CHAPTER IX.

THE ASCENT OF THE COE DU GEANT-ST. DIDIEll-PASS OF THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD-

* SCENE FROM THE BELVIDERE.

The distance from Courmayeur to Chamouni is only thirteen English miles, hut toperform this a tedious journey of two days (one of them of nearly twelve hours walking)is necessary , because a chain or group must he gone round, which is, generally speaking,impassable. To avoid so great a circuit, the Col du Geant offers the shortest passagefrom the one valley to the other. It forms the crest of the chain, where the westernbranch of the Mer de Glace takes its rise ; and, notwithstanding its immense height, itwould, probably, he frequented hut for the dangers of the glacier on its northern side.A tradition common to this and many other passes of the Alps states, that formerly theglacier was less formidable, and that communication was not infrequent between Chamouni and Courmayeur .

Mr. Forbes determined on undertaking this passage. As the guides of Courmayeur were, with one exception, unacquainted with it, he wrote to Chamouni , desiring his oldguide, Jean Marie Coutet, to be ready to return by the Geant at an appointed time,having previously ascertained that his guide of Courmayeur , Antoine Proment, wouldundertake the passage with a single competent guide from Chamouni . All being ready,he was called at midnight, to consult on the state of the weather, but it was unanimouslyagreed to be unfit for such an expedition; and a repetition of the same occurrence tookplace for several successive days and nights.

Mr. Forbes was called a little after midnight, and to his inexpressible satisfaction,between the 22nd and 23rd of July, 1842, he beheld a magnificent calm night, illumi-nated by a moon just full. Fairly on foot, the scene which the Valley of Courmayeur presented was exquisitely beautiful. The full moon was riding at its highest noon in acloudless sky. The air was calm and slightly fresh, blowing very gently down the valley.The village and neighbourhood lay, of course, in all the stillness of the dead of night;and as he headed the little caravan, and walked musingly up the familiar road that ledto the Allee Blanche and the foot of Mont Blanc , that vast wall of mountain, coveredwith its eternal glaciers, seemed to raise itself aloft, and to close in the narrow and half-shaded Valley of Courmayeur , verdant with all the luxuriance of summer, and smellingfreshly after the lately fallen rain.

Having left the baths of Saxe on the right, the party crossed the stream descendingfrom the Val Ferret, and skirting the village of Entreves, under the guidance ofProment, who knew the bye-paths through the fields, they gained, after about an hourof pleasant walking, the woods of larch which clothe the south-eastern foot of the MontFretv, as the pasture mountain is called above which the Col du Geant stands. TheMont Frety may be ascended either on its eastern or western side ; both are steep andrugged, but not difficult. Some of the trees are of considerable size, and every now and

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