We breakfasted with the other travellers, under the shade of an orchard, near the inn; and the repast was much more luxurious than we could have supposed from the rustic appearance of the place. As soon as the guides informed us that they were ready to attend us, we continued our journey to Chamouny, making another little detour to visit the _glacier des Bossons_. Here we were astonished at the singular appearance which was exhibited by a vast number of _pyramids and towers of ice_, many of them upwards of 100 feet in height, and which remained at this season almost in the centre of a valley richly cultivated and well inhabited. The definition of the word _glacier_ has given rise to several arguments. I shall therefore insert that given by the celebrated M. de Saussure, in his Tour amongst the Alps, of which he was one of the first and most able explorers. He says, "The word _glacier_ designates any one of those cavities, natural or artificial, which preserve the ice, or guard it from the rays of the sun." This glacier is only three quarters of a league from Chamouny, or the priory, where we soon arrived. The valley of Chamouny is about eighteen English miles long, and hardly one in breadth. It is as varied a scene as can possibly be imagined; and no where can the contrast between nature in its wild and in its cultivated state, make a more forcible impression on the mind. Many of the farms here are very neat. They sow the grain in May, and reap in August. We remarked several small chapels and crosses where promises of _indulgence for thirty days_ are held out to those persons who shall repeat there a certain number of prayers. One of these chapels, more spacious than the rest, was constructed by a bishop of Sion. The village of Chamouny is not large, but contains several extremely good inns, which, since the opening of the Continent, have had their full share of English travellers, whose names, in the books of the hotel where we lodged, more than doubled those of all other nations who had visited the various grand scenes with which this country abounds; and the most lucrative employment here is that of a guide. Strangers are often much imposed on by them, and should therefore be careful to get recommended to such as will conduct them safely to all that is curious. We met a party who had been deceived by either the ignorance or laziness of their guides; and who, we found, after spending two or three days in exploring this neighbourhood, had seen but a small portion of what is worthy of attention. The air here is of a very wintry temperature. This, however, is not astonishing, when we consider that this place is situated 500 toises, or 2,040 feet above the lake of Geneva, and 3,168 feet above the level of the sea, but 11,532 feet below the summit of Mont Blanc.