The first, however, was soon lost to the expedition; for, having incautiously entered the first village they reached in order to obtain a guide, he was taken prisoner, and detained at Chambery until the peace. As soon as the army was ready to march, the patriot band again sought the blessing of the God of their fathers. They then set out in a southerly direction, passing through the little town of Yvoire, and compelled Savoyard gentlemen and priests to accompany them as hostages and guides. The alarm felt at first by the people through whose villages they passed subsided when their orderly conduct became known, so that after a time the peasants, with their ministers, were seen approaching and watching the troops as they filed off, and even crying after them, "May God be with you!" In some cases refreshments were also supplied, and remuneration refused. However, a different experience awaited them as they set out by a mountain path for Boege, a little town on the river Menoge, in the province of Faucigny. Here the gentry made a great show of resistance, and although they made them prisoners, together with 200 armed peasants under the command of a quartermaster, yet the circumstance convinced Arnaud that he must take precautions, otherwise the expedition would be greatly hindered. Therefore one of the gentry of Boege was instructed to write a letter informing the people of the next town that they were not to be alarmed at the approach of the Vaudois, but to give them a free passage, and supply them with provisions, for which they always paid. So they passed on without very remarkable events, except privations and exposure to wet and cold day by day, until, crossing the Arve, they reached Sallenches, at the foot of the mighty monarch of European mountains, Mont Blanc. The sight of the mountain seems to have severely tested the resolution of some of Arnaud's followers, and it required all his skill and energy to inspire them with courage to make the passage through the defile of the Bonhomme. Indeed, the descent of the column was more hazardous than the ascent. To accomplish this in many cases they were compelled to assume a sitting posture, and slide down the face of the rocks. On the evening of the fourth day the patriots reached the town of Sey, on the Isere, and met with a good supply of provisions. On the evening of the fifth day Arnaud and his colleague, Montoux, for the first time since they had started, lodged, supped, and rested for three hours in peace. The next day they ascended Mont Iseran, and resting at Maurienne in the evening, they ascended the Mont Cenis the day after, and seized all the post-horses, to prevent the news of their arrival being so easily communicated. From this point they branched off in the direction of the little Mont Cenis, as being a less frequented road, and spent the night very uncomfortably in the woods.