'ing and throwing down large masses of each, which are termed avalanches in some parts of the country, and lauwine in others ; those tremendous bodies, ac cumulating by adhesion in their progress, overwhelm every thing in their way, and rush to the vallies from the highest sum mits, whence various other causes serve to detach them. Here the traveller often meets a dreadful and instantaneous fate ; but humanity has endeavoured to obviate it as far as human abilities will permit. Matthison, who visited the monastery of St. Bernard, founded for the reliefof those who cross the Alps,speaks thus of the lau wine or avalanche, and the excellent ca nons of St. Bernard : " In the very worst seasons, as often as it snows, or the wea ther is foggy, some oethese benevolent persons go forth with long poles, and, guided by their excellent dogs, seek the highway, which these sagacious animals never miss, how difficult soever to find. If then the wretched traveller has sunk beneath the force of the falling lauwine, or is immersed in the snow in a benumb ing swoon, how deeply soever he may be buried, the dogs never fail of finding the place of his interment, which they point out by and snufili lig, when the sufferer is dug out and carried to the mo nastery, where every possible exertion is used for his restoration. The number of those who lose their lives in the field of battle is known to all Europe, hut no one could give me an account what number have thus had the gift of life conferred on them a second time. Yet, notwithstanding all the care and attention of these real friends of mankind, and their faithful dogs, scarcely a year passes, but, as the snow melts away in summer, the dead bo dies of travellers are discovered, who, re mote from their homes, and all that was dear to them, have perished here unno ticed and unknown. As the ground for a considerable extent round the monaste ry is solid rock, the dead bodies are col lected together in a chapel, lying on its eastern side, which is made to admit a thorough draft of air by openings in the wails, guarded by large iron bars. The sight of so many unfortunate persons, probably collected from various parts of the world, yet, howsoever remote from each other in life, brought hither by an unfortunate similarity of fate to rest ..to gether in death, afflicted my inmost soul. They are all covered with palls, and as in this frozen region no exanimate body moulders, but only gradually shrivels and dries away, so the features remain midis figured for a considerable length of time, and some have even been recognized by friends and relations, after having lain here for two or three years. The bodies are not disposed one over the other, but are all placed upright, and each fresh corpse leans its head on the breast of the former ; this disposition has something familiar in it, and gives them the sem blance of being united only in a general slumber. ,Four rows of these slumberers already rest here, from the faces and hands of many of whom the palls have slipped off and left them uncoyered: these have all a perfect mummy-like ap pearance." The fall of the avalanche necessarily reduces the quantity of snow and frozen fluid on the summits, and the transfer of it to a warmer region must facilitate its dissolution. The lower gla ciers, though not subject to equally pre cipitate descent, cannot otherwise than gradually advance towards the valfies, which may be inferred from the constant passage of torrehts under them, and their own enormous weight ; besides the chasms that universally intersect them plainly evince, that their foundations be ing partially undermined, they glide slow ly downward, overturning trees, and pushing stones before them ; the edges obtruded on the earth by this means na turally dissolve far more rapidly than W they remained stationary.
Another means of dissolution arises from evaporation, which takes place on every portion of the globe, however ele vated. Exclusive of the above causes, are the constant play of the beams of the „sun on the surfaces of the glaciers, which being capable of redoubled heat by con centration and refraction in some favour able positions, must produce very violent thaws ; the air heated by this and similar means, in other parts of the mountains, often meets the traveller in streams, which seem as if from a hot bath, consequently those projections sub ject to their influence must vanish ra pidly; but a more certain and regular change occurs from the mean tempera ture of the earth, where the transition from summer heats to winter colds can not ever take place. " This mean tem
perature," says Mr. Coxe, " termed by some philosophers the internal heat of the earth, is always above the freezing point, as is evident from the heat of the springs which issue from the bowels of the earth. In winter, therefore, or in those high regions of the globe, where the cold is usually below the freezing.
point, when any spot of ground is cover ed with oily a thin coat of snow, it may be so Ear cooled, to a certain depth, by the influence of the external air, as not to be capable of dissolving any part of the superincumbent snow. But when the mass of snow is of such a thickness as to protect the surface of the ground from the effects of the atmospherical cold, the mean temperature, which is al ways above the freezing point, will be sufficient to melt the contiguous surface of snow, and to occasion a constant thaw, which supplies those currents of water that flow at all seasons from the upper and lower glaciers." Having endeavoured to explain the causes of the glaciers and their changes, it will be proper to give an idea of their sublimity in the words of M Bourrit, who appears to have viewed and describ ed them with all that enthusiasm which such splendid objects must have inspired. ‘. To come at this collected mass of ice (Des Bois) we crossed the Arve, and tra velling in a tolerable road, passed some villages or hamlets, whose inhabitants be haved with much politeness; they invited us to go in and rest ourselves, apologiz ing for our reception, and offered us a taste of their honey. After amusing our selves some time amongst them, we re sumed our road, and entered a beautiful wood of lofty firs, inhabited by squirrels. The bottom is a fine sand, left there by the inundations of the Arveron ; it is a very agreeable walk, and exhibits some extraordinary appearances. In propor tion as we advanced into this wood, we observed the objects gradually to vanish from our sight ; surprised at this circum stance, we were earnest to discover the cause, and our eyes sought in vain for sa tisfaction, till, having passed through it, the charm ceased. Judge of our asto when we saw before us an enormous mass of ice, twenty times as large as the front of our cathedral of St. Peter, and so constructed, that we have only to change our situation to make it resemble whatever we please. It is a magnificent palace, cased over with the purest crystal : a majestic temple, orna mented with a portico, and columns of several shapes and colours ; it has the appearance of a fortress, flanked with towers and bastions to the right and left, and at bottom is a grotto, terminating in a dome of bold construction. This fairy dwelling, this enchanted residence, or cave of fancy, is the source of the Arve ron, and of the gold which is found in the Arve. And if we add to all this rich va riety, the ringing tinkling sound of water dropping from its sides, with the glitter ing refraction of the solar rays, whilst tints of the most lively green, or blue, or yellow, or violet, have the effect of different compartments, in the several divisions of the grotto, the whole is so theatrically splendid, so completely pic turesque, so beyond imagination great and beautiful, that I can hardly believe the art of man has ever yet produced, nor ever will produce, a building so grand in its construction, or so varied in its ornaments. Desirous of surveying every side of this mass, we crossed the river about four hundred yards from its source, and mounting upon the rocks and ice, approached the vault ; but while we were attentively employed in view ing all its parts, astonished at the spor tiveness of fancy, we cast our eyes at one considerable member of the pile above us, which was unaccountably supported ; it seemed to hold by almost nothing : our imprudence was too evident, and we hastened to retreat ; yet scarcely had we stepped back thirty paces before it broke off all at once, with a prodigious noise, and tumbled, rolling to the very spot where we were standing just before.