M. Hericart de Thury describes this plain
as lying in the calcareous sub-Alpine range of the south-east of France.
The woods here terminate at a height of 5,147 feet above the sea, and
the _Foire de Fondeurle_ lies immediately above this point.
At last we made a bold dash across the plain, and after a time came upon
some sheep, standing in a thick row, with their heads thrust under a low
bank which afforded a little shade; and at no great distance from them
sat the shepherd. He was a cripple, and his clothes were something worse
than rags. He offered us a portion of the water he had in a
detestable-looking skin; but he assured us it was quite warm, and had
not been good to begin with, so we did not try it, though we were
thirsty enough to have hailed a muddy pool with delight. Our new
acquaintance knew nothing of the glaciere, but he belonged himself to
the Chalet of Fondeurle, and as that was the only house on the whole
plain, he told us to make for it. The surface of the plain seemed to
have fallen through in many places, forming larger and smaller pits with
steep sides of limestone.
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