The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-19 00:00:00

ASCENT OF MONT BLANC.

whose photographic
The following accounatecioufirtehde
faosrcehnitmofa w
was
a t
Chamounix,
an
Blanc by a photographer will be read with • Mott'.'
interest
—,, On the 22d ult., M. Bisson,
ascent
labours have already
de-
cided on, and took place in the course of thaw:lads
f tteehlrl
e
m weathere r ite d
appearing
favourable,
the photographer, the
noon, the party consisting of
guide Balmat, and 2 men, to carry the tent and
arrived at the Grand
awl
al
sthlieghatpepdaor ant utsi.le At nine o'clock at night they
rest of some hours
point of the rock,
s- ulets, and a Bengal fire
a salute of cannon at Chamounix. which
wasA
answered by
tookthe
came place,
ont duringln
about which h i c
thw ao
hours it subsided, and
care-
fully tied to each other pwith
ar
ropes,y proceededand eaehcarrying a lantern. At six in th morning
they reached the Grand Plateau, but did not stop
there in order to sooner reach the Petits-
Mulcts. Scarcely, however, had they done so
than they were assailed by a complete tempest,
which whirled such clouds of snow around them
that the whole party could not see a foot before
them. M. Bisson asked the guide whether the
tent could not be pitched, to which the reply was,
Do you wish to see Chamounix again? We have
e 8
only just time to regain the Grands Mul tfor
the avalanches are about to fall, and We '
shall
not be long in safety here.' They then began
to descend with all possible despatch, and suc-
ceeded in reaching the Grand /quiets f
they bad started in the morning.
Tht rain which
e avalanches
were heard falling on every side.
men had almost lost their sight, and Two of the
were unable to proceed any further. three others
and Balmat were suffering MM. Bisson
violently from pains in
their head, but it was determined to await a change
of weather and again ascend.
The invalids were
sent back to Chamounix and seven fresh men sent
for. At midnight the
sky had become perfectly
clear, and at seven
again started for e, clock in the morning they
the Petits Mulets, and at eight
o'clock had reached
difficulties for the the summit. Nowbegan.
_fresh
photographer, for the different
operations had to be
performed at aheight of 4,810
yards above the level of the sea. All the persons
present were overcome with sleep, and MM. Bisson
and Balmat had to unpack all the apparatus thera-
seilves. Water was wanted for the washing of the
plates, and none could be procured by meltmeltinn snow
with the lamps, for the latter would b
lig A burn in
such a rarefied air. At length, howuver, a little of
the precious liquid was obtained, three
views were
taken, the apparatus repacked, and the
_ l party safely
returned to Chamounix, having for the first time
taken a photograph of the panorama of the Alps
from the summit of the Monarch of Mountains."

The Moniteur de la Rate says :—" By adviceS
from Zanzibar we learn that t'ne English corvette WasP9
while lately at anchor on the. coast of Africa, a
.few jeagues
only to the north of the equator, was attacked in the night
by a band of pirates .ivhich came off from the thore. The
commander of the vessel punished these rufasns the fol-
lowing day by sending a body of men with a field piece,
and bombarding them in their village at some miles from
the coast. Several sailors are said to have bo en wounded
in this affair,"