is fed entirely by springs that gush up at the bottom. It was plain that the lake would rise still higher, and then no doubt its water would overflow at some low point or other. The northern shore is remarkably flat and quite barren; the lake is shallow, whereas on the southern side it descends more steeply. On this latter side, where the surface consisted of fine dust and sand, then bone-dry, there was a richer supply of grass than we met with for some considerable time afterwards; this was in part due to the soil and the relatively lower elevation — although this was still quite respectable, seeing that we were some i 50 m. above the top of Mt. Blanc — but it was in particular attributable to the fact that this was the first fresh, soft, sappy grass we had encountered on the highlands: it was not dry and yellow as it had hitherto been, but was green and nourishing. Still it was thin, as it is everywhere on the highlands, so much so that when seen at a distance it seems scarce able to impart a green colour to the ground.
At a considerable distance to the east-south-east we perceived a great snowy mountain; this I took to be the summits which on my previous journey I designated with the letters MINI. Hence the chain, which bounds on the south the latitudinal valley in which our camp beside the lake was situated, must form a direct westward continuation of the summits MINI. A good 3o km. farther east of Camp XXIX our Camp LVI of the former journey ought therefore to be found, the camp namely at which one of my men was buried.
Not far from the first round lake of this day we came upon red sandstone, dipping 25° towards the S. 56° E., and close to the point at which the descending brook turns towards the east a beautiful variety of the same rock, but striped black and grey, and dipping 3o° towards the S. 20° E. This same sandstone prevailed all day, and indeed it has set its impress upon the face of the country, which is everywhere some shade or other of red — brick-red, blood-red, yellowish red, dark red. From the sanie rock is derived the abundant detritus that fills the bottom of the same glen. Some of the larger slabs, particularly regular in shape, and with perfectly parallel surfaces, might advantageously be used for table-tops.
On the strength of several days' observations in this region, I concluded that the following data are characteristic of the wind relations there. The westerly »trade-wind» that blows regularly during the clay appears to die away at sunset, and at dusk it is so calm that a candle burning unscreened in the open tent did not even flicker. This evening there crept over the scene a wonderfully thin and evanescent veil of mist, slightly obscuring and dimming the splendour of the moon. But at 8.10 p.m. a sudden change took place, for a violent gale set in from the north, blowing at the rate of 16 m. in the second (36 miles an hour). On other evenings also this northerly wind began to blow about 8 o'clock. It used to continue with undiminished fury all night; but at sunrise it used to drop almost as suddenly as it began, and at 7 a.m. the atmosphere would be perfectly still and clear, and so it remained until the usual westerly wind began again in the course of the morning. This phenomenon is, I suppose, characteristic of the summer only, for I did not observe it at any other season, at all events never so regularly. When we got farther south, this northerly night wind no longer put in an appearance; whereas the westerly wind continued all the summer, autumn, and winter, and went on growing more violent the whole time.
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