rience awaited them as they
set out by a mountain path for Boege, a little town on the river Menoge, in
the province of Faucigny. Here the gentry made a great show of resistance,
and although they made them prisoners, together with 200 armed peasants
under the command of a quartermaster, yet the circumstance convinced Arnaud
that he must take precautions, otherwise the expedition would be greatly
hindered. Therefore one of the gentry of Boege was instructed to write a
letter informing the people of the next town that they were not to be
alarmed at the approach of the Vaudois, but to give them a free passage,
and supply them with provisions, for which they always paid. So they passed
on without very remarkable events, except privations and exposure to wet
and cold day by day, until, crossing the Arve, they reached Sallenches, at
the foot of the mighty monarch of European mountains, Mont Blanc. The sight
of the mountain seems to have severely tested the resolution of some of
Arnaud's followers, and it required all his skill and energy to inspire
them with courage to make the passage through the defile of the Bonhomme.
Indeed, the descent of the column was more hazardous than the ascent. To
accomplish this in many cases they were compelled to assume a sitting
posture, and slide down the face of the rocks. On the evening of the
fourth day the patriots reached the town of Sey, on the Isere, and met with
a good supply of provisions. On the evening of the fifth day Arnaud and his
colleague, Montoux, for the first time since they had started, lodged,
supped, and rested for three hours in peace. The next day they ascended
Mont Iseran, and resting at Maurienne in the evening, they ascended the
Mont Cenis the day after, and seized all the post-horses, to prevent the
news of their arrival being so easily communicated. From this point they
branched off in the direction of the little Mont Cenis, as being a less
frequented road, and spent the night very uncomfortably in the woods.

On the eighth day they left the valley of Jaillon, and would have proceeded
by way of Susa, crossing the Dora Riparia, but having unsuccessfully
attempted to dislodge a body of troops and peasants who commanded a portion
of that road, Arnaud decided on regaining the heights. This they did, but
not without much suffering and a loss of forty men, including two captains
and two surgeons. After this the Vaudois proceeded through the pass of
Touille, to the west,