the direction of the current suddenly changed, and the cold +blast which had before blown out of the cave, now blew almost as strongly +in. The arch of entrance was so low, that the top was about on a level +with my waist; so that our faces and the upper parts of our bodies were +not exposed to the current, and the strangeness of the effect was thus +considerably increased.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="GROUND PLAN OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +MONTHÉZY." src="images/image11.jpg" width="353" height="286" /> +<br /> + <span class="caption">GROUND PLAN OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +MONTHÉZY. Note: The candle stood at this point.</span></div> + +<br /> + + +<p>As a matter of curiosity, we lighted a <i>bougie</i>, and placed it on +the edge of the snow, at the top of the slope of 3 or 4 feet which led +down the surface of the ice, and then stood to watch the effect of the +current on the flame. The experiment proved that the currents alternated, +and, as I fancied, regularly; and in order to determine, if possible, the +law of this alternation, I observed with my watch the <a name="Page_111"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 111]</span></a> exact duration of each +current. For twenty-two seconds the flame of the <i>bougie</i> was blown +away from the entrance, so strongly as to assume a horizontal position, +and almost to leave the wick: then the current ceased, and the flame rose +with a stately air to a vertical position, moving down again steadily till +it became once more horizontal, but now pointing in towards the cave. This +change occupied in all four seconds; and the current inwards lasted--like +the outward current--twenty-two seconds, and then the whole phenomenon was +repeated. The currents kept such good time, that when I stood beyond their +reach, and turned my back, I was enabled to announce each change with +perfect precision. On one occasion, the flame performed its semicircle in +a horizontal instead of a vertical plane, moving round the wick in the +shape of a pea-flower. The day was very still, so that no external winds +could have anything to do with this singular alternation; and, indeed, the +pit was so completely sheltered by its shape, that a storm might have +raged outside without producing any perceptible effect below. It would be +difficult to explain the regularity of these opposite currents, but it is +not so difficult to see that some such oscillation might be expected. It +will be better, however, to defer any suggestions on this point till the +glacière has been more fully described.</p> + +<p>We passed down at length through the low archway, and stood on the +floor of ice. As our eyes became accustomed to the darkness, we saw that +an indistinct light streamed into the cave from some low point at a +considerable distance, apparently on a level with the floor; and this we +afterwards found to be the bottom of the larger of the two pits we had +already fathomed, the pit A of the diagram; and we eventually discovered a +similar but much smaller communication with the bottom of the pit B. <a +name="Page_112"><span class="pagenum">[Page 112]</span></a> In each +of these pits there was a considerable pyramid of snow, whose base was on +a level with the floor of the glacière: the connecting archway in +the case of the pit A was 3 or 4 feet high, allowing us to pass into the +pit and round the pyramid with perfect ease, while that leading to the pit +B was less than a foot high, so that no passage could be forced.</p> + +<p>As we stood on the ice at the entrance and peered into the comparative +darkness, we saw by degrees that the glacière consisted of a +continuous sea of smooth ice, sloping down very gently towards the right +hand. The rock which forms the roof of the cave seemed to be almost as +even as the floor, and was from 4 to 5 feet high in the neighbourhood in +which we now found ourselves, gradually approaching the floor towards the +bottom of the pit B, where it became about a foot high, and rising +slightly in that part of the cave where the floor fell, so as to give 9 or +10 feet as the height there. The ice had all the appearance of great +depth; but there were no means of forming a trustworthy opinion on this +point, beyond the fact that I succeeded in lowering a stone to a +considerable depth, in the small crevice which existed between the wall +and the block of ice which formed the floor. The greatest length of the +cave we found to be 112 ft. 7 in., and its breadth 94 ft., the general +shape of the field of ice, which filled it to its utmost edges, being +elliptical. The surface was unpleasantly wet, chiefly in the line of the +currents, which were now seen to pass backwards and forwards between the +pits A and C. In the neighbourhood of the pit B the water stood in a very +thin sheet on the ice, which there was level, and rendered the style of +locomotion necessitated by the near approach of the roof extremely +disagreeable, as I was obliged to lie on my face, and push myself along +the wet and slippery ice, to explore that corner of the cave, being at +length <a name="Page_113"><span class="pagenum">[Page 113]</span></a> +stopped by want of sufficient height for even that method of +progression.</p> + +<p>The circle marked D represents a column from the roof, at the foot of +which we found a small grotto in the ice, which I entered to a depth of 6 +feet, the surface of the field of ice showing a very gracefully rounded +fall at the edges of the grotto. At the point E there was a beautiful +collection of fretted columns, white and hard as porcelain, arranged in a +semicircle, with the diameter facing the cave, measuring 22 ft. 9 in. +along this face. On the farther side of these columns there were signs of +a considerable fall in the ice; and by making use of the roots of small +stalagmitic columns of that material, which grew on the slope of ice, I +got down into a little wilderness of spires and flutings, and found a +small cave penetrating a short way under the solid ice-floor. G marks the +place of a free stalagmite of ice, formed under a fissure in the roof; and +each F represents a column from the roof, or from a lateral fissure in the +wall.</p> + +<p>The most striking features of this cave were the three domes, marked H +in the ground-plan, in which they ought strictly not to appear, as being +confined to the roof: one of them is shown also in the vertical section of +the cave. They occur where the roof is from 3 to 4 feet above the floor. +It will be understood, that the bent attitude in which we were obliged to +investigate these parts of the cave was exceedingly fatiguing, and we +hailed with delight a sudden circular opening in the roof which enabled us +to stand upright. This delight was immensely increased when our candles +showed us that the walls of this vertical opening were profusely decorated +with the most lovely forms of ice. The first that we came under passed up +out of sight; and in this, two solid cascades of ice hung down, high +overhead, apparently broken off short, <a name="Page_114"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 114]</span></a> or at any rate ending very abruptly: +the others did not pass so far into the roof, and formed domes of very +regular shape. In all three, the details of the ice-decoration were most +lovely, and the effect produced by the whole situation was very curious; +for we stood with our legs exposed to the alternating cold currents, the +remaining part of our bodies being imbedded as it were in the roof; while +the candles in our hands brought out the crystal ornaments of the sides, +flashing fitfully all round us and overhead, when one or other of us moved +a light, as if we had been surrounded by diamonds of every possible size +and setting. One of the domes was so small, that we were obliged to stand +up by turn to examine its beauties; but in the others we all stood +together. On every side were branching clusters of ice in the form of +club-mosses, with here and there varicose veins of clear ice, and +pinnacles of the prismatic structure, with limpid crockets and finials. +The pipes of ice which formed a network on the walls were in some cases so +exquisitely clear, that we could not be sure of their existence without +touching them; and in other cases a sheet 4 or 6 inches thick was found to +be no obstruction to our view of the rock on which it was formed. In one +of the domes we had only one candle, and the bearer of this after a time +contrived to let it fall, leaving us standing with our heads in perfect +darkness; while the indistinct light which strayed about our feet showed +faintly a circle of icicles, hanging from the lower part of the dome, the +fringe, as it were, of our rocky petticoats.</p> + +<p>In one of the lower parts of the cave, where darkness prevailed, and +locomotion was only possible on the lowest reptile principles, M. +announced that she could see clear through the ice-floor, as if there were +nothing between her and the rock below. I ventured to doubt this, for +there was an air of immense thickness about the whole ice; and as <a name= +"Page_115"><span class="pagenum">[Page 115]</span></a> soon as A. and +I had succeeded in grovelling across the intervening space, and converged +upon her, we found that the appearance she had observed was due to a most +perfect reflection of the roof, as shown by the candles we carried, which +may give some idea of the character of the ice. We did not care to study +this effect for any very prolonged time, inasmuch as we were obliged +meanwhile to stow away the length of our legs on a part of the ice which +was thinly covered with water,--one result of its proximity to the arch +communicating with the smallest pit.</p> + +<p>It has been said that the whole ice-floor sloped slightly towards one +side of the cave, the slope becoming rather more steep near the edge.<a +name="FNanchor52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52"><sup>[52]</sup></a> Clearly, +ever so slight a slope would be sufficiently embarrassing, when the +surface was so perfectly smooth and slippery; and this added much to the +difficulty of walking in a bent attitude. On coming out of one of the +domes, I tried progression on all-fours--threes, rather, for the candle +occupied one hand,--and I cannot recommend that method, owing to the +impossibility of putting on the break. The pace ultimately acquired is +greater than is pleasant, and the roof is too near the floor to allow of +any successful attempt to bring things to an end by the reassumption of a +biped character.</p> + +<p>We placed a thermometer in the line of greatest current, and another in +a still part of the cave. The memorandum is lost of their register--if, +indeed, we ever made one, for we were more concerned with the beauties <a +name="Page_116"><span class="pagenum">[Page 116]</span></a> than the +temperature was surprisingly high in the line of current, as compared with +the ordinary temperature of ice-caves.</p> + +<p>When we came to compare backs, after leaving the cave, we mutually +found that they were in a very disreputable condition. The damp and ragged +roof with which they had been so frequently in contact had produced a +marked effect upon them, and I eventually paid a tailor in Geneva three +francs for restoring my coat to decency. M. took great credit to herself +for having been more careful of her back than the others, and declined to +be laughed at for forgetting that she was only about half as high as they, +to begin with. A. still remembers the green-grey stains, as the most +obstinate she ever had to deal with, especially as her three-days' +knapsack contained no change for that outer part of her dress.</p> + +<p>The 'Ecu' gave us a charming dinner on our return; then a moderate +bill, and an affectionate farewell; and we succeeded in catching the early +evening train for Pontarlier.<a name="FNanchor53"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_53"><sup>[53]</sup></a></p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_118"><span class="pagenum">[Page 118]</span></a> <a +name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE AND NEIGIÈRE OF ARC-SOUS-CICON.</h3> + +<p>The beauties of the Val de Travers end only with the valley itself, at +the head of which a long tunnel ushers the traveller into a tamer +country,--a preparation, as it were, for France. After the border is +passed, the scenery begins to improve again, and the effect of the two +castles of Joux, the new and the old, crowning the heights on either side +of the narrow gorge through which the railway runs, is very fine. The +guide-books inform us that the Château of Joux was the place of +imprisonment of the unfortunate Toussaint L'Ouverture, and that there he +died of neglect and cold; and it was in the same strong fortress that +Mirabeau was confined by his father's desire. The old castle, however, is +more interesting from its connection with the history of Charles the Bold, +who retired to La Rivière after the battle of Morat, and spent here +those sad solitary weeks of which Philip de Comines tells with so many +moral reflections; weeks of bodily and mental distress, which left him a +mere wreck, and led to his wild want of generalship and his miserable +death at Nancy. He had melted down the church-bells in this part of +Burgundy and Vaud, to make cannon for the final effort which failed so +fatally at Morat; and the old chroniclers relate--without any allusion to +the sacrilege--that the artillery was wretchedly served on that cruel<a +name="FNanchor54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54"><sup>[54]</sup></a> day. <a +name="Page_119"><span class="pagenum">[Page 119]</span></a> It is +some comfort to Englishmen to know that their ancestors under the Duke of +Somerset displayed a marvellous courage on the occasion.</p> + +<p>We reached Pontarlier in time for a stroll through the quiet town; but +we searched in vain for the tempting convents and gates, which were marked +on my copy of an old plan of the place, dedicated to the Prince +d'Arenberg, in the well-known times when he governed the Franche +Comté. The convents had become for the most part breweries, and the +gates had been improved away. Our enquiries respecting the place of our +destination were fortunately more successful. The idea of a +glacière was new to the world of Pontarlier; but the landlord of +the Hôtel National had heard of Arc-sous-Cicon, and had no doubt +that we could find a carriage of some sort to take us there. His own +horses were all engaged in haymaking, but his neighbours' horses might be +less busy, and accordingly he took us first to call upon M. Paget, a +friend who added to his income by keeping a horse and voiture for hire. +The Pagets in general had gone to bed, and the door was fastened; but our +guide seemed to know the ways of the house, and we found Madame in the +stables, and arranged with her for a carriage at seven o'clock the next +morning.</p> + +<p>At the time appointed, M. Paget did not come, and I was obliged to go +and look him up. He proved to me that it was all right, somehow, and +evidently understood that his convenience, not ours, was the thing to be +consulted. The hotel is in a narrow street, and, apparently on that +account, a stray passer-by was caught, and pressed into M. Paget's service +to help to turn the carriage,--a feat accomplished by a bodily lifting of +the hinder part, with its wheels. After-experience showed that the +narrowness of the street had nothing to with it, and we <a name= +"Page_120"><span class="pagenum">[Page 120]</span></a> discovered +that the necessity for the manoeuvre was due to a chronic affection of +some portion of the voiture; so that whenever in the course of the day it +became necessary for us to turn round, M. Paget was constrained to call in +foreign help.</p> + +<p>The country through which we passed was uninteresting in the extreme, +although we had been told by the landlord that our drive would introduce +us to a succession of natural beauties such as few countries in the world +could show. The line of hills, at the foot of which we expected our route +to lie, looked exceedingly tempting as seen from Pontarlier; but, to our +disappointment, we left the hills and struck across the plain. About ten +or eleven kilomètres from Pontarlier, however, the character of the +country changed suddenly, and we found the landlord's promise in some part +fulfilled. Rich meadow-slopes were broken by solitary trees arranged in +Nature's happiest style, and grey precipices of Jurane grimness and +perpendicularity encroached upon the woods and grass. We were coming near +the source of the Loue, M. Paget said, which it would be necessary for us +to visit. He told us that we must leave the carriage at an <i>auberge</i> +on the roadside, and walk to the neighbouring village of Ouhans, which was +inaccessible for voitures, and thence we should easily find our way to the +source. The distance, he declared, was twenty minutes. The woman at the +<i>auberge</i> strongly recommended the source, but did her best to +dissuade us from the glacières, of which she said there were two. +She had visited them herself, and told her husband, who had guided her, +that there was nothing to see. That, we thought, proved nothing against +the glacières, and her dulness of appreciation we were willing to +accept without further proof than her personal appearance. Besides, to go +to the source, and not to Arc, would mean dining with her; so that she was +not an impartial adviser.</p> + +<p>M. Paget was <a name="Page_121"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 121]</span></a> a short square man, of very few words, and his +one object in life seemed to be to save his black horse as much as +possible; a very creditable object in itself, so long as he did not go too +far in his endeavours to accomplish it. On the present occasion he +certainly did go too far. The road was quite as good as that which we had +left, and there was no reason in the world why the carriage should not +have taken us to the village. Worse still, we discovered eventually that +the 'twenty minutes' meant twenty minutes from the village to the source, +and represented really something like half the time necessary for that +part of the march, while there was a hot and dusty walk of half an hour +before we reached the village. As he accompanied us in person, we had the +satisfaction of frequently telling him our mind with insular frankness. He +pretended to be much distressed, but assured us each time we returned to +the charge--about every quarter of an hour--that we were close to the +desired spot. From the village to the source, the way led us through such +pleasant scenery and such acceptable strawberries, that we only kept up +our periodical remonstrances on principle, and, after we had wound rapidly +down through a grand defile, and turned a sudden angle of the rock, the +first sight of that which we had come to see amply repaid us all the +trouble we had gone through. The source of the Orbe is sufficiently +striking, but the Loue is by far more grand at the moment of its birth. +The former is a bright fairy-like stream, gushing out of a small cavern at +the foot of a lofty precipice clothed with clinging trees; but the Loue +flows out from the bottom of an amphitheatrical rock much more lofty and +unbroken. The stream itself is broader and deeper, and glides with an +infinitely more majestic calmness from a vast archway in the rock, into +the recesses of which the eye can penetrate to the <a name="Page_122"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 122]</span></a> point where the roof +closes in upon the water, and so cuts off all further view. The calmness +of the flow may be in part attributed to a weir, which has been built +across the stream at the mouth of the cave, for the purpose of driving a +portion of the water into a channel which conveys it to various +mill-wheels; for, at a very short distance below the weir, the natural +stream makes a fall of 17 feet, so that, if left to itself, it might +probably rush out more impetuously from its mysterious cavern. The weir is +a single timber, below the surface, fixed obliquely across the stream on a +shelving bank of masonry, and the farther end meets the wall of rock +inside the cave. Near it we saw some glorious hart's-tongue ferns, which +excited our desires, and I took off boots and stockings, and endeavoured +to make my way along the weir; but the face of the masonry was so very +slippery, and the nails in the timber so unpleasant for bare feet, and the +stream was so unexpectedly strong, that I called to mind the proverbial +definition of the better part of valour, and came back without having +achieved the ferns. The biting coldness of the water, and the boiling of +the fall close below the weir, did not add to my confidence in making the +attempt, but I should think that in a more favourable state of the water +the cave might be very well explored by two men going alone. The day +penetrated so completely into the farthest corners, that when I got +half-way along the weir, I could detect the oily look on the surface where +it first saw the light, which showed where the water was quietly streaming +up from its unknown sources. The people in the neighbourhood were unable +to suggest any lake or lakes of which this river might be the subterranean +drainage. It is liable to sudden and violent overflows, which seldom last +more than twenty-four hours; and from the destruction of property caused +by these outbursts, the name of <i>La Loue</i>, sc. <i>La Louve</i>, has +<a name="Page_123"><span class="pagenum">[Page 123]</span></a> been +given to it. The rocky valley through which the river runs, after leaving +its underground channel, is exceedingly fine, and we wandered along the +precipices on one side, enjoying the varying scenes so much that we could +scarcely bring ourselves to turn; each bend of the fretting river showing +a narrow gorge in the rock, with a black rapid, and a foaming fall. It is +said that although the mills on the Doubs are sometimes stopped from want +of water, those which derive their motive power from this strange and +impressive cavern have never known the supply to fail.</p> + +<p>Before we started for our ramble among the woods and precipices which +overhang the farther course of the Loue, we had sent off M. Paget to the +<i>auberge</i>, with strict orders that he should at once get out the +black horse, and bring the carriage to meet us at Ouhans, as one of us was +not in so good order for walking as usual, and the day was fast slipping +away. Of course we saw nothing of him when we reached Ouhans; and as it +was not prudent to wait for his arrival there, which might never take +place, we walked through the broiling sun in the direction of the <i> +auberge,</i> and at last saw him coming, pretending to whip his horse as +if he were in earnest about the pace. We somewhat sullenly assisted him to +turn the old carriage round, and then bade him drive as hard as he could +to Arc-sous-Cicon, still a long way off. This he said he would do if he +knew which was the way; but since he was last there, as a much younger +man, there had been a general change in the matter of roads, and how the +new ones lay he did not know. This was not cheerful intelligence, +especially as we had set our hearts upon getting back to Pontarlier in +time for the evening train, which would give us a night at the charming +<i>Bellevue</i> at Neufchâtel, instead of the poisonous coffee and +the trying odours of the <i>National</i>: the old man's instinct, <a name= +"Page_124"><span class="pagenum">[Page 124]</span></a> however, led +him right, and we reached Arc at half-past twelve. One obstacle to our +journey on the new road promised at first to be insurmountable, being an +immense <i>sapin</i>, the largest I have seen felled, which lay on a +combination of wood-chairs straight across the road. It had been brought +down a narrow side-road through a wheat-field, and one end occupied this +road, while the other was jammed against the wall on the opposite side of +the main road; and half-a-dozen men, with as many draught oxen, were +mainly endeavouring to turn it in the right direction. M. Paget knew how +much was required to turn his own carriage, and he calculated that the +road would not be free for two or three hours, which involved a rest for +his black horse, a pipe for himself, and, possibly, a short sleep. The +oxen were lazy, and their hides impervious; the whips were cracked in +vain, and in vain were brought more directly to bear upon the senses of +the recusants; the men howled, and rattled the chains, and re-arranged the +clumsy head-gear, but all to no purpose. The man who did most of the +howling was a black Burgundian dwarf, in a long blouse and moustaches; and +he did it in so frightful a patois, that the oxen were right in their +refusal to understand. We represented to M. Paget that it would be +possible to make our way through the wheat; but he declared himself +perfectly happy where he was, and declined to take any steps in the +matter; whereupon I assumed the command of the expedition, and led the +horse through the corn, thus turning the flank of the <i>sapin</i> and its +attendants. Our driver submitted to this act of violence much as a member +of the Society of Friends allows a chamberlain to remove his hat from +behind when he is favoured with an audience of the sovereign; and when we +regained the high road, he meekly took up the reins and drove us at a good +pace to Arc.</p> + +<p>The village lies in a curiously open plain, with a girdle of hills, in +<a name="Page_125"><span class="pagenum">[Page 125]</span></a> one of +which the glacières were supposed to lie. The first <i>auberge</i> +refused us admittance, on the ground that the dinner was all pre-engaged, +and the result was that we found a pleasanter place higher up the village, +near a vast new <i>maison de ville</i> with every window shattered by +recent hail. The people groaned over the unnecessary expense of this huge +building, which might well, from its size, have been a home for the whole +village; and they told us that the communal forests had been terribly +over-cut to provide the money for it. Our first demand was for food; our +next, for a guide to the glacières. Food we could have; but why <i> +should</i> we wish to go to the glacières, when there was so much +else worth seeing at a little distance?--a guide might without doubt be +found, but there was nothing to be seen when we got there. We ordered +prompt dinner, anything that happened to be ready, and desired the +landlord to look out for a man to show us the way up the hills. When the +dinner came, it was cold; and the main dish consisted apparently of +something which had made stock for many generations of soup, and had then +been kept in a half-warm state, ready to be heated for any passer-by who +called for hot meat, till the cook had despaired of its ever being used, +and had allowed it to become cold: at least, no other supposition seemed +to account for its utter want of flavour, and the wonderful development of +its fibres. As a matter of politeness, I asked the man what it was; when +he took the dish from the table, smelled at it, and pronounced it +veal.</p> + +<p>There were also several specimens of the original old turnip-radish, +with large shrubs of heads, and mature feelers many inches long. As all +this was not very inviting, we ordered an omelette and some cheese; and +when the omelette came, we found that the cook had combined our ideas and +understood our order to mean a cheese-omelette, which was not so bad <a +name="Page_126"><span class="pagenum">[Page 126]</span></a> after +all.</p> + +<p>By this time, the landlord's visit to his drinking-room had procured a +man willing to act as our guide. He was, unfortunately, more willing than +able; for his sojourn in the drinking-room had told upon his powers of +equilibrium. He asserted, as every one seemed in all cases to assert, that +neither rope nor axe was in any way necessary. When I pressed the rope, he +said that if monsieur was afraid he had better not go; so we told the +landlord privately that the man was rather too drunk for a guide, and we +must have another. The landlord thereupon offered himself, at the +suggestion of his wife, who seemed to be the chief partner in the firm, +and we were glad to accept his offer; while the incapacitated man whom we +had rejected acquiesced in the new arrangement with a bow so little +withering, and with such genuine politeness, that, in spite of his +over-much wine, he won my heart. The landlord himself did not profess to +know the glacières; but he knew the man who lived nearest to them, +and proposed to lead us to his friend's châlet, whence we should +doubtless be able to find a guide.</p> + +<p>We stole a few moments for an inspection of the Church of Arc, and +found, to our surprise, some very pleasing paintings in good repair, and +open sittings which looked unusually clean and neat. Then we crossed the +plain towards the north, and proceeded to grapple with a stiff path +through the woods which climb the first hills. It turned out that there +was no one available for our purpose in the châlet to which the +landlord led us; but a small child was despatched in search of the master +or the domestic, and returned before long with the latter individual, who +received the mistress's instruction respecting the route, and received +also an axe which I had begged in case of need. The accounts we had heard +of the glacière or glacières--every one declined to call +them <a name="Page_127"><span class="pagenum">[Page 127]</span></a> +caves--were so various, and the total denials of their existence so many, +that we quietly made up our minds to disappointment, and agreed that what +we had seen at the source of the Loue was quite sufficient to repay us for +the trouble we had taken; while the idea of a rapid raid into France had +something attractive in it, which more than counterbalanced the old charms +of Soleure. Besides, we found that we were now in a good district for +flowers, and the abundant <i>Gnaphalium sylvaticum</i> brought back to our +minds many a delightful scramble in glacier regions, where its lovely +velvet kinsman the <i>pied-de-lion</i> grows. On the broad top of the +range of hills, covered with rich grass, we came upon large patches of a +plant, with scented leaves and pungent seeds, which we had not known +before, <i>Meum athamanticum</i>, and, to please our guide, we went +through the form of pretending that we rather liked its taste. My sisters +were in ecstasies of triumph over a wild everlasting-pea, which grew here +to a considerable height--<i>Lathyrus sylvestris</i>, they said, Fr. <i> +Gesse sauvage</i>, distinct from <i>G. hétéropyhlle,</i> +which is still larger, and is almost confined to a favourite place of +sojourn with us, the little Swiss valley of Les Plans. It is said that on +the top of these hills springs of water rise to the surface, though there +is no higher ground in the neighbourhood; a phenomenon which has been +accounted for by the supposition of a difference of specific gravity +between these springs and the waters which drive them up.</p> + +<p>The character of the ground on the plateau changed suddenly, and we +passed at one step, apparently, from a meadow of flowers to a wilderness +of fissured rock, lying white and skeleton-like in the afternoon sun. We +only skirted this rock in the first instance, and made for a clump of +trees some little way off, in which we found a deep pit, with a path of <a +name="Page_128"><span class="pagenum">[Page 128]</span></a> +sufficient steepness leading to the bottom. Here we came to a collection +of snow, much sheltered by overhanging rocks and trees; and this, our +guide told us, was the <i>neigière</i>, a word evidently formed on +the same principle as <i>glacière</i>. The snow was half-covered +with leaves, and was unpleasantly wet to our feet, so that we did not +spend much time on it, or rather in it. A huge fragment of rock had at +some time or other fallen from overhead, and now occupied a large part of +the sloping bottom of the pit: by squeezing myself through a narrow +crevice between this and the live rock, which looked as if it ought to +lead to something, I found a veritable ice-cave, unhappily free from +ornament, and of very small size, like a round soldier's tent in shape, +with walls of rock and floor of ice. We afterwards found an easier +entrance to the cave; but the floor was so wet, and the constant drops of +water from the roof so little agreeable, that we got out again as soon as +possible, especially as this was not the glacière we had come to +see.</p> + +<p>When we reached the surface once more, the landlord and the domestic +both assured us that the <i>neigière</i> was the great sight, the +glacière being nothing at all, but, such as it was, they would lead +us to it. They took us to the fissured rock mentioned above; and when we +looked down into the fissures, we saw that some of them were filled at the +bottom with ice. They were not the ordinary fissures, like the crevasses +of a glacier, but rather disconnected slits in the surface, opening into +larger chambers in the heart of the rock, where the ice lay. In one part +of this curious district the surface sank considerably, and showed nothing +but a tumbled collection of large stones and rocks, piled in a most +disorderly manner. By examining the neighbourhood of the larger of these +rocks, we found a burrow, down which one of the men and I made our way, +and thus, after some windings in the interior, reached a point from <a +name="Page_129"><span class="pagenum">[Page 129]</span></a> which we +could descend to the ice. The impression conveyed to my mind by the whole +appearance of the rock and ice was not unlike that of the domes in the +Glacière of Monthézy; only that now the lower part of the +dome was filled with ice, and we stood in the upper part. There were two +or three of these domes, communicating one with another, and in all I +found abundant signs of the prismatic structure, though no columns or +wall-decoration remained. My sisters were accomplished in the art of +burrowing, but they did not care to come down, and we soon rejoined them, +spending a little time in letting down lighted <i>bougies</i> into the +various domes and fissures, in order to study the movements of the air, +but our experiments did not lead to much.</p> + +<p>The landlord had evidently not believed in the existence of ice in +summer, and his first thought was to take some home to his wife, to prove +that we had reached the glacière and had found ice: such at least +were the reasons he gave, but evidently his soul was imbued with a deep +obedience to that better half, and the offering of a block of ice was +suggested by a complication of feelings. When we reached the <i> +auberge</i> again, we found the rejected guide still there, and more +unstable than before. The general impression on his mind seemed to be that +he had been wronged, and had forgiven us. In our absence he had been +meditating upon the glacière, and his imagination had brought him +to a very exalted idea of its wonders. Whereas, in the former part of the +day, he had stoutly asserted that no cord could possibly be necessary, he +now vehemently affirmed that if I had but taken him as guide, he would +have let me down into holes 40 mètres deep, where I should have +seen such things as man had never seen before. Had monsieur seen the +source of the Loue? Yes, monsieur had. Very fine, was it not? Yes, very +fine. Which did monsieur <a name="Page_130"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 130]</span></a> then prefer--the glacière, or the +source? The source, infinitely. <i>Then</i> it was clear monsieur had not +seen the glacière:--he was sure before that monsieur had not, <i> +now</i> it was quite clear, for in all the world there was nothing like +that glacière. The Loue!--one might rather see the glacière +once, than live by the source of the Loue all the days of one's life.</p> + +<p>It was now five o'clock, and the train left Pontarlier at half-past +seven. We represented to M. Paget that he really ought to do the twenty +kilomètres in two hours and a quarter, which would leave us a +quarter of an hour to arrange our knapsacks and pay the <i>National</i>. +He promised to do his best, and certainly the black horse proved himself a +most willing beast. There was one long hill which damped our spirits, and +made us give up the idea of catching the train; and here our driver came +to the rescue with what sounded at first like a promising story--the only +one we extracted from him all through the day--<i>à propos</i> of a +memorial-stone on the road-side, where a man had lately been killed by two +bears; but, when we came to examine into it, the romance vanished, for the +man was a brewer's waggoner with a dray of beer, and the bears were tame +bears, led in a string, which frightened the brewer's horses, and so the +man was killed. Contrary to our expectations and fears, we did catch the +train, and arrived in a thankful frame of mind at comfortable quarters in +Neufchâtel.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<a name="Page_131"><span class="pagenum">[Page 131]</span></a> + +<h3>THE SCHAFLOCH, OR TROU-AUX-MOUTONS, NEAR THE LAKE OF THUN.</h3> + +<p>The next morning, my sisters went one way and I another; they to a +valley in the south-west of Vaud, where our head-quarters were to be +established for some weeks, and I to Soleure, where a Swiss <i>savant</i> +had vaguely told us he believed there was a glacière to be seen. +That town, however, denied the existence of any approach to such a thing, +with a unanimity which in itself was suspicious, and with a want of +imagination which I had not expected to find. One man I really thought +might be persuaded to know of some cave where there was or might be ice, +but after a quarter of an hour's discussion he finally became immovable on +the negative side. A Frenchman would certainly have been polite enough to +accommodate facts to my desires. It was all the more annoying, because the +Weissenstein stood overhead so engagingly, and I should have been only too +glad to spend the night in the hotel there, if anyone had given me the +slightest encouragement. I specially pointed at the neighbourhood of this +hotel to my doubtful friend, as being likely for caves; but he was not in +the pay of the landlord, and so failed to take the hint. There is a +curious hole in which ice is found near Weissenstein in Carniola,<a name= +"FNanchor55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55"><sup>[55]</sup></a> and it is not +impossible that this may have originated the idea of a glacière +near Soleure.</p> + +<a name="Page_132"><span class="pagenum">[Page 132]</span></a> + +<p>The Schweizerhof at Berne is a very comfortable resting-place; but, in +spite of its various excellences, if a tired traveller is told that No. 53 +is to be his room, he will do well to seek a bed elsewhere. No. 53 is a +sort of closet to some other number, with a single window opening low on +to the passage, and is adjudged to the unfortunate individual who arrives +at that omnipresent crisis which raises the charge for bed-rooms, and +silences all objections to their want of comfort--namely, when there is +only one bed left in the house. In itself, No. 53 would be well enough; +but the throne of the chambermaid is in the passage, by the side of the +window, and the male attendant on that particular stage naturally +gravitates to the same point, when the bells of the stage do not summon +him elsewhere, and often enough when they do. This combination leads of +course to local disturbances of a somewhat noisy character, and however +entirely a sleepy man may in principle sympathise with the causes of the +noise, it becomes rather hard to bear after midnight. The precise actors +on the present occasion have, no doubt, quarrelled or set up a <i> +café</i> before now, or perhaps have achieved both results by +taking the latter first; but there is reason to believe that so long as +the window of No. 53 is the seat of the chambermaid for the time being, so +long will that room be--as the landlord neatly expressed it when a protest +was made--<i>etwas unruhig</i>.</p> + +<p>All Switzerland has been playing at soldiers for some time, and as we +left Berne the next morning, we saw three or four hundred Federal men of +war marching down the road which runs parallel with the rails. The three +officers at the head of the column were elderly and stout; moreover, they +were mounted, and that fact was evidently due rather to the meekness of +their chargers than to the grip of their own legs. When they <a name= +"Page_133"><span class="pagenum">[Page 133]</span></a> saw the train +coming, they took prompt measures. They halted the troops, and rode off +down a side lane to be out of harm's way; and when we had well passed, +they rejoined the column, and the march was resumed.</p> + +<p>The early train from Berne catches the first boat on the Lake of Thun, +and I landed at the second station on the lake, the village of Gonten or +Gunten. M. Thury's list states that the glacière known as the +Schafloch is on the Rothhorn, in the Canton of Berne, 4,500 mètres +of horizontal distance from Merligen, a village on the shore of the lake; +and from these data I was to find the cave. Gonten was apparently the +nearest station to Merligen, and as soon as the small boat which meets the +steamer had deposited me on the shore, I asked my way, first to the <i> +auberge</i>, and then to Merligen. The <i>auberge</i> was soon found, and +coffee and bread were at once ordered for breakfast; but when the people +learned my eventual destination, they would not let me go to Merligen. A +man, to whom--for no particular reason--I had given two-pence, called a +council of the village upon me, and they proceeded to determine whether I +must have a guide from Gonten, or only from a nameless châlet higher +up. The discussion was noisy, and was conducted without words: they do not +speak, those men of Gonten--they merely grunt, and each interprets the +grunts as he wills. My two-penny friend told me what it all meant, in an +obliging manner, but in words less intelligible than the grunts; and one +member of the council drew out so elaborate a route--the very characters +being wild patois--splitting the morning into quarter-stundes and +half-quarter-stundes, with a sharp turn to the right or left at the end of +each, that, as I drank my coffee, I determined to take a guide from the +village, whatever the decision of the council might be. <a name= +"Page_134"><span class="pagenum">[Page 134]</span></a> Fortunately, +things took a right turn, and when breakfast was finished, a deputation +went out and found a guide, suspiciously like one of their number who did +not return, and I was informed that Christian Opliger would conduct me to +the Schafloch for five francs, and a <i>Trinkgeld</i> if I were satisfied +with him. In order to prove to me that he had really been at the cave, six +days before, with two Bernese gentlemen, he seized my favourite +low-crowned white hat, and endeavoured to knead it into the shape of the +cave.</p> + +<p>Our affairs took a long time to arrange, for grunts and pantomime are +not rapid means of communication, when it comes to detail. The great +question in Christian's mind seemed to be, what should we take with us to +eat and drink? and when he propounded this to me with steady pertinacity, +I, with equal pertinacity, had only one answer--a cord and a hatchet. At +last he provided these, vowing that they were ridiculously unnecessary, +but comprehending that they must be forthcoming, as a preliminary to +anything more digestible; and then I told him, some dry bread and no wine. +This drove him from grunts to words. No wine! it would be so frightfully +hot on the mountains!--I told him I never drank wine when I was hot. But +it would be so terribly cold in the cave!--I never drank wine when I was +cold. But the climbing was <i>sehr stark</i>--we should need to give +ourselves strength!--I never needed to give myself strength. There was no +good water to be found the whole way!--I never drank water. Then, at last, +after a brief grunt with the landlord, he struck:--he simply would not go +without wine! I never wished him to do so, I explained; he might take as +much as he chose, and I would pay for it, but he need not count me for +anything in calculating how much was necessary. This made him perfectly +happy; and when I answered his question touching cheese in a similar +manner, only limiting him to a <a name="Page_135"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 135]</span></a> pound and a half, he rushed off for a large +wicker <i>hotte</i>, spacious enough for the stowage of many layers of +babies; and in it he packed all our properties, and all his provisions. +The landlord had made his own calculations, and put it at 3lbs. of bread +and 2lbs. of cheese; but I cut down the bread on account of its bulk, +before I saw the size of the <i>hotte</i>, and Christian seemed to think +he had quite enough to carry.</p> + +<p>It was about half-past nine when we started from the <i>auberge</i>; +and after a short mount in the full sun, we were not sorry to reach the +pleasant shade of walnut trees which accompanied us for a considerable +distance. The blue lake lay at our feet on the right, and beyond it the +Niesen stood, with wonted grandeur, guarding its subject valleys; more in +front, as we ascended transversely, the well-known snow-peaks of the +Bernese Oberland glittered high above the nearer foreground, and, sheer +above us, on the left, rose the ragged precipices whose flank we were to +turn. The Rothhorn of the Canton Berne lies inland from the Lake of Thun, +and sends down towards the lake a ridge sufficiently lofty, terminating in +the Ralligstöcke, or Ralligflue, the needle-like point, so prettily +ridged with firs, which advances its precipitous sides to the water. These +precipices were formed in historic times, and the sheer face from which +half a mountain has been torn stands now as clear and fresh as ever, while +a chaos of vast blocks at its foot gives a point to the local legends of +devastation and ruin caused by the various berg-falls. Two such falls are +clearly marked by the <i>débris</i>: one of these, a hundred and +fifty years ago, reduced the town of Ralligen to a solitary Schloss; and +the other, in 1856, overwhelmed the village of Merligen, and converted its +rich pastures into a desert cropped with stones. A traveller in +Switzerland, at the beginning of this century, <a name="Page_136"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 136]</span></a> found that the inhabitants of +Merligen were considered in the neighbourhood to be <i>d'une +stupidité et d'une bêtise extrêmes</i>, and I am +inclined to believe that after the last avalanche a general migration to +Gonten must have taken place.</p> + +<p>Christian's patois was of so hopeless a description, that I was tempted +to give it up in despair, and walk on in silence. Still, as we were +together for a whole long day, for better or for worse, it seemed worth +while to make every effort to understand each other, else I could learn no +local tales and legends, and Christian would earn but little <i> +Trinkgeld</i>; so we struggled manfully against our difficulties. A +confident American lady, meditating Europe, and knowing little French and +no German, is said to have remarked jauntily that if the worst came to the +worst she could always talk on her fingers to the peasants; but I did not +attempt to avail myself of the results of early practice in that universal +language. Christian's answers--the more intelligible parts of them--were a +stratified succession of <i>yes</i> and <i>no</i>, and as he was a man +naturally polite and acquiescent, the assentient strata were of more +frequent occurrence; but of course, beyond showing his good-will, such +answers were of no practical value. At length, after long perseverance, we +were rewarded by the appearance of a curiosity which eventually gave each +the key to the other's cipher. This was a strong stream of water, flowing +out of the trunk of a growing tree, at a height of six feet or so from the +ground; and I was so evidently interested in the phenomenon, that +Christian exerted himself to the utmost, at last with success, to explain +the construction of the fountain. A healthy poplar, seven or eight years +old, is taken from its native soil, and a cold iron borer is run up the +heart of the trunk from the roots, for six feet or more, by which means +the pith is removed, and the trunk is made to assume the <a name= +"Page_137"><span class="pagenum">[Page 137]</span></a> character of a +pipe. A hole is then bored through from the outside of the trunk, to +communicate with the highest point reached by the former operation, and in +this second hole a spout is fixed. The same is done at a very short +distance above the root, in the part of the trunk which will be buried in +the earth when the tree is replanted, and the poplar is then fixed in damp +ground, with the pipe at its root in connection with one of the little +runs of water which abound in meadows at the foot of hills. A well-known +property of fluids produces then the strange effect of an unceasing flow +of water from an iron spout in the trunk of a living tree; and, as poplars +love water, the fountain-tree thrives, and is more vigorous than its +neighbours. This sort of fountain may be common in some parts of +Switzerland, but I have not seen them myself except in this immediate +neighbourhood. There is said to be one near Stachelberg.</p> + +<p>In the endeavour to explain all this to me, Christian succeeded so +perfectly, that for the rest of the day we understood each other very +well. When I told him that he spoke much better German than the rest of +the people in Gonten, he informed me that he had worked among foreigners, +in proof whereof he held out his fingers; but all that I could gather from +the invited inspection was, that, whatever his employment might have been, +he could not be said to have come out of it with clean hands. He had been +employed, he explained, in German dye-works, and there had learned +something better than the native patois. About this time, too, I was able +to make him understand that, as he carried more than I, he must call a +halt whenever he felt so inclined; upon which he patted me affectionately +on the back, and, if I could remember the word he used, I believe that I +should now know the Swiss-German for a brick.</p> + +<p>Our object was to pass along the side of the lake, at a considerable <a +name="Page_138"><span class="pagenum">[Page 138]</span></a> +elevation, till we reached the east side of the Rothhorn range, when we +were to turn up the Jüstisthal, and mount towards the highest point +of the ridge, the glacière lying about an hour below the summit, in +the face of the steep rock. The cliffs became very grand on either side, +as soon as we entered this valley, the Jüstisthal, especially the +precipices of the Beatenberg on the right; and our path lay through woods +which have sprung up on the site of an early <i>Berg-lauine.</i> The +guide-books call attention to a cavern with a curious intermittent spring +in this neighbourhood. English tourists should feel some interest in the +Cave of S. Beatus, inasmuch as its canonised occupant went from our shores +to preach the Gospel to the wild men of the district, and died in this +cave at a very advanced age. His relics remaining there, his +fête-day attracted such crowds of pilgrims, that reforming Berne +sent two deputies in 1528 to carry off the saint's skull, and bury it +between the lakes; but still the pilgrimages continued, and at length the +Protestant zeal of Berne went to the expense of a wall, and they built the +pilgrims out in 1566. S. Beatus is said to have been converted by S. +Barnabas in Britain, and to have gone to Rome, whence S. Peter sent him +out to preach. His relics were conveyed to Lucerne in 1554, because heresy +prevailed in the country where his cave lies, and an arm is among the +proud possessions of pilgrim-pressed Einsiedeln. The saint was originally +a British noble, by name Suetonius; and Dempster drops a letter from his +name, and with much ingenuity makes him collateral ancestor of a Scottish +family--'The Setons, tall and proud.'<a name="FNanchor56"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_56"><sup>[56]</sup></a></p> + +<p>When we arrived at the last châlet, Christian turned to mount the +grass <a name="Page_139"><span class="pagenum">[Page 139]</span></a> +slope on our left hand, which led to the part of the rocks in which the +entrance to the Schafloch was to be sought. I never climbed up grass so +steep, and before we had gone very far we were hailed by a succession of +grunts, which my companion interpreted into assurances from some invisible +person that we were going wrong. The man soon appeared, in the shape of a +charcoal-burner, and told us that we were making the ascent much more +difficult than it need be made, and also, that we should come to some +awkward rock-climbing by the route we had chosen. It was too late, +however, to turn back; so we persevered.</p> + +<p>Before long, I heard a <i>Meinherr</i>! from Christian, in a tone which +I knew meant rest and some food. He explained that he would rather take +two small refreshments, one here and one at the Schafloch, than one large +refreshment at the cave; so we propped ourselves on the grass, and tapped +the <i>hotte</i>. The cheese proved to be delightful--six years old, the +landlady told us afterwards, and apparently as hard as a bone, but when +once mastered its flavour was admirable. Christian persuaded me to taste +the wine, of which he had a high opinion, and he was electrified by the +universal shudder the one taste caused. The grapes from which it was +brewed had been grown in a gooseberry garden, and all the saccharine +matter carefully extracted; the wine had been left without a cork since +the first dawn of its existence, and the heat and jolting of its travels +on Christian's back had reduced it to the condition of warm flat <a name= +"Page_140"><span class="pagenum">[Page 140]</span></a> vinegar. He +drank it with the utmost relish, and was evidently reconciled to my +verdict by the consideration that there would be all the more for him.</p> + +<p>From the appearance of the bread and cheese when the meal had come to +an end, I concluded that my companion had changed his mind in the course +of feeding, and had resolved to compress the whole eating of the day into +one large refreshment here. The consumptive powers of the Swiss-German +peasant, when his meal is franked, has not unfrequently reminded me of the +miraculous eating performed by a yellow domino of that nation, at the +fête by which Louis XIV. celebrated the second marriage of the +Dauphin. This domino was of large size, and ate and drank voraciously +throughout the entertainment, which lasted many hours, retiring every five +minutes or so, and returning speedily with unabated appetite. The thing +became at length so portentous, that enquiries were instituted, and it was +found that the trusty <i>Cent-Suisses</i> had joined at a domino, and were +drawing lots all through the evening for the next turn at eating; so that +each man's time was necessarily limited, and he accordingly made the most +of it.</p> + +<p>We soon took to the rocks, and found them, as the charcoal-burner had +promised, sufficiently stiff work. Colonel (now General) Dufour visited +the Schafloch with a party of officers in 1822, and he describes<a name= +"FNanchor57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57"><sup>[57]</sup></a> the path as a +dangerous one, so much so that several of the gallant members of his party +could not reach the cave: he uses rather large words about the precipices, +and it is a matter of observation that military service on the Continent +tends to induce a habit of body which is not the most suitable for +doubtful climbing. The mountain seemed to be composed, in <a name= +"Page_141"><span class="pagenum">[Page 141]</span></a> this part, of +horizontal layers of crumbling shale, with a layer now and then of stone, +about the thickness of an ordinary house-tile. The stone layers project +from the looser masonry, and afford an excellent foot-hold; but a slip +might be unpleasant. Every one who has done even a small amount of +climbing has met with an abundance of places where 'a slip would be +certain death,' as people are so fond of saying; but equally he has +discovered that a slip is the last thing he thinks of making in such +situations. Christian had told me that if I had the slightest tendency to +<i>Schwindelkopf</i>, I must not go by the improvised route; but it proved +that there were really no precipices at all, much less any of sufficient +magnitude to turn an ordinary head dizzy. He chose these rocks as the text +for a long sermon on the necessity for great caution when we should arrive +at the cave, telling of an Englishman who had tried to visit it two years +before, and had cut his knee so badly with his guide's axe that he had to +be carried down the mountain to Gonten, and thence to the steamer for +Thun, in which town he lay for many weeks in the hands of the German +doctor; this last assertion being by no means incredible. Also, of a +native who attempted the cave alone, and, making one false step near the +top of a fall of ice, slipped down and down almost for ever, and finally +landed with broken limbs on a floor of ice, where he was found, two days +after, frozen stiff, but still alive.</p> + +<p>It was not necessary to mount much, for we were almost as high as the +mouth of the cave, according to Christian's belief, and our work consisted +chiefly in passing along the face of the rock, round projecting buttresses +and re-entering angles, till we reached that part of the mountain where we +might expect to find our glacière. While we were thus engaged, two +hoarse and ominous ravens took us under their charge, and accompanied us +with unpleasant screams, which argued the <a name="Page_142"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 142]</span></a> proximity of food or nest. We soon +found that we had disturbed their meal, for we came to marks of blood, and +saw that some animal had slipped on the rocks above, and landed on the +ledge on which we were walking, bounding off again on to a shelf below, +where the ravens had already torn the body to pieces. I must confess to a +very considerable shudder when we discovered the reason of their screams, +and neither of us seemed to enjoy the circling and croaking of the unclean +birds.</p> + +<p>Very soon after this, Christian announced that we had reached the cave, +and a steep little climb of six feet or so brought us to the entrance. +Here we were haunted still by the presence of pieces of the fallen goat, +which lay about here and there on the ground; and the flutter of wings +overhead explained to us that the old ravens had built their nest in the +mouth of the cave, and had brought morsels of raw flesh to their young +ones, which were scarcely able to fly. I am ashamed to say that we were so +angry with the old birds for shrieking so suggestively in our ears, and +parading before us the results of a slip on the rocks, that we charged +ourselves with stones, and put an end to the most noisy member of the foul +brood; Christian making some of the worst shots it is possible to +conceive, and raining blocks of stone and lumps of wood in all directions, +with such reckless impartiality, that the only safe place seemed to be +between him and the bird. One of us, at least, regretted the useless +cruelty as soon as it was perpetrated, and it came back upon me very +reproachfully at an awkward part of our return journey.</p> + +<p>The Schafloch does not take its name from the bones contained in it, as +is the case with the Kühloch in Franconia,<a name="FNanchor58"></a><a +href="#Footnote_58"><sup>[58]</sup></a> but from the fact that <a name= +"Page_143"><span class="pagenum">[Page 143]</span></a> when a sudden +storm comes on, the sheep and goats make their way to the cave for +shelter, never, I was told, going so far as the commencement of the ice. +The entrance faces ESE., and is of large size, with a low wall built +partly across it to increase the shelter for the sheep: Dufour calls the +entrance 50 feet wide and 25 feet high, but I found the width at the +narrowest part, a few yards within the entrance, to be 33 feet.<a name= +"FNanchor59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59"><sup>[59]</sup></a> For a short +distance the cave passes horizontally into the rock, in a westerly +direction, and is quite light; it then turns sharp to the south, the floor +beginning to fall, and candles becoming necessary. Here the height +increases considerably, and the way lies over a wild confusion of loose +masses of rock, which have apparently fallen from the roof, and make +progression very difficult. We soon reached a point where ice began to +appear among the stones; and as we advanced it became more and more +prominent, till at length we lost sight of the rock, and stood on solid +ice.</p> + +<p>On either side of the cave was a grand column of ice forming the +portal, as it were, through which we must pass to further beauties. The +ice-floor rose to meet these columns in a graceful swelling curve, +perfectly continuous, so that the general effect was that of two columns +whose roots expanded and met in the middle of the cave; and, indeed, that +may have been really the order of formation. The right-hand column was +larger than its fellow, but, owing to the more gradual expansion of the +lower part of its height, and the steepness of the consequent slope, we +were unable to measure its girth at any point where it could be fairly +called a column.<a name="Page_144"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 144]</span></a> Christian had been in the cave a few +days before, and he assured me that the swelling base of this column had +increased very considerably since his last visit, pointing out a solid +surface of ice, at one part of our track, where he had before walked on +bare rock. The cave was by no means extremely cold, that is to say, it was +rather above than below the freezing point, and the splashing of drops of +water was audible on all sides; so that, if Christian spoke the truth,--it +was sad to be so often reminded of Legree's plaintive soliloquy in the +opening pages of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,'--the explanation, I suppose, might +be that the drops of water, falling on the top of the column or +stalagmite, run down the sides, and carry with them some melted portion +from the upper part of the column, and after a course of a few yards +become so far refrigerated as to form ice.<a name="FNanchor60"></a><a +href="#Footnote_60"><sup>[60]</sup></a> The pillar on the left was more +approachable, but we were unable to determine its dimensions; for on the +outer side, where it stood a few feet or yards clear of the side of the +cave, the rounded ice at its foot fell off at once into a dark chasm, a +sort of smooth enticing <i>Bergschrund</i>, which we did not care to face. +Christian declared that this column was not so high as it was a day or two +before, which may go to support the theory expressed above, or at least +that part of it which depends upon the supposition of water dropping on to +the head of the column, and melting certain portions of it.</p> + +<p>If we were unable to take the external dimensions of this column, I had +no doubt that we should find internal investigations interesting; so, to +Christian's surprise, I began to chop a hole in it, about two feet from +the ground, and, having made an entrance sufficiently large, proceeded to +get into the cavity which presented itself.<a name="Page_145"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 145]</span></a> The flooring of the dome-shaped +grotto in which I found myself, was loose rock, at a level about two feet +below the surface of the ice-floor on which Christian still stood. The +dome itself was not high enough to allow me to stand upright, and from the +roof, principally from the central part, a complex mass of delicate +icicles passed down to the floor, leaving a narrow burrowing passage +round, which was itself invaded by icicles from the lower part of the +sloping roof, and by stubborn stalagmites of ice rising from the floor.<a +name="FNanchor61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61"><sup>[61]</sup></a> The +details of this central cluster of icicles, and in fact of every portion +of the interior of the strange grotto, were exceedingly lovely, and I +crushed with much regret, on hands and knees, through fair crystal forests +and frozen dreams of beauty. In making the tour of this grotto, contorting +my body like a snake to get in and out among the ice-pillars, and do as +little damage as might be, but yet, with all my care, accompanied by the +incessant shiver and clatter of breaking and falling ice, I came to a hole +in the ground, too dark and deep for one candle to show its depth; so I +called to Christian to come in, thinking that two candles might show it +better. He asked if I really meant it, and assured me he could be of no +use; but I told him that he must come, and informed him that he, being the +smaller man, would find the passage quite easy. It was very fortunate that +I had not waited a minute longer before summoning him, for just as he had +dropped into the hollow, and was beginning his journey to the side where I +now was, a drop of water and a simultaneous icicle came upon my candle, +and left me in darkness, curled up like a dormouse in a nest of ice, at +the edge of the newly discovered shaft; <a name="Page_146"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 146]</span></a> while my troubles were brought to a +climax by an incursion of icy drops, which had me at their mercy. If all +this had happened while Christian was still outside, he would probably +have staid there wringing his hands till it was time to go home, and I +should certainly not have liked to move without a light. As it was, I did +not inform him of the catastrophe, but let him come toiling on, wondering +audibly what madness could drive Herrschaft into such places; and when he +arrived, we cut off the wet wick, and lighted the candle again. We could +make nothing of the hole, so he returned by the way he had come, and I +completed the tour of the grotto, finding the same difficult passage, and +the same ice beauties, all the way round.</p> + +<p>Having squeezed ourselves out again through the narrow hole, we now +passed between the two gigantic columns, and found that the sea of ice +became still broader and bolder. I much regret that I neglected to take +any measurements in this part of the cave; but farther down, where it was +certainly not so broad, I found the width of the ice to be 75 feet. It was +throughout of the crystalline character which prevails in all the large +masses in the glacières I have visited. For some distance beyond +the columns, we found neither stalactites nor stalagmites--indeed, I +forgot to look at the roof--until we came to the edge of a glorious +ice-fall, down which Christian said it was impossible to go--no one had +ever been farther than where we now stood. I have seen no subterranean +ice-fall so grand as this, round and smooth, and perfectly unbroken, +passing down, like the rapids of some river too deep for its surface to be +disturbed, into darkness against which two candles prevailed nothing. The +fall in the Upper Glacière of the Pré de S. Livres was +strange enough, but it was very small, and led to a confined corner of the +<a name="Page_147"><span class="pagenum">[Page 147]</span></a> +cavern; whereas this of the Schafloch rolls down majestically, cold and +grey, into a dark gulf of which we could see neither the roof nor the end, +while the pieces of ice which we despatched down the steep slope could be +heard going on and on, as M. Soret says, <i>à une +très-grande distance</i>. The shape, also, of the fall was very +striking. Beginning at the left wall of the cave, the edge ran out +obliquely towards the middle, when it suddenly turned and struck straight +across to the right-hand wall, so that we were able to stand on a tongue, +as it were, in the middle of the top of the fall. To add to the effect, +precisely from this tongue or angle a fine column of ice sprang out of the +very crest of the fall, rising to or towards the roof, and to this we +clung to peer down into the darkness.</p> + +<p>The rope we had brought was not long, and the idea was hopeless of +cutting steps down this great fall, leading we knew not where, with an +incline which it frightened Christian even to look at. I began to +consider, however, whether it was not possible to make our way down the +left branch of the ice, which fell rather towards the side wall than into +the dark gulf below. On examining more closely, I found that a large +stone, or piece of rock, projected from the face of this branch of the +fall, about 12 feet from the top, and to this I determined to descend, as +a preliminary to further attempts, the candles not showing us what there +was beyond. Accordingly, I tied on the rope, and planted Christian where +he had a safe footing, telling him to hold tight if I slipped, for he +seemed to have little idea what the rope was meant for. The ice was very +hard, and cutting steps downwards with a short axe is not easy work; so +when I came within 3 or 4 feet of the rock, I forgot the rope, and set off +for a short glissade. Christian, of course, thought something was wrong, +and very properly put a prompt strain upon the rope, which reduced his +Herr to a spread-eagle sort of condition, in <a name="Page_148"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 148]</span></a> which it was difficult to +explain matters, so as to procure a release. When that was accomplished, I +saw it would be easy to reach the point where the ice met the wall, so I +called to Christian to come down, which he did in an unpremeditated, +avalanche fashion; and then, by cutting steps here and there, and making +use of odd points of rock, we skirted down the edge of the great fall, and +reached at last the lower regions.</p> + +<p>When I came to read Dufour's account of his visit in 1822, I found that +the ice must have increased very much since his time. He uses sufficiently +large words, speaking of the <i>vaste, horrible et pourtant +magnifique</i>--of the <i>horreur du séjour</i>, and the <i> +grandeur des demeures souterraines</i>; but he only calls the glorious +ice-fall a <i>plan incliné</i>, and says that the whole was less +remarkable for the amount of ice, than for the characteristics indicated +by the words I have quoted. He says that it required <i>une assez forte +dose de courage</i> to slip down to the stone of which I have spoken; the +fact being that at the time of my visit it would have been impossible to +do so with any chance of stopping oneself, for the flat surface of the +stone was all but even with the ice. M. Soret, who saw the cave in 1860, +determined that cords were then absolutely necessary for the descent, +which he did not attempt; and the only Englishman I have met who has seen +this cave, tells me that he and his party went no farther than the edge of +the fall.<a name="FNanchor62"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_62"><sup>[62]</sup></a> Probably each year's accumulation on +the upper floor of ice has added to the height and rapidity of the fall; +but at any rate, when Dufour was there, <i>des militaires</i>--as he +dashingly tells--were not to be stopped, and he and his party--such of +them as had not been already stopped by the precipices outside--let +themselves slip down to the stone, and thence descended as we did.</p> + +<a name="Page_149"><span class="pagenum">[Page 149]</span></a> + +<p>We soon found that the larger ice-fall looked extremely grand when seen +from below, and that in a modified form it reached far down into the lower +cave, and terminated in a level sea of ice; but, before making any further +investigations into its size, we pressed on to look for the end of the +cave. This soon appeared, and as a commentary on Christian's assertion +that no one had ever been beyond the head of the fall, I called his +attention to some initials smoked on the wall by means of a torch. There +was an abrupt piece of rock-floor between this end and the termination of +the ice. The western wall was ornamented with a long arcade of lofty +columns of very white ice, looking strangely ghostlike by the light of two +candles, crystallised, and with the porcelain appearance I have described +before. We could not measure the height of these columns, but we found +that they extended continuously, so as to be in fact one sheet of columns, +connected by shapes of ice now graceful and now grotesque, for 27 yards. +The ice from their feet flowed down to join the terminal lake, which +formed a weird sea 28 yards by 14. My notes, written on the spot, tell me +that between this lake, which I have called terminal, and the end of the +cave, there is a sheet of ice 48 yards long, but it has entirely vanished +from my recollection.</p> + +<p>I now sent Christian back with a ball of string, up the steps we had +cut for the descent, with directions to get as near as he could to the top +of the main fall, and then send down a stone tied to the string, as I +wished to determine the length of the fall. While he was making his way +up, I amused myself by chopping and carving at the ice at various points +to examine its structure, until at length a <i>Jodel</i> from above +announced that Christian had reached his post; and a vast amount of +hammering ensued, of which I could not understand the meaning. Presently +he called out that 'it' was coming, and assuredly it did come. There was +<a name="Page_150"><span class="pagenum">[Page 150]</span></a> a loud +crash on the upper part of the fall, and a shower of fragments of ice came +whizzing past, and almost dislodged me; while the sound of pieces of ice +bounding and gliding down the slope seemed as if it never would cease. It +turned out to mean that my friend had not been able to find a stone; so he +had smashed a block of ice from the column which presided over the fall, +and having attached the string to this, had hurled the whole apparatus in +my direction, fortunately not doing as much damage as he might have done. +My end of the string was not to be seen, so he repeated the experiment, +with a piece of wood in place of the block of ice, and this time it +succeeded. We found that from top to bottom of the fall was 45 yards. +There was all the appearance of immense thickness, especially towards the +upper part.</p> + +<p>Christian had placed his candle in a niche in the column, while he +arranged the string for measuring the fall, and the effect of the spark of +light at the top of the long steep slope was extremely strange from below. +The whole scene was so remarkable, that it required some effort to realise +the fact that I was not in a dream. Christian stood at the top invisible, +jodeling in a most unearthly manner, and developing an astonishing +falsetto power, only interrupting his performance to assure me that he was +not coming down again; so I was obliged to measure the breadth of the fall +by myself. I chose a part where the ice was not very steep, and where +occasional points of rock would save some of the labour of cutting steps; +but even so it was a sufficiently tedious business. The string was always +catching at something, and mere progression, without any string to manage, +would have been difficult enough under the circumstances. It was +completely dark, so a candle occupied one hand, and, as every step must be +cut, save where an opportune rock or stone <a name="Page_151"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 151]</span></a> appeared, an axe occupied the other; +then there was the string to be attended to, and both hands must be ready +to clutch at some projecting point when a slip came, and now and then a +ruder rock required circumvention. Add to all this, that hands and feet +had not been rendered more serviceable by an hour and a half of contact +with ice, and it will easily be understood that I was glad when the +measurement was over. At this point the breadth was 25 yards, and, a few +feet above the line in which I crossed, all traces of rock or stone +disappeared, and there was nothing but unbroken ice. I had of course +abundant opportunities for examining the structure of the ice, and I found +in all parts of the fall the same large-grained material, breaking up, +when cut, into the usual prismatic nuts.</p> + +<p>I now rejoined Christian, and we worked our way upwards to the mouth of +the cave, penitently desisting from stoning a remaining raven. We observed +at the very mouth, by watching the flame of the candles, a slight current +outwards, extremely feeble, and on our first arrival I had fancied there +was a current, equally slight, inwards, but neither was perceptible beyond +the entrance of the cave. M. Soret was fortunate enough to witness a +curious phenomenon, at the time of his visit to the Schafloch, in +September 1860, which throws some light upon the atmospheric state of the +cave. The day was externally very foggy, and the fog had penetrated into +the cavern; but as soon as M. Soret began to descend to the +glacière itself, properly so called, he passed down out of the fog, +and found the air for the rest of the way perfectly clear.<a name= +"FNanchor63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63"><sup>[63]</sup></a></p> + +<p>M. Soret states that he has not absolute confidence in his <a name= +"Page_152"><span class="pagenum">[Page 152]</span></a> thermometrical +observations, but as he had more time than I to devote to such details, +inasmuch as he did not pass down into the lowest part of the cave, I give +his results rather than my own, which were carelessly made on this +occasion:--On a stone near the first column of ice, 0°·37 C.; +on a stick propped against the column on the edge of the great ice-fall, +2°·37 C.; in a hole in the ice, filled with water by drops from +the roof, 0° C. approximately.<a name="FNanchor64"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_64"><sup>[64]</sup></a> The second result is sufficiently +remarkable. My own observations would give nearer 33° F. than 32° +as the general temperature of the cave.</p> + +<p>Christian was so cold when we had finished our investigations, that he +determined to take his second refreshment <i>en route</i>, and, moreover, +time was getting rather short. We had started from Gonten at half-past +nine in the morning, and reached the glacière about half-past +twelve. It was now three o'clock, and the boat from Gonten must reach the +steamer at half-past six precisely, so there was not too much time for us; +especially as we were to return by a more mountainous route, which +involved further climbing towards the summit of the Rothhorn, and was to +include a visit to the top of the Ralligflue. On emerging from the cave, +we were much struck by the beauty of the view, the upper half of the +Jungfrau, with its glittering attendants and rivals, soaring above a rich +and varied foreground not unworthy of so glorious a termination. There was +not time, however, to admire it as it deserved, and we set off almost at +once up the rocks, soon reaching a more elevated table-land by dint of +steep climbing. The ground of this table-land was solid rock, smoothed and +rounded by long weathering, and fissured in every direction by broad and +narrow crevasses 2 or 3 feet deep, at the bottom of which <a name= +"Page_153"><span class="pagenum">[Page 153]</span></a> was luxuriant +botany, in the shape of ferns, and mallows, and monkshood, and all manner +of herbs. The learned in such matters call these rock-fallows <i> +Karrenfelden</i>. When we had crossed this plateau, and came to grass, we +found a gorgeous carpet of the huge couched blue gentian (<i>G. +acaulis</i>, Fr. <i>Gentiane sans tige</i>), with smaller patterns put in +by the dazzling blue of the delicate little flower of the same species +(<i>G. verna</i> ); while the white blossoms of the grass of Parnassus, +and the frailer white of the <i>dryade à huit petales</i>, and the +modest waxen flowers of the <i>Azalea procumbens</i> and the <i>airelle +ponctuée</i> (<i>Vaccineum vitis idaea</i>), tempered and set off +the prevailing blue. There were groves, too, rather lower down, of Alpine +roses (the first I had come across that year), not the fringed or the +green-backed species which botanists love best, but the honest old +rust-backed rhododendron, which every Swiss traveller has been pestered +with in places where the children are one short step above mere mendicity, +but, equally, which every Swiss traveller hails with Medean delight when +he comes upon it on the mountain-side. We were now, too, in the +neighbourhood of the first created Alpen rose. The story is, that a young +peasant, who had climbed the precipices behind Oberhausen for +rock-flowrets, as the price of some maiden's love, fell at the moment when +he had secured the flowers, and was killed. From his blood the true Alpen +rose sprang, and took its colour.</p> + +<p>We were now passing along the summit of one of the lower spurs of the +Rothhorn range, and making for the peak of the Ralligflue, which lay +considerably below us. In descending near the line of crest, we found a +large number of very deep fissures, narrow and black, some of them +extending to a great distance across the face of the hill; sometimes they +appeared as mere holes, down which we despatched stones, sometimes as +unpleasant crevasses almost hidden by flowers and the shrubs of <a name= +"Page_154"><span class="pagenum">[Page 154]</span></a> rhododendron. +In many of these we dimly discovered accumulated snow at the bottom, and +we observed that the Alpine roses which overhung the snow-holes were by +far the deepest coloured and most beautiful we could find.</p> + +<p>To reach the Ralligflue, we had to cross a smooth green lawn completely +covered with the sweet vanilla orchis (<i>O. nigra</i>), which perfumed +the air almost too powerfully. No one can ever fully appreciate the +grandeur of the lion-like Niesen till he has seen it from this verdant +little paradise, on the slope near the Bergli Châlet, with a +diminutive limpid lake in the meadow at his feet, and the blue lake of +Thun below. The Kanderthal and the Simmenthal lie exposed from their +entrance at the foot of the Niesen; and when the winding Kanderthal is +lost, the Adelbodenthal takes up the telescope, and guides the eye to the +parent glaciers. This view I was fortunately able to enjoy rather longer +than that from the mouth of the Schafloch; for we had made such rapid way, +that Christian found there was time for a meal of milk in the +châlet, and meanwhile left me lying in perfect luxury on the sweet +grass.</p> + +<p>From the Ralligflue a long and remarkably steep zigzag leads to the +lower ground, and down this Christian ran at full speed, jodeling in a +most trying manner; indeed, at one of the sudden turns of the path he went +off triumphantly into a falsetto so unearthly, that he lost his legs, and +landed in a promiscuous sort of way on a lower part of the zigzag, after +which he was slower and less vocal.</p> + +<p>We eventually reached Gonten so soon, that there was time to cool and +have a bath in the lake; and when that was nearly finished, Christian +brought a plate of cherries and a detachment of the village, and I ate the +cherries and held a levée in the boat--very literally a +levée, as the dressing was by no means accomplished when the +deputation arrived. My late guide, now, <a name="Page_155"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 155]</span></a> as he said, a friend for life, made a +speech to the people, setting forth that he had done that day what he had +never thought to do; for, often as he had been to the entrance of the +Schafloch--five or six times at the least--he had never before reached the +end of the cave. And to whom, he asked, did he owe it? All previous +Herrschaft under his charge had cried <i>Immer zurück!</i> but this +present Herr had known but one cry, <i>Immer vorwärts!</i> Luckily +the steamer now approached, so the speech came to an end, and he shook +hands affectionately, with a vigour that would certainly have transmitted +some of the dye, if that material had not become a part of the skin which +it coloured. Then the village also shook hands, having evidently +understood what Christian said, notwithstanding the fact that it was +intelligible German, and I returned to Thun and Berne.</p> + +<p>No. 53 was still the only bed disengaged, for it was very late when I +reached Berne; but on my vehement protestations against that unquiet +chamber, the landlord most obligingly converted a sofa in his own +sitting-room into a temporary bed, and made it over to me. This room was +separated by a door of ground-glass from another sitting-room brilliantly +lighted, in which a number of German young gentlemen were fêting the +return of a comrade after the national manner. The landlord said he +thought it must soon be over, for he doubted whether they could last much +longer; but their powers of endurance were greater than he had supposed. +It will readily be imagined that German songs with a good chorus, the solo +parts being very short, and received with the utmost impatience by the +chorus, were even less soporific in their effect than the +flirtations--though boisterous beyond all conventional propriety--of +German housemaids and waiters.<a name="FNanchor65"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_65"><sup>[65]</sup></a></p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<a name="Page_157"><span class="pagenum">[Page 157]</span></a> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF GRAND ANU, ON THE MONTAGNE DE L'EAU, NEAR +ANNECY.</h3> + +<p>M. Thury's list contained a bare mention of two glacières on the +M. Parmelan, near Annecy, without any further information respecting them, +beyond the fact that they supplied ice for Lyons. Their existence had been +apparently reported to him by M. Alphonse Favre, but he had obtained no +account of a visit to the caves. Under these circumstances, the only plan +was to go to Annecy, and trust to chance for finding some one there who +could assist me in my search.</p> + +<p>After spending a day or two in the library at Geneva, looking up M. +Thury's references, with respect to various ice-caves, and trying to +discover something more than he had found in the books there, I started +for Annecy at seven in the morning in the banquette of the diligence. On a +fresher day, no doubt the great richness of the orchards and corn-fields +would have been very striking; but on this particular morning the fields +were already trembling with heat, and the trees and the fruit covered with +dust; and there was nothing in the grouping of the country through which +the road lay to refresh the baked and half-choked traveller. The voyage +was to last four and a half hours, and it soon became a serious question +how far it would be possible to face the heat of noon, when the earlier +morning was so utterly unbearable.</p> + +<a name="Page_158"><span class="pagenum">[Page 158]</span></a> + +<p>Before very long, a counter-irritant appeared in the shape of a +fellow-traveller, whose luggage consisted of a stick and an old pair of +boots. The man was not pleasant to be near in any way, and he was +evidently not at all satisfied with the amount of room I allowed him. He +kept discontentedly and doggedly pushing his spare pair of boots farther +and farther into my two-thirds of the seat, and once or twice was on the +point of a protest, in which case I was prepared to tell him that as he +filled the whole banquette with his smell, he ought in reason to be +satisfied with less room for himself; but instead of speaking, he brought +out a tobacconist's parcel and began to open it. Tobacco-smoke is all very +well under suitable circumstances, but it is possible to be too hot and +dusty and bilious to be able to stand it, and I watched his proceedings +with more of annoyance than of resignation. The parcel turned out, +however, to be delightful snuff, tastefully perfumed and very refreshing; +and the politeness with which the owner gave a pinch to the foreign +monsieur, after apportioning a handful to the driver and conductor, won +him a good three inches more of seat. The inevitable cigar soon came; but +it was a very good one, and no one could complain: all the same, I could +not help feeling a malicious satisfaction when the <i>douaniers</i> on the +French frontier investigated the spare boots--guiltless, one might have +thought, of anything except the extremity of age and dirt--and drew from +them a bundle or two of smuggled cigars, the owner trying in vain to look +as if he rather liked it.</p> + +<p>The Hôtel de Genève is probably the least objectionable of +the hotels of Annecy; but the Poste-bureau is at the Hôtel +d'Angleterre, and it was much too hot for me to fight with the waiters +there, and carry off my knapsack to another house. It is generally a +mistake--a great mistake--to sleep at a house which is the starting-place +and the goal of many diligences. All the night through, whips are +cracking, bells <a name="Page_159"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 159]</span></a> jingling, and men are shouting hoarsely or +blowing hoarser horns. Moreover, the Hôtel d'Angleterre had +apparently needed a fresh coat of paint and universal papering for many +years, and the latter need had at this crisis been so far grappled with +that the old paper had been torn down from the walls and now lay on the +various floors, while large pies of malodorous sizing had been planted at +the angles of the stairs. The natural <i>salle-à-manger</i> was +evidently an excellent room, with oleander balconies, but it was at +present in the hands of joiners, and a card pointed the way to the +'provisionary <i>salle-à-manger'</i>--not a bad name for it--in the +neighbourhood of the kitchen.</p> + +<p>There was one redeeming feature. The people of the house were +nice-looking and well-dressed. But experience has taught me to view such a +phenomenon in French towns of humbler rank with somewhat mixed feelings. +When the house is superintended with a keen and watchful eye by a young +lady of fashionable appearance, who takes a personal interest in a +solitary traveller, and suggests an evening's <i>course</i> on the lake, +or a morning's drive to some good view, and makes herself most winning and +agreeable; who takes the words, moreover, out of the mouth of a man +meditating an ordinary dinner, and assures him that she knows exactly what +he wants, and he shall be well satisfied, with a sisterly air that makes +the idea of francs and sous not sordid only, but impossible; I have slowly +learned to expect that this fashion and condescension will appear in the +bill. Prettiness is a very expensive item in such a case; and as these +three were all combined to a somewhat remarkable degree at the Hôtel +d'Angleterre, the eventual bill made me angry, and I should certainly try +the Hôtel de Genève on any future visit to Annecy.</p> + +<a name="Page_160"><span class="pagenum">[Page 160]</span></a> + +<p>The first thing to be done was to determine the position of the Mont +Parmelan. I was prepared to find the people of the town denying the +existence of such a mountain; but, as it was visible from the door of the +hotel, they could not go quite so far as that. The small crowd at the door +repudiated the glacières with one voice, and pointed out how +unlikely it was that Lyons should be supplied with ice from Annecy; +nevertheless, I continued to ask my way in spite of protestation, till at +length a lame man passed by, who said monsieur was quite right--he himself +knew two glacières on the Mont Parmelan very well. He had never +seen either of them, but he knew them as well as if he had. It was useless +to go to them now, he added, for the owners extracted all the ice early in +the year, and stored it in holes in the lower part of the mountain. He had +no idea by what route they were to be approached from Annecy, or on which +side of the Mont Parmelan they lay.</p> + +<p>I now looked on the local map, and determined that the best plan would +be to take the Bonneville diligence as far as Charvonnaz, the point on the +road which seemed to lie nearest to the roots of the Mont Parmelan, and +then be guided by what I might learn among the peasants. Everyone said +there was no chance of getting to anything by that means; but as the hotel +people saw that it was of no use to deny the glacières any longer, +they proposed to take me to a man who knew the M. Parmelan well, and could +tell me all about it. This man proved to be a keeper of voitures,--an +ominous profession under the circumstances,--and he assured me that I +could make a most lovely <i>course</i> the next day, through scenery of +unrivalled beauty; and he eloquently told on his fingers the villages and +sights I should come to. I suggested--without in the least knowing that it +was so--that the drive might be all very well in itself, but it would not +bring me to the glacières; on which he assured me that he knew +every inch of the mountain, and there was not <a name="Page_161"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 161]</span></a> such a thing as a +glacière in the whole district. At this moment, a gentlemanlike man +was brought up by the waiter, and introduced to me as a monsieur who knew +a monsieur who knew the proprietor of one of the glacières, and +would he happy to conduct me to this second monsieur: so, without any very +ceremonious farewell to the owner of the proffered voiture, we marched off +together down the street, and eventually turned into a <i>café</i>, +whose master was the monsieur for whom we were in search. Know the +glacière?--yes, indeed! he had ice from it one year every morning. +His wife and he had made a <i>course</i> to the campagne of M. the Maire +of Aviernoz, and he--the cafétier--had descended for miles, as it +were, down and down, till he came to an underground world of ice, +wonderful, totally wonderful: there he perceived so immense a cold, that +he drank a bottle of rhoom--a whole bottle--and drank it from the neck, +<i>à l'Anglaise</i>. And when they had gone so far that great dread +came upon them, they rolled a stone down the ice, and it went into the +darkness--boom, boom, boom,--and he put on a power of ventriloquism which +admirably represented the strange suggestive sound. Hold a moment! had +monsieur a crayon? Yes, monsieur had; so the things were impetuously swept +off a round marble table, and the excited little man drew a fancy portrait +of the glacière. The way to reach it? Go by diligence to +Charvonnaz--exactly what I had determined upon--and walk up to Aviernoz, +where his good friend the maire would make me see his beautiful +glacière, through the means of a letter which he went to write. It +was absurd to see this hot little man sign himself 'Dugravel, <i> +glacier</i>,' that being the style of his profession, naturally recalling +the contradictory conduct of the Latin noun <i>lucus</i>.</p> + +<p>The bones of S. Francis of Sales lie in the church of S. +François in <a name="Page_162"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 162]</span></a> Annecy, and I made a pilgrimage in search of +them through very unpleasant streets. After a time, the Italian west front +of the church appeared; but the main door led into a demonstrative bakery, +and the door of the north aisle was obscured by oleanders and a striped +awning, and over it appeared the legend, '<i>Entrée de +l'Hôtel</i>.' As a man politely explained, they had built S. Francis +another church, and utilised the old one. The town itself seemed to be of +the squalid style of antiquity--old, no doubt, but very dirty. It is +pervaded by streams, which crop up among the houses, and flow through dark +alleys and vaulted passages, rarely coming into daylight, and suggesting +all manner of dark crimes. The red-legged French kettledrums are, if +possible, more insolent here than in other places, and it is evident that +the dogs are not yet reconciled to the annexation, for the guard swept +through the streets amid a perfect tornado of howls from the negligent +scavengers of the place. For my own part, I was not pleased with the +change of rule, when I found that since Annecy has become French, the <i> +vin d'Asti</i> has become dear, as being now a foreign wine.</p> + +<p>The diligence for Bonneville was to leave Annecy at half-past four in +the morning; so I told them to call me at four, intending to breakfast +somewhere on the way. But of course, when four o'clock came, I had to call +myself, and in a quarter of an hour a knock at the door announced +half-past four. I pounced upon the man, and remonstrated with him, but <a +name="Page_163"><span class="pagenum">[Page 163]</span></a> he +assured me it did not matter; and when I reminded him that the diligence +was to leave at half-past four, he observed philosophically that it was +quite true, and I had better make haste, for the poste was very punctual. +At the door of the bureau a loaded diligence stood, marked <i> +Annecy--Aix</i>, and I asked had the Bonneville diligence gone? It did not +go till six, the clerk told me; but I reminded him he had said half-past +four when I asked him last night. Half-past four?--true, here was the +carriage standing at the door. But that was for Aix, not Bonneville, I +pointed out to him. Pardon--it was marked Aix, but was in fact meant for +Bonneville.</p> + +<p>The diligence reached the end of the by-road leading to Villaz in about +half an hour, and all the fever of Geneva and Annecy seemed to fly away +before the freshness of this green little lane, with clematis in full +flower pervading the hedges, and huge clusters of young nuts peeping out, +and promising later delights to fortunate passers-by. But, alas! the +little lane soon came to an end, and as I faced the fields of corn up the +mountain-side, the hot thunderous air came rolling down in palpable +billows, and oppressive clouds took possession of the surrounding hills. +Three-quarters of an hour brought me to Villaz, a close collection of +houses on the hill-side, with arched stone gateways leading into the +farmyards,--a fortified style of agricultural building which seems to +prevail in that district. After an amount of experience in out-of-the-way +places which makes me very cautious in saying that one in particular is +dirtier than a dozen others, I venture to say that the <i>auberge</i> of +Villaz is the most squalid I have come across; and I would not feed there +again, except in very robust health, even for a new glacière. +Still, it was absolutely necessary to eat something, and the landlady +promised coffee and bread. She showed me first into the kitchen; but as it +was also the place where the domestics slept, with many quadrupeds, I +declined to sit there. Upon this she led me to the <i>salon</i>, where the +window resisted all our efforts for some little time, and then opened upon +such a choice assortment of abominations, that I fled without my baggage. +The next attempt she made was the one remaining <a name="Page_164"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 164]</span></a> room of the house, the family +bedroom; but that was so much worse than all, that I took final refuge on +the balcony, a sort of ante-room to the hen-house. The cocks at the <i> +auberge</i> of Villaz are the loudest, the hens the most talkative, and +the cats the most shaggy and presuming, I have ever met with. Even here, +however, all was not unmitigated darkness; for they ground the coffee +while the water was boiling, and the consequent decoction was admirable. +Moreover, the bread had a skin of such thickness and impervious toughness, +that the inside was presumably clean.</p> + +<p>Aviernoz lay about an hour farther. Almost as soon as I left Villaz, +the thunderstorm came on in earnest, with sheets of rain, a regular <i> +Wolkenbruch</i>.<a name="FNanchor66"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_66"><sup>[66]</sup></a> The rain was most refreshing; but +lightning is not a pleasant companion in presence of a bright ice-axe, and +I was glad when the houses of Aviernoz came in sight. The village had the +appearance of being lost; and the houses were scattered about so +irregularly, that it was difficult to know which was the best point to +make for. The road studiously avoided the scattered houses, and the <i> +Mairie</i> seemed especially difficult to find. When at length it was +found, the maire, like the queen in the poets, was in the kitchen; and he +sat affably on the end of a bench and read the letter of introduction +aloud, asking me, at the conclusion, how was our friend Dugravel, a man +amazing in many ways. When I confessed that I had only made the +acquaintance of the amazing man the night before, and therefore did not +feel competent to give any reliable account of the state of his health, +beyond the fact that he seemed to be in excellent spirits, the maire +looked upon me evidently with great respect, as having won so far upon a +great character like Dugravel in so short a time, and determined to +accompany me himself.<a name="Page_165"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 165]</span></a> Meantime, we must drink some kirsch. +The maire was a young man, spare and vehement. He talked with a headlong +impetuosity which caused him to be always hot, and his hair limp and +errant; and at the end of each sentence there were so many laggard halves +of words to come out together, with so little breath to bring them out, +that he eventuated in a stuttering scream. His clothes were of such a +description, that the most speculative Israelite would not have gone +beyond copper for his wardrobe, all standing. There were two women in the +house, to whom he was exceedingly imperious: one of them received his +orders and his vehemence with a certain amount of defiance, but the other +was subdued and obedient, and I believe her to have been the mayoress. He +poured himself and his household at my feet, knocked a child one way and +his wife another, and, from the air with which he dragged off the +tablecloth they had laid, and ordered a better, and swept away the glasses +because they were not clean enough--which in itself was sufficiently +true,--and screamed for poached eggs for monsieur, and then impetuously +ate them himself--I fancy that he might have been taught to play Petrucio +with success.</p> + +<p>When we had sat for a quarter of an hour or so, a heavy-looking young +man, in fustian clothes and last year's linen, came into the room, and was +introduced as the communal schoolmaster. We shook hands with much +impressment on the strength of the similarity of our professions, and the +maire explained that the new arrival acted also as his secretary, for +there was really so much writing to be done that it was beyond his own +powers; and as the schoolmaster lived <i>en pension</i> at the <i> +Mairie</i>, it was very convenient. M. Rosset, the schoolmaster, stated +that he had heard us, as he sat in his room, talking of the proposed visit +to the <a name="Page_166"><span class="pagenum">[Page 166]</span></a> +glacière, and he should much wish to accompany us. We both +expressed the warmest satisfaction; but the maire suggested--how about the +boys? That, M. Rosset said, was simple enough. The world would go to the +school at nine o'clock, and, finding no schoolmaster, would go home again, +or otherwise employ itself; and he could have school on the weekly +holiday, to make up for the lost day. This weekly holiday is universally +on Thursday, he said, because that day divides the week so well; and I +failed to persuade him that there was a commemoration intended in the +choice of that day, as in the observance of Friday and Sunday. The maire +utterly refused to take a cord, on the ground that there was no +possibility of such a thing being of the least use. Fortunately, I had now +my own axe, which in more able hands had mounted more than once Mont Blanc +and Monte Rosa, so I had not the usual fight to procure that +instrument.</p> + +<p>Half an hour from the <i>Mairie</i>, when we had well commenced the +steep ascent of the mountain-side, the maire turned suddenly round and +exclaimed, 'But the inspector!' Rosset was a sallow man, but he contrived +to turn white, while M. Métral (the maire) explained to me that the +inspector of schools was to visit Aviernoz that day. The schoolmaster +recovered before long, and said he should inform the inspector that a +famous <i>savant</i> had come from England, and required that the maire +and the <i>instituteur</i> should accompany him to the glacière, to +aid him in making scientific observations. In order that he might have +documentary proof to advance, he asked for my card, and made me write on +it my college and university in full.</p> + +<p>As I have already said, the maire's style of talking required a good +deal of breath, and so it was not unnatural that the ascent should reduce +him to silence. The schoolmaster talked freely about scholastic affairs, +and gave me an account of the ordinary tariff in village <a name= +"Page_167"><span class="pagenum">[Page 167]</span></a> schools, +though each commune may alter the prices of its school if it please. Under +seven years of age, children pay 4 francs a year, or, for shorter periods +than a year, at the rate of 75 centimes a month; between seven and +thirteen, 6 francs a year, or 1 franc a month; from thirteen to eighteen, +8 francs a year, or 1 f. 50 c. a month. There is the same difficulty in +France, of course, as with us, in keeping children at school after they +are old enough to earn a few centimes by cattle-keeping; and the Ministry +of Education had shortly before addressed questions to every schoolmaster +in the country, asking what remedy each could suggest. My present friend +had replied, that if the Government would give the education gratis, +something might be done; but he had expressed his opinion that nothing +short of an actual subsidy to parents of children beyond eight or nine +years of age would ensure a general improvement.</p> + +<p>Having given me this information, he observed that it was every man's +business to learn, though he and I might be teachers also, and therefore +he was sure monsieur would pardon him if he asked what those black patches +on monsieur's hands might mean,--pointing to certain large areas of Epsom +plaster which covered the tokens of many glacières. When his mind +was set at rest as to this phenomenon, the maire called a halt, and took +his turn of talking. He began to tell me about himself and his wealth, +Rosset backing him up and putting in the most telling parts. He had very +extensive property, and the more level parts of it were certainly +valuable, consisting of 200 <i>journaux</i> of good arable land: the +forests through which we walked were his, and he possessed three <i> +montagnes</i> and châlets higher up on the mountain. The +glacière was his own property; and two years ago he had discovered +another in the neighbourhood, which he had not since visited. He was +assisted in his <a name="Page_168"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 168]</span></a> capacity of maire by twelve councillors--in a +larger commune it would have been fifteen--and the council met four times +in the year. If it was desirable that they should meet on any other +occasion, he must write to the prefect of the arrondissement for +permission, specifying the business which they wished to conduct, and to +this specified business they must confine themselves entirely. Then he +wished to know, had we maires such as he in England? Hereupon I drew a +fancy picture of the Lord Mayor of London, receiving the Queen and the +Royal Family in general in a friendly way, and giving them a +dinner,--which, he observed, must cost a good deal, a great deal. However, +he looked round upon his fields and houses and mountains, and seemed to +think that he could himself stand a considerable drain upon his purse for +the reception of royalty; and possibly he is now anxious that the Emperor +should pass that way, during the five years to which the tenure of the +mayoralty is restricted. Both of my companions were strong in their French +sympathies--the one because under the new rule all communal affairs were +so much better organised, the other because a wonderful change for the +better had taken place in the government superintendence of schools. +Theirs was formerly an odd corner of a kingdom that did not care much +about them, and was not homogeneous; it was now an integral part of a +well-ordered empire. They confessed that the present state of things cost +them much more in taxes, &c., excepting in the upper mountains, where +Rosset had a cousin who paid even less than under Sardinian rule.</p> + +<p>Of course, we talked a little on Church questions; and they were +astonished to hear that I was not only an ecclesiastic, but an ordained +priest,--a sort of thing which they had fancied did not exist in the +English Church. Rosset said the <i>curés</i> of small communes had +about £40 <a name="Page_169"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 169]</span></a> a year, but I must have more than that, or I +could not afford to travel so far from home. Had I already said the mass +that morning? Had I my robes in the <i>sac</i> I had left at the <i> +Mairie</i>? Was the red book they had seen in my hands (Bädeker's <i> +Schweiz</i>) a Breviary? They branched off to matters of doctrine, and +discussed them warmly; but some things they so accommodatingly +understated, and others they stated so fairly, that I was able to tell +them they were excellent Anglicans.</p> + +<p>Higher up in the forest, we were nearly overwhelmed by a party of +charcoal-porters, who came down with their <i>traîneaux</i> like a +black avalanche. A <i>traîneau</i> is nothing more than a wooden +sledge, on two runners, which are turned up in front, to the height of a +yard, to keep the cargo in its place. In the more level parts the porter +is obliged to drag this, but on the steep zigzags its own weight is +sufficient to send it down; and here the porter places himself in front, +with his back leaning against the sacks of charcoal and the turned-up +runners, and the whole mass descends headlong, the man's legs going at a +wild pace, and now one foot, now the other, steering a judicious course at +the turns of the zigzags. The charcoal is made by Italians, who live on +polenta and cheese high up in the mountains, and bring their manufacture +down to a certain distance, after which the porters take it in charge. The +men we saw told us that by hard work they could make four journeys in the +day, earning a franc by each; out of which, as they said, they must +support stomach and boots, one journey making them ready for a meal, and +eight journeys finishing a pair of soles.</p> + +<p>It cost us an hour and a half to reach the maire's first châlet, +where we were to lunch on such food as the old woman who managed it might +have on hand; that is to say, possibly bread, and, beyond that, milk only, +in <a name="Page_170"><span class="pagenum">[Page 170]</span></a> +some shape or other. The forms under which milk can be taught to appear +are manifold. A young Swiss student, who in the madness of his passion for +beetle-hunting had spent fifteen days in a small châlet at +Anzeindaz, sleeping each night on the hay,<a name="FNanchor67"></a><a +href="#Footnote_67"><sup>[67]</sup></a> gave me, some time since, a list +of the various foods on which he lived and grew fat. The following is the +<i>carte</i>, as he arranged it:--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="List of Food"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Viandes.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Vins.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du séret.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Du lait de vache.<a name="FNanchor68"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_68"><sup>[68]</sup></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du caillé.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Du lait froid.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du beurre.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Du lait de chèvre.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du fromage gras.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Petit lait.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du fromage mi-gras.</td> +<td></td> +<td>De la crême.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du fromage maigre.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Du lait de beurre.<a name="FNanchor69"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_69"><sup>[69]</sup></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Tome de vache.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Petit lait de chèvre.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Tome de chèvre.</td> +<td></td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<br /> +<br /> + + +<table frame="void" summary="Pour les Couchons"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><i>Pour les Cochons</i>.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Du lait gâté.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Cuite.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Some of the solids and fluids in the earlier part of this <i>carte</i> +we felt tolerably sure of finding at the maire's châlet, and +accordingly any amount of cream and <i>séret</i> proved to be +forthcoming. The maire asserted that <i>cérac</i> was the true name +of this recommendable article of food, <i>céré</i> being the +patois for the original word. Others had told us that the real word was +<i>serré</i>, meaning <i>compressed</i> curds; but the French +writers who treat learnedly of cheese-making in the <i>Annales de +Chimie</i> adopt the form <i>sérets</i>; and in the <i>Annales +Scientifiques de <a name="Page_171"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 171]</span></a> l'Auvergne</i> I find both <i>seret</i> and <i> +serai</i>, from the Latin <i>serum</i>.There was also bread, which arrived +when we were sitting down to our meal: it had been baked in a huge ring, +for convenience of carriage, and was brought up from the low-lands on a +stick across a boy's shoulder. When the old woman thought it safe to +expose a greater dainty to our attacks, at a later period of the meal, she +brought out a pot of <i>caillé</i>, a delightful luxury which +prevails in the form of nuggets of various size floating in sour whey. +Owing to a general want of table apparatus, we placed the pot of +caillé on a broken wall, and speared the nuggets with our +pocket-knives.</p> + +<p>After the meal, the two Frenchmen found themselves wet and exceedingly +cold; for Frenchmen have not yet learned the blessing of flannel shirts +under a broiling sun. They set to work to dry themselves after an original +fashion. The fire was little more than a collection of smouldering embers, +confined within three stone walls about a foot high; so they took each a +one-legged stool--<i>chaises des vaches</i>, or <i>chaise des +montagnes</i>--and attached themselves to the stools by the usual leathern +bands round the hips; then they cautiously planted the prods of the stools +in the middle of the embers, maintaining an unstable equilibrium by +resting their own legs on the top of the walls. Here they sat, smoking and +being smoked, till they were dry and warm. Of course, in case of a slip or +an inadvertent movement, they would have gone sprawling into the fire. A +well-known Swiss botanist, who has seen many strange sleeping-places in +the course of sixty years of flower-hunting in the mountains of Vaud and +Valais, has told me that on one occasion he had reached with great +difficulty the only châlet in the neighbourhood of his day's +researches, at a late hour of the night, the whole mountain <a name= +"Page_172"><span class="pagenum">[Page 172]</span></a> being soaked +with rain. It was a little upland châlet, which the people had +deserted for the autumn and winter; and meantime a mud avalanche had taken +possession, and covered the floor to a depth of several inches. No plank +was to be found for lying on; but he discovered a broken one-legged stool, +and on this he sat and slept, propped as well as might be in a corner. It +is difficult to say which would be worse--a fall from the stool by +daylight into the embers of a wood fire, or the shuddering slimy waking +about midnight, after a nod more vigorous than the rest, to find oneself +plunged in eight cold inches of soft mud.</p> + +<p>About half an hour beyond the châlet, we found the mouth of the +glacière, on a large plateau almost bare of vegetation, and showing +the live rock at the surface. They told me that in a strong winter there +would be an average of 12 feet of snow on the ground here.<a name= +"FNanchor70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70"><sup>[70]</sup></a> The +glacière itself is approached by descending one side of a deep pit, +whose circumference is larger than that of any other of the +pit-glacières I have seen. A few yards off there is a smaller shaft +in the rock, which we afterwards found to communicate with the +glacière. The NW. side of the larger pit, being the side at the +bottom of which is the arch of entrance, is vertical, and we spent the +time necessary for growing cool in measuring the height of this face of +rock from above. The plummet ran out 115 feet of string, and struck the +slope of snow, down which the descent to the cave must be made, about 6 +feet above the junction of the snow with the floor of the glacière, +which was visible <a name="Page_173"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 173]</span></a> from the S. side of the edge of the pit; so +that the total depth from the surface of the rock to the ice-floor was 121 +feet.</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF +GRAND ANU, NEAR ANNECY." src="images/image12.jpg" width="279" height= +"372" /><br /> + <span class="caption">VERTICAL SECTION OF THE GLACIÈRE OF GRAND +ANU, NEAR ANNECY.</span></div> + +<br /> + + +<p>When we were sufficiently cool, we scrambled down the side of the pit +opposite to that in which the archway lies, finding the rock extremely +steep, and then came to a slope of 72 feet of snow, completely exposed to +the weather, which landed us at the mouth of the glacière. The arch +is so large, that we could detect the change of light in the cave, <a +name="Page_174"><span class="pagenum">[Page 174]</span></a> caused by +the passage of clouds across the sun, and candles were not necessary, +excepting in the pits shortly to be described. We saw at once that rapid +thaw was going on somewhere or other; and when we stepped off the snow, we +found ourselves in a couple of inches of soft green vegetable mud, like a +<i>compote</i> of dark-coloured duckweed--or, to use a more familiar +simile, like a mass of overboiled and ill-strained spinach. To the grief +of one of us, there was ice under this, of most persuasive slipperiness. +The maire said that he had never seen these signs of thaw in his visits in +previous years; and as we went farther and farther into the cave, he was +more and more surprised at each step to find such a large quantity of +running water, and so much less ice than he had expected. The shape of the +glacière is a rough circle, 60 feet in diameter; and the floor, +which is solid ice, slopes gradually down to the farther end. The +immediate entrance is half-closed by a steep and very regular cone of +snow, lying vertically under the small shaft we had seen in the rock +above. The snow which forms the cone descends in winter by this shaft; and +the formation must have been going on for a considerable time, since the +lower part of the cone has become solid ice, under the combined influences +of pressure and of <i>dégel</i> and <i>regel</i>. I climbed up the +side of this, by cutting steps in the lower part, and digging feet and +hands deep into the snow higher up; and I found the length of the side to +be 30 feet. I had no means of determining the height of the cave, and a +guess might not be of much value.</p> + +<p>At first sight, the farther end of the cave was the most striking. The +water which comes from the melting snow down which we had passed in +reaching the glacière, had cut itself deep channels in the floor, +and through these it coursed rapidly till it precipitated itself into a +large pit or <i>moulin</i> in the ice, at the lowest point. This pit, <a +name="Page_175"><span class="pagenum">[Page 175]</span></a> as will +be seen by the section of the cave given on p. 174,<a name= +"FNanchor71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71"><sup>[71]</sup></a> terminates the +glacière; and the rock-wall at the farther edge falls away into a +sort of open fissure, down which magnificent cascades of ice stream +emulously, clothing that side of the pit, which would otherwise be solid +rock. We cut a few steps about the upper edge of this <i>moulin</i>, to +make all safe, and proceeded to let down a lighted candle, which descended +safely for 36 feet, showing nothing but ice on all sides; it then came in +contact with one of the falls of water, and the light was of course +extinguished. We next tied a stone to the string, and found that after 40 +feet it struck on ice and turned inwards, under our feet, stopping finally +at the end of 51 feet; but whether it was really the bottom of the pit +that stopped it, or only some ledge or accidental impediment, we could not +determine. The diameter of this pit might be 3 yards, but we took no +measure of it.</p> + +<p>At the extreme right of the cave we found another pit, a yard and a +half across, two-thirds of the circumference of which was formed by the +plateau of ice on which we stood, and the remaining third by a fluting in +the wall of rock. The maire said that, two years ago, this hole was not +visible, being concealed by a large ice-column which had since fallen in. +Here again I let down a lighted candle, with more hopes of getting it to +the bottom, as no part of the cave drained into the pit. The candle +descended steadily, the flame showing no signs of atmospheric disturbance, +and revealing the fact that the opposite side of the pit, viz. the rock, +which alone was visible from our position, became more and more thickly +covered with ice, of exquisite clearness, and varied and most graceful +forms.<a name="Page_176"><span class="pagenum">[Page 176]</span></a> +As foot after foot, and yard after yard, ran out, and our heads craned +farther and farther over the edge of the pit to follow the descending +light, (we lay flat on the ice, for more safety,) the cries of the +schoolmaster became mere howls, and the maire lapsed into oaths heavy +enough to break in the ice. It is always sufficiently disagreeable to hear +men swear; but in situations which have anything impressive, either of +danger or of grandeur, it becomes more than ever unbearable. I remember on +one occasion over-taking a large party in the descent from the Plateau to +the Grands Mulets, in a place where the snow was extremely soft, and any +moment might land one of us in a crevasse; and I shall never forget the +oaths which caught my ear, from a floundering fellow-countryman enveloped +from the waist downwards.</p> + +<p>When 60 feet had run out, the candle stopped, and on stretching over I +saw that it had reached a slope of ice which inclined very steeply +northwards, and passed away under the rock, apparently into a fresh +cavern. By raising the candle slightly and then letting it drop, we made +it glide down this slope for 8 feet; and then it finally rested on a shelf +of ice, showing us the shadowy beginnings of what should be a most +glorious ice-cave. The little light which the candle gave was made the +most of by the reflecting material which surrounded it; and we were able +to see that the archway in the rock was rounded off with grey ice, and +rested, as it were, on icy pillars. As far as we could judge, there would +have been abundant room to pass down the slope under the archway, if only +the preliminary 60 feet could by any means have been accomplished; and I +shall dream for long of what there must be down there.</p> + +<p>As I was anxious to know whether the side of the pit was vertical ice +under our feet, I contrived to get about a third of the way round the <a +name="Page_177"><span class="pagenum">[Page 177]</span></a> edge, so +as almost to reach the fluting in the rock which formed the farther side +of the pit, and then desired the schoolmaster to raise the candle slowly +from the ledge on which it still rested. As he pulled it gradually up, I +was startled to find that the ice fell away sharply immediately below the +spot where we had been collected, and then formed a solid wall; so that we +had been standing on the mere edge of a shelf, with nothing but black +emptiness below. How far the solid wall receded at the bottom I was unable +to determine, for the light of one candle was of very little use at so +great a distance, and in darkness so profound. I persuaded the maire to +make an effort to reach a point from which he could see the insecurity of +the ice which had seemed to form so solid a floor; and he was so much +impressed by what he saw, that he fled with precipitation from the cave, +and we eventually found him asleep under a bush on the rocks above. In +reaching the farther side of the pit, we crossed unwittingly an ice-bridge +formed by a transverse pit or tunnel in the ice, which opened into the pit +we were examining. The maire afterwards promised to rail off all that end +of the glacière, and forbid his workmen to venture upon it. +Considering that the hole itself was only opened two years before by the +fall of a column, and has already undergone such changes, I shall be +surprised if the ice-bridge, and all that part on which we lay to fathom +the pit, does not fall in before very long; and then, by means of steps +and ropes and ladders, it may be possible to reach the entrance to the +lower cave, 190 feet below the surface of the earth. May I be there to +see!<a name="FNanchor72"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_72"><sup>[72]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The left side of the glacière, near the entrance, was occupied +by a <a name="Page_178"><span class="pagenum">[Page 178]</span></a> +columnar cascade, behind which I forced a passage by chopping away some +lovely ornaments of ice. Here also the solid ground-ice falls away a +little under the surface, leaving a cavern 8 or 9 feet deep, on the rock +side of which every possible glacial fantasy was to be found. The +stalactites here presented the peculiar prismatic structure so often +noticed; but on the more exposed side of the column they were tipped with +limpid ice, free from all apparent external or internal lines. This +reminded me of what we had observed in the Glacière of La +Genollière, namely, that the surface-lines tended to disappear +under thaw; so I cut a piece of prismatic ice and put it in my mouth. In a +short time it became perfectly limpid, and on breaking it up I could +discover no signs of prism. On some parts of the floor of the +glacière, the ice was apparently unprismatic, generally in +connection with running water or other marks of thaw; but, to my surprise, +I found that it split into prisms very readily.</p> + +<p>The maire could not understand how it was that, after a winter +especially severe, as that of 1863-4 had been, there should be even less +ice than in the preceding summer, and we could see the marks of last +year's cutting, down to the edge of the <i>moulin</i>. He said that they +had never before cut down in that direction; but in the summer of 1863 +they had been so much struck by the clearness of the ice which formed the +floor, that they had cut it freely, and removed a large quantity. This, I +believe, was the cause of the absence of any great amount of fresh ice. +The slope of the whole ice-floor is considerable, and the workmen +increased the slope by cutting away the ice in the neighbourhood of the +edge of the <i>moulin</i>: they had also, as we could see quite plainly, +excavated the clearer parts of the ice between the entrance to the cave +and the <i>moulin</i>, so that a sort of trough ran down from near the +foot of the snow to the pit at the lower end of the glacière. When +we were <a name="Page_179"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 179]</span></a> there, the water rushed down this trough, and +was lost in the pit; and very probably the same may have been the case in +the earlier parts of the year, when, according to the view I have already +expressed, the ice would under ordinary circumstances have been formed. If +this be so, the caverns below must have received immense additions to +their stores of ice or water. We observed, by the way, that the slope of +ice to which the candle descended in the deeper pit, and the shelf on +which it rested, were quite dry, or at any rate free from all apparent +signs of the abundant water we should have seen, had that been the outlet +for the streams which poured into the <i>moulin</i>. The maire said that +the columns and cascades of ice in the cave had been much more beautiful +in the previous summer.</p> + +<p>The whole cavern would thus appear to be something of the shape of an +egg, with the longer axis vertical, and the entrance about half-way up the +side. The lower end of this egg-shaped cavity in the rock is filled with +ice, which in some parts shrinks from the rock below the surface, though, +as far as outward appearance goes, it fills the cavern to its farthest +corners. The depth of this ice at one side is 60 feet, and how much more +it may be in the middle it is impossible to say. As we have seen, there is +a second ice-cave opening out of the principal one, at a depth of 190 feet +below the surface; and with respect to this second cave imagination may +run riot. Rosset told me that he had noticed, the year before, a strong +source of water springing out of the side of a rock, at some little +distance from the glacière; but he could not reach it then, and +could not find it now. This may possibly be the drainage of the +glacière in its summer state.</p> + +<p>The thermometer stood at 34° in the middle of the cave; and though +the others felt the cold very much, I was myself surprised to find so low +a register, for the atmosphere seemed to <a name="Page_180"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 180]</span></a> be comparatively warm, judging from +what I had experienced in other glacières. The only current of air +we could detect was exceedingly slight, and came from the deeper of the +two pits in the ice. It was so slight, that the flame of the candle burned +apparently quite steadily when we were engaged in determining the depth +and shape of the pit.</p> + +<p>The sun had by this time produced such an effect upon the slope of snow +outside the glacière, that we found the ascent sufficiently +difficult, especially as our hands were full of various instruments. The +schoolmaster was not content to choose the straight line up, and in +attempting to perform a zigzag, he came to a part of the slope where the +snow lay about 2 inches thick on solid ice, and the result was an +unscholastic descent in inverted order of precedence. He got on better +over the rolling stones after the snow was accomplished, but the clumsy +style of his climbing dislodged an unpleasant amount and weight of +missiles; and though he was amiable enough to cry '<i>Garde</i>!' with +every step he took, it will be found by experiment that it is not much use +to the lower man to have '<i>Garde</i>!' shouted in his ears, when his +footing is insecure to begin with, and a large stone comes full at his +head, at the precise moment when two others are taking him in the pit of +the stomach.</p> + +<p>We found the maire, as was said, asleep under a bush near the mouth of +the pit; and he pronounced himself completely recovered from the effects +of the cold, and ready to guide us to a second glacière. He told us +that the amount of ice he sold averaged 4,000 <i>quintaux +métriques</i> a week, for the three months of July, August, and +September; but the last winter had been so severe, that the lake had +provided ice for the artificial glacières of Annecy, and no one had +as yet applied to him this year. As <a name="Page_181"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 181]</span></a> only a fortnight of his usual season +had passed, he may have since had plenty of applications, later in the +year. The railways have opened up more convenient sources of ice for +Lyons, and for some time he has sent none to that town.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<a name="Page_182"><span class="pagenum">[Page 182]</span></a> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF CHAPPET-SUR-VILLAZ, ON THE MONT PARMELAN, NEAR +ANNECY.</h3> + +<p>We started southwards from the Glacière of <i>Grand Anu</i>, for +such they said was the proper name for the cave last described, and passed +over some of the wildest walking I have seen. All the most striking +features of a glacier were here reproduced in stone: now narrow deep +crevasses which only required a slight spring; now much more formidable +rents, which we were obliged to circumvent by a détour; now dark +mysterious holes with vertical shell-like partitions at various depths; +and now a perfect <i>moulin</i>, with fluted sides and every detail +appertaining to those remarkable pits, the hollow plunge of falling water +alone excepted. In other parts, the smooth slab-like appearance of the +surface reminded me of a curious district on one of the summits of the +Jura, where the French frontier takes the line of crest, and the old +stones marked with the <i>fleur-de-lys</i> and the Helvetic cross are +still to be found. In those border regions the old historic distinctions +are still remembered, and the frontier Vaudois call the neighbouring +French <i>Bourguignons</i>--or, in their patois, <i>Borgognons</i>. They +keep up the tradition of old hatreds; and the strange bleak summit, with +its smooth slabs of Jura-chalk lying level with the surface, is so much +like a vast cemetery, that the wish in old times has been father to the +thought, and they call it still the Cemetery of the Burgundians, <i> +Cimetiros ai Borgognons</i>.<a name="FNanchor73"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_73"><sup>[73]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_183"><span class="pagenum">[Page 183]</span></a> + +<p>After a time, we reached a tumbled chaos of rock, much resembling the +ice-fall of a glacier, and, on descending, and rounding a low spur of the +mountain so as to take a north-westerly course, we found ourselves in a +perfect paradise of flowers. One orchis I shall always regret. There +seemed to be only a single head, closely packed with flowerets, and +strongly scented; it was a pure white, not the green and straw-coloured +white of other scented orchises. There were large patches of the delicate +<i>faux-lis (Paradisia liliastrum)</i>; and though there might not be +anything very rare, and the lovely glacier-flowers were of course wanting, +the whole was a rich feast for anyone who cares more for delicacy and +colour than for botany.</p> + +<p>The maire told us that he had found the glacière, for which we +were now in search, two years before, when he accompanied the government +surveyor to show him the forests and mountains which formed his property. +As he had on that occasion approached the spot from the other side, we +walked a long way to place him exactly where the surveyor and he had +crossed the ridge of the mountain, and then started him down from the Col +in the direction they had taken. He was certain of two things: first, that +they had passed by the Col between the Mont Parmelan and the Montagne de +l'Eau; and, secondly, that the glacière was within five minutes of +the highest point of the Col. For three-quarters of an hour we all broke +our shins, and the officials the Third Commandment. They invoked more +saints than I had ever heard of, and, in default, did not scruple to +appeal with shocking volubility to darker aid. It was all of no use,--and +well it might be; for when we had given it up in despair, after long +patience and a considerable period of the contrary, and had descended for +half an hour in the direction of a third glacière, I chanced to +look back, and <a name="Page_184"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 184]</span></a> saw that the Col in the neighbourhood of which +we had been searching lay between two points of the Montagne de l'Eau; +while the true Col between that mountain and the Mont Parmelan lay +considerably to the west. When it appears that a guide has probably made a +mistake, the only plan is to assume quietly that it is so, as if it were a +matter of no consequence, and then he may sometimes be decoyed into +allowing the fact: I therefore pointed out to the maire the true Col, and +told him that was the one by which he had passed southwards, when he found +the glacière; to which, with unnecessary strength of language, he +at once assented. But all my efforts to take him back were unavailing. +Nothing in the world should carry him up the mountain again, now that he +had happily got so far down. I worked his best and his worst feelings with +equal want of success; even national jealousy failed, and he was content +to know that a French maire had not pluck to face three-quarters of an +hour of climbing, when an English priest was ready to lead the way. The +schoolmaster declined to go alone with me, on the ground that neither of +us knew the mountain, and threatening clouds were gathering all around. +When, at last, I proposed to go by myself, they became menacingly +obstructive, and declared that I should certainly not be allowed to face +the intricacy of the mountain in a fog. Besides, as the maire put it, he +was sure of the way to the third glacière; and if I were to go up +alone to look for the second, I should lose a certainty for a chance, as +there was not time to visit both. So with an ill grace I continued the +descent with them, being restored to good humour before long by the beauty +of the Lake of Annecy, as seen from our elevated position.</p> + +<p>It is so impossible to accept in full the accounts one picks up of +natural curiosities, that I give the maire's description of the stray +glacière only for what it is worth. It was not extracted without +much <a name="Page_185"><span class="pagenum">[Page 185]</span></a> +laborious cross-examination--<i>sais paw vous le dire</i> being the +average answer to my questions. The entrance to the cave is about twice as +high as a man, and is in a small shallow basin of rock and grass. The +floor is level with the entrance, and the roof rises inside to a good +height. In shape it is like a Continental bread-oven; and at the time of +the maire's visit, the floor was a confused mass of ice and stones, the +former commencing at the very entrance. There was no ice except on the +floor, the area of which might be as large as that of the surface of the +ice in the Glacière of Grand Anu. No pit was to be seen, and not a +drop of water. Snow could have drifted in easily, but they saw no signs of +any remaining. If this account be true, especially with respect to the +position of the entrance and the horizontal direction of the floor, I have +seen no glacière like it.</p> + +<p>We descended for a time through fir-woods, and then again down steep +and barren rocks, till we reached the sharp slope of grass which so +frequently connects the base of a mountain with the more civilised forests +and the pasturages below. The maire led us for some distance along the top +of this grass slope, towards the west, skirting the rocks till they became +precipitous and lofty, when he said we must be near our point. Still we +went on and on without seeing any signs of it, and our guide seemed in +despair; and I, for one, entirely gave up the third cave to the same fate +as the second, and became very sulky and remonstrative. The entrance to +the glacière, the maire told us, was a hole in the face of the +highest rocks, 3 or 4 yards only above the grass; and as we had now +reached a part of the mountain where the rock springs up smooth and high, +and we could command the whole face, and yet saw nothing, the schoolmaster +came over to my side, and told the maire he was a humbug. However, we were +then within a few yards of the desired <a name="Page_186"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 186]</span></a> spot, and half-a-dozen steps showed +us a small <i>cheminée</i>, down which a strong and icy current of +wind blew. The maire shouted a shout of triumph, and climbed the <i> +cheminée</i>; and when we also had done the necessary gymnastics, +we found a hole facing almost due north, all within being dark. The +current blew so determinedly, that matches were of no use, and I was +obliged to seek a sheltered corner before I could light a candle; and, +when lighted, the candle was with difficulty kept from being blown out. No +ice was visible, nor any signs of such a thing,--nothing but a very +irregular narrow cave, with darkness at the farther end. As we advanced, +we found that the floor of the cave came to a sudden end, and the darkness +developed into a strange narrow fissure, which reached out of sight +upwards, and out of sight below; and down this the maire rolled stones, +saying that <i>there</i> was the glacière, if only one could get at +it without a <i>tourneau</i>. Considering the persistency with which he +had throughout declared that there was no possible need for a rope, I gave +him some of my mind here, in that softened style which his official +dignity demanded; but he excused himself by saying that the gentleman who +owned the glacière, and extracted the ice for private use only, was +now living at his summer châlet, a mile or two off, and he, the +maire, had felt confident that the <i>tourneau</i> would have been fitted +up for the season.</p> + +<p>On letting a candle down from the termination of the floor, we found +that the perpendicular drop was not more than 12 feet, and from the shelf +thus reached it seemed very possible to descend to the farther depths of +the fissure; but I had become so sceptical, that I persisted in asserting +that there was no ice below. The maire's manner, also, was strange, and I +suspected that the cold current of air had caused the place to be called a +glacière, with any other qualification on the part <a name= +"Page_187"><span class="pagenum">[Page 187]</span></a> of the cave. +One thing was evident,--no snow could reach the fissure. M. Métrai +was determined that I must not attempt the descent, pointing out, what was +quite true, that though the fall was not great, there seemed no +possibility of getting back up the smooth rock. His arguments increased my +suspicions; so, leaving all apparatus behind, I dropped down to join the +candle, rather hoping to have the satisfaction of sending them off for a +rope, in case I could not achieve the last few feet in returning, and +knowing that there was no danger of the fate which once threatened the +chamois-hunting Kaiser Max.<a name="FNanchor74"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_74"><sup>[74]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The drop turned out to be a mere nothing, and, taking the candle, I +scrambled on, down the sloping floor of the fissure, towards the heart of +the mountain, expecting every moment that my further passage would be +stopped by solid rock. But, after reaching a part so narrow that I was +obliged to mount by both sides at once in order to get past it, I found a +commodious gallery, opening out into a long and narrow and very lofty +cavern, still only a fissure, the floor of which continued the regular and +rapid slope down which I had so far come. A short way farther down, an +opening appeared to the left; and I turned off the main passage into a +horizontal gallery or chamber, with a floor of ice resting on rock and +stones. This chamber seemed to be 3 or 4 yards wide at the entrance, +narrowing regularly to 4 1/2 feet. It was 40 feet long, and at the farther +end, which would not have been visible from the entrance, on account of a +slight bend in the ice-gallery, even if there had been any light, it was +closed by an ice-cascade 7 yards high and 4 1/2 feet broad at the bottom. +The ice of much of this cascade was so clear, that I saw <a name= +"Page_188"><span class="pagenum">[Page 188]</span></a> the rock upon +which it rested, or in some parts did not rest, quite plainly, and the +large air-cavities in the structure were beautifully shown by the +richly-coloured rock behind. None of the current which we had observed +above, and which had nearly baffled my protecting care of the candle +during the descent, came from this gallery; but I find it written in my +notes that the gallery was <i>very</i> cold. Thaw was going on, rather +rapidly; and the water stole out by the entrance, and ran down the main +descent, over ice and among rocks, into the farther darkness.</p> + +<p>When I came out again from this gallery, I mounted the slope towards my +companions, and tried to tempt them down. The maire felt himself to be too +valuable to his country to be lightly risked, and declined to come; but +Rosset took a bold heart, and dropped, after requiring from me a solemn +promise that I would give him a back for his return up the rock. We +visited the gallery I had already explored, and, as we stood admiring the +cascade of ice, a skilful drop of water came from somewhere, and +extinguished our only candle. My matches were with the maire; and I was +equally sure that he would not bring them down to us, and that we could +not go up to fetch them without a light. Rosset, however, very +fortunately, had a box in his pocket for smoking purposes; and we cut off +the wet wick, and cut down the composition to form another, and so +contrived to light the candle again. While we were thus engaged, I chanced +to look up for a moment, and saw far above our heads a small opening in +the roof, through which a few rays of light entered from the outer world. +It was so very far above us, that the uncertain rays were lost long before +they got down to our level, being absorbed in the universal darkness, and +being in fact rather suggested than visible even at their strongest. Those +who have been at Lauterbrunnen in a very dry season, will understand how +these rays presented the appearance of a <a name="Page_189"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 189]</span></a> ghostly Staubbach of unreal light. We +must have been at an immense depth below the surface in which the opening +lay; and if there had been a long day before us, it would have been +curious to search for the fissure above. Sir Thomas Browne says, in the +<i>Religio Medici,</i> 'Conceive light invisible, and that is a spirit.' +We very nearly saw a spirit here.</p> + +<p>The descent from the mouth of this chamber to the deeper recesses of +the main fissure was very rough, but was speedily accomplished, and we +reached a point where solid rock stopped us in face; while, to the right, +a chamber with a threshold of ice was visible, and, to the left, a dark +opening, down which the descent appeared to continue. From this opening +all the strong cold current came. We took the ice-chamber first.</p> + +<p>The entrance had evidently been closed till very lately by a large +column of ice, and we passed over the débris, between rock portals +and on a floor of solid grey ice, into a triangular cave of any height the +imagination might choose to fix. The entire floor of the cave was of ice, +giving the impression of infinite thickness and firmness. A little water +stood on it, near the threshold, so limpid that we could not see where it +commenced. The base of this triangular floor we found to be 17 feet, and +its altitude 30 feet; and though these dimensions may seem comparatively +small, the whole effect of the thick mass of ice on which we stood, with +the cascades of ice in the corners, and the ice-figures on the walls, and +the three sides of the cave passing up into sheer darkness, was +exceedingly striking, situated, as it all was, so deep down in the bowels +of the earth. The original entrance to the fissure, at the top of the <i> +cheminée</i>, was, as has been said, at the base of <a name= +"Page_190"><span class="pagenum">[Page 190]</span></a> lofty rocks, +and we had descended very considerably from the entrance; so that, even +without the strange light thrown upon the matter by the small hole +overhead, through which we had seen the day struggling to force its way +into the cavern, we should have been sure that we were now at an immense +distance below the surface. One corner of the cave was occupied by a broad +and solid-looking cascade, while another corner showed the opening of a +very narrow fissure, curved like one of the shell-shaped crevasses of a +glacier. Into this fissure the ice-floor streamed; and Rosset held my +coat-tails while I made a few steps down the stream, when the fall became +too rapid for further voluntary progress. I let down a stone for 18 feet, +when it stuck fast, and would move neither one way nor the other. The +upper wall of this fissure was clothed with moss-like ice, and ice of the +prismatic structure,--with here and there large scythe-blades, as it were, +attached by the sharp edge to the rock, and lying vertically with the heel +outwards. One of these was 11 inches deep, from the heel to the rock, and +only one-eighth of an inch thick at the thickest part.</p> + +<p>The angle occupied by the cascade or column was the most striking. The +base of the column was large, and apparently solid, like a smooth unbroken +waterfall suddenly frozen. It fitted into the angle of the cave, and +completely filled up the space between the contiguous walls. I commenced +to chop with my axe, and before long found that this ice was hollow, +though very thick; and when a sufficient hole was made for me to get +through, I saw that what had looked like a column was in truth only a +curtain of ice hung across the angle of the cave. Within the curtain the +ice-floor still went on, streaming down at last into a fissure something +like that in the other corner. The curtain was so low, that I was obliged +to sit on the ice inside to explore; and after a foot or two <a name= +"Page_191"><span class="pagenum">[Page 191]</span></a> of progress, +the slope towards the fissure became sufficiently great to require steps +to be cut. The stream of ice turned round a bend in the fissure, very near +the curtain, and was lost to view; but Rosset stood by the hole through +which I had passed--on the safer side of it--and despatched blocks of ice, +which glided past me round the corner, and went whizzing on for a long +time, eventually landing upon stones, and sometimes, we fancied, in water. +It is very awkward work, sitting on a gentle slope of the smoothest +possible ice, with a candle in one hand, and an axe in the other, cutting +each step in front; especially when there is nothing whatever to hold by, +and the slope is sufficient to make it morally certain that in case of a +slip all must go together. Of course, a rope would have made all safe. +When I groaned over the maire's obstinacy, Rosset asked what could +possibly be the use of a rope, if I were to slip; and, to my surprise, I +found that he had no idea what I wanted a rope for. When he learned that, +had there been one, he would have played a large part in the adventure, +and that he might have had me dangling over an ice-fall out of sight round +the corner, he added his groans to mine, and would evidently have enjoyed +it all very much. At the same time, he was prudent, and, as each block of +ice made its final plunge, he told me that was what would happen to me if +I went any farther: and, really, the pictures he drew of deep lakes of icy +water and jagged points of rock, between which I must make my choice down +there, were so unpleasant, that at last I desisted, and pushed myself up +backwards, still in a sitting posture, calling Rosset and the maire the +worst names I could feel justified in using. On the way, I found one of +the large brown flies which we had seen in the Glacière of La +Genollière, and in the Lower Glacière of the Pré de +S. Livres.</p> + +<a name="Page_192"><span class="pagenum">[Page 192]</span></a> + +<p>Rosset now told me he was so cold he could stand it no longer; but, +after a little pressure, and a declaration on my part that he should not +have a candle for going up again, he consented to remain with me while I +explored the remaining chamber, the lowest of all. This chamber may be +called a continuation of the main passage. It is of about the same width +as the highest of the three chambers, and the floor descends rapidly, the +cold current of air becoming very strong and biting as we penetrated into +the darkness. As the Genevese <i>savans</i> seemed to believe in 'cold +currents' as the cause of underground ice, I was naturally anxious to see +as much as possible of the state of this gallery, from which every +particle of the current seemed to come. We very soon reached a narrow dark +lake, and, exclaiming that here was ice again, I stepped, not on to, but +into it, and found that it was water. When our solitary candle was brought +to bear upon it, we saw that it was so clear as not in any way to impede +our view, producing rather the effect of slightly-clouded spectacles upon +the stones at the bottom. This lake filled up the whole breadth of the +gallery, here perhaps 4 or 5 feet, and rapidly passed to the depth of a +yard; but for a little distance there were unstable stones at one edge, +and steps in the rock-wall, by which I could pass on still into the +darkness, supported by an alpenstock planted in the water. The current of +cold air blew along the surface of the water from the farther extremity of +the gallery, wherever that might be. As far as our eyes could reach, we +saw nothing but the black channel of water, with its precipitous sides +passing up beyond our sight. It might have been possible to progress in a +spread-eagle fashion, with one hand and one foot on each side; but a fall +would have been so bitterly unpleasant, that I made a show of +condescension in acceding to Rosset's request that I would not attempt +such a thing. In the course of my <a name="Page_193"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 193]</span></a> return to the rocks where he stood, I +involuntarily fathomed the depth of the lake, luckily in a shallower part, +and was so much struck by the coldness of the water, that I left Rosset +with the candle, and struggled up without a light to the place where we +had left the maire, or rather to the bottom of the drop from the +entrance-cave, to get the thermometer. The maire was sunning himself on +the rock, out of reach of the cold current; but he came in, and let down +the case, and I quickly rejoined the schoolmaster. At first, it would have +been impossible to move about without a light; but our eyes had now become +to some extent accustomed to the darkness, and I had learned the +difficulties of the way.</p> + +<p>When the thermometers were suspended in the water, Rosset asked how +long they must stay there. I rashly answered, a quarter of an hour; on +which he demanded indignantly whether I supposed he meant to stay in that +cold for a quarter of an hour. He had now the candle in his own +possession, and I was propped on a stone and an alpenstock in the lake, so +he turned to go, vowing that he would leave me alone in the dark if I did +not come out at once. There was no help for it, as the thermometer would +have been of no use without a candle, and a step in the dark is not +pleasant when all around is water, so I slowly drew up the thermometer and +read 33° F. In making final arrangements for departure, I let it lie +in the water for a few seconds longer, and it fell to 32½°; but +Rosset would not stay a moment longer, and I was obliged to be content +with that result. He made himself very easy about the matter, and said we +must call it zero; and in the evening I heard him telling the maire that +the greatest of the wonders he had missed, by his patriotic care for his +neck, was a lake of water which did not freeze, though its temperature was +zero (centigrade).</p> + +<a name="Page_194"><span class="pagenum">[Page 194]</span></a> + +<p>Among the stones at the bottom of this water, I saw here and there +patches of a furry sort of ice. I have often watched the freezing of a +rapid Scotch stream, where, in the swifter parts, the ice forms first at +the bottom and gradually creeps up the larger stones till it appears on +the surface, and becomes a nucleus, round which pieces of floating ice +collect; and the substance in the glacière-lake had exactly the +same appearance as the Scotch ground-ice. But it could not be the same +thing in reality, for, as far as I understand the phenomenon of +ground-ice, some disturbed motion of the water is necessary, to drive down +below the surface the cold particles of water, which become ice the moment +they strike upon any solid substance shaped like fractured stone;<a name= +"FNanchor75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75"><sup>[75]</sup></a> the specific +gravity of freezing water being so much less than that of water at a +somewhat higher temperature, that without some disturbing cause it would +not sink to the bottom.<a name="FNanchor76"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_76"><sup>[76]</sup></a> So that it seems probable that the ice +at the bottom of the lake was the remains of a solid mass, of which the +greater part had been converted into water by some warm influence or +other. We noticed that a little water trickled down among the stones which +formed the slope of descent into the lowest gallery, so that perhaps the +lake was a collection of water from all parts of the various ramifications +of the fissure. Whence came the icy wind, it is impossible to say, without +further exploration. It was satisfactory to me to find that the 'cold +current' of the Genevese <i>savans</i> was thus associated with water, and +not with ice, in the only cave in which I had detected its presence to any +appreciable extent, the currents of the Glacière of Monthézy +being of a totally different description.</p> + +<a name="Page_195"><span class="pagenum">[Page 195]</span></a> + +<p>When we reached the final rock, in ascending, I offered Rosset the +promised back, but he got up well enough without it. Before leaving the +entrance-cave, we inspected the thermometer which we had left to test the +temperature of the current of air, and, to my surprise, found it standing +at 48°. We saw, however, that it had been carelessly propped on a +piece of rock which sheltered it from the influence of the current, so I +exposed it during the time occupied in arranging the bag of tapes, &c., +and it fell to 36°: whether it would have fallen lower, the impatience +of Rosset has left me unable to say. If I can ever make an opportunity for +visiting the Mont Parmelan again, I shall hope to take a cord, in order to +investigate the mysterious corner of the triangular chamber; and I shall +certainly make myself independent of shivering Frenchmen while I measure +the temperature of the lake and the current of air. We met a man outside +who said that he was employed by the owner, M. de Chosal of Annecy, to cut +the ice; he had been down three times to the lowest gallery in different +years, in the end of July, and had always found the same collection of +water there. The glacière, he told us, was discovered about thirty +years ago.</p> + +<p>The maire had basked in the sun all the time we were down below, and he +expressed himself as much pleased that we had found so much to interest +us, in spite of the miscarriage of our efforts to reach the second +glacière. We set off down the steep grass at a scrambling sliding +run, against which I was speedily obliged to protest, explaining that a +certain ugly inflammation above the left knee was becoming worse every +other step, and as the leg must last three days longer, it would be as +well to humour it. They saw the force of this reasoning, and we descended +with much gravity till we came in sight of the <i>Mairie</i>, still half +an hour off, when Rosset cried out that he <a name="Page_196"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 196]</span></a> smelled supper, and rushed off at an +infectious pace down the remainder of the mountain-side.</p> + +<p>We reached the <i>Mairie</i> at six o'clock, and sat down at once 'to +eat something.' The first course was bread and kirsch; and when that was +finished, six boiled eggs appeared, and a quart <i>carafe</i> of white +wine. These having vanished, their place was taken by a dish of sodden +cabbage, and another quart of wine; but, to save the credit of the maire +and the schoolmaster, I will not say how often the former functionary +descended to the cellar with a quart pitcher, with increasing impetuosity. +Next came a dish of onions, with a pretence of <i>mange-tout,</i> broiled +brown after boiling, and served in a compound fat; and then haricots with +a like condiment, and with a flavour reminiscent of the previous course. +There was some talk of a <i>poulet</i>; but the bird still lived, and the +talk came to nothing. The dinner ended with the haricots, and we then +relapsed into dessert, namely, bread and kirsch. The mayoress came in with +the dessert, and sat on the end of the bench, below the hats and the +bread-tin, eating the remaining onions off the dish with the spoon of +nature.</p> + +<p>During one of the maire's frequent visits to the cellar, I propounded a +question to the schoolmaster which had puzzled me for some time: Was I to +pay the maire? M. Rosset said that it was certainly not <i>necessary</i>, +but I had better propose it, and I should then see how M. Métral +took it. This I accordingly did, when the adieux in the house had been +said, and my host was showing me the way to Thorens, where I was to sleep, +he, also, declared that it was not necessary--the pleasure he had +experienced in accompanying me had already fully recompensed him: still, +if I wished to reimburse him for that which I had actually cost, he was a +man reasonable, and in all cases content. I calculated that the dinner and +wine which had <a name="Page_197"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 197]</span></a> fallen to my share would be dear at a franc, +and the day's wage of a substitute to do the maire's neglected work could +not come to much, so I boldly and unblushingly gave that great man four +francs, and he said regretfully that it was more than enough. To his son +and heir--the identical boy who had brought the ring of bread up the +mountain to the chalet where we lunched. I gave something under two-pence, +for guiding me across two doubtful fields into a beaten track, and he +expressed himself as even more content than the maire. They both told me +that it was impossible to miss the way; but I imagine that I achieved that +impossibility, as I had to walk through two streams in the deepening +twilight, and the prevailing fear of water in that region is very +considerable.</p> + +<p>The <i>auberge</i> at Thorens to which the maire had recommended me, as +being the best, and kept by a personal friend of his, bore the sign <i> +à la Parfaite Union</i>. The entry was by the kitchen, and through +the steam and odour of onions, illuminated by one doubtful oil-lamp, I saw +the guest-room filled with people in Sunday dress, while two fiddles +played each its own tune in its own time. Nothing but the potent name of +M. the Maire of Aviernoz gained me even a hearing; and, for a bed, I was +obliged to stretch my intimacy with that exalted personage to the very +furthest bounds of truth. Chappaz Nicolai, whose name the maire had +written in my note-book, that there might be no mistake, appeared to be of +that peculiar mental calibre which warrants Yorkshire peasants in +describing a man as 'half-rocked,' or 'not plumb.' His wife, on the other +hand, was one of those neat, gentle, sensible women, of whom one wonders +how they ever came to marry such thick-lipped and blear-eyed men. Between +them they informed me that if I did not object to share a room, I could be +taken in; otherwise--maire or no maire--not. I asked <a name="Page_198"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 198]</span></a> whether they meant half a +bed; but they said no, that would not be necessary at present; and I +accepted the offered moiety of accommodation, as it was now seventeen +hours since I had started in the morning, and I was not inclined to turn +out in the dark to look for a whole room elsewhere.</p> + +<p>The stairs were a sort of cross between a ladder and nothing, and when +we reached the proposed room a large mastiff was in possession, who would +not let us enter till the master was summoned to expel him. The furniture +consisted of a table and five chairs, with no bed or beds. On the chairs +were various articles of clothing, blouses and garments more profound, +belonging probably to members of the party below; and on the table, a +bottle of water and a soup-plate, the pitcher and basin of the house. It +was a mere slip of a room, with two diamond-shaped holes in one wall, +whose purpose I discovered when my guide opened a papered door, in which +were the holes, and displayed two beds foot to foot in an alcove. One of +these, she was sure, would be too short for me, but she feared I must be +satisfied with it, as the other was much broader and would therefore hold +the two messieurs. How the <i>two</i>? I asked, and was told that two <i> +pensionnaires</i> lived in this room; but they were old friends, and for +one night would sleep in the same bed to oblige monsieur. The ideas of +length and breadth in connection with the beds were entirely driven from +my head by the fact of their dirtiness; and I determined that if the two +<i>pensionnaires</i> occupied the one, the other should be unoccupied.</p> + +<p>After arranging things a little, I struggled down the steps again, and +ordered coffee and bread in a little room, which commanded the assembly +with the fiddles in the larger <i>salle</i>. The head waitress, busy as +she was, found time to come now and then to an open window near where I +sat, <a name="Page_199"><span class="pagenum">[Page 199]</span></a> +and talked to a male friend sitting outside in the dark: indeed, she did +more than talk, and people had to rattle their glasses very hard before +they could make her hear. From her I learned that this was a marriage +party which had arrived; and when I asked why they did not dance, as the +fiddles were engaged at that moment with unwonted unanimity upon +dance-music, she gave me to understand that these were not people of +Thorens, but only a party from another village, making the evening +promenade after the wedding: from which it would seem that it is not the +etiquette for people to dance under such circumstances, except in the home +village. They sat round a table, men and women alternately, with their +hats on, and with glasses before them. The bride and bridegroom were +accommodated with a bench to themselves at the head of the table, he +likewise with his hat on, and with a pipe in his mouth, which, seeing that +he was a demonstrative bridegroom, one might have supposed to be an +inconvenience. He managed very well, however, and every one seemed +contented: indeed, the pipe must, I think, be held to be no difficulty; +for the men all smoked, and yet, to judge from appearances, there was a +prospect of as many marriages as there were couples in the room. The +unruffled gravity, however, and the apparent want of zest, both in giving +and receiving, which characterised the proceedings specially referred to, +led me to suppose that it might be only a part of the etiquette, and so +meant nothing serious.</p> + +<p>Between ten and eleven the fiddles and the party vanished, and I went +up-stairs more determined than ever not to touch a bed, after my +experience of the room below. Three chairs were speedily arranged between +the table and wall, and on these I lay and tried to sleep. But the very +chairs were populous, as I had found below, and sleep was impossible. +Moreover, soon after eleven, a soldier came into the room, to arrange +about his <a name="Page_200"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 200]</span></a> breakfast with one of the maidens in the house. +He had heard me order fresh butter for six o'clock, and he was anxious to +know, whether, by breakfasting at five o'clock, he could get my butter. +The chairs which formed my bed were under the lee of the table, so that +the figure recumbent on them was invisible, and the gallant soldier, under +the impression that there was no one in the room, enforced his arguments +by other than conventional means. But military lips, when applied +personally, proved to be a rhetoric as unsuccessful as military words. The +maid was platonic, and something more than platonic; and the hero got so +much the worst of it, that he gave up the battle, and changed the subject +to a conscript in his charge, who had locked himself in his bed-room and +would not answer. How was he to know whether he had the conscript safe? +All this lasted some time; and when they were gone, one of the <i> +pensionnaires</i> came in. With him I had to fight the battle of the +window, which I had opened to its farthest extent. After he had got over +the first surprise and shock of finding me on the chairs instead of in the +bed, for whose comfort he vouched enthusiastically, he became confident +that it was merely out of complaisance to him and his comrade that I had +opened the window, and assured me that they really did not care for fresh +air, even if they could feel the difference in the alcove, which he +declared they could not. As soon as that was arranged to my satisfaction, +the other <i>pensionnaire</i> came in, and with him the battle was fought +with only half success, for he peremptorily closed one side of the window. +He was a particularly noisy <i>pensionnaire</i>, and shied his boots into +every corner of the room before they were posed to his satisfaction. As +far as I could tell, the removal of the boots was the only washing and +undressing either of them did; and then they arranged their candles in the +alcove, lighted cigars, and got into bed. <a name="Page_201"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 201]</span></a> There the wretches sat up on end, +smoking and talking vehemently, till sheer exhaustion came to my aid, and +I fell asleep; but the edges of the rush-bottomed chairs speedily became +so sharp that a recumbent posture ceased to be possible, and I sat dozing +on one chair. A little before four o'clock, the noisier man got up to look +for his boots; and as the friends continued their discussion, I also +turned out and made for the nearest stream, where I bathed in a rapid at +half-past four, to wash away, if possible, the horrors of the night.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<a name="Page_202"><span class="pagenum">[Page 202]</span></a> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRES OF THE BREZON, AND THE VALLEY OF REPOSOIR.</h3> + +<p>The bill <i>à la Parfaite Union</i> was as small as the +accommodation at that <i>auberge</i>, and it was an immense relief to get +away from the scene of my sufferings. The path to Bonneville lies for the +earlier part of the way through pleasant scenery; and when the highest +ground is reached, there is a lovely view of the Lake of Geneva, which may +be enjoyed under the cool shade of a high hedge of trees, in the intervals +of browsing upon wild strawberries. But after passing the curious old town +of La Roche, two hours' walk from Thorens, the heat and dust of the dreary +high road became insupportable; and no pedestrian who undertakes that +march with a heavy knapsack, under a blazing noonday sun, will arrive at +Bonneville without infinite thankfulness that he has got through it. The +road is of the same character as that between Bonneville and Geneva, and +that will sufficiently express its unpleasantness in baking times of +drought.</p> + +<p>The Glacière of the Brezon lies at no great distance from +Bonneville--perhaps not more than four or five miles to the SE.--but its +elevation is more than 4,000 feet, and the approach is steep. The +Glacière of the Valley of Reposoir, a valley which falls into the +main road between Bonneville and Chamouni at the village of Scionzier, is +considerably higher, and a good deal of climbing is necessary in visiting +it. When I arrived at Bonneville, the whole mass of mountains <a name= +"Page_203"><span class="pagenum">[Page 203]</span></a> in which these +caves lie was enveloped in thick dark clouds, and the faint roar of +thunder reached our ears now and then, so that it seemed useless to +attempt to penetrate into the high valleys. Moreover, I was due for an +attempt upon Mont Blanc in the beginning of the next week, and an +incipient bilious fever, with a painful lameness of one leg, warned me +that my powers were coming to an end, and that another day such as the +last had been would put a total stop upon the proposed ascent; and so I +determined to take the fever and the leg to Geneva, and submit them to +medical skill. This determination was strengthened by the exhortations of +a Belgian, who called himself a <i>grand amateurdes montagnes</i>, on the +strength of an ascent of the Môle and the Voiron, and in this +character administered Alpine advice of that delightful description which +one meets with in the coffee-rooms at Chamouni. This Belgian was the only +other guest of the Hôtel des Balances; and his amiability was proof +even against the inroads of some nameless species of <i>vin mousseux</i>, +recommended to me by the waiter, which supplied <i>mal-à-propos</i> +wine-sauce to the various dishes from which the Belgian was making his +dinner, and did not leave his face and waistcoat free from stain. He had +but one remark to make, however wild might be the assertions advanced from +the English side of the table, '<i>Vous avez raison, monsieur, vous avez +parfait-e-ment raison</i>!' It is not quite satisfactory to hold the same +sentiments, in every small particular, with a man who clips his hair down +to a quarter of an inch, and eats haricots with his fingers; but it was +impossible to find any subject on which he could be roused to +dissentience. This phenomenon was explained afterwards, when he informed +me that he was a flannel-merchant travelling with samples, and pointed out +what was only too true, namely, that the English monsieur's coat was no +longer fit to be called a coat. <a name="Page_204"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 204]</span></a></p> + +<p>Professor Pictet read a paper on these glacières before the <i> +Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles</i> at +Berne, in 1822, which is to be found in the <i>Bibl. Universelle de +Genève.</i><a name="FNanchor77"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_77"><sup>[77]</sup></a> M. Pictet left Geneva in the middle of +July to visit the caves, but found himself so much knocked up by the first +day's work, that he sent on his grandson to the Glacière of the +Brezon, and gave up the attempt himself. The young man found it to be of +small dimensions, 30 feet by 25, with a height of 10 or 12 feet. The ice +on the floor was believed by the guide to be formed in summer only, and +was placed too irregularly to admit of measurement. Calcareous blocks +almost choked the entrance, and an orifice in the shape of a funnel +admitted the snow freely from above, and was partly filled with snow in +July. Cold currents of air proceeded from the rocks in the neighbourhood +of the glacière, giving in one instance a temperature of +38°·75, the temperature in the shade being 51°. Within the +cave, the temperature was 41°.</p> + +<p>M. Morin visited this glacière in August 1828. He describes it +as a sheltered hole, in which the snow collects and is preserved.</p> + +<p>M. Thury examined it in August 1859, and gives the same account. He, +too, found the current of air which the younger Pictet discovered, but in +the cave itself the air was perfectly still.</p> + +<p>It was clearly, then, no great loss to miss the Glacière of the +Brezon; but that on the Mont Vergy, in the Valley of Reposoir, appears to +be much more interesting. Professor Pictet found himself sufficiently +strong after a day's rest to pass on to Scionzier, and up the Valley of +Reposoir, accompanied by the well-known guide Timothée, whose +botanical <a name="Page_205"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 205]</span></a> knowledge of the district is said to be +perfect. He had conducted MM. Necker and Colladon to the glacière +in 1807, and believed that no <i>savant</i> had since seen it. The rocks +are all calcareous, with large blocks of erratic granite. The +glacière lies about 40 minutes from the Châlet of Montarquis, +whence its local name of <i>La grand' Cave de Montarquis</i>. Before +reaching it, a spacious grotto presents itself, once the abode of coiners: +this grotto is cold, but affords no ice, and near it M. Morin found a +narrow fissure, leading into a circular vaulted chamber 15 feet in +diameter, in which stood a solitary stalagmite of ice 15 feet high.</p> + +<p>The entrance to the glacière itself is elliptical in shape, 43 +feet broad at the base, and the cave increases in size as it extends +farther into the rock, the floor descending gently till a horizontal +esplanade of ice is reached. This esplanade was 66 feet by 30 at the time +of Pictet's visit, deeper in the middle than at the sides, and mounting +the rock at the farther side of the cave; there was a small stalagmite at +one side, but that would seem to have been the only ornamentation +displayed. The temperature was 34°·7, a foot above the ice, and +58° in the external air. Timothée had been in the +glacière in the previous April, and had found no ice,--nothing but +a pool of water of considerable depth. M. Thury, in August 1859, found two +sheets of ice in the lowest part of the cave: one, nearly 50 feet long, +was partially covered with water; the other, presenting an area of about +14 square yards, showed more water still. There were no stalactites and +columns such as M. Morin had found in August 1828, nor even the low +stalagmite which Pictet saw in 1822. The summers of 1828 and 1859 were +exceptionally hot, and this fact has been held to account for the smaller +quantity of ice seen in those years. M. Thury found the cold due <a name= +"Page_206"><span class="pagenum">[Page 206]</span></a> to evaporation +to be considerably less than 1° F.,<a name="FNanchor78"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_78"><sup>[78]</sup></a> and he and M. Morin both fixed the +general temperature of the cave at 36°·5; they also found a +current of air entering by a fissure in the lowest part of the cave, but +it did not disturb the whole of the interior, for in one part the air was +in perfect equilibrium. M. Gampert,<a name="FNanchor79"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_79"><sup>[79]</sup></a> in the summer of 1823, found a strong +and very cold current of air descending by this fissure, along with water +which ran from it over the ice; he believed that this was refrigerated by +evaporation, in passing through the thickness of the moist rock.</p> + +<p>Two peasants visited this cave three times in the winter season, viz. +on October 22, November 26, and on Christmas Day; and one of them, by name +Chavan, drew up an account of their experiences, which was read by M. +Colladon before the <i>Société de Physique et d'Histoire +Nat. de Genève</i> in 1824.<a name="FNanchor80"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_80"><sup>[80]</sup></a> The peasants found very little ice in +columns at the time of the October visit, and there were signs of +commencing thaw. The thaw was much more pronounced in November, when the +ice had nearly disappeared even from the lowest parts of the cave, and +they found the air within quite warm. On Christmas Day they had great +difficulty in reaching the glacière, and narrowly escaped +destruction by an avalanche, which for a time deterred them from +prosecuting the adventure: they persisted, however, and were rewarded by +finding only water where in summer all was ice, and a temperate warmth in +the cave. They observed that the roof had fissures like chimneys.</p> + +<p>This account was so circumstantial, that the only thing left was to +attempt an explanation of the phenomena reported, and such explanations +have not been wanting. But M. Thury was not quite satisfied, and he +determined to visit the cave in the winter of 1860-1. Accordingly, +accompanied by M. André Gindroz, who had already joined him in his +<a name="Page_207"><span class="pagenum">[Page 207]</span></a> +unsuccessful attempt to reach the Glacière of the Pré de S. +Livres, he left Geneva on the 10th of January, and slept at the Chartreuse +in the Valley of Reposoir. As the party passed through the village of +Pralong du Reposoir, the peasants told them with one accord that they +would find nothing but warmth and water in the cave; but when M. Thury +asked had any of them seen it themselves, they were equally unanimous in +saying no, explaining that it was not worth anyone's while to go in the +winter, as there was no ice to be seen then,--a circular line of argument +which did not commend itself to the strangers.</p> + +<p>At the very entrance of the grotto, they found beautiful stalactites of +clear ice; and here they paused, till such time as they should be cool +enough to enter, for the thermometer stood at 70° in the sun, and +their climb had made them hot. On penetrating to the farther recesses of +the cave, where the true glacière lies, they found an abundance of +stalactites, stalagmites, and columns of ice, with flooring and slopes of +the same material: not a drop of water anywhere. The stalagmites were very +numerous, but none of them more than three feet high; some of the +stalactites, fifteen or so in number, were six or seven feet long, and +there were many others of a smaller size. M. Thury was particularly struck +by the milky appearance of much of the ice, one column in particular +resembling porcelain more than any other substance. This is a not unusual +character of the most beautiful part of the decorations of the more +sheltered ice-caves, as for instance the lowest cave in the Upper +Glacière of the Pré de S. Livres; the white appearance is +not due to the presence of air, for the ice is transparent and +homogeneous, and the naked eye is unable to detect bubbles or internal +fissures.</p> + +<a name="Page_208"><span class="pagenum">[Page 208]</span></a> + +<p>The temperatures at 1.25 P.M. and 2.12 P.M. respectively were as +follows:--In the sun, between 3 and 4 feet above the snow, +72°·1 and 70°·5; in the shade, outside the cave, +36°·7 and 35°·8; at the Observatory of Geneva, in +the shade, 27°·3 and 28°·2, having risen from +24°·5 since noon. In the cave, 1 foot above the surface of the +ice-floor, the thermometer stood at 24°·8; and in a hole in the +ice, some few inches below the surface, 24·1. In the large fissure, +which has been already mentioned as the source of the summer currents of +air, the temperature at various points was from 29°·3 to +27·5. The circumstances of these currents of air were now of course +changed. Instead of a steady current passing from the fissure into the +cave, and so out by the main entrance into the open air, strong enough to +incline the flame of a candle 45°, M. Thury found a gentle current +passing from the cave into the fissure, sufficient only to incline the +flame 10°, and near the entrance 8°, while in the entrance itself +no current was perceptible at 4 P.M.</p> + +<p>M. Thury remarks that less current was to be expected in winter than in +summer, because the upper ends of the fissures would be probably choked +with snow, and their lower ends with ice. It is evident that the current +which passes up into the fissure in winter, is favourable to the +introduction of the colder air from without; while the opposite current in +summer keeps up a supply of cold air in the cave, and so increases its +powers of resisting the attempts of the heated external air to make a +partial entrance. Both these currents, then, favour the glacial conditions +of the cave, and to some extent counterbalance the disadvantages of its +situation: viz., its aspect, towards the south-east; the large size of its +opening to the air, and the absence of all shelter near the mouth, such as +is so often provided by trees or <a name="Page_209"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 209]</span></a> rocks. The small depth of the cave, scarcely +amounting to 18 feet below the level of the entrance, is also a great +disadvantage.</p> + +<p>The people of Pralong asked, on the return of the party, what had been +found in the <i>grand' cave</i>, and the answer reduced them to silence +for a few moments. Their prejudices, however, were invincible, and they +persisted in their belief that a true glacière ought to have no ice +in it in the winter. M. Thury did not enquire from what source they drew +their ideas of a true glacière.</p> + +<p>There is a book, in three volumes, on the 'Glacières of the +Alps,' by M. Bourrit, dedicated to Buffon, in which is a description of +the Valley of Reposoir; but no mention whatever is made of the <i>grand' +cave</i>. Indeed, M. Bourrit merely meant by <i>glacière</i>, a +glacial district, something more extensive than a <i>glacier</i>, and he +had evidently no knowledge of the existence of caves containing ice.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<a name="Page_210"><span class="pagenum">[Page 210]</span></a> + +<h3>LA BORNA DE LA GLACE, IN THE DUCHY OF AOSTA.</h3> + +<p>The Chanoine Carrel, of Aosta, whose name is so well and so favourably +known to Alpine men, sent a brief account of an ice-cave in his +neighbourhood to the <i>Bibliothèque Universelle</i> of Geneva<a +name="FNanchor81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81"><sup>[81]</sup></a> in the +year 1841, and, as far as I know, there is no other account of it. My plan +had been to pass from Chamouni by the Col du Géant to Courmayeur, +and thence to Aosta for a visit to the canon and his glacière; but, +unfortunately, the symptoms which had put an end to the expedition to the +Brezon and the Valley of Reposoir came on with renewed vigour, as a +consequence of Mont Blanc, and the projected fortnight with Peter Pernn +collapsed into a hasty flight to Geneva. It was fortunate that medical +assistance was not necessary in Chamouni itself; for one of the members of +our large party there was mulcted in the sum of £16, with a hint +that something beyond that would be acceptable, for an extremely moderate +amount of attendance by the local French doctor.</p> + +<p>The glacière was thus of necessity given up. It is known among +the people as <i>La Borna de la Glace</i>, and lies about 5,300 feet above +the sea, on the northern slope of the hills which command the hamlet of +Chabaudey, commune of La Salle, in the duchy of Aosta, to the north-east +of Larsey-de-là, in a place covered with firs and larches, and +called <a name="Page_211"><span class="pagenum">[Page 211]</span></a> +Plan-agex. The entrance has an east exposure, and is very small, being a +triangle with a base of 2 feet and an altitude of 2-1/2 feet. After +descending a yard or two, this becomes larger, and divides into two main +branches, with three other fissures penetrating into the heart of the +mountain, too narrow to admit of a passage. The roof is very irregular, +and the stones on the floor are interspersed with ice, which appears also +in the form of icicles upon the walls; and, in the eastern branch of the +cave, there is a cylindrical pillar more than 3 feet long, with a diameter +of rather more than a foot. The temperature at 4 P.M. on July 15, 1841, +was as follows:--The external air, 59°; the cave, at the entrance, +37·2º; near the large cylinder, 35°·7; and in +different parts of the western branch, from 33°·6 to +32°·9.</p> + +<p>M. Carrel was evidently not aware of the existence of similar caves +elsewhere. He recommends, in his communication to the <i> +Bibliothèque Universelle</i>, that some scientific man should +investigate the phenomena, and explain the great cold, and the fact of the +formation of ice, which common report ascribed to the time of the +Dog-days. He doubts whether rapid evaporation can be the only cause, and +suggests that possibly there may be something in the interior of the +mountain to account for this departure from the laws generally recognised +in geology.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<a name="Page_212"><span class="pagenum">[Page 212]</span></a> + +<h3>THE GLACIÈRE OF FONDEURLE, IN DAUPHINÉ.</h3> + +<p>There cannot be any better place for recruiting strength than the +lovely primitive valley of <i>Les Plans</i>, two hours up the course of +the Avençon from hot and dusty Bex. Here I rejoined my sisters, +intending to spend a month with them before returning to England; and the +neighbouring glaciers afforded good opportunities for quietly +investigating the structure of the ice which composes them, with a view to +discovering, if possible, some trace of the prismatic formation so +universal in the glacières. On one occasion, after carefully +cutting steps and examining the faces of cleavage for an hour and a half, +I detected a small patch of ice, under the overhanging rim of a crevasse, +marked distinctly with the familiar network of lines on the surface; but I +was unable to discover anything betokening a prismatic condition of the +interior. This was the only case in which I saw the slightest approach to +the phenomena presented in ice-caves.</p> + +<p>There remained one glacière on M. Thury's list, which I had so +far not thought of visiting. It was described as lying three leagues to +the north of Die in Dauphiné, department of the Drôme, at an +altitude of more than 5,000 feet above the sea. M. Héricart de +Thury discovered this cavern in 1805, and published an account of it in +the <i>Annales des Mines</i><a name="FNanchor82"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_82"><sup>[82]</sup></a> to which M. Thury's list gave a +reference. <a name="Page_213"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 213]</span></a> I have since found that this account has been +translated into various scientific periodicals, among others the +Philosophical Journal of Edinburgh.<a name="FNanchor83"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_83"><sup>[83]</sup></a> earlier than I had intended, I could +take advantage of the new line connecting Chambéry and Grenoble and +Valence, and so visit this glacière without making the journey too +long; and accordingly I bade farewell to Madame Chérix's +comfortable room, leaving my sisters in their quarters in a neighbouring +châlet, and started for Geneva.</p> + +<p>The line was advertised to open on the 15th of August; but on the 16th +the officials declared that it was not within a month and a half of +completion, so that I was compelled to go round by Lyons. I was easily +reconciled to this by the opportunity thus afforded of a visit to the +ancient city of Vienne, which well repays inspection. Its history is a +perfect quarry of renowned names, Roman, Burgundian, and ecclesiastical. +Tiberius Gracchus left his mark upon the city, by bridling the +Rhône--<i>impatiens pontis</i>--with the earliest bridge in Gaul: +and here tradition has it that the great Pompey loved magnificently one of +his many loves; while the site of the Prætorium in which Pontius +Pilate is said to have given judgment can still be pointed out. The true +Mount Pilate lies between Vienne and Lyons, being one of the loftiest +northern summits of the Cevennes, on the borders of the Lyonnaise.<a name= +"FNanchor84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84"><sup>[84]</sup></a> The Romans +recognised the fitness of the neighbourhood of Vienne for the cultivation +of the grape, and the first vine in Gaul was planted on the Mont d'Or in +the second century of the Christian era. In Burgundian times the city held +a very prominent place, and became infamous from the frequent shedding of +royal blood; so that early historians describe it <a name="Page_214"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 214]</span></a> as '<i>tousiours fatale +à ceux qui vueillent la corone des Bourgougnons,'<a name= +"FNanchor85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85"><sup>[85]</sup></a></i> and as +'<i>fatale et de malencõtre aux tyrãs et mauvais princes.'<a +name="FNanchor86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86"><sup>[86]</sup></a></i> +Ecclesiastically, its interest dates of course from a very early period, +from the times of the martyrs of Gaul and the first Rogations. The +Festival of <i>Les Merveilles</i> long commemorated the restoration of the +bodily forms of the Lyonnese martyrs, as their scattered dust floated past +the home of Blandina and Ponticus; and the dedication of the cathedral to +S. Maurice keeps alive the tradition that Paschasius, bishop of Vienne, +was warned by an angel to watch on the banks of the Rhône, and so +rescued the head and trunk of the soldier-martyr, which had been cast into +the river at Agaunum (S. Maurice in Valais), and had floated +down--probably on sounder hydrostatical principles than the 'Floating +Martyr'--through the Lake of Geneva, and so to Vienne. There are still +many very interesting Roman remains in the city, as the Temple of Augusta +and Livia, the Arcade of the Forum, and the monument seen from the railway +to the south of the town. The temple is being carefully restored, and the +large collection of Roman curiosities which it contained is to be removed +to the church of S. Peter, now in course of restoration, which will in +itself be worth a visit to Vienne when the restoration is completed.<a +name="FNanchor87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87"><sup>[87]</sup></a> All the +buildings connected with the Great Council in 1311 have disappeared; and +the only relic of the council seems to be the Chalice, <i>or</i>, +surmounted by the Sacred Host, <i>argent</i>, in the city arms, in +remembrance of the <a name="Page_215"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 215]</span></a> institution of the Fête of the <i>S. +Corps</i>. If the Emperor would but have the town and its inhabitants +deodorised, few places would be better worth visiting than Vienne.</p> + +<p>The poste leaves Valence--the home of the White Hermitage--for Die at +2.30 P.M., and professes to reach its destination in six hours; but sad +experience showed that it could be unfaithful to the extent of an hour and +a half. So long as the daylight lasted, there was no dearth of objects of +interest; but when darkness came on, the monotonous roll of the heavy +diligence became aggravating in the extreme. The village of Beaumont, once +the residence of an important branch of the great Beaumont family,<a name= +"FNanchor88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88"><sup>[88]</sup></a> retains still +its square tower and old gateway; and the remains of a château near +Montmeyran, the end of the first stage, mark the scene of the victory of +Marius over the Ambrons and Teutons, local antiquaries believing that the +name of Montmeyran is from <i>Mons Jovis Mariani</i>.<a name= +"FNanchor89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89"><sup>[89]</sup></a> The road lies +through the bright cool green of wide plantations of the silkworm +mulberry,<a name="FNanchor90"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_90"><sup>[90]</sup></a> with its trim stem and rounded head; +and, in the more open parts of the valley, walnut trees of size and shape +fit for an ornamental park in England relieve the monotony. The nearer +hills are covered to the top with vines, and the higher and more distant +ranges have a naked and thoroughly burned appearance, which suggests the +idea of volcanoes to a traveller ignorant of volcanic <a name="Page_216"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 216]</span></a> facts. The villages which +lie at the foot of these rocky hills are built of stones taken from the +beds of the streams, and are so completely of one colour with the +background of rock, that in many instances it is difficult to determine +whether a distant mass of grey is a village or not. Ruined castles and +towers abound; and these, and still more the walls which surround many of +the villages, point unmistakeably to times of great disturbance. The +valley of the Drôme, up which the road after a time turns, was an +important locality in the religious wars; and the town and fort of Crest +especially, as its name might suggest, was a famous stronghold, and +resisted all the efforts of the Reformed party. In yet earlier times, +Simon de Montfort had frequently tried to take it, without success; and +four years after S. Bartholomew, Lesdiguières met with a like +repulse.<a name="FNanchor91"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_91"><sup>[91]</sup></a> The same80 story of sieges and battles +might be told of almost every village and defile of the valley. Thus, +Saillans, the third stage, was taken by the Protestant leader Mirabel, and +the Catholic Gordes, in 1574, and its fortifications were razed by the Duc +de Mayenne in 1581. Pontaix, again, a remarkable place, with a vaulted +street and fortified houses overhanging the river, which here fills up the +whole valley and leaves room only for the road and the narrow +village-town, was the scene of an obstinate and murderous fight between +the Marquis de Gordes on one side, and Lesdiguières and +Dupuy-Montbrun on the other, when the latter was captured, and shortly +after beheaded at Grenoble.</p> + +<p>The town of Die, <i>Dea Vocontiorum</i>, lies in a broad part of the +valley. It claims to be not <i>Dea Vocontiorum</i> only, but also <i> +Augusta <a name="Page_217"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 217]</span></a> Vocontiorum</i>, thereby apparently defrauding +the village of Aouste, near Crest, of the earliest form of its name. Die +is possessed of old walls, and has four gates with towers. The great +goddess from whose worship it derives its name was Cybele, notwithstanding +the vehement assertions of the official in the Poste-bureau in favour of +Ceres; and three different Tauroboles have been discovered here, one of +which is in excellent repair, and shows a Roman inscription surmounted by +three bulls' heads. The ceremony of the Taurobolium was new to me, and +appears to have been conducted as follows:--A small cave was hollowed out, +with a thin roof formed by the outer surface of the earth; and immediately +above this a bull was sacrificed, so that the blood ran through the earth +and dropped on to a priest who was placed in full robes in the cave. The +priest and the blood-stained garments were thenceforth specially sacred, +the garments retaining their sanctity for twenty years. The inscription on +the Tauroboles which have been found in and near Die record the names of +the priest, the dendrophore, the person who provided the victim, and the +emperor for whose safety the sacrifice was offered.</p> + +<p>The people of Die have been quarrelsome from the earliest times. A +century before the estates of the Dauphins of the Viennois were known as +Dauphiné,<a name="FNanchor92"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_92"><sup>[92]</sup></a> the chronic contests between the +Bishops and the Counts of <a name="Page_218"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 218]</span></a> Die had come to such a crisis, that the Dauphin +Guiges André intervened, and produced a certain amount of peace; +but, twenty years after, the people killed Bishop Humbert before the gate +which thence received its name of <i>Porte Rouge</i>. When the Counts of +Valentinois had succeeded to the fiefs of the Counts of Die, Gregory X. +became so weary of the constant wars, that he suppressed the bishopric, +and united it to Valence in 1275; but the canons, who were not suppressed, +raised a mercenary army and carried on the struggle. Eventually, the +canons and the people made common cause, and joined the Pope during the +Seventy Years; but when he left Avignon they came to terms with Charles +VI. of France, and so the Diois was united to Dauphiné in 1404. +Louis XIV. restored the separate bishopric, but ruined the town by the +revocation of the Edict of Nantes.</p> + +<p>The large number of mosaics and inscriptions found in Die prove +conclusively that in Roman times it was a favourite place of residence; +and, so far as situation goes, it is not difficult to understand how this +should have been the case. But in the condition in which the town found +itself in the pitiless heat of August 1864, the only question for an +English visitor was whether he could live through the time it was +absolutely necessary to spend there. The poste arrived, as has been said, +an hour and a half after its time; and the sole occupant of the +coupé, who had lived on fruit and gooseberry syrup, and three penny +worth of sweet cake at Crest, since a seven-o'clock breakfast, had wiled +away the last hour by inventing choice bills of fare for the meditated +supper. When the lumbering vehicle stopped in the main street of Die, +which is here something under seven yards wide, an elderly woman stepped +out from the dim crowd, with an uncovered tallow candle in her hand, and +asked if there was anyone for the hotel. The unwonted 'yes' seemed to +create some surprise; but she led the way promptly to her hotel, +diplomatically meeting the rapid volley of questions respecting supper +with an unpromising silence, and the first sight of the house itself +dispelled for ever all hope. An entrance was effected by the kitchen; and +not only was there no fire, but there was no light of any <a name= +"Page_219"><span class="pagenum">[Page 219]</span></a> description; +and the one dip we brought on to the scene betrayed such squalor on all +sides, that the suggestion of a <i>salle-à-manger</i> in connection +with such a kitchen became at once an impudent mockery. When this farther +room was reached, it proved to be even worse than the kitchen. It was shut +up for the night--had been shut up apparently for a week--and was in the +possession of the cats of the town, and the flies of Egypt. Two monstrous +hounds entered with us; and the cats fled hastily by a window which was +slightly open at the top, spitting and howling with fear when they missed +the first spring, and came within the cognisance of their mortal foes.</p> + +<p>The first thing to be done was to wash off some of the accumulated +dust; but when I asked for a bedroom for that purpose, I was conducted to +a copper in the kitchen, the water in which had been a permanency for some +time past, and was told to wash there. As for supper, there was some cold +mutton; but the landlady unfortunately opened the door of the cupboard as +she said so, and displayed a state of things which decided the point +against the mutton. There was nothing else in the house, and there was no +fire for cooking anything; but when they discovered that I really would +not wait till the next morning, they proposed to light a fire and warm +some soup, which I declined to see in its present state. In the way of +wine, I had been recommended to make a great point of the <i>clairette de +Die</i>, an excellent species of <i>vin mousseux</i>; but the chief of the +women rather recommended the ordinary wine of the country, as the monsieur +might not like to give a strong price. 'Was it, then, so strong?' 'Yes, +the price was undoubtedly strong.' 'How much, then?' 'A franc a bottle.' +With an eye to the future bill, the monsieur pretended to ponder awhile, +as if in doubt whether his resources could stand such a strain, and then, +with a reckless air, decided upon the extravagance. <a name="Page_220"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 220]</span></a> The clairette proved to +be quite worthy of the praise which had been bestowed upon it, being a +very pleasant and harmless sparkling white wine.<a name= +"FNanchor93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93"><sup>[93]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The neighbours kept dropping into the kitchen, to see how the landlady +got on with the stranger of uncouth speech; and four of the female part of +her company brought in at various times to the <i> +salle-à-manger</i> some piece of table-furniture, in order to +indulge in a closer view than the open door of the room afforded. One of +them told me she had seen an Englishman once before, a few months back; +but he only had one eye, and she seemed to think I was out of order in +possessing two. At length the soup came, and the first attempt upon it +proved it to be utterly impossible. The landlady was called in, and this +fact was announced to her. 'What to do, then?--it was a good soup, a soup +which the people of Die loved,--it was a soup the household eat morning +and night.' All the same, it was not a soup the present Englishman could +eat, and some other sort of food must be provided, for she declined to +furnish soup without garlic and fat. She suggested an omelette; but a +natural generalisation from all I had so far seen drew an untempting +picture of the probable state of the frying-pan, and I declined to face +the idea until I was convinced there was nothing else to be had. But, +alas! notwithstanding the righteous indignation with which the landlady +met my request that the omelette might not be all fat, the manipulation of +the eggs eventuated in a dish even more impracticable than the soup, +flooded with unmentionable grease, and so at last the cold mutton became a +necessity. To show how hunger may work upon the feelings, I may say that, +in spite of the marks of the feet of mice in the cold gravy which remained +on the dish, I forced myself to cut off a wedge, and, after removing a <a +name="Page_221"><span class="pagenum">[Page 221]</span></a> thick +layer of meat on the exposed sides, essayed to eat the heart of the wedge. +The sheep and its progenitors had been fed on garlic from all time, and +the mutton had been boiled in a decoction of that noxious herb; and this +dish was in its turn rejected like the others. There was nothing for it +but salad, and bread, and wine; but when the salad appeared, after a long +time had been spent in the kitchen in saturating the withered greens with +oil and vitriolic vinegar, there, perched on the top like one of those +animals which sometimes spoil one's enjoyment of a strawberry-bed, was a +huge onion, with numerous satellites peeping out from under the leaves. +About this time, a short diversion was caused by the reappearance of one +of the large hounds, whose mind was not at ease as to the completeness of +the previous elimination of the cats from the <i> +salle-à-manger;</i> and the diabolical noise and scuffle which +ensued upon his investigation of a dark corner, showed that his doubts had +been well grounded. Then I discovered that there was no butter to be had, +and no milk; and when coffee was mentioned, a pan was brought out for +making that beverage, which a bullet-maker with any regard for appearances +would have declined to use for melting his lead in. Finally, under the +pressure of dire hunger, I returned to the mutton, and contrived to +swallow a small piece, the taste of which did not leave me for four or +five days.</p> + +<p>The interior of the house, where the bedrooms were, gave forth an odour +which must be familiar to all who have burrowed in out-of-the-way places +in France, approaching more nearly, perhaps, to the smell of damp cocks +and hens than anything else; and the bedroom door was guarded by a huge +mis-shapen dog, which evidently intended to pass the night there, if it +could not get into the room itself. The street on to which the window +looked was still populous with the inhabitants of Die; and a man with <a +name="Page_222"><span class="pagenum">[Page 222]</span></a> whom I +had already had a conversation respecting the glacière, who +appeared to perform some of the functions of landlord of the hotel, was +audibly engaged in hiring a man to accompany me on the following day. The +man whom he was attempting to persuade was evidently of an independent +turn of mind, and said that as it would be an affair of fifteen or sixteen +hours at least, he would not go through so much unless his proposed +comrade were a true <i>bonhomme</i>; a difficulty which the landlord set +at rest by asseverations so ready and so circumstantial, that I determined +to take everything he might tell me, on any subject, with many grains of +allowance.</p> + +<p>It was only natural to expect a night of horrors; but in this I was +most agreeably disappointed, and the few hours passed quietly enough till +it was time to get up. By morning light, the <i>salle-à-manger</i> +did so bristle with squalor that the kitchen was made the breakfast-room; +though as that meal only lasted two minutes, and meant nothing beyond an +attempt to eat some of the bread I had been unable to eat the night +before, one place was much the same as another. It is generally believed +that coffee is to be obtained in perfection in France; but that belief is +not founded on experience of the provinces, and had long ceased to be a +part of my creed: nevertheless, with the idea that there is always some +redeeming-point in the darkest situation, I had hopes of the coffee of +Die, in spite of the appearance of the pan; and if these hopes had been +realised, the place might still have been tolerable. But they were not +realised. When the landlady was asked for the promised coffee, she brought +out a small earthenware pitcher containing a black liquid, and proceeded +to bury its lower extremity in the hot embers of the wood fire, by which +means the liquid was speedily warmed up, and also thickened with +unnecessary ashes. When served--in the same dusty <a name="Page_223"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 223]</span></a> pitcher--it had a green and +mouldy taste, combined with a sour bitterness which made it utterly +impossible as an article of food, and so the breakfast was confined to the +rejected fragments of the loaf of the preceding night.</p> + +<p>The guide, or comrade as he preferred to call himself, appeared in good +time, and we started about half-past six, under a sun already oppressively +hot, and through heavy flaky dust, which made us feel very thankful when +our route branched off from the high road. Liotir was strong in mulberry +trees and vines, for he was a keeper of silkworms, and a wine-merchant. +Silkworms had not been profitable for a year or two, and he was almost in +low spirits when he talked of them.<a name="FNanchor94"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_94"><sup>[94]</sup></a> An epidemic had visited the district, +and the worms ate voraciously and refused to spin--a disease which he +believed to be beyond the power of medicine.<a name="FNanchor95"></a><a +href="#Footnote_95"><sup>[95]</sup></a> As is so often the case with the +Frenchman, as compared with the Englishman of corresponding social status, +he had his information cut and dried, and poured it out without +hesitation. Silkworms' eggs cost 15, 20, or 25 francs an ounce, according +to quality; and an ounce of good seed should produce from two to three +hundred francs' worth of cocoons. A man who 'makes' an ounce of seed +requires six tables, 8 feet by 4, for his cages; and as some men make +thirty-five ounces, chambers of great size are necessary for the +accommodation of their worms; but breeders to so large an extent as this +are the princes of the trade. As we passed a farmhouse surrounded by <a +name="Page_224"><span class="pagenum">[Page 224]</span></a> mulberry +trees and vineyards, my companion informed me that the farmer was his +partner in worms and wine both, and that the wine promised to be the +better speculation this year, for the fruit was in immense abundance. I +saw afterwards that, at the time of vintage, grapes sold for pressing at +from 6 to 10 francs the hundred kilos, while 12 and 13 francs was the +price in 1863, and that in some districts of the Drôme the owners of +the presses had not barrels enough for even the first pressing.</p> + +<p>The great want of wood on the hills in whose neighbourhood we now found +ourselves, attracted attention in the time of Louis XIV., and that +sovereign passed severe laws for the protection of the forests that still +remained. As usual, the mere severity of the laws made them fail of their +object. Banishment and the galleys were the punishment for unauthorised +cutting of forest trees, and death if fire were used. There is a paper in +the <i>Journal de Physique</i> of 1789,<a name="FNanchor96"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_96"><sup>[96]</sup></a> on the disappearance of the forests of +Dauphiné, pointing out that when the woods are removed from the +sides of mountains, the soil soon follows, and the district becomes +utterly valueless. The writer traced the mischief to the emancipation of +serfs, and the consequent formation of <i>communes</i>, where each man +could do that which was right in his own eyes.</p> + +<p>At any rate, whatever the reason, nothing can be conceived more bare +than the dun-coloured rounded hills between the town of Die and the Col de +Vassieux, towards which we were making our way. The whole face of the +country had the same parched look, and the soil seemed to be composed +entirely of small stones, without any signs of moisture even in the +watercourses. The Col de Vassieux is not much more than 4,000 feet high, +and forms a saddle between the Pic de S. Genix (5,450 feet) and the But <a +name="Page_225"><span class="pagenum">[Page 225]</span></a> de +l'Aiglette (5,200 feet). A new foot-road has been made to the Col, with +many windings; and great care has been taken to plant the sides of the +hill with oak and hazel; so that already there is some appearance of +coppice, and in the course of time there will be shade by the way--a +luxury for which we longed in vain. The lower ground was covered with +little scrubs of box, and with lavender, dwarfed and dry; but near the +summit of the Col the lavender became vigorous and luxuriant, and carpeted +the hillside with a rich abundance of blue, tempting us more than once to +lie down and roll on the fragrant bed; though some of the older roots were +not sufficiently yielding to make that performance as satisfactory as it +might have been. This lavender is highly prized by the silkworm-keepers of +Die, its bushy heads being almost exclusively used for the worms to spin +their cocoons in.</p> + +<p>When we reached the top of the Col, Liotir confessed that he did not +know which way to turn, and we agreed to follow the path till we should +find some one to direct us. There was a farmhouse at no great distance, +and thither we bent our steps; but the sole inhabitant could give no +assistance, and, in default of information, Liotir generously proposed to +treat me to a bottle of wine, over which we might discuss our further +proceedings. The state of fever, however, to which the garlic and the dirt +of Die had brought me, made it seem impossible to eat or drink anything; +so I suggested instead that I should treat him, and that seemed to be +rather what he had meant by his proposal. Nothing much came of our +discussion, and we marched on hot and faint for an hour more, when a +casual man told us that our straight line to the <i>Foire de Fondeurle</i> +lay across the plain on our left hand, and up a most objectionable-looking +hill beyond, thickly covered with brushwood and showing no signs of a +path.</p> + +<a name="Page_226"><span class="pagenum">[Page 226]</span></a> + +<p>As we crossed the plain, there was still the same total absence of +water, and we reached the bottom of the hill in a state of mind and body +which rebelled against the exertion of struggling with the sand and +shingle and brushwood. Liotir thought it was useless to attempt it with no +hope of water, and I held much the same view, only it was impossible +really to think of giving it up. When at last we had surmounted all the +difficulties which beset us, and stood on the highest point which had so +far been in sight, we found ourselves on the edge of a vast plain of +parched grass, with nothing to guide us in one direction rather than +another. There was no human being in sight, no sign of water, nor any +particle of shade; nothing but grass, brown and monotonous, with white +cliffs miles away at the extremity of the plain. This was evidently the +<i>Foire de Fondeurle</i>, and in it somewhere lay the glacière, if +only we could make out in which direction to begin to traverse the plain. +In the earlier part of this century, a very famous fair was held on this +wild and out-of-the-way table-land, to which many thousands of horses and +mules and cattle of various kinds were brought from all quarters; but the +fair has fallen off so much, that the man who had turned us up the last +hill said there were only fourteen head of cattle in 1863, and very few of +those were sold. M. Héricart de Thury describes this plain as lying +in the calcareous sub-Alpine range of the south-east of France. The woods +here terminate at a height of 5,147 feet above the sea, and the <i>Foire +de Fondeurle</i> lies immediately above this point.</p> + +<p>At last we made a bold dash across the plain, and after a time came +upon some sheep, standing in a thick row, with their heads thrust under a +low bank which afforded a little shade; and at no great distance from them +sat the shepherd. He was a cripple, and his clothes were something worse +<a name="Page_227"><span class="pagenum">[Page 227]</span></a> than +rags. He offered us a portion of the water he had in a detestable-looking +skin; but he assured us it was quite warm, and had not been good to begin +with, so we did not try it, though we were thirsty enough to have hailed a +muddy pool with delight. Our new acquaintance knew nothing of the +glacière, but he belonged himself to the Chalêt of Fondeurle, +and as that was the only house on the whole plain, he told us to make for +it. The surface of the plain seemed to have fallen through in many places, +forming larger and smaller pits with steep sides of limestone. These were +often of the size of a large field, and, as the deeper of them required +circumvention, the shepherd told us that we must follow the line of little +cairns which we should find here and there on our way, the only guide +across the plain. He could not be sure himself in what direction the +châlet lay; but if we kept to a certain tortuous line, we should +come to it in time.</p> + +<p>The way proved to be so very long, that we doubted whether such a +consummation of our wishes would ever arrive: but at length, in a small +dip at the farthest extremity of the plain, we saw the châlet, and, +what was much more to us, saw a little run of water, carried from the +rising ground by wooden pipes. It will be well for any future visitor to +the châlet to go very warily, and to intrench himself in a strong +position when he sees half-a-dozen huge dogs like black and white bears +come out to attack him. Liotir had a stout stick, and I had a formidable +ice-axe; and, moreover, we fortunately secured a wall in our rear: but +with all this the dogs were nearly too much for us, and Liotir was +pressing me earnestly to chop at the ringleader's head, when a man came +and called off 'Dragon,' and the others then dispersed. The new-comer +wished to know our business, but, without satisfying his curiosity, we +rushed to the water-trough, and drank and used in washing an amount of +water which <a name="Page_228"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 228]</span></a> he evidently grudged us. Then we were able to +tell him that our business was something to eat for Liotir, and a guide to +the glacière; though I trembled when I suggested the latter, for, +after all our labours, I had a sort of fear that the cave would prove a +myth. On this point the man cleared away all doubts at once,--we could +certainly have a guide, as the <i>patron</i> would be sure to let one of +them go with us. As to food, there was more doubt, for the master was not +yet at home, and his wife would not be able to give us an answer without +consulting him. The wife confirmed this statement: they saw very few +strangers, and did not profess to supply food to people crossing the +plain. I assured her that we intended to pay well for anything she could +let us have, but she merely rejoined that they did not keep an auberge; +however, her husband would be home some time in the course of the +afternoon--it was now about half-past twelve--and she could ask his +opinion on the subject. But Liotir objected that he was meanwhile dying of +hunger, and the monsieur of thirst which only milk or cream could assuage; +he suggested that some one should be sent to look for the husband, and +obtain his permission for us to be fed. To this she assented, very +dubiously, and with a constrained air, as if there were some mysterious +reason why the presence of strangers was peculiarly unacceptable on that +particular afternoon. At any rate, she said when pressed, she thought +there could be no harm in our entering the châlet and sitting down +on a bench, where we should be sheltered from the sun.</p> + +<p>Here accordingly we sat, more or less patiently, till the master +himself appeared. He had no welcome for us; but he was willing that we +should eat some of his black bread, and try his wine. Liotir begged for +cheese, and the wife was told she might supply cheese of two kinds, and +also cream, for the monsieur evidently was <i>malade</i> and could not +swallow <a name="Page_229"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 229]</span></a> wine. The cream and the black bread were +delicious; but still the horrors of Die hung about me, and I could only +dispose of such a small amount, that Liotir waxed funny, and told me it +would never do for me to die there, as there was not earth enough to +scrape a grave in on the whole plain. Then, being a practical man, he +declared he should like to contract for my keep, and thought he could +afford to do it at very small cost to me, and still leave a fair margin +for himself. He thought it right to make up for my want of appetite; and +so, in addition to his own share, he took in an exemplary manner the share +of wine which I should have taken, had I been a man like himself. The +master of the châlet sat on the family bed, smoking silently and +sullenly; and as soon as Liotir had come to an end of his second bottle, +he proposed to accompany us himself to the cave, as he doubted whether any +of his men knew the way, and he was sure they were all busy. When I came +to pay his wife for what we had consumed, I administered thanks as well as +money; to which she sternly rejoined, 'Who pays need not give thanks;' and +to that surly view she held, in spite of my attempts to soften her down. +There was, after all, much force in what she said, under the +circumstances. They had given us no welcome, nothing but mere food, and +all they expected in return was a due amount of money; thanks were a +mockery in their eyes.</p> + +<p>The cavern was reached in a few minutes, when once we got away from the +châlet. Two large pits, formed apparently by the subsidence of the +surface, lay in a line about east and west, and there proved to be an +underground communication between them. From this tunnel, as it were, a +long low archway led to a broad slope of chaotic blocks of stone, down +which we scrambled by the aid of such light as our candles afforded. The +roof of this inner cave was horizontal for some distance, and then <a +name="Page_230"><span class="pagenum">[Page 230]</span></a> suddenly +descended in a grand wall; and in consequence of a series of such inverted +steps, the cave never assumed any great height. The whole length of the +slope was 190 feet, and its greatest breadth about 140 feet; but the +breadth varied very much. Half-way down the slope the ice commenced, +fitfully at first, and afterwards in a tolerably continuous sheet. The +most careless explorer could not have failed to notice the polygonal +figures stamped upon its surface. They were larger and bolder than any I +had seen before; and the prismatic nuts into which the ice broke, when cut +with the axe, were of course in proportion larger than in the previous +caves. The signs of thaw, too, were unmistakeable. Though the upper +surface of the earth had seemed to be utterly devoid of moisture of any +kind, large drops fell freely from the roof of the cave,<a name= +"FNanchor97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97"><sup>[97]</sup></a> and the ice +itself was wet. The <i>patron</i> said there was no ice whatever in the +winter months, and that from June to September was the time at which alone +it could be found. He declined to explain how it was that we found it so +evidently in a state of general thaw in the very height of its season. To +give us some idea of the climate of the plain in winter, he informed us +that the snow lay for long up to the top of the door of his +châlet.</p> + +<p>There were in all four columns of ice in the cave, only two of which +were of any considerable size. One of these was peculiarly striking from +the very large grain which its structure displayed; it measured 19 feet +across the base, being flat towards the extremity of the cave, and round +<a name="Page_231"><span class="pagenum">[Page 231]</span></a> +towards the entrance. Three thermometers in various parts of the +glacière gave all the same temperature, namely, a fraction under +33° F.: a rough French thermometer gave 1/2° C. The extreme wall +of the cavern was completely covered by a layer of stalagmitic material, +and some of the forms the substance assumed were sufficiently striking. In +contact with the wall, though standing clear of it in parts where the wall +fell inwards, stood a thick round column of the same material, shaped like +the ordinary ice-columns of the glacières, with a cavity near the +base, and in all ways following the usual laws of such columns. +Considering that I had observed a layer of limestone-paste collecting on +one of the ice-columns of the Glacière of La Genollière, I +could not help imagining that this stalagmitic column had been originally +moulded on a norm of that description. It had a girth of 12 feet in the +part where we were able to pass the tape round it. Its surface was smooth; +but when we drove a hole through this, with much damage to the <i>pic</i> +of my axe, we found that the interior was in a crystalline form.</p> + +<p>There was, on the whole, very little to be seen in the glacière. +Had it been my first experience of an ice-cave, it would doubtless have +seemed very remarkable, as it did to Liotir, who, by the way, had steadily +disbelieved the possibility of natural ice in summer except in the +glaciers; but as I had now seen so many, several of them much more +wonderful than this, I did not care to stay longer than was absolutely +necessary for measurements and investigation. Besides, the food of +Dauphiné rather takes the energy and love of adventure out of an +unaccustomed visitor.</p> + +<p>Without long delay, then, we bade farewell to the <i>patron</i>, not +returning to the inhospitable châlet, and started on our way for +Die, <a name="Page_232"><span class="pagenum">[Page 232]</span></a> +each carrying a large block of ice slung in a network of string. Liotir's +purpose was to convince some mysterious female friend that he really had +seen ice in summer, within five or six hours of Die; and mine, to apply +the ice to the butter which I had specially ordered the landlady to have +ready for me, that so I might be able to get through the night, and leave +Die by the diligence the first thing next morning. It was remarkable how +well the ice bore the great heat. For long the bulk of the masses we +carried seemed scarcely to diminish; and if it had not been for a course +of heavy falls as we descended through the brushwood, we should have +succeeded in getting a large proportion of it safely to Die. The precision +of the prismatic structure also showed itself in a very marked manner; and +when we came to a crisis of thirst, which happened at shorter and shorter +intervals as the afternoon wore on, we separated the prisms with our +fingers from the edges of the ice without any difficulty, and made +ourselves more hot and thirsty by eating them.</p> + +<p>When we arrived at the farmhouse at the Col de Vassieux, we reaped full +benefit from our ice. The wine, which had been hot and heavy and +unpalatable in the morning, when we had tried it unmixed, became +delightfully refreshing when disguised with an abundance of water and +sugar and ice; and Liotir found that contracting for my keep at a low rate +would not, after all, secure him the comfortable income he had before +calculated. After this refreshment, he became communicative, and told me +he had served seven years in the French army, three of which were spent in +working on railways. He had fought the Italian campaign, and was full of +details of the battle of Solferino, on which occasion his <i>bataillon</i> +was led on by the Emperor in person. According to his account, four <i> +bataillons</i> were drawn up for the assault of a tower, and <a name= +"Page_233"><span class="pagenum">[Page 233]</span></a> when the first +advanced it was swept away to a man. The second met with a like fate, and +Liotir was in the third. His officers had all been killed, and a corporal +was in command. The Emperor rode up and called to them to advance as far +as he advanced. This was about a hundred yards; and then, after halting +them for a moment, the Emperor cried, '<i>Allez, mes enfants! nous ne +sommes pas tous perdus!'</i> sending the fourth <i>bataillon</i> close +upon their heels. In answer to my question, Liotir said, slowly and +solemnly, that he did not think the Emperor was under fire; a few dropping +shots reached them while he was yet addressing them, but he believed the +Emperor Napoleon was not in the fire at Solferino. I took the opportunity +of asking whether he was green on that occasion, as Mr. Kinglake believes +that he is in times of personal danger; but my companion utterly scouted +the idea, and declared that he saw no man through all that day so cool and +capable as the Emperor. Pale he undoubtedly was, but that was his habit. +Like all other French soldiers with whom I have had much conversation, +Liotir complained of the army arrangements in the matter of food; on all +other points he was most amiable, but when he spoke of the extortions of +the <i>cantinière</i> he completely lost his temper. At a <i> +café</i>, the soldiers could get their cup for 15 centimes, or 20 +with liqueur; whereas the <i>cantinière</i> charged a franc, and +gave them very bad coffee. Wine, too, which would cost them 60 centimes +the kilo in the town, was valued at 2 francs by their grasping enemy. He +had an idea that English soldiers are allowed to take their whole pay in +money, and spend it as they will; whereas the French foot-soldier, +according to his account, gets 25 centimes a day in money, and has +everything found except coffee. A young trooper at Besançon was +very eloquent on this subject. He represented himself as a <a name= +"Page_234"><span class="pagenum">[Page 234]</span></a> man of small +appetite and a gay spirit; he could well live on very little solid food, +and yet he had as much deducted from his pay on that account as anyone in +the army--as much, for instance, he groaned, as a certain stout old +warrior who was then reposing on a corn-bin. If he could have drawn all +his pay in money, and lived on almost nothing for food, he would have had +abundance of sous for cards and tobacco; and what a career would that +be!</p> + +<p>The blocks of ice were by this time becoming rather small; and as we +had now once more reached the region of lavender, we cut a large quantity +and wrapped the ice in it, and thus protected it from further thaw. For +some time before arriving at the farm where my companion's partner lived, +he indulged in praises of the wine which their vineyard produced, and +assurances of the safety with which it would perform a journey to England. +He urged its excellent <i>bouquet</i>, and gave me a card of prices which +certainly seemed marvellously reasonable. Finally, he proposed to join me +at a bottle of white <i>muscat</i>, from the farmer's <i>cave</i>, in +order that I might have an opportunity of seeing how true was his account +of the wine. We seated ourselves accordingly in the farmyard, and drank a +bottle of delightful wine at 65 centimes the bottle, clear and sparkling, +and with a strong muscat flavour. Liotir combined with it intoxication of +a different kind, and showed unmistakeable signs of his determination to +take another member of the farmer's household into partnership,--the +mysterious friend, in fact, for whose astonishment the ice was intended. +The white muscat, they told me, would not keep over the year; but they had +a wine at the same price which they highly recommended, and warranted to +keep for a considerable number of years. Liotir was very anxious that we +should have a bottle of this, for he was <a name="Page_235"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 235]</span></a> confident that I should give them an +order if I once tasted it; but we had been in at the death of so many +bottles that day, that I declined to try the <i>muscat rosat</i>. I have +since had a hundred <i>litres</i> sent over by Liotir, and find it very +satisfactory. It has a rich, clear, port-wine colour, sparkling, and with +the true <i>frontignac</i> flavour.</p> + +<p>The effect of the wine on Liotir was peculiar. In the earlier part of +the walk, he had never seen Algeria; but after half a bottle of muscat, he +had spent six months in that country, and he enlivened the remainder of +the way with many details of his experiences there. We reached Die about +half-past seven, and the arrival of real ice was hailed as a marvel. +Although I had been sent off so unhesitatingly by the landlord in the +morning, it seemed that they none of them knew what a glacière +meant. They had determined that we should never reach the <i>Foire de +Fondeurle</i>, and that if we did, we should find nothing there to repay +our toil. As I sat at an open window afterwards, Liotir's voice was to be +heard holding forth in a neighbouring café upon the wonders of the +day; and among the crowd which is a normal condition of the evening +streets of Die, the words <i>Fondeurle</i>, <i>Vassieux</i>, <i> +Anglais</i>, <i>glace</i>, &c., showed what the general subject of +conversation was.</p> + +<p>The landlady had obeyed orders, and was provided with butter and bread. +The tea was served in an open earthenware pitcher, with the spout at right +angles with the handle. There was no cup; but the woman remarked that if +monsieur was particular about that, he could turn out the sugar and use +the basin, which he did. The milk had a basin to itself; but it had +offered so large and tempting a surface to the flies of the town, that it +remained untouched. The knife and spoon were imbued with ineradicable +garlic, and my own trusty clasp-knife was the only weapon I <a name= +"Page_236"><span class="pagenum">[Page 236]</span></a> could use for +all table purposes. If it had not been for the ice and the lavender, I +think I should never have got away from Die. The former made it possible +to eat some bread-and-butter; and of the latter I made a sort of +respirator for nose and mouth, which modified the odour of cocks and hens +prevailing in the house.</p> + +<p>Next morning the diligence was to start early, and, in preparation for +the six hours' drive, I ordered two eggs to be boiled for breakfast. As +the first proved to have been boiled in tepid water, I requested the +landlady to boil the second afresh, which she did in a manner that may +partly account for the observed fact that the very eggs of some towns +taste of garlic. There was household soup simmering on the fire, reeking +with onion and garlic, and many other abominations; and, as if it was +quite the right and usual thing to do, she slipped the unfortunate egg +into this, and left it there to be cooked. After all, garlic must be cheap +as an article of food, for the whole bill amounted only to 7-1/2 +francs.</p> + +<p>This was the last glacière on my list. It was quite as well that +such was the case; for the trials of Dauphiné had been too great, +and I should scarcely have been inclined to face further adventures of a +like kind.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + <a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<a name="Page_237"><span class="pagenum">[Page 237]</span></a> + +<h3>OTHER ICE CAVES.</h3> + +<b><i>The Cave of Szelicze, or Szilitze, in Hungary</i>.<a name= +"FNanchor98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98"><sup>[98]</sup></a></b> <br /> + + +<p>Matthew Bell, the historian of Hungary, sent an account of this cavern +to England, in the middle of the last century, which was printed in the +original Latin in the 'Philosophical Transactions' of 1739-40 (pp. 41, +&c.).</p> + +<p>This account states that the cave is in the county of Thorn,<a name= +"FNanchor99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99"><sup>[99]</sup></a> among the +lowest spurs of the Carpathians. The entrance, which faces the north, and +is exposed to the cold winds from the snowy part of the Carpathian range, +is 18 fathoms high and 9 broad; and the cave spreads out laterally, and +descends to a point 50 fathoms below the entrance, where it is 26 fathoms +in breadth, and of irregular height. Beyond this no one had at that time +penetrated, on account of the unsafe footing, although many distant echoes +were returned by the farther recesses of <a name="Page_238"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 238]</span></a> the cave; indeed, to get even so far +as this, much step-cutting was necessary.</p> + +<p>When the external frost of winter comes on, the account proceeds, the +effect in the cave is the same as if fires had been lighted there: the ice +melts, and swarms of flies and bats and hares take refuge in the interior +from the severity of the winter. As soon as spring arrives, the warmth of +winter disappears from the interior, water exudes from the roof and is +converted into ice, while the more abundant supplies which pour down on to +the sandy floor are speedily frozen there. In the Dog-days, the frost is +so intense that a small icicle becomes in one day a huge mass of ice; but +a cool day promptly brings a thaw, and the cave is looked upon as a +barometer, not merely feeling, but also presaging, the changes of weather. +The people of the neighbourhood, when employed in field-work, arrange +their labour so that the mid-day meal may be taken near the cave, when +they either ice the water they have brought with them, or drink the melted +ice, which they consider very good for the stomach. It had been calculated +that 600 weekly carts would not be sufficient to keep the cavern free from +ice. The ground above the cave is peculiarly rich in grass.</p> + +<p>In explanation of these phenomena, Bell threw out the following +suggestions, which need no comment. The earth being of itself cold and +damp, the external heat of the atmosphere, by partially penetrating into +the ground, drives in this native cold to the inner parts of the earth, +and makes the cold there more dense. On the other hand, when the external +air is cold, it draws forth towards the surface the heat there may be in +the inner part of the earth, and thus makes caverns warm. In support and +illustration of this view, he states that in the hotter parts of Hungary, +when the people wish to cool their wine, they dig a <a name="Page_239"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 239]</span></a> hole 2 feet deep, and +place in it the flagon of wine, and, after filling up the hole again, +light a blazing fire upon the surface, which cools the wine as if the +flagon had been laid in ice. He also suggests that possibly the cold winds +from the Carpathians bring with them imperceptible particles of snow, +which reach the water of the cave, and convert it into ice. Further, the +rocks of the Carpathians abound in salts, nitre, alum, &c., which may, +perhaps, mingle with such snowy particles, and produce the ordinary effect +of the snow and salt in the artificial production of ice.</p> + +<p>Townson<a name="FNanchor100"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_100"><sup>[100]</sup></a> visited this cave half a century +later, and concluded that Bell was in error with regard to the supposed +winter thaw and summer frost, although he himself received information at +Kaschau which corroborated the earlier account. He describes the approach +to the village of Szilitze as leading by a by-road through a pleasant +country of woods and hills, with much pasture-land, the cave lying a mile +beyond the village, and displaying an entrance 100 feet broad, and 20 or +30 feet high, turned towards the north. The descent of the floor of the +cave is rapid, and was covered with thin ice, at the time of his visit, +for the last third of the way: from the roof at the farther end, where the +cave is not so high as at the entrance, a congeries of icicles was seen to +hang; and in a corner on the right, completely sheltered from the rays of +the sun, there was a large mass of the same material. It was a fine +forenoon in July, and all was in a state of thaw, the icicles dropping +water, and the floor of ice covered with a thin layer of water; while the +thermometer in all parts of the cave stood at zero of Réaumur's +scale. The rock is compact unstratified limestone, in which so many of the +famous caverns of the world are found.</p> + +<a name="Page_240"><span class="pagenum">[Page 240]</span></a> <b><i> +The Cave of Yeermalik, in Koondooz</i></b><a name="FNanchor101"></a><a +href="#Footnote_101"><sup>[101]</sup></a> + +<p>In the year 1840, Captain Burslem, of the 13th Light Infantry, made an +expedition from Cabul to the North-west, accompanied by Lieutenant Sturt +of the Bengal Engineers, who was afterwards killed in the terrible pass +where Lady Sale, whose daughter he had married, was shot through the +arm.</p> + +<p>After crossing the high and wild pass of Karakotul (10,500 feet), these +travellers reached the romantic glen of the Doaub, which lies at the foot +of the pass, and is surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains. Here they +were hospitably entertained by Shah Pursund Khan, the chief of the small +territory, and their curiosity was roused by the account given by an old +moollah of a cavern seven miles off, which the Shah strongly advised them +not to attempt to visit, for the Sheitan (the devil), whose ordinary place +of abode it was, never allowed a stranger to return from its recesses. The +moollah, however, scouted this idea, on the ground that it was much too +cold for such an inhabitant; and the Shah eventually agreed to accompany +them to the cave with a band of his followers.</p> + +<p>As they rode through long and rich grass, following the course of a +gentle stream, and tormented by swarms of forest flies, or blood-suckers, +the Shah informed them that he had once endeavoured to explore the cave, +and had already penetrated to a considerable distance, when he came upon +the fresh prints of a naked foot, with an extraordinary impression by +their side, which he suspected to be the foot of Sheitan himself, and so +he beat a precipitate retreat.<a name="Page_241"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 241]</span></a> The moollah told them that there was +a large number of skeletons in the cave, the remains of 700 men who took +refuge there during the invasion of Genghis Khan, with their wives and +families, and defended themselves so stoutly, that, after trying in vain +the means by which the M'Leods were destroyed in barbarous times, and the +opponents of French progress in Algeria in times less remote, the invader +built them in with huge natural blocks of stone, and left them to die of +hunger.</p> + +<p>The entrance is half-way up a hill, and is 50 feet high, with about the +same breadth. Not far from the entrance they found a passage between two +jagged rocks, possibly the remains of Genghis Khan's fatal wall, so narrow +that they had some difficulty in squeezing through; and then, before long, +came to a drop of 16 feet, down which they were lowered by ropes made from +the cotton turbans of the Shah and his attendants. Here they left two men +to haul them up on their return, and bade farewell to the light of day. +The narrow path led by the edge of a black abyss, sometimes over a +flooring of smooth ice for a few feet, and widened gradually till they +reached a damp and dripping hall, of dimensions so vast that the light of +their torches did not enable them to form a conception of its size. In +this hall they found hundreds of skeletons in a perfectly undisturbed +state, one, for instance, still holding the skeletons of two infants in +its bony arms, while some of the bodies had been preserved, and lay +shrivelled like those at the Great St. Bernard. They were very much +startled here by the discovery of the prints of a naked human foot, and by +its side the distinct mark of the pointed heel of an Affghan boot,<a name= +"FNanchor102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102"><sup>[102]</sup></a> precisely +what had so thoroughly frightened the <a name="Page_242"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 242]</span></a> Shah twelve years before. The prints +retained all the sharpness of outline which marks a recent impression, and +led towards the farther recesses of the cave; but the Englishmen were +called away from their investigation by the announcement that if they did +not make haste, there would not be oil enough for lighting them to the +ice-caves.</p> + +<p>Proceeding through several low arches and smaller caves, they reached +at length a vast hall, in the centre of which was<a name= +"FNanchor103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103"><sup>[103]</sup></a> an enormous +mass of clear ice, smooth and polished as a mirror, and in the form of a +gigantic beehive, with its dome-shaped top just touching the long icicles +which depended from the jagged surface of the rock. A small aperture led +to the interior of this wonderful congelation, the walls of which were +nearly 2 feet thick; the floor, sides, and roof were smooth and slippery, +and their figures were reflected from floor to ceiling and from side to +side in endless repetition. The inside of this chilly abode was divided +into several compartments of every fantastic shape: in some the glittering +icicles hung like curtains from the roof; in others, the vault was smooth +as glass. Beautifully brilliant were the prismatic colours reflected from +the varied surface of the ice, when the torches flashed suddenly upon them +as they passed from cave to cave. Around, above, beneath, everything was +of solid ice, and being unable to stand on account of its slippery nature, +they slid, or rather glided, mysteriously along the glassy surface of this +hall of spells. In one of the largest compartments the icicles had reached +the floor, and gave the idea of pillars supporting the roof.</p> + +<p>The cavern in which this marvellous mass of ice stood, branched off +into numerous galleries, one of which led the party to a sloping platform +of rapidly increasing steepness, where they were startled by the +reappearance of the naked foot-prints, passing down the slope. The toes <a +name="Page_243"><span class="pagenum">[Page 243]</span></a> were +spread out in a manner which showed that they belonged to some one who had +been in the habit of going barefoot, and Captain Burslem took a torch and +determined to trace the steps: a large stone, however, gave way under his +weight; and this, sliding down at first, and then rolling and bounding on +for ever, raised such a tumult of noise and echoes that the natives with +one accord cried 'Sheitan! Sheitan!' and fled precipitately, extinguishing +all the lights in their fear; so that but for Sturt's torch the whole +party must have been lost in the darkness. Shah Pursund Khan at once +called a retreat, vowing that it was of no use to attempt to follow the +footsteps, as it was well known that the cave extended to Cabul! The +guides had now lost their small allowance of pluck, and wandered about +despairingly for a long time before they could find their way back to the +ice-cave, and thence to the foot of the rock where the two men and the +turban-ladders had been left. As soon as they came in sight of this, their +comrades above cried out to them that they must make all haste, for +Sheitan himself had appeared an hour before, running along the ledge where +they now were, and finally vanishing into the gloom beyond; an +announcement which of course produced a stampede in the terrified party of +natives. Five or six rushed to the spot where the turbans hung, and only +an opportune fall of stones from above prevented their destroying the +apparatus in their blind hurry to escape. The chief claimed the privilege +of being drawn up first, and he and all his followers declared that +nothing should ever tempt them to visit again the Cave of Yeermalik.<a +name="FNanchor104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104"><sup>[104]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_244"><span class="pagenum">[Page 244]</span></a> <b><i> +The Surtshellir, in Iceland</i></b>. + +<p>The first account of this lava-cavern is given by Olafsen,<a name= +"FNanchor105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105"><sup>[105]</sup></a> who visited +it in 1750 and 1753. Ebenezer Henderson<a name="FNanchor106"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_106"><sup>[106]</sup></a> explored it in 1815, and Captain +Forbes gives some account of it in his recent book on Iceland.<a name= +"FNanchor107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107"><sup>[107]</sup></a> It is +mentioned in some of the Sagas,<a name="FNanchor108"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_108"><sup>[108]</sup></a> and appears to have been a refuge for +robbers in the tenth century, and Sturla Sigvatson, with a large band of +followers, spent some time here. The Landnama Saga derives the name +Surtshellir from a huge giant called Surtur, who made his abode in the +cave; but Olafsen believed that the name merely meant <i>black hole</i>, +from <i>surtur</i> or <i>svartur</i>, and was due to the darkness of the +cave and the colour of the lava: in accordance with this view, it is +called <i>Hellerin Sortur</i>, or <i>black hole</i>, in some of the +earlier writings. The common people are convinced that it is inhabited by +ghosts; and Olafsen and his party were assured that they would be turned +back by horrible noises, or else killed outright by the spirits of the +cave: at any rate, their informants declared they would no more reach the +inner parts of the cavern than they had reached the traditional green +valley of Aradal, isolated in the midst of glaciers, with its wild +population of descendants of the giants, which they had endeavoured to +find some time before.<a name="FNanchor109"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_109"><sup>[109]</sup></a></p> + +<a name="Page_245"><span class="pagenum">[Page 245]</span></a> + +<p>The cave is in the form of a tunnel a mile or more in length, with +innumerable ramifications, in the lava which has flowed from the Bald +Yökul. It lies on the edge of the uninhabited waste called the +Arnavatns-heidi, in a district described by Captain Forbes as distorted +and devilish, a cast-iron sea of lava. The approach is through an open +chasm, 20 to 40 feet in depth, and 50 feet broad, leading to the entrance +of the cave, where the height is between 30 and 40 feet, and the breadth +rather more than 50. Henderson found a large quantity of congealed snow at +this entrance, and along pool of water resting on a floor of ice, which +turned his party back and forced them to seek another entrance, where +again they found snow piled up to a considerable height. Olafsen also +mentions collections of snow under the various openings in the lava which +forms the roof of the cave. The latter explorer discovered interesting +signs of the early inhabitants of the Surtshellir, as, for instance, the +common bedstead, built of stones, 2-1/2 feet high, 36 feet long, and 14 +feet broad, with a pathway down the middle, forming the only passage to +the inner parts of the cave. The spaces enclosed by these stones were +strewn with black sand, on which rough wool was probably laid by way of +mattress. This could scarcely have been a bedstead in the time of the +giants, for a total breadth of 14 feet, deducting for the pathway down the +middle, will not give more than 6 feet for the layer of men on either +side, unless indeed they lay parallel to the passage, and required a +length of 36 feet. He also found an old wall, built with blocks of lava +across one part of the cave, as if for defence, and a large circular heap +of the bones of sheep and oxen, presumably the remains of many years of +feasting. Captain Forbes scoffs at these bones, and suggests errant wild +ponies as the depositors <a name="Page_246"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 246]</span></a> thereof.</p> + +<p>Olafsen had found in his earlier visit that the way was stopped, far in +the recesses of the cave, by a lake of water, which filled the tunnel to a +depth of 3 feet or more, lying on ice; but in 1753 there was not more than +a foot of water, through which they waded without much difficulty. The air +soon became exceedingly cold and thick, and for some hundreds of paces +they saw no light of day, till at length they reached a welcome opening in +the roof. Beyond this, the air grew colder and more thick, and the walls +were found to be sheeted with ice from roof to floor, or covered with +broad and connected icicles. The ground also was a mass of ice, but an +inch or two of fine brown earth lay upon it, which enabled them to keep +their footing. This earth appeared to have been brought down by the water +which filtered through the roof. 'The most wonderful thing,' Olafsen +remarks, 'that we noticed here, was, that the stalactites of ice were set +with regular figures of five and seven sides, joined together, and +resembling those seen on the second stomach of ruminating animals. The +condensed cold of the air must have imparted these figures to the ice; +they were not external (merely?), but in the ice itself, which otherwise +was clear and transparent.'</p> + +<p>Henderson and his party appear to have had much more wading to do than +Olafsen, walking in one instance through a long tract of water up to the +knees. In the deeper recesses of the cave, apparently in the part where +the earlier explorers had found the reticulated ice, they found the whole +floor of the passage covered with thick ice, with so steep a dip that they +sat down and slid forward by their own weight--a most undignified +proceeding for a grave gentleman on a mission from the Bible Society. On +holding their torches close to the floor, they saw down to a depth of 7 or +8 feet, the ice being as clear as crystal. 'The roof and sides of the cave +were decorated with most superb icicles, crystallised <a name="Page_247"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 247]</span></a> in every possible form, +many of which rivalled in minuteness the finest zeolites; while from the +icy floor rose pillars of the same substance, assuming all the curious and +phantastic shapes imaginable, mocking the proudest specimens of art, and +counterfeiting many well-known objects of animated nature. Many of them +were upwards of 4 feet high, generally sharpened at the extremity, and +about 2 feet in thickness. A more brilliant scene perhaps never presented +itself to the human eye, nor was it easy for us to divest ourselves of the +idea that we actually beheld one of the fairy scenes depicted in Eastern +fable. The light of the torches rendered it peculiarly enchanting.'</p> + +<p>Captain Forbes found much ice on the floor, but he did not enjoy the +cold and wet, and seems to have ascended by the last opening in the roof, +mentioned by Olafsen, before reaching the cavern where the more beautiful +parts of the ice-decoration were found by his predecessors. The two +engravings of the interior of the cave given in his book are copied from +the magnificent lithographs of Paul Gaimard,<a name="FNanchor110"></a><a +href="#Footnote_110"><sup>[110]</sup></a> but much of the effect has been +lost in the process of copying.</p> + +<p>Mr. Baring Gould mentions this cavern in his book on Iceland, and +believes that its interest has been much overrated. He seems to have +visited the cave, but makes no allusion to the existence of ice.<a name= +"FNanchor111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111"><sup>[111]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Mr. E.T. Holland visited the Surtshellir in the course of his tour in +Iceland, in 1861, and an account of his visit is given in the first volume +of 'Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers.'<a name="FNanchor112"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_112"><sup>[112]</sup></a> After following in Olafsen's steps +for some time, the party reached a cave whose floor was composed of very +clear ice, apparently of great thickness, for they could not see the lava +beneath it. The walking on this smooth ice-floor <a name="Page_248"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 248]</span></a> Mr. Holland describes as being +delightful, the whole sloping considerably downwards. 'In five minutes,' +he continues, 'we reached the most beautiful fairy grotto imaginable. From +the crystal floor of ice rose up group after group of transparent icy +pillars, while from the glittering roof most brilliant icy pendants hung +down to meet them. Columns and arches of ice were ranged along the +crystalline walls ... I never saw a more brilliant scene; and indeed it +would be difficult to imagine anything more fairy-like. The pillars were +many of them of great size, tapering to a point as they rose. The largest +were at least 8 feet high, and 6 feet in circumference at their base. The +stalactites were on an equally grand scale. Through this lovely ice-grotto +we walked for nearly ten minutes.'</p> + +<div class="centerme"><img alt="ICE-CAVE IN THE SURTSHELLIR." src= +"images/image13.jpg" width="349" height="313" /><br /> + <span class="caption">ICE-CAVE IN THE SURTSHELLIR.</span></div> + +<br /> + + +<p>The temperature of the caves, Mr. Holland states in a note, was from +8° to 10° C. (46·4° to 50° F.), that of the air +outside being 53·6° F. <a name="Page_249"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 249]</span></a></p> + +<p><b><i>The Gypsum Cave of Illetzkaya-Zastchita, in the Steppes of the +Kirghis, South of Orenburg</i>.</b></p> + +<p>The district in which this cavern occurs is a small green oasis on the +undulating steppe, lying on a vast bed of rock-salt, which extends over an +area of two versts in length, and a mile in breadth, with a thickness of +more than 100 feet. When the thin cover of red sand and marl is removed, +the white salt is exposed, and is found to be so free from all stain, or +admixture of other material, excepting sometimes minute filaments of +gypsum, that it is pounded at once for use, without any cleansing or +recrystallising process.</p> + +<p>In the immediate neighbourhood of Illetzkaya-Zastchita there are two or +three gypseous hillocks, and a cavern in one of these is used by the +inhabitants as a cellar, having been artificially enlarged for that +purpose. Sir Roderick Murchison and his colleagues visited this cavern on +a hot day in August, with the thermometer at 90° in the shade, in the +course of their travels under the patronage of the late Emperor of +Russia.<a name="FNanchor113"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_113"><sup>[113]</sup></a> They found the hillock to be an +irregular cone 150 feet in height; the entrance was by a frail door, on a +level with the village street, and fully exposed to the rays of the sun; +and yet, when the door was opened, so piercing a current of cold air +poured forth, that they were glad to beat a retreat for a while; and on +eventually exploring farther, they found the quass and provisions, stored +in the cave, half-frozen within three or four paces of the door. The chasm +soon opened out into a natural vault from 12 to 15 feet high, 10 or 12 +paces long, and 7 or 8 in width, which seemed to have numerous small <a +name="Page_250"><span class="pagenum">[Page 250]</span></a> +ramifications into the impending mound of gypsum and marl. The roof of +this inner cavern was hung with undripping solid icicles, and the floor +was a conglomerate of ice and frozen earth. They were assured that the +cold is always greatest within when the external air is hottest and +driest, and that the ice gradually disappears as winter approaches, and +vanishes when the snow comes. The peasants were unanimous in these +statements, and asserted that they could sleep in the cave without +sheepskins in the depth of winter.</p> + +<p>Sir Roderick Murchison and his friends were at first inclined to +explain these phenomena by supposing that the chief fissure communicated +with some surface of rock-salt, 'the saliferous vapours of which might be +so rapidly evaporated or changed in escaping to an intensely hot and dry +atmosphere as to produce ice and snow.' But Sir John Herschel, to whom +they applied for assistance, rejected the evaporation theory, and +suggested that the external summer wave of heat might possibly only reach +the cave at Christmas, being delayed six months in its passage through the +rock; the cold of winter, in the same manner, arriving at midsummer. To +this the explorers objected, that the mound contained many caves, but' +only in this particular fissure was any ice found. Dr. Robinson, +astronomer at Armagh, endeavoured to explain the matter by referring to De +Saussure's explanation of the phenomena of <i>cold caves</i> in Italy and +elsewhere; but this, too, was considered unsatisfactory. At length, +Professor Wheatstone referred them to the memoir by Professor Pictet, in +the <i>Bibliothèque Universelle</i> of Geneva, where that <i> +savant</i> improves upon De Saussure's theory, and applies it in its new +form to the case of caves containing permanent ice, in tracts whose mean +cold is above the freezing point. This they seem to have accepted, adding +that the climatological circumstances of Orenburg--a <a name="Page_251"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 251]</span></a> wet spring, caused by the +melting of the abundant snows, followed by a summer of intense and dry +Asiatic heat--must be particularly favourable for the working out of the +theory, and must also act powerfully in producing the refrigerating +effects of evaporation.<a name="FNanchor114"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_114"><sup>[114]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The traveller Pallas visited Illetzkaya in July 1769, and describes +this gypseous hillock.<a name="FNanchor115"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_115"><sup>[115]</sup></a> In his time the entrance by the side +of the hill was unknown, as also was the existence of ice in the cavern. +He saw at the top of the Kraoul-naï-Gora, or Watch-mountain, as it +was called, a fissure which had once formed a large cavern, into which the +Kirghis were in the habit of throwing furs and other materials as +religious offerings. Although the cave had since fallen in, they still +kept up a part of the ceremony, marching solemnly round the base of the +hill once a year, and bathing in the neighbouring water. In earlier times, +a man had descended through the fissure by means of cords, and found the +cold within insupportable, having very probably reached the present +ice-cave.</p> + +<p>Pallas describes many caves in various parts of Russia, but never seems +to hint at the existence of ice in them, though he specially mentions +their extreme cold. Some of these occurred in gypsum, and some in +limestone; and the gypseous caves showed universally a very low +temperature, though still far above the freezing-point.<a name= +"FNanchor116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116"><sup>[116]</sup></a>: <a name= +"Page_252"><span class="pagenum">[Page 252]</span></a> Thus in the +dark cavern of Barnoukova,<a name="FNanchor117"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_117"><sup>[117]</sup></a> on the Piana, in a rock of gypsum, +while the thermometer in the shade stood at 75°•2, the +temperatures at various points in the cave were,--at the entrance +59°•36, 25 feet from the entrance 46°•4, and in the +coldest part 42°•8. This cold he describes as insupportable. The +temperature of the water which had accumulated in the coldest parts of the +cave was 48°•8, considerably higher than the surrounding +atmosphere; from which Pallas concluded that the cold of gypsum-caves is +due to the acid vapours which are generally observed in grottoes of this +description. In May 1770, he found snow on the sloping entrance to the +cavern of Loeklé, in the neighbourhood of the Oufa; but the air of +the interior was not colder than was to be expected in a deep cave.</p> + +<p>Sir R. Murchison wrote to Russia for further information with respect +to this cave in January 1865, and again in the beginning of April, +addressing his second enquiry to the Secretary of the Imperial Academy. In +reply, the Secretary says that he is not aware that any thermometric +observations have been made in the cavern. He encloses a short statement +by M. Helmersen, one of the members of the Academy, to the following +effect:--About 50 versts SE. of Miask, in the chain of the Ural, is a +copper mine, called Kirobinskoy, which was abandoned more than fifty years +ago. On the 7th July, 1826, M. Helmersen found a thick wainscoting of ice +on the sides and roof and floor of the horizontal gallery, within 10 feet +of the entrance. He was assured that this ice never melts, and <a name= +"Page_253"><span class="pagenum">[Page 253]</span></a> that its +thickness is greater in summer than in winter. M. Helmersen adds, that to +the best of his belief no one has investigated the cavern of Illetzkaya +Zastchita since Sir R. Murchison's visit.</p> + +<b><i>The Ice-Cavern of the Peak of Teneriffe</i></b>.<a name= +"FNanchor118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118"><sup>[118]</sup></a> + +<p>This cave is at a height of 11,040 feet above the sea, and is therefore +not far below the snow-line of the latitudes of the Canary Isles. The +entrance is by a hole 3 or 4 feet square, in the roof of the cave, which +may be about 20 feet from the floor. The peasants who convey snow and ice +from the cave to the lower regions, enter by means of knotted ropes; but +Professor Smyth had caused his ship's carpenter to prepare a stout ladder, +by which photographic instruments and a lady were taken down.</p> + +<p>On alighting on a heap of stones at the bottom, the party found +themselves surrounded by a sloping wall of snow, 3 feet high, and 7 or 8 +feet broad, the basin in which they stood being formed in the snow by the +vertical rays of the sun, and by the dropping of water from the edges of +the hole.<a name="FNanchor119"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_119"><sup>[119]</sup></a> Beyond this ring-fence, large +surfaces of water stretched away into the farther recesses of the cave, +resting on a layer of ice, which appeared to be generally about 2 feet +thick. At one of the deeper ends of the cave, water dropped continually +from the crevices of the roof; a fact which Professor Smyth attributed to +the slow advance of the summer wave of heat through the superincumbent +rock, which was only <a name="Page_254"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 254]</span></a> now reaching the inner recesses of the loose +lava, and liquefying the results of the past winter. There would seem to +be immense infiltration of meteoric water on the Peak; for, +notwithstanding the great depth of rain which falls annually in a liquid +or congealed form, the sides of the mountain are not scored with the lines +of water-torrents.</p> + +<p>Though occurring in lava, this cavern is quite different from +lava-tunnels, such as the Surtshellir, which are recognised formations, +produced by the cooling of the terminal surface-crust of the stream of +lava, and the subsequent bursting forth of the molten stream within. This, +on the contrary, proved to be a smooth dome-shaped cave, running off into +three contracting lobes or tunnels which might be respectively 70, 50, and +40 feet long, and were all filled to a certain depth with water: in the +smoothness of the interior surfaces, Professor Smyth believed that he +detected the action of highly elastic gases on a plastic material.</p> + +<p>The astronomer takes exception to the term 'underground glacier' <a +name="FNanchor120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120"><sup>[120]</sup></a> which +had been applied to this cavern. He represents that the mountain is +abundantly covered each winter with snow, in the neighbourhood of the +ice-cave, which is nearly within the snow-line, and the stores of snow +thus accumulated in the cave have no great difficulty in resisting the +effects of summer heat, since all radiation is cut off by the roof of +rocks. The importance of this protection may be understood from the fact +that in the middle of July the thermometer at this altitude gave 130° +in the sun, but fell to 47° when relieved from the heat due to +radiation. At the time of this observation, there were still patches of +snow lying on the mountain-side, exposed to the full power of direct +radiation; and, therefore, there is not anything very surprising in the +permanence <a name="Page_255"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 255]</span></a> of snow under such favourable circumstances as +are developed in the cave. Mr. Airy, a few summers ago, found the rooms of +the Casa Inglese, on Mount Etna, half filled with snow, which had drifted +in by an open door, and had been preserved from solar radiation by the +thick roof.<a name="FNanchor121"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_121"><sup>[121]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Humboldt remarks, that the mean temperature of the region in which the +Cueva del Hielo (ice-cave) occurs, is not below 3° C. +(37·4° F.), but so much snow and ice are stored up in the +winter that the utmost efforts of the summer heat cannot melt it all. He +adds, that the existence of permanent snow in holes or caves must depend +more upon the amount of winter snow, and the freedom from hot winds, than +on the absolute elevation of the locality.</p> + +<p>The natives of Teneriffe are men of faith. They have large belief in +the existence and intercommunication of numerous vast caverns in the Peak, +one of which, on the north coast, is said to communicate with the +ice-cavern, notwithstanding 8 miles of horizontal distance, and 11,000 +feet of vertical depth. The truth of this particular article of their +creed has been recently tested by several worthy and reverend hidalgos, +who drove a dog into the entrance of the cavern on the sea-coast, in the +belief that he would eventually come to light again in the ice-cave: he +was accordingly found lying there some days after, greatly fatigued and +emaciated, having in the interval accomplished the 11,000 feet of +subterranean climbing. How he could enter, from below, a water-logged +cave, does not appear to have been explained.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<a name="Page_256"><span class="pagenum">[Page 256]</span></a> <a +name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>BRIEF NOTICES OF OTHER ICE-CAVES.</h3> + +<a name="FNanchor122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122"><sup>[122]</sup></a> + +<p>On the Brandstein in Styria, in the district of Gems, there is an +ice-hole closely resembling some of the glacières of the Jura. It +is described by Sartori,<a name="FNanchor123"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_123"><sup>[123]</sup></a> as lying in a much-fissured region, +reached after four hours of steep ascent from the neighbouring village, +through a forest of fir. Some of the fissures contain water and some snow, +while others are apparently unfathomable. From one of the largest of +these, a strong and cold current blows in summer, and in this fissure is +the ice-hole. Sartori found <i>crimpons</i> necessary for descending the +frozen snow which led from the entrance to the floor of the cave, where he +discovered pillars and capitals and pyramids of ice of every possible +shape and variety, as if the cave had contained the ruins of a Gothic +church, or a fairy palace. At the farther end, after passing large +cascades of ice, his party reached a dark grey hole, which lighted up into +blue and green under the influence of the torches; they could not discover +the termination of this hole, and the stones which they rolled down into +it seemed to go on for ever. The greatest height of the cave is about 36 +feet, and its length 192 feet, with a maximum breadth of 126 feet. Towards +the end of autumn, the temperature of the ice-hole rises <a name= +"Page_257"><span class="pagenum">[Page 257]</span></a> so much, that +the glacial decorations disappear, and various wild animals are driven by +the cold of winter to take shelter in the comparative warmth of the cave. +The elevation of the district in which this ice-hole occurs is about 1,800 +German feet above the sea.</p> + +<p>In Upper Styria, where the Frauenmauer overlooks the basin in which the +mining town of Eisenerz is situated, an ice-cave has been explored, and a +description of it has been given by certain members of the Austrian Alpine +Club.<a name="FNanchor124"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_124"><sup>[124]</sup></a> The Brandstein is spoken of as one of +the peaks in the immediate neighbourhood; and as the cave previously +described is stated by Sartori to be on the Brandstein, that district +would seem to be rich in glacières. The cavern is most easily +explored from Eisenerz, and on that side the entrance is 4,539 Vienna feet +above the sea. Its other outlet, in the Tragöss valley, is 300 feet +higher. The total length of the cave is 2,040 Vienna feet. After passing +the entrance, which is an archway from 12 to 18 feet high, the main course +of the cave is soon left, and a branch is followed which leads to the <i> +Eis-kammer</i>. This ice-chamber consists of a grotto from 30 to 40 +fathoms long, decked with ice-crystals, pillars of ice, and cascades of +the same material, the floor being composed of ice as smooth as glass. In +the summer, pleasure-parties assemble in the cave and amuse themselves +with the game of <i>Eisschiessen</i>, so popular in Upper Styria as a +winter diversion. The hotter the summer, the more ice is found in the +Eiskammer, and the general belief is that it all disappears in winter.</p> + +<p>The cave proper, which assumes stupendous dimensions in its long +course, shows no ice. It seems to be formed in the Muschelkalk of the +Trias <a name="Page_258"><span class="pagenum">[Page 258]</span></a> +formation, and so far no limestone stalactites have been discovered. It +has not, however, as yet been fully explored. The editor of the +proceedings of the Austrian Alpine Club gives a reference to Scheiner, +'<i>Ausflug nach der Höhle der Frauenmauer,' (Steiermarkische +Zeitschrift, neue Folge</i>, i. 2, 1834, p. 3.)</p> + +<p>At Latzenberg, near Weissenstein in Carniola, there is another +ice-cave, described by Rosenmüller.<a name="FNanchor125"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_125"><sup>[125]</sup></a> It is entered by a long dark passage +in which are pillars of ice arranged like the pipes of an organ, varying +from the thickness of a man's body to the size of a straw. All these are +said to melt in winter. Farther on are two other passages, one of which +passes upwards over <i>Stufe</i>, and is coated in summer with ice; the +other has not been explored.</p> + +<p>Near Glaneck in the Untersberg, not far from Salzburg, is a cave called +the Kolowrathöhle, of which a description is given by Gümbel in +his great geological work on the Bavarian Alps.<a name= +"FNanchor126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126"><sup>[126]</sup></a> It is a +spacious cavern, opening in a steep wall of rock above the <i> +Rositenschlucht</i> between the Platten and <i>Dachstein-kalk.</i><a name= +"FNanchor127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127"><sup>[127]</sup></a> An +ice-current rushes from within, and ice is found on the threshold, +becoming more prevalent in the farther recesses of the cave. The lower +parts are tolerably roomy, and masses of ice of various shapes are found +piled one upon another, lighting up with magical effect when torches are +brought to bear upon them. Gümbel believes that the cold currents +which stream into the cave from the numerous fissures in its walls are the +cause of the ice; and though this is the only known ice-cave far and near, +he imagines that the icy-currents which are frequently met with in that +district, and in the <i>Hochgebirge</i>, would be found to proceed in +reality from like caves, if the fissures from which they blow could be +penetrated.</p> + +<p>Behrens<a name="FNanchor128"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_128"><sup>[128]</sup></a> describes two ice-caves near +Questenberg, in the county of <a name="Page_259"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 259]</span></a> Stollberg, on the Harz mountains. They both +occur in limestone, and are known as the Great and Little Ice-holes. The +one is close to the village of Questenberg, and consists of a chasm +several fathoms deep, so cold that in summer the water trickling down its +edges is frozen into long icicles. The opening is large and faces due +south, and yet the hotter the day the more ice is found; whereas in winter +a warm steam comes out, as if from a stove. The other cave is farther into +the mountain; it is spacious and light, and very cold in summer.</p> + +<p>In Gehler's <i>Physik. Wörterbuch</i> (Art Höhle), a small +hole is mentioned near Dôle, which is said to be remarkable for the +large and curiously-shaped icicles found there; but no sufficient account +of it seems to have been given.</p> + +<p>An ice-hole is also spoken of in the same article, which occurs on the +east side of the town of Vesoul.<a name="FNanchor129"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_129"><sup>[129]</sup></a> The hole is described as being small, +with a little rivulet of water: this water, and also that which trickles +down the walls of the cave, is converted into ice, and so much is formed +on a cold day that it requires eight warm days to melt it. Gollut, in his +description of the <i>fré-puits</i> of Vesoul,<a name= +"FNanchor130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130"><sup>[130]</sup></a> observes +that the remarkable pit known by that name was so cold, that in his time +it had never been fully explored. Gehler's expression, however, 'a small +hole,' cannot possibly apply to the <i>fré-puits</i>; so that these +would seem to be two different examples of cold caves near Vesoul.</p> + +<p>There is an interesting account in Poggendorff's Annalen<a name= +"FNanchor131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131"><sup>[131]</sup></a> <a name= +"Page_260"><span class="pagenum">[Page 260]</span></a> of a visit +made by Professor A. Pleischl to a mountain in the circle of Leitmeritz, +where ice is found in summer under very curious circumstances. The +mountain is called Pleschiwetz, and lies above Kameik, in Bohemia, not far +from the town of Leitmeritz. On the 24th of June in each year, large +numbers of pilgrims assemble at the romantic chapel of S. John the Baptist +in the Wilderness; and it is a part of their occupation to search for ice +under the basaltic rocks, and carry it home wrapped in moss, as a proof +that they have really made the pilgrimage. Professor Pleischl visited this +district at the end of May 1834. The weather was hot for the season, as +had been the case in April also, and there had been very little snow in +the winter. A path leads from the chapel of S. John through the woods +which deck the Pleschiwetz, and then over a small plain to the foot of the +basaltic rocks. Here the mountain slopes away very steeply to the south, +and the slope is thickly strewn with basaltic <i>débris</i>. From +east to west this slope measures about 40 fathoms, and its length is about +70 fathoms. It is surrounded on both sides and at the foot by trees and +shrubs. The sun burned so directly on to the <i>débris</i>, that +the basaltic blocks were in some cases too hot to be touched by the naked +hand.</p> + +<p>Professor Pleischl spent three hours of the early afternoon on this +spot. The upper surface of the basaltic blocks had a temperature of at +least 122° F. The presence of an icy current was detected by inserting +the hand into the lower crevices; and on removing the loose stones to a +depth of 1-1/2 or 2 feet, ice was found in considerable quantities. On the +27th of August, he proceeded to make a further investigation of this +phenomenon; but he found the temperature of the blocks only 106° F., +and in the crevices, at a depth of 2 or 3 feet, the lowest temperature +reached was 38°·75 F. The external temperature in the shade was +at the <a name="Page_261"><span class="pagenum">[Page 261]</span></a> +same time 83° F.</p> + +<p>A third visit, in January 1835, gave no results; but on January 21, +1838, the Professor succeeded in determining some very remarkable facts. A +depression in the sloping plain is called, <i>par excellence</i>, the +ice-hole; and this is surrounded by firs and birches, which grow within +three or four fathoms of the edge of the hole, so that the rays of the sun +do not reach the hole in winter. Fresh snow lay on these trees; and there +was nowhere any sign of melted snow, or of the formation of icicles. The +basaltic <i>débris</i>, in which ice had been found in the summer, +covers here a space of 5 fathoms long by 3 or 4 broad, immediately at the +foot of a steep basaltic precipice. At eleven in the morning the +temperature was 14° F. in the shade; and snow lay all round the +ice-hole, to a thickness of 1-1/2 or 2 feet. The snow which covered the +<i>débris</i> was pierced by holes, which could not have been +caused by the sun, for its rays did not penetrate the trees; and, indeed, +no sun had been visible for some days. These holes were generally turned +towards the north, and were like chimneys. On investigation, it was found +that icicles hung down into them, showing, of course, past or present +thaw, and within the cavities no ice was found. The thermometer gave here +from 27°·5 F. to 25°·15 F.; but in the crevices, +into which the thermometer could not be pushed, the hand discovered a warm +air. The moss drawn from these crevices was found to be steeped in +unfrozen water, and it froze promptly when brought into the outer air.</p> + +<p>The party afterwards climbed up the precipitous basalt, and reached, at +3 P.M., a level covered with large blocks of the same material, where the +thermometer was slightly under 12° F. in the shade. The blocks were +for the most part stripped of snow, and in some cases thin shields of ice +were observed standing out two or three inches from them, forming <a name= +"Page_262"><span class="pagenum">[Page 262]</span></a> hollow +chambers, in which an agreeable warmth was found. These shields were +invariably on the south side of the stones, the north side being free from +ice and snow alike. In some places vapours were seen to rise. The +thermometer gave 41° F. at a depth of six inches among the stones, +though the external temperature, as has been said, was 12° F. For +eight days previously, the thermometer had been always far below the +freezing point, and on the 17th (four days before) had been 13° below +zero (F.). On the 19th and 20th heavy snow had fallen. All these facts +seem to show that the warmth which had caused the chimneys in the snow +over the ice-holes, and the heated vapours on the higher parts of the +mountains, proceeded from within, and not from without.</p> + +<p>The people of the district assured Professor Pleischl that the hotter +the summer, the more ice is formed; and that it disappears when the nights +become long and the days short. Dr. Weiss, for six years head of the +Gymnasium of Leitmeritz, stated that when one of the holes was emptied of +ice in the summer, it filled again in a few days. The explanation given by +the Professor of this phenomenon is, that the blocks of basalt, that being +an excellent conductor of heat, pass so much warmth through to their under +surfaces--which form the roof of small chambers filled with a spongy mass +of decaying leaves--that the rapid evaporation thereby caused produces the +cold air and the ice. He omits to explain why there should be anything +exceptional in the winter phenomenon of the crevices among the stones.</p> + +<p>There are two other places in Bohemia where ice is found in summer. One +is on the Steinberg, in the county of Konaged;<a name="FNanchor132"></a><a +href="#Footnote_132"><sup>[132]</sup></a> it is a small basin, surrounded +by trees, where, in the middle of summer, lumps of ice are found under +basaltic <i>débris</i>. This ice is only formed, according to <a +name="Page_263"><span class="pagenum">[Page 263]</span></a> Sommer, +in the hottest part of the year. The other is on the Zinkenstein, one of +the highest points of the Vierzehnberg, in the circle of Leitmeritz. It is +described by Sommer<a name="FNanchor133"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_133"><sup>[133]</sup></a> as a cleft, five fathoms deep, in the +basaltic rock, where ice is found in the hottest seasons. Professor +Pleischl put this assertion to the test by visiting the spot in the end of +August, when he found no signs of ice.</p> + +<p>Another writer in Poggendorff<a name="FNanchor134"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_134"><sup>[134]</sup></a> describes a somewhat similar +appearance on the Saalberg. Here ice is found on the surface from June to +the middle of August; and that, too, with a west exposure and in moderate +shade. In July, the ice was so abundant that it could be seen from some +distance: it was half a foot thick, and yielded neither to sun nor rain. +In the middle of August there was no ice on the surface; but when the +loose <i>débris</i> was removed, the most beautiful ice appeared, +and at a little depth all was frozen as hard as if it had been the depth +of winter.<a name="FNanchor135"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_135"><sup>[135]</sup></a> The people who work in the +neighbourhood declare that the place remains open, and free from ice or +snow, in the greatest cold, and that no ice begins to form till the month +of June. When the writer of the account in Poggendorff visited the +ice-hole, the peasants were in the habit of carrying large masses of ice +down to their houses, through a temperature of 81° F.</p> + +<p>Reich<a name="FNanchor136"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_136"><sup>[136]</sup></a> <a name="Page_264"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 264]</span></a> gives a detailed and valuable account +of the prevalence of subterranean ice on the Sauberg, a hill which forms +one side of a ravine near Ehrenfriedersdorf. The surface is about 2,000 +feet above the sea, and its mean temperature, as determined by many +careful observations, about 45° F. There are several tin-mines in this +district, and the extended observations made by the authorities establish +the curious fact that the mean temperature is considerably lower beneath +than at the surface. For instance, in the S. Christoph pit, it is found +that the mean temperature, at 15 fathoms below the surface, is only +slightly above 42° F.; while at the Morgenröther cross-cut the +same mean temperature is found at a depth of 46 fathoms. The annual change +of temperature is very small in these mines, and the maximum and minimum +are reached very late; so that, if a point could be found with a mean +temperature of 32° F., ice would increase there up to June or even +July, and then diminish until December or January; in which case the +phenomenon so often said to be observed in connection with subterranean +ice--the melting in winter and forming in summer--would really be +presented.</p> + +<p>The ice on the Sauberg is frequently found to commence at a depth of 3 +or 4 fathoms, and in the years 1811 and 1813 it extended to 24 fathoms +below the surface: this depth, however, was exceptionally great, and as a +rule the limit is reached at about 14 fathoms.<a name="FNanchor137"></a><a +href="#Footnote_137"><sup>[137]</sup></a> The ice is usually not very +firm, and can be broken by stout blows with a stick; but between the years +1790 and 1800, when it was found at a depth of from 3 to 9 fathoms, it was +so hard that blasting became necessary, and at that time the miners were +with difficulty protected from the effects of the <a name="Page_265"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 265]</span></a> severe cold. The greatest +quantity of ice is found in the interstices of the rubbish-beds of old +workings, and here it assumes a crystalline form, the rocks being covered +with a 'fibrous' structure, arranged perpendicularly to their surface.</p> + +<p>Reich reports the universal presence of cold currents of air in these +shafts and mines, and, in consequence, takes the opportunity of +contradicting a statement in Horner's <i>Physik. Wörterbuch,</i><a +name="FNanchor138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138"><sup>[138]</sup></a> that +the absence of all current of air is essential to the formation of +subterranean ice. He quotes the case of the cheese-caves of Roquefort as a +further confirmation of his own observations with regard to the connection +between ice in caves and cold currents of air; but of the many accounts +which I have met with of the curious caves referred to, both in books and +from the lips of those who have visited them, not one has made any mention +of ice.<a name="FNanchor139"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_139"><sup>[139]</sup></a> He states, too, that when the +strength of the current is diminished, its temperature is increased; a +fact which all observations of the cold currents in caves, especially +those made <a name="Page_266"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 266]</span></a> with so much care by M. Saussure, abundantly +establish.</p> + +<p>In the way of explanation, Reich mentions the possibility of rocks of +peculiar formation possessing actually a low degree of temperature;<a +name="FNanchor140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140"><sup>[140]</sup></a> but he +rejects this suggestion, preferring to believe that in some cases the cold +resulting from evaporation is the cause of ice, and in others the greater +specific gravity of cold as compared with warmer air.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles</i>,<a name= +"FNanchor141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141"><sup>[141]</sup></a> it is +stated that a large quantity of ice is found in one of the recesses of the +grotto of Antiparos--a fact which I have not seen mentioned elsewhere. +After penetrating a long way through difficult fissures, a square chamber +is at length reached, measuring 300 feet in length and breadth, with a +height of about 80 feet. The walls and roof and floor are beautifully +decorated with ice, and reflect all the colours of the rainbow. There are +groups of pyramidal and round columns, and in some parts of the cave +screens or curtains of ice 10 or 12 feet broad hang down to the floor.</p> + +<p>In a later volume of the same periodical,<a name="FNanchor142"></a><a +href="#Footnote_142"><sup>[142]</sup></a> there is a description of a hill +in Virginia where ice is found in summer. This hill lies near the road +between Winchester and Romney, on the North River, latitude 39º N. +One side of the hill is entirely composed of loose stones from ten to <a +name="Page_267"><span class="pagenum">[Page 267]</span></a> twenty +pounds in weight, and under these the ice is found, although their upper +surface is exposed to the full sun from 9 or 10 A.M. till sunset. In all +seasons there is an abundance of ice. A writer in the 'London and Paris +Observer'<a name="FNanchor143"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_143"><sup>[143]</sup></a> visited the spot on the 4th of July, +after a time of stifling heat, and in ten minutes he found more ice than +the whole party could have carried away. He did not explore any farther +than the foot of the hill; but the neighbours, who used the ice regularly +in summer, assured him that it was to be found high up also. A constant +and strong current issued from the crevices, stronger and infinitely +colder than the current in the famous 'blowing cave' of Virginia. A man +had built a store-room for meat within the influence of one of these +currents, and hard dry icicles were seen hanging from the wooden supports +inside: the flies, too, which had been attracted by the meat, were found +frozen on to the stones. This is not the only district where ice is found +within temperate latitudes in North America. In Professor Silliman's +'American Journal of Science,'<a name="FNanchor144"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_144"><sup>[144]</sup></a> in a sketch of the geology of the +township of Salisbury, Con. (latitude 43° N.), 'natural ice-houses' +are mentioned. These consist of chasms of considerable extent in the +mica-state, where ice and snow remain during the greater part of the year. +The principal of these chasms lies in the east part of the town, and is +several hundred feet long, sixty feet deep, and about forty wide. The +slate is of a very compact kind; and the walls are perpendicular, and +correspond with much exactness. At the bottom is a cold spring, and a cave +of considerable extent, in which it is probable that the ice lies--for the +writer does not specify the position in which it is found. The chasm is a +favourite retreat in summer, and is called the Wolf-hollow, from its +having formerly been a famous haunt for wolves.</p> + +<a name="Page_268"><span class="pagenum">[Page 268]</span></a> + +<p>Similar receptacles for summer-ice are found in several places in North +America. In the forty-ninth volume of the <i>Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserl. +Akademie in Wien</i> (1te. Abth.), a list of references to various +ice-holes is appended to a paper by Dr. Boué on the geology of +Servia. Many of the passages referred to have nothing to do with +ice-caves, as, for instance, the sections of De Saussure's book describing +his observations of 'cold caves', or the account of the mass of ice and +snow from which the river Jumna springs, for which Dr. Boué refers +to the 'Philosophical Magazine' for November 1823, meaning, in fact, the +'London Magazine'. The 'Description des Glacières' of M. Bourrit is +also given as a part of the literature on ice-caves; whereas (see the +account of the Glacière of Montarquis, in the Valley of Reposoir) +by 'glacière' M. Bourrit meant only a locality where ice is to be +found, or a glacier district. Dr. Boué, however, gives some +references to the 'American Journal of Science' which it is possible to +make out by a careful search in the neighbourhood of the volume and page +he mentions. In vol. iv. (1822,--Dr. Boué says 1821) there is an +account by the editor<a name="FNanchor145"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_145"><sup>[145]</sup></a> of a natural ice-house in the +township of Meriden, Con., between Hartford and Newhaven, at an elevation +of not more than 200 feet above the level of the sea. The ice is found in +a narrow defile, which is hemmed in by perpendicular sides of trap-rock, +and displays a perfect chaos of fallen blocks of stone. The defile is so +narrow, that the sun's rays only reach it for an hour in the course of the +day; and even the trees and rocks, and beds of leaves, protect the ice +from any very material damage. Dr. Silliman visited this defile on the +23rd July, 1821,<a name="FNanchor146"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_146"><sup>[146]</sup></a> with Dr. Isaac Hough, the keeper of a +neighbouring inn, and found that the ice was only <a name="Page_269"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 269]</span></a> partially visible, in +consequence of the large collection of leaves which lay on it: they sent a +boy down with a hatchet, and he brought up some large firm masses, one of +which, weighing several pounds, they carried twenty miles to Newhaven, +where it did not entirely disappear till the morning of the third day. +Seven miles from Newhaven, in the township of Branford, there is a similar +collection of ice. In both of these cases, the ice is mixed with a +considerable quantity of leaves and dirt.</p> + +<p>In the same volume (p. 331,--Dr. Boué says p. 33), two accounts +are given of a natural ice-house near the summit of a hill in the +neighbourhood of Williamstown (Mass.). In the next volume there is a +further account of it by Professor Dewey, stating that since the trees in +the neighbourhood had been cut, the snow and ice had disappeared each year +about the first of August.</p> + +<p>In vol. xlvi. (p. 331) an ice mountain in Wallingford, Rutland County +(Vt.), is described, which is ordinarily known in the neighbourhood as the +ice-bed. An area of thirty or fifty acres of ground is covered with +massive <i>débris</i> of grey quartz from the mountains which +overhang it; and here--especially in a deep ravine into which many of the +falling blocks of stone have penetrated--ice is found in large quantities. +It appears to be formed during the melting of the snow in February, March, +and April, and vanishes in the course of the summer, in hot years as early +as the last days of June.</p> + +<p>These descriptions call to mind the Glacière of Arc-sous-Cicon, +in which many of the features of the American ice-caves are reproduced. An +American photograph is current in this country, in the form of a +stereoscopic slide, representing an ice-cave in the White Mountains, New +Hampshire; but it is only a winter cave, and in no way resembles any of +the glacières I have seen. It is merely a <a name="Page_270"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 270]</span></a> collection of long and slender +icicles, with beds of ice formed upon stones and trunks of trees on the +ground; nothing more, in fact, than is to be seen in any tolerably severe +winter in the neighbourhood of a cascade in a sheltered Scotch burn.</p> + +<p>The 'American Journal of Science' (xxxvi. 184) gives a curious instance +of a freezing-well near the village of Owego, three-quarters of a mile +from the Susquehanna river. The depth of the well is 77 feet, and for four +or five months in the year the surface of the water is frozen so hard as +to render the well useless. Large masses of ice have been found in it late +in July. A thermometer, which stood at 68° in the sun, fell to 30° +in fifteen minutes at the bottom of the well; and the men who made the +well were forced to put on thick clothing in June, and even so could not +work for more than two hours at a time. No other well in that +neighbourhood presents the same phenomenon. A lighted candle was let down, +and the flame became agitated and thrown in one direction at a depth of 30 +feet, but was quite still at the bottom; where, however, it soon died out. +The water is hard or limestone water.</p> + +<p>Rocks of volcanic formation would seem to afford favourable +opportunities for the formation of ice. Scrope mentions this fact in an +account of the curious district called Eiffel or Eifel, in Rhenish +Prussia, which was published originally in the 'Edinburgh Journal of +Science,'<a name="FNanchor147"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_147"><sup>[147]</sup></a> and has since been translated in +Keferstein's Deutschland.<a name="FNanchor148"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_148"><sup>[148]</sup></a> The village of Roth, near Andernach, +is built on a current of basalt, derived from the cone above it, which has +at some time sent down a stream of lava to the north and west. A small +cavern near the village, forming the mouth of a deep fissure in the +lava-stream, half-way up the cone, displays a phenomenon which the writer +says he has often <a name="Page_271"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 271]</span></a> observed in volcanic formations. The floor of +the cavern was covered with a crust of ice at the time of his visit, about +noon on a very hot day in August. The peasants report that there is always +ice in summer, and never in winter, when the sheep retreat to the cave on +account of its warmth. Steininger<a name="FNanchor149"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_149"><sup>[149]</sup></a> found a thickness of 3 feet of ice on +September 19, 1818, but it was evidently in a melting state, and the +thermometer stood at 36·5 F. in the cavern. He describes it as +possessing a narrow entrance facing north, entirely sheltered from the sun +by lava-rocks, and by the trees of a wood which covers the cone of +scoria.</p> + +<p>Scrope believes that this is the mouth of one of the arched galleries +so frequently met with under lava in Iceland, Bourbon, and elsewhere; and +on this he founds his explanation of the phenomenon. If the other +extremity is connected with the external air at a much lower level, a +current of air must be constantly driven up this gallery, and in its +passage will be dried by the absorbent nature of the rock--which is +perhaps partly owing to the sulphuric or muriatic acid it contains<a name= +"FNanchor150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150"><sup>[150]</sup></a>--- and the +evaporation caused by this current produces a coating of ice on the floor +of the grotto, where there is a superficial rill of water. The more +rarified the lower external air, the more rapid will be the current of +cool air; and, therefore, the greater the evaporation. The winter +phenomenon is to be explained by the fact that the current of air will be +about the mean annual temperature of the district, taking its temperature, +in fact, from the rocks through which it passes; and, therefore, by +contrast the grotto will appear warm.</p> + +<p>The same writer mentions a similar example of summer ice in <a name= +"Page_272"><span class="pagenum">[Page 272]</span></a> Auvergne.<a +name="FNanchor151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151"><sup>[151]</sup></a> There +is a natural grotto in the basalt near Pont Gibaud, some miles to the +north-west of Clermont, in which a small spring is found partly frozen +during the greatest heats of summer, while the water is said to be warm in +winter; probably, Scrope observes, only seeming to be warm by contrast +with the external temperature. The water is apparently frozen by means of +the powerful evaporation produced by a current of very dry air proceeding +from some long fissures or arched galleries which communicate with the +cave. In this case also the writer suggests that the air owes its dryness +to the absorbent qualities of the lava through which it passes: he +repeats, too, the remark that the phenomenon is of common occurrence in +caverns in volcanic districts.<a name="FNanchor152"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_152"><sup>[152]</sup></a></p> + +<p>There is a remarkable instance of ice occurring under lava, near the +<i>Casa Inglese</i> on Mount Etna, which it may be as well to mention, +though the causes of its existence have probably nothing in common with +the phenomena of ice-caves, or summer ice. An account of it is to be found +in Sir Charles Lyell's 'Elements of Geology.'<a name="FNanchor153"></a><a +href="#Footnote_153"><sup>[153]</sup></a> It appears that the summer and +autumn of 1828 were so hot, that the artificial ice-houses of Catania and +the adjoining parts of Sicily failed. Signer M. Gemmellaro had long +believed that a small mass of perennial ice at the foot of the highest +cone of Etna was only a part of a large and continuous glacier covered by +a lava current, and from this he expected to derive an abundant supply of +ice. He procured a large body of workmen, and quarried into the ice; but +though <a name="Page_273"><span class="pagenum">[Page 273]</span></a> +he thus proved the superposition of lava for several hundred yards, the +ice was so hard, and the expense of quarrying consequently so great, that +the works were abandoned. This was on the south-east of the cone, not far +from the <i>Casa Inglese</i>. Sir Charles Lyell suggests that, probably, +at the commencement of some eruption, a large mass of snow has been +thickly covered with volcanic sand, showered upon it before the arrival of +the lava itself. This sand is a non-conductor of heat, and would therefore +tend to preserve the snow from complete fusion when the hot lava-stream +passed over it, and thus the existence of the underground glacier may be +explained. The peasants of the district are so well acquainted with the +non-conducting properties of volcanic sand, that they secure an annual +store of snow, for providing water in summer, by strewing a layer of sand +a few inches thick upon a field of snow, thus effectually shutting out the +heat of the sun. It is curious that when De Saussure visited Chamouni for +the first time, his attention was arrested by the sight of women sowing +what seemed to be grain of some kind in the snow; but, on enquiring, he +found that it was only black earth, which the inhabitants spread on the +snow in spring, in order to make it disappear sooner. He was told that +snow thus treated would melt a fortnight or three weeks before the +ordinary time for its disappearance in the valley; but it will be seen +that this does not contradict the theory of the Sicilian peasants.<a name= +"FNanchor154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154"><sup>[154]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Sir Charles Lyell adds that, after what he saw on Mount Etna, he should +not be surprised to find layers of glacier and lava alternating in some +parts of Iceland.</p> + +<a name="Page_274"><span class="pagenum">[Page 274]</span></a> + +<p>Something similar was observed by Von Kotzebue, near the sound which +bears his name.<a name="FNanchor155"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_155"><sup>[155]</sup></a> His party was encamped on a large +plain covered with moss and grass, when they discovered a fissure which +revealed the fact that the moss and grass were but a thin coating on a +layer of ice a hundred feet thick. This was not mere frozen ground, but +aboriginal ice; for, in the ice which formed the walls of the fissure, +they found the bones and teeth of mammoths embedded.</p> + +<p>The frozen soil of Jakutsk, in Siberia, has for many years attracted +considerable attention. The ordinary law of increase of temperature in +descending below the surface of the earth would appear, however, to be +only modified here; for it is found in sinking a well which has afforded +opportunities for observing the state of the soil, that the temperature +gradually increases with the depth.<a name="FNanchor156"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_156"><sup>[156]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Two ice-caverns were examined by Georgi, in the course of his travels +in Russia.<a name="FNanchor157"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_157"><sup>[157]</sup></a> One occurs near the mines of +Lurgikan, on the east side of a hill about 450 feet high, not far from the +confluence of the Lurgikan stream with <a name="Page_275"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 275]</span></a> the Schilka (a tributary of the +Amur), in the province of Nertschinsk. In the course of driving an adit in +one of the lead-mines, in the year 1770, the workmen were struck by the +hollow sound given forth by the rock, and, on investigation, they found an +immense grotto or fissure, of which the entrance was so much blocked up by +ice that they had much difficulty in sliding down by means of ropes. The +fissure extended under the hill, in a direction from north to south, and +was 130 fathoms long, from 1 to 8 broad, and from 3 to 12 high. Where it +approached nearest the surface, the thickness of the roof was about 10 +fathoms. The rock is described by Georgi as <i>quarzig, bräunlich, +und von einem starken Kalkschuss</i>. He found the greater part of the +walls covered with ice, and many pillars and pyramids of ice on the floor. +The cold was moderate, and was said to be much the same in summer and +winter. Patrin has given a fuller description of the same cavern in the +<i>Journalde Physique</i>.<a name="FNanchor158"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_158"><sup>[158]</sup></a> The lead-mine is in limestone rock, +containing a third part of clay. The entrance to the glacière was +still difficult at the time of his visit, and it was necessary to use a +rope, and also to cut steps, for the descent was made along a ridge of ice +with almost perpendicular sides. The spectacle presented by the decoration +of the roof was remarkably beautiful, long festoons and tufts of ice +hanging down, light and brilliant as silver gauze: this ice was supposed +to be formed from the abundant vapours of the beginning of winter, and +resembled glass blown to the utmost tenuity. It was crystallised, too, in +a wonderful manner. Patrin found long bundles of hexahedral tubes, the +walls of which were formed of transverse needles: the diameter of these +tubes was from two to six lines only, but at the lower extremities they +opened out into hollow six-sided <a name="Page_276"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 276]</span></a> pyramids, more than an inch in diameter, so +that the festoons, sometimes as large round as a man, presented terminal +tufts of some feet in diameter, which glittered like diamonds under the +influence of the torches. Towards the farther end of the fissure, +stalactites of solid ice were found, displaying all the forms and more +than all the beauty of limestone stalactites. The other instance mentioned +by Georgi occurred in the mines of Serentvi, where two of the levels +yielded perennial ice, and were thence (Georgi says) called <i> +Ledenoi</i>. A spring of water flowed from the rock at a depth of thirty +fathoms below the surface, and was promptly frozen into a coating of ice a +foot thick. Patrin<a name="FNanchor159"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_159"><sup>[159]</sup></a> visited Serentvi, but he did not +observe any ice in the mines. He believed the rock to be very ancient +lava.</p> + +<p>Reich<a name="FNanchor160"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_160"><sup>[160]</sup></a> mentions a cavern on Mount Sorano +which contains ice, quoting Kircher;<a name="FNanchor161"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_161"><sup>[161]</sup></a> but he seems to have misinterpreted +his author's Latin.<a name="FNanchor162"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_162"><sup>[162]</sup></a> He also refers to the existence of +ice in the mines of Herrengrund in Hungary, and Dannemora in Sweden. +Kircher, who has the credit of having been the first to call attention to +the increase of temperature in the earth, made full enquiries into the +temperature of the mines at Herrengrund, but he was not informed of the +existence of ice.<a name="FNanchor163"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_163"><sup>[163]</sup></a> Townson visited these <a name= +"Page_277"><span class="pagenum">[Page 277]</span></a> mines in the +course of his travels in Hungary, and neither does he make any mention of +ice in connection with them. He describes them as lying south of Teplitz, +in a limestone district, with sandstone in the more immediate +neighbourhood. The mines themselves (copper mines) are in a kind of +mica-schist, which the people call granite. The superintendent of mines +informed Reich that one of the shafts is called the ice-mine, from the +fact that when the workmen attempted to drive a gallery from south to +north, they came upon ice filling up the interstices of the <i> +Haldenstein</i>, within five fathoms of the commencement of the gallery. +The temperature was so low, and the expense caused by the frozen mass so +great, that the working was stopped.</p> + +<p>The iron mines of Dannemora, eleven leagues from Upsal, contain a large +quantity of ice, according to a manuscript account by Mr. +Over-assessor-of-the-board-of-mines Winkler:<a name="FNanchor164"></a><a +href="#Footnote_164"><sup>[164]</sup></a> Jars, however, in his <i>Voyages +Métallurgiques</i>,<a name="FNanchor165"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_165"><sup>[165]</sup></a> gives a full description of them +without mentioning the existence of ice. He states that ice is found in +the mines of Nordmarck, three leagues from Philipstadt in Wermeland, a +province of Sweden: these mines are merely numerous shafts sunk in the +earth, reaching to the bottom of the vein of ore, so that they are fully +exposed to the light, and yet the walls of the shafts become covered with +ice at the end of winter, which remains there till the middle of +September. Jars believed that, if it were not for the heat caused by +blasting, and by the presence of the workmen, the ice would be perennial. +Humboldt<a name="FNanchor166"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_166"><sup>[166]</sup></a> speaks of the ice in these mines and +on the Sauberg. Reich states that ice is found in the mill-stone quarry of +Nieder-Mendig, quoting Karsten's <i>Archiv für Bergbau</i>.<a name= +"FNanchor167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167"><sup>[167]</sup></a> The ice is +found in the hottest days of summer, although <a name="Page_278"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 278]</span></a> the interior of the quarry is +connected with the outer air by many side shafts. The porous nature of the +stone is assigned as the cause of the phenomenon. Daubeny (On Volcanoes) +describes the remarkable basaltic deposits at Niedermennig--as he spells +it--but says nothing of the existence of ice.</p> + +<p>Daubuisson<a name="FNanchor168"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_168"><sup>[168]</sup></a> speaks of a <i>Schneegrube</i>, on a +summit of the <i>Riesengebirge</i>, in Silesia, 4,000 feet above the sea; +but such holes are common enough at that elevation, and I have seen two or +three remarkable instances on the Jura, within the compass of one day's +walk. Voigt<a name="FNanchor169"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_169"><sup>[169]</sup></a> describes an <i>Eisgrube</i> in the +Rhöngebirge, on the <i>Ringmauer</i>, the highest point of the <i> +Tagstein</i>, where abundant ice is found in summer under irregular masses +of columnar basalt. Reich had received from a forest-inspector an account +of an ice-hole in this neighbourhood, called <i>Umpfen</i>, which is +apparently not the same as that mentioned by Voigt.</p> + +<p>In the Saxon Erzgebirge there are three points remarkable for their low +temperature,<a name="FNanchor170"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_170"><sup>[170]</sup></a> in addition to the mines on the +Sauberg mentioned above. These are the <i>Heinrichssohle</i>, in the +Stockwerk at Altenberg, where the mean of two years' observations gives +the temperature 0°·54 F. lower at a depth of 400 feet than at +the surface; the adit of <i>Henneberg</i>, on the Ingelbach, near +Johanngeorgenstadt, where the temperature was again 0°·54 F. +lower than in shafts some hundred feet higher; and the <i>Weiss Adler</i> +adit, on the left declivity of the valley of the Schwarzwasser, above the +Antonshütte. It would appear that there are local causes which affect +the temperature in the Erzgebirge, for Reich found that in several places +the mean <a name="Page_279"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 279]</span></a> temperature of the soil was higher than that of +the air: for instance--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="Table of soil temperature"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td>Soil.</td> +<td>Air</td> +<td>Height above the sea.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Altenberg</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>42·732° Fahr.</td> +<td>41·27°</td> +<td>2,450 feet</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Markus Röhling</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>43·542° "</td> +<td>41·832°</td> +<td>1,870 "</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Johanngeorgenstadt.</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>43·115° "</td> +<td>41·09°</td> +<td>2,460 "</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The temperature at Markus Röhling is peculiarly anomalous, +considering the elevation of the surface above the sea.</p> + +<p>There is said to be an ice-cave in Nassau, but I have been unable to +obtain any account of it, unless it be the same as the <i>ice-field</i> +mentioned on page 303.</p> + +<p>There is a cave in the south-east of Hungary<a name= +"FNanchor171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171"><sup>[171]</sup></a> which +presents the same features as several of the glacières I have +visited. It is called the Ice-hole of Scherisciora, and is described as +lying in the Jura-kalk, at a distance of 2-1/2 hours north-east from the +forest-house of Distidiul. The approach is by ladders, down a pit 30 +fathoms wide and 24 deep; and when the bottom of this pit is reached, an +entrance is found to the cave in the north wall, in the neighbourhood of +which is congealed snow which shortly becomes ice. The floor of the first +chamber is composed of glacier-ice, separated from the side walls by a +cleft from 1 to 3 feet wide, where it shows a depth of from 4 to 6 feet; +it is as smooth as glass, and about 6 fathoms from the entrance a cone of +ice stands upon it, 8 or 9 feet high. Both the floor and the cone are at +once seen to be transformed remains of ancient masses of snow, and are of +a dirty yellow colour.</p> + +<p>At the back of this chamber, a narrow passage opens towards the +interior of the mountain, and winds steeply down with a height of 4 feet, +and a length of a few <a name="Page_280"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 280]</span></a> fathoms, till a magnificent dome is reached, on +the beauties of which Herr Peters becomes eloquent. The floor is so smooth +that crimpons are necessary, and stalagmites and stalactites of ice are +found in rich profusion, the latter being generally formed on small +limestone stalactites, while the former have no such nucleus.</p> + +<p>There is another opening near the original entrance to the cave, a sort +of fissure covered with elegant forms of ice, leading to a steep shaft. +The imperial forester of Topfanalva was bold enough to let himself down +the slope of ice which formed the edge of the shaft, on a rope ladder 60 +feet long, notwithstanding the difficulty of grasping the iron steps which +of course lay pressed on to the ice; but when he had descended about 30 +feet, the shaft became perpendicular, and stones thrown in showed a very +considerable depth. There appeared to be no sound of water in the abyss +below.</p> + +<p>Both entrances, that to the shaft as well as that to the second +chamber, were ornamented with delicate ice crystals, which occurred both +on the limestone stalactites and on the walls, and presented almost the +appearance of plants of cauliflower. The ice-floor of the first chamber is +described as consisting of a 'coarse-grained' material.</p> + +<p>In the south-east of Servia, on the western slope of Mount Rtagn, is a +pit 20 feet in diameter, and 40 or 50 feet deep, the bottom of which is +reached by a succession of trunks of trees with the branches lopped off, a +sort of ladder called <i>stouba</i> by the natives.<a name= +"FNanchor172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172"><sup>[172]</sup></a> The +peasants assert that the snow and ice disappear from this pit in +September, and do not reappear before June. The Swiss peasants have never +yet got so far as to say that the <i>snow</i> in their pits disappears in +winter and returns in summer. Boué<a name="FNanchor173"></a><a +href="#Footnote_173"><sup>[173]</sup></a> found <a name="Page_281"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 281]</span></a> the temperature of the bottom +of the pit to be 28°·4 F., while that of the air outside was +76° F. The same writer<a name="FNanchor174"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_174"><sup>[174]</sup></a> mentions a source in a mill-stone +quarry in Bosnia which is frozen till the end of June.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<a name="Page_282"><span class="pagenum">[Page 282]</span></a> + +<h3>HISTORY OF THEORIES RESPECTING THE CAUSES OF SUBTERRANEAN ICE.</h3> + +<p>The only glacière which is in any sense historical, is that near +Besançon; and a brief account of the different theories which have +been advanced in explanation of the phenomena presented by it, will +include almost all that has been written on ice-caves.</p> + +<p>The first mention I have found of this cave is contained in an old +history of the Franche Comté of Burgundy, published at Dôle +in 1592, to which reference has been already made. Gollut, the author, +speaks more than once of a <i>glacière</i> in his topographical +descriptions, and in a short account of it he states that it lay near the +village of <i>Leugné</i>, which I find marked in the Delphinal +Atlas very near the site of the Chartreuse of Grâce-Dieu; so that +there can be no doubt that his glacière was the same with that +which now exists. His theory was, that the dense covering of trees and +shrubs protected the soil and the surface-water from the rays of the sun, +and so the cold which was stored up in the cave was enabled to withstand +the attacks of the heat of summer.<a name="FNanchor175"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_175"><sup>[175]</sup></a> In the case of many <a name= +"Page_283"><span class="pagenum">[Page 283]</span></a> of the +glacières, there can be no doubt that this idea of winter cold +being so preserved, by natural means, as to resist the encroachments of +the hotter seasons, is the true explanation of the phenomenon of +underground ice.</p> + +<p>The next account of this glacière is found in the History of the +Royal Academy of Sciences (French), under the year 1686,<a name= +"FNanchor176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176"><sup>[176]</sup></a> but no +theory is there suggested. The writer of the account states that in his +time the floor of the cave was covered with ice, and that ice hung from +the roof in festoons. In winter the cave was full of thick vapours, and a +stream of water ran through it. The ice had for long been less abundant +than in former times, in consequence of the felling of some trees which +had stood near the entrance.</p> + +<p>The Academy received in the same year another letter on this subject, +confirming the previous account, and adding some particulars. From this it +would seem that people flocked from all sides to the glacière with +waggons and mules, and conveyed the ice through the various parts of +Burgundy, and to the camp of the Saone; not thereby diminishing the amount +of ice, for one hot day produced as much as they could carry away in eight +days. The ice seemed to be formed from a stream which ran through the cave +and was frozen in the summer only. The writer of this second account saw +vapours in the glacière (the editor of the <i>Histoire de +l'Académie</i> does not say at what season the visit to the cave +took place), and was informed that <a name="Page_284"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 284]</span></a> this was an infallible sign of +approaching rain; so much so, that the peasants were in the habit of +determining the coming weather by the state of the grotto.</p> + +<p>In 1712, M. Billerez, Professor of Anatomy and Botany in the University +of Besançon, communicated to the Academy<a name= +"FNanchor177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177"><sup>[177]</sup></a> an account +of a visit made by him to this cave in September 1711. He found 3 feet of +ice on the floor of the cave, in a state of incipient thaw, and three +pyramids, from 15 to 20 feet high and 5 or 6 feet in diameter, which had +been already considerably reduced in size by thaw. A vapour was beginning +to pass out from the cave, at the highest part of the arch of entrance; a +phenomenon which, he was told, continued through the winter, and announced +or accompanied the departure of the ice: nevertheless, the cold was so +great that he could not remain in the glacière more than half an +hour with any sort of comfort. The thermometer stood at 60° outside +the cave, and fell to 10°<a name="FNanchor178"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_178"><sup>[178]</sup></a> when placed inside; but +thermometrical observations of that date were so vague as to be useless +for present purposes. The ice appeared to be harder than the ordinary ice +of rivers, less full of air-bubbles, and more difficult to melt.</p> + +<p>M. Billerez enunciated a new theory to account for the phenomena +presented by the cave. He observed that the earth in the immediate +neighbourhood, and especially above the roof of the grotto, was full of a +nitrous or ammoniac salt, and he accordingly suggested that this salt was +disturbed by the heat of summer and mingled itself with the water which +penetrated by means of fissures to the grotto, and so the cave was +affected in the same way as the smaller vessel in the ordinary preparation +of artificial ice. He had heard <a name="Page_285"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 285]</span></a> that some rivers in China freeze in summer from +the same cause.<a name="FNanchor179"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_179"><sup>[179]</sup></a></p> + +<p>In 1726, a further communication was made to the Academy by M. des +Boz,<a name="FNanchor180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180"><sup>[180]</sup></a> +Royal Engineer, describing four visits which he had made to the grotto +near Besançon at four different seasons of the year, viz., in May +and November 1725, and in March and August 1726. In all cases he found the +air in the cave colder than the external air,<a name="FNanchor181"></a><a +href="#Footnote_181"><sup>[181]</sup></a> and its variations in +temperature corresponded with the external variations, the cold being +greater in winter than in summer.</p> + +<p>M. des Boz ascribed the existence of ice in the cave to natural causes. +The opening being towards the north-east, and corresponding with a gorge +in the hills opposite, running in the same direction, none but cold winds +could reach the mouth of the grotto. Moreover, the soil above was so +thickly covered with trees and brushwood, that the rays of the sun could +not reach the earth, much less the rock below. Credible persons asserted +that since some of the trees had been felled, there had not been so much +ice in the cave.</p> + +<p>In order to test the presence of salt, M. des Boz melted some of the +ice, and evaporated the resulting water, but found no taste of salt in the +matter which remained.<a name="FNanchor182"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_182"><sup>[182]</sup></a> He denied the existence of the spring +of water which previous accounts had mentioned, and believed that the +water which <a name="Page_286"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 286]</span></a> formed the ice came solely from melted snow, +and from the fissures of the rock.</p> + +<p>In 1727, the Duc de Lévi caused the whole of the ice to be +removed from the cave, for the use of the army of the Saone, which he +commanded. In 1743 the ice had formed again, and the grotto was subjected +to a very careful investigation by M. de Cossigny, chief engineer of +Besançon, in the months of August and October.<a name= +"FNanchor183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183"><sup>[183]</sup></a> The +thermometer he used had been presented to him by the Academy, and was very +probably constructed by M. de Réaumur himself, for de Cossigny's +account was sent through M. de Réaumur to the Academy, but still +the observations made with it cannot be considered very trustworthy. On +the 8th of August, at 7.30 A.M., the temperature in the cave was 1/2° +above the zero point of this thermometer, and at 11.30 A.M. it had risen +to 1° above zero. On the 17th of October, at 7 A.M., the thermometer +stood at 1/2°, and at 4 P.M. it gave the same register.</p> + +<p>M. de Cossigny found that the entrance to the cave was rather more than +150 feet above the Abbey of Grâce-Dieu, and about half a league +distant by the ordinary path. A great part of his account is occupied by +contradictions of previous accounts, especially in the matter of +dimensions,<a name="FNanchor184"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_184"><sup>[184]</sup></a> The people of Besançon had +urged him to stay only a short time in the cave, because of the +sulphureous and nitrous exhalations, but he detected no symptoms of +anything of that kind. The most curious thing which he saw was the soft +earth which lay, and still lies, at the bottom of the long slope of ice by +which the descent is made; and he subjected this to various chemical tests +and processes, but could not find that <a name="Page_287"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 287]</span></a> it contained anything different from +ordinary earth.<a name="FNanchor185"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_185"><sup>[185]</sup></a></p> + +<p>When M. de Cossigny visited the cave, there were thirteen or fourteen +columns of ice, from 6 to 8 feet high, and he was in consequence inclined +to doubt the accuracy of the statement of M. Billerez, that in his time +(1711) there were three columns only, from 15 to 20 feet high. But my own +observation of the shape of the columns suggested that the largest of all +was probably an amalgamation of several others; so that it is not +unreasonable to suppose that after the Duc de Lévi removed the +large columns seen by M. Billerez, a number of smaller columns were formed +on the old site, and that these had not become large enough to amalgamate +in 1743.</p> + +<p>Not satisfied with these visits of August and October, M. de Cossigny +visited the cave in April 1745. He found the temperature at 5 A.M. to be +exactly at the freezing point, and at noon it had risen 1°. From this +he concluded that the stories of the greater cold in the cave during the +summer, as compared with the winter, were false.</p> + +<p>In 1769, M. Prévost, of Geneva, visited the cave, as a young +man; and in 1789, he wrote an account of his visit in the <i>Journal de +Genève</i> (March), which was afterwards inserted as an additional +chapter in his book on Heat.<a name="FNanchor186"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_186"><sup>[186]</sup></a> He believed that one or two hundred +<i>toises</i> was the utmost that could be allowed for the height of the +hill in which the glacière lies,--a sufficiently vague +approximation. He rejected the idea of salt as the cause of ice, and came +to the conclusion that the cave was in fact nothing more than a good +natural ice-house, being protected <a name="Page_288"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 288]</span></a> by dense trees, and a thick roof of +rock, while its opening towards the north sheltered it from all warm +winds. He accounted for the original presence of ice as follows:--In the +winter, stalactites form at the edges of various fissures in the roof, and +snow is drifted on to the floor of the cave by the north winds down the +entrance-slope. When the warmer weather comes, the stalactites fall by +their own weight, and, lying in the drifted and congealed snow, form +nuclei round which the snow is still further congealed, and the water +which results from the partial thaw of portions of the snow is also +converted into ice. Thus, a larger collection of ice forms in winter than +the heat of summer can destroy; and if none of it were removed, it might, +in the course of years, almost fill the cave. At the time of his visit +(August), M. Prévost found only one column, from 6 to 8 feet +high.</p> + +<p>In 1783 (August 6), M. Girod-Chantrans visited the Glacière of +Chaux (so called from a village near the glacière, on the opposite +side from the Abbey of Grâce-Dieu), and his account of the visit +appeared in the <i>Journal des Mines</i><a name="FNanchor187"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_187"><sup>[187]</sup></a> of Prairial, an iv., by which time +the writer had become the Citizen Girod-Chantrans. He found a mass of +stalactites of ice hanging from the roof, as if seeking to join themselves +with corresponding stalagmites on the floor of the cave; the latter, five +in number, being not more than 3 or 4 feet high, and standing on a thick +sheet of ice. There was a sensible interval between this basement of ice +and the rock and stones on which it reposed: it was, moreover, full of +holes containing water, and the lower parts of the cave were +unapproachable by reason of the large quantity of water which lay there. +The thermometer stood at 35°·9 F. two feet above the floor, and +at 78° F. in the shade outside. M. Girod-Chantrans <a name="Page_289"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 289]</span></a> determined, from all he +saw and heard, that the summer freezing and winter thaw were fables, and +he believed that the cave was only an instance of Nature's providing the +same sort of receptacle for ice as men provide in artificial ice-houses. +He was fortunate enough to obtain by chance the notes of a neighbouring +physician, who had made careful observations and experiments in the +glacière at various seasons of the year, and a <i>précis</i> +of these notes forms the most valuable part of his account.</p> + +<p>Dr. Oudot, the physician in question, found ten columns in January +1778, the largest of which was 5-1/2 feet high. The flooring of ice was +nowhere more than 15 inches thick, and the parts of the rock which were +not covered with ice were perfectly dry. The thermometer--M. +Girod-Chantrans used Réaumur, so I suppose that he gives Dr. +Oudot's observations in degrees of Réaumur, though some of the +results of that supposition appear to be anomalous--gave 22° F. within +the cave, and 21° F. outside.</p> + +<p>In April of the same year, the large column had increased in height to +the extent of 13 inches; and the floor of ice on which it stood was 1-1/2 +inch thicker, and extended over a larger area than before; the thermometer +stood at 36°·5 F. and 52° F. respectively in the same +positions as in the former case. In July, the large column had lost 6 +inches of its height, and the thermometer gave 38°·75 F. and +74°·75 F.</p> + +<p>In October, the large column was only 3 feet high, and many of the +others had disappeared, while their pedestal had become much thinner than +it had been in the preceding months. There was also a considerable amount +of mud in the cave, brought down apparently by the heavy rains of autumn. +The thermometer gave 37°·6 F. and 63°·5 F.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of January, 1779, there were nine columns of very beautiful +ice, and one of these, as before, was larger <a name="Page_290"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 290]</span></a> than the rest, being 5 feet +high and 10 feet in circumference. The temperatures were 21° F. and +16°·15 F. in the cave and in the open air respectively.</p> + +<p>Tradition related that, before the removal of the ice in 1727, one of +the columns reached the roof, (Prévost calculated the limits of the +height of the cave at 90 and 60 feet,) and this suggested to Dr. Oudot the +idea of placing stakes of wood in the heads of the columns he found in the +cave, in the hope that ice would thus collect in greater quantities under +the fissures of the roof. Accordingly, he made holes in three of the +columns, and established stakes 4, 5, and 10 feet high, returning on the +22nd of February, after an interval of six weeks, to observe the result of +his experiment. He found the two shorter stakes completely masked with +ice, forming columns a foot in diameter; and the longest stake, though not +entirely concealed by the ice which had collected upon it, was crowned +with a beautiful capital of perfectly transparent ice. The columns which +had no stakes fixed upon them had also increased somewhat in size, but not +nearly in the same proportion as those which were the subject of Dr. +Oudot's experiment. The thermometer on this day gave 29°·5 F. +and 59° F. as the temperatures.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that I found one very beautiful column, far higher +than any of those mentioned by Dr. Oudot, and higher than those which M. +Billerez saw, formed upon the trunk and branches of a fir-tree. I have now +no doubt that the peculiar shape of another--the largest of the three +columns which were in the cave at the time of my visit--is due to the fact +of its being a collection of several smaller columns, which have in course +of time flowed into one as they increased separately in bulk, and that its +height has been augmented by a device similar to that adopted by Dr. +Oudot. The two magnificent <a name="Page_291"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 291]</span></a> capitals which this column possessed, as well +as the numerous smaller capitals which sprang from its sides, will thus be +completely accounted for.</p> + +<p>One more account may be mentioned, before I proceed to the theory which +has found most favour in Switzerland of late years. M. Cadet published +some <i>Conjectures</i> on the formation of the ice in this cavern, in the +<i>Annales de Chimie,</i> Nivôse, an XI.<a name="FNanchor188"></a><a +href="#Footnote_188"><sup>[188]</sup></a> He saw the cave in the end of +September 1791, and found very little ice--not a third of what there had +been a month before, according to the account of his guide. The <i> +limonadier</i> of a public garden in Besançon informed him that the +people of that town resorted to the glacière for ice when the +supplies of the artificial ice-houses failed, and that they chose a hot +day for this purpose, because on such days there was more ice in the cave. +Ten <i>chars</i> would have been sufficient to remove all the ice M. Cadet +found, and the air inside the cave seemed to be not colder than the +external air; but, nevertheless, M. Cadet believed the old story of the +greater abundance of ice in summer than in winter, and he attempted to +account for the phenomenon.</p> + +<p>The ground above and near the cave is covered with beech and chestnut +trees, and thus is protected from the rays of the sun. The leaves of these +trees give forth abundant moisture, which has been pumped up from their +roots; and as this moisture passes from the liquid to the gaseous state, +it absorbs a large quantity of caloric. Thus, throughout the summer, the +atmosphere is incessantly refrigerated by the evaporation produced by the +trees round the cave; whereas in winter no such process goes on, and the +cave assumes a moderate temperature, such as is usually found in ordinary +caves. Unfortunately for <a name="Page_292"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 292]</span></a> M. Cadet's theory, the facts are not in +accordance with his imaginary data, nor yet with his conclusions. He adds, +on the authority of one of his friends, that the intendant of the +province, M. de Vanolles, wishing to preserve a larger amount of ice in +the cave, built up the entrance with a wall 20 feet high, in which a small +door was made, and the keys were left in the hands of the authorities of +the neighbouring village, with orders that no ice should be removed. The +effect of this was, that the ice diminished considerably, and they were +obliged to pull down the wall again. M. Cadet saw the remains of the wall, +and the story was confirmed by the Brothers of Grâce-Dieu. It would +be very interesting to know at what season this wall was built, and when +it was pulled down. If my ideas on the subject of ice-caves are correct, +it would be absolutely fatal to shut out the heavy cold air of winter from +the grotto.</p> + +<p>In 1822, M.A. Pictet, of Geneva, took up the question of natural +glacières, and read a paper before the Helvetic Society of Natural +Sciences,<a name="FNanchor189"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_189"><sup>[189]</sup></a> describing his visits to the caves of +the Brezon and the Valley of Reposoir. In order to explain the phenomena +presented by those caves, M. Pictet adopted De Saussure's theory of the +principle of <i>caves-froides</i>, rendering it somewhat more precise, and +extending it to meet the case of ice-caves. It is well known that, in many +parts of the world, cold currents are found to blow from the interstices +of rocks; and these are utilised by neighbouring proprietors, who build +sheds over the fissures, and so secure a cool place for keeping meat, +&c. Examples of such currents are met with near Rome (in the <i>Monte +Testaceo</i>), at Lugano, Lucerne (the caves of Hergiswyl), and in various +other districts. It is found that the <a name="Page_293"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 293]</span></a> hotter the day, the stronger is the +current of cold air; in winter the direction of the current is changed, +and it blows into the rock instead of out from it.<a name= +"FNanchor190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190"><sup>[190]</sup></a> De +Saussure's theory, as developed by M. Pictet, was no doubt satisfactory, +so far as it was used to account for the phenomenon of 'cold-caves,' but +it seems to be insufficient as an explanation of the existence of large +masses of subterranean ice; of which, by the way, De Saussure must have +been entirely ignorant, for he makes no allusion to such ice, and the +temperatures of the coldest of his caves were considerably above the +freezing point.</p> + +<p>Pictet represents the case of a cave with cold currents of air to be +much the same as that of a mine with a vertical shaft, ending in a +horizontal gallery of which one extremity is in communication with the +open air, at a point much lower, of course, than the upper extremity of +the shaft. The cave corresponds to the horizontal gallery, and the various +fissures in the rock take the place of the vertical shaft, and communicate +freely with the external air. In summer, the columns of air contained in +these fissures assume nearly the temperature of the rock in which they +rest, that is to say, the mean temperature of the district, and therefore +they are heavier than the corresponding external columns of air which +terminate at the mouth of the cave; for the atmosphere in summer is very +much above the mean temperature of the soil, or of the interior of the +earth at moderate depths. The consequence is, that the heavy cool air +descends from the fissures, and streams out into the cave, appearing as a +cold current; and the hotter the day is--that is, the lighter the columns +of external air--the more violent will be the disturbance of equilibrium, +and therefore the more palpable the cold <a name="Page_294"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 294]</span></a> current. Naturally, in this last +case, the air which enters by the upper orifices of the fissures is more +heated, to begin with, than on cooler days; but external heat so very +slightly affects the deeper parts of the fissures, that the columns of air +thus introduced are speedily impressed with the mean temperature of the +district. In winter, the external columns of air are as much heavier than +the columns in the fissures as they are lighter in summer; and so cold +currents of air blow from the cave into the fissures, though such currents +are not of course colder than the external air. Thus the mean temperature +of the cave is much lower than that of the rock in which it occurs; for +the temperature of the currents varies from the mean temperature of the +rock to the winter temperature of the external atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The descending columns of warmer air, in summer, must to some extent +raise the temperature of the fissures above that which they would +otherwise possess, that is, above the mean temperature of the place; but +that may be considered to be counteracted by the corresponding lowering of +the temperature of the fissures by the introduction of cold air from the +cave in winter. By a similar reasoning, it will be seen that for some time +after the spring change of direction in the currents takes place, the +temperature of the cave will be less than would have been expected from a +calculation founded on the true mean temperature of the rock through which +the fissures pass. This, together with the fact of the porous nature of +the rock in which most of the curious caves in the world occur, which +allows a considerable amount of moisture to collect on all surfaces, and +thereby induces a depression of temperature by evaporation, may be held to +explain the presence of a greater amount of cold than might otherwise have +been fairly reckoned upon in ice-caves. <a name="Page_295"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 295]</span></a></p> + +<p>The idea of cold produced by evaporation Pictet took up warmly, +believing that when promoted by rapid currents of air it would produce ice +in the summer months; and he thus explained what he understood to be the +phenomena of glacières. But it will have been seen, from the +account of the caves I have visited, that the glacières are more or +less in a state of thaw in the summer; and M. Thury's observations in the +winter prove conclusively that they are then in a state of utter frost, so +that the old belief with respect to the season at which the ice is formed +may be supposed to have been exploded. The facts recorded by Mr. Scrope<a +name="FNanchor191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191"><sup>[191]</sup></a> would +appear to depend upon the peculiar nature of rocks of volcanic formation; +and I am inclined to think there is very little in common between such +instances as he mentions and the large caves filled with ice which are to +be found in the primary or secondary limestone.</p> + +<p>One of De Saussure's experiments, in the course of his investigation of +the phenomena and causes of cold currents in caves, is worth recalling. He +passed a current of air through a glass tube an inch in diameter, filled +with moistened stones, and by that means succeeded in reducing the +temperature of the current from 18° C. to 15° C.; and when the +refrigerated current was directed against a wet-bulb thermometer, it fell +to 14° C., thus showing a loss of 7°·2 F. of heat. No one +can see much of limestone caverns without discovering that the surfaces +over which any currents there may be are constrained to pass, present an +abundance of moisture to refrigerate the currents; and it is not +unreasonable to suppose that the large number of evaporating surfaces, +which currents passing through heaps of débris--such as the +basaltic stones described on page 261--come in contact <a name="Page_296"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 296]</span></a> with, are the main cause +of the specially low temperature observed under such circumstances.</p> + +<p>Pictet's theory, however, did not convince all those into whose hands +his paper fell, and M.J. Deluc wrote against it in the <i>Annales de +Chimie et de Physique</i> of the same year, 1822.<a name= +"FNanchor192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192"><sup>[192]</sup></a> Deluc had +not seen any glacière, but he was enabled to decide against the +cold-current theory by a perusal of Pictet's own details, and of one of +the accounts of the cave near Besançon. He objected, that in many +cases the ice is found to melt in summer, instead of forming then; and +also, that in the Glacière of S. Georges, which Pictet had +described, there was no current whatever. Further, in all the cases of +cold currents investigated or mentioned by De Saussure, the presence of +summer ice was never even hinted at, and the lowest temperatures observed +by him were considerably above the freezing point. I may add, from my own +experience, that on the only occasions on which I found a decided current +in a glacière--viz., in the Glacière of Monthézy, and +that of Chappet-sur-Villaz,--there was marked thaw in connection with the +current. In the latter case, the channel from which the current came was +filled with water; and in the former, water stood on the surface of the +ice.</p> + +<p>The view which Deluc adopted was one which I have myself independently +formed; and he would probably have written with more force if he had been +acquainted with various small details relating to the position and +surroundings of many of the caves. The heavy cold air of winter sinks down +into the glacières, and the lighter warm air of summer cannot on +ordinary principles of gravitation dislodge it, so that heat is very +slowly spread in the caves; and even when some amount of heat does reach +the ice, the latter melts but slowly, for ice absorbs 60° C. of <a +name="Page_297"><span class="pagenum">[Page 297]</span></a> heat in +melting; and thus, when ice is once formed, it becomes a material +guarantee for the permanence of cold in the cave.</p> + +<p>For this explanation to hold good, it is necessary that the level at +which the ice is found should be below the level of the entrance to the +cave; otherwise the mere weight of the cold air would cause it to leave +its prison as soon as the spring warmth arrived. In every single case that +has come under my observation, this condition has been emphatically +fulfilled. It is necessary, also, that the cave should be protected from +direct radiation, as the gravitation of cold air has nothing to do with +resistance to that powerful means of introducing heat. This condition, +also, is fulfilled by nature in all the glacières I have visited, +excepting that of S. Georges; and there art has replaced the protection +formerly afforded by the thick trees which grew over the hole of entrance. +The effect of the second hole in the roof of this glacière is to +destroy all the ice which is within range of the sun. A third and very +necessary condition is, that the wind should not be allowed access to the +cave; for if it were, it would infallibly bring in heated air, in spite of +the specific weight of the cold air stored within. It will be understood +from my descriptions of such glacières as that of the Grand Anu, of +Monthézy, and the Lower Glacière of the Pré de S. +Livres, how completely sheltered from all winds the entrances to those +caves are. There can be no doubt, too, that the large surfaces which are +available for evaporation have much to do with maintaining a somewhat +lower temperature than the mean temperature of the place where the cave +occurs. This had been noticed so long ago as Kircher's time; for among the +answers which his questions received from the miners of Herrengrund, we +find it stated that, so long as mines are dry, the deeper they are the +hotter; but if they <a name="Page_298"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 298]</span></a> have water, they are less warm, however deep. +From the mines of Schemnitz he was informed that, so long as the free +passage of air was not hindered, the mines remained temperate; in other +cases they were very warm. Another great advantage which some +glacières possess must be borne in mind, namely, the collection of +snow at the bottom of the pit in which the entrance lies. This snow +absorbs, in the course of melting, all heat which strikes down by +radiation or is driven down by accidental turns of the wind; and the +snow-water thus forced into the cave will, at any rate, not seriously +injure the ice. It is worthy of notice that the two caves which possess +the greatest depth of ice, so far as I have been able to fathom it, are +precisely those which have the greatest deposit of snow; and the ice in a +third cave, that of Monthézy, which has likewise a large amount of +snow in the entrance-pit, presents the appearance of very considerable +depth. The Schafloch, it is true, which contains an immense bulk of ice, +has no snow; but its elevation is great, as compared with that of some of +the caves, and therefore the mean temperature of the rock in which it +occurs is less unfavourable to the existence of ice.</p> + +<p>I believe that the true explanation of the curious phenomena presented +by these caves in general, is to be found in Deluc's theory, fortified by +such facts as those which I have now stated. The mean temperature of the +rock at Besançon, where the elevation above the sea is +comparatively so small, renders the temptation to suggest some chemical +cause very strong.</p> + +<p>The question of ice in summer where thaw prevails in winter, may fairly +be considered to have been eliminated from the discussion of such caves as +I have seen, in spite of the persistent assertions of some of the +peasantry. The observations, however, in caverns in volcanic formations, +<a name="Page_299"><span class="pagenum">[Page 299]</span></a> and in +basaltic débris, are so circumstantial that it is impossible to +reject them; and in such cases a theory similar to that enunciated by Mr. +Scrope<a name="FNanchor193"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_193"><sup>[193]</sup></a> seems to be the only one in any way +satisfactory, though I have not heard of such marvellous results being +produced elsewhere by evaporation. One observer, for instance, of the +cavern near the village of Both, in the Eiffel, found a thickness of 3 +feet of ice; and in that case it was melting in summer, instead of +forming. In some cases it has been suggested that the length of time +required for external heat or cold to penetrate through the earth and rock +which lie above the caves is sufficient to account for the phenomenon of +summer frost and winter thaw. Thus, it is said, the thickness of the +superincumbent bed may be such that the heat of summer only gets through +to the cave at Christmas, and then produces thaw, while in like manner the +greatest cold will reach the cave in mid-summer. But there is a fatal +objection to this idea in the fact that the invariable stratum--i.e., the +stratum beyond which the annual changes of external temperature are not +felt--is reached about 60 feet below the surface in temperate latitudes,<a +name="FNanchor194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194"><sup>[194]</sup></a> while +at the tropics such changes are not felt more than a foot below the +surface. Humboldt calculated that in the latitude of central France the +whole annual variation in temperature at a depth of 30 feet would not +amount to more than one degree.<a name="FNanchor195"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_195"><sup>[195]</sup></a></p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<a name="Page_300"><span class="pagenum">[Page 300]</span></a> + +<h3>ON THE PRISMATIC STRUCTURE OF THE ICE IN GLACIÈRES.</h3> + +<p>It was natural to suppose that the prismatic structure which I found so +very general in the glacières was the result of some cause or +causes coming into operation after the first formation of the ice. On this +point M. Thury's visit to the Glacière of S. Georges in the spring +of 1852 affords valuable information, for at that time the coating of ice +on the wall, evidently newly formed, did not present the <i>structure +aréolaire</i> which he had observed in his summer visit to the +cave. He suggests that, since ice is less coherent at a temperature of +32° F.--which is approximately the temperature of the ice-caves during +several months of the year--than when exposed to a greater degree of cold, +its molecules will then become free to assume a fresh system of +arrangement.<a name="FNanchor196"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_196"><sup>[196]</sup></a> On the other hand, Professor Faraday +has found that ice formed under a temperature some degrees below the +ordinary freezing point has a well-marked crystalline structure.<a name= +"FNanchor197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197"><sup>[197]</sup></a> M. Thury +suggests also, as a possibility, what I have found to be the case, by +frequent observations, that the prismatic ice has greater power of +resisting heat than ordinary ice; and on this supposition he accounts for +the fact of <a name="Page_301"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 301]</span></a> hollow stalactites being found in the Cavern of +S. Georges.<a name="FNanchor198"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_198"><sup>[198]</sup></a> At the commencement of the hot +season, the atmospheric temperature of the glacières rises +gradually; and when it has almost reached 32° F., the prismatic change +takes place in the ice, extending to a limited depth below the surface. +The central parts of the stalactites retain their ordinary structure, and +are after a time exposed to a general temperature rather above than below +the freezing point; and thus they come to melt, the water escaping either +by accidental fissures between some of the prisms, or by the extremity of +the stalactite, or by some part of the surface which has chanced to escape +the prismatic arrangement, and has itself melted under increased +temperature.<a name="FNanchor199"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_199"><sup>[199]</sup></a></p> + +<p>M. Héricart de Thury describes the peculiar structure of the ice +which he found in the Glacière of the Foire de Fondeurle.<a name= +"FNanchor200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200"><sup>[200]</sup></a> He found +that the crystallised portions were very distinctly marked, displaying for +the most part a six-sided arrangement; and in the interior of a hollow +stalactite he found numerous needles of ice perfectly crystallised, the +crystals being some triangular and some six-sided. He was unable to detect +any perfect pyramid.<a name="FNanchor201"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_201"><sup>[201]</sup></a> I have already quoted Olafsen's +observations on the polygonal lining which <a name="Page_302"><span class= +"pagenum">[Page 302]</span></a> he saw on the surface of the ice in +the Surtshellir. The French Encyclopædia<a name="FNanchor202"></a><a +href="#Footnote_202"><sup>[202]</sup></a> relates that M. Hassenfratz saw +ice served up at table at Chambéry which broke into hexagonal +prisms; and when he was shown the ice-houses where it was stored, he found +considerable blocks of ice containing hexahedral prisms terminated by +corresponding pyramids.</p> + +<p>In vol. xv. (New Series) of the American Journal of Science,<a name= +"FNanchor203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203"><sup>[203]</sup></a> an extract +is given from a letter describing the 'Ice Spring' in the Rocky Mountains, +which the mountaineers consider to be one of the curiosities of the great +trail from the States to Oregon and California. It is situated in a low +marshy 'swale' to the right of the Sweetwater river, and about forty miles +from the South Pass. The ground is filled with springs; and about 18 +inches below the turf lies a smooth and horizontal sheet of ice, which +remains the year round, protected by the soil and grass above it. On July +12th, 1849, it was from 2 to 4 inches thick; but one of the guides stated +that he had seen it a foot deep. It was perfectly clear, and disposed in +hexagonal prisms, separating readily at the natural joints. The ice had a +slightly saline taste,<a name="FNanchor204"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_204"><sup>[204]</sup></a> the ground above it being impregnated +with salt, and the water near tasting of sulphur. The upper surface of the +stratum of ice was perfectly smooth.</p> + +<p>In Poggendorff's <i>Annalen</i> (1841, Erganzsband, +517-19,--Boué, an old offender in that way, says 1842) there is <a +name="Page_303"><span class="pagenum">[Page 303]</span></a> an +account of ice being found in the Westerwald, near the village of +Frickhofen at the foot of the <i>Dornburg</i>, among basaltic +débris about 500 feet above the sea.<a name="FNanchor205"></a><a +href="#Footnote_205"><sup>[205]</sup></a> Commencing at a depth of 2 feet +below the surface, the ice reaches from 20 to 22 feet farther down, where +the loose stones give place to dry sand. The ice is in thin layers on the +stones, and is deposited in the form of clear and regular hexagonal +crystals. The lateral extent through which this phenomenon obtains is from +40 to 50 feet each way, and is greater in winter than in summer. As in +other cases that have been noticed in basaltic débris, the snow +which falls upon the surface here is speedily melted. The <i>Allgemeine +Zeitung</i> (1840, No. 309), from which the account in Poggendorff is +taken, suggested that the melted snow-water which would thus run down +among the interstices would readily freeze below the surface, while the +heavy cold air of winter would be stored up at the lower levels, and the +poor conducting powers of basaltic rock<a name="FNanchor206"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_206"><sup>[206]</sup></a> would favour its permanence through +the summer. The temperature of the cold current which was perceptible in +the parts of the mass of débris where the ice existed was 1° R. +(34°·25 F.). Nothing but a few lichens grow on the surface of +the débris.</p> + +<p>These are, I think, all the references I have met with to the prismatic +structure of subterranean ice. But there is an interesting account in +Poggendorff 's <i>Annalen</i>,<a name="FNanchor207"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_207"><sup>[207]</sup></a> by a private teacher in Jena, of the +crystalline appearance of ice under slow thaw near that town. In the +winter of 1840, the Saale was frozen, and the ice remained unbroken till +the middle of January, when the thermometer rose <a name="Page_304"><span +class="pagenum">[Page 304]</span></a> suddenly, and the river in +consequence overflowed the lower grounds, and carried large masses of ice +on to the fields, where it was left when the water subsided. On the 20th +of January the thermometer fell again, and remained below the freezing +point till the 12th of February: some of the ice did not disappear till +the following month.</p> + +<p>When the ice had lain a short time, cracks appeared on the surface +exposed to the sun, and spread like a network from the edges towards the +centre of the surface. At first there was no regularity in the connection +of these lines, and the several meshes were of very different sizes. After +a time, the larger meshes split up into smaller, and the system of network +was found to penetrate below the surface, the cracks deepening into +furrows, which descended perpendicularly from the surface, and divided the +ice into long thin rhomboidal pillars. The surface-end of some of these +pillars was strongly marked with right lines parallel to one of the sides +of the mesh, and it was found that there was a tendency in the ice to +split down planes through these lines and parallel to the corresponding +side-plane. Parallel to the original surface of the mass of ice, the +pillars broke off evenly. The side-planes had a rounded, wrinkled +appearance; and their mutual inclinations--as far as could be +determined--were from 105° to 115°, and from 66° to 75°. +When these ice-pillars were examined by means of polarised light, they +were found to possess a feeble double-refracting power.</p> + +<p>The writer of the article in Poggendorff suggests a question which he +was not sure how to answer:--Is this appearance in correspondence with the +original formation of the ice, or does it only appear under slow thaw?</p> + +<p>It is worthy of remark, that from the 1st to the 11th of February the +thermometer was never higher than 22°·8 F., <a name="Page_305"> +<span class="pagenum">[Page 305]</span></a> and during that time fell +as low as 21° below zero, i.e. 43° below the freezing point.</p> + +<p>Professor Tyndall has informed me that in the winters of 1849, 1850, +1851, he found the banks of a river in Germany loaded with massive layers +of drift-ice, in a state of thaw, and was struck by the fact that every +layer displayed the prismatic structure described above, the axes of the +prisms being at right angles to the surfaces of freezing. It may be, he +adds, that this structure is in the first place determined by the act of +freezing, but it does not develop itself until the ice thaws.</p> + +<p>M. Hassenfratz observed an appearance in ice on the Danube at Vienna<a +name="FNanchor208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208"><sup>[208]</sup></a> +corresponding to that described at Jena. He gives no information as to the +state of the weather or the temperature at the time, nor any of the +circumstances under which the ice came under his notice. One of the masses +of ice which he describes was crystallised in prisms of various numbers of +sides: of these prisms the greater part were hexahedral and irregular. +Another mass was composed of prisms in the form of truncated pyramids; and +in another he found quadrilateral and octahedral prisms, the former +splitting parallel to the faces, and also truncated pyramids with five and +six sides. He adds, that he had frequently seen in the upper valleys tufts +of ice growing, as it were, out of the ground, and striated externally, +but had never succeeded in discovering any internal organisation, until +one evening in a time of thaw, when he found by means of a microscope that +the striated tufts of ice had assumed the same structure on a small scale +as that which he had observed on the Danube.</p> + +<p>A Frenchman who was present in the room in which the <a name= +"Page_306"><span class="pagenum">[Page 306]</span></a> Chemical +Section of the British Association met at Bath, and heard a paper which I +read there on this prismatic structure, suggested that it was probably +something akin to the rhomboidal form assumed by dried mud; and I have +since been struck by the great resemblance to it, as far as the surface +goes, which the pits of mud left by the coprolite-workers near Cambridge +offer, of course on a very large scale. This led me to suppose that the +intense dryness which would naturally be the result of the action of some +weeks or months of great cold upon subterranean ice might be one of the +causes of its assuming this form, and the observations at Jena would +rather confirm than contradict this view: competent authorities, however, +seem inclined to believe that warmth, and not cold, is the producing +cause.<a name="FNanchor209"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_209"><sup>[209]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Professor Tyndall found, in the course of his experiments on the discs +and flowers produced in the interior of a mass of ice by sending a warm +ray through the mass, that the pieces of ice were in some cases traversed +by hazy surfaces of discontinuity, which divided the apparently continuous +mass into irregular prismatic segments. The intersections of the bounding +surfaces of these segments with the surface of the slab of ice formed a +very <a name="Page_307"><span class="pagenum">[Page 307]</span></a> +irregular network of lines.<a name="FNanchor210"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_210"><sup>[210]</sup></a> I am inclined, however, to think that +the irregularity in these cases proved to be so much greater than that +observed in the glacières, that this interior prismatic subdivision +must be referred to some different cause.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<a name="Page_308"><span class="pagenum">[Page 308]</span></a> + +<h3>ON THE MEAN TEMPERATURE OF THE REGIONS IN WHICH THE GLACIÈRES +OCCUR.</h3> + +<p>Many interesting experiments have for long been carried on with a view +to determine the mean temperature at various depths below the surface of +the earth. The construction of Artesian wells has afforded useful +opportunities for increasing the amount of our knowledge on this subject; +and the well at Pregny, near Geneva,<a name="FNanchor211"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_211"><sup>[211]</sup></a> and the Monk Wearmouth coal-mines, as +observed by Professor Phillips while a fresh shaft was being sunk,<a name= +"FNanchor212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212"><sup>[212]</sup></a> have +supplied most valuable facts. Without entering into any detail, which +would be an unnecessary trouble, it may be stated generally, that, under +ordinary circumstances, 1° F. of temperature is gained for every 50 or +60 feet of vertical descent into the interior of the earth. I have only +met with one account of an experiment made in a horizontal direction, and +it is curious that the law of the increase of temperature then observed +seemed to be very much the same as that determined by the mean of the +vertical observations. Boussingault<a name="FNanchor213"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_213"><sup>[213]</sup></a> found several horizontal adits in a +precipitous face of porphyritic syenite among the mountains of Marmato. In +one of these adits--a gallery called Cruzada, at an elevation of 1,460 +mètres--he found an <a name="Page_309"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 309]</span></a> increase of 1° C. of mean temperature for +every 33 mètres of horizontal penetration, or, approximately, +1° F. for 60 feet.<a name="FNanchor214"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_214"><sup>[214]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Again, observations have been made, in various latitudes, of the +decrease of temperature consequent upon gradual rising from the general +surface of the earth; as, for instance, in the ascent of mountains. +Speaking without any very great precision, but with sufficient accuracy +for ordinary purposes, 1° F. is lost with every 300 feet of ascent.<a +name="FNanchor215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215"><sup>[215]</sup></a> It is +evident that this decrease will be less rapid where the slope of ascent is +gradual, from such considerations as the angle at which the sun's rays +strike the slope, and the larger amount of surface which is in contact +with a stratum of atmosphere of any given thickness.</p> + +<p>With these data, it is easy to arrive at some idea of the probable mean +temperature of the rock containing several of the glacières I have +described. The elevation of some of them has not been determined with +sufficient accuracy to make the results of any calculation trustworthy; +but four cases may be taken where the elevation is known--namely, the +Glacières of S. Georges, S. Livres, Monthézy, and the +Schafloch. If we take as a starting point the mean temperature of the town +of Geneva, which has been determined at 49°·55 F., the +elevation of that town being <a name="Page_310"><span class="pagenum"> +[Page 310]</span></a> nearly 1,200 feet, we obtain the following +approximate results for the mean temperature of the surface at the points +in question:--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="Table of mean temperatures"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>S. Georges</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>40°·22 Fahr.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>S. Livres (Lower)</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>38°·55 "</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Schafloch</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>33°·88 "</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Monthézy</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>41°·55 "</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The law of decrease of temperature enunciated by M. Thury gives a +higher mean temperature for the surface of the earth in these places, as +in the following table:--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="Second table of Mean Temperatures"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>S. Georges</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>41°·8 Fahr.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>S. Livres (Lower)</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>40°·1 "</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Schafloch</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>35°·6 "</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Monthézy</td> +<td>....</td> +<td>42°·5 "</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>If any certain information could be obtained of the elevation of the +Abbey of Grâce-Dieu, I am sure that a result more surprising than +that in the case of the Glacière of Monthézy would appear. +The elevation of the floor of the church in the citadel of Besançon +is 367·7 mètres, and the plateau on the north side of the +town of Baume-les-Dames is 531·9 mètres. I am inclined to +think, from the look of the country, that the latter possesses much the +same elevation as the valley in which the Abbey lies; and in that case we +should have comparatively a very high mean temperature for the surface in +the neighbourhood where the glacière occurs.</p> + +<p>But if these are the mean temperatures of the surface, the natural +temperatures of the caves themselves should be still higher, on account of +the allowance to be made for increase of temperature with descent into the +interior of the earth. This element will very materially affect our +calculations in such a case as the lower part of the ice in the +Glacière of the Pré de S. Livres, and the strange suggestive +beginning of a new ice-cave 190 feet below the surface, <a name= +"Page_311"><span class="pagenum">[Page 311]</span></a> on the +Montagne de l'Eau, near Annecy. In any open pit or cave, the ordinary +atmospheric influences find such easy access, that the temperature cannot +be expected to follow the law observed when perforations of small bore are +made in the earth, as in the case of the preliminary boring before +commencing to dig a well;<a name="FNanchor216"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_216"><sup>[216]</sup></a> but the two glacières +mentioned above are so completely protected in their lowest parts, that +they may be treated as if they were isolated from external influence of +all ordinary kinds; and it may fairly be said that the mean temperature +there ought to be considerably higher than at the surface.</p> + +<p>It is not very likely that the results of the above calculations are +strictly in accordance with what a careful series of observations on the +spot might show. The distance between Geneva and the Glacières of +S. Georges and S. Livres is sufficiently small to make it probable that +the reality is not very far different from the calculated temperature; but +the other two caves are comparatively so far off, that the temperature and +elevation of Geneva are not very safe data to build upon.</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_313"><span class="pagenum">[Page 313]</span></a> <a +name="APPENDIX"></a> + +<h3>APPENDIX.</h3> + +<p>M. Thury's observations during his winter visit to the Glacière +of S. Georges are so curious and valuable, that I give the principal +results of them here.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that this glacière consists of a roomy +cave, 110 feet long and 60 feet high, with two orifices in the higher part +of the roof, one of which is kept covered with the trunks of trees to shut +out the direct radiation of the sun. A little thought suggested to M. +Thury that the cold in the cave in mid-winter would most probably be +greater than the external cold of the day, and less than that of the +night; so that there should be a time in the later evening when a column +of colder and heavier air would begin, to descend through the hole in the +roof. To test the correctness of this supposition, he took up his abode in +the cavern for the evening of the 10th January, 1858, with a lighted +candle. The flame burned steadily for some time; but at 7.16 P.M. it began +to flicker, and soon inclined downwards through an angle of about 45°; +and when M. Thury placed himself under the principal opening, the flame +was forced into an almost horizontal position. At 8 P.M. the current of +air had all but disappeared. This violent and temporary disturbance of +equilibrium was a matter of much surprise to M. Thury; for he had +naturally expected a quiet current downwards, continuing through the +greater part of the night.</p> + +<p>At 7.16 P.M. the external temperature was 23·9° F., and the +temperature of the atmosphere in the cave at the same time was +30°·88 F.;<a name="FNanchor217"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_217"><sup>[217]</sup></a> so that there is no wonder the +current of air should be strong. It is very difficult to say, however, why +it did not commence much earlier, considering that the external air must +have been heavier than that in the cave long before 7 o'clock. M. Thury +refers to the mirage as a somewhat similar instance, that <a name= +"Page_314"><span class="pagenum">[Page 314]</span></a> phenomenon +being explained by the supposition that atmospheric layers of different +temperatures lie one above another in clearly-defined strata. He suggests, +also, that as the heavier air tends to pass down into the cave, the less +cold air already in the cave tends to pass out; and the narrow entrance +confining the struggle between the opposing tendencies to a very small +area, the weaker initial current is able for a time to hold its own +against the intruder. On this supposition, it is easy to see that when the +rupture does occur it will be violent.</p> + +<p>The next day, M. Thury arrived at the glacière at 9.50 A.M. He +had determined, in the summer, that the temperature of the cave was +invariable, at any rate through the 3-1/2 hours of his visit (from 7.30 to +11 A.M.); but his winter experience was very different. The following are +the results of his observations.</p> + +<p>In the cave:--</p> + +<br /> +<table frame="void" summary="M. Thurys observations"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>January</td> +<td>9,</td> +<td>at</td> +<td>7.16 P.M.<a name="FNanchor218"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_218"><sup>[218]</sup></a></td> +<td>...</td> +<td>30°·884</td> +<td>Fahr.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>7.20 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>29°·75</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>7.27 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>27°·5</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>7.50 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>26°·834</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>January</td> +<td>10,</td> +<td>at</td> +<td>10.12 A.M.</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>23°·684</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>10.30 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>23°·9</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>11.20 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>24°·022</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>12.14 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>24°·134</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>1.30 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>24°·35</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>2.30 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>24°·584</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>3.14 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>24°·8</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>"</td> +<td>4.0 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>25°·142</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Supposing the weather to have been much the same on the 9th and 10th of +January, as M. Thury's account seems to say, there is something very +strange in the great difference between the temperatures registered at 4 +P.M. on the one day, and at 7.16 P.M. on the other.</p> + +<p>The external temperatures at the mouth of the cave were as +follows:--</p> + +<table frame="void" summary="Temperatures in St. Georges"> +<tr> +<td></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>January</td> +<td>10,</td> +<td>at</td> +<td>10.53 A.M.</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>25°·934</td> +<td>Fahr.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>11.14 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>26°·384</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>11.45 "</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>28°·04</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>12.32 P.M.</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>27°·944</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>1.12</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>30°·644</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>3.3</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>26°·834</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>3.56</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>25°·7</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>"</td> +<td></td> +<td>"</td> +<td>4.26</td> +<td>...</td> +<td>25°·25</td> +<td>"</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<a name="Page_315"><span class="pagenum">[Page 315]</span></a> + +<p>The minimum temperature of the external air during the night of January +10-11 was 18°·392 F., and that of the glacière +19°·76 F.<a name="FNanchor219"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_219"><sup>[219]</sup></a> During the preceding night, the +minimum in the cave was 22°·442 F., which may throw some light +upon the difference between the temperatures at 7.16 P.M. on the 9th, and +at 4 P.M. on the 10th.</p> + +<p>M. Thury bored a hole, of about 10 inches in depth, in the flooring of +ice, and placed a thermometer in it, at 12.25 P.M., closing it up with +cotton. At 2.55 P.M., and at 4.7. P.M., the thermometer marked the same +temperature, namely, 26°·24 F.</p> + +<p>M. Thury's views on glacières in general, based upon the details +of the three which he has visited, are much the same as those which I have +expressed. He has, however, more belief than I in 'cold currents.'</p> + +<hr style="WIDTH: 45%" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>In this neighbourhood, the <i>montagne</i> of any <i>commune</i> is +represented by the feminine form of the name of the village: thus, <i> +L'Arzière</i> is the <i>montagne</i> of Arzier, and <i>La +Bassine</i> of Bassin.</p> + +<p>This has a curious effect in the case of some villages—such, for +instance, as S. Georges—one of the landmarks of the district between +the lakes of Joux and Geneva being the <i>Châlet de la S. +Georges</i>, a grammatical anomaly which puzzles a stranger descending the +southernmost slope of the Jura from the Asile de Marchairuz. This law of +formation is not universal; for the <i>montagnes</i> of Rolle and S. +Livres are called the <i>Prè de Rolle</i> and the <i>Prè de +S. Livres</i>, while the <i>Fruitière de Nyon</i> is the rich +upland possession of the town of that name.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Probably a relic of the time when the earlier Barons of Coppet +possessed this district. The families of Grandson, Lesdiguières, +and Dohna successively held the barony; and in later times the title <i>de +Coppet</i> hid a name more widely known, for on the Châlet of <i>Les +Biolles</i>, some distance to the east of La Baronne, the name of <i> +Auguste de Staël de Holstein de Coppet</i> is carved, after the +fashion of Swiss châlets. This was Madame de Staël's son, who +built Biolles in 1817; it was afterwards sold to the commune of Nyon, and +finally purchased by Arzier two or three years ago.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Cornhill Magazine,' June 1863, 'How we slept at the Châlet des +Chèvres.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>This is only a guess, made from a comparison with the ascertained +heights of neighbouring points.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The patois of Vaud has a prettier name for this kind of +stone—<i>le sex</i> (or <i>scex) qui plliau</i>, the +weeping-stone.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I brought one of these to England, and am told that it is the <i> +Stenophylax hieroglyphicus</i> of Stephens, or something very like that +fly.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Since writing this, I have been told that some English officers who +visited the cave in the August of 1864 found no ice in any part.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8">[8]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See also p. 231.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9">[9]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 145.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor10">[10]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 301.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor11">[11]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>It is possible that the freezing of the surface may play a curious part +in the phenomena of the spring season in such caves. Supposing the surface +to be completely frost-bound, all atmospheric pressure will be removed +from the upper surface of the water in the long fissures, and thus water +may be held in suspension, in the centre of large masses of fissured rock, +during the winter months. The first thorough thaw will have the same +effect as the removal of the thumb from the upper orifice in the case of +the hand-shower-bath; and the water thus rained down into the cave will +have a temperature sufficiently high to destroy some portion of the cold +stored up by the descent of the heavy atmosphere of winter, or at least to +melt out the ice which may have blocked up the lower ends of the +fissures.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor12">[12]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>On our previous visit, in 1861, we passed from Arzier through Longirod +and Marchissy, stopping to measure and admire the huge lime-tree in the +churchyard of the latter village. Our Swiss companion on that occasion was +anxious that we should carry home some ice from the cave; and as the +communal law forbade the removal of the ice by strangers, he hunted up a +cousin in Marchissy, and sent him with a <i>hotte</i> across country, +while we went innocently by the ordinary route through S. Georges. The +cousin, however, contrived to lose himself in the woods, and we never +heard of him again.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor13">[13]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The size of this basin is exaggerated in the engraving on page 24, +owing to the roughness of the original sketch.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor14">[14]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See p. 253.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor15">[15]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>For further details on this point see pages 54 and 83.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor16">[16]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>These ladders have at best but little stability, as they consist of two +uprights, careless about the coincidence of the holes, with bars poked +loosely through and left to fall out or stay in as they choose, the former +being the prevailing choice. One of the ladders happened to be firmer than +the generality of its kind; but, unfortunately, its legs were of unequal +lengths, and so it turned round with one of my sisters, leaving her +clinging like a cat to the under side. When the bars are sufficiently +loose, a difference of a few inches in the lengths of the legs is not of +so much importance.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor17">[17]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>M. Thury found this hole, and fathomed it to a depth of 6-1/2 +mètres.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor18">[18]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Sancti Liberii locus</i>, the Swiss Dryasdust explains. There is +nothing to connect any known S. Liberius with this neighbourhood, unless +it be the Armenian prince who secretly left his father's court for +Jerusalem, and was sought for throughout Burgundy and other countries. It +seems that Saint Oliver is merely a corruption of S. Liberius, the Italian +form of the latter, Santo Liverio, having become Sant-Oliverio, as S. Otho +became in another country Sant Odo, and thence San Todo, thus creating a +new Saint, S. Todus.—Act SS. May 27.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor19">[19]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>My sisters made a two-days' excursion from Arzier to this +glacière in the autumn of 1862, and found no snow in the bottom of +the pit. They took the route by Gimel to Bière, intending to defer +the visit to the glacière to the morning of the second day; but +being warned by the appearance known locally as <i>le sappeur qui +fume</i>, a vaporous cloud at the mouth of a cavern near the Dent d'Oche, +on the other side of the Lake of Geneva, they caught the communal forester +at once, and put themselves under his guidance. The distance from +Bière is two hours' good walking, and an hour and a half for the +return. There was no ladder for the final descent, and the neighbouring +châlet could provide nothing longer than 15 feet, the drop being 30 +feet. Two Frenchmen had attempted to make their way to the cave a week +before; but the old 30-foot ladder of the previous year broke under the +foremost of them, and he fell into the pit, whence he was drawn up by +means of a cord composed of rack-ropes from the châlet, tied +together. However useful a string of cow-ties may be for rescuing a man +from such a situation, A. and M. did not care to make use of that +apparatus for a voluntary descent, so they were perforce contented with a +distant view of the ice from the lower edge of the pit.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor20">[20]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See the section of this cave and pit on page 41.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor21">[21]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>A point common to the two sections, which are made by planes nearly at +right angles to each other.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor22">[22]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The dimensions of the two caves, and of the various masses of ice.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor23">[23]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The Cartulary of Lausanne states that the wealthy village of +Bière received its name from the following historical +fact:—In 522, the Bishop of Lausanne, S. Prothais, was +superintending the cutting of wood in the Jura for his cathedral, when he +died suddenly, and was carried down on a litter to a place where a proper +<i>bier</i> could he procured, whence the place was named +Bière.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor24">[24]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The most curious pit of this kind is the <i>frais-puits</i> of Vesoul, +in the Vosgian Jura, which pours forth immense quantities of water after +rain has fallen in the neighbourhood. The water rushes out in the shape of +a fountain, and on one occasion, in November 1557, saved the town of +Vesoul from pillage by a passing army. This pit is carefully described by +M. Hassenfratz, in the <i>Journal de Physique</i>, t. xx. p. 259 (an. +1782), where he says that Cæsar was driven away from the town of +Vesoul, which he had intended to besiege, by the floods of water poured +forth from the <i>frais-puits</i>. I know of no such incident in +Cæsar's life, though M. Hassenfratz quotes Cæsar's own words: +the town of Vesoul, too, had no historical existence before the 9th or +10th century of our era. There is also a pit near Vesoul which contains +icicles in summer, and may be the same as the <i>frais-puits</i>, for the +old historian of Franche Comté, Gollut, in describing the latter, +mentions that it is so cold that no one cares to explore it (pp. 91. +92).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor25">[25]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See p. 122.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor26">[26]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Jean Bontemps, Conseiller au bailliage d'Arbois.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor27">[27]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Allez vous en reposer, rafraischir et boire un coup au chasteau, car +vous en avez bon besoin; j'ay du vin d'Arbois en mes offices, dont je vous +envoyeray deux bouteilles, car je scay bien que vous ne le hayés +pas.'—<i>Petitot</i>. iii. 9.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor28">[28]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Mém. de la Comté de Bourgougne, Dôle, 1592, p. +486.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor29">[29]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>One of the Seigneurs de Chissey, Michaud de Changey, who died in high +office in 1480, was known by preeminence as <i>le Brave</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor30">[30]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Dr. Buckland visited these caves in 1826, to look for bones, of which +he found a great number. Gollut (in 1592) spelled the name <i>Aucelle</i>, +and derived it from <i>Auricella</i>, believing that the Romans worked a +gold mine there. It is certain that both the Doubs and the Loue supplied +very fine gold, and the Seigneurs of Longwy had a chain made of the gold +of those rivers, which weighed 160 crowns.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor31">[31]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Dion Cass. lib. lxiii.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor32">[32]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Ib. lib. lxvi.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor33">[33]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Known locally as the <i>Porte Noire</i>, like the great <i>Porta +Nigra</i> at Treves, and other Roman gates in Gaul.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor34">[34]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I should be inclined, from what I saw of the country, to go to the +station of Baume-les-Dames on any future visit, and walk thence to the +glacière, perhaps three leagues from the station.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor35">[35]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>He was in error. The Paris correspondent of the 'Times' gave, some +months since (see the impression of Jan. 20, 1865), an account of an +interesting trial respecting the manufacture of the liqueur peculiar to +the Abbey of Grâce-Dieu. From this account it appears that the +liqueur was formerly called the Liqueur of the Grâce-Dieu, but is +now known as Trappistine. It is limpid and oily; possesses a fine aroma, a +peculiar softness, a mild but brisk flavour, and so on. It was invented by +an ecclesiastic who was once the Brother Marie-Joseph, and prior of the +convent, but is now M. Stremler, having been released by the Pope from his +vows of obedience and poverty, in order that he might teach Christianity +to the infidels of the New World. The Brothers took the question of the +renunciation of poverty into their own hands, by declining to give up the +money which Brother Marie-Joseph had originally brought into the society; +so M. Stremler, being now moneyless, commenced the secular manufacture of +the seductive Trappistine, in opposition to the regular manufacture within +the walls of the Abbey, abstaining, however, from the use of the religious +label which is the Brothers' trade-mark. The unfortunate inventor was +fined and condemned in costs for his piracy.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor36">[36]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See p. 310.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor37">[37]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Journal des Mines</i>, Prairial, an iv., pp. 65, &c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor38">[38]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>One of the rights of the sovereigns of Burgundy was known by this name. +The sovereign had the power of sending one soldier incapacitated by war to +each abbey in the County, and the authorities of the abbey were bound to +make him a prebendary for life. In 1602, after the siege of Ostend, the +Archduke Albert exercised this right in favour of his wounded soldiers, +forcing lay-prebendaries upon almost all the abbeys of the County of +Burgundy. The Archduchess Isabella attempted to quarter such a prebendary +upon the Abbey of Migette, a house of nuns, but the inmates successfully +refused to receive the warrior among them (Dunod, <i>Hist. de +l'Église de Besançon</i>, i. 367). For the similar right in +the kingdom of France, see Pasquier, <i>Recherches de la France</i>, l. +xii. p. 37. Louis XIV. did not exercise this right after his conquest of +the Franche Comté, perhaps because the Hôtel des Invalides, +to which the Church was so large a contributor, met all his wants.</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor39">[39]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'<i>Quand on veut du poisson, il se faut mouiller</i>;' referring +probably to the method of taking trout practised in the Ormont valley, the +habitat of the purest form of the patois. A man wades in the Grand' Eau, +with a torch in one hand to draw the fish to the top, and a sword in the +other to kill them when they arrive there; a second man wading behind with +a bag, to pick up the pieces.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor40">[40]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Swift-foot Almond, and land-louping Braan.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor41">[41]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The sentry-box is omitted in the accompanying illustration.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor42">[42]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Believed to be derived from <i>Collis Dianæ</i>. Dunod found that +<i>Chaudonne</i> was an early form of the name, and so preferred <i>Collis +Dominarum</i>, with reference to the house of nuns placed there.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor43">[43]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Schmidt was not without the support of example in the indulgence of his +warlike tastes. Thirty-eight years before, the religious took so active a +part in the defence of Dôle against Louis XIII., that the Capuchin +Father d'Iche had the direction of the artillery; and when an officer of +the enemy had seized the Brother Claude by the cowl, the Father Barnabas +made the officer loose his hold by slaying him with a demi-pique. When +Arbois was besieged by Henry IV., the Sieur Chanoine Pécauld is +specially mentioned as proving himself a <i>bon harquebouzier.</i></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor44">[44]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>There is a painting by Vander Meulen, representing this siege, in the +Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor45">[45]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The Church of S. Philibert, in Dijon, now a forage magazine, has an +inscription let into the wall almost ludicrously out of keeping with the +present desecrated state of the building,—<i>Dilexi Domine Decorem +Domus tuæ</i>, 1648.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor46">[46]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Qu'on les laisse pour grain!'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor47">[47]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>In the year 1648, it was suspected that some decay was going on in the +material of this Host, and the following translation from the Latin +describes the investigation entered into by the Dean and a large body of +clergy and laity, in order to quiet the public mind:—'Après +que tous les susnommés (viz. the Dean, Canons, President of the +Parliament, &c.) étant présents eurent adorés le +S. Sacrement, la custode fut ouverte avec tout le respect possible; et +alors le dit Doyen aperçut un vermisseau roulé en spirale, +qu'il saisit avec la pointe d'une épingle et plaça sur un +corporal où chacun l'examina; puis on le brûla avec un +charbon pris dans l'encensoir, et ses cendres furent jetées dans la +piscine. On put alors constater tout le dommage que ce misérable +petit animal avait causé aux espèces sacrées dont les +débris ici tombaient en poussière, là se trouvaient +rongés et lacérés, de telle sorte que l'Hostie +n'avait presque plus rien de sa forme circulaire, et présentait de +profondes découpures partout où le vermisseau s'était +livré à ses sinueus es évolutions.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor48">[48]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Aigue</i>, or <i>egue</i>, in the patois of this district, is +equivalent to <i>eau</i>, the Latin <i>aqua</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor49">[49]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Ebel, in his <i>Swiss Manual</i> (French translation of 1818, t. iii.), +mentions this glacière under the head <i>Motiers</i>, and observes +that it and the grotto of S. Georges are the only places in the Jura where +ice remains through the summer. This statement, in common with a great +part of Ebel, has been transferred to the letterpress of <i>Switzerland +Illustrated</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor50">[50]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Switzerland sent 7,500,000 gallons of absinthe to France in 1864.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor51">[51]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Point d'argent, point de Suisse</i>, is a proverbial expression +which the Swiss twist into a historical compliment, asserting that it +arose in early mercenary times, from the fact that they were too virtuous +to accept the suggestion of the general who hired them, and wished them to +take their pay in kind from the defenceless people of the country they had +served.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor52">[52]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>It is probable that the ice is on the increase in this glacière, +and that an archway, now filled up by the growing ice, has at one time +existed in the wall on this side of the care, through which the ice and +water used to pour into the subterranean depths of which the old woman had +told us. At the time of our visit, we could find no outlet.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor53">[53]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The following remarks may give some explanation of the phenomenon of +alternating currents in this cave, I should suppose that during the night +there is atmospheric equilibrium in the cave itself, and in the three pits +A, B, C. When the heat of the sun comes into operation, the three pits are +very differently affected by it, C being comparatively open to the sun's +rays, while A is much less so, and B is entirely sheltered from radiation. +This leads naturally to atmospheric disturbance. The air in the pit C is +made warmer and less heavy than that in A and B, and the consequence is, +that the column of air in C can no longer balance the columns in A and B, +which therefore begin to descend, and so a current of air is driven from +the cave into the pit C. Owing to the elasticity of the atmosphere, even +at a low temperature, this descent, and the consequent rush of air into C, +will be overdone, and a recoil must take place, which accounts for the +return current into the cave from the pit C. The sun can reach A more +easily than B, and thus the air is lighter and more moveable in the former +pit, so that the recoil will make itself more felt in A than in B: +accordingly, we found that the main currents alternated between A and C, +with very slight disturbance in the neighbourhood of B. B will, however, +play its part, and the weighty column of air contained in it will +oscillate, though with smaller oscillations than in the case of A. +Probably, when the sun has left A, while acting still upon C, the return +current from C will be much slighter, and there will be a general settling +of the atmosphere in the pits A and B, until C also is freed from the +sun's action, when the whole system will gradually pass into a state of +equilibrium.</p> + +With respect to the action of the more protected pits, the principle of +the hydraulic ram not unnaturally suggests itself. In considering the +minor details of the currents, such elements as the refrigeration of the +air in its passage across the face of the ice must be taken into account. +It may be observed that the candle did not occupy an <i>intermediate</i> +position with respect to two opposing currents, for it was practically on +the floor of the cave, owing to the continuity of the slope of snow on +which it stood, as shown in the vertical section on p. 108.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor54">[54]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Cruel comme à Morat</i> was long a popular saying.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor55">[55]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See p. 258.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor56">[56]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Acta SS. Bolland. May 9.—If possessed of the characteristics of +his race—'tall and proud'—his activity belies the first line +of the old saying,</p> + +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Lang and lazy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Little and loud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Red and foolish,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Black and proud:'</span><br /> +though possibly the personal habits which a modern spirit loves to point +out, as the great essential of hermit-life, united with the family +characteristic of the early Seton to verify the last line of the +saying.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor57">[57]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Bibl. Univ. de Genève</i>, First Series, xxi. 113. See also +<i>Edinburgh Philosophical Journal</i>, viii. 290.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor58">[58]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Philosophical Magazine</i>, Aug. 1829.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor59">[59]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Colonel Dufour guessed the elevation of the cave, in 1822, at +two-thirds the height of the Niesen, and forty years after, as General +Dufour, he published the result of the scientific survey of Switzerland, +which makes it 1,780 mètres; so that his early guess was not a bad +one.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor60">[60]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>There is a hint of something of this kind in an editorial note in the +<i>Journal des Mines</i> (now <i>Annales des Mines</i>) of Prairial, an. +iv. pp. 71, 72, in connection with the glacière near +Besançon.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor61">[61]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>M. Soret, who visited the Schafloch in September 1860, and communicated +his notes to M. Thury, speaks of many columns in this part of the +glacière, where we found only two. 'L'un d'entre eux,' he says, +'présentait dans sa partie inférieure une petite grotte ou +cavité, assez grande pour qu'un homme pût y entrer en se +courbant.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor62">[62]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See also the note at the end of this chapter.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor63">[63]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Toute la couche supérieure au plan de niveau passant par le +seuil était chargée de brouillard; toute la couche +inférieure à ce niveau était parfaitement limpide.' +(<i>Thury</i>, p. 37.)</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor64">[64]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Respectively, 32°·666, 36°·266, and 32°, +Fahrenheit.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor65">[65]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Since I wrote this chapter, my attention has been called to a tourist's +account of the Schafloch in <i>Once a Week</i> (Nov. 26, 1864), in an +article called <i>An Ice-cavern in the Justis-Thal.</i> The writer +says—'We proceeded to the farther end of the cavern, or at least as +far as we thought it prudent, to ascertain where the flooring of ice +rounded off into the abyss of unfathomable water we heard trickling +below.' One of the party 'having taken some large stones with him, he +began hurling them into the profound mystery. Presently a heavy +double-bass gurgle issued forth with ominous depth of voice, indicating +the danger of farther progress. Having thus ascertained that if either of +us ventured farther he would most probably not return by the way he went, +the signal of retreat was given, and in about forty minutes, after +encountering the same amusing difficulties which had enlivened our +descent, Æneas-like we gained the upper air.' It will be seen from +my account of what we found in the 'abyss of unfathomable water,' that a +little farther exploration might have effected a change in the writer's +views.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor66">[66]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>A Yorkshire farmer unconsciously adapts the German <i>Wolkenbruch</i>, +declaring on occasion that the rain is so heavy, it is 'ommust as if a +clood had brussen someweers.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor67">[67]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I tried the hay in this châlet one night, with such results that +the next time I slept there, two years after, I preferred a combination of +planks.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor68">[68]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>i.e.</i> New milk, warm.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor69">[69]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Otherwise graphically called <i>battu</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor70">[70]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I had no means of determining the elevation of the ground. The fact of +12 feet of snow is of no value as a guide to the height. Last winter +(1864-5) there was 26 feet of snow on the Jura, at a height of less than +4,000 feet, and the position of some of the larger châlets was only +marked by a slight boss on the plane surface.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor71">[71]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>In the section of the cave, I have brought out the deeper pit from the +side into the middle, so as to show both in one section: I have also +slightly shaded the pits, instead of leaving them blank like shafts in the +rock.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor72">[72]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I have made arrangements for completing the exploration of this cave, +and the one which is next described, in the course of the present +summer.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor73">[73]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The true <i>Cimetière des Bourguignons</i> is the enclosure +where René, the victor of Nancy, buried the Burgundians who fell on +the sad Sunday when Charles the Bold went down before the deaf +châtelain Claude de Bagemont.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor74">[74]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Neither of my companions, I fear, would have acted as Sejanus did, when +another emperor was in danger of his life in the cave on the Gulf of +Amyclæ. (Tacit. Ann. iv. 59.)</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor75">[75]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Water reduced to a temperature below 32° without freezing, begins +to freeze as soon as a crystal is dropped into it, the ice forming first +on the faces of the crystal.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor76">[76]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Water attains its maximum of specific gravity at 40°. Below 40° +it becomes lighter.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor77">[77]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Première Série, t. xx. pp. 261, &c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor78">[78]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Less than 1/2° C., he says.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor79">[79]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Bibl. Univ. de Genève</i>, Première Série, t. +xxv. pp. 224, &c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor80">[80]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Bibl. Univ</i>. l.c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor81">[81]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Nouvelle Série, t. xxxiv. p. 196.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor82">[82]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>T. xxx. p. 157.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor83">[83]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Vol. ii. p. 80.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor84">[84]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Jean de Choul, <i>De variâ Quercûs Historia</i>, 1555.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor85">[85]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Gollut, Mém. des Bourg. de la Franche Comté, p. 227.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor86">[86]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Paradin de Cuyseaulx, Annales de Bourgougne, 1566, p. 14.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor87">[87]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Several churches in Vienne are used as foundries and workshops. S. +Peter's church was an iron-foundry four or five years ago, and is in +future to be a museum—a considerable improvement upon its former +use. The grand old church of S. John in Dijon has been rescued from the +hands which made it a depôt of flour, and is being restored to its +original purposes: but such instances are very rare.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor88">[88]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>This family took its rise in Dauphiné, before the district had +that name: the chief place of the family was the château of +Beaumont, near Grenoble.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor89">[89]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The final victory was near Aquæ Sextiæ (Aix).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor90">[90]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The cultivation of the silkworm mulberry will probably die out before +very long. The silk crop has lately failed in Dauphiné, and a +commission for enquiring into the relative merits of different worms has +determined that the Senegal worm produces 633 millegrammes of silk, while +the worm, fed on the mulberry produces only 290. The first mulberry trees +in France were planted in that part of Provence which is enclosed by +Dauphiné.</p> + +The Bishop of Nismes has lately issued a pastoral letter, commanding +prayers to be offered up for the cessation of the malady affecting the +silkworms in his own and the surrounding dioceses.<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor91">[91]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The feudal buildings were razed by order of Richelieu, but the tower +remains a landmark for the valley. Three hundred <i>détenus</i> +were confined here after the <i>coup d'état</i> of December 2, +1851.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor92">[92]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The origin of the name Dauphin seems to be lost in obscurity, though of +comparatively recent date. The Counts d'Albon took the title first in +1140, and their estates were not called the Terra Dalphini, or +Dalphinatus, till 1291. The first Dauphins bore a castle, not a +dolphin.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor93">[93]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The old historian Gollut speaks of the <i>clairets</i> and <i> +clerets</i> as red wines.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor94">[94]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The 'Times' of Oct. 4, 1864, stated that almost no raw silk was offered +at the last markets at Valence and Romans, and but for foreign supplies +the mills must have been closed. The small amount that was offered sold at +from 68 to 72 francs the kilogramme, while foreign cocoons from Calamata +fetched only 22 francs at Marseilles.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor95">[95]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Pausanias says that silkworms are apt to die of indigestion, the +cocoons lying heavy on the stomach.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor96">[96]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>T. xxxv. pp. 244, &c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor97">[97]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>M. de Thury calculated that the thickness of the roof at the lower part +of the cave was about 60 feet of rock. He also noticed the peculiar +structure of the ice, which afforded great surprise to his party. It was +discovered by means of the coloured rays which were thrown into the +different parts of the cave, when some one had casually placed a torch in +a cavity in one of the columns.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor98">[98]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The <i>Caves of Szelicze</i> are mentioned in Murray's <i>Handbook of +Southern Germany</i> (1858, p. 555), where the following account is given +of them:—'During the winter a great quantity of ice accumulates in +these caves, which is not entirely melted before the commencement of the +ensuing winter. In the summer months they are consequently filled with +vast masses of ice broken up into a thousand fantastic forms, and +presenting by their lucidity a singular contrast to the sombre vaults and +massive stalactites of the cavern.'</p> + +The <i>Drachenhöhle</i> (Murray, 1. c.p. 553), a series of caverns +not far from Neusohl in Hungary, afford another instance of an ice-cave, +one of the largest of them being said to be coated with a sheet of +translucid ice, through which the stalactitic fretwork of the vault is +seen to great advantage.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor99">[99]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Not far from Kaschau.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor100">[100]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Travels in Hungary</i>, 1797, pp. 317, &c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor101">[101]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>A Peep into Toorkistan</i>; London, 1846; chapters x. and xi.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor102">[102]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>They were now in a country far removed from the Affghans, and hostile +to that people.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor103">[103]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The remainder of this paragraph is in Captain Burslem's own words.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor104">[104]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I am indebted for the knowledge of the existence of these caves to W.A. +Sandford, Esq., F.G.S., who informed me that an account of them was to be +found in a book of travels by an English officer. I am not aware that they +have been visited on any other occasion than this.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor105">[105]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Reise durch Island</i>, Copenhagen, 1744 (being a German translation +from the original Danish), i. 128 sqq.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor106">[106]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Henderson's Iceland</i>, ii. 189 sqq.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor107">[107]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Pp. 145 sqq.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor108">[108]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The Sturlunga, Landnama, and Holmveria Sagas.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor109">[109]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Two priests determined to solve the mystery of this unapproachable +valley, the Aradal, or Thoris-thal, with its rich meadows and gigantic +inhabitants, and made an expedition for this purpose in 1664. They reached +a point where the glaciers fell off into a valley so deep that they could +not see whether there were meadows at the bottom or not, and the slope was +so rapid that it was impossible to descend.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor110">[110]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Voyage en Islande; Atlas Historique</i>; t. ii., pl. 130-133.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor111">[111]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Iceland: its Scenes and Sagas</i>: pp. 97, 98.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor112">[112]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Page 113.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor113">[113]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Russia and the Ural Mountains</i>, i. 186, sqq.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor114">[114]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See the Papers read before the Geological Society of London, on March +9, 1842, by Sir John Herschel and Sir E. Murchison, the substance of which +has been given above.</p> + +See also the <i>Edinburgh Philosophical Journal</i> for 1843 (xxxv. 191), +for an attempt by Dr. Hope to explain the phenomena of this cave by a +reference to the slow penetration of the winter and summer waves of cold +and heat. Dr. Hope believes that, although the external changes do not +travel to any great depth, they reach far enough to communicate with some +of the fissures leading to the cave.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor115">[115]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Voyages</i> (French translation); Paris, 1788; i. 364.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor116">[116]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>In the gypsum to the NE. of Kungur, on the banks of the Iren, there is +a cave containing ice. Four of its chambers have ice, in one of which a +stalagmite of ice rises almost to the roof. The farthest chamber, 625 +fathoms from the entrance, contains a lake of water which stretches away +out of sight under the low roof. (<i>Taschenbuch für die gesammte +Mineralogie</i>; Leonhard, 1826; B. 2, S. 425. Published as <i>Zeitschrift +für Mineralogie</i>.)</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor117">[117]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Pallas, <i>Voyages</i>, i. 84.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor118">[118]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Teneriffe</i>, by Professor Smyth, ch. viii., and Humboldt, <i> +Voyage aux Régions Équinoctiales</i>; Paris, 1814; i. +124.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor119">[119]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>They afterwards discovered smoke issuing from the centre of this patch +of stones; so that volcanic heat may possibly have had something to do +with the disappearance of the snow.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor120">[120]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'<i>Ce petit glacier souterrain</i>,' Humboldt, l.c.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor121">[121]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See p. 272 for an account of the underground glacier in the +neighbourhood of the Casa Inglese.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor122">[122]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Several of these caves are referred to by Reich, <i>Beobachtungen +über die Temperatur des Gesteins in verschiedenen Tiefen in den +Gruben des Sächsischen Erzgebirges;</i> Freiberg, 1834.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor123">[123]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Naturwunder des Oesterr. Kaiserthums</i>, iii. 40.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor124">[124]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Mittheil. des Oesterr. Alpen-Vereins</i>, ii. 441. I am indebted to +G.C. Churchill, Esq., one of the authors of the well-known book on the +Dolomite Mountains, for my knowledge of the existence of this cave, and of +the Kolowrathöhle.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor125">[125]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Beschreibung merkwürdiger Höhlen</i>, ii. 283.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor126">[126]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Geognostísche Reschreibung des bayerischen Alpengebirges</i>; +Gotha, 1861.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor127">[127]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>These constitute the upper bone bed and Dachstein limestone beds of the +uppermost part of the Trias formation.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor128">[128]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Hereynia Curiosa</i>, cap. v. The same account is given in Behren's +<i>Natural History of the Harz Forest</i>, of which an English translation +was published in 1730.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor129">[129]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See also Muncke, <i>Handbuch der Naturlehre</i>, iii. 277; Heidelberg, +1830.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor130">[130]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See page 58. The more modern spelling is <i>frais-puits</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor131">[131]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>liv. 292.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor132">[132]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Described by Schaller, <i>Leitmeritzer Kreis</i>, p. 271, and by +Sommer, in the same publication, p. 331. I have not been able to procure +this book.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor133">[133]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Böhmens Topogr.</i>, i. 339. This reference is given by +Professor Pleischl.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor134">[134]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Annalen</i>, lxxxi. 579.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor135">[135]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I was told, in 1864, by a chamois-hunter of Les Plans, a valley two +hours above Bex, that some years before he was cutting a wood-road through +the forest early in September, when, at a depth of 6 inches below the +surface, he found the ground frozen hard. We visited the place together, +but could find no ice. The whole ground was composed of a mass of loose +round stones, with a covering of earth and moss, and the air in the +interstices was peculiarly cold and dry.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor136">[136]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Beobachtungen</i>, &c. (see note on p. 258), 181.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor137">[137]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Reich found the temperature of the ice to be 31·982° F., +that of the air in the immediate vicinity 34·025°, and the +rock, at a little distance, 32·765°.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor138">[138]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>iii. 150.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor139">[139]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See many careful descriptions of these caves in the <i>Annales de +Chimie</i>; also, an account by Professor Ansted, in his <i>Science, +Scenery, and Art</i>, p. 29. M. Chaptal (<i>Ann. de Chimie</i>, iv. 34) +found the lowest temperature of the currents of cold air to be +36º·5 F.; but M. Girou de Buzareingues <i>(Ann. de Chimie et +de Phys</i>., xlv. 362) found that with a strong north wind, the +temperature of the external air being 55º·4 F., the coldest +current gave 35º·6 F.; with less external wind, still blowing +from the north, the external air lost half a degree centigrade of heat, +while the current in the cave rose to 38º·75 F. The cellars in +which the famous cheese of Roquefort is ripened are not subterranean, but +are buildings joined on to the rock at the mouths of the fissures whence +the currents proceed. They are so valuable, that one, which cost 12,000 +francs in construction, sold for 215,000 francs. The cheese of this +district has had a great reputation from very early times. Pliny (<i>Hist. +Nat</i>. xi. 97) mentions, with commendation, the cheeses of Lesura (<i>M. +Lozère</i> or <i>Losère</i>) and Gabalum (<i>Gevaudan, +Javoux</i>). The idolaters of Gevaudan offered cheeses to demons by +throwing them into a lake on the Mons Helanus <i>(Laz des Helles?</i>) and +it was not till the year 550 that S. Hilary, Bishop of Mende, succeeded in +putting a stop to this practice.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor140">[140]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>It would seem from his own account of the Sauberg, and from the +description given above of the presence of ice among the rocky <i> +débris</i>, as well as from the account on this page of ice in +Virginia, that a formation of loose stones is favourable to the existence +of a low degree of temperature. See also the note on p. 263, with respect +to the loose stones near Les Plans. Forchhammer found, on the Faroë +Islands, that springs which rise from loose stones are invariably colder +than those which proceed from more solid rock at the same elevation, as +indeed might have been expected.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor141">[141]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>xvii. 337. The account is taken from a Dutch journal.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor142">[142]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>xix. p. 124.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor143">[143]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>October 11, 1829.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor144">[144]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>viii. 254.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor145">[145]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Pp. 174-6.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor146">[146]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Thermometer about 85° F.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor147">[147]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>v. 154.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor148">[148]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>iv. 300.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor149">[149]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Die erlöschenen Vulkane in der Eifel</i>, S. 59.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor150">[150]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Dr. Gmelin, of Tubingen, detected the presence of ammonia both in +clinkstone lava and in columnar basalt (<i>American Journal of +Science</i>, iv. 371).]</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor151">[151]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Geology and Extinct Volcanoes of Central France</i>, p. 60 (second +edition).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor152">[152]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Mr. William Longman has informed me that some years ago he had ice +given him in summer, when he was on a visit to the inspector of mines at +Pont Gibaud, and he was told that it was formed in a neighbouring cavern +during the hot season.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor153">[153]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Original edition of 1830, i. 369.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor154">[154]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See Professor Tyndall's <i>Glaciers of the Alps</i>, for an account of +glacier-tables, sand-cones, &c. Anyone who has walked on a glacier will +have noticed the little pits which any small black substance, whether a +stone or a dead insect, sinks for itself in the ice.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor155">[155]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Gilbert, <i>Annalen</i>, lxix. 143.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor156">[156]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>According to the latest accounts I have been able to obtain, a +temperature of 29·75° F. had already been reached some years +ago; the temperature, a few feet from the surface, being 14° below +freezing. The soil here only thaws to a depth of 3 feet in the hottest +summer. Sir R. Murchison wrote to Russia, in February last, for further +information regarding this well.</p> + +<p>Since I wrote this, Sir Roderick Murchison has applied to the Secretary +of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg for further information +respecting the investigations at Jakutsk. The Secretary gives a reference +to Middendorff's <i>Sibirische Reise</i>, Bd. iv. Th. i., 3te Lieferung, +<i>Klima</i>, 1861. I have only been able to find the edition of 1848-51; +but in that edition, under the heading <i>Meteorologische +Beobachtungen</i>, elaborate tables of the meteorological condition of +Jakutsk are given (i. 28-49). Also, under the heading <i>Geothermische +Beobachtungen</i>, very careful information respecting the frozen earth +will be found (i. 157, &c., and 178, &c.). The point at which a +temperature of 32° will be attained, is reckoned variously at from 600 +to 1,000 feet below the surface.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor157">[157]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Reise im Russischen Reich, i. 359; St. Petersburg, 1772.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor158">[158]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>xxxviii. 231 (an. 1791), in an article called <i>Notice minéral, +de la Daourie</i></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor159">[159]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>L.c., p. 236.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor160">[160]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Beobachtungen</i>, &c., 194.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor161">[161]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Mundus Subterraneus</i>, i. 220 (i. 239, in the edition of +1678).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor162">[162]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>'Vidi ego in Monte Sorano cryptam veluti glacie incrustatam, ingentibus +in fornice hinc inde stiriis dependentibus, e quibus vicini mentis +accolæ pocula æstivo tempore conficiunt, aquæ vinoque +quæ iis infunduntur refrigerandis aptissima, extremo rigore in +summas bibentium delicias commutato.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor163">[163]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Both here and at Schemnitz, Kircher made particular enquiries on a +subject of which scientific men have altogether lost sight. At Schemnitz +he asked the superintendent, <i>an comparcant Dæmunculi vel +pygmæi in fodinis?—respondit affirmative, et narrat plura +exempla</i>; and at Herrengrund, <i>utrum appareant Dæmunculi seu +pygmæi?—respondit tales visos fuisse, et auditos pluries</i>. +(Edition of 1678, ii. 203, 205.)</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor164">[164]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Reich, 199.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor165">[165]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>i. 108 (Lyon, 1794).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor166">[166]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Ueber die unterirdischen Gasarten</i>, 101.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor167">[167]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>xvii. 386.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor168">[168]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Mém. sur les Basaltes de la Saxe</i>, p. 147.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor169">[169]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Mineralog. Reisen</i>, ii. 123.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor170">[170]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Reich, 200, 201; Bischof, <i>Physical Researches on the Internal Heat +of the Globe</i>, 46, 47.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor171">[171]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Peters, <i>Geologische und mineralogische Studien aus dem +sudöstlichen Ungarn</i>, in the <i>Sitzungsberichte der kais. Ak. in +Wien</i>, B. xliii., 1te Abth., S. 435. See also pages 394 and 418 of the +same volume (year 1861).]</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor172">[172]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Such ladders are in ordinary use in the Jura.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor173">[173]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Turquie d'Europe,</i> i. 132 (he quotes himself as i. 180, in the +<i>Sitzungsb, der k. Ak. in Wien</i>, xlix. l.324).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor174">[174]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>L. c., p, 521.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor175">[175]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>As Gollut's phraseology is peculiar, it may be as well to reproduce his +account of the cave:—'Je ne veux pas omettre toutefois (puisque je +suis en ces eaux) de mettre en memoire la commodité que nature hat +doné à quelques delicats, puis qu'au fond d'un +mõntagne de Leugné, la glace (<i>glasse</i> in the index), +se treuve en esté, pour le plaisir de ceux qui aim[~e]t a boire +frais. Néanmoins dans ce t[~e]ps cela se perd, nõ pour autre +raison (ainsi que íe pense) que pour ce que lon hat +dépouillé le dessus de la mõtagne d'une +époisse et aulte fustaie de bois, qui ne permettoit pas que les +raions du soleil vinsent échauffer la terre et déseicher les +distillations, que se couloi[~e]t iusques au plus bas et plus froid de la +montagne: ou (par l'antipéristase) le froid s'epoississoit, et se +reserroit, contre les chaleurs, entornantes et environnantes le long de +l'esté, toute la circonference extérieure du +mont.'—<i>Histoire</i>, &c. p. 87.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor176">[176]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Hist. de l'Acad</i>., t. ii., p. 2.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor177">[177]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Hist. de l'Acad.</i>, an 1712, p. 20.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor178">[178]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>C'est à dire</i>—M. Billerez explains—<i>à +10 degrés au-dessous du très-grand froid.</i> What the +60° may be worth, I cannot say.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor179">[179]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Tournefort (<i>Voyage du Levant</i>, iii. 17) believed that the +ammoniac salt, of which the earth was full in some districts near +Erzeroum, had something to do with the persistence of snow on the ground +there.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor180">[180]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Hist, de l'Acad.,</i> an 1726, p. 16.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor181">[181]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>But see on this point the experience of M. Thury, in the +Glacière of S. Georges (Appendix).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor182">[182]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Sir Roderick Murchison's suggestion of the possible influence of salt +in producing the phenomena of his ice-cave in Russia, did not, of course, +proceed upon the supposition of salt actually mingling with water, but +only of its increasing the evaporation of the air which came in contact +with it.]</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor183">[183]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Mém. présentés à l'Académie par +divers Sçavans</i>, i, 195.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor184">[184]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>A long account was published in a history of Burgundy, printed at +Dijon, in quarto, in 1737, which I have not been able to find. It was from +the same source as the account in the Hist. of the Academy, in 1726.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor185">[185]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>I took this earth to be a collection of the particles carried down the +slope of ice by the heavy rains of the month preceding my visit. M. de +Cossigny speaks of the abundant rains of July, his visit being in +August.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor186">[186]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Recherches sur la Chaleur</i>; Geneva and Paris, 1792.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor187">[187]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 65. Now called <i>Annales des Mines</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor188">[188]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>T. xlv. p. 160</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor189">[189]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Bibliothèque Universelle de Genève</i>, +Première Série, t. xx.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor190">[190]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See De Saussure's account of his numerous observations of such caves in +the <i>Voyage dans les Alpes</i>, sections 1404-1415.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor191">[191]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 271.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor192">[192]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>xxi. 113.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor193">[193]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 271.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor194">[194]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Daubuisson estimated the depth in question at from 46 to +61 feet, while Kupffer put it at 77 feet.</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor195">[195]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>De Saussure found a variation of 2°·25 F. at a depth of +29·5 feet; but this was in a well, where the influence of the +atmosphere was allowed to have effect. Naturally, the fissures which there +may be in the rock surrounding a cave will increase the annual variation +of temperature, by affording means of easier penetration to the heat and +cold.</p> + +Sir K. Murchison's cavern in Russia would seem to be entirely <i>sui +generis</i>.<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor196">[196]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The continued extrication of latent heat by ice, as it is cooled a few +degrees below 32° F., appears to indicate a molecular change +subsequent to the first freezing.—<i>Phil. Trans.</i>, as quoted in +the next note.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor197">[197]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See the paper 'On Liquid Diffusion as applied to Analysis,' by the +Master of the Mint (<i>Phil. Trans.</i> 1861, p. 222).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor198">[198]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Compare the description of one of the hollow stalagmites +I explored in the Schafloch, p. 145.<br /> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor199">[199]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Professor Tyndall has pointed out that, owing to the want of perfect +homogeneity, some parts of a block of ice exposed to a temperature of +32° F. will melt, while others remain solid <i>(Phil. Trans</i>. 1858, +p. 214). He also arrived at the conclusion (p. 219) that heat could be +conducted through the substance of a mass, and melt portions of the +interior, without visible prejudice to the solidity of the other parts of +the mass.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor200">[200]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Journal des Mines</i>, xxxiii. 157. See also an English translation +of his account in the second volume of the <i>Edinburgh Journal of +Science</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor201">[201]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>It is to be hoped that the accuracy of his scientific descriptions +exceeds that of his topographical information; for he states that the +glacière is two leagues from Valence, whereas it cost me six hours' +drive on a level road, and five and a half hours' walking and climbing, to +reach it from that town.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor202">[202]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Branch <i>Physique</i>, article <i>Glace</i></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor203">[203]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>P. 146 (an. 1853).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor204">[204]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Dr. Lister experimented on sea-water in December 1684 (<i>Ph. +Trans</i>, xiv. 836), and found that though it took two nights to freeze, +it was much harder when once frozen than common ice, lasting for +three-quarters of an hour under a heat which melted 100 times its bulk of +common ice at once. It was marked with oblong squares, and had a salt +taste. Ice formed from water with an admixture of sulphuric acid is said +to assume a crystalline appearance.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor205">[205]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See also a pamphlet entitled <i>Das unterirdische Eisfeld bei der +Dornburg am Südlichen Fusse des Westerwaldes</i>, by Thomä of +Wiesbaden (32 pages, with a map of the district), published in 1841.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor206">[206]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>But see page 262.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor207">[207]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>lv. (an 1842), 472.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor208">[208]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Journal de Physique</i>, xxvi. (an 1785), 34.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor209">[209]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>In looking through some early volumes of the <i>Philosophical +Transactions</i>, I found an 'Extract of a letter written by Mr. Muraltus +of Zurich (September 1668), concerning the Icy and Chrystallin Mountains +of Helvetia, called the Gletscher, English'd out of Latin' (<i>Phil. +Trans.</i> iv. 982), which at first looked something like an assertion of +the prismatic structure of ice on a large scale. The English version is as +follows:—'The snow melted by the heat of the summer, other snow +being faln within a little while after, and hardened into ice, which by +little and little in a long tract of time depurating itself turns into a +stone, not yielding in hardness and clearness to chrystall. Such stones +closely joyned and compacted together compose a whole mountain, and that a +very firm one; though in summer-time the country-people have observed it +to burst asunder with great cracking, thunder-like.'</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor210">[210]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>See the woodcut illustrating Professor Tyndall's remarks in the 148th +volume of the <i>Philosophical Transactions</i> (1858, p. 214).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor211">[211]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Bischof, <i>Physical Researches</i>, 189.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor212">[212]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Philosophical Magazine</i>, v. 446 (1834).</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor213">[213]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p><i>Annules de Chimie et de Physique</i>, liii. 2-10. See also Bischof, +136.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor214">[214]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The English edition of Bischof affords here a proof of the danger of +frequent changes from one scale to another. Bischof in the first instance +rendered Boussingault into degrees Réaumur, and this was in turn +reduced to degrees Fahrenheit; the result being that the authorised +English edition of his book gives 2°·25 F. for 127·5 +feet, which does not come within 10 feet of Boussingault's statement.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor215">[215]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>M. Thury calculates a decrease of 1° C. for every 174 mètres +between Geneva and S. Bernard, which is less than the decrease given in +the text. He arrives at this conclusion by correcting the mean temperature +of Geneva from 8°·9 C., the observed mean of eighteen years, to +9°·9 C., in consequence of supposed local causes, which unduly +depress the temperature of Geneva. With the mean 8°·9 C. a +result nearly in accordance with that of the text is obtained.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor216">[216]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>Professor Phillips found, in the course of his investigations in the +Monk Wearmouth mines, some hundreds of yards below the sea, that when a +new face of rock was exposed, its temperature was considerably higher than +that of the gallery or shaft in which it lay. In some cases the difference +amounted to 9 and 10 degrees. The rock soon cooled down to an agreement +with the surrounding temperature.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor217">[217]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>This was given by a thermometer only placed in the cave at 7 P.M., and +by construction not very sensible.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor218">[218]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>The moment when the disturbance of the atmosphere commenced.</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Footnote_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor219">[219]</a></p> + +<div class="note"> +<p>M. Thury gives—4°·62 C. as the minimum in the +glacière during the night in question; but on the next page he +gives—6°·8 C. (=19°·76 F.). It is evident, +from a comparison with other details of his observations, that the latter +is the correct account.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<hr /> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14012 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + + diff --git a/14012-h/images/image1.jpg b/14012-h/images/image1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b3e16e --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image1.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image10.jpg b/14012-h/images/image10.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..139ca8e --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image10.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image11.jpg b/14012-h/images/image11.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..74e9b4d --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image11.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image12.jpg b/14012-h/images/image12.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09247a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image12.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image13.jpg b/14012-h/images/image13.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..273ee4c --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image13.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image2.jpg b/14012-h/images/image2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1edad0 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image2.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image3.jpg b/14012-h/images/image3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2567bc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image3.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image4.jpg b/14012-h/images/image4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b19ed6 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image4.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image5.jpg b/14012-h/images/image5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ed2c27 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image5.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image6.jpg b/14012-h/images/image6.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..94f708a --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image6.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image7.jpg b/14012-h/images/image7.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b11b4f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image7.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image8.jpg b/14012-h/images/image8.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f9049a --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image8.jpg diff --git a/14012-h/images/image9.jpg b/14012-h/images/image9.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5da85ad --- /dev/null +++ b/14012-h/images/image9.jpg |
