ated the clouds which still
veiled Mont Blanc, and, at the same time, those which overshadowed
my thoughts.

Our ascent was satisfactorily accomplished. On leaving the
chalets of Planpraz, situated at a height of two thousand and
sixty-two yards, you ascend, on ragged masses of rock and pools
of snow, to the foot of a rock called "The Chimney," which is
scaled with the feet and hands. Twenty minutes after, you reach
the summit of the Brevent, whence the view is very fine. The
chain of Mont Blanc appears in all its majesty. The gigantic
mountain, firmly established on its powerful strata, seems to
defy the tempests which sweep across its icy shield without ever
impairing it; whilst the crowd of icy needles, peaks, mountains,
which form its cortege and rise everywhere around it, without
equalling its noble height, carry the evident traces of a slow
wasting away.

[Illustration: View of Mont Blanc from the Brevent.]

From the excellent look-out which we occupied, we could reckon,
though still imperfectly, the distance to be gone over in order
to attain the summit. This summit, which from Chamonix appears so
near the dome of the Gouter, now took its true position. The
various plateaus which form so many degrees which must be
crossed, and which are not visible from below, appeared from the
Brevent, and threw the so-much-desired summit, by the laws of
perspective, still farther in the background. The Bossons
glacier, in all its splendour, bristled with icy needles and
blocks (blocks sometimes ten yards square), which seemed, like
the waves of an angry sea, to beat against the sides of the rocks
of the Grands-Mulets, the base of which disappeared in their
midst.

This marvellous spectacle was not likely to cool my impatience,
and I more eagerly than ever promised myself to explore this
hitherto unknown world.

My companion was equally inspired by the scene, and from this
moment I began to think that I should not have to ascend Mont
Blanc alone.

We descended again to Chamonix; the weather became milder every
hour; the barometer continued to ascend; everything seemed to
promise well.

The next day at sunrise I hastened to the master-guide. The sky
was cloudless; the wind, almost imperceptible, was north-east.
The chain of Mont Blanc, the higher summits of which were gilded
by the rising sun, seemed to invite the many tourists to ascend
it. One could not, in all politeness, refuse so kindly an
invitation.

M. Bal