d it
will be perceived that of these few, only a part have succeeded.

On the 8th of August, 1787, five days after M. Saussure's return,
Col. Beaufoy, an Englishman, set out from Chamouny for Mont Blanc,
accompanied by ten guides. He reached the top the following day, and
returned the third day to the village, with his face and eyes so
inflamed, that he nearly lost his sight in consequence. As he was not
properly provided with instruments, he was unable to add much to the
observations which had been made by Saussure. He, however, determined
the latitude of the summit to be 45 deg., 49', 59''.

The year following these two journeys, (1788,) Mr. Bouritt, of Geneva,
in company with his son, two other gentleman, and a number of guides,
attempted the ascent of Mont Blanc. The party was dispersed by a
storm, and only Mr. Bouritt, his son, and three guides, succeeded in
reaching the top, where the violence of the cold compelled them to
abridge their stay to a few minutes. While there, Mr. Bouritt thought
he perceived the sea in the direction of Genoa; but the immense
distance rendered the objects at the horizon, too indistinct to be
certain of it. The whole party returned to Chamouny in a terrible
condition. One of Mr. Bouritt's companions, who had lost himself,
suffered dreadfully, as well as the guides who were with him, and
returned with his feet and hands frozen, while some of the company,
who were more fortunate, had only their fingers and ears in the same
condition. Mr. Bouritt was obliged to wash for thirteen days in ice
water, to restore the use of his limbs, which had suffered from the
extreme cold.

In 1792, four Englishmen undertook the same journey, but were
prevented, by an accident, from proceeding farther than the Montagne
de la Cote, where, unfortunately, one of the guides had his leg
broken, and another his skull driven in: they themselves were all more
or less wounded. A false step of one of the foremost of the party upon
a loose rock, which brought it and a number of others down upon his
companions, was the cause of this accident.

M. Forneret, of Lausanne, and M. d'Ortern set out on the 10th of
August, 1802, with seven guides, for Mont Blanc, and notwithstanding a
storm, reached the summit the following day. They remained there only
twenty minutes, and returned on the 12th to Chamouny, protesting that
nothing in the world could tempt them to undertake again the same
expedition.

In August, 1808, Jacq