The maire said that, two years ago, this
hole was not visible, being concealed by a large ice-column which had
since fallen in. Here again I let down a lighted candle, with more
hopes of getting it to the bottom, as no part of the cave drained into
the pit. The candle descended steadily, the flame showing no signs of
atmospheric disturbance, and revealing the fact that the opposite side
of the pit, viz. the rock, which alone was visible from our position,
became more and more thickly covered with ice, of exquisite clearness,
and varied and most graceful forms. As foot after foot, and yard after
yard, ran out, and our heads craned farther and farther over the edge
of the pit to follow the descending light, (we lay flat on the ice,
for more safety,) the cries of the schoolmaster became mere howls, and
the maire lapsed into oaths heavy enough to break in the ice. It is
always sufficiently disagreeable to hear men swear; but in situations
which have anything impressive, either of danger or of grandeur, it
becomes more than ever unbearable. I remember on one occasion
over-taking a large party in the descent from the Plateau to the
Grands Mulets, in a place where the snow was extremely soft, and any
moment might land one of us in a crevasse; and I shall never forget
the oaths which caught my ear, from a floundering fellow-countryman
enveloped from the waist downwards.
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