The Portland daily press., 1895-08-26

1ueA oooh possession of IL Wcio O. i"oo
OF Dandlts and for several centuries IL was
considered hazardous to venture among
Them About the middle of the eighteenth
century IT. attracted attention from d
sclentlnc point of view and thence com
menceu the art of modern mountain
cllmpIng Today fifteen thousana travel ,
lerS ylslt Chamonix annually ana leave
rich spoils from which the people gain
| their sustenance.
! MONT BLANC.
Like our good New England ancestors
all the people of oldon times were intense
ly practical. No mountain views for
them, no glorious sunsets, no SKIES OF
blue, no water with rose tints casting
their shadows. 1t was war, it was COM
bat, it was heroic deeds, fair maidens
and the glove, brave knights who Tought
to win them. 1t was revolution whlch
swept like the whirlwind's blast, it was
blood and carnage Who then had soul
Tor mountain height or feet TO Gimp
them? Whoever looked at Mont blanc
peaks or Jungfrau's snowy D osom lookeI
only as to the measure OF space Wnlch told
the size of worlds and number OF armies
needed to conquer them. But out OF the
white heat and molten fires OF revolution
there came a calm, and whatever tne
thoughts of men had been concerning the
magnificence and boundless OF these
mountains before they now paused to look
and wonder. Then the clouds lifted ana
science raised her head and the eyerlas5-
ing hills kbecame something more than
backgrounds and routes for armies.
| In the principal square IN ChamonlX
there is a fine monument. 1t seems like
an Helyetia and one looks for ersigns
and war records This is the monument
OF the naturalist Saussure which was IN
yelled in 1887 just one hundred years after
he with eighteen guides had gained the
summit of Mont Blanc for scientific OBJ
servations. The year before two guides
had reached the top, going Tor the nrst
time as amatter IF experiment anaEcuflos-
| ity From this date mountain cl1mblngln
general advanced until now all the noun
| talns have been trod by man ana soon
they will be bridgedby steam and electric
| ity During the first quarter OF this CEN
tury Mont Blanc was only assembled twice.
| At present not a day in summer passes
but some person may be seen at the top
by means of a large telescope pointed to
the place where two pavillions stand, this
very spot seeming to the naked eye like a
| speck in the dim distance.
THE REGION OF MONT BLANC.
If anyone would appreciate the glories
of the mountains of Europe to the fullest
extent he must take Mont Blanc last, for
to him who has seen the monarch Of
mountains all others dwindle terribly.
Monte Rosa and tho Matterhorn come
next in the number and magnifcence of
their glaciers, and for picturesqueness
and beauty the Jungfrau and the rest
Of the Bernese Overland have no rival.
But the endlessness and size of the Mont
Blanc glaciers and the number of ascents
| that can be made in the whole of it's col
lateral system and its,entire, boundlessness
is altogether incomprehensiDle.
There is a route called the "'tour Of
| Mont Blanc" which is spoken of as easy
| and interesting. 1t is composed of a
dozen routes and extends from France in
to Italy and Switzerland and takes in the
Savoie and Valais mountains, some of
| the Ticine and a considerable part Of
Piedmont. This portion Of the country
| is like great deal of Switzerland
| and almost a continuous ledge of rocks
any portion of which would be only a
| few hours apart FROM the other except for
these natural barriers over which there
is not yet royal road. 1t is like every
thing complicated and difficult when ono
gets interested in it and makes it a study
it becomes an absorbing passion and
w
side of it in the world One excursion
gives place to another, one fine panorama
Of views is succeeded by something still
more superb until no other excitement,
not even that of stocks and gambling,
believe, can equal it in it's tenacity over
the soul.
MONTANVERT AND THE MERDE
GLACE
The view from Montanvert is unpar-
alleled there beingEnothing, it is said, to
compare with it..except theGorner Graf at
Zermatt where Monte Rosa towers above
you and all the glaciers are near enough
to be trayersable.
At Montanyert one gets the view of
a great number of Gods natural king
doms. The whole great Mont Blanc
Chain including tine "Aiguille Verte'"
the "Aiguille du Diu, "'The "Grandes
Jorasses and the 'fde Blatiere Here
one sees and orosss the Mer de Glace and
by the "Chapeau" descends by the :"
Mauvais pas" to Chamonix. This Mer de
Glace at first seems like any glacier and
one asks why all glaciers are not Mers
de Glace, but like all specialists all
glaciers are not one andthe same, and Mers
de Glace are not glaciers proper any more
than glaciers are all Mers de Glace This
one you cross at Montanvert is made up
from ice streams flowing from the
"Glacier du Geant'" the "Glacier DIES
Leschaux'' and ''Glacier de Talefre'' into
the valley below. People who are subject
to dizziness are dissuaded from attempt
ing this Mauvais Pas, a steep rock
flanked with iron, as accidents are not
infrequent here one having occurred but
yesterday. The Mer de Glace entire is
four and one half miles long and about
mile in width.
The mountains of the Mont Blanc dis
trict are all tapering and like cathedral
spires, some of them so exact in resemb-
lance of vast grey domes, that one thinks
he is looking at steeples pointing heaven
ward They name them all aguilles and
dents needles and teeth and going
through the Savoie region to Geneva they
have the same formation and are of the
same family kin, as one of our party re-
marked, all aunts and cousins. On
leaving this region ono is. absorbed with
the eternal beauty of all which has no
end nor beginning. The outside world
seems small and every pettiness sinks in
to nothingness. One questions about these
cataracts of ice, these frozen rivers, and
hnx L,xJ