English feet.
| English feet | |
| Chimboraco, the highest of the Cordillerasp | 20,608 |
| Mont Blanc, above the level of the Mediterranean, | |
| according to Sir G. Shuckburgh | 15,662 |
| Ditto, according to M. de Luc | l5,302 1/3 |
| Mount Caucasus | 15,000 |
| Etna, according to M, de Saussure | 10,700 |
| Teneriffe | 10,954 |
The highest mountain in Scotland is Ben-Nevis, 4,337 feet. In Wales, Snowdon, 3,555. In England, Ingleborough, 3,200 feet. In Ireland, Croagh Patrick, 2,666.
Mont Blanc is easily distinguished from amongst the other mountains (of which Mont Buet; of 9984 feet in height, approaches the nearest to it) when Steen on this side, by the astonishing altitude to which it rises, and by the vast body of snow with which its top and sides are covered to the perpendicular height of above 4000 feet, without the intervention of any rock, to take off from that extreme whiteness that gives name to this mountain, uniting in the circular form of its summit all the majesty that can possibly be imagined. We partook of some refreshment in an apartment on the summit of Montanvert, which the extreme cold of the atmosphere rendered very acceptable. Having enrolled our names in a book kept here for that purpose, which abounds with the praises of all travellers who have viewed these scenes, we descended to the Mer de Glace, which is appropriately so named, from the striking resemblance which its broken masses of ice bear to the waves of the ocean, and the resemblance is still further heightened by the blue appearance which the numerous cavities present to the eye.—We walked a little way on this frozen ocean, the better to contemplate its vast extent, as well as to have it in our power to boast of having walked on a mass of ice in the month of August. The depth of the ice is calculated to be from three to four hundred feet, and the solemnity of this scene of desolation is increased by the sound of several torrents tumbling from the surrounding rocks. We again returned to the summit of Montanvert, and were again lost in astonishment at the scene; which did not fail to recall to my recollection the beautiful lines of Pope, in his Essay on Criticism:
So pleas'd at first the tow'ring Alps we try,
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky,
Th' eternal snows appear already past,
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last.
But, those attain'd, we tremble to survey
The growing labours of the lengthen'd way,