New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-07-18
EUROPE REVISITED. ....No. XIII.

,orial Correspondenee Of The v. Y. Tribune.

Mont BLANC is not, as many s"PPV'' ~
gigantic pile Of rock and ice rising abruptly
from an arabic plain, but the highest peak IN
great system Of mountains, covering many
thousand square miles Of Central Europe aud
eleya;pg its entire surface few narrow val
leys excepted-from five TO fifteen thousand
feet above the level Of the seas. l have had
several glimpses Of the monarch's reverend
head, which towers just above the steep Aiq1ille
du Midi, which rises some 1000 feet from the
bed Of the Arve under my window, and OF course
rather more than 1000 above the levefoi the
ocean. Here at ChamouDix the crest OF Mont
Blanc is still some ten miles distant, and apPre-
bend that shall never obtain nearer we" OF y,
Even hat which hoped to gain from the SUBMIT
of the Flapere which rises abruptly ana oithy iro"
the opposite (yestern) bank of the Arye, mas been
upattsinable because Of the canopy OF cloud and
foo which. with very brief Interruptions, mas over
hung this valley ever since entered 1t, hve days
AGO Several have meantime tOisomely CLIMBED 10
tie adjacent pinnacle, only to Ind II enshrouded
Ike II valley below and to find themselves Obliged
10 return unrewArded for their effort except by
glorious appetite have profted by their expert
ence without sharing their fatigue. Mountain
climbing is a very wholesome exercise-l used to
epioy IL and can still heartily recommend it to my
Young friends as exhilaratng TO the spirits and ia
yorable to dgestion-but, by those on the shady
side OF forty this, like many other pleasures, VIII
naturally be enjoy ed in moderation. 1t a. therefore,
of not the least consequence to me personally that
Mont Blanc is inaccessible at this season and till
,oae time in Auausi-nO guide being permitted TO
scale tie intervening precipces and brave the con-
stapty falling ayalanches which flrrow its sides,
anvrdveaiurer would be found fool hardy enough 10
isn very wei content TO admire the lonely
oesk NJ a respectful distance, though the view from
the lagere .. the entire cluster Ofpinnaces forty
or 6tt q, number, of which he is chief, would have
been most welcome. As it is, must cen content
myself with my yesterday ascent to
MONTANyERT.
The brdle-path that leads to Montanyert runs
up the valley for halt mile from the center OF this
village, then bears abruptly to the right and COM
mepces the ascent of the mOuntain-steep, rocky
and difficult from the outset. Patches of grass
and oats are assiduously fostered wherever soil
enough can be held on the slOplng rock TO nOurish
them; the cattle and goats of the village find foot
ing ana sustenance at intervals for the first mile OF
The path, during which we rise about thousand
feet then the ascent becomes sleeper, the surface
more rocky, and scanty growth OF hemiocks acts
as preventive to land-sdes for two or three
miles The burrows down the mOuntainslde
crossed literally, and begin to be filled with the
still unmelted SHOWS of last winter. Our path
zipzaes inevitably, but still preserves a general
northward inclination toward the Glacier DIES Bots
and the Mer dc Glace, which intersect at right an
giles the valley about mile and half above this
village. These shallow snOw-ridges which cross
our path afford at present very insecure footing
for mules being softened by sun and rain, and often
undermined by running water, aside from the
chance of their sliding bodily down the mountain
side, mixing up mule and rider in their undesirable
company. The reaches of the path are very short
and the turns necessarily abrupt while great rocks
push their Jagged points into the narrow track
from either side and threaten to nip an unwary RI
der's foot between them and his mule Though
mine was sure-fo0ted and sefpOssessed, with no
other faults than the constitutional laziness and
obstinacy OF his tribe, was obliged to leave him
for want OF road about mile before reaching the
summit. This is not the peak OF the mountain, but
it's shoulder toward the Mer de Glace, where spot
not to steep and fair exposure TO the sun have
coaxed out some vegetation and induced the cree
ton of rude place of entertainment and traffic in
crystals, agates, &c, from the adjacent glaciers
From this house we zigzagged down precipitous
hillside, descending Il judge at least five hundred
perpendicular feet to
LA MFR DE GLACE.
The snow is ever falling falling, not in winter
only but throughout the year. throughout the ages,
on the mountains above the line OF perpetual frost,
until the ravines and burrows leading down their
sides are filled with il to depth of many feet lin
some instances hundreds) so that if all were to be
suddenly melted, the valleys below would be
this vast body of snow does not melt and never
will, until the final cOnfagraton, If such there s
to be; yet the CONCEALED deposit cannot be aug
mented forever. Slowly the snow is transformed
by it's own weight and by an occasional breath of
geptler air into ice; every hour some slide or av-
alanche bears down OF il to some less frigld
resting place slowly the icy mass, now miles in
extent and in places fifty to hundred feet deep, is
crowded by the weight of the constantly accumu-
latiDg masses behind it., further and further from
the lofty SUBMITS down the steep declivtes, car
rying with il large rocks which il has imbedded,
breaking off portions of Others, grinding one upon
another and each upon the vast, mmOvable noun
tain pillows across which they are impelled, mixing
pebble, splinter and new-made sand with its own
substance, to which fresh accretlons are added
each chilly night In places, as lower and less
fried attitudes are reached, water in its liquid
form begins to percolate through and drip from the
lev immensely into the holows and crevices be-
meath for the mountain gorges and Plateaus which
form its bed are rgidly rocky and irregular, so
that pools gradually form beneath the ice, and are
slowly swelled by the influx of water until more
room is indispensable and the strong barrier above
is burst with noise like thunder. Other frac-
lures and crevices are made while crossing immOy-
able ridges of rock 10 the channel while still
greater contOrtiOns and upheayals are Occasioned
bp the narrowing of the basin between two spurs
Of opposite mountains. Such is la MER DE
GIACE--the Sea of lce-whieh has il origin in the
depressions which furrow the sides of Mont Blanc
and his satellites and is said 10 be httyour miles
in length, Counting, presume, all its ailluents
and snuOsities) and which varies from half a mile
20 three miles in width.
Aided by my guide walked half way across the
Mer de Glace, on the faint suggestion of path
which leads from Montanyert across IT, and over
shoulder of the Aguilles du Dru to the Jardin,
a \. -. II