ly accumulating. We could
see no traces of the obelisk, 12 feet in height, which had been set up
about ten years before. One of our guides was of the number of those
who placed it, and designated to us its position. The highest rock
which appears above the snow, is a small one of granite, 600 feet
below the summit. We remained but a few minutes immediately on the
top, as the wind blew hard and piercingly cold. Descending a few feet
on the south side, we were partially sheltered from the wind, and here
the sun shone with an excessive brightness, heating every part of the
body exposed to his rays; but the least breath of wind, which reached
us at intervals, was sufficient to make us shiver with cold.
Farenheit's thermometer in the sun, was two degrees below freezing,
and five and a half in the shade. It must be considered, however, that
we suffered a much greater degree of cold than the thermometer
indicated, from the rapid evaporation from the surface of our bodies,
of the insensible transpiration occasioned by the dryness and great
rarity of the surrounding air. This cause, familiar to physiologists,
affected our sensations, and could not influence the thermometer. Most
of our guides stretched themselves on the snow in the sun, and yielded
to the strong inclination to sleep, which we all felt. Only one or two
of them ate: the others, on the contrary, evinced an aversion to all
kinds of food. We did not suffer the great thirst which Saussure and
his party experienced; This we prevented by drinking vinegar and
water, which was very grateful to us, instead of pure water. Our
pulses were increased in frequency and fulness, and we had all the
symptoms of fever. I occupied myself, notwithstanding the
indisposition to action which I felt, in making a few observations,
and in stopping and sealing very carefully a bottle which I had filled
with the air of the summit, intended for examination on my return.

The colour of the sky had gradually assumed a deeper tint of blue as
we ascended: its present colour was dark indigo, approaching nearly to
black. There was something awful in this appearance, so different from
any we had ever witnessed. There was nothing to which we could compare
it, except to the sun shining at midnight. During some of the first
attempts that were made to ascend Mont Blanc, this appearance produced
so strong an effect on the minds of the guides, who imagined that
Heaven was frowning on their undertaking, tha