lel by the eye with the slopes of the Aiguille du Goute
on one side, and the Bouchard (and base of Aiguille d'Argentiere) on
the other; striking as nearly as possible from summit to summit
through that on which the spectator stands, or from about 10 deg. north
of east to 10 deg. south of west, and dipping with exquisite uniformity
at an angle of 74 degrees with the horizon. But what struck me as
still more strange was, that from this point I could distinctly see
traces of the same straight structure running through the Petit
Charmoz, and the roots of the aiguilles themselves, as in Fig. 59;
nor could I ever, in the course of countless observations, fairly
determine any point where this slaty structure altogether had
ceased. It seemed only to get less and less traceable towards the
centre of the mass of Mont Blanc; and, from the ridge of the
Aiguille Bouchard itself, at the point _a_ in Plate 33, whence,
looking south-west, the aiguilles can be seen in the most accurate
profile obtainable throughout the valley of Chamouni, I noticed a
very singular parallelism even on the south-east side of the
Charmoz, _x y_ (Fig. 60), as if the continued influence of this
cleavage were carried on from the Little Charmoz, _c_, _d_ (in
which, seen on the opposite side, I had traced it as in Fig. 59),
through the central mass of rock _r_. In this profile, M is the Mont
Blanc itself; _m_, the Aiguille du Midi; P, Aiguille du Plan; _b_,
Aiguille Blaitiere; C, Great Charmoz; _c_, Petit Charmoz; E, passage
called de l'Etala.

[Illustration: FIG. 59.]

[Illustration: FIG. 60.]

[72] Many geologists think they _are_ the true beds. They run across
the gneissitic folia, and I hold with De Saussure, and consider them
a cleavage.

[73] I tried in vain to get along the ridge of the Bouchard to this
junction, the edge of the precipice between _a_ and _b_ (Plate 33)
being too broken; but the point corresponds so closely to that of
the junction of the gneiss and protogine on the Charmoz ridge, that,
adding the evidence of the distant contour, I have no doubt as to
the general relations of the rocks.

[74] De Saussure often refers to these as "assaissements." They
occur, here and there, in the aiguilles themselves.

[75] The aqueous curves and roundings on the nearer crest (La Cote)
are peculiarly tender,