[30] Standing here alone, on another occasion, I heard the roar of what appeared to be a descending avalanche, but the duration of the sound surprised me. I looked through my opera glass in the direction from which the sound proceeded, and saw issuing from the end of one of the secondary glaciers on the side of Mont Tacul a torrent of what appeared to me to be stones and mud. I could see the rocks and débris jumping down the declivities, and forming singular cascades. The noise continued for a quarter of an hour, when the descending torrent diminished until the ordinary stream, due to the melting of the glacier, alone remained. A sub-glacial lake had evidently burst its bounds, and carried the débris along with it in its rush downwards.
[31] It was here that my prudent guide, Édouard Simon, demanded, ‘Est-ce que vous avez une femme?’ and, when I replied in the negative, added, ‘Vous serez tué tout de même.’
[32] I have reason to believe that a translation of the two parts hitherto published will soon be forthcoming.—J. T., 1871.
[33] Phil. Trans. vol. cxlvii. p. 327.
[34] Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. ix. p. 141; and vol. x. p. 152. Phil. Mag. S. 4, vol. xvi. pp. 347 and 544; and vol. xvii. p. 162.
[35] Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb. February 1850.
[36] Pogg. Ann. vol. lxxxi. p. 168.
[37] Phil. Mag. August 1850.
[38] Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. viii. p. 455.
[39] ‘Traité de Physique,’ vol. ii. p. 105.