chap. n.

YTKW FROM .VOX7’ T’KLVOUX.

.33

Monte Yiso rose np grandly, Imt it was less than forty miles away,and we looked over it to a hazy mass we knew must he the plainsof Piedmont. Southwards a blue mist seemed to indicate theexistence of the distant Mediterranean; to the west we looked overto the mountains of Auvergne. Such was the panorama; a viewextending in nearly every direction for more than one hundredmiles. It was with some difficulty we wrenched our eyes fromthe more distant objects to contemplate the nearer ones. MontDauphin was very conspicuous, but La Bessee w r as not readilyperceived. Besides these places not a habitation could be seen ;all was rock, snow 7 , or ice; and, large as we knew were the snow-fields of Dauphine, w T e were surprised to find that they very farsurpassed our most ardent imagination. Nearly in a line betweenus and the Yiso, immediately to the soutli of Chateau Queyras, wasa splendid group of mountains of great height. More to the southan unknown peak seemed still higher; while close to us we wereastonished to discover that there was a mountain which appearedeven higher than that on which we stood. At least this was myopinion ; Macdonald thought that it was not so high, aiulBeynaudthat it was much about the same elevation as our own peak.

This mountain was distant a couple of miles or so, and wasseparated from us by a tremendous abyss, the bottom of which wecould not see. On the other side rose this mighty wall-sided peak,too steep for snow, black as night, with sharp ridges and pointedsummit. We were in complete ignorance of its whereabouts, fornone of us had been on the other side. We imagined that LaBerarde was in the abyss at our feet, although it was in realitybeyond the other mountain *

* This mountain is the culminating point of the group, and is named on theFrench map, Pointe des Eerius. It is seen from the Val Christophe, and from thatdirection its ridges completely conceal Mont Pelvoux. On the other side—thatis, from the direction of La Bessee or the Val Louise—the reverse is the case: thePelvoux completely conceals it.

Unaware that this name was going to be applied to it, we gave the name Pic desAroincs or des Kerins to our summit, in accordance with the traditions of the natives.

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