which lead to glacières, and will refuse to be altogether displaced in
summer by anything short of solar radiation.

We found the one column of the previous day still standing, though
evidently in an unhappy state of decay. The sharpness of its edges was
wholly gone, and it was withered and contorted; there were two cracks
completely through it, dividing it into three pieces 4 or 5 feet long,
which were clearly on the point of coming down. Externally, the day was
fine and warm, and so we found the cave comparatively dry, only one drop
falling in a minute on to the stone where ninety-six had fallen in the
same time the day before. The thermometer registered 32° as the greatest
cold of the night, and still stood at that point when we took it up.

We spent some little time in exploring the neighbourhood of the pits, in
order to find, if possible, the outlet for the drainage, but the ground
did not fall away sufficiently for any source from so low an origin to
show itself. The search was suggested by what I remembered of the
Glacière of S. Georges three years before, where the people believe that
a small streamlet which issues from the bottom of a steep rock, some
distance off, owes its existence to the glacière.


FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: In this neighbourhood, the _montagne_ of any _commune_ is
represented by the feminine form of the name of the village: thus,
_L'Arzière_ is the _montagne_ of Arzier, and _La Bassine_ of Bassin.
This has a curious effect in the case of some villages--such, for
instance, as S. Georges--one of the landmarks of the district between
the lakes of Joux and Geneva being the _Châlet de la S. Georges_, a