species, and of consequence that they left the antiquity of the globe a free subject for the speculations of philosophers?"

"We do not know," says Sharon Turner, "and we have no means of knowing, at what point of the ever-flowing eternity of that which is alone eternal-the Divine subsistence the creation of our earth, or of any part of the universe began, nor in what section of it we are living now. All that we can learn explicitly from revelation is, that nearly 6000 years have passed since our first parent began to be. Our chronology, that of Scripture, is dated from the period of his creation; and almost 6000 years have elapsed since he moved and breathed a full-formed man. what sen es of time had preceded his formation, or in what portion of the anteceding succession of time this was effected, has not been disclosed, and cannot by any effort of human ingenuity be now explored.-Creation must have begun at some early part of anteceding eternity; and our earth may have had its commencement in such a primeval era, as well as in a later one."

But

Professor Hitchcock, in an elaborate and very able essay on the connexion between Geology and the Mosaic History, (Biblic. Reposit. Oct. 1835,) undertakes to establish, and we think with entire success, the following positions, which we give in his own words :-" In the first place, we maintain that between geology and revelation there are several unexpected and remarkable coincidences, such as could have resulted only from veracity on the part of the sacred historian; and that the points of agreement are far more numerous than the points of apparent collision; and, therefore, even geology alone furnishes a strong presumptive evidence in favour of the truth of the Mosaic history. We maintain, secondly, that the first chapter of Genesis is a portion of Scripture that has always occasioned much difficulty in its interpretation, apart from geology, and that those portions of it about which commentators have differed most, are the very ones with which geology is supposed to come into collision; so that in fact scarcely any new interpretation has been proposed to meet the geological difficulty. We admit, thirdly, that the geological difficulty is real; that is, the established facts of geology do teach us that the earth has existed through a vastly longer period, anterior to the creation of man, than the common interpretation of Genesis allows. We maintain, fourthly, that most of the methods that have been proposed to avoid or reconcile the geological difficulty are entirely inadequate, and irreconcilably at variance either with geology or revelation. We maintain, fifthly, that at least one or two of these proposed modes of reconciling geology and Scripture, although not free from objections, are yet so probable, that without any auxiliary considerations, they would be sufficient, in the view of every reasonable man, to vindicate the Mosaic history from the charge of collision with the principles of geology. And finally, we maintain, that though all these modes of reconciliation should be unsatisfactory, it would be premature and unreasonable to infer that there exists any real discrepance: first, because we are by no means certain that we fully understand every part of the Mosaic account of the creation; secondly, because geology is so recent a science, and is making so rapid advances, that we may expect from its future discoveries that some more light will be thrown upon cosmogony: and thirdly, because, as geology has been more and more thoroughly understood, the apparent discrepances between it and revelation have become less numerous."-B.

Ver. 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and et the dry land appear and it was so.

We have before remarked, that, during the first and second days of the creation, the earth must have presented to the view, (had any human eye existed to look upon it,) a solid globe of spheroidal form, covered with a thin coat of aqueous fluid, and already revolving on its axis as a member of the solar system. We are fully authorized in coming to this latter conclusion, from the distinct mention made in the record, of the days, comprising, like our present days, the evening and the morning, with the darkness and the light following each other in regular succession. The sun, it is true, had not yet been made visibly to appear, or o shone through the, as yet, cloudy atmosphere. It was

now the will of the Creator that the earth should no longer be "invisible" under its watery covering; and, accordingly, the command was given, that "the waters should be gathered together unto one place," that the " dry land" might appear. In considering this great event, it becomes a natural and fair question, as it has been left open to us by the record, as to the mode or means by which it must have taken place. The well-poised earth had already begun to revolve upon its axis; and the laws of gravitation and of fluids had consequently begun to act in our system. By these laws, it was impossible that the waters could have been gathered together by accumulation, or above the general level, as the solids of the earth might have been. We can, therefore, come to no other conclusion than that to which we are also led by various parts of the inspired writings, viz. that God did "rend the depths by his intelligence," and formed a depression, or hollow, on a part of the solid globe, within which, by the appointed laws of fluids, the "depths" were "gathered together." The following beautiful reflections on this part of our subject are from the enlightened mind of Mr. Granville Penn, who may, indeed, be called the first great advocate for the Mosaic Geology, among the men of science of our day. "The briefness of this clause, (Genesis i. 9,) and the nature of the subject, have caused it to be little contemplated in proportion to its importance, and to the fulness of the instruction which it conveys; and, therefore, it has not been observed that the same sublimity which is universally perceived in the clause, ' Let there be light, and there was light, subsists equally in this clause; 'Let the waters be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land be seen, and it was so.' The sentiment of sublimity in the former clause, results from the contemplation of an instantaneous transition of the universe from the profoundest darkness to the most splendid light, at the command of God. All men familiarly apprehend the sadness of the former, and the delight of the latter; and they are, therefore, instantly sensible of the glorious nature of the change which was then so suddenly produced. But the nature of the change which must necessarily have taken place, in suddenly rendering. visible a part of a solid globe, the universal surface of which had been overflowed and concealed by a flood of waters, is not so familiarly or so instantly apprehended; the mind, therefore, does not care to dwell upon it, but is contented with receiving the general information that the sea was formed. Hence, both commentators and geologists have equally failed to draw the immediate and necessary inference from the revelation of that great and undeniable geological fact."-FAIRHOLME'S GEOLOGY, p. 51-54.

Ver. 14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth and it was so. 16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also. 17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth.

It is admitted that the Scriptures generally describe the phenomena of the natural world as they appear, rather than according to strict scientific truth. Thus the sun and moon are said to rise and set,-the stars to fall,-and the moon to be turned into blood. Consequently, if this history of the creation were designed to describe the effects of the six days' work as they would have appeared to a spectator, had one been present, a supposition rendered probable from its being said, "Let the dry land appear," (Heb. be seen,) when as yet there was no eye to see it, then we may reasonably conclude that the sun was formed on the first day, or perhaps had been created even before our earth, and was in fact the cause of the vicissitudes of the three first days and nights. But as the globe of the earth was during that time surrounded by a dense mass of mingled air and water, the rays of the sun would be intercepted; only a dim glimmering light, even in the daytime, would appear; and the bodies of the heavenly luminaries would be entirely hidden,

just as they now are in a very cloudy day. Let it be supposed then that on the fourth day the clouds, mists, and vapours were all cleared away, and the atmosphere made pure and serene; the sun of course would shine forth in all his splendour, and to the eye of our imagined spectator would seem to have been just created; and so at night of the moon and stars. This effect of the Divine power, according to the usual analogy of the Scriptures, is described from its appearance, and the language employed,"let there be lights in the firmament,"-and-" he made two great lights, and set them in the firmament"-is to be interpreted on the principle above stated. They might then be said to be "made," because they then first began to be visible, and to perform the office for which they were designed. The original word for "made" is not the same as that which is rendered "create." It is a term frequently employed to signify constituted, appointed, set for a particular purpose or use. Thus it is said that God "made Joseph a father to Pharaoh"-" made him lord of Egypt"-"made the Jordan a border between the tribes"-" made David the head of the heathen;" and so in innumerable other instances. As, therefore, the rainbow was made or constituted a sign, though it might have existed before, so the sun, moon, and stars may be said to have been made and set as lights in the firmament, on the fourth day, though actually called into existence on the first, or previously.-BUSH.

CHAP. 2. ver. 18. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help-meet for him.

This is the polite way of speaking of a wife in the East, though it must be confessed that they associate with this term too much of the idea of a servant. Does an aged person advise a young friend to get married; he will not say, "Seek for a wife," but "Try to procure a thunive, a help-meet." A man who repines at his single state, says, "I have not any female help in my house." A widower says, "Ah! my children, I have now no female help." A man, wishing to say something to his wife, will address her as follows: " My help-meet, hear what I am going to say." It is worthy of observation, that the margin has for help-meet, "as before him;" and this gives a proper view of her condition, for she literally has to stand before her husband to serve him on all occasions, and especially when he takes his food; she being then his servant. Say to a woman, "Leave thy husband!" she will reply, "No, no; I will stand before him."-ROBERTS.

Ver. 19. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

The verb was is not in the original text; and, therefore, the sentence may run in the present, with equal propriety as in the past; and, indeed, according to the genius of the language, with more propriety in the present-that is the name thereof. Hence the names by which the lower animals were known in the days of Moses, were those which Adam gave them in Paradise; and as these are pure Hebrew, the legitimate conclusion is, that Hebrew was the language spoken by Adam before the fall.

This argument receives an accession of strength from the ideal character of the Hebrew language. It is admitted, that all languages participate more or less of the ideal character; but it is one of the most remarkable circumstances by which the Hebrew is distinguished. A number of its words, as in other languages, are mere arbitrary signs of ideas; but, in general, they derive their origin from a very few terms, or roots, that are commonly expressive of some idea borrowed from external objects; from the human constitution; from our senses or our feelings. The names of men, and of the lower animals, and the names of many places, particularly in the remoter ages, allude to some remarkable character in the creature named; or, in reference to place, to some uncommon circumstance or event. Scarcely a proper name can be mentioned, which alludes not to something of this kind. To give a few examples: Korè, the partridge, received its name from the verb Kara, to call, in imitation of the note which that bird uses in calling its young. The camel is in Hebrew, Gamal, from a verb of the same form, which signifies to recompense, because that creature is remarkable for remember

ing and revenging an injury. The Hebrews call the scorpion Akrab, from two words which signify to kill one's father; now, both Pliny and Aristotle inform us, that it is the character of that creature to destroy its own parents.-PAXTON.

Ver. 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field: but for Adam there was not found a help-meet for him.

With respect to the original language which Moses describes our first parents as making use of, from their very first creation, we are nowhere informed in what manner they first acquired it, nor how it was communicated to them. It is, indeed, probable that the inspired historian ada. ssed himself to those who were much less skeptical on such subjects than ourselves; and that this remarkable endowment, peculiar to the human race, and by which they so far excel all other created beings, was never, in early times, doubted as having been directly communicated from the same wise and provident source from whence the human race itself had arisen; and the researches of the wisest and most learned men of all ages have invariably led them to the same natural conclusion.

We have no direct means of positive knowledge as to what relation the primitive language of the earth may have had with existing tongues; but, in the absence of such evidence, we may form some conjectures on the subject, which are certainly marked with the highest probability. In the first place, we must consider that the numbers of the antediluvian human race, and their consequent divisions into nations, could not have been nearly so great as in the present day, from the comparatively short period they had existed, and from the comparatively unrefined condition natural to a primitive race of beings, on whom the gift of reason was obviously bestowed by the Creator for the purposes of exertion, and of gradual cultivation and improvement. We must not here suppose, however, with too many advocates of an erring philosophy, that man was, at first, Laturally sarage, or in the state we now find the wild and uncultivated natives of savage countries; or that religion and knowledge were, in the first days, in the debased condition we now too often find them in the remote corners of the earth.

The savage state is not natural to man; but, on the contrary, is brought on by erring from the true path of knowledge, in which both Adam and Noah must have brought up their first descendants; and which, in both instances, was communicated in a direct manner, from the unerring source of every good which mankind now enjoys. In considering the progressive stages of society, we are too apt to content ourselves with merely looking back, from our own times, into the darker ages of barbarism, and thus to form our ideas on the false supposition, that the primitive nature of man is one of perfect ignorance, and such as we now find among the savages of Africa or America: whereas, if we trace the progress of society, in its proper and natural course, by descending from the creation, and from the deluge, instead of ascending from our own times, we shall find that the primitive state of mankind, even immediately after the creation, was one of intelligence and understanding, if not.. in arts and sciences, at least on the leading point of religion, which is, of all others, that in which the savage falls most short of the civilized man. It pleased his Creator to bestow upon primitive man a full and perfect conception of the relation in which he stood towards the Supreme Being; and it was in order to preserve a knowledge of the true religion among men, that a certain family and race were afterward expressly chosen; we find, accordingly, that to whatever state of idolatrous ignorance, or savage barbarity, the various ancient nations of the earth were, from time to time, reduced, there was always some portion of the world, and especially of the Jewish race, which adhered to the true faith, and which was, consequently, preserved front that state of unnatural debasement from which man has a constant tendency and desire to emancipate himself. It is, therefore, highly probable that, as we hear of no diversity of language on the earth until after the deluge, the whole primitive race was "of one language, and of one speech," and that that language must, consequently, have been the

same spoken by those few individuals who were preserved from the flood?

Now, when we consider the great scheme of the Almighty, foretold from time to time, from the days of Adam to those of Abraham, and continued from thence, in a welldefined course of history, to our own times; when we consider the wonderful and miraculous events that were foretold, and were afterward so literally fulfilled, in the line of the chosen people of God;-that, through them, and through their language, the Inspired Writings of the early times were to be for ever handed down to the generations of men; that, of all the languages of the earth, the Hebrew tongue, like the Hebrew people, has hitherto withstood every change and every calamity; and been, like them, miraculously preserved by the Almighty will for a great and beneficent end; and when we further consider the strong analogy and filiation, so easily traced, in all the languages of the earth, to the Hebrew, as the most probable postdiluvian original tongue;--when all these considerations are combined, is it unreasonable to conclude to the high probability of the original language of the Sacred Scriptures being the pure and original tongue first communicaled to man by his Maker? In considering, then, the language of the Hebrews as the most probable source from whence all other tongues have been derived; and when we trace in all these other tongues the gradual varieties that have arisen, and are still now proceeding in the dialects of the earth, by the secondary causes, and, seemingly, trivial accidents, by which the different shades of language are brought about, are we not justified in drawing a comparison betweeen the miraculously preserved primitive language, and the no less miraculously preserved chosen people, who are the constant living miracle, bearing unwilling witness to the truth of Inspiration, to all the generations of mankind? We are reminded, that it was repeatedly foretold in prophecy, that the Hebrew nation should be dispersed into all countries; yet that they should not be swallowed up and lost among their conquerors, but should subsist, to the latest times, a distinct people; that, "though God would make an end of the nations, their oppressors, He would not make an end of them."-FAIRHOLME.

The names which men and things received at the beginning of time, are so strikingly similar to those which they bore when the Hebrew was certainly a living language, that its claim to the honour of being the primeval speech of the human family, can scarcely be rejected. It is ever reckoned a proof of similar origin, when many words in any two languages have the same form, the same sound, meaning, and reason. But the names of the first generations of men, like those of the lower animals, are as pure Hebrew as the names of Peleg, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or those of David and Solomon. or Malachi. They have the Hebrew form, are constructed according to Hebrew rules, are founded on certain reasons, like Hebrew names; and, in fine, are not to be distinguished in any one respect from pure Hebrew.

It deserves also to be remarked, that the reason assigned for these names will not correspond with any other language. The garden of Paradise was called Eden; becanse among the Hebrews it signifies pleasure or delight. The place of Cain's exile was for this reason called the land of Nod, from a root which signifies to wander. Adam received his name because he was taken out of the ground; but if the term for ground in the first language had been terra, or yn, or earth, there had been no propriety in the designation. Eve was called by this name, because she was the mother of all living; but it is derived from a pure Hebrew verb which signifies to live; and to this relation the name owes all its propriety and significance. Cain was named from the Hebrew verb Kana, to possess, because his mother had got him from the Lord; and in this instance also, the name is inseparably connected with the Hebrew root. The proper name Seth is derived from the Hebrew verb Shooth, to appoint; because, said our first mother, God hath appointed ine another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain stew. The same mode of reasoning might be carried through all the names of the Adamiuc age; but these instances are sufficient to show the near affinity, if not the positive identity, of the langunge which Adam spoke, with the Hebrew of the Old

"ament.

The names ascribed by the inspired writer to the found

ers of our race, are not interpretations of primitive terms; for he declares they are the very names which were given at first and as they are derivatives from pure Hebrew verbs, the language then spoken must have been the same in substance and structure.. Had they been translations, we have reason to think the same method would have been followed as in several instances in the New Testament, where the original term is used, and the interpretation avowedly subjoined. But Moses gives not a single hint of his translating these terms; he asserts, on the contrary, that they are the original words employed; and the truth of his assertion is rendered indubitable by the reasons assigned for their imposition, which are inseparably connected with the Hebrew language. Nor does Moses, in the whole course of his history, when speaking of the names of persons and places, utter a single word from which we can infer the existence of an earlier language..

When the minute and extensive acquaintance with the natural character and temper of the numerous animals to which our first father gave names in Paradise, which he certainly had not time to acquire by his own industry, and which we have no reason to believe he owed to intuition, is considered, we must admit, that the language in which he conversed was not his own contrivance, but the immediate gift of Heaven. When Jehovah breathed into Adamı and Eve the breath of life, he inspired them in the same moment with the knowledge of the tongue in which they were to express their thoughts. A similar favour was bestowed at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation, on the apostles and other ministers of the gospel; who were inspired in a moment with the perfect knowledge of many different languages.-PAXTON.

CHAP. 4. ver. 3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

The margin reads, "at the end of days;" and this, is truly Oriental. "When the days are ended, I will fulfil my promise." "After those days are ended, I shall have peace." "When the days come round, (in their circle,) I will do that for you."— ROBERTS.

Ver. 7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

'D'Oyly and Mant interpret this, "Your sin will find you out." Thy punishment is not far off." They also say sin may be rendered SIN-OFFERING; and several other commentators take the same view, and think this is its true and only meaning. The victim proper for a sin-offering was lying at the door, and therefore was within his reach.

There are some who affect to smile at the idea of SIN lying at the door: it is, however, an Eastern figure. Ask a man who is unacquainted with Scripture, what he understands by sin lying at the threshold of the door; he will immediately speak of it as the guilt of some great crime which the owner had committed. A man accused of having murdered a child, would be accosted in the following language:-"If you have done this, think not to escape; no! for sin will ever lie at your door: it will descend from generation to generation." To a man accused of having committed any other dreadful crime, it would be said, "Ah! if I had done it, do I not know sin woull ever lie at my door?" The idea is sin personified in the shape of some fierce animal crouched at the door. Its criminality and punishment remain.

If Cain had done well, would there not have been "the excellency?" (see margin ;) but if not well, then sin, like a monster, was crouching at his door. Taking the other view of it, seems to amount to this; now, Cain, if thou doest well, that will be thy excellency, thou shalt be accepted: but if thou doest not well, it is a matter of no very great consequence, because there is a sin-offering at thy door.

*I would here observe, once for all, that I have gone regularly through the marginal readings, and have found, with few exceptions that they literally agree with Eastern language in idiom and fgure. In the course of this work, most of them will be illustrated; and I think few readers will doubt that they are the correct translations.

nearer than Batoom and other parts of the eastern coast of the Black sea, a distance of seven days journey of a caravan, or about 130 miles in the circuitous route that would thus be taken. But might not a dove make this journey in a day? Or might not the climate then have been warmer than it is now? The second objection is drawn from the fact that some of the old versions and paraphrases, particularly the Chaldee and the Syriac, refer" the mountains of Ararat" to the mountains of Kürdistán, where there is, not far from Jezeereh, a high mountain called Joody, on which the moslems suppose the ark to have rested. But if the ark rested on that, the posterity of Noah would, most likely, have descended at once into Mesopotamia, and have reached Shinar from the north; while, from the valley of the Aras, they would naturally have kept along on the eastern side of the mountains of Media, until they reached the neighbourhood of Hamadán or Kermansháh, which is nearly east of Babylon. Such is the route now taken every day by all the caravans from this region to Bagdad. The Armenians believe, not only that this is the mountain on which the ark rested after the flood, but that the ark still exists upon its top; though, rather from supernatural than from physical obstacles, no one has yet been able to visit it. A devout vartabad, their legends relate, once attempted, for this purpose, to ascend the mountain. While yet far from the top, drowsiness came upon him, and he awoke at the bottom, in the very spot whence he had started. Another attempt resulted only in the same miraculous failure. He then betook himself more fervently to prayer, and started the third time. Again he slept, and awoke at the bottom; but now an angel stood before him with a fragment of the ark, as a token that his pious purpose was approved and his prayer answered, though he could never be allowed to reach the summit of the mountain. The precious gift was thankfully received, and is to this day carefully preserved, as a sacred relic, in the convent of Echmiadzin.-SMITH & DWIGHT.

Ararat forms the angle of an immense chain of mountains, on the loftiest pinnacles of which the natives of the country believe that part of the ark yet remains. It is a most sublime and stupendous object, which excites in the mind of the beholder the mingled emotions of admiration and terror. One of the great features of this mountain is the immense chasm which extends nearly half-way down, over which impends a cliff, discernible at a great distance, Whose enormous masses of ice are from time to time precipitated into the abyss with a noise resembling the loudest thunder. Nothing," says Mr. Morier, "can be more beautiful than its shape; more awful than its height. Compared with it, all the other mountains sink into insignificance. It is perfect in all its parts: no hard rugged features: no unnatural prominences; every thing is in harmony; and all combines to render it one of the most sublime objects in nature. Spreading originally from an immense base, its slope towards the summit is gradual, until it reaches the regions of the snows, when it becomes more abrupt. The cone is surmounted with a crown of ice, which glitters in the sun with a peculiar and dazzling brightness. As a foil to this stupendous work, a smaller hill rises from the same base, near the original mass, similar to it in shape and proportion, and in any other situation entitled to rank among the high mountains. The mountain is divided into three regions of different breadths. The first, composed of a short and slippery grass, or sand as troublesome as the quicksands of Africa, is occupied by the shepherds; the second, by tigers and crows: the remainder, which is half the mountain, is covered with snow which has been accumulating ever since the ark rested upon it; and these snows are concealed during one half of the year in very dense clouds." This stupendous mountain, Mr. Morier and his party endeavoured to scale; and after excessive fatigue arrived on the margin of eternal snow. But they found it impossible to proceed and penetrate the highest region; and not easy to go back. length, utterly exhausted, they reached the bottom, and gave thanks to God for their safe return.-PAXTON.

At

[The remarkable achievement of the ascent of Mount Ararat, has at length, it appears, been accomplished by Professor Parrot of England. Taking with him Mr. Behagel as mineralogist, Messrs. Hehn and Schiemann, medical students of Moscow, and Mr. Federow, astronmer of St. Petersburg, he commenced his journey on

the 20th of March, 1829, and arrived ut Tiflis on the 6th of June. Owing to peculiar circumstances they were unable to leave Tiflis till the first of September, the distance to Mount Ararat being by the road about 280 wasts (say 200 miles.) The following account of the ascent, extracted from a work recently published by Professor Parrot, at Berlin, is from the Foreign Quarterly Review for June, 1835.]

At seven o'clock in the morning of the 12th September, I set out on my journey, [from the Convent of St. James near the foot of the mountain,] accompanied by Mr. Schie mann. We took with us one of our Cossacks and a peasant of Arguri, who was a good huntsman, and our route was first in the bottom of the valley, then up its right acclivity towards the spot where there are two small stone houses standing close to each other; the one formerly a chapel, and the other built as a protection for a spring which is considered sacred.

From the chapel we crossed the grassy elevation, which forms the right declivity of the cleft: we suffered so much from the heat of the day, that our Cossack, who would probably have much rather been seated on horseback and galloping about on the steppes for three days than scrambling over the rocks for a couple of hours, was ready to sink from fatigue, and we were obliged to send him back. At about six o'clock in the evening, when we also were much tired, and had almost reached the snowy region, we chose our night's lodgings in the clefts of the rocks. We had attained a height of 11,675 Paris feet; in the sheltered places about us lay some new-fallen snow, and the temperature of the air was at the freezing point. Mr. Schiemann and I had provided ourselves tolerably well for such an undertaking; besides, the pleasure of the expedition warmed us; but our athletic Jagar, Schak of Arguri, (Isaac,) was quite dejected from the cold, for he had nothing but his summer clothing; his whole neck and also his legs, from the knee to the sandal, were quite bare, and his head was only covered with an old handkerchief. I had neglected to think about his wardrobe before setting out, and, therefore, it was my duty to help him as well as I could: but as neither of us had much clothing to spare, I wrapped up his neck and his bare limbs in sheets of blotting-paper which I had taken with me for drying plants, and this was a great relief to him. At daybreak we pursued our journey towards the eastern side of the mountain, and soon reached the declivity which runs immediately from the summit; it consists entirely of pointed rocky ridges coming down from above, and leaving between them ravines of considerable depth, in which the icy mantle of the summit loses itself, and glaciers of great extent. There were several of these rocky ridges and clefts of ice lying between us and the side of the mountain which we were endeavouring to reach. When we had happily surmounted the first crest and the adjoining beautiful glacier, and reached the second crest, Schak had no courage to proceed. His benumbed limbs had not yet recovered their warmth, and the icy region towards which he saw us hastening, did not hold out much prospect of relief; thus one remained behind from heat and the other from cold-only Mr. Schiemann, though unaccustomed to these hardships, did not for an instant lose his courage or his desire to accompany me, but shared with alacrity and perseverance all the difficulties and dangers we had to encounter. Leaving the Jager behind us, we crossed the second glacier, and gained the third rocky ridge. Then immediately turning off in an oblique direction, we reached the lower edge of the icy crest, at a height of 13,180 Paris feet, and which from this place runs without interruption to the summit. We had now to ascend this declivity covered with perpetual snow. Though the inclination was barely 30 deg., this was a sheer impossi bility for two men to accomplish in a direct line. We therefore determined to advance diagonally towards a long pointed ridge which runs far up towards the summit. We succeeded in this by making with our ice-poles deep holes in the ice of the glacier, which was covered with a thin layer of new-fallen snow, too slight to afford the requisite firmness to our steps. We thus reached the ridge, and advanced directly towards the summit by a track where the new snow was rather deeper. Though we might by great exertions have this time reached the goal of our wishes, yet the fatigue of the day had been considerable, and as it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, we were