As I had no means of determining the elevation of this district above the sea,[36] I made enquiries as to the climate in winter; and one of the Brothers told me, that it was an unusual thing with them to have a fall of snow amounting to two joints of a remarkably dirty finger.
At the mill, the path turns up the steep wooded hill on the right, and leads through young plantations to a small cottage near the glaciere, where the plantations give place to a well-grown beech wood.

Here my conductor startled me by announcing that there was 20 centimes to pay to the farmer of the cave for entrance; an announcement which seemed to take all the pleasure out of the expedition, and invested it with the disagreeable character of sightseeing.

The poor driver thought, no doubt, with some trepidation upon the small amount of _pour-boire_ he could expect from a monsieur on whom a demand for two pence produced so serious an effect, and it was difficult to make him understand that the fact and not the amount of payment was the trouble.

When I illustrated this by saying that I would gladly give a franc to be allowed to enter the glaciere free, he seemed to think that if I would entrust him with the franc, he might possibly arrange that little matter for me.
The immediate approach to the glaciere is very impressive.

The surface of the ground slopes slightly upwards, and the entrance, from north to south, is by a broad inclined plane, of gentle fall at first, which rapidly becomes steep enough to require zigzags.