104

CHAUMONI.

hacked by the eternal snows of Mont Blanc to the height of sixteen thousand feet!

We approached the torrent of Gias, oneof the largest that falls from these moun-tains, and passed it on foot, upon theblocks of granite which rose above its sur-face. A prodigious mass of waters precipi-tated themselves around; rolling along hugefragments of rock, trunks of trees, and what-ever obstructed their passage, with a fright-ful noise. In passing this spot our guidestold us, that a few days before, it had beenthe grave of a poor peasant girl. Her mule,alarmed at the waters, rushed over the pre-cipice, and was caught by the trunk of apine, whilst its ill-fated rider continuedfalling from rock to rock, and at last disap-peared in the boiling torrent below.

Passing at the foot of the Glacier deBoissons, which runs down from MontBlanc into the valley, we arrived at thevillage of Chaumoni, called Le Prieure,in the evening. It is built upon a littleelevated ground on the borders of the Arve ,