lateau,"
at the foot of the Gouter, at a height of about eleven thousand feet.
We rested a few moments and then proceeded, turning now to the left
and going towards the edge which conducts to the "Grand-Plateau."

But our party had already lessened in number: M. N----, with his
guides, had stopped; his fatigue obliged him to take a longer
rest.

About half-past four dawn began to whiten the horizon. At this
moment we were ascending the slope which leads to the Grand-Plateau,
which we soon safely reached. We were eleven thousand eight hundred
feet high. We had well earned our breakfast. Wonderful to relate,
Levesque and I had a good appetite. It was a good sign. We therefore
installed ourselves on the snow, and made such a repast as we could.
Our guides joyfully declared that success was certain. As for me, I
thought they resumed work too quickly.

M. N---- rejoined us before long. We urged him to take some
nourishment. He peremptorily refused. He felt the contraction of
the stomach which is so common in those parts, and was almost
broken down.

The Grand-Plateau deserves a special description. On the right
rises the dome of the Gouter. Opposite it is Mont Blanc, rearing
itself two thousand seven hundred feet above it. On the left are
the "Rouges" rocks and Mont Maudit. This immense circle is one
mass of glittering whiteness. On every side are vast crevasses.
It was in one of these that three of the guides who accompanied
Dr. Hamel and Colonel Anderson, in 1820, were swallowed up. In
1864 another guide met his death there.

This plateau must be crossed with great caution, as the crevasses
are often hidden by the snow; besides, it is often swept by
avalanches. On the 13th of October, 1866, an English traveller
and three of his guides were buried under a mass of ice that fell
from Mont Blanc. After a perilous search, the bodies of the three
guides were found. They were expecting every moment to find that
of the Englishman, when a fresh avalanche fell upon the first,
and forced the searchers to abandon their task.

[Illustration: Crossing the Plateau.]

Three routes presented themselves to us. The ordinary route,
which passes entirely to the left, by the base of Mont Maudit,
through a sort of valley called the "Corridor," leads by gentle
ascents to the top of the first escarpment of the Rouges rocks.

The second, less frequented, turns to the right by the Gouter,
and leads to the summit of Mont Blanc by the ridg