IndexBourrit in Chamonix
1775
M. T. Bourrit, A Relation of a Journey to the Glaciers in the Dutchy of Savoy. Translated from the French by C. and F. Davy (Norwich: Richard Beatniffe, 1775). Illustrations added.
Extracts:
1. Introductory
2. The Cascade of Nant d'Arpenaz
3. Beyond Servox
4. First visit to Mer de Glace
5. Second visit to Mer de Glace
6. Source of Arveron at foot of Mer de Glace
7. Bossons Glacier
Marc Thodore Bourrit (1739-1819) was the son of a watchmaker in Geneva and was educated there. He was talented both as an artist and a singer. He became Precentor at St. Peter's church in Geneva in 1768, but spent much of his time exploring the Alps. In 1784-85 he attempted to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, but never achieved this (it was first climbed in 1786); he also travelled extensively among the mountains of the Valais and Bernese Oberland and published several books on them. His first book in 1773 was Description des glacires de Savoye. Extracts from the English version of 1775 are presented below. Several contemporary graphics have been added, including two prints by Bourrit himself.
General Description of the Valleys and Glaciers Situated in the Province and Barony of Fauciny in Savoy
The view of nature in her simplest and most uniform appearance, never fails to have its effects upon an attentive beholder; such impressions become more agreeable, as the objects which excite them are more varied; and that rich display of beauty, in her lesser elegant Designs, induces a serenity of pleasure, which is still more captivating: but of all the pictures she presents us, those of mountains covered with eternal snows, whose summits reach beyond the clouds, and whose forms are so majestic, are by far the most affecting, as they fill the mind with an idea of her grandeur and sublimity.
It is easy for a man of taste to add to and embellish works of art, which he proposes for his imitation; but his utmost efforts must fall short of equaling the greater models of nature herself. This observation will be verified particularly here, where greatness and beauty are so exquisitely united in the same piece, that the powers even of Description can give us but a very faint, imperfect representation of the inimitable originals.
The ideas men are apt to form of distant countries, from the relations of travellers, are generally raised above the truth: their ideas of the Alps are universally below it: except the common passages by France into Italy and Germany, the rest are almost wholly unknown to strangers; those especially which are in Savoy. The productions of the country draw but few persons into it: the difficulty of the roads, the straits which must be passed, to go from one valley into another, insulate (if I may use the expression) their different inhabitants: and the moderation of their desires, which are bounded almost by the necessaries of life, prevents even the wish to go beyond their limits. There are indeed some few persons among them who are drawn into the world by commerce; but these, familiarized to objects constantly before them, in the places where they have been witnesses of their production, and less attentive probably to their forms, than to the inconveniences arising from them, set little value upon their beauties: With respect to the people in general, who live upon the outside of these valleys, as the mountains which environ them offer nothing to their sight but rocks and ice, they have not the least inclination to approach them out of curiosity.
At the same time how many scenes are there highly worthy of our attention! fertile smiling valleys, rich delightful hills, beautiful and even extensive prospects; what variety of different forms! Here a level country finely cultivated, rising hills with farms and villages, and higher over these a ridge of mountains: on the other hand, luxuriant meadows intersected by the Arve, which breaks into a number of channels; whilst the eye conducted through the natural openings as through artificial vistos, travels on directly to the distance: or we look above the tops of neighbouring woods, that sloping from our feet wind down into the bottom of a dale.
[View of Servoz, by Charton]
The farther we penetrate, the more the sight is animated with the beauties of this romantic region. The views become still more and more engaging as we advance; every valley appears like a new country from its different form; overhanging rocks of a prodigious height, and torrents pouring down in sheets from their very summits, are such wonders of nature, as it is impossible to look upon without a mixture of astonishment and awe; to heighten the picture, we may add the different tints of rocks and mountains, their contrast with the browner colour of the woods, and the whiteness of the snow and ice, especially when enlightened by the sun; their tops at sun-rise taking the similitude of melted silver, at his setting that of gold, whilst the refractions of his rays by their angles, sometimes offer such a variegated splendor, as exceeds description ---
Mille trahens varios adverso sole colores.*
*showing a thousand various colours with the sun opposite [Virgil, Aeneid 4.701]
There is still a singular emotion which the sight of this country excites in the mind, from the prodigious height of the mountains, which surround these valleys on every side. Mount Blanc especially produces a sensation which is very difficult to express. An obelisk of one hundred yards, appears of a prodigious height, yet we can form a tolerable idea of it from recollection only; but when that height is thirty or nearly forty* times increased, upon a base proportionally massive, which yet the eye can take in at one view, the mind is almost lost in the sublimity of its own idea, and no tongue whatever is capable of describing, and conveying justly to others, the humiliating, elevated, awful feelings of the soul upon the sight of such an object. *[Footnote:] The height of Mount Blanc, from its base in the valley of Chamouni, falls little short of four thousand English yards.
Such are the beauties of this country, which would probably have still continued unknown, but for the rude relations of its peasants, who bring us annually their honey and their crystals. The frightful picture which they gave of their valleys of ice, and of their stupendous mountains; those extraordinary accounts, (which procured these snowy precipices the appellation of Les Montagnes Maudites [The accursed Mountains.] excited the curiosity of two English gentlemen, who resided some time since at Geneva. . . .
[This refers to Colonel William Windham, An Account of the Glacieres or Ice Alps in Savoy (London: printed for Peter Martel, 1744) -- extracts are available on Romanticism: The CD-ROM. Their journey into Chamonix of 1741 is outlined, followed by the journeys of De Saussure, whose account of penetrating up the glaciers was also published. This led Bourrit and some companions to make their journey. This and two subsequent visits made by Bourrit took place during 1770-1773.]
2. The Cascade of Nant d'Arpenaz
A league further [beyond Magland], we contemplated with pleasure the beautiful cascade of Nant d'Arpenaz. It is a torrent which falls from the summit of a mountain with a prodigious noise, amongst rocks remarkable for their colour of musk and ocre, and for their concentric form, that serves as a direction to the sheet of water, which nevertheless is detached almost to the bottom: this water, disengaged from the mountain by jutting rocks, falls perpendicularly upon a flat ledge that divides it into a number of branches, and forms in short the most beautiful cascade.* If there happen to be but a slender stream, and the wind is high, one sees it separated from the mountain, and waving like a ribband lightly agitated; and it was in this agreeable form we had the pleasure of surveying it. Arrived at the village of St. Martin, not far from Sallenche, we crossed the Arve again by a stone bridge of a moderate size. An inscription imports, that having been thrown down in the year 1733, it was rebuilt in 1736. *[Footnote:] Its fall from the top of the rock to the bottom, is said to exceed eleven hundred English yards.
[View of Mont Blanc from Sallenches, by Adam]
There are some few habitations in this valley [St. Michael], but that which merits most to be seen, is a mine of copper, which after being worked for thirty years is now abandoned. We halted upon the green turf before a cottage, from which place the appearance of Mount Blanc was astonishing; the greater part of it was hidden from our view by clouds; its top alone was visible --- The illusion was compleat --- It seemed another world descending upon our own.
It is at the going out of this little Canton, that advancing towards a defile, between some rocks and the Arve, we arrived at the place where those two roads which I have been describing, reunite. From this point of their reunion, the route continues rising into the defile ; the roaring of the Arve, still more obstructed and confined, the appearance of a mountain wholly covered with black firs, every object gave us the idea of a frightful gloomy desert; however at last, after crossing a little wood, we discovered a green plain, from which begins the valley of Chamouni. The sight of this valley, crowned by the highest mountains in Europe, covered with eternal ice, the whiteness of which contrasting the deep green of the firs, and that lighter and more agreeable colour of the herbage, stopt our walk for some time. We were never tired of admiring the fine effect of this landscape.
[entrance to Chamonix valley, by Lardy]
Crossing now a small stream (the water of which reddens the stones over which it flows) and a wood which was adjoining, we discovered the greater part of the valley, which extends from west to north-east, in the form of a crescent; what struck us first, were the heaps of ice, which descend from the higher valleys, even into the plain; we next perceived some scattered groups of wooden cottages, with churches, chapels, and curates houses, which being almost the only edifices of stone, are distinguished by their whiteness. The road is strait, bounded by a sort of pallisades made of stakes driven into the ground, and interwoven with branches of the fir-tree; a manner of hedging which is better than ours to protect the fields from cattle, and their owners fear no other invaders. The inhabitants who were at this season employed in their fields and gardens, enlivened and compleated the landscape.
After two hours walk, we once more passed the Arve, and sitting down to rest us near a brook which empties itself into it, we heard a most prodigious rumbling in the mountains, which we took for the effects of thunder, though the air was all this time serene; and we judged the tempest, though it was behind the mountains yet, would certainly come up and overtake us, but we were agreeably mistaken, and were afterward informed, it was occasioned by the falls of snow, which separated from the Glaciers, roll down sometimes to the very bottom of the valleys. In short, we arrived safe in the evening at Prieur, the most considerable village of Chamouni, which receives its name from a small Priory established there. The frequent journeys which the curiosities of this place have lately occasioned, raised a wish for a decent house of reception, and entertainment, for strangers; and an honest careful widow has for some years provided one, in which we were accommodated very much to our satisfaction.
[Chamonix, by J. P. Linck]
4. First visit to Mer de Glace
Having taken this general survey of the Glaciers, we determined to spend the rest of our time in examining the construction of each of them particularly, and to begin with the valley of ice called des Bois. [from Mount Breven: Mont Blanc range, by Dubois]
For this purpose we ascended Montanvert, the mountain opposite to Mount Breven; it is less high, less steep, and more agreeable, being covered with beautiful fir trees, many of which we saw had been thrown down by the winds. The north winds blow with great violence thro' the valley in the spring, and in the autumn the south wind; but that which they most dread, is a wind from the east, which pouring through the streights of the mountains, plunges towards their feet, tears up by the roots, or overturns all the trees in its way, and not uncommonly, reverberated by some other mountain which opposes its passage, it returns in eddies, unroofs the houses, and does infinite mischief. We had the good fortune however to experience none of its fury. The air was perfectly calm the whole time we staid at this place, and gave us an opportunity of enjoying in security the sight of its extraordinary objects.
We now looked over an entire valley of ice several leagues in length, and a quarter of a league in breadth. At the distance of about three leagues, it divides into two branches, that on the right extends behond the mountains commanded by Mount Blanc, and the second, turning to the left, goes on towards Val d'Aoste.
A sea vehemently agitated by a storm, and arrested by a severe sudden frost, represents very well the appearance of this Glacier; the waves, hardened by succeeding winters, are some of a dirty, and others of a clear white, divided by oblique fissures, which appear of a transparent blue. The waters murmur as they run along these clefts, some of which are very deep, and new ones are frequently opening; the prelude to these new ones, is a bursting noise; and probably the melting away of some parts at the bottom of the Glacier, occasions the cracking upon its surface. This valley is formed by high mountains, which terminate in Spires or Needles . . .
[Mer de Glace, by Hackert]
The earth at the edge of this valley, is white and friable like chalk; they call it serpentine. It is astonishing at this place, only to look at the height of the ice; its waves resemble little mountains, heaped upon one another, some of which are from forty to fifty feet high: it is difficult to make our way over them at first, but in proportion as we advance farther up into the valley, these waves of ice insensibly decrease in height, and become more even. We found here the bones of a poor Chamois, which was brought hither no doubt by an avalanche. The ice seems to encrease every year, and the old people of Chamouni assured us, that formerly it was possible to penetrate from the extremity of this valley, even to Val d'Aoste, which the vast accumulation of ice has rendered at present impracticable. 5. Second visit to Mer de Glace
We descended into the valley, about three quarters of an hour after sun-rise . . . . scarcely had we gained our feet upon the ice, when we found ourselves retarded by the clefts, that opened quite across the valley. We passed a number of them with the utmost gaiety and spirit; but others soon appeared, it seemed impossible to clear; nor could we even look at them without terror. Our guides accustomed to such objects ventured over boldly, provided with a staff or pole of seven or eight feet only in length; they sprung with an amazing strength, agility, and resolution, and encouraged, and instructed us to do the same. The farther we advanced, we met with openings wider yet, as well as deeper, and where even our guides were under a necessity of taking every possible precaution. In such cases they generally placed their pole horizontally under the left arm, with the longer part of it extending backward; so that if they should not have sufficient strength to reach the farther side, they stood a chance at least to be suspended by it: one trembles at the idea only of such an accident! Happily no misfortune befell us, and we gained the middle of the valley: our exercise still rendered us more active, and habit gave us courage, which in truth was necessary every instant. [Further difficulties described.]
We now were soon to see an end of these alarming hazards, and of our excessive labour. Arriving near the fall of rocks upon the ice, we employed ourselves in search of crystals; all these rocks are filled with such productions: and we could discern the beds, or broken caverns they are formed in, at the summits of the mountains. The farther we advanced, the more we saw of objects to admire; yet surrounded by these beauties, we could not but reflect with horror, at the sight of this eternal frozen lake, its yawning clefts, and deep abysses; whilst the mountains which environed us, their venerable antiquity, their several different slopes, and the varied magnificence of their forms, together with those hills of rocks and ice, which broken off, had rolled into the valley, struck us with amazement.
In short, we were astonished at the recollection of our being in a place thus severed from the world, so vast, so extraordinary, where there reigned an universal stillness, in the midst of even a thousand dangers.
As we now proceeded forward, the valley was expanded wider, and the ice became more even: but although we had already walked upon it four hours, from our setting off, we had not yet reached the place at which the valley is separated into two branches: we gained this point however at last: what a picture was before us! we were surprized to a degree of transport, and incapable of expressing our admiration, but by frequent acclamations.
We beheld a spacious icey plain entirely level; upon this there rose a mountain all of ice, with steps ascending to the top, which seemed the throne of some divinity. It took the form moreover of a grand cascade, whose figure was beyond conception beautiful, and the sun which shone upon it, gave a sparkling brilliance to the whole: it was as a glass, which sent his rays to a prodigious distance: a polish'd mirrour, upon which the objects were designed with such a perfect mixture of light and shade, as ravished our sight; and to compleat the beauty of the prospect, this even glassy lake was crowned with mountains differently coloured, and enlivened by a varnish of the clearest ice: these altogether, formed a composition of the most delightful splendid objects, heightened by the deeper colour of a single neighbouring mountain, which graduated from top to bottom: whilst this again was interlaced with streams of snow, whose winding currents cast a lustre from the sun. In short, the whole of this enchanting view was terminated with the rocks of crystal, and by others, all whose several tints were richly and profusely varied.
New beauties still continued to delight us, astonished as we were at present, by a number of such objects so magnificent and vast.
The valley on our right was ornamented with prodigious Glaciers, that shooting up to an immeasurable height between the mountains, blend their colours with the skies, which they appear to reach. The gradual rise of one of them, induced us to conceive it practicable to ascend it; and such is the engrossing nature of these objects, that they seem to efface every other idea. We are no longer our own masters; and it is next to an impossibility to stop the impulse of our inclinations.--- It would open still new scenes, or more extensive grandeur -- That, as we certainly should gain a view behond the Needles, such a point of elevation, (beyond which, no mortal whatever had yet gone) would not only present Mount Blanc to us under a new form, and with new beauties, but that in short, looking towards the south, we should have a picture of all Italy before us as in a Camera Obscura. It was thus the wildness of imagination prompted us to think the project possible, and we were in the full enjoyment of our reverie, when a horrid noise from the very same Glaciers put an end to this delightful dream, and shattered all the scenery at once. Reason dictated immediately, that supposing such a fancied picture as we had represented to ourselves, to be real, and that it were possible to ascend the height of the Glacier to enjoy a sight of it, the execution of the plan would require our stay all night upon this frozen valley, which was absolutely impossible, from the want of fewel only.
By this time rest was necessary to us; and the only situation where we could be safe, was in the middle of the valley; we might here at least be at a distance from the falling down of ice or rocks. The station of Mr. De Saussure appeared most eligible for the purpose, and we were coming to the very spot: it is a massy block of stone, precisely in the middle of the ice; we seated ourselves upon it, and having taken out our necessary refreshments, poured a sparkling libation to the honour of the Professor, as the first person who had resolution enough to penetrate thus far.
We rested here two hours, our minds voluptuously employed in the contemplation of so many wonders; every moment was distinguished with some new discovery. A single glance over all these Glaciers together, seemed to throw a light upon their correspondence and extent . . .
It was now high time to quit the place: we looked at all its wonders with a fresh astonishment and admiration: we saw them doubtless for the last time; for it is not with the beauties of this country as of others, to be visited again with ease as inclination prompts us: but if our arrival at this point was not accomplished without labour and fatigue, the grandeur of the objects we had seen, made us ample satisfaction. We had taken every possible advantage of our journey; the weather had continually favoured us; and it is at one season of the year only, that such an enterprize can possibly be undertaken.
6. Source of Arveron at foot of Mer de Glace
To come at this collected mass of ice, we crossed the Arve, and travelled in a tolerable road, passed some villages or hamlets, whose inhabitants appeared extremely civil; they invited us to go in and rest ourselves, offered us a taste of their honey, and apologized for not having any thing better to present us.
After amusing ourselves some time amongst them, we resumed 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 Averon: It is a very agreeable walk, and exhibits some extraordinary appearances.
In proportion as we advanced into this wood, we observed the objects gradually to vanish from our sight; surprized at this circumstance, we were earnest to discover the cause; and our eyes sought in vain for satisfaction, till going out of the wood, the charm ceased. Judge of our astonishment, when we saw before us an enourmous 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, covered over with the purest crystal; a majestic temple, ornamented 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, or this cave of Fancy, is the source of the Arveron, and of the gold which is found in the Arve: And if we add to all this rich variety, the ringing tinkling sound of water dropping from its sides, with the glittering 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 amazingly delightful, so compleatly picturesque, so beyond imagination great and beautiful, that I can easily believe the art of man has never yet produced, nor ever will produce, a building so grand in its construction, or so varied in its ornaments.
[Source of the Arveron, by Bourrit]
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 whilst we were attentively employed in viewing all its parts, astonished at the sportiveness 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 stept 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. It was a most fortunate escape; since had we staid an instant longer, it would certainly have crushed us by its fall.
There have been much reasoning and debate, about the causes that produce these heaps of ice. But being for the most part seated at the bottom of the Glaciers, (of which, if I may use the expression, they seem to me to lay the first foundations) it is probable that they are formed originally by an overfall of snow, which being heaped together by degrees, becomes in a succession of winters, a considerable mass of ice; and such collections are augmented, either by the causes which at first produced them, or by the continued rolling down of snows and ice, which come from higher Glaciers.
The water of the Arveron, which runs out of this mass, is excellent, and though as cold as ice itself, there is no reason to be afraid of drinking it, even when one is very hot; and this is a general excellence of all those waters, which come from ice when they are drunk at the source.
Setting off again, we took the road across some meadows, and over several beds of stones, collected by the violence of torrents; when passing by the Glacier, already visited [Plerin], we soon began to mount, ascending through the midst of woods. It was not till after walking a good league up a pretty slope, that we obtained a view of those amazing walls and buttresses, by which the Glacier is supported. They are solid masses of ice, which rise up perpendicularly, like the walls of a prodigious citadel, built with strong towers, that seem to be from about three to four hundred feet high. The upper parts of these enormous towers, are transparent, in the same manner, and for the same reason, that the ends of our fingers appear so, when opposed to a strong light; we particularly admired a hole of an oval form, pierced through the wall, at an almost equal distance from each end of the range, towards the top, through which the sky appears; and the sun at a certain time of the day, having his rays collected by it as a speculum, darts them in a bundle to the very bottom of the valley. Our road lay directly under this icey wall, but the apprehension of danger, in being exposed to the fall of fragments from so brittle a fabric, made us draw more towards the right; we again therefore entered into the woods, and ascending as before, found ourselves at last upon the Glacier.
This Glacier, though less elevated, and less considerable than that des Pelerins, is nevertheless exceedingly worthy of curiosity, and we advanced upon the ice, which is sufficiently difficult to get over, being in some places almost mountainous.
Having reached the height of the Glacier, we had a view of the whole valley of Chamouni, which presents itself here in most agreeable perspective; a prospect of the other Glaciers, and heaps of ice, that of the rivers which run from them; the little islands which they form; the cultivated fields; the tender verdure of the meadows; the contrast of the dark green of the firs, with the yellow colour of the woods of larch-trees; all these different objects, which terminated this vast field of ice, from which we saw them, formed together one of the most singular picturesque landscapes we had ever beheld: Above us we admired afresh the majesty of Mount Blanc, and could better judge from this, than from any other point of view we had yet come at, of its immense height, and of the absolute impossibility of ascending it.
Having crossed to the other side of the Glacier, we kindled a fire, and sat down to dinner; immediately after which we hastened to descend through the woods, to escape a violent shower and tempest, which seemed to advance upon us very fast. We were overtaken, notwithstanding all our expedition, but saved a part of the distress, by sheltering ourselves a while at the first house of the nearest village.
Bossons Glacier, by Bourrit
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