[76] So that it seems probable that the ice
at the bottom of the lake was the remains of a solid mass, of which the
greater part had been converted into water by some warm influence or
other. We noticed that a little water trickled down among the stones
which formed the slope of descent into the lowest gallery, so that
perhaps the lake was a collection of water from all parts of the various
ramifications of the fissure. Whence came the icy wind, it is impossible
to say, without further exploration. It was satisfactory to me to find
that the 'cold current' of the Genevese _savans_ was thus associated
with water, and not with ice, in the only cave in which I had detected
its presence to any appreciable extent, the currents of the Glaciere of
Monthezy being of a totally different description.
When we reached the final rock, in ascending, I offered Rosset the
promised back, but he got up well enough without it. Before leaving the
entrance-cave, we inspected the thermometer which we had left to test
the temperature of the current of air, and, to my surprise, found it
standing at 48 deg.
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