We had great reason to be pleased with our expedition, and were most fortunate in the clearness of the day, without which our labour would have been lost. The valley is, of course, much more mild in its atmosphere than the mountain, but the weather was autumnal, and a fire was quite indispensable to our comfort. There are no less than _five glaciers_ in this valley, they are separated from each other by forests and by cultivated lands, and this intermixture presents an appearance which, from its singularity, cannot fail to astonish the beholder. These glaciers all lie at the foot of that vast chain of mountains, which supply the sources of many of the greatest rivers in Europe. I observed that the mountains in this vicinity were the first I had seen enlivened by the mixture of the larch with the fir, which produces a very pleasing effect, and continues afterwards to be often seen. The vast quantities of Alpine _strawberries_ that every-where abound on these mountains, have a most excellent flavor, and numbers of children employed in gathering them find ready sale among the numerous strangers, attracted by the wonders of the neighbourhood. These Alps possess great attractions for the _botanist_, who is surrounded by saxifrage, rhododendrons, and a variety of other plants, which he must highly value, but which I have not sufficient knowledge of the science to distinguish particularly. Nor would the _mineralogist_ find fewer attractions in the rocks themselves, than the botanist in the plants which they produce. We did not witness any of those _avalanches_ which are said to fall so frequently from the mountains, and of the dreadful effects of which such interesting statements have been published. The whole of this valley, however, appears to be continually threatened, by the enormous masses which hang over it, and seem to need the application of but a trifling force, to move them from situations, to which they are to all appearance so slightly attached. * * * * * CHAP. VIII. We left Chamouny at an early hour to proceed on our way to Martigny, from which it is nine leagues distant; but as there is nothing which deserves the name of a road, we continued our journey on mules. The morning was so very hazy, that we were prevented from enjoying the prospect from the Col de Balme, and we travelled for several hours amongst mountains, at one moment enveloped in the fog, which was sometimes the next instant carried to a considerable distance from us, by one of those sudden currents of air which are so common in these elevated situations. As we approached Valorsine, the rain began to fall, but fortunately it was not of long continuance, and afterwards the weather became much clearer.