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 FALL OF Mil WIIYMPER. 
 
— £ . 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES 
 
 IN 
 
 VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 SELECTED FROM THE NARRATIVES OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION AND ADDITIONS, 
 
 By J. T. HEAJDLEY, 
 \\ 
 
 4TTTHOB OF " NAPOLEON AND HIS MARSHALS," " WASHINGTON AND HIS GENE^ 
 RALS," " SACKED SCENES AND SACKED MOUNTAINS," ETC., ETC 
 
 With Forty-one Illustrations. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, AND CO. 
 1876. 
 
r ^ c 
 
 Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1871, by 
 
 CHAELES SCRIBNER AND COMPANY, 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, 
 
 RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: 
 PRINTED BT H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPACT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 VAG2 
 
 Mountains and Mountain-climbing 1 
 
 I. Mont Blanc 11 
 
 II. Mont Blanc 25 
 
 III. The Finsteraarhorn 43 
 
 IV. The Peak of Morteratsch '. 61 
 
 V. The Jungfiau ' .... 69 
 
 VI. The Galenstock 92 
 
 VII. The Matterhorn 104 
 
 VIII. Rescue from a Crevasse 136 
 
 IX. The Pic du Midi of the Pyrenees 146 
 
 X. The Breche de Boland 151 
 
 XL Mont Perdu 161 
 
 XII. North Cape 180 
 
 XIII. The Brocken 189 
 
 XIV. Parnassus 198 
 
 XV. Mount Athos 207 
 
 XVI. Mount Elburz in the Caucasus 212 
 
 XVII. The Taurus Mountains of Cilicia, (Bulghar-Dagh). . 218 
 
 XVIII. Mount Lebanon 228 
 
 XIX. Mount Ararat 240 
 
 XX. Mount Sinai 248 
 
 XXL Gungootree, the Sacred Source of the Ganges 257 
 
 XXII. Adam's Peak, Ceylon 266 
 
 XXIII. Ascent of the Gunung-Talang, Sumatra 273 
 
 XXIV. Peter Botte, Mauritius 279 
 
 XXV. The Peak of Teneriffe 289 
 
rv CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XXVL The Sierra Nevada 298 
 
 XXVII. Discovery of an Ancient Volcano 303 
 
 XXVIII. The Silla of Caracas 311 
 
 XXIX. Chimborazo 321 
 
 XXX. Discovery of Peruvian Bark 336 
 
 XXXI. Animal Life in Mountain Eegions . 345 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fall of Mr. Whymper down the Matterhorn Frontispiece 
 
 The Col du Geant , . . . 19 
 
 The Aiguille du Midi 27 
 
 Mont Blanc, from the Brevent 32 
 
 The Finsteraarhorn 50 
 
 Avalanche on the Peak of Morteratsch 64 
 
 The Jungfrau 78 
 
 The Matterhorn . 105 
 
 The Galenstock. Fall of M. Dollfus 114 y 
 
 Fatal Accident on the Matterhorn 129 
 
 Rescue from a Crevasse 142 
 
 The Pic du Midi 147 
 
 The Breche de Eoland 154 J 
 
 Mont Perdu 164 
 
 The North Cape 180 ' 
 
 Island of Lofoden, North Cape 183 
 
 The Island of Mageroe, North Cape 186 
 
 The Brocken 190 
 
 The Brocken, Hexentanzplatz 194 
 
 Mount Parnassus 200 
 
 Mount Athos 208 
 
 Mount Elburz 212 
 
 A Gorge in the Taurus 222 
 
 Mount Lebanon, Cascade of Nahr-el-Leben 232 
 
 Mount Ararat 242 
 
 Mount Sinai 245 
 
 View in the Himalayas 259 
 
VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Gungootree, the Himalayas 264 
 
 Adam's Peak, Ceylon 266 
 
 The Scelassie, Sumatra 274 
 
 Peter Botte, Mauritius 280 
 
 The Peak of Teneriffe 290 
 
 The San Andres, Mexico 304 
 
 The Silla of Caracas 312 
 
 Bridge in the Cordilleras 318 
 
 Chimborazo 324 
 
 The Cordilleras, Peru " 334 
 
 Rio Vinagre Cascade, in the Cordilleras 342 
 
 Condors 346 
 
MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 MO UN TAINS AND MO UN TAIN CLIMBING. 
 
 BY HON. J. T. HEADLEY. 
 
 Mountains rising from the earth, and drawing 
 their gigantic outlines along the sky, form the most 
 striking features of our planet. Heaved up by the 
 action of internal fires, they reveal in their broken, 
 twisted strata the omnipotent power that piled 
 them so high into the heavens. The mountain sys- 
 tem, so to speak, that characterizes the earth is not 
 the result of the lawless action of blind forces ; but 
 of infinite wisdom. The great Ural chain, with its 
 lateral branches — those mighty masses of Central 
 Asia, crowned by the Himalaya, rising nearly 
 30,000 feet into the heavens — the splintered snow- 
 capped pinnacles of the Alps — the vast extended 
 chains of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes, lin- 
 ing the Pacific coast, with their smoking tops, with 
 numberless minor ridges, seem to form a net-work 
 of granite bands to hold the globe together. 
 
2 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 Doubtless, a similar system to that which marks 
 the visible surface of the earth, characterizes the 
 bed of the ocean — both the development of some 
 all-wise plan, the full purpose of which we may not 
 know. 
 
 Independent of the laws that created them, or the 
 purpose for which they were formed, they have a 
 fascination for man like the nightly heavens. 
 
 Great landmarks to the eye, many of them furnish 
 great landmarks in human history, and stand also 
 as monuments of God's interviews with man. The 
 rainbow bending over the ark on Mount Ararat, and 
 the law given in thunder and flame on Mount 
 Sinai, have consecrated these mountains forever. 
 Aaron's death on Mount Hor, and Moses on Pis- 
 gah, and Elijah gazing on God passing by on 
 Mount Horebjhave surrounded these mountains with 
 a mystery' they will retain to the end of time. The 
 same is true of lesser mountains. 
 
 To stand where such scenes have occurred, 
 awakes no common emotions. Indeed one cannot 
 stand on any lofty mountain summit without expe- 
 riencing feelings that move the heart to its pro- 
 foundest depths. It is true that the desire to make 
 new scientific experiments, to correct old theories, 
 or establish new ones, has often induced men to 
 make difficult and dangerous ascents. Much light 
 has thus been thrown on meteorology — the barome- 
 ter has become a simple instrument with which to 
 measure heights — while the difference of tempera- 
 ture as we ascend, and the rarity of the atmosphere, 
 indeed, all atmospheric changes of the upper re- 
 
MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 6 
 
 gions, have become pretty well known to us. Many 
 adventures have been undertaken and dangers en- 
 countered in the cause of science, still the mere love 
 of adventure has prompted most of the perilous as- 
 cents that have been made. The Alps, standing in 
 the centre of Europe, with their bases easy of access, 
 have been the great theatre for the exploits of 
 mountain tourists, while their precipitous crevasses, 
 avalanches and crags have presented difficulties great 
 enough to satisfy the most daring. 
 
 Saussure, the first to ascend Mont Blanc, in 1787, 
 was lauded for his bravery in facing, in the cause of 
 science, the appalling obstacles that met him ; but' it 
 is doubtful if anything but the love of adventure, 
 and the desire to accomplish what others had failed 
 to perform, had much to do with it. He had for 
 twenty years and more been pursuing his investi- 
 gations in the Alps, and made thirty different as- 
 cents during that time, but from each turned away 
 dissatisfied, because the white, smooth, snow-sum- 
 mit of Mont Blanc, mocked his endeavors. It is 
 not probable that the comparatively slight differ- 
 ence between its elevation and that of others which 
 he had ascended, would give any materially differ- 
 ent results from those already obtained ; hence it 
 must have been the mere love of adventure, and 
 the wish to plant his feet where a human foot had 
 never trod, that prompted him to make the attempt. 
 In fact, he confesses as much, for he says, " It be- 
 came a mania with me. My eyes never rested upon 
 this Colossus without producing a painful impres- 
 sion." 
 
4 MOUNTAIN ADYENTUEES. 
 
 He had hoped from repeated observations to get 
 some light on the mysterious laws that govern that 
 mighty electrical current, that unceasingly rolls its 
 unseen flood around the earth, and yet does not 
 correspond with its axis. The magnetic needle that 
 reveals the existence of this everflowing current, at 
 a certain latitude ceases to turn to the north pole, 
 showing that it has passed out of its influence. 
 But even this strong desire yielded to the stronger 
 one of simple achievement. So Humboldt added 
 largely to scientific knowledge by his observations 
 from lofty elevations in the Cordilleras, yet when he 
 stood on the brink of an impassable chasm near the 
 summit of Chimborazo, with the blood oozing Irom 
 his gums and lips, and strained his eye upward will- 
 ing to suffer and dare more, it was not for the sake 
 of science that he felt so sorely disappointed. 
 
 The ascent of Mont Blanc, the " monarch of 
 mountains," is to-day almost as much an object of 
 ambition as fifty years ago. The frequent death of 
 adventurers does not deter others from making the 
 attempt. Even women have dared the glaciers, 
 avalanches and crevasses of this mountain. Only 
 last year, an English lady lost her life on its slope. 
 But the most tragical event of recent date, indeed, 
 of any period, was the destruction last year of an 
 entire party of eleven persons, when near the sum- 
 mit. Three gentlemen, two of them Americans, the 
 other a Scottish clergyman, and eight guides set out 
 in the latter part of August, and having safely 
 reached the summit at half-past two, had com- 
 menced the descent, when they were suddenly 
 
MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 5 
 
 wrapped in a whirlwind of snow. When last seen 
 by those watching them through their glasses in 
 Chamouni, they were huddling close together, as if 
 to hold on to each other for mutual support, and 
 then the driving snow hid them from sight, and they 
 were never seen alive again. It was two days be- 
 fore any party could attempt to go to their relief, 
 and they, after battling for two hours and a hail 
 with the storm, were compelled to give it up, and it 
 was ten days before the spot where they were last 
 seen could be reached. During all this time the 
 cold, unfeeling mountain was constantly swept by 
 glasses whenever a rift in the storm clouds would 
 give a glimpse of the summit. At length some 
 black spots could be detected on the white surface, 
 and fifty men set out toward them. They proved 
 to be five bodies of the unhappy party. One of 
 these was Dr. Bean of Baltimore, who was found 
 sitting up in the snow with his head fallen forward 
 on his hands. For two days he had sat there nearly 
 three miles in the heavens, listening to the roaring 
 of the storm that shut out the world below to him. 
 During these two dreadful days, he traced with his 
 stiffening fingers a few lines in a diary which was 
 found upon him. The first entry was made in the 
 morning after they had been overtaken by the 
 storm. He says, " We reached the summit at half- 
 past two o'clock. Immediately after having quitted 
 it, I found mjself enveloped in a whirlwind of snow, 
 at 15,000 feet, English height. We have passed the 
 night in a grotto dug in the snow — an uncomforta- 
 ble asylum, and I have been ill all night." 
 
6 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 "September 1th, morning. — Cold very intense. 
 Much snow. It falls without cessation ; the guides 
 are uneasy. 
 
 " September 7th, evening. — We have been on Mont 
 Blanc two days in a terrible snow storm. We are 
 lost, and I have no hope of descending. Perhaps 
 some one will find this book and send it to you." 
 
 Then, after leaving a message for his wife and di- 
 rections in regard to his son, he continues : " We 
 have no provisions. My feet are already frozen, 
 and I am already exhausted ; I have only strength 
 to write these words. I die believing in Jesus 
 Christ, with the sweet thought of my family, my 
 friendship and all. I hope we shall meet in heaven. 
 Yours always." This is all that is known of the ill- 
 fated party. 
 
 The last effort of departing life was put forth to 
 give his dying testimony for Christ, and express the 
 love he bore his friends and family to the last. 
 
 When the bodies were brought back to Chamouni, 
 the little Swiss hamlet became a scene of sorrow 
 and mourning. A part of the lost party lay far up 
 Mont Blanc, wrapped in their winding sheet of 
 snow, to be disturbed no more till the sea gives up 
 its dead. Whether swept by the force of the storm 
 into some deep abyss, or whether in the last effort 
 of despair they attempted to descend to the Grands 
 Mulets, till blinded and lost they perished, one after 
 another, will never be known. 
 
 But thrilling, and often painfully interesting, as 
 s6me of the accounts are, of ascents of the Alps by 
 small parties, they sink into insignificance beside 
 
MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 7 
 
 the struggles of armies over these snow covered 
 heights. The ascent of the Pragel by Suwarrow with 
 24,000 men, and their passage over the mountains into 
 the Grisons, has few parallels in history. He had 
 forced the St. Gothard, only to find his way blocked 
 by Marshals Mortier and Massena with their victo- 
 rious troops. 
 
 His only possible way of escape was over the 
 Kinzig Culm, into the Muotta Thai. This des- 
 perate feat he accomplished, fighting his way along 
 the dizzy cliffs. But when he reached the Muotta 
 valley a sight met his gaze fearful enough to appall 
 the stoutest heart. Molitor and his battalions looked 
 down on him from the surrounding heights ; Mor- 
 tier and Massena blocked the only road out ; while 
 Lecourbe hung like a storm-cloud on his rear. The 
 Russian bear was apparently denned, and the fate 
 of the army sealed. 
 
 Pragel lifting its rugged peak into the heavens, 
 crossed by a mere bridle path, was the only avenue 
 left unguarded, as though it was a sufficient barrier 
 of itself to an army of 24,000 men. To attempt to 
 cross it was a desperate chance ; but this the 
 iron-hearted old chieftain, scorning to surrender, 
 determined on, and the order, " forward," .was 
 given. The rear guard held back the enemy, while 
 the head of the column slowly wound its way up- 
 ward. For ten awful days he struggled along these 
 heights, the thunder of cannon below answered by 
 the roar of descending avalanches above, mowing 
 down men and beasts of burden together. 
 
 On the eleventh day the weary, bleeding army 
 
8 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 found itself in the Naefels, on the other side. But 
 here, too, the enemy blocked its way out of the 
 valley ; and Suwarrow took the desperate resolution 
 of leading his army over the Grisons, that lifted 
 their snow-covered peaks 7,600 feet into the heavens. 
 Up this a narrow zigzag path went winding over 
 glaciers, and along precipices till lost in the snow 
 fields on the distant summit. It was a frightful 
 undertaking to lead 24,000 men over this mountain 
 by such a path ; but the stern order was given, and 
 the thin, weary, bleeding column moved up the 
 ascent. As if to insure its destruction, a snow storm 
 commenced to rage on the heights, that soon 
 covered them two feet deep, and blotted out all 
 traces of the path. Slowly, wearily, in single file, 
 the mighty host wound its way upward. Only half 
 the ascent was made the first day ; and without a 
 fire to cheer the solitude, the army lay down in the 
 snow, and, cold and hungry, passed the night. The 
 next day the head of the column reached the sum- 
 mit, and lo, what a spectacle met its gaze ! Moun- 
 tains enfolding mountains, with untrodden abysses 
 between, filled all the field of vision. No snioke arose 
 to cheer the savage solitude ; no sound came out of 
 the mysterious depths but the sullen roar of the 
 avalanche ; and no path was visible to guide the 
 feet in the downward march. This was more peril- 
 ous than the ascent, for a freezing wind had hard- 
 ened the snow into a crust, that frequently bore 
 the soldiers, who had to thrust their ba}'onets 
 into it to keep from sliding over the precipices. 
 Hundreds, exhausted and despairing, lay down to 
 
MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 9 
 
 die, while whole companies, slipping together, would 
 strike those in front, and all go in one black mass 
 into abysses from which even the cry for help could 
 not be heard. Beasts of burden, too, with their 
 loads, would come sliding against the line, carrying 
 the poor soldiers with them over the precipices. 
 
 The army was five days struggling over these 
 heights, leaving nearly 8000 men scattered along 
 the precipices and snow fields, or piled together in 
 the abysses below. For months after, vultures 
 hovered incessantly along the line of this terrible 
 march, gorging themselves with the dead bodies. 
 
 The passage of the Splugen by McDonald, with 
 fifteen thousand men, in the winter, was a similar 
 achievement, though he had no enemy but the ele- 
 ments to encounter. 
 
 The sketches in this volume embrace every variety 
 of scenery, of almost every zone of the earth. The 
 beautiful and entrancing succeed the grand and 
 awful in rapid alternation, carrying the reader from 
 one mountain top to another with an interest that 
 never flags. 
 
 The adventurous spirit of man has enabled him 
 to overcome apparently insuperable obstacles, and 
 reach the top of almost every high mountain on the 
 globe ; yet there are some that his feet will never 
 profane. Humboldt and others have cast their 
 longing looks in vain on the round, smooth peak of 
 Chimborazo, while that most beautiful of all the 
 colossal summits of the Andes, Cotopaxi, is declared 
 inaccessible. 
 
 A perfectly smooth, pure, and spotless cone, it 
 
10 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 rises nearly 19,000 feet in the surpassingly clear 
 atmosphere of that region — a thing of wondrous 
 beauty. A huge volcano blazes from its snowy top, 
 sending its tongue of flame far up into the serene 
 heavens, once reaching the extraordinary height of 
 nearly three thousand feet. Its roarings are terrific, 
 so that Humboldt, on standing^ on the shore of the 
 ocean, nearly two hundred miles distant, could dis- 
 tinctly hear them. In the eruption of 1744 its tre- 
 mendous explosions were heard six hundred miles. 
 
 Nothing is more interesting than a tour among 
 mountains ; and the toil and the danger are forgot- 
 ten in the varied emotions they awaken. 
 
MONT BLANC. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1787 BY DE SAUSSURE. 
 
 On my way to Chaniounix, in the beginning of 
 July, I met at Sallenche the courageous Jacques 
 Balm at, who was coming to Geneva to inform me of 
 his recent success : he had ascended to the summit 
 of the mountain with two other guides. Rain was 
 falling when I arrived at Chamounix ; and the bad 
 weather lasted four weeks. But I was determined 
 to wait uniil the end of the season rather than miss 
 a favorable opportunity. 
 
 It came at last, — that moment so much desired, 
 — and I set off on the 1st of August, 1787, accom- 
 panied by a servant, and by eighteen guides, who 
 carried the scientific instruments, and all the bag- 
 gage that I required. My son had an ardent desire 
 to go with me ; but I feared that he was not as yet 
 either robust enough, or sufficiently inured to such 
 violent and prolonged exertion, and therefore in 
 sisted on his renouncing the project. He remained 
 at the Priory, where he most carefully took observ-j 
 
12 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ations corresponding to those which I made on the 
 summit. 
 
 In order to be perfectly free in the choice of the 
 places where we should pass the nights, we carried 
 with us a tent under which I reposed the first even- 
 ing on the top of the Montague de la Cote. This 
 day was free from hardships and dangers ; we walked 
 up either on turf or over rocks, and did it easily in 
 five or six hours. But from thence to the summit 
 we marched on over ice and snow. 
 
 The second day's work was not the easiest. We 
 had first to cross the glacier de la Cote in order to 
 gain the foot of a little chain of rocks which are 
 embosomed in the snows of Mont Blanc. This gla- 
 cier is difficult and dangerous. It is cut up into 
 wide, deep, and irregular crevasses, which some- 
 times can only be crossed by means of bridges of 
 snow, which are occasionally very thin, and sus- 
 pended over deep abysses. One of my guides had 
 a narrow escape. He had gone in the evening with 
 two others to examine the passage ; and happily 
 they had taken the precaution of tying themselves 
 to each other with cords ; for the snow gave way 
 under him in the midst of a large and deep crevasse ; 
 and he remained suspended between his two com- 
 panions. We passed close to the opening which 
 had formed under him, and I trembled at the sight 
 of the danger which he had run. The passage of 
 this glacier is so difficult and so tortuous that it 
 took me three hours to go from the top of La Cote 
 to the first rocks of the isolated chain, although the 
 
MONT BLANC. ' 13 
 
 distance is not more than three-quarters of a mile 
 in a straight line. 
 
 After having reached these rocks we set out from 
 them again in order to ascend, in a serpentine man- 
 ner, into a little valley filled with snow which 
 stretches from north to south, to the very foot of tho 
 highest point. These snows are divided at intervals 
 by enormous and superb crevasses, the clean and 
 sharp cuttings of which show the snows disposed 
 into horizontal beds, each of which beds corre- 
 sponds to a year. And whatever might be the 
 width of these crevasses we could nowhere discover 
 their depth. 
 
 My guides wished to spend the night in the 
 neighborhood of one of the rocks which we passed 
 on this route ; but as the highest of *them is from 
 600 to 700 fathoms below the summit, I wished to 
 ascend higher. For that purpose it was necessary 
 to encamp in the midst of the snows, and to this I 
 had the greatest difficulty in getting my companions 
 to consent. They imagined that during the night 
 there reigns in these high snows a cold absolutely 
 insupportable ; and they seriously feared that they 
 should perish through it. I told them at last that 
 as for myself I was determined to go on with those 
 of them of whom I was sure ; that we should dig- 
 deeply in the snow, cover the excavation with the 
 tent-cloth, then shut ourselves closely up in it, and 
 that thus we should not suffer at all from the cold, 
 however rigorous it might be. This arrangement 
 reassured them, and we went forward. At four 
 o'clock in the evening we reached the second of the 
 
14 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 three great plateaux of snow which we had to cross ; 
 and there we encamped, at 1455 fathoms above the 
 Priory, and at 1995 above the sea, being 90 fathoms 
 higher than the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe. 
 We did not go on to the last plateau, because it is 
 exposed to avalanches. The first one over which we 
 had just passed, is not exempt from them. "We had 
 crossed two of these, avalanches which had fallen 
 since Balmat's last journey, and the ruins of which 
 covered the valley in all its extent. 
 
 My guides set themselves first to excavate the 
 spot in which we had to pass the night ; but they 
 quickly felt the effect of the rarity of the atmos- 
 phere (the barometer being at 16.3 inches). These 
 robust men, for whom seven or eight hours' march 
 was absolutely nothing, had not raised more than 
 five or six shovelfuls of snow when they felt the 
 impossibility of going on. They were obliged to 
 rest every minute. One of them, who had turned 
 back to get a barrel of some water which we had 
 seen in a crevasse, became ill on his way, came back 
 without the water, and passed the evening in the 
 greatest pain. Even I, who am so accustomed to 
 the air of mountains, and always feel better in it 
 than in that of the plain, was utterly exhausted by 
 the exertion of just preparing my meteorological 
 instruments. This affection produced in us an un- 
 quenchable thirst ; and we could only procure water 
 by melting snow, for the water which we had seen 
 in ascending proved to be frozen when we returned 
 for it ; and the little charcoal chafing dish served 
 twenty thirsty persons but slowly. 
 
MONT BLANC. 15 
 
 In the middle of this plateau, enclosed between 
 the last peaks of Mont Blanc on the south, its high 
 steps on the east, and the Dome du Goute on the 
 west, one sees hardly anything but snow, of a pure 
 and dazzling whiteness ; and on the highest peaks 
 this forms the most singular contrast with the 
 almost black sky of these high regions. You see 
 there no living being, no appearance of vegetation ; 
 it is the abode of cold and silence. When I pic- 
 tured to myself Doctor Paccard and Jacques Balmat 
 arriving here just as the sun was declining, without 
 shelter, without assistance, without even the cer- 
 tainty that men can live in the places which they 
 aspired to reach, and notwithstanding, intrepidly 
 pursuing their way, I was filled with admiration at 
 their energy of mind and their courage. 
 
 My guides, constantly haunted by fear of the 
 cold, closed all the edges of the tents with such 
 exactness that I suffered much from the heat and 
 from the closeness of the air. Indeed I was obliged 
 to go out in the night to breathe. The moon was 
 shining with the greatest splendor in the midst of 
 a sky black as ebony. Jupiter also appeared par- 
 ticularly radiant from behind the highest point on 
 the east of Mont Blanc : and the light reflected by 
 all this basin of snow was so dazzling that one could 
 only distinguish stars of the first and second mag- 
 nitude. We were just falling asleep when we were 
 aroused by the noise of an avalanche which covered 
 part of the slope which we intended to climb on the 
 morrow. At break of day the thermometer was 
 three degrees below freezing. 
 
16 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 We set out late, because it was necessary to melt 
 the snow for breakfast and for the journey. It was 
 drank as soon as melted ; and these fellows who 
 most religiously abstained from the wine which they 
 had to carry, robbed me continually of the water 
 which I had put in reserve. 
 
 We began by ascending to the third and last 
 plateau ; then we turned to the left in order to 
 reach the highest rock on the east of the summmit. 
 The declivity is very steep, about 36 degrees in 
 some places ; everywhere it abounds in precipices, 
 and the surface of the snow was so hard that those 
 who went first could only make sure of their footing 
 by chopping steps with a hatchet. We took two 
 hours to ascend this slope, which is about 250 
 fathoms in height. Arrived at the last ■ rock, we 
 turned towards the right, to the west, in order to 
 climb the last . slope, of which the perpendicular 
 height is about 150 fathoms. This slope only 
 inclines from 28 to 29 degrees, and presents no 
 danger ; but the air there is so rare that our strength 
 was quickly exhausted ; near the top I could not 
 go more than fifteen or sixteen steps without tak- 
 ing breath. 1 felt even from time to time such a 
 failure of strength that I was forced to sit down ; 
 but as soon as respiration returned my strength 
 returned with it ; and then it seemed to me that I 
 should be able at one effort to reach the top of the 
 mountain. All my guides, in proportion to their 
 strength, were in the same state. We took two 
 hours from the last rock to the summit ; and it was 
 eleven o'clock when we arrived there. 
 
MONT BLANC. 17 
 
 My eyes were first turned towards Chamounix, 
 where I knew that my wife and sister were following 
 my course through the telescope, with an anxiety 
 unnecessarily great, no doubt, but none the less 
 cruel ; and I experienced a very sweet and consoling 
 feeling when I saw floating in the air the flag which 
 they had promised to hoist the moment when they 
 espied me on the highest point, and when their fears 
 would be at least relieved for the time. 
 
 I could then enjoy, without regret, the grand 
 spectacle which lay beneath my eyes. A light va- 
 por suspended in the loAver regions of the air robbed 
 me of the sight of the lower and more distant ob- 
 jects, such as the plains of France and Lombardy ; 
 but I did not much mind this loss. What I saw, 
 and saw with the greatest clearness, was the whole 
 collection, the whole group of these high peaks 
 of which I had so long desired to know the organi- 
 zation. I could not believe my eyes ; it seemed to 
 me that it must be a dream when I beheld beneath 
 my feet those majestic peaks, those veritable needles, 
 Le Midi, l'Argentiere, and Le Geant, whose bases 
 even I had so long found difficult and dangerous 
 of access. I seized on their bearing one to another, 
 their connection, their structure ; and one glance re- 
 moved all those doubts which years of labor had 
 not been able to clear up. 
 
 During this time our guides set up the tent and 
 placed in it the little table on which I was to make 
 my experiments. But when I came to fix my in- 
 struments, I found myself every instant obliged to 
 interrupt my work in order to get breath. And if 
 
18 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 we consider that the barometer stood there only 
 at 15.1 inches, and that thus the air was of hardly 
 more than half its usual density, we shall understand 
 that it is necessary to supplement the density by the 
 frequency of inspiration. Then this frequency ac- 
 celerates the motion of the blood, and the more so 
 as the arteries were no longer counter-balanced on 
 the outside by a pressure equal to that which they 
 usually felt. So we were all feverish. 
 
 When I remained perfectly quiet, I only felt a 
 little uneasiness and a slight disposition to sickness. 
 But, when I took any trouble or fixed my attention 
 for a few moments together, and above all, when by 
 stooping down I had contracted my chest, I was 
 obliged to rest, and take breath for two or three 
 minutes. My guides experienced similar sensa- 
 tions ; they had no appetites ; and, in truth, our pro- 
 visions, which had become frozen by the way, were 
 not calculated to excite them. They cared for 
 neither wine nor brandy. In fact, they had dis- 
 covered that strong liquors augment these uncom- 
 fortable sensations, no doubt by increasing the 
 quickness of the circulation. Nothing but fresh 
 water was found agreeable ; and both time and 
 trouble in lighting a fire were necessary in order to 
 obtain that. 
 
 I remained on the summit until half-past three ; 
 and although I did not lose a single moment, yet I 
 could not in these four hours and a half make all the 
 experiments which I had frequently finished in less 
 than three hours by the sea-side. I took great care, 
 however, with those which were most essential. 
 
MONT BLANC 
 
 19 
 
 Quitting this magnificent belvedere I came, in 
 three-quarters of an hour, to the rocks which formed 
 the shoulder on the east of the summit. The de- 
 scent of this declivity of which the ascent had been 
 so painful, was easy and agreeable ; the snow was 
 neither too hard nor too soft; and, as the move- 
 ments of our bodies in coming down did not com- 
 
 The Col du G^ant. 
 
 press the diaphragm, it did not try the breathing ; 
 and so we did not suffer from the rarity of the air. 
 Besides, as this descent is broad, and free from pre- 
 cipices, there was nothing to alarm us or to retard 
 the march. But it was not thus with the descent 
 which, from the top of the shoulder, conducts to the 
 plateau on which we had slept. The great rapidity 
 of this slope, the unbearable brightness of the sun 
 
20 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 reflected by the snow, which showed to us the pre- 
 cipices under our feet, and made them appear more 
 terrible than they were, rendered it extremely pain- 
 ful. Besides, as the hardness of the snow had made 
 our march difficult in the morning, so now its soft- 
 ness, produced by the heat of the sun, incommoded 
 us in the evening, because under this softened sur- 
 face we found it hard and slippery. 
 
 As we had all doubted of this descent some of 
 the guides had sought for another while I was oc- 
 cupied in making my observations ; but their search 
 having been in vain, we were constrained to return 
 by the same way that we had gone up. However, 
 thanks to the care of my guides, we did it without 
 accident, and that in less than an hour and a quar- 
 ter. We passed near the place where we had, if not 
 slept, at least rested, on the preceding night ; and 
 we pushed on a league further, as far as the rock, 
 near which we had stopped in ascending. I deter- 
 mined to sleep there, and made them fix the tent 
 against the southern extremity of this rock in a 
 truly singular situation. It was on the snow, on the 
 edge of a declivity exceedingly rapid, which descends 
 from the valley commanded by the Dome du Goute 
 with its crown of seracs* and which is terminated on 
 
 * In the Alps they give the name of "serac" to a species ol 
 white, close cheese which they obtain from whey, and which they 
 press into rectangular cases, in which they take the form of cubes, 
 or rather of rectangular parallelopipeds. The snows, at a great 
 height, frequently take this form when they freeze, after having 
 been drenched by rain. They become then extremely compact, 
 and in this state, if a thick bed of hardened snow gets on to a 
 declivity, so that it slides in a mass, and that, in sliding, somo 
 
MONT BLANC. 21 
 
 the south by the peak of Mont Blanc. At the bot- 
 tom of this declivity there was a large and deep 
 crevasse which separated us from the valley, and 
 which engulfed everything that we let fall from any- 
 where near our tent. 
 
 "We had chosen this position to avoid the danger 
 of avalanches, and in order that the guides finding 
 shelter in the clefts of the rock we should not be 
 crowded into the tent, as we had been on the pre- 
 vious night. 
 
 I contemplated the mass of clouds which floated 
 under my feet above the valleys and mountains 
 which were, less elevated than we were. These 
 clouds, instead of presenting flat or smooth surfaces, 
 such as one sees when looking up from below at them, 
 displayed forms that were extremely odd, — towers, 
 castles, giants, — and appeared to be moved by ver- 
 tical winds, which came from different points of the- 
 countries situated under them. Above all these 
 clouds I saw the horizon bounded by a band com- 
 posed of two lines, the lower one of a blackish red, 
 and the upper one lighter and resembling a flame 
 of a beautiful yellow color, varying, transparent, 
 and shaded. 
 
 TTe supped merrily and with good appetites, 
 after which I passed an excellent night on my mat- 
 tress. It was then only that I enjoyed the pleasure 
 of having accomplished the design formed twenty- 
 portions of the mass do not go straight, their weight forces them 
 to break into fragments nearly rectangular, of which some are 
 perhaps fifty feet every way, and which, on account of their ho- 
 mogeneity, are as regular as if they had been cut with scissora 
 
22 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 seven years before, in my first journey to Chaniounix, 
 in 1760 ; a project which I had so often abandoned 
 and taken up again, and which had been to my 
 family a continual subject of anxiety and disquiet. 
 This prepossession of mind had the character of a 
 sort of malady ; my eyes had never met Mont Blanc, 
 which could be seen from many places in our neigh- 
 borhood, without my experiencing a sort of sorrow- 
 ful pang. At the moment in which I reached the 
 top, my satisfaction was not complete ; it was still 
 less so when I left it, for I only then saw what I had 
 not been able to do. But in the silence of the night, 
 after 1 had well rested from my fatigue ; when I re- 
 capitulated the observations that I had made ; when, 
 above all, I retraced the magnificent picture of the 
 mountains which I carried graven in my head ; and 
 when, lastly, I encouraged the weU-founded hope of 
 finishing on the Col du Geant what I had not been 
 able to do, and which really will never be done on 
 Mont Blanc, — then I felt a true and unmixed satis- 
 faction. 
 
 On the 4th of August, the fourth day of our 
 journey, we did not set out until six o'clock in 
 the morning. Shortly after we arrived at the 
 hut. We were next obliged to descend a slope of 
 snow, the inclination of which was about forty-six 
 degrees, and to cross a large crevasse over a bridge 
 of snow so slight that it was not at first more than 
 three inches thick ; and one of the guides who 
 swerved a little from the middle, got one of his legs 
 over the side. At an hour's march beyond the hut 
 we came to crevasses which were open ; and in order 
 
MONT BLANC. 23 
 
 to avoid them it was necessary to descend an inclined 
 slope of fifty degrees. Coming at last to the glacier 
 which we must recross, we found it so changed in 
 the last four-and-twenty hours, that we could not 
 discover the route which we had taken in ascending ; 
 for the crevasses were widened, the bridges were 
 broken, and often, finding no way we were forced 
 to return on our steps ; while oftener still we were 
 obliged to make use of our ladder in order to cross 
 crevasses which it would have been impossible to 
 pass without its assistance. Just as he had reached 
 the other side, one of the guides lost his footing; 
 he slid to the edge of a chink, into which he all but 
 fell, and in which he lost one of the stakes of my 
 tent. In this moment of fright an enormous piece of 
 ice fell into a great crevasse, with a noise which shook 
 the whole glacier. But at last we got safe on to 
 the rock at half-past nine in the morning free from 
 all further trouble or danger. We took only two 
 hours and a half from thence to the priory at Cha- 
 in ounix, to which I had the satisfaction of bringing 
 back all my guides in perfectly good health. 
 
 Our reception was at once joyful and affecting ; 
 for all the relations and friends of the guides came 
 to embrace them and congratulate them on their 
 return. And my wife, my sister, and my sons, who 
 had passed together a long and anxious time at 
 Chamounix in the expectation of this expedition, as 
 well as several of our friends who came from Geneva 
 to join in the welcome, — all expressed at this joyful 
 moment the satisfaction which the fears that had 
 preceded it, rendered only the more lively and touch- 
 
24 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 ing according to the degree of interest which we had 
 inspired. 
 
 I remained the next day at Chamounix in order 
 to make some comparative observations, after which 
 we all returned happily to Geneva, from whence I 
 could now look on Mont Blanc with a true pleasure, 
 and without that feeling of longing and anxiety 
 which it had before caused me. 
 
 H. B. de Saussuke, Voyage dans les Alpes. 
 
11. 
 
 MONT BLANC. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1844 BY MM. CHARLES MARTINS, BRAVAIS, 
 AND LEPILEUR. 
 
 I come now to the scientific ascent which I made 
 in 1844, with my friends Auguste Bravais, a naval 
 lieutenant, and Auguste Lepileur, a medical practi- 
 tioner. 
 
 With the former I had visited Spitzbergen in 
 1838 and 1839, during the two campaigns of " La 
 Recherche " in the Frozen Ocean. He had wintered 
 alone at Bossecop, in Lapland; but we had staid 
 together on the Faulhorn, in 1841, for eighteen 
 days, at a height of 8710 feet. He himself had 
 met the following year with the physician, Auguste 
 Peltier, and had staid with him twenty-three days. 
 A comparison of the northern regions of the globe 
 with high Alpine regions was the habitual subject 
 of our conversations. On the Faulhorn we had 
 made a number of observations, and proposed a cer- 
 tain number of problems which could only be solved 
 by an ascent and a sojourn at a very great height. 
 Therefore we thought of Mont Blanc. 
 
26 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 We left Geneva on the 26th of July, and follow- 
 ing on foot a great four-wheeled wagon which 
 carried all that we required, we arrived at Cha- 
 mounix on the 28th. The preparations occupied us 
 several days. Our design being to 'stay some time 
 as high as possible on Mont Blanc, we had brought 
 from Paris a tent for encamping, with its supports 
 and stakes, some paletots of goats' skin, some sheep- 
 skin sacks, some blankets, etc. 
 
 Our proposed experiments required numerous 
 physical and meteorological instruments ; food, for 
 three days was necessary ; but each porter could 
 only carry about 32 lbs. weight besides his victuals. 
 "We had altogether about 956 lbs. weight to transport 
 to a height of 9750 feet above the Valley of Cha- 
 mounix. 
 
 Our caravan numbered forty-three persons, of 
 whom three were guides, Michel Couttet, Jean Mug- 
 nier, and Theodore Balmat ; and thirty-five por- 
 ters, two being young men of the valley who had 
 asked to accompany us. On the 31st of July, at 
 half-past seven in the morning, we set out from 
 Chamounix. 
 
 The weather was fine, only the wind blew from 
 the southwest, and the barometer had fallen a 
 little ; but our preparations were made. We set out 
 therefore without feeling perfect confidence in the 
 weather, but hoping for speedy improvement. The 
 long file of porters extended along the right bank 
 of the Arve, in the midst of verdant meadows. But 
 when we were arrived in front of the hamlet of Les 
 Pelerins, we turned to the left. 
 
MONT BLANC. 27 
 
 The last house in the village was that of Jacques 
 Bahnat, the first man whose steps were printed on the 
 then untrodden snow on the top of Mont Blanc, and 
 who perished miserably, in 1834, in the glaciers over 
 the Yalley of Sixt. Leaving the orchards which 
 surround the hamlet of Les Pelerins, we entered a 
 forest composed of high fir-trees and old larches, 
 on the brambles of which hung the long festoons of 
 a grey lichen. In the preceding spring an enor- 
 mous avalanche, which had descended from the 
 Aiguille du Midi, had dug a large furrow in the 
 forest. Trees torn up by the roots covered the 
 ground which they had once shaded, — others were 
 broken in the middle, their tops lying at our feet ; 
 while others, only partially injured, bent over the 
 valley. These effects are due as much to the pres- 
 sure of the air driven out by the avalanche, — to the 
 local wind which it produces — as to the snow itself. 
 The caravan being dispersed into the woods, each 
 one chose his own way. 
 
 A straight path goes along the side of the pre- 
 cipice over which falls the cascade des Pelerins, and 
 leads to the moraine of the glacier of Bossons ; 
 then you mount in the midst of the heaped-up 
 blocks which compose it, and you reach the Pierre 
 de l'Echelle, an enormous rock under which they 
 hide the ladder generally used to cross the crevasses 
 of the glacier. This stone is about 7949 feet above 
 the sea, at the same elevation as the monastery of St. 
 Bernard. It is there that the traveller bids fare- 
 well to the earth. He quits it to pass over the 
 glacier, and up to the summit of Mont Blanc he 
 
28 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUIiES. 
 
 only finds isolated rocks which surge like islands in 
 the midst of fields of eternal snow. 
 
 The circuit around the glacier of Bossons was, 
 as it always is, a chaos of seracs, of needles, and 
 of pyramids of ice, in the midst of which is situated 
 the eastern wall of the Grands Mulets. The ver- 
 tical strata of which these rocks are composed 
 rise to various heights, and form steps which 
 enable one to climb up to all the points. The 
 rock being decomposed under the influence of 
 atmospheric agents, the particles collect between 
 the layers. In these collections vegetate beautiful 
 Alpine plants, sheltered by the rock, warmed by 
 the sun which it reflects, and moistened by the 
 snow which, even in summer, often whitens these 
 peaks, though it melts rapidly when the sun shines 
 on it for two or three days. In some weeks they go 
 through all the phases of their vegetation, and I 
 have gathered nineteen phanerogamic plants in three 
 ascents. M. Yenance-Payot having added five species 
 to this list, there exist twenty-four flowering plants 
 on the Grands Mulets. To these four-and-twenty 
 phanerogams, we must add twenty-six species of 
 mosses, two hepaticse, and thirty lichens, which 
 brings the total number of plants that grow on 
 these isolated rocks, in the midst of a sea of ice, rocks 
 which appear to be deprived of all vegetation, up to 
 eighty-two. Who would believe it ? These plants 
 serve for nourishment to a little gnawing animal, 
 the campagnol of the snow, the only mammifer which 
 is found high on the Alps, whilst almost all his 
 brethren are inhabitants of^fche plain. 
 
MONT BLANC. 29 
 
 Bravais took on himself the task of measuring 
 the variations of the magnetic intensity with the 
 height. For that purpose a compass is used, in 
 which a needle is suspended horizontally by a thread 
 of silk not twisted. This needle is made to oscillate 
 during a series of intervals of time perfectly equal ; 
 and from the number of these oscillations after infi- 
 nite corrections and an extreme minuteness, a con- 
 clusion is arrived at as to the relative intensity of 
 magnetic force at the place compared with that at 
 Paris. The importance of these measures will be 
 understood, as they will one day disclose to us the 
 now mysterious laws of those currents which circu- 
 late around the terrestrial globe, that colossal mag- 
 net, the two poles of which do not coincide with the 
 two extremities of the ideal axis on which the earth 
 describes its daily revolution. 
 
 Meanwhile the sun was nearing the horizon ; 
 already he had disappeared behind the Monts Yergy, 
 and the valleys of Sallanche and of Chamounix had 
 been long in the shade, whilst the neighbouring 
 granite points appeared of a white heat like hot iron 
 coming out of the fire. Soon the peak of Yarens and 
 the rocks of the Fiz were extinguished, and the 
 shadow gained the glaciers of Mont Blanc. The 
 snows which had been so luminous an instant before, 
 took the dull and livid color of a corpse ; and cold 
 and death seemed to invade these regions with the 
 darkness and to reveal all their horrors. The point 
 of Goiite, the Monts Maudits, successively grew dim ; 
 while the top of Mont Blanc alone remained light 
 for a little time ; then the rosy tint which had en- 
 
30 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 livened it gave place also to a livid one, as if life 
 had abandoned it in its turn. Towards the horizon, 
 above the sea of clouds, the heavens appeared of a 
 light green, the result of the combination of the 
 yellow rays of the sun with the blue of the celestial 
 vault ; and the forms of the clouds were marked out 
 by a border of the most brilliant orange. In these 
 high regions there is no twilight, night succeeds to 
 day quite suddenly. "We retired behind a wall 
 made of dry stones which were built up before a 
 cavity. Our guides were grouped on the steps of 
 the rock around the little fires fed with the wood of 
 the juniper, brought by them from the neighbor- 
 hood of the Pierre de l'Echelle ; and they sang in 
 unison slow and monotonous songs which borrowed 
 from the spot a melancholy charm. By little and 
 little the songs ceased, and the fires went out. Then 
 nothing was heard but the noise of avalanches falling 
 from the surrounding heights. Soon the moon rose 
 behind the Monts Maudits, and, while still herself 
 invisible, showed up in strong relief the Dome du 
 Goute, of which the snows seemed to give an extra- 
 ordinary phosphorescent light. When she showed 
 herself above the peak of the Goute, she was sur- 
 rounded by a greenish halo which stood out clearly 
 on a sky as black as ink. The stars also sparkled 
 brightly, but the wind had not gone down : it blew 
 in strong gusts, followed by moments of perfect 
 calm. Everything gave warning of bad weather on 
 the morrow, yet no one dreamt of returning ; we all 
 preferred to try our chance to the very last, and not 
 
MONT BLANC. 31 
 
 to go back until we found it quite impossible to 
 continue the ascent. 
 
 Next day, whilst we were engaged in distributing 
 anew the burdens of our porters who had changed 
 their loads, I perceived all at once an old man, un- 
 known to us, who was coming slowly up the slope 
 which leads to the Petit Plateau. Bending over 
 the snow, and assisting himself sometimes with his 
 hands, he ascended slowly, but with that equal and 
 measured step which indicates a practised moun- 
 taineer. This old man turned out to be Marie 
 Couttet ; he was now eighty years of age, and in 
 his youth he had served as guide to De Saussure. 
 He still* possessed an agility which caused him to be 
 named ' The Chamois ;' and he well deserved this 
 sobriquet, for no one could have been more intrepid. 
 One day he accompanied an English traveller in a 
 a difficult journey. The traveller preserved that 
 phlegmatic and indifferent air which characterizes 
 the English gentleman. The sight of the most 
 slippery passages neither drew from him a gesture 
 of astonishment, nor a word which betrayed the least 
 hesitation. Irritated by this imperturbable sang- 
 froid, Couttet spied out a pine cembro which pro- 
 jected horizontally over a precipice about a thousand 
 feet in depth ; he walked boldly along this trunk, 
 and when at the extremity he lay down upon it, and 
 lastly, suspended himself by his feet over the pre- 
 cipice. The Englishman looked on quietly, and 
 when Couttet returned to him he gave him a gold 
 piece on condition that he would not do so again. 
 Such was, in his youth, the man who was bofore us 
 
32 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 on the lower slopes of the Petit Plateau. His 
 mind had become weakened before his body ; he 
 thought that he had found a new road by which to 
 reach the top of Mont Blanc, and offered himself as 
 guide to every traveller who attempted the ascent. 
 Although his offer was declined he accompanied 
 them as a volunteer up to a certain height in order 
 to point out to them the new road which he had 
 discovered. Having been warned of the monomania 
 of the old man, we had carefully hidden from him 
 the day of our departure, but knowing that we were 
 on the Grands Mulets, he had set off the same even- 
 ing, had crossed the glacier and arrived about mid- 
 night at our bivouac, where he took his place by 
 the fire among the guides. At dawn he set out 
 first to show the way. 
 
 The Grand Plateau is a vast circuit of snow 
 and ice, the foundation of which is a plane raised 
 towards the south. But we hardly caught a 
 glimpse of the configuration of the various objects, 
 for before we knew where we were, the clouds had 
 completely enveloped us, and snow whirled vio- 
 lently around our heads. There was no time to 
 hesitate ; we must either go down immediately 
 or put up our tent. Two porters, Auguste Si- 
 mon d and Jean Cachat, offered to remain with 
 the three guides and us. The others threw down 
 their bundles on the snow and precipitated them- 
 selves in haste towards the Petit Plateau ; they 
 vanished like shadows in the mist which thick- 
 ened more and more. Left alone, we began to re- 
 move the snow about a foot deep for a space of 
 
MONT BLANC. 33 
 
 about twelve feet by six ; then, guided by a cord 
 prepared beforehand, which was knotted to corre- 
 spond to the stakes of the tent, we planted in the 
 snow long and strong wooden pegs, each of which 
 was furnished with a hook. That done, the tent 
 was raised on the cross piece and the two supports 
 which were to sustain it ; and the rings of the cords 
 were passed over the heads of the pegs. The tent 
 set up, we next hastened to put under shelter, first, 
 all our instruments, and then all our provisions. 
 We were forced to make all possible haste, for sev- 
 eral bottles of wine left outside could not be found ; 
 at the end of an hour the snow which fell and that 
 which the wind had brought up had covered them. 
 Under the tent we had improvised a floor with light 
 planks of fir-wood placed over the snow. Our guides 
 were at one extremity, and we at the • other. The 
 space was small, and we could not stand upright ; 
 we were forced either to sit or lie, and the cooking 
 was performed in the middle of the tent. Our first 
 care was to melt some snow in a jar heated by a 
 spirit-lamp, for at these heights charcoal burns 
 badly. Bravais hit on the happy idea of pouring 
 this water over the stakes of the tent; the water 
 froze, and then, instead of being driven only into the 
 yielding snow, these stakes were fixed in masses 
 of compact ice. Besides this, a cord fixed to the 
 iron pin which joined the horizontal cross piece of 
 one of the vertical supports, and attached, like the 
 shrouds of a ship, on the side whence came the 
 wind, was made fast to two stakes driven into the 
 snow. These precautions taken, we had only to 
 
34 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 wait. Every observation was impossible, saving that 
 of the barometer inside the tent, and the thermo- 
 meter outside ; the latter was 27° on our arrival ; 
 at two o'clock it had fallen to 25°, at five o'clock 
 to 22°. When night came we lighted a lantern 
 which, suspended over our heads, lighted up our 
 little interior. The guides huddled together, talked 
 in a low voice, or slept as quietly as if in their beds. 
 The wind redoubled its force ; it blew in squalls, 
 interrupted by those moments of profound calm 
 which had so much astonished De Saussure when he 
 was on the Col du Geant in circumstances exactly 
 similar. The tempest raged in the vast amphi- 
 theatre of snow on the edge of which our little tent 
 was placed. Like an avalanche of air, the wind 
 appeared to fall on us from the top of Mont Blanc. 
 Then the covering of the tent puffed out like a sail 
 filled with the breeze ; the supports bent and vibrated 
 like the cords of a violin, and the cross-beam bent. 
 Instinctively we held up the canvas with our backs 
 during these gusts, for our safety depended on the 
 firmness of this protecting shelter ; if we only took 
 a few steps outside we were able to form an idea of 
 what would become of us if we were carried away. 
 Never before had I comprehended how travellers 
 full of vigor and health could perish at a few 
 paces from the place in which the tempest had sur- 
 prised them ; I understood it on that day. Under 
 the tent the cold was supportable. The thermo- 
 meter oscillated between 36° and 38°. Our goat- 
 skin clothes and our sheepskin sacks protected us 
 effectually, although the hair of these things be- 
 
MONT BLANC. 35 
 
 came frozen to the tent's cover. During the night 
 the wind abated, but unfortunately the snow con- 
 tinued to fall, the temperature also became lower 
 and lower, and at half-past five in the morning the 
 thermometer pointed to 10°. The new snow was 
 a foot and a half deep ; but the tent cover was pretty 
 free, the wind having swept it off as it fell, as it 
 continued to drive along the sleet and snow of the 
 Grand Plateau. The barometer remained as low 
 as on the previous evening. In a light moment we 
 saw the peaks of Mont Blanc, and on the Monts 
 Maudits and Dromadaire, each terminated by a sort 
 of tuft of snow which the south-west wind had col- 
 lected on them. 
 
 To ascend to the summit was impossible, and 
 even on the Grand Plateau we were condemned to 
 inaction. So we settled our plans, and after having 
 arranged our instruments in the tent, we filled up 
 the entrance with snow ; it was now seven in the 
 morning, and the thermometer showed still thir- 
 teen degrees below freezing. The snow which had 
 just fallen had hidden all the clefts and crevasses ; 
 but we tied ourselves together and descended ra- 
 pidly to the Grands Mulets. After some moments 
 of rest, we then crossed the glacier of Bossons. 
 The narrow path which leads to the Pierres-Pointues, 
 being covered with fresh snow, was become slippery 
 and difficult. Snow had also fallen still lower, as 
 far as the place called the Barmes Dessous, only 
 about 2,500 feet above Chamounix. Our return re- 
 assured every one : for there had been bad weather 
 
36 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 in the valley as well as on the mountains, and the 
 report had spread that we had all perished. 
 
 On the 25th of August fine weather set in ; the 
 barometer rose steadily ; and the northwest wind 
 blew in the upper regions of the air. We knew that 
 our tent was still standing on the Grand Plateau ; 
 for we had seen it from the top of the Brevent ; but 
 it apjjeared to be buried in the snow on the south- 
 west side ; and the opposite one seemed to be quite 
 disarranged. 
 
 Confident that we should find our instruments 
 in good condition, we set out again on the 27th, at 
 half-past twelve at night. The moon enlightened 
 our march ; and at half-past three we were on the 
 Pierres-Pointues. The sky was beautifully clear, 
 but isolated mists remained on the Col de Balme, 
 and on the Mont Yergy . A fresh breeze descending, 
 and the slight twinkling of the stars, were signs to 
 us of good weather. Castor and Pollux shone with 
 a quiet light over the peaks of Charm oz. 
 
 On arriving at the precipitous parts, we followed 
 each other very closely, and took care that the 
 angles formed by our zig-zags should have an 
 opening of at least fifteen degrees. We marched 
 knee-deep in snow, of which the temperature was 
 always about 12° at a depth of four inches. The 
 rarefied state of the air and the depth of the snow, 
 from which we were obliged constantly to drag up 
 our legs, forced us to walk slowly ; every twenty 
 steps we stopped quite out of breath, and our feet 
 were painfully cold and ready to freeze. During 
 our short halts we struck them with a stick, in order 
 
MONT BLANC. 37 
 
 to warm them. This part of the ascent was very 
 fatiguing, though a fine sun and a quiet wind 
 favored our efforts ; but, when we reached the 
 slope which separates the Roches-Rouges from the 
 Petits Mulets, we perceived all at once the moun- 
 tains situated on the south of Mont Blanc, and 
 beyond the plains of Italy. Nothing then sheltered 
 us any longer ; the wind from the northwest, im- 
 perceptible before, took off Mugnier's hat, and, al- ' 
 though warmly dressed, I suddenly felt myself as if 
 without any clothes, the wind was so cold and pene- 
 trating. Turning off to the right, we soon arrived 
 at the Petits Mulets, which are protogine rocks, 
 situated at less than 500 feet below the summit. 
 We were near the end now, but we walked slowly, 
 with heads lowered and heaving chests, like a com- 
 pany of invalids. The effect of the rarefaction of 
 the air was felt in a painful manner; and every 
 minute the column stopped. Bravais tried how long 
 he could go on at his greatest speed, and stopped at 
 the thirty-second step, because he could not take 
 one more. At last, at a quarter to two, we reached 
 the summit so much desired. It is formed of a 
 sort of back-bone turning from the east-northeast 
 to the south-southwest; but this ridge or back- 
 bone is not sharp, as De Saussure found it, but from 
 15 to 18 feet wide. 
 
 On the north side it abuts on an immense slope 
 of snow of from 40 to 45 degrees, which terminates 
 in the Grand Plateau. On the south side this is 
 continued with a little flat surface parallel to the 
 ridge, sloping about 10 degrees, and about 300 feet 
 
38 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 wide. This surface is prolonged towards the south, 
 or else it joins another steep descent, which sud- 
 denly stops at the level of the great collection of pre- 
 cipitous rocks which stand over the Allee Blanche. 
 After having taken breath, our first glance was at 
 the immense panorama which surrounded us : I will 
 not describe it after De Saussure. 
 
 The height of Mont Blanc does not appear to 
 have sensibly varied since the first measurement was 
 made, in 1775, by Shuckburgh, up to the present 
 moment, which is surprising when we consider that 
 the summit is formed only of ice and snow of the 
 thickness of more than 200 feet. It appears evident 
 that Mont Blanc is a pyramid like its neighbor, 
 the Aiguille du Midi. The Eochers-Eouges, the 
 Petits Mulets, and the Tourette, are all striking 
 points of this pyramid ; the rest is covered with a 
 cap of snow, which never melts, on account of the 
 height of the mountain, on the top of which the 
 temperature is rarely up to freezing point, and 
 almost always very much below it. 
 
 We may ask, then, how it is that the thickness 
 of this cap of snow is invariable, and that the alti- 
 tude of the mountain does not change in the course 
 of seasons or even years. And, in fact, the quantity 
 of snow which falls, the winds which sweep it, and 
 the evaporation which diminishes the thickness, as 
 well as the condensation of the clouds which in- 
 crease it — all these do vary from year to year ; so 
 that the form of the summit is never the same. 
 Let any one compare the description of De Saus- 
 sure, of Clissold, of Markham Sherwill. of Henry de 
 
MONT BLANC. 39 
 
 Tilly, and of Bravais, made successively in 1787, 1822, 
 1827, 1834, and 1844, and lie will see that each of 
 these travellers found a different form, with the ex- 
 ception of the fundamental feature, a sloping ridge 
 running from east to west. How could it be other- 
 wise ? Snows fall on Mont Blanc, which are brought 
 there by all the winds of the compass ; they have 
 hardly fallen before they are swept, displaced, and 
 carried away, so that the surface looks like a ploughed 
 field. Even in fine weather, when the most perfect 
 calm reigns in the plain, a light smoke seems to is- 
 sue from the top, which is drawn off horizontally by 
 a violent wind. ' Then,' say the Savoyards, ' Mont 
 Blanc smokes his pipe.' And it is a sign of fine 
 weather if the smoke goes towards the south. It 
 comes to this, however, that all these various causes 
 of ablation and of addition compensate one another ; 
 and the height of the peak remains the same. 
 Nature never proceeds otherwise ; nothing is ab- 
 solutely stable : everything oscillates, from the 
 smallest particle to the ocean. And this oscillation 
 around a middle state is the condition of life ; it 
 is immobility which is a sign of death ; and the 
 general powers of nature, which regulate the inor- 
 ganic as well as the organic world, never rest. 
 
 The meteorological and geodesic operations were 
 hardly finished when the sun approached the lines 
 of the Jura, in the direction of Geneva ; it was a 
 quarter past six ; the thermometer showed for the 
 temperature of the air, 11° ; for that of the snow 
 on the surface, zero, and 7° at the depth of 8 
 
40 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 inches. The contact with this snow even through 
 our boots was a real suffering. Nevertheless, we 
 were very anxious to make signal fires, which should 
 be visible at the same time at Geneva, Lyons, and 
 Dijon, where the astronomers were forewarned : 
 and these signals, seen simultaneously at the three 
 cities, might have enabled them to determine exact- 
 ly their differences of longitude ; but the cold was 
 so extreme that we saw that to remain longer would 
 have been to risk our own lives and those of the 
 guide. Auguste Simond was willing to remain 
 alone to make these signals ; but we refused our 
 permission, and we did well. Since then the elec- 
 tric telegraph has enabled us to obtain, without 
 stirring and without trouble, a result which would, 
 perhaps, have been purchased by the life of the 
 father of a family. 
 
 Our return was resolved on, and we had begun 
 to descend, when we were stopped all at once before 
 the most extraordinary sight that a man could 
 behold. The shadow of Mont Blanc, forming an 
 immense cone, extended itself over the white moun- 
 tains of Piedmont : it advanced slowly towards the 
 horizon, and rose in the air above the Becca di 
 Nonna ; but then the shadows of the other moun- 
 tains came in succession to join it, in proportion as 
 the sun sank below their peaks, and formed a 
 cortege to the shadow of the ruler of the Alps. 
 All, by the effect of perspective, converged towards 
 it ; and these shadows of a greenish blue at their 
 base, were surrounded by a strong purple tint, which 
 
MONT BLANC. 41 
 
 melted into the red of the heavens. A poet might 
 have said that angels with flaming wings were 
 bending round a throne on which sat an invisible 
 God. The shadows disappeared in the sky, yet we 
 were still nailed to the spot, immovable, though not 
 mute, with astonishment ; for our admiration broke 
 forth in the most various exclamations. Only the 
 aurora borealis of the north of Europe could pro- 
 duce a spectacle comparable in magnificence to this 
 unexpected phenomenon, which no one before us had 
 witnessed from the summit of Mont Blanc. 
 
 The sun set ; and we were obliged to go forward. 
 We were, first, all attached to one cord, and then 
 we plunged downwards toward the Grand Plateau. 
 In passing near the Petits Mulets, I picked up two 
 stones on the snow, which I afterwards discovered 
 to be fragments of rock broken off by the thunder- 
 bolts which so often fall on these mountain-tops. 
 After starting from the Petits Mulets, we stopped no 
 more, but descended like an avalanche in a straight 
 line, without choosing our route ; each one being 
 pulled on by him who preceded him, and Mugnier, 
 who went first, threw himself bounding over the de- 
 clivity, plunging at each spring deep into the snow, 
 which thus moderated just sufficiently the impetus 
 of the moving chain. Arrived at the Grand Plateau, 
 we were obliged to stop a moment for breath ; then, 
 with rapid steps, we made for our tent, which we 
 reached at a quarter to eight. In fifty-five minutes 
 we had descended from the peak, a distance of 2800 
 feet. When we entered our tent, we felt as if once 
 
42 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 again by the domestic hearth, and there we enjoyed 
 a well-earned repose. But, notwithstanding, the 
 meteorological observations were continued heroic- 
 ally every two hours during the night. 
 
 Chables Mabtins, Bu Spitzberg au Sahara. 
 
in. 
 
 THE FINSTERAARHORN. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1858 BY J. TYNDALL. 
 
 Since my arrival at the hotel, on the 30th of July, 
 I had once or twice spoken about ascending the Fin- 
 steraarhorn ; and on the 2d of August my host ad- 
 vised me to avail myself of the promising weather. 
 A guide, named Bennen, was attached to the hotel, 
 a remarkable-looking man, between thirty and forty 
 years old, of middle stature, but very strongly built. 
 His countenance was frank and firm, while a light of 
 good nature at times twinkled in his eye, Alto- 
 gether the man gave me the impression of physical 
 strength, combined with decision of character. The 
 proprietor had spoken to me many times of the 
 strength and courage of this man, winding up his 
 praises of him by the assurance that if I were killed 
 in Bennen' s company, there would be two lives lost ; 
 for that the guide would assuredly sacrifice himself 
 in the effort to save his Herr. 
 
 He was called, and I asked him whether he 
 would accompany me alone to the top of the Fin- 
 steraarhorn. To this he at first objected, urging 
 
4.4 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 the possibility of his having to render me assist- 
 ance, and the great amount of labor which this 
 might entail upon him ; but this was overruled by 
 my engaging to follow where he led, without asking 
 him to render me any help whatever. He then 
 agreed to make the trial, stipulating, however, that 
 he should not have much to carry to the cave of the 
 Faulberg, where we were to spend the night. To 
 this I cordially agreed, and sent on blankets, pro- 
 visions, wood, and hay, by two porters. 
 
 My desire, in part, was to make a series of ob- 
 servations at the summit of the mountain, while a 
 similar series was made by Professor Ramsay, in the 
 valley of the Rhone, near Viesch, with a view to 
 ascertaining the permeability of the lower strata of 
 the atmosphere to the radiant heat of the sun. 
 During the forenoon of the 2nd, I occupied myself 
 with my instruments, and made the proper arrange- 
 ments with Ramsay. I tested a mountain thermo- 
 meter which Mr. Casella had kindly lent me, and 
 found the boiling point of water on the dining-room 
 table of the hotel to be 199° .29 Fahrenheit. 
 
 At about three o'clock in the afternoon, we 
 quitted the hotel, and proceeded leisurely with our 
 two guides up the slope of the Eggischhorn. We 
 once caught a sight of the topmost pinnacle of the 
 Finsteraarhorn ; beside it was the Rothhorn, and 
 near this again the Oberaarhorn, with the Viesch 
 glacier streaming from its shoulders. On the oppo- 
 site side we could see, over an oblique buttress of 
 the mountain on which wo stood, the snowy summit 
 of the Weisshorn ; to the left of this was the ever 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 45 
 
 grim and lonely Matterhorn ; and farther to the left, 
 with its numerous snow-cones, each with its at- 
 tendant shadow, rose the mighty Mischabel. We 
 descended, and crossed the stream which flows from 
 the Morjelen See, into which a large mass* of the 
 glacier had recently fallen, and which was now afloat 
 as an iceberg. We passed along the margin of the 
 lake, and at the junction of water and ice I bade 
 Ramsay good-bye. At the commencement of our 
 journey upon the ice, whenever we crossed a cre- 
 vasse, I noticed Bennen watching me ; his vigilance, 
 however, soon diminished, whence I gathered that 
 he finally concluded that I was able to take care of 
 myself. Clouds hovered in the atmosphere throug- 
 out the whole time of our ascent ; one smoky -looking 
 mass marred the glory of the sunset, but at some 
 distance was another, which exhibited colors almost 
 as rich and varied as those of the solar spectrum. 
 I took the glorious banner thus unfurled as a sign of 
 hope, to check the despondency which its gloomy 
 neighbor was calculated to produce. 
 
 Two hours' walking brought us near our place 
 of rest ; the porters had already reached it, and were 
 now returning. We deviated to the right, and having 
 crossed some ice-ravines, reached the lateral moraine 
 of the glacier, and picked our way between it and 
 the adjacent mountain wall. We then reached a 
 kind of amphitheatre, crossed it, and, climbing the 
 opposite slope, came to a triple grotto, formed by 
 clefts in the mountains. In one of these a pine-fire 
 was soon blazing briskly, and casting its red light 
 upon the surrounding objects, though but half dis- 
 
46 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 pelling the gloom from the deeper portions of the cell. 
 I left the grotto, and climbed the rocks above it to 
 look at the heavens. The sun had quitted our fir- 
 mament, but still tinted the clouds with red and 
 purple, while one peak of snow in particular glowed 
 like fire, so vivid was its illumination. During our 
 journey upwards, the Jungfrau never once showed 
 her head, but, as if in ill temper, had wrapped her 
 vapory veil around her. She now looked more 
 good-humored, but still she did not quite remove 
 her hood, though all the other summits, without a 
 trace of cloud to mark their beautiful forms, pointed 
 heavenward. The calmness was perfect ; no sound 
 of living creature, no whisper of a breeze, no gurgle 
 of water, no rustle of debris, to break the deep and 
 solemn silence. Surely if beauty be an object of 
 worship, those glorious mountains, with rounded 
 shoulders of the purest white snow, crested and star- 
 gemmed, were well calculated to excite sentiments of 
 adoration. 
 
 I returned to the grotto, where supper was pre- 
 pared and waiting for me. The boiling point of 
 water, at the level of the " kitchen floor," I found to 
 be 196° Fahr. Nothing could be more picturesque 
 than the aspect of the cell before we went to rest 
 The fire was gleaming ruddily. I sat upon a stone? 
 bench beside it, while Bennen was in front with the 
 red light glimmering fitfully over him. My boiling 
 water apparatus, which had just been used, was in 
 the foreground ; and telescopes, opera-glasses, haver- 
 sacks, wine-keg, bottles, and mattocks, lay con- 
 fusedly around. The heavens continued to grow 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 47 
 
 clearer, the thin clouds, which had partially over- 
 spread the sky, melting gradually away. The grotto 
 was comfortable, the hay sufficient materially to mo- 
 dify the hardness of the rock, and my position at 
 least sheltered and warm. One possibility remained 
 that might prevent me from sleeping — the snoring 
 of my companion ; he assured me, however, that he 
 did not snore, and we lay down side by side. The 
 good fellow took care that I should not be chilled.; 
 he gave me the best place, by far the best part of 
 the clothes, and may have suffered himself in con- 
 sequence ; but happily for him he was soon oblivious 
 of this. Physiologists, I believe, have discovered 
 that it is chiefly during sleep that the muscles are 
 repaired ; and ere long the sound I dreaded an- 
 nounced to me at once the repair of Bennen's 
 muscles and the doom of my own. The hollow cave 
 resounded to the deep-drawn snore. I once or twice 
 stirred the sleeper, breaking thereby the continuity 
 of the phenomenon ; but it instantly pieced itself 
 together again, and went orr as before. I had not 
 the heart to wake him, for I knew that on him 
 would devolve the chief labor of the coming day. 
 At half-past one he rose and prepared coffee, and 
 at two 1 was engaged upon the beverage. We after- 
 wards packed our provisions and instruments ; 
 Bennen bore the former and I the latter, and at 
 three o'clock we set out. 
 
 We first descended a steep slope to the glacier, 
 along which we walked for a time. A spur of the 
 Faulberg jutted out between us and the inladen 
 valley through which we must pass ; this we crossed 
 
48 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 in order to shorten our way to avoid crevasses. Loose 
 shingle and boulders overlaid the mountain; and 
 here and there walls of rock opposed our progress, 
 and rendered the route far from agreeable. We 
 then descended to the Grunhorn tributary, which 
 joins the trunk glacier at nearly a right augle, 
 being terminated by a saddle which stretches 
 across from mountain to mountain, with a curvature 
 as graceful and as perfect as if drawn by the instru- 
 ment of a mathematician. The unclouded moon 
 was shining ; and the Jungfrau was before us so 
 pure and beautiful that the thought of visiting the 
 ' Maiden ' without further preparation occurred 
 to me. I turned to Bennen, and said : ' Shall we 
 try the Jungfrau ?' I think he liked the idea well 
 enough, though he cautiously avoided any respon- 
 sibility. 'If you desire it, I am ready,' was his 
 -reply. He had never made the ascent, and nobody 
 knew anything of the state of the snow this year; 
 but Lauener held examined it through a telescope 
 on the previous day, and pronounced it dangerous. 
 In every ascent of the mountain hitherto made, 
 ladders had been found indispensable ; but we 
 had none. I questioned Bennen as to what he 
 thought of the probabilities, and tried to extract 
 some direct encouragement from him ; but he said 
 that the decision rested altogether with myself, and 
 it was his business to endeavor to carry out that 
 decision. ' We will attempt it, then,' I said ; and 
 for some time we actually walked towards the Jung- 
 frau. A grey cloud drew itself across her summit, 
 and clung there. I asked myself why I deviated 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 49 
 
 from my original intention? The Finsteraarhorn 
 was higher, and therefore better suited for the con- 
 templated observations. I could in no wise justify 
 the change, and finally expressed my scruples. A 
 moment's further conversation caused u,s to ' right 
 about,' and front the saddle of the Griinhorn. 
 
 The dawn advanced. The eastern sky became 
 illuminated and warm, and high in the air across the 
 ridge in front of us stretched a tongue of cloud like 
 a red flame, and equally fervid in its hue. Looking 
 across the trunk glacier, a valley which is terminated 
 by the Lotsch saddle, was seen in a straight line with 
 our route ; and I often turned to look along this 
 magnificent corridor. The mightiest mountains in 
 the Oberland form its sides ; still the impression 
 which it makes is not that of vastness or sublimity, 
 but of loveliness not to be described. The sun had 
 not yet smitten the snows of the bounding moun- 
 tains ; but the saddle curved out a segment of the 
 heavens which formed a background of unspeakable 
 beauty. Over the rim of the saddle the sky was 
 deep orange passing upwards through amber, yellow, 
 and vague ethereal green to the ordinary firmamental 
 blue. Eight above the snow-curve purple clouds 
 hung perfectly motionless, giving depth to the 
 spaces between them. There was something saintly 
 on the scene. Anything more exquisite I had never 
 beheld. 
 
 We marched upward over the smooth crisp snow 
 to the crest of the saddle, and here I turned to take 
 a last look along that grand corridor, and at that 
 wonderful ' daffodil sky.' The sun's rays had already 
 
dO MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 smitten the snows of the Aletschhorn, the radiance 
 seemed to infuse a principle of life and activity into 
 the mountains and glaciers ; but still that holy light 
 shone forth, and those motionless clouds floated 
 beyond, reminding one of that Eastern religion whose 
 essence is the repression of all action, and the sub- 
 stitution for it of immortal calm. The Finsteraar- 
 horn now fronted us ; but clouds turbaned the head 
 of the giant, and hid it from our view. The wind, 
 however, being north, inspired us with a strong hope 
 that they would melt as the day advanced. I have 
 hardly seen a finer ice-field than that which now lay 
 before us. Considering the neve which supphes it, 
 it appeared to me that the Yiescher glacier ought to 
 discharge as much ice as the Aletsch ; but this is an 
 error due to the extent of neve, which is here at once 
 visible ; since a glance at the map of this portion of 
 the Oberland shows at once the great superiority of 
 the mountain treasury from which the Aletsch glacier 
 draws support. Still, the ice-field before us was a 
 most noble one. The surrounding mountains were 
 of imposing magnitude, and loaded to their summits 
 with snow. Down the sides of some of them the 
 half-consolidated mass fell in a state of wild fracture 
 and confusion. In some cases the riven masses were 
 twisted and overturned, the ledges bent, and the 
 detached blocks piled one upon another in heaps ; 
 while in other cases the smooth white mass de- 
 scended from crown to base without a wrinkle. The 
 valley now below us was gorged by the frozen ma- 
 terial thus incessantly poured into it. We crossed 
 it, and reached the base of the Finsteraarhorn, as- 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 51 
 
 cended the mountain a little way, and at six o'clock 
 passed to lighten our burdens and to refresh our- 
 selves. 
 
 The north wind had freshened ; we were in the 
 shade, and the cold was very keen. Placing a bottle 
 of tea and a small quantity of provisions in the 
 knapsack, and a few figs and dried prunes in our 
 pockets, we commenced the ascent. The Fin- 
 steraarhorn sends down a number of cliffy buttresses, 
 separated from each other by wide couloirs filled 
 with ice and snow. We ascended one of these but- 
 tresses for a time, treading cautiously among the 
 spiky rocks ; afterwards we went along the snow 
 at the edge of the spine, and then fairly parted com- 
 pany with the rock, abandoning ourselves to the 
 neve of the couloir. The latter was steep, and the 
 snow so firm that steps had to be cut in it. Once I 
 paused upon a little ledge, which gave me a slight 
 footing, and took the inclination. The slope formed 
 an angle of 45° with the horizon ; and across it, at a 
 little distance below me, a gloomy fissure opened its 
 jaws. The sun now cleared the summits which had 
 before cut off his rays, and burst upon us with great 
 power, compelling us to resort to our veils and dark 
 spectacles. Two years before, Bennen had been 
 nearly blinded by inflammation, brought on by the 
 glare of the snow, and he now took unusual care in 
 protecting his eyes. The rocks looking more prac- 
 ticable, we again made towards them, and clambered 
 among them till a vertical precipice, which proved 
 impossible of ascent, fronted us. Bennen scanned 
 the obstacle closely as we slowly approached it,, and 
 
52 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 finally descended to the snow, which wound at a 
 steep angle round its base ; on this the footing ap- 
 peared to me to be singularly insecure ; but I marched 
 without hesitation or anxiety in the footsteps of my 
 guide. 
 
 We ascended the rocks once more, continued 
 along them for some time, and then deviated to the 
 couloir on our left. This snow-slope is much dis- 
 located at its lower portion, and above its precipices 
 and crevasses our route now lay. The snow was 
 smooth, and sufficiently firm and steep to render the 
 cutting of steps necessary. Bennen took the lead ; 
 to make each step he swung his mattock once, and 
 his hindermost foot rose exactly at the moment the 
 mattock descended ; there was thus a kind of rhythm 
 in his motion, the raising of the foot keeping time 
 to the swing of the implement. In this manner we 
 proceeded till we reached the base of the rocky 
 pyramid which capped the mountain. 
 
 One side of the pyramid had been sliced off, thus 
 dropping down almost a sheer precipice for some 
 thousands of feet to the Finsteraar glacier. A wall 
 of rock, about ten or fifteen feet high, runs along the 
 edge of the mountain, and this sheltered us from the 
 north wind, which surged with the sound of waves 
 against the tremendous barrier at the other side. 
 * Our hardest work is now before us,' said my guide. 
 Our way lay up the steep and splintered rocks, 
 among which we sought out the spikes which were 
 closely enough wedged to bear our weight. Each 
 had to trust to himself ; and I fulfilled to the letter 
 my engagement with Bennen to ask no help. My 
 
THE FINSTERAAKHOBN. 53 
 
 boiling-water apparatus and telescope were on my 
 back, much to my annoyance, as the former was 
 heavy, and sometimes swung awkwardly round as I 
 twisted myself among the cliffs. Bennen offered to 
 take it : but he had his own share to carry, and I was 
 resolved to bear mine. Sometimes the rocks alter- 
 nated with spaces of ice and snow, which we were at 
 intervals compelled to cross ; sometimes when the 
 slope was pure ice and very steep, we were compelled 
 to retreat to the highest cliffs. The wall to which 
 I have referred had given way in some places, 
 and through the gaps thus formed the wind rushed 
 with a loud, wild, wailing sound. Through these 
 spaces I could see the entire field of Agassiz's obser- 
 vations ; the junction of the Lauteraar and Fins- 
 teraar glaciers at the Abschwung, the medial moraine 
 between them, on which stood the Hotel des Neuf- 
 chatelois, and the pavilion built by M. Dollfus, in 
 which Huxley and myself had found shelter two 
 years before. Bennen was evidently anxious to 
 reach the summit, and recommended all observa- 
 tions to be postponed until after our success had 
 been assured. I agreed to this, and kept close at 
 his heels. Strong as he was, he sometimes paused, 
 laid his head upon his mattock, and panted like a 
 chased deer. He complained of fearful thirst, and 
 to quench it we had only my bottle of tea ; this we 
 shared loyally, my guide praising its virtues, as 
 weU he might. Still the summit loomed above us ; 
 still the angry swell of the north wind beating 
 against the torn battlements of the mountains, made 
 wild music. Upward, however, we strained; and 
 
54 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 at last, on gaining the crest of a rock, Bennen ex- 
 claimed, in a jubilant voice, ' Die hochste Spitze /' — 
 the highest point. In a moment I was at his side, 
 and saw the summit within a few paces of us. A 
 minute or two placed us upon the topmost pinnacle, 
 with the blue dome of heaven above us, and a world 
 of mountains, clouds, and glaciers beneath. 
 
 A notion is entertained by many of the guides 
 that if you go to sleep on the summit of any of the 
 highest mountains you will 
 
 'Sleep the sleep that knows no waking.' 
 
 Bennen did not appear to entertain this superstition, 
 and before starting in the morning I had stipulated 
 for ten minutes' sleep on reaching the summit, as 
 part compensation for the loss of the night's rest. 
 My first act, after casting a glance over the glorious 
 scene beneath us, was to take advantage of this 
 agreement ; so I lay down and had five minutes' 
 sleep, from which I rose refreshed and brisk. The 
 sun at first beat down upon us with intense force ; 
 and I exposed my thermometers ; but thin veils 
 of vapor soon drew themselves before the sun, 
 and denser mists spread over the valley of the Khone, 
 thus destroying all possibility of concert between 
 Bamsay and myself. I turned, therefore, to my 
 boiling-water apparatus, filled it with snow, melted 
 the first charge, put more in and boiled it, ascertain- 
 ing the boiling point to be 187° Fahrenheit. On a 
 sheltered ledge, about two or three yards south of 
 the highest point, I placed a minimum thermometer, 
 in the hope that it would enable us in future years 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 55 
 
 to record the lowest winter temperatures at the 
 summit of the mountain.* 
 
 It is difficult to convey any just impression of 
 the scene from the summit of the Finsteraarhorn ; 
 one might, it is true, arrange the visible mountains 
 in a list, stating their heights and distances, and 
 leaving the imagination to furnish them with peaks 
 and pinnacles, to build the precipices, polish the 
 snow, rend the glaciers, and cap the highest 
 summits with appropriate clouds. But if imagina- 
 tion did its best in this way, it would hardly exceed 
 the reality, and would certainly omit many details 
 which contribute to the grandeur of the scene itself. 
 The various shapes of the mountain — some grand, 
 some beautiful — bathed in yellow sunshine, or lying 
 black and riven under the frown of impervious cumuli; 
 the pure white peaks, cornices, bosses, and amphi- 
 theatres ; the blue ice-rifts, the stratified snow pre- 
 cipices, the glaciers issuing from the hollows of the 
 eternal hills, and stretching like frozen serpents 
 through the sinuous valleys ; the lower cloud-field — 
 itself an empire of vaporous hills — shining with 
 dazzling whiteness, while here and there grim sum- 
 mits, brown by nature, and black by contrast, 
 pierced through it like volcanic islands through a 
 shining sea. Add to this the consciousness of one's 
 position, which clings to one unconsciously, that 
 under-current of emotion which surrounds the ques- 
 tion of one's personal safety, at a height of more 
 
 * This thermometer was found in August 1859, and the reading 
 of the index was — 22° Gent. 
 
56 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 than 14,000 feet above the sea, and which is increased 
 by the weird, strange sound of the wind surging with 
 the full deep boom of the distant sea against the 
 precipice behind, or rising to higher cadences as 
 it forces itself through the crannies of the weather- 
 worn rocks — all conspire to render the scene from 
 the Finsteraarhorn worthy of the monarch of the 
 Bernese Alps. 
 
 My guide at length warned me that we must be 
 moving, repeating the warning more impressively 
 before I attended to it. We packed up, and as we 
 stood beside each other ready to march, he asked me 
 whether we should tie ourselves together, at the same 
 time expressing .his belief that it was unnecessary. 
 Up to this time we had been separate, and the thought 
 of attaching ourselves had not occurred to me till he 
 mentioned it. I thought it, however, prudent to 
 accept the suggestion ; and so we united our destinies 
 by a strong rope. ' Now,' said Bennen, ' have no 
 fear ; no matter how you throw yourself, I will hold 
 you.' Afterwards, on another perilous summit, I 
 repeated this saying of Bennen's to a strong and 
 active guide ; but his observation was that it was a 
 hardy untruth, for that in many places Bennen 
 could not have held me. Nevertheless, a daring word 
 strengthens the heart, and though I felt no trace of 
 that sentiment which Bennen exhorted me to banish, 
 and was determined, as far as in me lay, to give him 
 no opportunity of trying his strength in saving me, I 
 liked the fearless utterance of the man, and sprang 
 cheerily after him. Our descent was rapid, appa- 
 rently reckless, amid loose spikes, boulders and 
 
THE FINSTEEAARHOEN. 57 
 
 vertical prisms of rock, where a false step would as- 
 suredly have been attended with broken bones ; but 
 the consciousness of certainty in our movements 
 never forsook us, and proved a source of keen enjoy- 
 ment. The senses were all awake, the eye clear, the 
 heart strong, the limbs steady, yet flexible, with 
 power of recovery in store, and ready for instant 
 action should the footing give way. Such is the 
 discipline which a perilous ascent imposes. 
 
 We finally quitted the crest of rocks, and got 
 fairly upon the snow once more. We first went 
 downwards at a long swinging trot. The sun having 
 melted the crust which we were compelled to cut 
 through in the morning, the leg at each plunge sank 
 deeply into the snow ; but this sinking was partly in 
 the direction of the slope of the mountains, and hence 
 assisted our progress. Sometimes the crust was hard 
 enough to enable us to glide upon it for long dis- 
 tances while standing erect; but the end of these 
 glissades was always a plunge and a tumble in the 
 deeper snow. Once upon a steep hard slope Bennen's 
 footing gave way ; he fell, and went down rapidly, 
 pulling me after him. I fell also, but turning 
 quickly, drove the spike of my hatchet into the ice, 
 got good anchorage,' and held both fast ; — my success 
 assuring me that I had improved as a mountaineer 
 since my ascent of Mont Blanc. We tumbled so 
 often in the soft snow, and our clothes and boots were 
 so full of it, that we thought we might as well try the 
 sitting posture in gliding down. We did so, and 
 descended with extraordinary velocity, being checked 
 at intervals by a bodily immersion in the softer and 
 
58 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 deeper snow. I was usually in front of Bennen, 
 shooting down with the speed of an arrow, and feel- 
 ing the check of the rope when the rapidity of my 
 motion exceeded my guide's estimate of what was 
 safe. Sometimes I was behind him, and darted at 
 intervals with the swiftness of an avalanche right 
 upon him, sometimes in the traverse line with him, 
 with the full length of the rope between us ; and 
 here I found its check unpleasant, as it tended to 
 make me roll over. My feet were usually in the air, 
 and it was only necessary to turn them right or left, 
 like the helm of a boat, to change the direction of 
 motion and avoid a difficulty, while a vigorous dig 
 of leg and hatchet into the snow was sufficient to 
 check the motion and bring us to rest. Swiftly, yet 
 cautiously, we glided into the region of crevasses, 
 where we at last rose, quite wet, and resumed our 
 walking, until we reached the point where we had left 
 our wine in the morning, and where I squeezed the 
 water from my wet clothes, and partially dried them 
 in the sun. 
 
 We had left some things at the cave of the 
 Faulberg ; and it was Bennen' s first intention to re- 
 turn that way and take them home with him. Find- 
 ing, however, that we could traverse the Vieschei 
 glacier almost to the Eggischhorn, I made this 
 our highway homewards. At the place where we 
 entered it, and for an hour or two afterwards, the 
 glacier was cut by fissures, for the most part covered 
 with snow. We had packed up our rope ; and Bennen 
 admonished me to tread in his steps. Three or four 
 times he half disappeared in the concealed fissures, 
 
THE FINSTERAARHORN. 59 
 
 but by clutching the snow he rescued himself and 
 went on as swiftly as before. Once my leg sank, and 
 the ring of icicles, some fifty leet below, told me that 
 I was in the jaws of a crevasse : my guide turned 
 sharply — it was the only time that I had seen con- 
 cern on his countenance, — 
 
 1 Sie haben meine Tritte nicht gefolgt? 
 
 1 Dock I 9 was my only reply, and we went on. He 
 scarcely ever tried the snow that he crossed, as from 
 its form and color he could in most cases judge of 
 its condition. For a long time we kept at the left- 
 hand side of the glacier, avoiding the fissures, which 
 were now permanently open. We came upon the 
 tracks of a herd of chamois, which had clambered 
 from the glacier up the sides of the Oberaarhorn, 
 and afterwards crossed the glacier to the right-hand 
 side, my guide being perfect master of the ground. 
 His eyes went in advance of his steps ; and his 
 judgment was formed before his legs moved. The 
 glacier was deeply fissured ; but there was no swerv- 
 ing, no retreating, no turning back to seek more 
 practicable routes ; each stride told, and every 
 stroke of the axe was a profitable investment of 
 labor. 
 
 We left the glacier for a time, and proceeded 
 along tne mountain side, till we came near the end 
 of the Trift glacier, where we let ourselves down an 
 awkward face of rock along the track of a little cas- 
 cade, and came upon the glacier once more. Here 
 again I had occasion to admire the knowledge and 
 promptness of my guide. The glacier, as is well 
 known, is greatly dislocated, and has once or twice 
 
60 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 proved a prison to guides and travellers ; but Bennen 
 led me through the confusion without a pause. We 
 were sometimes in the middle of the glacier, some- 
 times on the moraine, and sometimes on the side of 
 the flanking mountain. Towards the end of the day 
 we crossed what seemed to be the consolidated re- 
 mains of a great avalanche ; on this my foot slipped ; 
 there was a crevasse at hand, and a sudden effort was 
 necessary to save me from falling into it. In making 
 this effort, the spoke of my axe turned uppermost, 
 and the palm of my hand came down upon it, thus 
 inflicting a very angry wound. We were soon upon 
 the green cliff, having bidden a last farewell to the 
 ice. Another hour's hard walking brought us to 
 our hotel. No one seeing us crossing the Alps 
 w r ould have supposed that we had laid such a day's 
 work behind us ; the proximity of home gave vigor 
 to our strides, and our progress was much more 
 speedy than it had been on starting in the morning. 
 I was affectionately welcomed by Ramsay, had a 
 warm bath, dined, went to bed, where I lay locked 
 in sleep for eight hours, and rose next morning as 
 fresh and vigorous as if I had never scaled the 
 Finsteraarhorn. 
 
 John Tyndall, Glaciers of the Alps. 
 
TV. 
 
 THE PEAK OF MOBTEBATSCK 
 
 ASCENT IN 1864 BY J. TYNDALL. 
 
 Towards the end of last July, while staying at 
 Pontresina, in Ober Engadin, I was invited by two 
 friends to join in an expedition up the Pic Mor- 
 teratsch. This I willingly did, for I wished to look 
 at the configuration of the Alps from some com- 
 manding point in the Bernina mountains, and also 
 to learn something of the capabilities of the Pon- 
 tresina guides. 
 
 We took two of them with us — Jenni, who is the 
 man of greatest repute among them, and Walter, 
 who is the head of the bureau of guides. We pro- 
 posed to ascend by the Roseg, and to return by the 
 Morfceratsch glacier, thus making a circuit, instead 
 of retracing our steps. 
 
 About eight hours of pleasant, healthful exertion 
 placed us on the Morteratsch, where we remained for 
 an hour, and where the conviction forced on my 
 mind on many another summit was renewed ; namely, 
 that these mountains and valleys are not, as sup- 
 posed by the renowned President of the Geographical 
 
62 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Society, ridges and heaps tossed up by the earth's 
 central fires, with great fissures between them, but 
 that ice and water, acting through long ages, have 
 been the real sculptors of the Alps. 
 
 Jenni is a heavy man, and marches rather slowly 
 up a mountain ; but he is a thoroughly competent 
 mountaineer. We were particularly pleased with 
 his performance in descending. He swept down the 
 slope, and cleared the ' schrouds ' which cut the 
 upper snows with great courage and skill. We at 
 length reached the point at which it was necessary 
 to quit our morning's track, and immediately after- 
 wards got upon some steep rocks, which were ren- 
 dered slippery here and there by the water which 
 trickled over them. To our right was a broad 
 couloir, which was once filled with snow, but this had 
 been melted and re-frozen, so as to expose a sloping 
 wall of ice. We were all tied together at this time 
 in the following order : — Jenni led, I came next, then 
 my friend H., our intrepid mountaineer, then his 
 friend L., and last of all the guide Walter. L. had 
 had but little experience of the higher Alps, and was 
 placed in front of Walter, so that any false step on 
 his part might be instantly checked. After descend- 
 ing the rocks for a time, Jenni turned and asked me 
 whether I thought it better to adhere to them, or to 
 try the ice-slope to our right. I pronounced in 
 favor of the rocks ; but he seemed to misunderstand 
 me, and turned towards the couloir. I stopped him 
 before he reached it, and said, ' Jenni, you know 
 where you are going, the slope is pure ice ?' He re- 
 plied, ' I know it, but the ice is quite bare for a few 
 
THE PEAK OF MORTERATSCH, C3 
 
 yards only. Across this exposed portion I will cut 
 steps, and then the snow which covers the ice will 
 give us footing.' He cut the steps, reached the snow, 
 and descended carefully along it — all following him, 
 apparently in good order. After a little time he 
 stopped, turned, and looked upward at the last three 
 men. He said something about keeping carefully to 
 the tracks, adding that a false step might detach an 
 avalanche. The word was scarcely uttered when I 
 heard the sound of a fall behind me, then a rush, and 
 in the twinkling of an eye my two friends and their 
 guide — all apparently entangled together, whirled 
 past me. I suddenly planted myself -to resist their 
 shock, but in an instant I was in their wake, for 
 their impetus was irresistible. A moment afterwards 
 Jenni was whirled away, and thus all of us found 
 ourselves riding downwards with uncontrollable 
 speed on the back of an avalanche which a single 
 slip had originated. 
 
 When thrown back by the jerk of the rope, I 
 turned promptly on my face, and drove my baton 
 through the moving snow, seeking to anchor it in 
 the ice underneath. I had held it firmly thus for a 
 few seconds, when I came into collision with some 
 obstacle, and was rudely tossed through the air, 
 Jenni at the same time being shot down upon me. 
 Both of us here lost our batons. We had, in fact, 
 been carried over a crevasse, had hit its lower edge, 
 our great velocity causing us to be pitched beyond 
 it. I was quite bewildered for a moment, but im- 
 mediately righted myself, and could see those in 
 front of me half buried in the snow, and jolted from 
 
64 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 side to side by the ruts, among which they were 
 
 
 Avalanche on the peak of Morteratsch. 
 
 passing. Suddenly I saw them tumbled over by a 
 lurch of the avalanche, and immediately afterwards 
 
THE PEAK OP MORTERATSCH. 65 
 
 found myself imitating their motion. This was 
 caused by a second crevasse. Jenni knew of its ex- 
 istence, and plunged right into it — a brave and 
 manful action, but for the time unavailing. He was 
 over thirteen stone in weight, and he thought that 
 by jumping into the chasm a strain might be put 
 upon the rope sufficient to check the motion. He 
 was, however, violently jerked out of the fissure, and 
 almost squeezed to death by the pressure of the 
 rope. 
 
 A long slope was before us, which led directly 
 downwards to a brow where the glacier suddenly fell 
 in a declivity of ice. At the base of this declivity 
 the glacier was cut by a series of profound chasms ; 
 and towards these we were now rapidly borne. The 
 three foremost men rode upon the forehead of the 
 avalanche, and were at times almost wholly immersed 
 in the snow ; but the moving layer was thinner 
 behind, and Jenni rose incessantly, and with despe- 
 rate energy. drove his feet into the firmer substance 
 underneath. His voice shouting, 'Halt, Herr Jesus, 
 halt!' was the only one heard during the descent. A 
 kind of condensed memory, such as that described 
 by people who have narrowly escaped drowning, 
 took possession of me ; and I thought and reasoned 
 with preternatural clearness as I rushed along. Our 
 start, however, was too sudden, and the excitement 
 too great, to permit of the development of terror. 
 The slope at one place became less steep, the speed 
 visibly slackened, and we thought we were coming 
 to rest; the avalanche, however, crossed the brow 
 which terminated this gentler slope, and regained 
 
66 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 is motion. Here H. drew his arm round his friend, 
 all hope for the time being extinguished, while I 
 grasped my belt and struggled for an instant to 
 detach myself. Finding this difficult, I resumed 
 the pull upon the rope. My share in the work was, 
 I fear, infinitesimal ; but Jenni's powerful strain made 
 itself felt at last. Aided probably by a slight change 
 of inclination, he brought the whole to rest within a 
 short distance of the chasm, over which, had we pre- 
 served our speed, a few seconds would have carried 
 us. None of us suffered serious damage. H. emerged 
 from the snow with his forehead bleeding ; bat the 
 wound was superficial. Jenni had a bit of flesh re- 
 moved from his hand by collision against a stone ; 
 the pressure of the rope had left black welts on my 
 arms ; and we all experienced a tingling sensation 
 over the hands, like that produced by incipient frost- 
 bite, which continued for several days. I found a 
 p'ortion of my watch-chain hanging round my 
 neck, another portion in my pocket, the watch itself 
 gone. 
 
 This happened on the 30th of July. Two days 
 afterwards I went to Italy, and remained there for 
 ten or twelve days. On the 16th of August I was 
 again at Pontresina, and on that day made an ex- 
 pedition in search of the lost watch. Both the 
 guides and myself thought the sun's heat might melt 
 the snow above it ; and I inferred that if its bach 
 should happen to be uppermost, the slight absorbent 
 power of gold for the solar rays would prevent the 
 watch from sinking as a stone sinks under like cir- 
 cumstances. The watch would thus be brought quite 
 
 
THE PEAK OF MORTERATSCH, 67 
 
 to the surface, and although a small object, it might 
 possibly be seen from a distance. I was accompanied 
 up the Morteratsch glacier by five Mends, of whose 
 conduct I cannot speak too highly. One of them in 
 particular, a member of the British Legislature, 
 sixty-four years of age, exhibited a courage and 
 coilectedness in places of real difficulty, which was 
 perfectly admirable. 
 
 Two only of the party, both competent moun- 
 taineers, accompanied me to the scene of the ac- 
 cident^ and none of us ventured on the ice where it 
 originated. Just before stepping on the remains of 
 the avalanche, a stone some tons weight, detached by 
 the sun from the snow-slope above us, came rushing 
 down the line of our glissade. Its leaps became 
 more and more impetuous, and on reaching the 
 brow near which we had been brought to rest it 
 bounded through the air, and with a single spring 
 reached the lower glacier, raising a cloud of ice-dust 
 in the air. Some fragments of rope found upon 
 the snow assured us that we were upon the exact 
 track of the avalanche, and then the search com- 
 menced. It had not continued for twenty minutes 
 when a cheer from one of the guides — Christian 
 Michel of Grondelwald — announced the discovery of 
 the watch. It had been brought to the surface in 
 the manner surmised, and on examination seemed 
 to be dry and uninjured. I noticed, moreover, that 
 the position of the hands indicated that it had only 
 run down beneath the snow. I wound it up, hardly 
 hoping, however, to find it capable of responding ; 
 but the little creature showed instant signs of anima- 
 
68 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 tion. It had remained eighteen days in the ava- 
 lanche, but the application of the key at once re- 
 stored it to life, and. it has gone with unvarying 
 regularity ever since. 
 
 John Tyndall, Letter to the Times, 1804- 
 
V. 
 
 THE JUNGFRAU. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1841 BY L. AGASSIZ, E. DESOR, FORBES, 
 AND DU CHATELLIER. 
 
 A giddy path follows the edge of the precipice ; you walk between life and 
 death. Two threatening peaks shut in the solitary road. Traverse noislessly 
 this place of terror ; fear to awaken the sleeping avalanche. 
 
 The bridge which crosses the frightful abyss, no man would have dared to 
 build. Below, without power to shake it, growls and foams the torrent. 
 
 A sombre arch seems to conduct towards the empire of the dead. But be- 
 yond appears the laughing country in which the spring marries the autumn. 
 Ah ! if I could but escape the pains and troubles of life by taking refuge in 
 this happy valley. 
 
 Four streams, of which the sources are all hidden, precipitate themselves 
 into the plain. They flow towards the four quarters of the world, the west 
 and north, the south and the east. And these boisterous waters seem 
 scarcely to have left their mother before they have fled far off and disappeared 
 in the vast ocean. 
 
 Above the multitudes of men, the high peaks tower into the azure sky. 
 There float the cloudy daughters of heaven surrounded by a halo. No terres- 
 trial witness sees their lonely rounds. 
 
 On a bright, imperishable throne, sits the queen of mountains, her forehead 
 encircled with diamonds, a cold crown which sparkles beneath the brilliant 
 rays of the sun. Schxllek. 
 
 Before setting out, I will just mention an inci- 
 dent respecting one of our guides, which will serve 
 to show the character of these mountaineers, and 
 will explain at the same time the unlimited confi- 
 dence that we had in them. Hans Wahren, the 
 friend of Jacob Leuthold, and one of the most in- 
 
70 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 telligent of all the guides of the hotel of the Grimsel, 
 was in oar service for more than a month. He 
 was, in some sort, Jacob's lieutenant, and rejoiced 
 in the idea of conducting us to the Jungfrau, be- 
 cause he and Jacob were the only persons who were 
 in the secret of this expedition. But it hajDpened 
 that the evening before tfcd day fixed, in going down 
 with us to the hospice, he was taken with a violent 
 inflammation in the knee, which the doctor consid- 
 ered serious. In spite of the pain which he felt, 
 however, the poor man could not make up his mind 
 to let us start without him. During the two days 
 of delay which occurred, his knee was sensibly re- 
 lieved, so that on the eve of our departure, he came 
 limping to assure us that he would be able to go 
 with us, making no doubt that he would be cured 
 by the next day. M. Agassiz, as we think properly, 
 refused his consent, setting before him all the 
 dangers to which he would be exposed. The un- 
 fortunate Wahren had nothing to object to these 
 reasons ; but the bitterest chagrin was painted on 
 his countenance ; and seeing that he could not shake 
 us, he retired into a corner of the apartment and 
 wept, whilst his comrades were making preparations 
 for departure. The next day, on entering the ser- 
 vants' room, I was much astonished at meeting there 
 our man at breakfast, with the other guides. As 
 I expressed my surprise, he asked whether it was 
 not then permitted to him to take leave of us. I 
 thanked him for his attention, and again recom- 
 mended him to take care of his knee ; Agassiz did 
 the same, and we set out. We had hardly gone a 
 
THE JUNGFKAU. 71 
 
 quarter of a league, when all at once we saw him, 
 against a rock, in company with the other guides. 
 All of us cried out to him at once, asking whether 
 he had really lost his head altogether. We tried 
 once more to turn him from what we judged a fatal 
 project ; but in answer he only declared that he had 
 well reflected on the danger which he ran, and that 
 he would rather die than not be one of the party. 
 So we insisted no further, but confined ourselves 
 then to recommending prudence, making many re- 
 flections amoug ourselves on what must have passed 
 in the mind of this man, usually so calm and sub- 
 missive, before he took such a resolution. 
 
 On the 27th of August, at four o'clock in the 
 morning, we started from the Grimsel, itself a 
 height of 6000 feet, and directed our steps towards 
 the upper glacier of the Aar, which is separated 
 from the lower glacier by the mass of the Zinken- 
 stock. We were at the little hillock which rises on 
 the bank of the river, when the first rays of the sun 
 touched the tops of the highest mountains, whilst 
 their bases were still bathed in the twilight white- 
 ness which follows the setting, and precedes the 
 rising of the sun. Among all these summits there 
 was one quite on the horizon, which was peculiarly 
 lighted up ; it appeared all on fire. ' What is that 
 peak ?' I asked of the guides. And they — whether 
 they thought so, or whether they only used this 
 stratagem in order to increase our ardor, I do 
 not know — immediately answered, ' That is the 
 Jungfrau !' The whole company was, as it were, 
 
72 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 electrified. We felt our courage increase, and from 
 that moment I no longer doubted of success. 
 
 In two hours we reached the extreme point of 
 the glacier of Oberaar; and we were astonished to 
 see that this glacier, which in the preceding year- 
 had remained stationary, had this year participated 
 in the progressive movement peculiar to all these 
 glaciers of the Bernese Oberland. It had consider- 
 ably pushed its moraines forward, particularly its 
 terminal moraine, and its lateral left one ; the latter 
 in its encroachments on the side of the valley had 
 completely raised the turf, which was cut up just as 
 if it had been furrowed by a ploughshare. 
 
 The ascent furnished us with an opportunity of 
 making many interesting observations on the rela- 
 tion of smooth and whitened rocks to the surface 
 of the glacier. From the top, we descended on to 
 the plateau of snow which feeds the glacier of Viesch. 
 This is a vast circus of more than half a league in 
 diameter, bounded on the north by the immense 
 mass of the Finsteraarhorn, and crowned by ten 
 great peaks, which all bear among the inhabitants 
 of Yalais the name of Viescherhorner, and of which 
 the lowest are between 9000 and 10,000 feet high. 
 It was in the midst of this plain that we established 
 ourselves to get our dinner, — a dinner which, frugal 
 though it was, we found delicious, thanks to the 
 appetites which Ave brought to it. 
 
 Afterwards we descended the fields of ice which 
 extend on the south towards the Valais. The snow 
 was perfectly homogeneous, without any trace of 
 fallen rocks, or of foreign bodies on its surface. Tho 
 
THE JUNGFEAU. 73 
 
 crevasses had almost entirely disappeared, or, if there 
 were still any to be seen, it was on the sides of the 
 valley. So we were walking in entire security, as 
 we thought, when we perceived, at a short distance 
 from us, several little openings. Curious to know 
 the cause, we directed our steps in that direction ; 
 and what was our astonishment when in looking 
 down into one of these chinks we saw that it hid an 
 immense precipice. And in this precipice there 
 was an azure light which surpassed in beauty, trans- 
 parency, and softness, all that we had yet seen on 
 the glaciers. Ah ! if I only possessed the talent of 
 describing in language worthy of it all the poetry 
 that there was in this combination of snow and of 
 light. Never had I seen any spectacle more at- 
 tractive ; our eyes were so fascinated by it that 
 we did not at first perceive that the crust of snow 
 which covered this enchanting cavern was only in 
 this place some inches in thickness ; however, I do 
 not think that we ran a very great risk, for the snow 
 was closely packed together, and the sun had not 
 yet melted it. After contemplating the entrancing 
 effect of this singular phenomenon for some time, 
 we wished to know the cause of it, as well as its 
 nature. It was an immense crevasse of nearly 
 100 feet wide, and, as we calculated, of about 330 
 feet deep. In the place in which we examined it, 
 there was no other opening than the little chink of 
 which I have spoken ; but further on, it joined a 
 large crevasse which was open on the side of the 
 right bank, and there the light entered, while the 
 intermediate roof tempering the reflection of the di- 
 
74 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 visions of snow, gave them a sweetness and a charm 
 quite indescribable. The divisions of these caves, 
 like immense walls of crystal, were composed of 
 horizontal and parallel strata from three or four 
 inches to three feet in thickness of snow, very much 
 hardened and pressed together, but still crystalline ; 
 for it had not yet taken that granulated form which 
 one meets lower down. Between these strata of 
 snow there was usually a little band of ice, but of an 
 ice that was bulbous and not very compact, although 
 of a deeper color than the rest of the divisions. 
 Our guides were all agreed in affirming that each of 
 these layers represents the snow of one year ; and 
 this explanation appeared to us the most natural. 
 As to the thin bands of ice which separate the layers 
 of snow, they are doubtless due to the action of the 
 sun, which has shone every summer on the layer of 
 the preceding winter. 
 
 In pursuing our route we found a number of 
 other crevasses similar to the one which I have just 
 described ; we soon arrived at a certainty that the 
 soil on which we were travelling was entirely mined ; 
 for, in looking into an open crevasse, we often saw 
 it prolonged into the interior of the mass, far beyond 
 its superficial limits ; but others were open to the 
 surface the whole way. 
 
 After having travelled for about an hour over 
 fields of snow, we passed over the neve, in which we 
 met with a prodigious quantity of red snow. As 
 the little organisms which compose this red snow are 
 usually accumulated in the greatest numbers just 
 beneath the surface, we, of course, rendered them 
 
THE JUNGFEAU. 75 
 
 more apparent by disturbing the ground ; so at 
 every step we left, as it were, a trace of blood, which 
 could be seen at a great distance. 
 
 It was on the right bank of the glacier, at about 
 three hours' march from the village of Yiesch, that 
 we anticipated the most difficult work. It was ne- 
 cessary to descend over a barrier of rock almost 
 vertical and very steep, at the foot of which fell a 
 beautiful cascade. The road was a species of cou- 
 loir, which presented here and' there some slight 
 projections on which we could place our feet. When 
 these points of support were insufficient, we endeav- 
 ored to cling on the best way we could against the 
 sides of the couloir, helping ourselves with a stick, 
 or making use of the assistance of one of the guides ; 
 but this latter was a method to which our amour- 
 propre resigned itself as a last resource. When we 
 were out again on the glacier, and -could look at the 
 descent which we had just made, it seemed impos- 
 *sible to us that this could be the road which the 
 shepherds ordinarily take. But Jacob assured us 
 that there was no other. We understood still less 
 how they transported their flocks there ; and Jacob 
 did not know this himself ; yet he maintained that 
 it is this way that they would come up. We in- 
 formed ourselves about it afterwards at Viesch, where 
 they told us that this is really the only way to the 
 upper pasturage ; that they hoist the sheep by means 
 of cords, which they attach to their horns, and in 
 default of horns, to the'r necks. As for the shep- 
 herds, they do not often pass over this road ; for, 
 when once the sheep are up, they leave them to 
 
76 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 themselves until' the autumn ; and it is only from 
 time to time that a shepherd goes up to give them 
 the salt which they require. 
 
 We had many opportunities of proving, along 
 the glacier of Viesch, the manner in which it wears 
 away and forms its banks. The predominant rock 
 is here still the granite, sometimes composed of fine 
 grains, sometimes of coarse crystals ; which, how- 
 ever, does not prevent it from being in many parts 
 as smooth as polished marble. We remarked in it 
 also, in a very distinct manner, those parallel striae 
 which constitute one of the distinctive characteristics 
 of the glaze or polish produced by the action of 
 glaciers. 
 
 It was four o'clock in the evening when we made 
 the last halt, still on the right bank of the glacier of 
 Viesch, in a spot from whence we could see, for the 
 first time, the bottom of the Valais. We observed 
 from hence several ancient moraines, which extend a 
 long way on the left bank of the glacier, to a height 
 of several inches above its own level. A quantity of 
 loose blocks are scattered to higher levels still, and 
 indeed loose blocks are found up to the summit of 
 the mountain. 
 
 We had still two leagues to go. No one was 
 very tired, although we had been on foot for twelve 
 hours ; but a cry of surprise escaped us when, at the 
 turn of the mountain, Jacob showed us the way 
 up which we had to go. It was a very steep slope, 
 about 1,000 feet high, by the edge of which went a 
 little path, and apparently by no means a pleasant 
 one. The look of despair on some faces, and tiie ex- 
 
THE JUNGFKAU. 77 
 
 pression of resignation on others, might have fur- 
 nished subjects for a capital picture, if there had 
 been an artist among us who was not too much 
 fatigued to draw. However, we arrived at six 
 o'clock in the evening at the chalets of Morjelen, 
 where we were to pass the night and where the 
 shepherds received us very cordially. 
 
 Next day we ascended straight on to the glacier 
 of Aletsch. On the right where it bends we en- 
 joyed a magnificent view in two directions, The 
 Dent Blanche, the Matterhorn, Monte Eosa, and the 
 Strahlhorn, formed a picture on the southwest, 
 whilst before us, on the north, rose the grand peaks 
 of the Jungfrau, the Eiger, and the Monch, which 
 looked so near that they seemed to invite us to 
 persevere. 
 
 The glacier of Aletsch is, in general, very smooth ; 
 it is of all the glaciers the one which has the slight- 
 est inclination. We walked nearly two hours on the 
 compact ice, after which we passed into the region 
 of crevasses, which is the division between the ice 
 and the neve. This region is almost a league wide. 
 The neve,* which succeeds to it, is the finest in 
 Switzerland. It begins about the height of the 
 Faulberg. It may be known from a distance by a 
 certain air of age about it which forms a striking 
 contrast with the dazzling whiteness of the upper 
 snows. It is depressed in the middle and raised at 
 the edges, which is, in fact, an essential character- 
 istic of all neves, Crevasses were very rare this 
 year ; and we only came across a few very narrow 
 ones. On the fields of snow, which began with the 
 
78 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ascent, we made, at half-past nine, the first halt 
 in a place which we called the Repose, because the 
 passage that we had just made, and the immense 
 slopes which rise in front of it, naturally invite one 
 to take rest there-. 
 
 We found on the first plateau of snow some 
 crevasses which occur frequently just where the 
 slopes begin to be steep. These are, like those of 
 the neve of Yiesch, crevasses of embankment. We 
 saw some here again which were nearly 100 feet 
 wide ; but as they are not very long as well as wide, 
 we were generally able to go round them ; but 
 sometimes they were hidden; and, therefore, our 
 guide had to use the utmost circumspection to pre- 
 serve us from danger ; so we got on less quickly 
 than we desired ; and, in spite of all the precau- 
 tions, several of us got slips, but without sustaining 
 any real injury. 
 
 We thus scaled several terraces, and directing 
 our steps always to the west, we arrived at a vast 
 opening, commanded on all sides by great peaks, of 
 which the highest was the Jungfrau. Jacob made 
 us halt here a second time, doubtless that he might 
 reconnoitre. As for us, we only saw on all sides 
 difficulties insurmountable. On the right, vertical 
 slopes ; on the left, masses of ice which threatened 
 to crush us in their fall ; and before us the rimaye, 
 or great crevasse, which appeared impassable, it was 
 so gaping. I asked Jacob in what direction we were 
 going to ascend, but he refused to answer me, con- 
 tented himself with saying that we had only to 
 follow him in all confidence, and that he already 
 
THE JUNGFKAU. 79 
 
 eaw the road which we must take. Afterwards I 
 saw that he was right to elude my question ; for it 
 is very likely that we should never have arrived, if 
 every one had been allowed to give his opinion on 
 the difficult passages. 
 
 It was then nearly mid-day ; the heat was ex- 
 cessive ; and, in order to refresh themselves, our 
 guides applied handfuls of snow on the nape of the 
 neck. Several of us did the same, in spite of the 
 remonstrances of. the others, who, alarmed at what 
 appeared imprudence, forgot that in these elevated 
 regions, the material organization, as well as the 
 moral nature,. is much more independent of per- 
 nicious influences than in the plain. The reflection 
 of the light from the snow was most intense and 
 almost insupportable. In such circumstances one 
 can hardly do without a veil ; but there is, on the 
 other side, the great inconvenience of rendering 
 your steps less sure, and of considerably increasing 
 the heat of the £ace, by hindering the fresh air from 
 getting at it. So Agassiz preferred to expose him- 
 self to having his face scorched rather than use one. 
 
 "We directed our course straight for the great 
 rimaye, which we reached after having climbed up 
 a fourth terrace. It is a gulf of an unknown depth, 
 which opens on to the slope of the last terrace but 
 one, and penetrates a little obliquely into the mass 
 of snow : in another place its width is not less than 
 10 feet, so that there is no way of getting over it 
 but by a ladder. Before passing over, we went to 
 examine the ruins of a fallen mass which was lying 
 on our left, and which appeared to have been 
 
SO MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 detached a little while before; for the impression 
 which it had left in rolling over the surface of the 
 snow was still quite fresh. We saw with interest 
 that the ruins of this avalanche, detached from a 
 peak, of which the height is nearly a thousand feet, 
 were composed of alternate layers of compact blue 
 ice and of white ice, which had the appearance of 
 congealed snow. These different layers were an 
 inch or two in thickness, and alternated three or 
 four times in a block of a cubic yard. 
 
 We had now to pass over the great crevasse. 
 Our ladder was nearly 25 feet long, and was, conse- 
 quently, more than sufficiently large. But imme- 
 diately above the gulf, the slope of the ground was 
 frightfully rapid, for a space of more than thirty 
 feet. We reckoned the inclination at about 50 de- 
 grees. And further, the snow which, up to that 
 point, had been very soft and almost powdery, as- 
 sumed all at once an excessive hardness, so that the 
 guides were obliged to cut steps. Our courage was 
 ready to sink at the first trial ; but Jacob and Jaun 
 mounted first. When they were arrived at about 
 half the distance across, they flung us the rope 
 which they held by one end, and which, fixed by 
 the other to the ladder, served us as a sort of 
 banister. We thus all reached the summit of the 
 terrace, though not without difficulty. The guides 
 themselves, perhaps, exaggerated the dangers of this 
 first passage a little ; for they lavished their direc- 
 tions and their support with a liberality which we 
 might have found superfluous, if not injurious, some 
 hours later. 
 
THE JUNGFRAU. 81 
 
 It was two o'clock when we arrived at the Col 
 clu Eoththal. This defile resembles very much that 
 of the Oberaar ; and, like this latter, it is commanded 
 by two very high peaks ; the Jungfrau on the north, 
 and the extremity of the Kranzberg on the south. 
 It is several yards wide here. The hanging mists 
 collected in bottom of the Eoththal only allowed 
 us some fugitive glances into this wild and rugged 
 valley, which the country people consider to be the 
 abode of a band of turbulent spirits, known under 
 the name of the Barons of Rotlithal. 
 
 We calculated the height of the last peak at 
 nearly 1000 feet above our level ; and we hoped to 
 ascend it in less than an hour, in spite of its ex- 
 cessive steepness. However, we soon saw that the 
 ascent was more difficult than we had supposed. 
 In place of snow, we only found on all sides com- 
 pact ice, in which the guides were obliged to cut 
 steps, lest we should slide down ; and we had to 
 advance very slowly. So we had ascended for an 
 hour without the peak seeming to be sensibly 
 nearer, when the thickest fog enveloped us ; and we 
 could hardly discern from behind those who were 
 at the head of the column. 
 
 This was just the steepest point of the ascent. 
 Mr. Forbes, having measured the inclination, found 
 it to be 45°. The ice was so hard and impenetrable 
 that for a little while we could not make more than 
 fifteen steps in a quarter of an hour. The cold also 
 was so intense, that there was reason to fear that we 
 should get our feet frozen, in spite of all our care to 
 give them as much motion as possible. Seeing then 
 
82 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 that our position began to be really critical, Agassiz 
 asked Jacob if lie hoped that we should ever arrive 
 at the top. The latter replied to him with his 
 habitually calm manner, that he had never doubted 
 it, and at the cry of ' Vorwarts /' (Forward) we again 
 set ourselves to mount with the same ardor as at 
 the beginning. One, however, of the guides had 
 quitted us, not having been able longer to bear 
 the sight of the precipices to the right of us ; and 
 truly the road which we had to follow was enough 
 to frighten any one who was not sure of his head 
 and his legs. This last ridge, which is in form 
 like a vertical section of an inclined cone, com- 
 mands on the east those fields of snow which 
 we had just crossed, and on the west the neve 
 of the Roththal. The inclination is, however, 
 rather more on the west than on the east, for 
 the fragments of ice broken off by the strokes of 
 the hatchet always rolled into the latter valley. As 
 we had no time to lose, we went up quite straight 
 without making any zigzag. It was also the most 
 rational and the surest method ; for, by the laws of 
 mechanics, one has much more strength when one 
 bears on the toes and turns the face forwards, than 
 when one goes up obliquely ; so that if unfortunately 
 one of us had slipped, it would not have been im- 
 possible for the others to hold him up, whilst in the 
 other case it would have been at least very difficult. 
 And further, Jacob made us walk on the edge of the 
 ridge; because the ice was generally rather less hard 
 there, which accelerated our ascent a little. The 
 result was that we had the precipice constantly 
 
THE JUNGFEAU. 83 
 
 under our eyes, only being separated from it by a 
 sloping roof of snow. Several times, in putting my 
 stick out a little further than usual, I felt it go 
 through this snow, which was in some places only 
 about a foot and a half thick ; and we could then, 
 if the fog had happened to clear away for a few 
 moments, look through these holes made by the 
 stick on to the vast table land beneath our feet. 
 Far from dissuading us from this exercise, the guides 
 rather encouraged us in it, at least all who were not 
 liable to giddiness ; and I believe that truly it was a 
 good way of giving us assurance. 
 
 But the fog still hung round the summit, and 
 we only had a clear view of the east over the Eiger, 
 the Monch, and the peaks which enclose the glaciers 
 of the Oberaar and of the Unteraar. Already we had 
 begun to despair of enjoying the spectacle which our 
 imagination tried to paint, when all at once the 
 veil of clouds withdrew, and, as if touched by our 
 perseverance, the Jungfrau showed herself to our 
 astonished eyes in all the beauty of her mighty 
 and majestic form. I leave you to fancy what de- 
 light we felt at the sight of this unexpected change ! 
 It was a sort of picture of life, if I mistake not. 
 Audaces fortuna juvat. 
 
 After having ascended still for some time in the 
 same direction, we turned suddenly to the left, in 
 order to reach a place where the rock was bare, 
 crossing thus the inclined surface of the demi-cone, 
 of which the breadth is here still about 25 feet. 
 During this little crossing, the summit remained 
 hidden from us ; and when we arrived at the rocky 
 
84 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 place we saw, as by magic, at some steps from us, 
 the culminating point, which, until then, had seemed 
 to flee from us in proportion as we rose higher. Of 
 thirteen of us who left the chalets de Morjelen, eight 
 of us were about to succeed in our attempt; MM. 
 Agassiz, Forbes, Du Chatelier, and myself, accom- 
 panied by four guides, Jacob Leuthold, Michel Baun- 
 holzer, Johannes Ablanalp, and Hans Jaun, from 
 Meyringen. Switzerland, England, France, and 
 Germany, were thus represented in this ascent. 
 
 Here, for the first time, we beheld the Swiss 
 plain. We were on the western border of the sec- 
 tion of the cone, having at our feet the mass which 
 separates the valleys of Lauterbrunnen from those of 
 Grindewald. From this moment the scene appeared 
 to us entirely changed, and the mass which had 
 seemed to shrink as we rose, looked larger now by 
 all the height we had gained. Quite close to the 
 rocky place the mountain forms a little elbow at 
 ten feet below the highest point. This is at the 
 same time the limit of the ice, which, higher up, 
 gives place anew to the snow, or rather to a coarse- 
 grained neve. We saw, with a sort of fear, that the 
 space which separated us from the highest point 
 was a sharp ridge of from, perhaps, two-thirds of a 
 foot to rather over a foot in width only, for the 
 distance of about twenty feet ; while the sides, both 
 right and left, sloped at an inclination of 60 or 
 70 degrees. ' There is no way of reaching it/ said 
 Agassiz; and this was the opinion of nearly all. 
 Jacob, on the contrary, asserted that there was no 
 difficulty, and that we should all go up. Putting 
 
THE JUNGFRAU. 85 
 
 down the things which he carried, he set forward, 
 passing his stick over the ridge, so as to have the 
 latter under his right arm, and thus walked along 
 the eastern slope, crushing the snow as much as pos- 
 sible under his feet, so as to make our road easier. 
 He thus, in an instant, and without difficulty, reached 
 the peak. So much courage and sang-froid re-ani- 
 mated our courage, and when he returned for us no 
 one ventured to refuse. 
 
 The summit is a very small space, about two 
 feet long by a foot and a half wide. It is in the 
 form of a triangle, with the base turned towards 
 the Swiss plain. As there was not room for more 
 than one, each went in turn. Agassiz ascended first, 
 supported on the arm of Jacob who preceded him. 
 He remained about five minutes, and when he re- 
 joined us I saw that he was very much agitated ; 
 and, in fact, he confessed to me that he had never 
 felt such emotion. It was my turn next ; I expe- 
 rienced no difficulty in crossing, but when I was at 
 the summit I could, no more than Agassiz, repress 
 the most lively emotion in presence of such a spec- 
 tacle of surpassing grandeur. I also only remained 
 a few minutes, but long enough to remove all fear 
 that the panorama of the Jungfrau would ever be 
 effaced from my memory. 
 
 It is not the vast field which the eyes embrace 
 which is the charm of these mountains. Already 
 in the preceding year, on the Col de la Strahleck, 
 we had had experience which taught us that distant 
 views are generally rather indistinct. Here, on the 
 summit of the Jungfrau, the forms of the far-off 
 
86 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 mountains appeared still less defined. But had they 
 been as clear as is the line of the Jura when seen 
 from an eminence in the plain, I believe that our 
 eyes would not have rested long on them, so much 
 were they fascinated by the spectacle which our im- 
 mediate neighborhood offered. Before us was ex- 
 tended the Swiss plain, and at our feet were stretched 
 the anterior chains which, by their apparent uni- 
 formity, appeared to set off the great peaks which 
 rose almost to our level. At the same time, the 
 valleys of the Oberland, which at the moment of our 
 arrival were enveloped in light mists, discovered 
 themselves in several places, and permitted us to 
 see, through the breaks in them, the world below. 
 We distinguished on the right, the Valley of Grindel- 
 wald; on the left, in the depth, an immense cre- 
 vasse, and at the bottom of the latter a light line 
 which seemed to follow its windings. This was the 
 Valley of Lauterbrunnen, with the Lutschine river 
 running through it. But, above all, the Eiger and 
 the Monch attracted our attention. We had some 
 difficulty in realizing that these were the same 
 peaks which seem nearer to heaven than to the 
 earth when one sees them from the plain. Here we 
 contemplated them from above, and their great 
 proximity permitted us, in some sort, to observe 
 them in detail, for we were only separated from 
 them by the extent of the Neve d'Aletsch. Op- 
 posite, on the western side, rose another peak less 
 colossal, but more graceful, the sides of which 
 being entirely clothed with snow, it has obtained 
 the name of Silberhorn (Silver Peak). However, 
 
THE JUNGFEAU, 87 
 
 in the same direction we discovered several other 
 peaks in like manner crowned with snow, of which 
 the nearest and most pointed appeared to ns to be 
 the Gletscherhorn. These summits formed the im- 
 mediate cortege of the Jungfrau, which rises like a 
 queen in the midst of themr . Beyond the Eiger and 
 the Monch, in the eastern direction the great masses 
 which surround the glaciers of Finsteraar and of 
 Lauteraar, form another group still more extensive 
 and severe-looking than that in the midst of which 
 we were placed. These were the Viescherhorner, 
 the Oberaarhorn, the Schreckhorner, the Berglistock, 
 the Wetterhorner, and, in the centre, the Finsteraar- 
 horn, the highest mountain of Switzerland, which, 
 alone amongst them all, rose above our level, and 
 whose steep and rocky sides seemed to defy our 
 ambition. 
 
 On the south the view was contracted by the 
 clouds which had accumulated for several hours over 
 the chain of Monte Rosa. But this inconvenience 
 was more than compensated by a very extraordinary 
 phenomenon which was presented to our eyes and 
 which interested us exceedingly. Thick fogs ap- 
 peared, as it were, massed together on our left, in a 
 southwesterly direction. They rose from the base 
 of the Roththal, and began to extend to the north, 
 over the mass which separates this valley from that 
 of Lauterbrunnen. We were already beginning to 
 fear that they would a second time come over us, 
 when their progress was suddenly stopped, no doubt 
 from the effect of some current of the plain, which 
 prevented them from coming further in this direc- 
 
88 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 tion. Thanks to this circumstance, we found our- 
 selves, all at once, before a vertical wall of fog, the 
 height of which must have been over 12,000 feet at 
 least, for it penetrated to the bottom of the Yalley 
 of Lauterbrunnen and rose much above our heads. 
 As the temperature was down to freezing point, the 
 little drops of mist were transformed into icy crystals, 
 and reflected in the sun all the colors of the rain- 
 bow ; so that one might have said that a golden 
 mist sparkled around us. 
 
 It was more than four o'clock when we again put 
 ourselves en route. And now came the difficult 
 part ; for if the ascent had been perilous what must 
 the descent be ! I am quite sure of this, — that 
 when we measured with our eyes the immense de- 
 clivity that we had to get down, more than one of 
 us would have been very glad to have been already 
 at the bottom. It was too steep to think of walk- 
 ing in the usual way, so we had to descend back- 
 wards. I confess that the first steps caused me a 
 little uneasiness ; for, as we had not — that is, Agassiz 
 and I — guides before us to direct our steps, we were 
 obliged constantly to look between our legs to find 
 the cuttings, which made the way appear more 
 giddy than it might otherwise have done. But 
 some moments sufficed to get used to this ; and such 
 was the regularity of the cuttings, that, after having 
 taken some hundred of steps, we could, if necessary, 
 have trusted to our feet, and have dispensed with 
 looking at them at all. Yet the steepness of 
 the descent was almost always the same, oscillating 
 between 40 and 45 degrees, that is to say, much the 
 
THE JTJNGFRAU. 89 
 
 same as that of the roofs of our Gothic cathedrals. 
 There was, indeed, one place in which it must have 
 been about 47 degrees. But in spite of this excessive 
 steepness, we did not take more than an hour in 
 reaching the Col de Roththal, for it was about five 
 when we arrived there. 
 
 There remained still six leagues to make before 
 we could regain our chalets; so that, as we had 
 foreseen, we should have to cross that part of the 
 glacier which was most full of crevasses by night. 
 However, no one seemed at all uneasy about it, and 
 the moon was not late in rising, while the clouds 
 had almost entirely disappeared from the horizon. 
 We marched at a quickened pace for three hours 
 over the neve which succeeded the plateau of snow ; 
 and that part was accomplished without difficulty, 
 for the neve here has a smooth surface, so that it 
 is as easy to walk on it as on a highroad. And it 
 was scarcely dark when we saw the moon right in 
 front of us. 
 
 We were then at the height of the two passes 
 which I have mentioned, that of Lotsch on the 
 west, and that which conducts into the neve of 
 Yiesch on the east. The moon was just in the 
 axis of the glacier, so that all this great sea of ice 
 was uniformly illuminated, and reflected a light 
 much softer than that of the sun, from which we 
 had suffered so much during the day. The en- 
 trances of the two passes of Lotsch and Yiesch pre- 
 sented a truly magical effect ; for, as they are at 
 right angles with the direction of the glacier, the 
 mountains which bound them on the south project 
 
90 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 into them shadows of a fantastic grandeur, whilst 
 the heavy clouds collected behind the Aletschhorn, 
 gave to the picture all the vigor worthy of such a 
 subject. Add to this, that there was a perfect calm 
 in the atmosphere, and that an absolute silence 
 reigned around us, and it will be understood that we 
 still felt extreme pleasure in gazing on this wonder- 
 ful spectacle, notwithstanding that all day we had 
 been looking on prospects of marvellous splendor. 
 
 Very soon we entered the region of crevasses. 
 Then we judged it prudent to have recourse to the 
 cord again ; for although the light of the moon was 
 very lovely, it was not sufficiently strong to enable 
 us always to discern precisely when we were on old 
 snow and when on that which had recently fallen, 
 especially during the first quarter of an hour. In 
 fact, we all made summersaults by turns, the guides 
 as well as ourselves. There was, indeed, one mo- 
 ment in which we began to feel really uneasy as to 
 the issue of this crossing ; for at almost every step 
 one o r another had to be drawn out of a crevasse. 
 However, by degrees, we learnt to avoid them, and 
 we completed this part of .the journey without any 
 serious accident. 
 
 After having made a good supper we once more 
 put ourselves en route for the last stage. There re- 
 mained before us about three leagues, but excepting 
 these crevasses which we had still to leap, the way 
 was easy, and we arrived, before we suspected that 
 we were so near, at the Lake of Morjelen. Here we 
 made a last halt in order that we might thoroughly 
 admire a magnificent spectacle. The blocks of 
 
THE JUNGFRAU. 91 
 
 floating ice which swam on the surface of the water 
 glistened beautifully in the moonlight ; while at the 
 same time the edge of the glacier appeared like an 
 immense wall of crystal, and then what added to 
 the beauty of the scene was, that arriving just at 
 the time when the moon was about to pass behind 
 the mountain mass which headed the lake we saw 
 in a quarter of an hour effects of light and contrasts 
 the most various. It was a worthy ending to such 
 a day. 
 
 E. Desob. 
 
YI. 
 
 THE GALENSTOCK. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1845 BY MM. E. DESOR, DOLLEUS-AUSSET, 
 AND DANIEL DOLLFUS. 
 
 All who have visited the Oberland and are pos- 
 sessed of the least observation, even among ordinary 
 tourists, must have remarked, in the midst of the 
 numerous bold and steep peaks, a mountain dis- 
 tinguished from the others by its rounded form, 
 which represents a magnificent cupola of snow. 
 This is the Galenstock (15,853 feet high), which 
 stands right over the splendid glacier of the Rhone, 
 at the culminating point of the chain which 
 separates the Yalais from the canton of Uri. I 
 had several times conceived the project of going to 
 study it on the spot, and had conversed with the 
 most experienced guides on the subject ; but they, 
 without combating the idea, had, nevertheless, never 
 seemed disposed to encourage it ; not that they 
 thought the mountain too high or too steep, but 
 on account of its peculiar form. 
 
 1 You must take notice,' said Jacob Leuthold to 
 me, ' that this is a mountain by itself. It has an 
 inclined slope of ice uninterrupted for more than 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 93 
 
 3000 feet, which we could only scale by cutting 
 steps the whole way. In a case of necessity this 
 might be done ; but on a hot day we should run 
 the risk of finding these steps melted on our return. 
 And you know that to cut others in descending and 
 backwards would be no easy matter. Still there is 
 one way of doing the thing,' he added, after an 
 instant's reflection, ' we might try it some day after 
 a heavy snow, in August or September.' 
 
 The brave Leuthold was not, however, to have 
 the satisfaction. He died the same year ; and for 
 a long while no one spoke of the Galenstock. 
 
 It was in 1845 that an opportunity presented 
 itself of reviving the project of ascent which seemed 
 to have been forgotten. One day, when we had 
 been interrupted in the course of our observations 
 by one of those violent tempests which sometimes 
 break suddenly over the higher valleys,* we were 
 obliged to beat a retreat, and it was not without 
 difficulty that we reached the G-rimsel. Hardly had 
 we arrived at the hospice when the weather suddenly 
 
 * Mr. Tuckett writes to the "Alpine Journal " in 1865 : "I left 
 Geschenen at 3:30 a.m. on the 16th of July, with Christian and 
 Peter Michel of Grindelwald, and, after a charming walk through 
 lovely scenery and amidst magnificent specimens of glacier action, 
 found myself, at 6 :20, at the little collection of houses called the 
 Geschenen Alp (near the Galenstock). Here the curd was taking 
 his morning walk, and I took the opportunity of a halt for break- 
 fast to have a little chat with him . He stated that the Alp was 
 inhabited all the year round : that last winter had been a remark* 
 ably mild one, as the snow had only lain twenty-five feet deep, 
 instead of covering the chapel altogether, and rising above the 
 eaves of his house, as usual." 
 
94 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 cleared up. To the tempestuous day succeeded a 
 superb aud perfectly calm evening. But the snow 
 had fallen in too great a quantity to permit us 
 immediately to resume our studies, and we met on 
 the steps of the old hospice, and were deploring 
 together that we were prevented from taking ad- 
 vantage of such fine weather, when our principal 
 guide, he who had taken Jacob Leuthold's place, 
 drew me aside. 
 
 'You remember what Jacob said to you two 
 years ago ? Poor Jacob, if he could have been here 
 now !' 
 
 ' What would happen then ?' I asked him. 
 
 1 Why, we would go to-morrow ' 
 
 < Where ?' 
 
 ' To the Galenstock. Now is the time or never,' 
 he added ; ' for there must be at least some feet of 
 snow up there ; if we set out early before the thaw 
 begins we should mount without any difficulty ; and 
 as to the descent, why we would make a grand 
 sledge party of it. What do you think of it ?' 
 
 I went at once to consult with MM. Dollfus, 
 father and son, and, after some consideration, it 
 was decided that we should make the attempt. The 
 instruments which we expected to want were packed 
 up at once, the provisions prepared, and M. Dollfus 
 brought out a roll of stuff, of which he had always 
 a stock, that he might cut out a flag which was to 
 float from the top of the Galenstock. 
 
 Next day, the 18th of August, at three o'clock 
 in the morning, we set out on the road towards the 
 Col du Grimsel. The company was composed of 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 95 
 
 eight persons, M. Dollfus-Ausset, his son Daniel, and 
 myself, accompanied by five guides. At four o'clock 
 we had reached the elevation of the Col, the summit 
 of which is occupied by the Lac des Morts. The 
 sky was without a cloud, and the chain of Monte 
 Rosa appeared like an immense fire of red-hot coals 
 in the brilliant morning tints, whilst the lower chains 
 allowed us to see over their valleys that transparent 
 halo which our celebrated landscape-painter, Ca- 
 lame, has so happily depicted in the splendid paint- 
 ing of Monte Rosa, which is so much admired in 
 the museum of Neufchatel. 
 
 From the first plateau we descended by an easy 
 slope, though a somewhat steep one, on to the 
 upper part of the glacier of the Rhone, which we 
 crossed without any difficulty, taking care, however, 
 to attach ourselves to one another, on account of 
 the crevasses hidden by the fresh snow. The gla- 
 cier once crossed, we soon reached the mass of the 
 Galenstock itself, directing our steps zigzag to- 
 wards the lower part of the ridge. The snow was 
 frozen, and only yielded an inch or two under our 
 feet. Without causing any fatigue, it just gave 
 way enough to afford secure footing. It was not 
 ten o'clock when we reached the depression in ques- 
 tion, which we have designated by the name of the 
 Col de Galen. The view which one has from this 
 point is imposing ; it embraces, on one side, the 
 great chain of the Finsteraarhorn and its deep 
 valleys ; on the other, the upper part of the valley 
 of Realp, which is passed through in going from 
 Andermatt to La Furka. 
 
96 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 We took our way at eleven o'clock towards the 
 culminating point, ascending a very gentle slope 
 along the ridge, but keeping a certain distance from 
 the edge ; for we had observed that, in the line of 
 the principal declivity, the snow overhung the edge 
 of the wall of rocks in several places. Never has 
 any ascent of a high mountain been effected more 
 easily and merrily than this. We might have been 
 taken for a troop of school-boys going up the Naye 
 or the Chasseral rather than for a party of naturalists 
 making the conquest of a virgin peak of the Alps. 
 On reaching the top I gave way to M. Dollfus, 
 junior, that he might have the satisfaction of plant- 
 ing the standard and taking possession, in some sort, 
 in the name of Science, of a point on which the foot 
 of man had not yet trodden. 
 
 In a picturesque point of view we had occasion to 
 verify, once more, the truth of a remark which we had 
 often made ; for we were more than ever convinced 
 that the charm of the views, from great elevations, 
 consists much more in the details of the nearer points 
 of interest than in the extent of the panorama which 
 lies beneath the eye. That which fascinates is the 
 sublime chaos of sharp ridges and pointed peaks in 
 the midst of the vast fields of snow, of broken arches 
 and detached pieces, out of which the most expe- 
 rienced eye seeks in vain to reconstruct the original 
 chain. Then there are the contrasts of light and 
 shade which set these objects off in high relief. Here 
 was, first, that deep crevasse of the Valley of the Aar, 
 and that other, not less sombre, in which the Rhone 
 plays his first frolics on leaving the glacier ; then, on 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 97 
 
 the plateau between the two valleys, were those two 
 rounded rocks, stretching out their polished sur- 
 faces, the witnesses of the ancient abodes of glaciers. 
 There were, lastly, a little further on, the giants of 
 the Alps, with their steep sides and toothed and 
 rugged summits, seeming like old acquaintances, 
 who recalled to us the happiest moments of our 
 Alpine life, — amongst others, the Schreckhorn, 
 on the top of which we still perceived the staff of 
 the standard which I had planted there in 1842, 
 with my friend, Escher de la Linth ; and a little 
 further on, to the right, the three twin peaks of the 
 Wetterhorn, which we had visited together in the 
 preceding year, and of which one, the Eosenhorn, 
 also retained tokens of our visit. We found our- 
 selves, further, surrounded with "the same guides 
 who had accompanied us up these different moun- 
 tains, and who enjoyed not less than ourselves this 
 grand spectacle. They found, above all, a great 
 charm in recalling to each other, and to us, all the 
 incidents of our different ascents, from the Jung- 
 frau to the Galenstock, and in reviewing the diffi- 
 culties encountered, and the dangers which we had 
 run on each of these summits. 
 
 It was nearly one o'clock when we set off again. 
 The snow was considerably softened on the declivi- 
 ties exposed to the sun, so much so that we sank 
 knee-deep into it. On one side the slope was not 
 sufficient in the direction which we had to go to per- 
 mit us to slide. ' We wanted,' as the guides said, 
 1 horses to the sledge ;' an expression which they 
 
98 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 use when they take their masters by the legs and 
 run down the side of a mountain with them. 
 
 We were now approaching the place where we 
 had reason to believe that the snow sloped over the 
 rocks. So we took care, for greater safety, to follow 
 exactly our morning's track. We marched in a file, 
 the guide Jaun being at the head of the column. 
 I followed him at some paces back : then came M. 
 Dollfus, junior ; after him three other guides, and 
 at some distance behind, M. Dollfus, senior, ac- 
 companied by the fifth guide. Merry and light- 
 hearted we chatted about our good fortune, and 
 about the surprise which the sight of our standard 
 would cause to the tourists and guides of the Ober- 
 land, as it floated on the summit of the inaccessible 
 peak of the Galenstock, when, all at once, I saw a 
 fissure in the ground open before me and split with 
 the rapidity of lightning. I shall have ever before 
 my mind's eye the spectacle of this gulf with its 
 azure walls, though they only remained so for the 
 twinkling of an eye, the time it takes for the side of 
 a mountain to sink. The cleft, which had grazed 
 my left foot in splitting, had passed between the 
 legs of the guide who preceded me. Whether by in- 
 stinct or by accident he had thrown himself on to 
 the side of the mountain. Not a cry, not a sound 
 escaped from my mouth during this scene. Bat 
 when I turned to inquire of my companions I saw 
 all faces horror-struck. They were not there in full 
 number. At two steps behind me a stick was hang- 
 ing over the abyss, but he who carried it had dis- 
 appeared, borne away with the part of the moun- 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 99 
 
 tain which had just broken off. M. Dollfus, who 
 was at a little distance, did not immediately under- 
 stand the cause of the agitation. He was going to 
 exhort us to be prudent, when he discovered that 
 the party was no longer complete. And certainly, 
 in presence of such a discovery, the emotion of a 
 father needs neither excuse nor explanation. The 
 one who was missing was his son ! 
 
 Before we had time to collect ourselves, we were 
 enveloped in a thick cloud of snow : this was, as it 
 were, the dust of the fallen mass, which came over 
 us like a whirlwind. It would be difficult to say 
 what happened to us while in these circumstances. 
 We expected every instant while this was going on 
 to see another portion of the side of the mountain 
 give way and draw us, in our turn, into the gulf, 
 and a thousand plans and recollections rushed at 
 once into my mind. What must then have passed 
 through the soul of him whom we regarded as 
 already a victim ! 
 
 Little by little, however, I cannot possibly say in 
 what space of time, the thick clouds of snow began 
 to grow lighter, so that they permitted us to discern 
 some forms. Hope also began to rekindle in us 
 when we saw that no new crevasses were opening. 
 I then immediately went to the edge of the preci- 
 pice and stretched myself at full length on the 
 snow, having first fastened round my waist a girdle 
 with which M. Dollfus was always furnished, in 
 order that the guides might, if necessary, draw me 
 up again, if, from the weight of my body, another 
 piece should detach itself from the side. I cannot 
 
100 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 describe the anxiety with which M. Dollfus, the 
 lather, followed me with his eyes, or how many 
 times he asked whether I did not see some trace of 
 his son. At first I saw nothing except an enor- 
 mous mass of moving snow at a depth of more than 
 3000 feet below me. This was the mass which had 
 fallen which was precipitating itself like an ava- 
 lanche into the Yalley of Gorschen, above Eealp. 
 After some instants, however, I thought that through 
 the mist, and almost perpendicularly beneath me, 
 just in the track of the avalanche, I could perceive 
 a dark object. Was it he ? I did not yet dare to 
 believe it ; above all, I did not dare to answer affirm- 
 atively to all the questions asked by the guides. 
 Soon, however, I had no doubt. It was my friend's 
 hat and part of his shoulder which I saw. Another 
 question, not less urgent, was to know whether he 
 were living or dead. It was M. Dollfus who asked 
 this time. It would have been very sweet to me, 
 as may be imagined, to perceive, at this moment, a 
 sign of life in him on whom I kept my eyes fixed, 
 and to be able to reply at once to the despairing 
 father, ' Your son lives !' But how could I nourish 
 such a hope? It appeared to me that without a 
 miracle he must have been crushed or smothered by 
 the snow; yet still it was a sort of miracle that 
 instead of being drawn down by the avalanche, he 
 had remained there, so near the surface, at about 
 eighty feet below us. A few moments afterwards 
 I thought that I really could perceive a movement. 
 He was not then dead ! The impression which this 
 discovery produced may be imagined. But what 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 101 
 
 will not be understood, what will scarcely be be- 
 lieved, is the devotion of which one of the guides 
 at this moment gave proof. Hardly had I articu- 
 lated those words, ' He lives !' than Hans Wahren, 
 the chosen guide of M. Dollfus, precipitated himself 
 over the edge of the crevasse. We all uttered a cry 
 of terror when we saw him disappear. Happily he 
 fell into the snow of the avalanche only thirty feet 
 from the top, and as this snow was very soft, he 
 sank so deeply that it was impossible for him to dis- 
 engage himself. 
 
 In the meanwhile, young M. Dollfus had begun 
 to recover from the stun which the fall had caused. 
 He made an effort to look up, and when he per- 
 ceived me at the top of the precipice his first thought, 
 as may be conceived, was for his father. The news 
 that his father was safe and sound, and that he had 
 not been drawn down like himself, restored his 
 courage. He tried to rise, when he perceived that 
 he had not the use of his right arm. Was it broken 
 or put out of joint ? He could not tell yet. c But 
 broken or dislocated it is nothing,' he cried to us, 
 * since there is no one hurt but me.' 
 
 How then did it happen that he had stopped in 
 his fall at such a comparatively small distance? 
 The fact was that in this long and abrupt slope of 
 the Galenstock there was one isolated point of rock, 
 a sort of little rocky pyramid, and against this that 
 part of the fallen mass struck on which M. Dollfus 
 was. A portion of the snow remained there, and 
 in it he whom it had drawn with it in its fall. If he 
 had been in any other part of this great mass h« 
 
102 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 must infallibly have been drawn with the avalanche, 
 and would not have been long in disappearing amidst 
 its gigantic heaps. 
 
 We had now to consider what means we should 
 take to rescue M. Dollfus from this position. And 
 we did not exactly see what to do. We knew, how- 
 ever, one thing, which was that we were not going 
 to return without him. But our guides, generally 
 so calm in the presence of danger, were completely 
 at a loss now. There was no way of effecting our 
 descent down the declivity which the avalanche had 
 taken. It was therefore indispensable to draw M. 
 Dollfus up again. But between him and us there 
 was first a vertical wall of over thirty feet, the edge 
 of the crumbled neve, then a very steep slope repre- 
 senting a height of some fifty feet. 
 
 In order to proceed with as much method as pos- 
 sible, we fastened a cord round one of the guides 
 and let him down thirty feet to the place where his 
 comrade Wahren was stuck fast ; and first he as- 
 sisted him to get free, after which they endeavored 
 to descend by one of those tricks of which only the 
 chamois-hunters have the secret, and which consists 
 in finding the exact spots in which the snow is suffi- 
 ciently firm to bear a man's weight. 
 
 They managed this by dint of address and pa- 
 tience, and by literally clinging to the snow, to reach 
 M. Dollfus, whom they had in the first place almost 
 to disinter. But when they had got him out, they 
 discovered with dismay that he had not only an 
 injured arm, but that his leg also was so much hurt 
 that it could do him no service. And how then 
 
THE GALENSTOCK. 103 
 
 could a man in such a state be raised up an accliv- 
 ity of 60 and sometimes 70 degrees. Had it been 
 a descent the thing would have been impossible ; 
 but there are always more resources for an ascent. 
 So our two brave men manoeuvred so well that 
 they got M. Dollfus to the top of the slope. They 
 then fastened the cord round him, and we drew him 
 up to us, taking care to pull the cord over our 
 sticks which we had placed over the edge of the 
 precipice. We employed the same means to raise 
 the two guides, who arrived safe and sound at the 
 top. 
 
 Several long hours had passed in this search, and 
 these efforts to recover him whom we had thought 
 lost. When we were all once more together again 
 on the top of the precipice, the sun was already 
 visibly sinking over the Finsteraarhorn. M. Dollfus 
 was unable to walk, so one of the guides took him 
 on his back and carried him to the Col de Galen. 
 It was there that we meant to take some refresh- 
 ment, because then only could we believe ourselves 
 entirely out of danger. 
 
 E. Desob. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE 31ATTERH0RN. 
 
 A SOLITAEY SCKAMBLE IN 1862. 
 
 Sunday, the 6th of July, was showery, and snow 
 fell on the Matterhorn, but we started on the follow- 
 ing morning with our three men, and pursued my 
 route of the previous year. I was requested to di- 
 rect the way, as none save myself had been on the 
 mountain before ; but I did not distinguish myself 
 on this occasion, and led my companions nearly to 
 the top of the small peak before the mistake was 
 discovered. The party becoming rebellious, a little 
 exploration was made towards our right, and we 
 found we were upon the top of the cliff overlooking 
 the Col du Lion. The upper part of the small peak 
 is of a very different character to the lower part ; 
 the rocks are not so firm, and they are usually cov- 
 ered, or intermixed with snow, and glazed with ice : 
 the angle too is more severe. While descending a 
 small snow-slope, to get on to the right track, 
 Kronig slipped on a streak of ice, and went down at 
 a fearful pace. Fortunately he kept on his legs, 
 and, by a great effort, succeeded in stopping just 
 before he arrived at some rocks that jutted through 
 
THE MATTERIIORN 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 105 
 
 the snow, which would infallibly have knocked him 
 over. When we rejoined him a few minutes later, 
 we found that he was incapable of standing, much 
 less moving, with a face corpse-like in hue, and 
 trembling violently. He remained in this condition 
 for more than an hour, and the day was consequent- 
 ly far advanced before we arrived at our camping- 
 place on the Col. Profiting by the experience of 
 last year, we did not pitch our tent actually on the 
 snow, but collected a quantity of debris from the 
 neighboring ledges, and after constructing a rough 
 platform of the larger pieces, levelled the whole with 
 the dirt and mud. 
 
 Three times I had essayed the ascent of this 
 mountain, and on each occasion had failed ignomin- 
 iously. I had not advanced a yard beyond my 
 predecessors. Up to the height of nearly 13,000 
 feet there were no extraordinary difficulties ; the 
 way so far might even become " a matter of amuse- 
 ment." Only 1800 feet remained ; but they were as 
 yet untrodden, and might present the most formida- 
 ble obstacles. No man could expect to climb them 
 by himself. A morsel of rock only seven feet high 
 might at any time defeat him, if it were perpendicu- 
 lar. Such a place might be possible to two, or a 
 bagatelle to three men. It was evident that a party 
 should consist of three men at least. But where 
 could the other two men be obtained ? Carrel was 
 the only man who exhibited any enthusiasm in the 
 matter ; and he, in 1861, absolutely refused to go 
 unless the party consisted of at least four persons. 
 
106 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Want of men made the difficulty, not the mountain. 
 The weather became bad again, so I went to Zer- 
 matt on the chance of picking up a man, and re- 
 mained there during a week of storms. Not one of 
 the good men, however, could be induced to come, 
 and I returned to Breil on the 17th, hoping to com- 
 bine the skill of Carrel with the willingness of Mey- 
 net on a new attempt, by the same route as before ; 
 for the Hornli ridge, which I had examined in the 
 meantime, seemed to be entirely impracticable. 
 Both men were inclined to go, but their ordinary 
 occupations prevented them from starting at once. 
 
 My tent had been left rolled up at the second 
 platform, and whilst waiting for the men it occurred 
 to me that it might have been blown away during 
 the late stormy weather ; so I started off on the 18th 
 to see if this were so or not. The way was by this 
 time familiar, and I mounted rapidly, astonishing 
 the friendly herdsmen — who nodded recognition as 
 I flitted past them and the cows — for I was alone, 
 because no man was available. But more delibera- 
 tion was necessary when the pastures were passed, 
 and climbing began, for it was needful to mark each 
 step, in case of mist, or surprise by night. It is one 
 of the few things which can be said in favor of 
 mountaineering alone (a practice which has little be- 
 sides to commend it), that it awakens a man's facul- 
 ties, and makes him observe. When one has no 
 head to guide him except his own, he must needs 
 take note even of small things, for he cannot afford 
 to throw away a chance ; and so it came to pass, 
 upon my solitary scramble, when above the snow- 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 107 
 
 line, and beyond the ordinary limits of flowering 
 plants, when peering about noting angles and land- 
 marks, that my eyes fell upon the tiny straggling 
 plants — oftentimes a single flower on a single stalk 
 — pioneers of vegetation, atoms of life in a world of 
 desolation, which had found their way up — who can 
 tell how ? — from far below, and were obtaining bare 
 sustenance from the scanty soil in protected nooks ; 
 and it gave a new interest to the well-known rocks 
 to see what a gallant fight the survivors made (for 
 many must have perished in the attempt) to ascend 
 the great mountain. The Gentian, as one might 
 have expected, was there, but it was run close by 
 Saxifrages, and by Linaria alpina, and was beaten 
 by Thlaspi rotundifolium, which latter plant was the 
 highest I was able to secure, although it too was 
 overtopped by a little white flower which I knew not, 
 and was unable to reach. 
 
 The tent was safe, although snowed up; and I 
 turned to contemplate the view, which, when seen 
 alone and undisturbed, had all the strength and 
 charm of complete novelty. The highest peaks of 
 the Pennine chain were in front — the Breithorn 
 (13,685 feet), the Lyskamm (14,889), and Monte 
 Bosa (15,217) ; then, turning to the right, the entire 
 block of mountains which separated the Yal Tour- 
 nanche from the Val d'Ayas was seen at a glance, 
 with its dominating summit the Grand Tournalin 
 (11,155). Behind were the ranges dividing the Ya] 
 d'Ayas from the Valley of Gressoney, backed by 
 higher summits. More still to the right, the eye 
 wandered down the entire length of the Yal Tour- 
 
108 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 nanche, and then rested upon the Graian Alps with 
 their innumerable peaks, and upon the isolated pyr- 
 amid of Monte Viso (12,643) in the extreme distance. 
 Next, still turning to the right, came the mountains 
 intervening between the Val Tournanche and the 
 Val Barthelemy : Mont Rouss (a round-topped 
 snowy summit, which seems so important from 
 Breil, but which is in reality only a buttress of the 
 higher mountain, the Chateau des Dames), had long 
 ago sunk, and the eye passed over it, scarcely heed- 
 ing its existence, to the Becca Salle (or, as it is 
 printed on the map, Bee de Sale), — a miniature 
 Matterhorn — and to the other, and more important 
 heights. Then the grand mass of the Dent d'Herens 
 (13,714) stopped the way ; a noble mountain, en- 
 crusted on its northern slopes with enormous hang- 
 ing glaciers, which broke away at mid-day in im- 
 mense slices, and thundered down on to the Tiefen- 
 matten glacier ; and lastly, most splendid of all, 
 came the Dent Blanche (14,318), soaring above the 
 basin of the great Z'Muttgletscher. Such a view is 
 hardly to be matched in the Alps, and this view is 
 very rarely seen, as I saw it, perfectly unclouded. 
 
 Time sped away unregarded, and the little birds 
 which had built their nests on the neighbouring 
 cliffs had begun to chirp their evening hymn before 
 I thought of returning. Half mechanically I turned 
 to the tent, unrolled it, and set it up ; it contained 
 food enough for several days, and I resolved to stay 
 over the night. I had started from Breil without 
 provisions, or telling Favre — the innkeeper, who 
 was accustomed to my erratic ways — where I was 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 109 
 
 going. I returned to the view. The sun was set- 
 ting, and its rosy rays, blending with the snowy blue, 
 had thrown a pale, pure violet far as the eye could 
 see ; the valleys were drowned in a purple gloom, 
 while the summits shone with unnatural brightness ; 
 and as I sat in the door of the tent, and watched 
 the twilight change to darkness, the earth seemed 
 to become less earthy and almost sublime ; the 
 world seemed dead, and I, its sole inhabitant, By 
 and by, the moon as it rose brought the hills again 
 into sight, and by a judicious repression of detail 
 rendered the view yet more magnificent. Something 
 in the south hung like a great glow-worm in the air ; 
 it was too large for a star, and too steady for a me- 
 teor ; and it was long before I could, realize the in- 
 credible fact that it was the moonlight glittering on 
 the great snow- slope on the north side of Monte 
 Viso, at a distance, as the crow flies, of 98 miles. 
 Shivering, at last I entered the tent and made my 
 coffee. The night was passed comfortably, and the 
 next morning, tempted by the brilliancy of the 
 weather, I proceeded yet higher up in search of an- 
 other place for a platform. 
 
 The rocks of the southwest ridge are by no means 
 difficult for some distance above the Col du Lion. 
 This is true of the rocks up to the level of the Chim- 
 ney, but they steepen when that is passed, and re- 
 maining smooth and with but few fractures, and still 
 continuing to dip outwards, present some steps of a 
 very uncertain kind, particularly when they are 
 glazed with ice. At this point (just above the 
 Chimney) the climber is obliged to follow the south- 
 
110 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 ern (or Breil) side of the ridge, but, in a few feet 
 more, one must turn over to the northern (or 
 Z'Mutt) side, where, in most years, nature kindly 
 provides a snow-slope. When this is surmounted, 
 one can again return to the crest of the ridge, and 
 follow it, by easy rocks, to the foot of the Great 
 Tower. This was the highest point attained by Mr. 
 Hawkins in 1860, and it was also our highest on the 
 9th of July. 
 
 This Great Tower is one of the most striking fea- 
 tures of the ridge. It stands out like a turret at the 
 angle of a castle. Behind it a battlemented wall 
 leads upwards to the citadel. Seen from the Theo- 
 dule pass, it looks only an insignificant pinnacle, 
 but as one approaches it (on the ridge) so it seems 
 to rise, and when one is at its base, it completely 
 conceals the upper parts of the mountain. I found 
 here a suitable place for the tent ; which, although 
 not so well protected as the second platform, pos- 
 sessed the advantage of being 300 feet higher up ; 
 and fascinated by the wildness of the cliffs, and en- 
 ticed by the perfection of the weather, I went on to 
 see what was behind. 
 
 The first step was a difficult one ; the ridge be- 
 came diminished to the least possible width — it was 
 hard to keep one's balance — and just where it was 
 narrowest, a more than perpendicular mass barred 
 the way. Nothing fairly within arm's reach could 
 be laid hold of ; it was necessary to spring up, and 
 then to haul one's-self over the sharp edge by sheer 
 strength. Progression directly upwards was then 
 impossible. Enormous and appalling precipices 
 
THE MATTEEHORN. Ill 
 
 plunged down to the Tiefenmatten glacier on the 
 left, but round the righthand side it was just possi- 
 ble to go. One hindrance then succeeded another, 
 and much time was consumed in seeking the way. 
 I have a vivid recollection of a gully of more than 
 usual perplexity at the side of the Great Tower, 
 with minute ledges and steep walls ; of the ledges 
 dwindling down and at last ceasing ; and of finding 
 myself, with arms and legs divergent, fixed as if cru- 
 cified, pressing against the rock, and feeling each 
 rise and fall of my chest as I breathed ; of screwing 
 my head round to look for hold, and not seeing any, 
 and of jumping sideways on to the other side. 
 
 This long digression has been caused by an inno- 
 cent gully which I feared the reader might think 
 was dangerous. It was an untrodden vestibule 
 which led to a scene so wild that even the most so- 
 ber description of it must seem an exaggeration. 
 There was a change in the quality of the rock, and 
 there was a change in the appearance of the ridge. 
 The rocks (talcose gneiss) below this spot were sin- 
 gularly firm ; it was rarely necessary to test one's 
 hold ; the way led over the living rock, and not up 
 rent-off fragments. But here, all was decay and 
 ruin. The crest of the ridge was shattered and 
 cleft, and the feet sank in the chips which had 
 drifted down ; while above, huge blocks, hacked and 
 carved by the hand of time, nodded to the sky, look • 
 ing like the grave-stones of giants. Out of curiosi- 
 ty I wandered to a notch in the ridge, between two 
 tottering piles of immense masses, which seemed to 
 
112 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 need but a few pounds on one or the other side to 
 make them fall ; so nicely poised that they would 
 literally have rocked in the wind, for they were put 
 in motion by a touch ; and based on support so frail 
 that I wondered they did not collapse before my 
 eyes. In the whole range of my Alpine experience 
 I have seen nothing more striking than this desolate, 
 ruined, and shattered ridge at the back of the Great 
 Tower. I have seen stranger shapes, — rocks which 
 mimic the human form, with monstrous leering faces 
 — and isolated pinnacles, sharper and greater than 
 any here ; but I have never seen exhibited so im- 
 pressively the tremendous effects which may be 
 produced by frost, and by the long-continued action 
 of forces whose individual effects are imperceptible. 
 
 It is needless to say that it is impossible to climb 
 by the crest of the ridge at this part ; still one is 
 compelled to keep near to it, for there is no other 
 way. Generally speaking, the angles on the Mat- 
 terhorn are too steep to allow the formation of con- 
 siderable beds of snow, but here there is a corner 
 which permits it to accumulate, and it is turned to 
 gratefully, for, by its assistance, one can ascend four 
 times as rapidly as upon the rocks. 
 
 The Tower was now almost out of sight, and I 
 looked over the central Pennine Alps to the Grand 
 Combin, and to the chain of Mont Blanc. My 
 neighbor, the Dent d'Herens, still rose above me, 
 although but slightly, and the height which had 
 been attained could be measured by its help. So 
 far, I had no doubts about my capacity to descend 
 that which had been ascended ; but, in a short time, 
 
THE MATTEEHORN. 113 
 
 on looking ahead, I saw that the cliffs steepened, 
 and I turned back (without pushing on to them, and 
 getting into inextricable difficulties), exulting in the 
 thought that they would be passed when we re- 
 turned together, and that I had, without assistance, 
 got nearly to the height of the Dent d'Herens, and 
 considerably higher than any one had been before. 
 My exultation was a little premature. 
 
 About 5 P. M. I left the tent again, and thought 
 myself as good as at Breil. The friendly rope and 
 claw had done good service, and had smoothened 
 all the difficulties. I lowered myself through the 
 Chimney, however, by making a fixture of the rope, 
 which I then cut off, and left behind, as there was 
 enough and to spare. My axe had proved a great 
 nuisance in coming down, and I left it in the tent. 
 It was not attached to the baton, but was a sepa- 
 rate affair, — an old navy boarding-axe. While cut- 
 ting up the different snow-beds on the ascent, the 
 baton trailed behind fastened to the rope ; and, when 
 climbing, the axe was carried behind, run through 
 the rope tied round my waist, and was sufficiently 
 out of the way ; but in descending, when coming 
 down face outwards (as is always the best where it 
 is possible), the head or the handle of the weapon 
 caught frequently against the rocks, and several 
 times nearly upset me. So, out of laziness if you 
 will, it was left in the tent. I dearly paid for the 
 imprudence. 
 
 The Col du Lion was passed, and fifty yards more 
 would have placed me on the ' Great Staircase,' 
 down which one can run. But on arriving at an 
 
114 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 angle of the cliffs, of the Tete du Lion, while skirt- 
 ing the upper edge of the snow which abuts against 
 them, I found that the heat of the two past days 
 had nearly obliterated the steps which had been 
 cut when coming up. The rocks happened to be 
 impracticable just at this corner, so nothing could 
 be done except make the steps afresh. The snow 
 was too hard to beat or tread down, and at the 
 angle it was all but ice ; half-a-dozen steps only 
 were required, and then the ledges could be fol- 
 lowed again. So I held to the rock with my right 
 hand, and prodded at the snow with the point of 
 my stick until a good step was made, and then, 
 leaning round the angle, did the same for the other 
 side. So far well, but in attempting to pass the 
 corner (to the present moment I cannot tell how it 
 happened) I slipped and fell. 
 
 The slope was steep on which this took place, and 
 was at the top of a gully that led down through two 
 subordinate buttresses towards the Glacier du Lion 
 — which was just seen, a thousand feet below. The 
 gully narrowed and narrowed, until there was a 
 mere thread of snow lying between two walls of 
 rock, which came to an abrupt termination at the 
 top of a precipice that intervened between it and 
 the glacier. Imagine a funnel cut in half through 
 its length, placed at an angle of 45 degrees, with its 
 point below and its concave side uppermost, and you 
 will have a fair idea of the place. 
 
 The knapsack brought my head down first, and I 
 pitched into some rocks about a dozen feet below ; 
 they caught something and tumbled me off the 
 
FALL OF M DOLLl'US DO AN THE GALENSIOCK 
 

THE MATTEEHOEN. 115 
 
 edge, head over heels, into the gully ; the baton was 
 dashed from my hands, and I whirled downwards 
 in a series of bounds, each longer than the last ; 
 now over ice, now into rocks ; striking my head 
 four or five times, each time with increased force. 
 The last bound sent me spinning through the air, in 
 a leap of fifty or sixty feet, from one side of the 
 gully to the other, and I struck the rocks, luckily, 
 with the whole of my left side. They caught my 
 clothes for a moment, and I fell on to the snow 
 with motion arrested ; my head fortunately came 
 the right side up, and a few frantic catches brought 
 me to a halt, in the neck of the gully, and on the 
 verge of the precipice. Baton, hat, and veil skimmed 
 by and disappeared, and the crash of the rocks — 
 which I had started — as they fell on the glacier, told 
 how narrow had been the escape from utter destruc- 
 tion. As it was, I fell nearly 200 feet in seven 
 or eight bounds. Ten feet more would have taken 
 me in one gigantic leap of 800 feet on to the glacier 
 below. 
 
 The situation was still sufficiently serious. The 
 rocks could not be left go for a moment, and the 
 blood was spirting out of more than twenty cuts. 
 The most serious ones were in the head, and I 
 vainly tried to close them with one hand, while 
 holding on with the other. It was useless ; the blood 
 jerked out in blinding jets at every pulsation. At 
 last, in a moment of inspiration, I kicked out a big 
 lump of snow, and stuck it as a plaster on my head. 
 The idea was a happy one, and the flow of blood 
 diminished ; then, scrambling up, I got, not a mo- 
 
116 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ment too soon, to a place of safety, and fainted 
 away. The sun was setting when consciousness re- 
 turned, and it was pitch dark before the Great Stair- 
 case was descended ; but, by a combination of luck 
 and care, the whole 4800 feet of descent to Breil 
 was accomplished without a slip, or once missing 
 the way. I slunk past the cabin of the cowherds, 
 who were talking and laughing inside, utterly 
 ashamed of the state to which I had been brought 
 by my imbecility, and entered the inn stealthily, 
 wishing to escape to my room unnoticed. But 
 Favre met me in the passage, demanded ' Who is 
 it ?' screamed with fright when he got a light, and 
 aroused the household. Two dozen heads then 
 held solemn council over mine, with more talk than 
 action. The natives were unanimous in recom- 
 mending that hot wine (syn. vinegar,) mixed with 
 salt, should be rubbed into the cuts. I protested, 
 but they insisted. It was all the doctoring they re- 
 ceived. Whether their rapid healing was to be at- 
 tributed to that simple remedy, or to a good state 
 of health, is a question ; they closed up remarkably 
 quickly, and in a few days I was able to move 
 again. 
 
 As it seldom happens that one survives such a 
 fall, it may be interesting to record what my sensa- 
 tions were during its occurrence. I was perfectly 
 conscious of what was happening, and felt each 
 blow ; but, like a patient under chloroform, expe- 
 rienced no pain. Each blow was, naturally, more 
 severe than that which preceded it, and I distinctly 
 remember thinking ' Well, if the next is harder still, 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 117 
 
 that will be the end !' Like persons who have been 
 rescued from drowning, I remember that the recol- 
 lection of a multitude of things rushed through my 
 head, many of them trivialities or absurdities, which 
 had been forgotten long before ; and, more remark- 
 able, this bounding through space did not feel disa- 
 greeable. But I think that in no very great dis- 
 tance more, consciousness as well as sensation would 
 have been lost, and upon that I base my belief, im- 
 probable as it seems, that death by a fall from a 
 great height is as painless an end as can be expe- 
 rienced. 
 
 The battering was very rough, yet no bones were 
 broken. The most severe cuts were one of four 
 inches long on the top of the head, and another of 
 three inches on the right temple : this latter bled 
 frightfully. There was a formidable-looking cut, of 
 about the same size as the last, on the palm of the 
 left hand, and every limb was grazed or cut, more 
 or less seriously. The tips of the ears were taken 
 off, and a sharp rock cut a circular bit out of the 
 side of the left boot, sock, and ankle, at one stroke. 
 The loss of blood, although so great, did not seem 
 to be permanently injurious. The only serious 
 effect has been the reduction of a naturally reten- 
 tive memory to a very common-place one ; and al- 
 though my recollections of more distant occurrences 
 remain unshaken, the events of that particular day 
 would be clean gone but for the few notes which 
 were written down before the accident. 
 
118 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 AN ASCENT BY MR. E. WHYMPER, LORD DOUGLAS, 
 REV. C. HUDSON, AND MR. HADOW, IN JULY 1865. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, the 12th of July, Lord 
 Francis Douglas and myself crossed the Col Theo- 
 dule, to seek guides at Zermatt. After quitting 
 the snow on the northern side we rounded the foot 
 of the glacier, crossing the Furgge Glacier, and left 
 my tent, ropes, and other matters in the little chapel 
 at the Lac Noir. We then descended to Zermatt, 
 engaged Peter Taugwalder, and gave him permis- 
 sion to choose another guide. In the course of the 
 evening the Rev. Charles Hudson came into our 
 hotel with a friend, Mr. Hadow ; and they, in answer 
 to some inquiries, announced their intention of start- 
 ing to attempt the Matterhorn on the following 
 morning. Lord Francis Douglas agreed with me 
 that it was undesirable that two independent parties 
 should be on the mountain at the same time, and 
 with the same object. Mr. Hudson was therefore 
 invited to join us, and he accepted our proposal. 
 Before admitting Mr. Hadow I took the precaution 
 to inquire what he had done in the Alps ; and, as 
 well as I can remember, Mr. Hudson's reply was, 
 ' Mr. Hadow has done the Mont Blanc in less time 
 than most men.' He then mentioned several other 
 excursions that were then unknown to me, and 
 added, in answer to a further question, * I consider 
 he is a sufficiently good man to go with us.' This 
 was an excellent certificate, given as it was by a first- 
 
THE MATTEEHORN. 119 
 
 rate mountaineer, and Mr. Hadow was admitted 
 without any further question. 
 
 We then went into the matter of guides. Michel 
 Croz was with Messrs. Hadow and Hudson ; and 
 the latter thought if Peter Taugwalder went as well, 
 that there would not be occasion for any one else. 
 The question was then referred to the men them- 
 selves, and they made no objection. 
 
 We started from Zermatt on the 13th of July, at 
 half-past 5, on a brilliant and perfectly cloudless 
 morning. We were eight in number — Croz, old 
 Peter and his two sons, Lord F. Douglas, Hadow, 
 Hudson, and I. To ensure steady motion, one 
 tourist and one native walked together. The young- 
 est Taugwalder fell to my share, and the lad marched 
 well, proud to be on the expedition, and happy to 
 show his powers. The wine-bags also fell to my lot 
 to carry, and throughout the day, after each drink, 
 I replenished them secretly with water, so that at 
 the next halt they were found fuller than before! 
 This was considered a good omen, and little short of 
 miraculous. 
 
 On the first day we did not intend to ascend to 
 any great height, and we mounted, accordingly, very 
 leisurely ; picked up the things which were left in 
 the chapel at the Schwarzsee at 8:20, and proceeded 
 thence along the ridge connecting the Hornli with 
 the Matterhorn. At half-past 11 we arrived at the 
 base of the actual peak ; then quitted the ridge, and 
 clambered round some ledges, on to the eastern 
 face. We were now fairly upon the mountain, and 
 were astonished to find that places which from the 
 
120 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Eiffel, or even from the Furggengletscher, looked 
 entirely impracticable, were so easy that we could 
 run about. 
 
 Before twelve o'clock we had found a good posi- 
 tion for the tent, at a height of 11,000 feet. Croz 
 and young Peter went on to see what was above, in 
 order to save time on the following morning. They 
 cut across the heads of the snow-slopes which de- 
 scended towards the Furggengletscher, and disap- 
 peared round a corner ; but shortly afterwards we 
 saw them high up on the face, moving quickly. We 
 others made a solid platform for the tent in a well- 
 protected spot, and then watched eagerly for the re- 
 tarn of the men. The stones which they upset told 
 that they were very high, and we supposed that the 
 way must be easy. At length, just before 3 p.m., we 
 saw them coming down, evidently much excited. 
 "What are they saying, Peter?" " Gentlemen, they 
 say it is no good." But when they came near we 
 heard a different story. " Nothing but what was 
 good ; not a difficulty, not a single difficulty ! We 
 could have gone to the summit and returned to-day 
 easily !' 
 
 We passed the remaining hours of daylight — some 
 basking in the sunshine, some sketching or collect- 
 ing ; and when the sun went down, giving, as it de- 
 parted, a glorious promise for the morrow, we re- 
 turned to the tent to arrange for the night. Hud- 
 son made tea, T coffee, and we then retired each one 
 to his blanket-bag ; the Taugwalders, Lord Francis 
 Douglas, and myself, occupying the tent, the others 
 remaining, by preference, outside. Long after dusk 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 121 
 
 the cliffs above echoed with our laughter and with 
 the songs of the guides, for 'we were happy that 
 night in camp, and feared no evil. 
 
 We assembled together outside the tent before 
 dawn on the morning of the 14th, and started 
 directly it was light enough to move. Young Peter 
 came on with us as a guide, and his brother returned 
 to Zermatt. We followed the route which had been 
 taken on the previous day, and in a few minutes 
 turned the rib which had intercepted the view of the 
 eastern face from our tent platform. The whole of 
 this great slope was now revealed, rising for 3000 
 feet like a huge natural staircase. Some parts were 
 more, and others were less, easy ; but we were not 
 once brought to a halt by any serious impediment, 
 for when an obstruction was met in front it could 
 always be turned to the right or to the left. For the 
 greater part of the way there was, indeed, no occa- 
 sion for the rope, and sometimes Hudson led, some- 
 times myself. At 6:20 we had attained a height of 
 12,800 feet, and halted for half-an-hour ; we then 
 continued the ascent without a break until 9:55, 
 when we stopped for 50 minutes, at a height of 
 14,000 feet. Twice we. struck the N.E. ridge, and 
 followed it for some little distance, — to no advantage, 
 for it was usually more rotten and steep, and always 
 more difficult than the face. Still, we kept near to 
 it, lest stones perchance might fall. 
 
 We had now arrived at the foot of that part 
 which, from the Riffelberg or from Zermatt, seems 
 perpendicular or overhanging, and could no longer 
 continue upon the eastern side. For a little distance 
 
122 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 we ascended by snow upon the arete — that is, the 
 ridge — descending towards Zermatt, and then, by 
 common consent, turned over to the right, or to the 
 northern side. Before doing so, we made a change 
 in the order of ascent. Croz went first, I followed, 
 Hudson came third ; Hadow and old Peter were last. 
 ' Now,' said Croz, as he led off, ' now for something 
 altogether different.' The work became difficult, 
 and required caution. In some places there was 
 little to hold, and it was desirable that those should 
 be in front who were least likely to slip. The 
 general slope of the mountain at this part was less 
 than 40°, and snow had accumulated in, and had 
 filled up, the interstices of the rock-face, leaving 
 only occasional fragments projecting here and there. 
 These were at times covered with a thin film of ice. 
 produced from the melting and refreezing of the 
 snow. It was the counterpart, on a small scale, of 
 the upper 700 feet of the Pointe des Ecrins, — only 
 there was this material difference : the face of the 
 Ecrins was about, or exceeded, an angle of 50°, and 
 the Matterhorn face was less than 40°. It was a 
 place over which any fair mountaineer might pass 
 in safety, and Mr. Hudson ascended this part, and, 
 as far as I know, the entire mountain, without hav- 
 ing the slightest assistance rendered to him upon 
 any occasion. Sometimes, after I had taken a hand 
 from Croz, or received a pull, I turned to offer the 
 same to Hudson ; but he invariably declined, say- 
 ing that it was not necessar}\ Mr. Hadow, however, 
 was not accustomed to this kind of work, and re- 
 quired continual assistance. It is only fair to say 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 123 
 
 that the difficulty which he found at this part arose 
 simply and entirely from want of experience. 
 
 This solitary difficult part was of no great extent. 
 We bore away over it at first, nearly horizontally, 
 for a distance of about 400 feet ; then ascended 
 directly towards the summit for about 60 feet ; and 
 then doubled back to the ridge which descends 
 towards Zermatt. A long stride round a rather 
 awkward corner brought us to snow once more. 
 The last doubt vanished ! The Matterhorn was 
 ours ! Nothing but 200 feet of easy snow remained 
 to be surmounted. 
 
 You must now carry your thoughts back to the 
 seven Italians who smarted from Breil on the 11th of 
 July. Four days had passed since their departure, 
 and we were tormented with anxiety lest they should 
 arrive on the top before us. All the way up we had 
 talked of them, and many false alarms of ' men on 
 the summit ' had been raised. The higher we rose, 
 the more intense became the excitement. What if 
 we should be beaten at the last moment? The 
 slope eased off, at length we could be detached, and 
 Croz and I, dashing away, ran a neck-and-neck 
 race, which ended in a dead heat. At 1:40 p.m. the 
 world was at our feet, and the Matterhorn was con- 
 quered. Hurrah ! Not a footstep could be seen. 
 
 It was not yet certain that we had not been 
 beaten. The summit of the Matterhorn was formed 
 of a rudely level ridge, about 350 feet long, and the 
 Italians might have been at its farther extremity. I 
 hastened to the southern end, scanning the snow 
 right and loft eagerly. Hurrah ! again ; it was un- 
 
124 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 trodden. 'Where were the men?' I peered over 
 the cliff, half doubting, half expectant. I saw them 
 immediately — mere dots on the ridge, at an im- 
 mense distance below. Up went my arms and my 
 hat. ' Croz ! Croz ! ! come here !' ' Where are they, 
 Monsieur ?' ' There, don't you see them, down 
 there ?' ' Ah ! the coquins, they are low down ' 
 ' Croz, we must make those fellows hear us.' We 
 yelled until we were hoarse/ The Italians seemed 
 to regard us — we could not be certain. ' Croz, we 
 must make them hear us ; they shall hear us !' I 
 seized a block of rock and hurled it down, and 
 called upon my companion, in the name of friend- 
 ship, to do the same. We drove our sticks in, and 
 pryed away the crags, and soon a torrent of stones 
 poured down the cliffs. There was no mistake 
 about it this time. The Italians turned and fled. 
 
 The others had arrived, so we went back to the 
 northern end of the ridge. Croz now took the tent- 
 pole, and planted it in the highest snow. ' Yes,' we 
 said, ' there is the flag-staff, but where is the flag ?' 
 ' Here it is,' he answered, pulling off his blouse and 
 fixing it to the stick. It made a poor flag, and 
 there was no wind to float it out, yet it was seen all 
 around. They saw it at Zermatt — at the Riffel — in 
 the Yal Tournanche. At Breil, the watchers cried, 
 ' Victory is ours !' They raised ' bravos ' for Carrel, 
 and • vivas ' for Italy, and hastened to put them- 
 selves en fete. On the morrow they were undeceived. 
 ' All was changed ; the explorers returned sad — cast 
 down — disheartened — confounded — gloomy.' ' It is 
 true,' said the men. ' We saw them ourselves — 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 125 
 
 fcliey hurled stones at us ! The old traditions are 
 true, — there are spirits on the top of the Matter- 
 horn !' 
 
 We returned to the southern end of the ridge to 
 build a cairn, and then paid homage to the view. 
 The day was one of those superlatively calm and 
 clear ones which usually precede bad weather. The 
 atmosphere was perfectly still, and free from all 
 clouds or vapors. Mountains fifty — nay a hundred — 
 miles off, looked sharp and near. All their details — 
 ridge and crag, snow and glacier — stood out with 
 faultless definition. Pleasant thoughts of happy 
 days in bygone years came up unbidden, as we re- 
 cognized the old familiar forms. All were revealed — 
 not one of the principal peaks of the Alps was hid- 
 den. I see them clearly now — the great inner circles 
 of giants, backed by the ranges, chains, and massifs. 
 First came the Dent Blanche, hoary and grand ; the 
 Gabelhorn and pointed Rothhorn ; and then the 
 peerless Weisshorn ; the towering Mischabelhorner, 
 flanked by the Allaleinhorn, Strahlhorn, and Rimp- 
 fischhorn ; then Monte Rosa — with its many Spit- 
 zes — the Lyskamm and the Breithorn. Behind 
 were the Bernese Oberland, governed by the Fins- 
 teraarhorn ; the Simplon and St. Gothard groups ; 
 the Disgrazia and the Orteler. Towards the south we 
 looked down to Chivasso on the plain of Piedmont, 
 and far beyond. The Yiso — one hundred miles 
 away — seemed close upon us ; the Maritime Alps — 
 one hundred and thirty miles distant — were free 
 from haze. Then came my first love — the Pelvoux ; 
 the Ecrins and the Meije ; the clusters of Graians . 
 
126 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 and lastly, in the west, gorgeous in the full sunlight, 
 rose the monarch of all — Mont Blanc. Ten thousand 
 feet beneath us were the green fields of Zermatt, dot- 
 ted with chalets, from which blue smoke rose lazily. 
 Eight thousand feet below, on the other side, were 
 the pastures of Breil. There were forests black and 
 gloomy, and meadows bright and lively ; bounding 
 waterfalls and tranquil lakes ; fertile lands and sav- 
 age wastes ; sunny plains and frigid plateaux. There 
 were the most rugged forms, and the most graceful 
 outlines — bold, perpendicular cliffs, and gentle, un- 
 dulating slopes ; rocky mountains and snowy moun- 
 tains, sombre and solemn, or glittering and white, with 
 walls — turrets — pinnacles — pyramids — domes — 
 cones — and spires ! There was every combination 
 that the world can give, and every contrast the heart 
 could desire. 
 
 We remained on the summit for one hour — 
 
 ' One crowded hour of glorious life.' 
 
 It passed away too quickly, and we began to pre- 
 pare for the descent. 
 
 DESCENT OF THE MATTERHORN. 
 
 Hudson and I again consulted as to the best and 
 safest arrangement of the party. We agreed that 
 it would be best for Croz to go first, and Hadow 
 second; Hudson, who was almost equal to a guide in 
 sureness of foot, wished to be third ; Lord F. Doug- 
 las was placed next, and old Peter, the strongest of 
 the remainder, after him. I suggested to Hudson 
 
THE MATTEEHOEN. 127 
 
 that we should attach a rope to the rocks on our ar- 
 rival at the difficult bit, and hold it as we descended, 
 as an additional protection. He approved the idea, 
 but it was not definitely settled that it should be 
 done. The party was being arranged in the above 
 order whilst I was sketching the summit, and they 
 had finished, and were waiting for me to be tied in 
 fine, when some one remembered that our names 
 had not been left in a bottle. They requested me 
 to write them down, and moved off while it was 
 being done. 
 
 A few minutes afterwards I tied myself to young 
 Peter, ran down after the others, and caught them 
 just as they were commencing the descent of the 
 difficult part. Great care was being taken. Only 
 one man was moving at a time ; when he was firmly 
 planted the next advanced, and so on. They had 
 not, however, attached the additional rope to rocks, 
 and nothing was said about it. The suggestion was 
 not made for my own sake, and I am not sure that 
 it even occurred to me again. For some little dis- 
 tance we two followed the others, detached from 
 them, and should have continued so had not Lord 
 F. Douglas asked me, about 3 p.m., to tie on to old 
 Peter, as he feared, he said, that Taugwalder would 
 not be able to hold his ground if a slip occurred. 
 
 A few minutes later, a sharp-eyed lad ran into the 
 Monte Rosa hotel, to Seiler, saying that he had seen 
 an avalanche fall from the summit of the Matter- 
 horn on to the Matterhorngletscher. The boy was 
 reproved for telling idle stories ; he was right, never- 
 theless, and this was what he saw. 
 
128 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 Miche] Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order 
 to give Mr. Hadow greater security, was taking hold 
 of his legs, and putting his feet, one by one, into 
 their proper positions. As far as I know, no one 
 was actually descending. I cannot speak with cer- 
 tainty, because the two leading men were partially 
 hidden from my sight by an intervening mass of 
 rock, but it is my belief, from the movements of their 
 shoulders, that Croz, having done as I have said, 
 was in the act of turning round to go down a step 
 or two himself ; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, 
 fell against him, and knocked him over. I heard 
 one startled exclamation from Croz, then saw him 
 and Mr. Hadow flying downwards ; in another mo- 
 ment Hudson was dragged from his steps, and Lord 
 F. Douglas immediately after him. All this was the 
 work of a moment. Immediately we heard Croz's 
 exclamation, old Peter and I planted ourselves as 
 firmly as the rocks would permit : the rope was taut 
 between us, and the jerk came on us both as on one 
 man. We held ; but the rope broke midway between 
 Taugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few 
 seconds we saw our unfortunate companions sliding 
 downwards on their backs, and spreading out their 
 hands, endeavoring to save themselves. They passed 
 from our sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, 
 and fell from precipice to precipice on to the Matter- 
 horngletscher below, a distance of nearly 4000 feet 
 in height. From the moment the rope broke it was 
 impossible to help them. 
 
 So perished our comrades! For the space oi 
 half an hour we remained on the spot without mov- 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 
 
 129 
 
 ing a single step. The two men, paralyzed by ter- 
 ror, cried like infants, and trembled in such a manner 
 as to threaten us with the fate of the others. Old 
 Peter rent the air with exclamations of ' Chamounix ! 
 Oh, what will Chamounix say ?' He meant, Who 
 
 M,fM. 
 
 Wm 
 
 Fatal Accident on the Matterhorn. 
 
 would believe that Croz could fall? The youa£ 
 man did nothing but scream or sob, c We are lost \ 
 we are lost !' Fixed between the two, I could neither 
 move up nor down. I begged young Peter to de- 
 scend, but he dared not. Unless he did, we could 
 not advance. Old Peter became alive to the danger, 
 and swelled the cry, 'We are lost! we are lost!' 
 
130 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Tlie father's fear was natural — lie trembled for his 
 son ; the young man's fear was cowardly — he thought 
 of self alone. At last old Peter smp*"°ned up cour- 
 age, and changed his position to a rock to which he 
 could fix the rope ; the young man then descended 
 and we all stood together. Immediately we did so, 
 I asked for the rope which had given way, and found, 
 to my surprise — indeed, to my horror — that it was 
 the weakest of the three ropes. It was not brought, 
 and should not have been employed, for the purpose 
 for which it was used. It was old rope, and, com- 
 pared with the others, was feeble. It was intended 
 as a reserve, in case we had to leave much rope be- 
 hind, attached to rocks. I saw at once that a seri- 
 ous question was involved, and made him give me 
 the end. It had broken in mid-air, and it did not 
 appear to have sustained previous injury. 
 
 For more than two hours afterwards I thought 
 almost every moment that the next would be my 
 last ; for the Taugwalders, utterly unnerved, were 
 not only incapable of giving assistance, but were in 
 such a state that a slip might have been expected 
 from them at any moment. After a time, we were 
 able to do that which should have been done at first, 
 and fixed rope to firm rocks, in addition to being 
 tied together. These ropes were cut from time to 
 time, and were left behind. Even with their assur- 
 ance the men were afraid to proceed, and several 
 times old Peter turned with ashy face and faltering 
 limbs, and said, with terrible emphasis, 4 1 cannot /' 
 
 About 6 p.m. we arrived at the snow upon the 
 ridge descending towards Zermatt, and a 1 ! peril was 
 
THE MATTERHORN. 131 
 
 over. We frequently looked, but in vain, for traces 
 of our unfortunate companions ; we bent over the 
 ridge and cried to them, but no sound returned. 
 Convinced at last that they were neither within 
 sight nor hearing, we ceased from our useless efforts ; 
 and, too cast down for speech, silently gathered up 
 our things, and the little effects of those who were 
 lost, preparatory to continuing the descent. When, 
 lo ! a mighty arch appeared, rising above the Lys- 
 kamm, high into the sky. Pale, colorless, and noise- 
 less, but perfectly sharp and denned, except where 
 it was lost in the clouds, this unearthly apparition 
 seemed like a vision from another world ; and, 
 almost appalled, we watched with amazement the 
 gradual development of two vast crosses, one on 
 either side. If the Taugwalders had not been the 
 first to perceive it, I should have doubted my senses. 
 They thought it had some connection with the acci- 
 dent, and I, after a while, that it might bear some 
 relation to ourselves. But our movements had no 
 effect upon it. The spectral forms remained motion- 
 less. It was a fearful and wonderful sight ; unique 
 in my experience, and impressive beyond description, 
 coming at such a moment. 
 
 I was ready to leave, and waiting for the others. 
 They had recovered their appetites and the use of 
 their tongues. They spoke in patois, which I did 
 not understand. At length the son said in French, 
 .'Monsieur.' 'Yes.' 'We are poor men ; we have 
 lost our Herr ; we shall not get paid ; we can ill 
 afford this.' ' Stop !' I said, interrupting him, ' that 
 is nonsense ; I shall pay you, of course, just as if 
 
132 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 your Herr were here.' They talked together in their 
 patois for a short time, and then the son spoke 
 again. * We don't wish you to pay us. We wish 
 you to write in the hotel-book at Zermatt, and to 
 your journals, that we have not been paid.' ' What 
 nonsense are you talking ? I don't understand you. 
 What do you mean ?' He proceeded — ' Why, next 
 year there will be many travellers at Zermatt, and 
 we shall get more voyageurs' 
 
 Who would answer such a proposition ? I made 
 them no reply in words, but they knew very well 
 the indignation that I felt. They filled the cup of 
 bitterness to overflowing, and I tore down the cliff, 
 madly and recklessly, in a way that caused them, 
 more than once, to inquire if I wished to kill them. 
 Night fell ; and for an hour the descent was con- 
 tinued in the darkness. At half-past 9 a resting- 
 place was found, and upon a wretched slab, barely 
 large enough to hold the three, we passed six 
 miserable hours. At daybreak the descent was re- 
 sumed, and from the Hornli ridge we ran down to 
 the chalets of Buhl, and on to Zermatt. Seller met 
 me at his door, and followed in silence to my room. 
 ' What is the matter ?' ' The Taugwalders and I 
 have returned.' He did not need more, and burst 
 into tears ; but lost no time in useless lamentations, 
 and set to work to arouse the village. Ere long a 
 score of men had started to ascend the Hohlicht 
 heights, above Kalbermatt and Z'Mutt, which com- 
 manded the plateau of the Matterhorngletscher. 
 They returned after six hours, and reported that 
 they had seen the bodies lying motionless on the 
 
THE MATTEEHOEN. 133 
 
 snow._ This was on Saturday ; and they proposed 
 that we should leave on Sunday evening, so as to 
 arrive upon the plateau at daybreak on Monday. 
 Unwilling to lose the slightest chance, the Eev. J. 
 M'Cormick and I resolved to start on Sunday morn- 
 ing. The Zermatt man, threatened with excommu- 
 nication by the priests if they failed to attend the 
 early mass, were unable to accompany us. To 
 several of them, at least, this was a severe trial, and 
 Peter Perm declared with tears that nothing else 
 would have prevented him from joining in the 
 search for his old comrades. Englishmen came to 
 our aid. The Eev. J. Robertson and Mr. J. Phill- 
 potts offered themselves, and their guide Franz 
 Andermatten ; another Englishman lent us Joseph 
 Marie and Alexandre Lochmatter. Frederic Payot 
 and Jean Tairraz, of Chamounix, also volunteered. 
 We started at 2 a.m. on Sunday the 16th, and 
 followed the route that we had taken on the pre- 
 vious Thursday as far as the Hornli. From thence 
 we went down to the right of the ridge, and mounted 
 through the seracs of the Matterhorngletscher. By 
 8:30 we had got to the plateau at the top of the gla- 
 cier, and within sight of the corner in which we 
 knew my companions must be. As we saw one 
 weather-beaten man after another raise the telescope, 
 turn deadly pale, and pass it on without a word to 
 the next, we knew that all hope was gone. We ap- 
 proached.. They had fallen below as they had fallen 
 above — Croz a little in advance, Hadow near him, 
 and Hudson some distance behind ; but of Lord F. 
 Douglas we could see nothing. We left them where 
 
134 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 they fell ; buried in snow at the base of the grandest 
 cliff of the most majestic mountain of the Alps. ■ 
 
 All those who had fallen had been tied with the 
 Manilla, or with the second and equally strong rope, 
 and, consequently, there had been only one liuk — 
 that between old Peter and Lord F. Douglas — 
 where the weaker rope had been used. This had a 
 very ugly look for Taugwalder, for it was not possi- 
 ble to suppose that the others would have sanctioned 
 the employment of a rope so greatly inferior in 
 strength when there were more than 250 feet of the 
 better qualities still remaining out of use. For the 
 sake of the old guide (who bore a good reputation), 
 and upon all other accounts, it was desirable that 
 this matter should be cleared up ; and after my ex- 
 amination before the court of inquiry which was 
 instituted by the Government was over, I handed in 
 a number of questions which were framed so as to 
 afford old Peter an opportunity of exculpating him- 
 self from the grave suspicions which at once fell 
 upon him. The questions, I was told, were put and 
 answered ; but the answers, although promised, 
 have never reached me. 
 
 Meanwhile, the adminstration sent strict injunc- 
 tions to recover the bodies, and upon the 19th of 
 July, twenty-one men of Zermatt accomplished that 
 sad and dangerous task. Of the body of Lord 
 Francis Douglas they, too, saw nothing ; it is pro- 
 bably still arrested on the rocks above. The remains 
 of Hudson and Hadow were interred upon the north 
 side of the Zermatt Church, in the presence of a 
 reverent crowd of sympathizing friends The body 
 
THE MATTEEHORN. 135 
 
 of Michel Croz lies upon the other side, under a 
 simpler tomb, whose inscription bears honorable 
 testimony to his rectitude, to his courage, and to his 
 devotion. 
 
 So the traditional inaccessibility of the Matter- 
 horn was vanquished, and was replaced by legends' 
 of a more real character. Others will essay to scale 
 its proud cliffs, but to none will it be the mountain 
 that it was to its early explorers. Others may tread 
 its summit-snows, but none will ever know the feel- 
 ings of those who first gazed upon its marvellous 
 panorama ; and none, I trust, will ever be compelled 
 to tell of joy turned into grief, and of laughter into 
 mourning. It proved to be a stubborn foe ; it re- 
 sisted long, and gave many a hard blow ; it was de- 
 feated at last with an ease that none could have 
 anticipated, but, like a relentless enemy — conquered 
 but not crushed — it took terrible vengeance. The 
 time may come when the Matterhorn shall have 
 passed away, and nothing, save a heap of shapeless 
 fragments, will mark the spot where the great moun- 
 tain stood ; for, atom by atom, inch by inch, and 
 yard by yard, it yields to forces which nothing can 
 withstand. That time is far distant; and, ages 
 hence, generations unborn will gaze upon its awful 
 precipices, and wonder at its unique form. How- 
 ever exalted may be their ideas, and however exag- 
 gerated their expectations, none will come to returu 
 disappointed ! 
 
 Edwabd Whympeb, Scrambles among the Alps, 1869. 
 
Yin. 
 
 RESCUE FRO 31 A CREVASSE. 
 
 Mk. Huxley and myself had been staying for some 
 days at Grindelwald, hoping for steady weather, and 
 looking at times into the wild and noble region 
 which the Shreckhorn,the Wetterhorn,the Viescher- 
 horner, and the Eiger feed with eternal snows. We 
 had scanned the buttresses of the Jungfrau with a 
 view to forcing a passage between the Jungfrau and 
 the Monk from the Wengern Alp to the Aletsch 
 glacier. The weather for a time kept hopes and 
 fears alternately afloat, but finally it declared against 
 us ; so we moved with the unelastic tread of beaten 
 soldiers over the Great Sheideck, and up the Vale 
 of Hash to the Grimsel. We crossed the pass 
 whose planed and polished rocks had long ago at- 
 tracted the attention of Sir John Leslie, though the 
 solution which he then offered ignored the ancient 
 glacier which we now know to have been the planing 
 tool employed. On rounding an angle of the Mayen- 
 wand, two travellers suddenly appeared in front ot 
 us ; they were Mr. (now Sir John) Lubbock and his 
 guide. He had been waiting at the new hotel 
 erected by M. Seiler at the foot of the Mayenwand, 
 
RESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 137 
 
 expecting our arrival ; and finally, despairing of this, 
 he had resolved to abandon the mountains, and was 
 now bound for Brientz. In fact, the lakes of Swit- 
 zerland, and the ancient men who once bivouacked 
 along their borders, were to him the principal 
 objects of interest ; and we caught him in the act 
 of declaring a preference for the lowlands which we 
 could not by any means share. 
 
 We reversed his course, carried him with us down 
 the mountain, and soon made ourselves at home in 
 M. Seller's hotel. Here we had three days' training 
 on the glacier and the adjacent heights, and on one 
 of the days Lubbock and myself made an attempt 
 upon the Galenstock. By the flank of the mountain, 
 with the Rhone glacier on our right, we reached the 
 heights over the ice cascade and crossed the glacier 
 above the fall. The sky was clear and the air 
 pleasant as we ascended ; but in the earth's atmo- 
 sphere the sun works his swiftest necromancy, the 
 lightness of air rendering it in a peculiar degree 
 capable of change. Clouds suddenly generated came 
 drifting up the valley of the Rhone, covering the 
 glacier and swathing the mountain-tops, but leav- 
 ing clear for a time the upper neve of the Rhone. 
 Grandeur is conceded while beauty is sometimes 
 denied to the Alps. But the higher snow-fields of 
 the great glaciers are altogether beautiful — not 
 throned in repellent grandeur, but endowed with 
 a grace so tender as to suggest the loveliness of 
 woman. 
 
 The day was one long succession of surprises 
 wrought by the cloud-filled and wind-rent air. We 
 
138 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 reached the top, and found there a gloom which 
 might be felt. It was almost thick enough to cut 
 each of us away from the vision of his fellows. But 
 suddenly, in the air above us, the darkness would 
 melt away, and the deep blue heaven would reveal 
 itself spanning the dazzling snows. Beyond the 
 glacier rose the black and craggy summit of the 
 Finsteraarhorn, and other summits and other crags 
 emerged in succession as the battle-clouds rolled 
 away. But the smoke would again whirl in upon us, 
 and we looked once more into infinite haze from the 
 cornice which lists the mountain-ridge. Again the 
 clouds are torn asunder, and again they close. And 
 thus, in upper air, did the sun play a wild accompa- 
 niment to the mystic music of the world below. 
 
 From the Rhone glacier we proceeded down the 
 Rhone valley to Yiesch, whence, in the cool twilight, 
 all three of us ascended to the Hotel Jungfrau, on 
 the JEggischhorn. This we made our head-quarters 
 for some days, and here Lubbock and I decided 
 to ascend the Jungfrau. The proprietor of the 
 hotel keeps guides for this excursion, but his charges 
 are so high as to be almost prohibitory. I, however, 
 needed no guide in addition to my faithful Bennen ; 
 but simply a porter of sufficient strength and skill to 
 follow where he led. In the village of Laax, Bennen 
 found such a porter — a young man named Bielander, 
 who had the reputation of being both courageous 
 and strong. He was the only son of his mother, 
 and she was a widow. 
 
 T.is young man and a second porter we sent on 
 with our provisions to the Grotto of the Faulberg, 
 
RESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 139 
 
 where we were to spend the night. Between the 
 JEggischhorn and this cave the glacier presents no 
 difficulty which the most ordinary caution cannot 
 overcome, and the thought of danger in connection 
 with it never occurred to us. An hour and a half 
 after the departure of our porters we slowly wended 
 our way to the lake of Marjelin, which we skirted, 
 and were soon upon the ice. The middle of the 
 glacier was almost as smooth as a carriage-road, cut 
 here and there by musical brooks produced by the 
 superficial ablation. To Lubbock the scene opened 
 out with the freshness of a new revelation, as, 
 previously to this year, he had never been among 
 the glaciers of the Alps. To me, though not new, 
 the region had lost no trace of the interest with 
 which I first viewed it. We moved briskly along 
 the frozen incline, until, after a couple of hours' 
 march, we saw a solitary human being standing on 
 the lateral moraine of* the glacier, near the point 
 where we were to quit it for the cave of the Faul- 
 berg. 
 
 At first this man excited no attention. He stood 
 and watched us, but did not come towards us, 
 until finally our curiosity was aroused by observing 
 that he was one of our own two men. The glacier 
 here is always cut by crevasses, which, while they 
 present no real difficulty, require care. We ap- 
 proached our porter, but he never moved ; and when 
 we came up to him he looked stupid, and did not 
 speak until he was spoken to. Bennen addressed 
 him in the patois of the place, and he answered in 
 the same patois. His answer must have been more 
 
140 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 than usually obscure, for Bennen misunderstood 
 the most important part of it. ' My God !' he 
 exclaimed, turning to us, ' Walters is killed!' 
 Walters was the guide at the JEggischhorn, with 
 whom, in the present instance, we had nothing to 
 do. 'No, not Walters,' responded the man; 'it is 
 my comrade that is killed.' Bennen looked at him 
 with a wild bewildered stare. ' How killed ?' he 
 exclaimed. ' Lost in a crevasse,' was the reply. We 
 were all so stunned that for some moments we did 
 not quite seize the import of the terrible statement. 
 Bennen at length tossed his arms in the air, ex- 
 claiming, ' Jesu Maria ! what am I to do ?' With 
 the swiftness that some ascribe to dreams, I sur- 
 rounded the fact with imaginary adjuncts, one of 
 which was that the man had been drawn dead from 
 the crevasse, and was now a corpse in the cave of 
 the Faulberg ; for I took it for granted that, had he 
 been still entombed, his comrade would have run or 
 called for our aid. Several times in succession the 
 porter affirmed that the missing man was certainly 
 dead. ' How does he know that he is dead ?' Lub- 
 bock demanded. 'A man is sometimes rendered 
 insensible by a fall without being killed.' This ques- 
 tion was repeated in German, but met with the same 
 dogmatic response. ' Where is the man ?' I asked. 
 1 There,' replied the porter, stretching his arm to- 
 wards the glacier. ' In the crevasse?' A stolid 
 1 Ja !' was the answer. It was with difficulty that 
 I quelled an imprecation. 'Lead the way to the 
 place, you blockhead,' and he led the way. 
 We were soon beside a wide and jagged cleft 
 
RESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 141 
 
 which resembled a kind of cave more than an or- 
 dinary crevasse. This cleft had been spanned by a 
 snow bridge, now broken, and to the edge of which 
 footsteps could be traced. The glacier at the place 
 was considerably torn, but simple patience was 
 the only thing needed to unravel its complexity. 
 This quality our porter lacked, and, hoping to make 
 shorter work of it, he attempted to cross the bridge. 
 It gave way, and he went down, carrying an immense 
 load of debris along with him. We looked into the 
 hole, at one end of which the vision was cut short 
 by darkness, w r hile immediately under the broken 
 bridge it was crammed with snow and shattered 
 icicles. We saw nothing more. We listened with 
 strained attention, and from the depths of the 
 glacier issued a low moan. Its repetition assured 
 us that it was no delusion — the man was still alive. 
 Bennen from the first had been extremely excited ; 
 and the fact of his having, as a Catholic, saints 
 and angels to appeal to, augmented his emotion. 
 When he heard the moaning he became almost 
 frantic. He attempted to get into the crevasse, 
 but was obliged to recoil. It w T as quite plain that a 
 second life was in danger, for my guide seemed to 
 have lost all self-control. I placed my hand heavily 
 upon his shoulder, and admonished him that upon 
 his coolness depended the life of his friend. 'If 
 you behave like a man, we shall save him ; if like a 
 woman, he is lost.' 
 
 A first-rate rope accompanied the party, but un- 
 happily it was with the man in the crevasse Coats, 
 waistcoats, and braces were instantly taken off and 
 
142 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 knotted together. I watched Bennen while this 
 work was going on ; his hands trembled with ex- 
 citement, and his knots were evidently insecure, 
 The last junction complete, he exclaimed, ' Now let 
 me down !' ' Not until each of these knots has been 
 tested ; not an inch I'* Two of them gave way, and 
 Lubbock's waistcoat also proved too tender for the 
 strain. The debris was about forty feet from the 
 surface of the glacier, but two intermediate promi- 
 nences afforded a kind of footing. Bennen was 
 dropped down upon one of these ; I followed, being 
 let down by Lubbock and the other porter. Bennen 
 then descended the remaining distance, and was 
 followed by me. More could not find room. 
 
 The shape and size of the cavity were such as to 
 produce a kind of resonance, which rendered it 
 difficult to fix the precise spot from which the 
 sound issued ; but the moaning continued, becoming 
 to all appearance gradually feebler. Fearing to 
 wound the man, the ice-rubbish was cautiously 
 rooted away ; it rang curiously as it fell into the 
 adjacent gloom. A layer two or three feet thick 
 was thus removed ; and finally, from the frozen mass, 
 and so bloodless as to be almost as white as the sur- 
 rounding snow, issued a single human hand. The 
 fingers moved. Bound it we rooted, cleared the arm, 
 and reached the knapsack, which we cut away. "We 
 also regained our rope. The man's head was then 
 laid bare, and my brandy-flask was immediately at 
 
 * 'Ach, Herr, he replied to one of my remonstrances, 'Sein 
 Sie nicht so hart.' 
 
RESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 
 
BESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 143 
 
 his lips. He tried to speak, but his words jumbled 
 themselves to a dull moan. Bennen's feelings got 
 the better of him at intervals ; he wrought like 
 a hero, but at times he needed guidance and stern 
 admonition. The arms once free, we passed the 
 rope underneath them, and tried to draw the man 
 out. But the ice-fragments round him had regelated 
 so as to form a solid case. Thrice we essayed to 
 draw him up, thrice we failed ; he had literally to 
 be hewn out of the ice, and not until his last foot 
 was extricated were we able to lift him. By pulling 
 him from above, and pushing him from below, the 
 man was at length raised to the surface of the gla- 
 cier. 
 
 For an hour we had been in the crevasse in shirt- 
 sleeves — the porter had been in it for two hours — 
 and the dripping ice had drenched us. Bennen, 
 moreover, had worked with the energy of madness, 
 and now the reaction came. He shook as if he 
 would fall to pieces : but brandy and some dry 
 covering revived him. The rescued man was help- 
 less, unable to stand, unable to utter an articulate 
 sentence. Bennen proposed to carry him down the 
 glacier towards home. Had this been attempted, 
 the man would certainly have died upon the ice. 
 Bennen thought he could carry him for two hours ; 
 but the guide underrated his own exhaustion and 
 overrated the vitality of the porter. * It cannot be 
 thought of,' I said ; ' to the cave of Faulberg, where 
 we must tend him as well as we can.' We got him 
 to the side of the glacier, where Bennen took him 
 on his back ; in ten minutes he sank under his 
 
144 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 load. It was now my turn, so I took the man on 
 my back and plodded on with him ae far as I was 
 able. Helping each other thus by turns, we reached 
 the mountain grot. 
 
 The sun had set, and the crown of the Jungfrau 
 was embedded in amber light. Thinking that the 
 Marjelin See might be reached before darkness, I 
 proposed starting in search of help. Bennen pro- 
 tested against my going alone, and I thought I 
 noticed moisture in Lubbock's eye. Such an oc- 
 casion brings out a man's feeling if he have any. I 
 gave them both my blessing and made for the glacier. 
 But my anxiety to get quickly clear of the crevasses 
 defeated its own object. Thrice I found myself in 
 difficulty, and the light was visibly departing. The 
 conviction. deepened that persistence would be folly, 
 and the most impressive moment of my existence 
 was that on which I stopped at the brink of a 
 profound fissure and looked upon the mountains and 
 the sky. The serenity was perfect — not a cloud, 
 not a breeze, not a sound, while the last hues of sun- 
 set spread over the solemn west. 
 
 I returned ; warm wine was given to our patient, 
 and all our dry clothes were wrapped around him. 
 Hot-water bottles were placed at his feet, and his 
 back was briskly rubbed. He continued to groan a 
 long time ; but, finally, both this and the trembling 
 ceased. Bennen watched , him solemnly, and at 
 length muttered in anguish, ' Sir, he is dead !' I 
 leaned over the man and found him breathing 
 gently ; I felt his pulse — it was beating tranquilly. 
 * Not dead, dear old Bennen ; he will be able to 
 
RESCUE FROM A CREVASSE. 145 
 
 crawl home with us in the morning.' The pre- 
 diction was justified by the event ; and two days 
 afterwards we saw him at Laax, minus a bit of his 
 ear, with a bruise upon his cheek, and a few scars 
 upon his hand, but without a broken bone or serious 
 injury of any kind. 
 
 The self-denying conduct of the second porter 
 made us forget his stupidity — it may have been 
 stupefaction. As I lay there wet, through the long 
 hours of that dismal night, I almost registered a 
 vow never to tread upon a glacier again. But, like 
 the forces in the physical world, human emotions 
 vary with the distance from their origin, and a year 
 afterwards I was again upon the ice. 
 
 John Tyndall, Emirs of Exercise in the Alps. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE PIC DU MIDI OF THE PYRENEES. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1797 BY E. DE MIEBEL. 
 
 We waited with a sort of impatience for the melt- 
 ing of the snows off the slopes of the Pic du Midi 
 de Bigorre, in order to attempt a journey to this cele- 
 brated mountain. Eamond had approached it in 
 the beginning of July, but he had found the road 
 impracticable, and had not been beyond the Lake 
 of Oncet. From that date to the 22nd, the sun had 
 been only hidden at intervals by light clouds. Its 
 heat, concentrated in the valleys, had warmed the 
 atmosphere ; the frost was gone, and now no obstacle 
 stood in our way. 
 
 We formed a party of thirteen or fourteen per- 
 sons, and we set out at four o'clock in the morning. 
 The greater part of my companions took horses to 
 the foot of the Pic, but as for me I went on foot, 
 according to my usual custom, carrying on my back 
 the tin box in which I meant to put all the rare 
 plants which I might find. I was armed with a 
 long stick tipped with iron, and shod with nailed 
 shoes. 
 
THE PIC DU MIDI. 147 
 
 We followed the valley of Bareges, along the 
 Bastan, and gained the slopes of the Tourmalet. At 
 its base, opens towards the north a little lateral 
 valley, from which flows a stream, which afterwards 
 joins its peaceful waters to those of the impetuous 
 Bastan. The valley of Bareges here softens a little 
 
 The Pic du Midi 
 
 the roughness of its frowning slopes, for its soil, 
 somewhat less arid, is covered with verdure, and its 
 meadows are decked with flowers. The bushy as- 
 phodel, with its stem and leaves of brilliant green, 
 and its white flowers streaked with rose, grows here 
 
148 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 abundantly, and raises its head above the more 
 modest though not less beautiful flowers. The sax- 
 atile veronica, clinging by its ligneous stalk to the 
 rocks, whose sharp points crop up here and there in 
 the meadow, seems to wish to hide them from the 
 traveller. Its pretty deep blue flowers, with their 
 two white anthers., enable one to recognize it from 
 a distance. We also found here the yellow gentian 
 and the Alpine plantain. 
 
 The valley which leads to the Pic ends at the 
 Lake of Oncet, where we stopped to breakfast. 
 Those who have not climbed mountains cannot- form 
 an idea of the pleasure which there is in making the 
 most frugal repast beside a limpid stream, after a 
 long and weary journey. It seems as if the keen 
 air led one back naturally to primitive habits ; and 
 truly the amateur mountaineer in visiting a new 
 chme seems to gain altogether a new life. 
 
 The borders of the lake are adorned with the 
 violet biflorus, whose golden flowers are inter- 
 spersed amidst the bright green soil ; here and there 
 also we perceive, on the sides of the banks, the yel- 
 low arnica bending over the lake ; while the scented 
 spurge-laurel showed itself near the precipices, its 
 creeping stems covered with pink flowers, and scent- 
 ing the air with its perfume. 
 
 On the west of the lake high mountains rose 
 perpendicularly from the water ; on the north, the 
 rocks were not practicable ; but they were rather 
 lower on the east, and allowed us to get glimpses 
 of the Pic du Midi. This, then, was the way which 
 we must take, and the, ascent was gentle and easy. 
 
THE PIC DU MIDI. 149 
 
 The sun was already gilding the summit of the 
 mountains, and it warned us to be on the march. 
 We left one of the guides in charge of our horses, 
 and set forward slowly towards the top of the Pic. 
 The rarefaction of the air, the appearance of the 
 vegetation, the silence of nature, the solitude in 
 which we found ourselves, all told us that we were 
 approaching high regions. A dry turf, parched and 
 shining, covered the rocks, and a few alpine plants 
 were visible here and there. Among them we 
 noticed the spring gentian, and the stemless gentian, 
 those two inseparable companions, which, born in 
 the same latitude, are always found in the same 
 spot, whether that be the water-side, or the barren 
 rock, the grassy lands, or the leafless mountain. 
 Sometimes, also, pretty tufts of silenas refreshed the 
 eye, and near them the drasa with its grey flax 
 flowers spread its delicate foliage and blossoms to 
 view. Further on, in the midst of fallen heaps and 
 ruins of all sorts, the monuments of the power of 
 time, grew in the interstices of the stones some pale 
 flowers which seemed to find life even .in the bosom 
 of destruction ; and around them fluttered the most 
 brilliant butterflies. 
 
 After an hour and a half's march, we arrived at 
 the summit of the Pic. The vapors of night were 
 dissipated, the sky was clear, and the sun shone 
 brightly. The entire chain of the Pyrenees lay 
 like an amphitheatre around us. On the right rose 
 Neouvielle, a granite rock crowned with eternal 
 snow ; on the left, the Breche de Eoland, the tower 
 of Marbore, and the Mont Perdu, whose distant 
 
L50 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 peak towered above all the others. Turning towards 
 the opposite side, we discovered an immense plain, 
 which seemed at length to lose itself in the horizon. 
 The view embraced at once mountains, precipices, 
 glaciers, ancient snows, serial lakes, the immense and 
 silent workshops of nature, and fruitful fields watered 
 by fertilizing streams of the mountain torrents. 
 Those peaks, which once seemed to me only a useless 
 chaos, and the result of some strange caprice of, 
 Nature, now appeared as the sublime work of a be- 
 neficent Hand. I gazed intensely on this marvellous 
 world of which my imagination could hardly take 
 in the extent, and the contemplation of which filled 
 my soul with enthusiasm. 
 
 Flowers also still adorned the plateau. The snap- 
 dragon of the Pyrenees inserted its slender roots in 
 the clefts of the rock, and the light blue of its flow- 
 ers only set off the purple of the saxifrage. By its 
 side were seen the golden corollas of the Alpine 
 poppy. The saxifrage is a rare ornament of moun- 
 tains, but here the precipices sheltered it ; and it 
 rivalled the snow itself in the purity of its white- 
 
 B. DE MIBBEL. 
 
THE B BEG HE BE BOLAND. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1797, BY B. DE MIEBEL AND J. PASQUIEB. 
 
 I would not have undertaken such an expedition 
 as this had I not found in M. Jules Pasquier a man 
 made, as it were, to share its fatigues, and full of 
 zeal in the search after the secrets of nature. He 
 had admired the beauties of the Pic du Midi ; but 
 they had only kindled his ardor and increased his 
 longing for further adventures. He knew that 
 through snows and glaciers some intrepid men had 
 found a way even to the highest point of the Py- 
 renean chain ; and that was enough to stimulate his 
 ambition and to make him despise the dangers. 
 
 We set out from Bareges on the 8th of August, 
 1797, at six o'clock in the morning. Arriving at 
 Luz, we took a guide, and continued our route 
 towards the valley of Gavarnie. Through this one 
 almost trembles as one passes. All is grand, mag- 
 nificent, sublime ; and man, surrounded by these 
 august monuments, acknowledges his own littleness 
 and the might of a sovereign Hand. Such was my 
 first thought when I penetrated into this valley ; 
 
152 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 the second was more pleasing to my amour propre. 
 I could not see without admiration or without pride 
 that road, constructed on the edge of a frightful 
 precipice, which the noise of the Gave renders still 
 more terrible. Here, indeed, man has employed at 
 once his powers of mind in the conception, his 
 strength and address in the working, and his per- 
 severance in the execution. The valley ascends 
 from north to south. To the east and west rise 
 sharp rocks formed of calcareous banks sloping 
 almost perpendicularly to the south, and running 
 from the east to the west. Often the rock, rising 
 from the bottom of the water towards the heavens, 
 only presents a wall which seems to defy human 
 efforts ; sometimes it is more inclined, and yet more 
 difficult to cross, on account of the long slippery 
 places formed of schistose debris, of loose stones 
 fallen from the peaks, and of loose soil, too, which 
 was always ready to roll downwards. Yet here 
 they have managed to make a road, which is safe, 
 commodious, and wide enough to reassure the most 
 timid horseman. One cannot see this road without 
 astonishment, now rising with the mountains, then 
 falling with its descent ; now avoiding it altogether, 
 then joining it again, and even sometimes passing 
 from one bank to the other, as an arch over the 
 torrent, and thus opening a passage across the rocks 
 from the plains of France to those of Spain. If the 
 daring character of this great work excites the 
 curiosity of the traveller, the variety of its ground, 
 and the originality of the whole, do so much 
 more. 
 
THE BRECHE DE ROLAND. 153 
 
 The valley also everywhere presents different 
 aspects. The verdant carpet, which adorns the rich 
 basin of Luz, is prolonged far on to the mountain. 
 Carelessly thrown over gentle slopes, crowned with 
 a rich vegetation, and embellished with picturesque 
 cottages, it seemed to say, 'This is the Yale of 
 Tempe.' But all at once this green turf disappears, 
 and to the rounded knolls succeed sharp rocks, while 
 vigorous trees give place to trunks torn by tempests 
 and nipped by frosts, which bend over the precipice. 
 The grove, enclosed between rocks, storms and 
 foams, boils and tumbles, while roaring cascades 
 precipitate themselves on all sides, and the threat- 
 ening rocks hang over the traveller's head. 
 
 When I saw this valley for the first time I 
 seemed to proceed from marvel to marvel ; but what 
 struck me most, was the view from the bridge of 
 Sia. Some time before we reached this, the banks 
 of the Gave were clothed in less rude forms ; its 
 waters slackened their course ; there they seemed 
 almost to drag themselves through thick pastures, 
 and under trees, whose branches met at the top and 
 hid the river from sight. We had thus gone nearly 
 a quarter of a league when a deafening noise was 
 heard, and soon, as if by magic, we found ourselves 
 on the bridge which, until then, had remained con- 
 cealed. It is partly covered with ivy ; its buttresses 
 are supported on the rock ; and the Gave rolls its 
 waters at more than a hundred feet below the arch. 
 On the left, the mountain again resumes its frowning 
 aspect ; on the right, on the contrary, it retains its 
 graceful form. In the front of the picture you 
 
154 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 perceive the torrent, which, narrowed by the sides 
 of the rocks, rises gradually, swells and falls with 
 violence whenever there is a fall in the ground, then 
 suddenly becoming calm again, it slowly continues 
 its course. 
 
 We soon arrived at Gedres. This village is 
 situated at the foot of the Coumelie, a granite rock, 
 which is the point of division between the valley of 
 Heas and the valley of Gavarnie. 
 
 The nearer we approached to the end of our 
 journey, the more imposing did the view become. 
 Strange and twisted forms had now given place to 
 shapes more grave and regular ; and lively and 
 brilliant colors to soft and uniform tints, which 
 blended the aerial summits with the azure sky. 
 
 We saw, in passing, the beautiful cascade of 
 Saousa, which falls in fine rain into the Gave, and 
 which one might take for a light gauze agitated by 
 the wind. Further on is the frightful solitude of 
 La Peyrade, of which no one could form an idea 
 until he has seen it. Picture to yourself a moun- 
 tain whose broken peaks have crumbled one o\jr 
 the other, accumulating in the bottom of the valley 
 in such high lumps of rock, that their size asto- 
 nishes the eye and fatigues the imagination. The 
 rest of the peak which felt this frightful concussion 
 has for ages threatened to bury these immense 
 debris under fresh ruins. Enormous blocks were 
 first precipitated into the torrent, and thus they 
 stop the smaller masses which pile one over the 
 other. These blocks are separated by great inter- 
 
THE BRECHE DE ROLAND 
 
THE BRECHE DE KOLAND. 155 
 
 stices, of which the engineer has made use in con- 
 structing the road. 
 
 It was only two o'clock when we arrived at Ga- 
 varnie. We were not tired and therefore continued 
 our way towards the valley of Ossau, in order to 
 profit by the evening. This valley is divided into 
 several branches ; we chose that which leads to the 
 lake of the Espessieres. On the banks of this lake 
 young horses were grazing : they are sent into the 
 mountains during the fine season. Alarmed at our 
 approach, they quickly mounted the sides of the 
 mountain, and gained with ease the steepest sum- 
 mits, where they seemed to defy us to get at them. 
 But we managed to allure them into the plain again 
 by holding out to them some hanclfuls of salt. 
 Whilst we were engaged in stroking them the Mar- 
 bore and the Breche de Roland became covered 
 with clouds ; a violent clap of thunder resounded 
 among the mountains, and the frightened horses 
 escaped from our hands. Trembling for the success 
 of our enterprise we again took the road to Gavar- 
 nie. But soon the sky cleared, the clouds dispersed, 
 the setting sun colored the peaks with a bright car- 
 nation color, and the rainbow arched the whole with 
 its brilliant colors. 
 
 We recommenced our ascent at four o'clock in 
 the morning, conducted by an excellent guide 
 named Rondo, whom a friend had sent us. To- 
 wards five o'clock we began to discover the summits 
 of the Marbore, which one might take, at a distance, 
 for towers, for their forms are so regular. After 
 three quarters of an hour's march we found our- 
 
156 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 selves in front of the amphitheatre of Gavarnie, 
 whose majestic appearance is beyond all description. 
 At first sight one might be tempted to think it a 
 work of man, on account of the regularity so seldom 
 seen in the great works of nature. But the bold- 
 ness of the design, the richness of the forms, the 
 enormous masses of rock heaped one on the other, 
 the grandeur of the architecture, at once simple 
 and elegant, and, above all, the abundance and the 
 variety of forms in the different parts, soon ad- 
 monish the beholder — even while he admires the 
 wonderful symmetry of the whole, — of the presence 
 of a superior Agent. Immense layers, each retir- 
 ing further back as the mountains rise, form steps 
 covered with snow, and glaciers from whence fall 
 numerous cascades. On the left of the amphi- 
 theatre, an impetuous torrent rushes from the 
 mountain, strikes in its fall a projection of rock, 
 and from thence rebounds into the circus. This 
 magnificent cascade, measured geometrically by 
 Eeboul, is about 1266 feet high. One might be 
 tempted to doubt this fact, if the learned mathema- 
 tician who affirms it, did not inspire entire confi- 
 dence. Nearly all strangers who visit Gavarnie 
 think it an exaggeration to give 300 or 400 feet to 
 its cascade ! Most of them, it is true, have never 
 travelled among mountains, and do not consider 
 how each particular object loses in consequence of 
 the imposing grandeur of the whole. This cele- 
 brated place offers, perhaps, all that is most aston- 
 ishing in the structure of mountains. It presents 
 to the naturalist great problems to solve and new 
 
THE BEECHE DE EOLAND. 157 
 
 systems to establish ; to the painter a sublime whole 
 in which are found united grace and vigor in* the 
 forms, vivacity and richness in the coloring, and 
 harmony and unity in all the parts. 
 
 The sun already gilded the summit of the towers 
 of the Marbore, when we took the road to the 
 Breche de Eoland. Hondo marched first, leading 
 the way. M. Pasquier followed him, and I, some- 
 times before, sometimes behind, gathered plants or 
 examined the structure of the rock. I had told La- 
 gunier, our guide from Luz, not to go far off, in or- 
 der that he might come to my aid in case of need. 
 We had to climb the rocks in front of the cascades ; 
 and we travelled by a road that was frightfully 
 steep. Formed by the fall of rounded and move- 
 able stones, it lay along the perpendicular rock, 
 against which we clung, and by the side of a fright- 
 ful precipice. Such was the road which we had to 
 follow for half an hour. Another soon presented it- 
 self which was more dangerous still. But the intre- 
 pid Rondo advanced first. The rock was exactly 
 perpendicular ; all parts of our body were placed 
 against it ; we placed the points of our feet over the 
 little juttings formed by the slipping of the layers, 
 and we supported ourselves by clinging with our 
 hands to the projections above us. This painful at- 
 titude became almost intolerable when Bondo was 
 obliged to stop before some new obstacles. Then 
 each of us stiffening himself against the rock which 
 repulsed him behind, remained suspended on weak 
 supports, having under him a precipice of 2000 
 fathoms in depth. Happily this situation did not 
 
158 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 last long. We soon arrived at a delicious plateau, 
 on which we found a large flock of sheep and goats 
 watched by Spanish shepherds. They were taking 
 their first meal, and their dog came up to us and 
 seemed, by his caresses, to invite us to join them. 
 Milk was offered to us which we gratefully ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 At some paces from thence we crossed a little 
 valley of snow, and soon perceived before us the 
 Breche de Eoland, which had long been hidden from 
 us by the peaks which came between it and us. But 
 we were separated from it by great glaciers, and no 
 way of avoiding them presented itself. Lagunier, 
 alike frightened by the danger which he had run, 
 and by the obstacles which remained to be con- 
 quered, declared positively that he would not go a 
 step further ; and we felt that we had better not 
 urge him, thinking that he would be rather a charge 
 than a help. 
 
 We went on into a new snow valley, much larger 
 than the first, and of a more exquisite appearance. 
 On the north, the Taillon raises its perpendicular 
 strata to a prodigious height. On the south, the 
 first steps of the wall of the Breche are clearly to be 
 seen ; but on the west, the brilliant carpet of snow, 
 in its dazzling whiteness, follows softly the sinuosi- 
 ties of the rock, falls and rises with it, folds itself in 
 a hundred ways, and mounts slowly towards the re- 
 gion of eternal ice, where a bluish tint modifies its 
 whiteness. Whilst we were admiring the magic 
 beauty of these places, a troop of izards, with 
 straightened necks, heads raised, noses in the air, 
 
 
THE BRECHE DE ROLAND. 159 
 
 and their feet firm and sure, rushed from a neigh- 
 boring rock, stopped on the snow, astonished at our 
 presence, and all at once, with the rapidity of light- 
 ning, cleared the icy plain, and jumped from rock to 
 rock, and from peak to peak, appearing and disap- 
 pearing before our eyes twenty times in a minute, 
 until they stopped at last perfecty quiet on the steep 
 crest of the Taillon. 
 
 After having marched for some time in this 
 snow valley, we directed our steps towards the gla- 
 ciers which were on our left. A Spanish smuggler 
 accompanied us. More accustomed than we to this 
 sort of march, he cleared, with great rapidity, the 
 first belts of the glaciers, and already had ]eft us 
 far behind, when, on a sudden, the ice opened under 
 his feet, and he sank, uttering a piercing cry. We 
 thought him lost, and ran to help him if there were 
 yet time. He was wedged between the walls of 
 ice, and thus suspended over the gulf, when M. 
 Pasquier arrived. We helped him to disengage 
 himself and get out, while the dangers into which 
 the slightest imprudence might throw us came for- 
 cibly to our minds. Rondo was full of care for us. 
 He cut the ice with a hatchet, and thus formed 
 steps for us, which became every moment more use- 
 ful as the ice became harder and harder and resisted 
 our iron-pointed sticks. We walked on silently, 
 looking carefully at our feet, and casting our eyes 
 from time to time over* the gulf into which the 
 smallest accident would have precipitated us, and 
 over the passage which remained for us to make, 
 This painful ascent lasted for nearly a quarter of an 
 
160 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 hour, during which, in the most perilous parts, we 
 could not sometimes prevent a little quaking of fear, 
 which, however, we soon repressed. 
 
 We came at last to the end of our journey ; the 
 precipices were left far behind, and the dangers 
 which we had run were only thought of in contrast 
 with our present security, and as they led us to at- 
 tach a higher value to the sublime spectacle which 
 was presented to our view. An immense wall rises 
 between France and Spain ; it is formed, like the. 
 Marbore, of perpendicular beds and horizontal lay- 
 ers. A breach, cut at right angles, is the door of 
 communication for the two countries. Standing on 
 the threshold of this magnificent portal, you see on 
 the east and on the west the insurmountable barrier 
 raised by nature between the two peoples : while, on 
 the north and south, you look over the lands sub- 
 ject to their respective dominions. 
 
 It was nearly one o'clock when we quitted the 
 Breche. We descended the glaciers with great 
 precaution, and got out from these dangerous re- 
 gions without accident. The same evening, at ten 
 o'clock, we were back at Bareges. 
 
 B. de Miebel, Extract from an unpublished narrative. 
 
XI. 
 
 MONT PERDU. 
 
 ASCENT IN 1797 BY M. EAYMOND. 
 
 We set out from Bareges on the 25th Theriniclor of 
 the year V., corresponding to the 11th of August, 
 1797, precisely ten years after my journey to the 
 Monts Maudits, and twenty years after my first 
 journey in the Swiss Alps. I must be pardoned for 
 recalling dates of which the memory is so pleasant 
 to me ; they have left remembrances of which no 
 disagreeable idea breaks the charm. 
 
 Our party was numerous on this occasion. La 
 Peyrouse was accompanied by his son, one of his 
 pupils, citizen Frizac of Toulouse, and by citizen 
 Ferriere, the gardener to the central schools of this 
 town. I was accompanied by Mirbel and Pasquier, 
 who had just made the ascent of the Breche de 
 Roland, and by Corbin and Massey of Tarbes, both 
 my pupils, and of whom the latter will often be 
 mentioned with praise in the work which I am 
 about to publish on the plants of the High Pyre- 
 nees. 
 
 Once down in the basin of Luz, we filed along 
 
162 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 that highroad of naturalists, the Valley of Gevres, 
 so justly admired, yet so often described that it is 
 almost superfluous to enumerate its singularities. 
 Its precipices and cascades, and the difficulty of the 
 road which leads through it are well known. Of 
 what materials its walls are constructed along which 
 one walks, as it were suspended over a precipice, is 
 well known also. 
 
 We ascended the Coumelie by a tortuous and 
 yet steep pathway, by which the flocks of Gedres 
 pass Over the pastures of the middle region. A 
 number" of barns are scattered over these rich spots, 
 and form three hamlets dependent on Heas, Gedres, 
 and Gavarnie. We only found there a small num- 
 ber of inhabitants and of flocks, for at this time of 
 year they are still in the higher mountain regions. 
 
 We passed the night in a barn, rather disturbed 
 by the uncertainty of the weather. However, the 
 south wind which had covered the Marbore with 
 clouds from Spain, at last yielded to the north wind 
 which brought down the clouds from France. The 
 former are always high, and cover the peaks ; the 
 latter are low, and creep over the bases of the moun- 
 tains. By degrees they filled the valleys in which 
 ,we were, forming an immense sea through which the 
 different peaks pierced just about our level. I hoped 
 for a fine day. 
 
 The best part of the night was employed in pro- 
 viding myself with guides. I had brought from 
 Bareges the two men in whom I have most con- 
 fidence, my Laurens, who scarcely ever leaves me, 
 and Antoine Moure, who supplies his place some- 
 
MONT PERDU. 163 
 
 times. These are mountaineers of proof ; but in 
 the places which we were going to examine, they 
 were as much strangers as I was. I had then to 
 seek at Heas an isard-hunter, who had been much 
 recommended to me for the knowledge of Mont 
 Perdu which he possessed, though, as it turned out, 
 he knew no more than we did. I added to him two 
 inhabitants of the Coumelie, who served me much 
 better, though they did not know any more about 
 the locality ; and at dawn of day we took the road 
 of the Valley of Estaube, keeping over the pastures 
 of the Coumelie, which may be traversed as easily 
 as a floor. 
 
 We had hardly turned from the east towards the 
 south when we were struck with the imposing ap- 
 pearance of the valleys of Heas and of Estaube, en- 
 circling, as they do, enormous mountains, although 
 only the secondary parts of them ; of which the 
 equally grand and simple forms contrast singularly 
 with the horny ruins and dismembered granites 
 which we had left behind us. From hence the sum- 
 mit of Mont Perdu is visible. It is very apparent 
 and nevertheless not very noticeable to those who 
 are not on the look-out for it. It consists of an 
 oblique and blunted cone, and glistens with the 
 eternal snows which rise above the high walls of the 
 valley of Estaube. I pointed it out to my young 
 companions, who, seeing it so clearly, thought them- 
 selves already nearing the end of their journey. 
 Yet it did not take us less than four or five hours 
 to reach just the foot of the wall ; and of this wall 
 
164 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 which we had either to turn or to climb, I took the 
 measure with an uneasy eye. 
 
 But we were entering the valley of Estaube, and 
 in silence we contemplated its quiet solitudes. It 
 possesses, at the same time, the calm of the upper 
 regions, and of the secondary grounds. Some moun- 
 tains which appeared considerable, even without 
 having regard to their elevation, astonished us still 
 more by the simplicity of their forms, which is 
 noticed usually only on the borders of great chains, 
 and in the neighborhood of places where they de- 
 generate into mere pillars. The masses, boldly 
 modelled, present smooth, yet striking contours, 
 which no strange accident has caused to pass the 
 limits of the beautiful. All rise and fall in just pro- 
 portions. Nothing spoils the harmony of a design 
 both severe and bold ; and the color, too, so trans- 
 parent and pure, — it is light grey a little warmed 
 with pink, — suits equally the light or shade, and 
 softens the contrast between them. This color is 
 continued up to the very azure of the sky. 
 
 There were very few fallen masses, and especially 
 recent ones. Vegetation nourishes up to the very 
 foot of the rocky ridges. It has even, here and 
 there, taken possession of some old rocks. A little 
 river with grassy banks flows peacefully over a 
 stony bed, and afterwards, further on, it becomes a 
 torrent. There, the service-tree overshadows Solo- 
 mon's seal, which is rare in our mountains, though it 
 here acquires uncommon dimensions. Over the de- 
 clivities of the lateral mountains may be seen the 
 red pine which here defies the axe. All the blocks 
 
MONT PERDU. 
 
MONT PERDU. 165 
 
 are adorned with the light plumy bunches of the 
 superb long-leaved saxifrage. In uncultivated 
 ground there is sometimes found the carline of the 
 Pyrenees, and sometimes the beautiful panicaut 
 described by Gouin, and which here changes some- 
 times trom amethyst to crimson. On the turf 
 there are those two carlines particularly mentioned 
 by Allioni and Yillars, the second of which, de- 
 scribed under the name of acanthus-leaved carline, 
 may be known by the golden color of its calyx 
 crown. 
 
 There can be nothing more brilliant or more 
 sjDlendid than a piece of turf bedizened with those 
 two carlines. 
 
 We pressed on, and at length we all sat down be- 
 fore these mountain walls of Estaube, which seemed 
 to rise higher as we advanced towards them. Al- 
 ready we could see that fine glaciers lay under the 
 fields of snow which in some parts diversified the 
 landscape. At last, after four hours' march we 
 found ourselves just under the intermediate glacier ; 
 and we stopped to gaze on those walls which seemed 
 to tower up to the very skies. The place in which 
 we were is the highest to which shepherds go. The 
 name of couilas is given to their temporary encamp- 
 ments ; and this one was called the coidla of the 
 Abassat-dessus. We here met two Spanish shep- 
 herds belonging to that set of them who rent the 
 highest pastures of the Pyrenees for their travelling 
 flocks. These two men were stretched by the side 
 of a hut, made of dry stones, just large enough to 
 contain them sitting or lying. That was all the 
 
166 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 shelter that these two nornades, or rather half-sava- 
 ges, who inhabit this region only for some days in 
 the fine season needed. Sometimes they dispensed 
 with a hut of any kind, and made shift with the 
 shelter of some overhanging rock. 
 
 To have met two men of this sort, two real 
 habitues of the environs of Mont Perdu, appeared 
 a most fortunate adventure in our ascent up the 
 mountain, and we were all eager to ask them ques- 
 tions. But the shepherds had only passed a few 
 days in this region of eternal snow ; and their re- 
 plies were only half satisfying me, when a smuggler 
 of their nation came up and joined them. This lat- 
 ter was quite an authority. Forced to avoid the 
 beaten roads, and to trust to the chances of the 
 most dangerous paths, we felt that he must know 
 Mont Perdu almost better than any one ; and, as it 
 proved, his advice differed greatly from that of the 
 shepherds. Whilst he and they were discussing 
 the question of the route we took a little repose, 
 and I, according to my custom, formed my plan. 
 
 The unanimous result of their consultation was, 
 that we must pass the ' Port de Pinede,' descend 
 into the valley of Beousse, and remount on the right 
 by some very steep rocks which they said were 
 always practicable. But to ascend again for two 
 hours just to have to descend one, — then to climb 
 rocks which must occupy us for four or five more. — 
 this plan would just bring us up to Mont Perdu 
 when it would be time to leave it again. I had 
 been considering the glacier below which we stood. 
 It was still covered with snow ; and this snow must, 
 
MONT PERDU. 167 
 
 I imagined, make it practicable ; the inclination was 
 great, but not an insuperable difficulty ; and the 
 glacier led to a breach which seemed to open right 
 on the face of Mont Perdu. So I declared that I 
 was resolved to try the chances. This the shepherds 
 thought outrageous, for though they allowed that 
 these snows are sometimes practicable, yet they did 
 not believe them to be so when grey spots showed 
 the surface of the glacier to be visible through them. 
 At first the smuggler alone applauded me, though 
 my faithful Laurens afterwards took my side. The 
 others smiled, and our local guides were just the 
 most incredulous and the least courageous. It was 
 necessary, however, to put an end to this state of 
 indecision ; so I declared that I should ascend the 
 glacier with whoever would follow me; and as 
 obstinacy nevei fails to decide irresolution they 
 all came. As to the smuggler, he had already fol- 
 lowed his own plans ; and very soon we lost sight 
 of him. 
 
 We went directly towards the mouth of the 
 glacier by slopes that were steep enough, certainly ; 
 yet they were grassy, and seemed to have only lately 
 emerged from the snow which covers them for seven 
 or eight months of the year. The fresh green was 
 in its spring, and the ground covered with Alpine 
 flora. 
 
 However, we approached the steep sides of the 
 mountain, and then what had seemed the smallest 
 objects acquired enormous dimensions. At last we 
 reached the debris which comes down from the 
 mountain, and which forms the moraine of the gla- 
 
168 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 cier. We were obliged to step on to the snow and 
 face the threatening couloir at the top of which we 
 expected to find Mont Perdu. At first this was a 
 mere game ; the snow had a good consistency and a 
 moderate inclination ; and we went on with all the 
 confidence which experience of mountains gives. 
 But we had not gone fifty steps when the inclination 
 increased ; and we could see that it continued to do 
 so. We looked above our heads, and still the ground 
 became steeper. Our pace slackened ; we stopped 
 and consulted what was to be done. I saw that La 
 Peyrouse remained behind, and got him to try the 
 cramping irons which I used, and which my pupils 
 had adopted after my example ; they were those 
 which De Saussure had used in his most perilous 
 journeys. But the help was as strange to him as 
 the place which obliged him to have recourse to 
 them. Nothing, at his age, could give him the re- 
 quisite mountaineering habits. So I conjured him 
 not to load me with the responsibility of his safety ; 
 he consented to leave us, and thus we parted at the 
 moment on which I had most reckoned on the assist- 
 ance of his learning. 
 
 I left him then at the bottom of the glacier with 
 my brave Antoine, whom I had attached to his ser- 
 vice ; and they seated themselves on a rock from 
 whence they could see us slowly continuing our way. 
 We had not proceeded a quarter of an hour when 
 the snow became so hard that our footsteps made no 
 impression on it. So we had to think carefully of 
 our footing and to help ourselves with our hatchets. 
 Then we settled ourselves into a file and took care 
 
MONT PERDU. 169 
 
 to plant our feet in the steps cut by the three first 
 of the column, a work in which the gardener, Fer- 
 riere, distinguished himself, his heartiness contrast- 
 ing strangely with the sang-froid of our other moun- 
 taineers. During the first hour all went well. We 
 carefully avoided the uncovered part of the glaciers, 
 and by means of numerous zigzags, prudently man- 
 aged, we were avoiding the difficulty of a slope 
 which varied from thirty-five to forty degrees, when 
 all at once we perceived a man distractedly clinging 
 to a rock from whence he called to us for aid ! It 
 was our smuggler, and a long track in the snow told 
 his story. The unfortunate man had ventured with- 
 out cramping irons, without a hatchet, without any 
 of the means of safety which men of his trade never 
 fail to carry ; and he had slipped down more than 
 two hundred paces, from being too near the edge of 
 the rock. And, once launched, it was inconceivable 
 how he had ever succeeded in stopping himself. We 
 should have liked to fly to his assistance, but could 
 only move slowly. However, we succeeded in res- 
 cuing him at last, and then we placed him in our 
 ranks. He had lost his hat, his waistcoat, his pack 
 of merchandise, and he had had a greater loss still ; 
 for he had lost his stick which had preceded him 
 down the precipice, and which we could not restore 
 to him. The other things were scattered about, and 
 we soon recovered the waistcoat and the goods. 
 But the hat had stuck in a dangerous place ; it cost 
 us a quarter of an hour's labor, although it was 
 within twenty steps. 
 
 It was in vain, however, that we had put the poor 
 
170 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 fellow in the very middle of our party ; lie could not 
 recover his composure. Our assurance acted less on 
 him than his uneasiness did on my companions. I 
 saw already on the faces of two of them signs of fear 
 of which I dreaded the consequences. At every step 
 they asked me to measure the inclination of the gla- 
 cier, which was as much as sixty degrees. It was 
 now, therefore, a question whether we should change 
 our route, and try the rocks at the side of the ice. 
 This was not, in my opinion, desirable ; but the 
 general uneasiness increased. Twice we waited 
 while our two guides from the Coumelie attempted 
 the escalade. Each time they were constrained to 
 come down again. It was necessary to return to 
 the snow, where, by means of our old manoeuvre, 
 there was really nothing to fear except the dis- 
 couragement of the party. The glacier was here at 
 its greatest inclination, and we were also at our last 
 effort. Above, the slope became visibly more gen- 
 tle, and the ice was hidden under snows of a white- 
 ness so pure as to indicate the summit of the ridge, 
 standing out against the deep blue of the sky. The 
 only question now was, how to triumph over an ob- 
 stacle beyond which our imaginations showed us 
 the top of Mont Perdu. We gathered up all our 
 remaining strength. We mutually animated and 
 encouraged one another. At each step that we took, 
 we saw the distance lessening. The breach which 
 had long been hidden from us by the edge of the 
 glacier, reappeared in gigantic proportions, and 
 already we felt the cold wind which rushed through 
 the great opening. We hastened on ; we pushed 
 
MONT PERDU. 171 
 
 forward, and, out of breath, we reached the desired 
 point. An exclamation of delight was uttered by 
 all ; but a deep silence succeeded at the sight of a 
 new world, of the depths which separated us from 
 it, of the glaciers which girded it round, of the 
 clouds which covered it ; a frightful and yet sublime 
 spectacle, by which our senses seemed overpowered. 
 A single instant had sufficed to develop it in all 
 its majesty ; but for several moments we could not 
 collect our senses. ' There is Mont Perdu ! There 
 is Mont Perdu !' said one to another, and still no 
 one could single it out from the chaos of rocks, 
 snows, and vapors. 
 
 And it was not without reason that we saw Mont 
 Perdu everywhere ; everything here belongs to it, 
 everything is a part of it, even the ridge which we 
 had reached, and which was only separated from 
 the highest point by a depression or erosion of a 
 part of its sides. This peak was before us, a little 
 to the left, white shaded with grey, and apparently 
 retreating in the midst of a thick cloud of haze 
 which moved slowly round it. On the right stood 
 out the Cylindre, more sombre than this cloud, more 
 menacing than Mont Perdu itself, set up on its 
 enormous pedestal about the level of which we 
 stood, and so near us, that it appeared as if we could 
 touch it with our hands. It signified nothing that I 
 had seen it a hundred times at a distance; it ap- 
 peared to me more fantastic than ever. Always in- 
 visible from the intermediate stations, it had sud- 
 denly grown into a colossus which was magnified in 
 my eyes by the remembrance of its first appearance. 
 
172 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 This figure of a truncated tower which recalls the 
 idea of known dimensions, contrasting with propor- 
 tions to which nothing is comparable, its situation, 
 color, proximity, the vapor in which it was enveloped, 
 all concurred to make this enormous rock the most 
 extraordinary object in the picture. It was to this 
 that all eyes constantly returned. It was this that 
 the guides persisted in calling ' Mont Perdu.' 
 
 But what was still more unexpected, if possible, 
 than these strange sights, what no former view had 
 prepared us for, what we could only look on from 
 the height of the observatory on which we were 
 placed, was the indescribable appearance of the ma- 
 jestic support of these two summits. Cut out by the 
 same scissors which have fashioned the flights of the 
 Marbore, it presents a succession of steps sometimes 
 draped in snow, sometimes covered with glaciers 
 which at times overflow and pour themselves one 
 over the other in large and motionless cascades, even 
 to the borders of a lake of which the surface, still 
 frozen, but freed from the snows, shone with a quiet 
 brightness which heightened the dazzling whiteness 
 of its banks. 
 
 This lake, the desolate area in which it reposed, 
 the mass of ice which bounded it on the south, the 
 black walls which surmount it, the Cylindre and 
 Mont Perdu towering up into a stormy sky, and that 
 rocky, naked, and rugged enclosure, from one of the 
 battlements of which we were contemplating the 
 most imposing and frightful scene in the Pyrenees ; 
 all and everything defied comparison ; nothing at 
 first presented itself by comparison with the known 
 
MONT PEEDU. 173 
 
 dimensions of which we could estimate the size of 
 the whole ; and we should have been reduced to a 
 vague notion of heights and distances if accident 
 had not furnished us with a determinate object in a 
 troup of izards which wandered over the ice of the 
 lake and drank in the crevasses. At the first cry 
 they fled over the rocks, leaving us alone in these 
 vast deserts, the extent of which they had enabled 
 us to measure. 
 
 It was time to settle what we should do in order 
 to visit the attainable points. I had not been slow 
 to perceive that the way to the peaks was closed to 
 us by the chaotic state of its glacier, and the steep- 
 ness of its sides. Even the izards had avoided them 
 in their flight, although that would have been the 
 shortest way to escape from our view ; and they had 
 gone the whole length of the lake in order to take 
 refuge in the more accessible heights which separate 
 the Cylinclre from the region of the Marbore. But 
 we might descend into the basin. The slope, though 
 rapid, was absolutely free from danger ; and once 
 on the level of the lake and its icy surface opened 
 communications with several parts, and nothing hin- 
 dered us from following the paths taken by the 
 izards up to the western ridge of the Cylindre, and 
 over the last steps of Mont Perdu. 
 
 But we had to think of returning ; it was midday, 
 and the state of the sky indicated an approaching 
 change in the weather. If we spent the rest of the 
 day here, we should have no longer a choice of the 
 way to retreat, and our only resource would be to 
 go back by the same way that we had come. But 
 
174 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 those of my companions who had trembled at the 
 perils of the ascent, could not without imprudence 
 be exposed to the more real danger of that descent. 
 In default of convenient roads we must at least 
 choose dangers not so well known to them. I re- 
 membered the declivity of the valley of Beousse, 
 which the Spanish shepherds regard as the natural 
 road from the lake. According to them, this way 
 communicated with the back of the Port de Pinede. 
 It was a long detour, certainly, and if we took it we 
 must give up, from that time, any new enterprise ; 
 but, on the other hand, the smuggler assured me 
 that these rocks were very practicable, and that he 
 was going part of the way himself to get to the 
 valley of Faulo. I could then recross the lake the 
 next day, and possibly conduct La Peyrouse into 
 these extraordinary places where I had already re- 
 gretted his absence so many times. So I quickly 
 decided to inform him of my movements. I wrote 
 to him to pass the Port de Pinede directly, and to 
 wait for us at the bottom of the valley of Beousse 
 in a ruined house which I described to him from the 
 smuggler's description of it. I told him of my de- 
 sign of returning next day, and of my hope that he 
 might be able to go with me. I gave the note to 
 one of the guides from Coumelie, who decided to 
 carry it over the valley of snow at the bottom of 
 which he must still be. The departure of my courier 
 was not the least affecting episode of the journey. 
 We had to watch him clambering through the snow, 
 helping himself with his hands, and going with the 
 greatest care, that he might not miss the track of 
 
MONT PERDU. 175 
 
 our steps. All these delaying obstacles which he 
 encountered were bad auguries for the success of his 
 embassy ; and the event justified the foreboding : it 
 was again in vain that I had hoped to conduct La 
 Peyrouse to Mont Perdu. 
 
 However, I gave a last look at the rocks of the 
 beach, and my companions, whose predilection was 
 for plants, drew my attention to the few specimens 
 of vegetation which managed to resist even the bitter 
 winter of a region of 9000 feet at least above the level 
 of the sea. The northern exposure only offered us 
 one plant ; but it was the glacial ranunculus, which is 
 so rare in the Pyrenees that I had only found two spe- 
 cimens at the top of Neouville, and of them I had 
 been obliged to send one to La Peyrouse, in order to 
 persuade him that it was there. In this place it was 
 abundant and superb, but suspended to rocks which 
 were exceedingly steep, and which were themselves 
 suspended over such a formidable precipice, that in 
 order to get some, all our zeal for science was called 
 forth. Mirbel and Pasquier first seized some, and 
 their example encouraged the others. No one had 
 made such a bold step before ; and none had been 
 made so heartily. From the bosom of the lake rose 
 a chain of rocks, which formed a long promontory. 
 The shapes of this chain indicate a perfect simili- 
 tude between its structure and that of the bases 
 of the Cylindre : this, therefore, offered to me an 
 object of comparison which must take away all my 
 doubts. 
 
 I descended quickly. The lake was covered with 
 a thick ice, the crevasses of which it was easy to 
 
176 MOUNTAIN ADYENTUEES. 
 
 jump ; and I soon gained the promontory. I found 
 the rock divided into horizontal layers, like the steps 
 of the Marbore, the walls of the Breche de Roland, 
 and the Cylindre and its platform. But then these 
 layers ? Were they only on the external edges, or 
 strata running through? The first stroke of the 
 hammer answered the question : they were only ex- 
 ternal, and the strata were vertical. I was going to 
 strike a second time into the body of the rock when 
 I perceived on its surface a reddish projection. I 
 looked nearer, and recognized a piece of a polypary. 
 I' looked again, and I saw the upper valve of an 
 oyster; then some fragments of a madrepore, 
 then of other broken zoophytes, of which I could 
 
 not determine the species I cried out, 
 
 called my companions, and assembled them on 
 the rocks, which were all clammy with the remains 
 of various organisms. And I showed them these 
 venerable remains, which on the sides of Mont 
 Perdu had a very peculiar importance. They spread 
 themselves over the promontory, and eagerly tore 
 up everything which could be distinguished from 
 the substance of the stone ; and working myself 
 with a new ardor in the midst of these ardent work- 
 ers, I enjoyed a pleasure which no one could share 
 with me — that of having opened so fine a field of 
 observation to future travellers, who perhaps will 
 find there some day what the actual state of our 
 scientific knowledge did not permit us to see. 
 
 It was a pleasant thing to see the pupils of two 
 rising schools in possession of a field of which the 
 learned would envy us the discovery ; and I could 
 
MONT PERDU. 177 
 
 not unmoved see these young men gaming from 
 this first success a passion for research and a thirst 
 for learning. They themselves felt the influence of 
 the place, and gave themselves up to transports 
 which almost amounted to delirium. 
 
 1 Let us stay here,' they said : ' to-morrow per- 
 haps we shall accomplish the ascent to the peak.' 
 
 < But the cold of the night ?' 
 
 ' What is a night with such a hope before us ?' 
 
 ' But what about food ?' 
 
 * Oh, they would do without that ;' fatigues, fears, 
 dangers — all were forgotten : prudence and fore- 
 sight were at a discount. The ice was no longer 
 terrible ; the thick clouds which encircled the sum- 
 mit were no longer threatening, when all at once 
 there was heard from these very clouds a fearful 
 peal, which echoed and thus multiplied itself many 
 times among the rocks. The most determined 
 turned pale ; they thought that they could already 
 see the storm breaking over these frightful solitudes, 
 and that it would shut us in : it was, nevertheless, 
 nothing but a fall of snow from the upper steps of 
 the mountain ; but the impression was made, and 
 now they only thought of getting away. 
 
 Hardly had we passed the lake when we found 
 ourselves on the edge of a precipice, of which no 
 other would give any idea. It seemed as if the 
 earth had altogether on a sudden escaped from 
 beneath our feet. On whatever side we turned there 
 seemed nothing but a precipitous declivity and steep 
 walls. On the left the mountains of Estaube, on the 
 right Mont Perdu, plunging into an immense pro- 
 
178 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 fundity, and forming two long parallel chains, which 
 were made of the same rock, cut out by the same 
 model, and which enclosed between these enormous 
 boulevards the valley of Beousse, over which we 
 stood, as from some height on the airy regions, and 
 which gradually disappeared from view. 
 
 Truly this valley was ravishing, lying in the 
 midst of the rocks, which serve as battlements to it, 
 and of the snows which fertilize it. Bich in the 
 luxury of nature, and lovely in its wild beauty, it is 
 just the earth in the first days of its birth, and before 
 man had subjected it to cultivation. I sought in 
 vain for any traces of the region being frequented: 
 but neither stronghold, nor road, nor pathway, nor 
 inn could be seen ; travellers avoid this wild region, 
 which they either cannot or dare not face, and which 
 whoever approaches may easily think himself the 
 first who has done so. Those meadows without 
 flocks, those shades which have never been planted, 
 those virgin forests, those box-hedges which have 
 never been clipped, and that torrent which rises in 
 Mont Perdu, the Cinca, so proud of its origin, so 
 impetuous, so ungovernable, coursing along in a 
 cutting full of ruins — all these things must be seen 
 to be imagined. The eye follows this river in its 
 course, and wanders with it in the desert, where it 
 travels without obstacle and without witness. It 
 seems to flee, and you follow it still ; the eye seeks 
 on the edge of the horizon the last rippling of its 
 waves. The ear catches eagerly the last murmur 
 which the wind brings back. It escapes all the 
 senses at last in the deep valleys where it runs ; and 
 
MONT PERDU. 179 
 
 then the imagination still pursues it to the distant 
 banks where the Ebro receives those waters of which 
 we here saw the secret springs. But, after all, what 
 is the great hidden charm of these deserts ? What 
 involuntary, deep, and imperious feeling holds me in 
 these places where my fellows have not established 
 their empire ? What irresistible inclination cease- 
 lessly draws back my thoughts and my steps, 
 and holds and amuses my fancy in the vain desire 
 there to build my cottage and bring up sny family ? 
 What is civilization if it still leave in our hearts an 
 imperishable regret for our old independence ? What 
 is society if man, whom she has fashioned to her 
 will, and attached to her by habit and necessity, 
 cannot escape an instant from the crowd which con- 
 strains him without shedding a tear at the thought 
 of the necessity which plunges him back into it ? 
 
 Bamond, Voyages au Mont Perdu. 
 
xn. 
 
 NORTH GAPE. 
 
 VOYAGE OF JOSEPH ACERBI, IN 1798. 
 
 We set out for Alten on Monday, the 15th of July, 
 at two o'clock in the afternoon, and we did not 
 arrive at the Cape till the night between the Friday 
 and Saturday following. Three miles from Alten 
 we passed on our right a mountain, called in Nor- 
 wegian Himellar, or Heaven-man, from which there 
 fell into the sea five or six cascades, two or three 
 hundred yards of perpendicular height. Further 
 onward was another grand cataract, where we 
 quenched our thirst. We went up into the moun- 
 tains to see the place where it had its source, and 
 were surprised to find at their summit very beautiful 
 natural meadows. Still further off we again saw a 
 fine cascade running down from another mountain. 
 All these waterfalls were supplied, no doubt, by the 
 melting of the snow on the distant mountains, which 
 formed, as it were, the back-ground of the picture. 
 The cascade last mentioned was precipated from a 
 hill, adorned on three sides with a wood of birch, 
 spread in the manner of an amphitheatre, so that it 
 
NORTH CAPE. 181 
 
 appeared as if it had been planted by the hand of 
 man. In the midst of this pleasure-ground stood a 
 wooden house, covered with turf, and inhabited by 
 a family of fixed Laplanders. I wished to pay them 
 a visit. One of our guides, however, besought me 
 not to go there immediately by myself, but to send 
 him on before me, because, said he, the family will 
 perhaps be frightened at the sight of a stranger of so 
 different an appearance to then own. He went into 
 the house, but found nobody there ; it was com- 
 pletely deserted ; the family had either gone on a 
 fishing excursion, or were in the mountains tending 
 their reindeer. . . . We returned with regret to our 
 boats, and it was not without pain that we bade 
 adieu to so charming a prospect, which bore a strik- 
 ing resemblance to all that is most romantic and 
 beautiful in the natural scenery of Switzerland. 
 
 There was not a breath of wind, and our boat- 
 men were much fatigued with rowing in so great a 
 heat. In order to give them some respite, and to 
 gratify our own curiosity, we visited all the Laplan- 
 ders settled on this coast, who generally lived at the 
 distance of a Norwegian mile, or a mile and a half 
 from one another. Abundance and contentment 
 reign in all their dwellings. Each Laplander is the 
 proprietor of the territory around his little mansion, 
 to the extent of a Norwegian mile, or eight English, 
 in every direction. They have some cows, which 
 furnish them excellent milk, and meadow-land, which 
 yields hay for their fodder in winter. They have 
 every one a store of fish, dried in the sun, not only 
 for their own use, but wherewithal to purchase lux- 
 
182 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 uries — that is, salt, oatroeal, and some woolen 
 clothes. Their houses are constructed in the form 
 of tents — a hole in the middle, which gives them 
 light, serves also as an aperture for letting out the 
 smoke of the fire, which is always placed in the cen- 
 tre of the cabin, and around which they sleep quite 
 close to one another. In winter, besides the heat 
 of the fire, they have the benefit of the animal 
 warmth of the cows, with whom they share the shel- 
 ter of their roof, as the inhabitants of Scotland do in 
 the Highlands and the northern isles. The doors of 
 their houses in summer are always open, and al- 
 though in that season there is no night, they are ac- 
 customed to sleep at the same time as other Euro- 
 peans. . . . They not only sleep with their doors wide 
 open, but so soundly that it is not easy to rouse them. 
 The fact is, that they are not to be exposed to any 
 kind of danger or disturbance. They are far re- 
 moved from the anxieties of fear that attend envied 
 possession ; and the only wild beasts that could 
 possibly give them any alarm or uneasiness are the 
 wolves and bears. But these animals never attack 
 houses, as they procure sufficient nourishment by 
 following the wandering Laplanders with their rein- 
 deer. . . . 
 
 In one of the families we visited we witnessed a 
 very tender and affecting scene, which convinced us 
 that sensibility is not banished from those northern 
 latitudes. At three o'clock after midnight we en- 
 tered a cabin, in which there were, besides the mas- 
 ter of the house, his mother, his young wife, and 
 two infant children. They were fast asleep, and we 
 
NORTH CAPE. 183 
 
 waited for some time that we might awake them 
 gently : they all of them lay on the ground, which 
 they had covered with the branches and leaves of 
 the fragrant and aromatic birch ; over these were 
 spread some reindeer skins. They slept, as the 
 maritime Laplanders do in general, with their clothes 
 on ; but these, being very large and loose, occasion 
 no inconvenience by impeding in any degree the 
 
 Island of Lofoden, North Cape. 
 
 circulation of the blood. The wife awoke first, and 
 casting her eyes on one of our boatmen, whom she 
 knew, she was glad to see him, and entered into 
 conversation with him in Lapponese. The husband 
 and his aged mother also awoke soon after, but the 
 children continued in their sound sleep. The old 
 woman perceiving our Laplander, burst into a flood 
 of tears ; the young woman likewise wept, so did 
 
184 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 the boatman ; and so by instinctive sympathy did 
 we all, without knowing why. For a moment we 
 preserved a dead silence, when our interpreter hav- 
 ing entered the cabin, and found us in tears, asked 
 in Finnish the reason of all this sorrow. The occa- 
 sion was this : the old woman had seen the boatman 
 about a year before, when she was in perfect health, 
 but since that time she had been seized by a fit of 
 apoplexy, which had totally deprived her of the use 
 of speech. After this general emotion had subsided, 
 we asked for some reindeer milk and cheese. Our 
 landlady immediately went out of the cabin and con- 
 ducted us to the store, which was a little wooden 
 box or shed raised upon beams to a certain height 
 from the ground, that the provisions it contained 
 might not be damaged by the snow of winter. We 
 w r ere astonished at the quantity of things this good 
 and provident woman had in her magazine. There 
 was great plenty of dried fish and dried reindeer 
 flesh, cheese, and tongues of the reindeer, oatmeal, 
 reindeer skins, fur and woolen clothes, and other 
 articles. Everything bespoke riches and comfort; 
 and what was most remarkable, our kind hostess 
 gave us whatever we wanted in the most liberal 
 manner, and without the least idea of receiving 
 aught in return ; on the contrary, she persisted in 
 refusing to accept any money when we offered it. 
 I have seen few places where the people live in so 
 easy and happy a simplicity as in the maritime dis- 
 tricts of Lapland. . . . 
 
 We left this cabin to pursue our voyage, but after 
 proceeding five or six English miles, we were obliged 
 
NORTH CAPE. 185 
 
 by the wind again to land We travelled seven or 
 
 eight English miles on foot, and found here and 
 there among those mountains delicious spots and 
 valleys, enclosed by hills that were covered with 
 birch and some other trees. We came at last to a 
 mountain Laplander's tent, and our curiosity was 
 satisfied : this tent was of a conical form, and not 
 shaped as tents are in general. In the middle was 
 the fire, and around the fire sat the Laplander's wife, 
 a boy, who was his son, and some inhospitable and 
 surly dogs, which never ceased barking at us all the 
 time we remained near them. Fast by the tent was 
 erected a shed, consisting of five or six sticks or 
 posts that were fastened to one another near the 
 top, in the same manner as the tent, and covered 
 with skins and pieces of cloth : under this canopy 
 the Laplanders kept their provisions, which were 
 cheese of the reindeer, a small quantity of milk of 
 the same, and dried fish. 
 
 A little further on was a rude enclosure or part- 
 ing, made in haste, which served as a fold or yard for 
 the reindeer when they were brought together to be 
 milked. Those animals were not near the tents at 
 the time of our visit ; they were in the mountains, 
 from whence they would not descend till towards 
 night. As we did not feel ourselves disposed to 
 ramble about in quest of them, at the hazard of 
 losing ourselves among a series of mountains, we 
 judged it more advisable to offer some brandy to the 
 Laplanders, on condition that they would go with 
 their dogs and bring the reindeer home, or as near 
 as they could to the tent. Scarcely had they swal- 
 
186 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 lowed the brandy which we had given them as an 
 earnest of more., when we heard the shrill barking 
 of the dogs resounding through the mountains. The 
 Laplanders then told us that the reindeer were 
 coming, and very soon after we beheld a troop of not 
 less than three hundred deer descending from the 
 mountains in a direction towards the tent. We then 
 insisted that they should drive the reindeer within 
 the enclosure near the tent, that we might have an 
 opportunity of seeing and examining them better, 
 and tasting the milk fresh from the does. They did 
 as we desired, but not without very great difficulty, 
 because the animals, not being accustomed to be 
 shut up in the fold at that hour of the day, were 
 unwilling to be confined ; and it was not till after 
 repeated efforts that the Laplanders were able at 
 last, with the assistance of the dogs, to compel them 
 to enter. We then had time to view them at our 
 leisure. These poor animals were lean, and of a 
 sad and melancholy appearance : their hair hung 
 down, and their excessive panting indicated how 
 much they suffered at this season from heat ; 
 their skins were pierced here and there, and ul- 
 cerated by the mosquitoes, and the eggs of the fly, 
 called in Lapponese henna, which tormented them in 
 the most cruel manner. I made a collection of 
 those insects and their eggs, intending them as 
 presents for my entomological friends. As to the 
 milk which we tasted, it is not so good at this time 
 as in winter. In summer it has always a kind of 
 strong or wild taste, and too much of what the 
 French call haut gout. 
 
NOKTH CAPE. 187 
 
 Our guides advised us to return to the boats, and 
 avail ourselves of the favorable breeze that had 
 sprung up for pursuing our voyage, and we took 
 leave of our Laplanders, whose only regret at our 
 departure seemed to be mortification at the re- 
 moval of the brandy. We passed in our boat the 
 Whaal-Sund, or Sound of Whales, which was 
 agitated at the same time by the current that sets in 
 here very strong, and by the wind, which blew con- 
 trary to the current. Whales resort to this strait in 
 great numbers, and are, as we were told, very common 
 in all these seas. Although we were assured by our 
 mariners that they never passed this strait without 
 seeing eight or ten whales, we were so unfortunate as 
 not to get a sight of one. We went on shore to the 
 house of a merchant, situated on an island near 
 Havesund ; this was perhaps the most dismal habi- 
 tation on the face of the earth. The whole land 
 around it did not produce one tree or shrub ; no, not 
 so much as a blade of grass ; there was nothing to 
 be seen but naked rocks. The inhabitant of that 
 house had not anything but what he brought from a 
 distance, not even fuel. The sun for three months of 
 the year is not visible ; and if during that space of 
 time the atmosphere were not illuminated by the 
 aurora borealis, he would be buried in profound 
 darkness. Dreadful place to live at ! The only at- 
 traction in these abodes is fishing, and the love of 
 gain. The nearer one approaches to the North Cape 
 the more nature seems to frown : vegetation dies, 
 and leaves behind it nothing but naked rocks. 
 
 Proceeding on our voyage, we left on our right 
 
188 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 the strait formed by Mageroe, or Bare Island, of the 
 continent. The vast expanse of the Frozen Ocean 
 opened to our left, and we arrived at last at the 
 extremest point of Europe, known by the name of 
 the North Cape, exactly at midnight. 
 
 The North Cape is an enormous rock, which pro- 
 jecting far into the ocean, and being exposed to all 
 the fury of the waves and the outrage of tempests, 
 crumbles every year more and more into ruins. 
 Here everything is solitary, everything is sterile, 
 everything sad and despondent. The shadowy forest 
 no longer adorns the brow of the mountain ; the 
 singing of the birds, which enlivened even the woods 
 of Lapland, is no longer heard in this scene of deso- 
 lation ; the ruggedness of the dark grey rock is not 
 covered by a single shrub ; the only music is the 
 hoarse murmuring of the waves, ever and anon re- 
 newing the assaults on the huge masses that oppose 
 them. The northern sun, creeping at midnight at 
 the distance of five diameters along the horizon, and 
 the immeasurable ocean in apparent contact with the 
 skies, form the grand outlines in the sublime picture 
 presented to the astonished spectator. The inces- 
 sant cares and pursuits of anxious mortals are re- 
 collected as a dream ; the various forms and ener- 
 gies of animated nature are forgotten ; the earth is 
 contemplated only in its elements, and as constitut- 
 ing a part of the solar system. 
 
 Jacob Acekbi, Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland, 
 to the Horth Cape, in the years 1798 and 1799. 
 
 
xm. 
 
 THE BBOCKEN. 
 
 The Brocken is the name of the principal mountain 
 of the picturesque chain of the Hartz mountains, in 
 the kingdom of Hanover. From its summit, raised 
 about 10,500 feet above the level of the sea, may be 
 seen a plain of 70 leagues in extent, occupying 
 nearly the twentieth part of Europe, and having* a 
 population of more than 5,000,000 of inhabitants. 
 
 From the most remote historical epochs, the 
 Brocken has been the theatre of the marvellous. 
 On the top of it there may still be seen blocks of 
 granite, called the Seat and the'' Altar of the Sorceress ; 
 a spring of limpid water is named the Magic Foun- 
 tain ; and the common name of the anemone which 
 grows on this mountain is the flower of the fairies. 
 We may presume that these names owe their origin 
 to the worship of the great idol which the Saxons 
 secretly worshipped on the summit of the Brocken, 
 when Christianity was already dominant in the 
 plain. And as the place in which this worship was 
 celebrated must have been much frequented, no 
 doubt this spectre which so often haunts it at the 
 
190 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 rising of the sun was taken notice of in these long 
 past times. So tradition says that this spectre had 
 its share in the tribute paid bj the superstitious. 
 
 If all who constantly live in sight of the Brocken 
 desire to ascend it at least once in their lives ; — if 
 all other Germans, who, though it lies out of their 
 
 Brocken. 
 
 horizon, have often heard of it and aspire also to 
 enjoy the spectacle in question, which, living as they 
 do in the plains, their imagination is unable to re- 
 present to them by any analogous image, it is easy 
 to conceive what an influence this mountain has 
 in the fine season. Still it has only been since the 
 
THE BROCKEN. 191 
 
 beginning of this century that the fashion of visiting 
 the Brocken has become an established one. It 
 appears that all the exaggerations of the eighteenth 
 century were necessary to interest men in its beau- 
 ties. Before that there were few, besides the wood- 
 cutters, who were eager enough about it to attempt 
 a difficult ascent. Towards the end of the last 
 century, the number of the curious increasing, the 
 Count of Yernigerode, whose principality lies under 
 the sides of the mountain, and embraces the moun- 
 tain itself, taking pity on those who suffered from 
 tempests on these heights, and sympathizing with 
 those who wished to pass the night there, in order 
 to witness the rising and setting of the sun, — caused 
 a hotel to be constructed on the top. It was finished 
 on the 10 th of September, 1800. One of the servants 
 of the Count's household, an excellent man, who will 
 be remembered by all who visited the Brocken during 
 his lifetime, was installed as innkeeper, at the 
 height of 3500 feet, under the strange condition 
 that he should always live there, even during the 
 winter, — no doubt in order that it might be said 
 that the goodness of the Count never fails in any 
 weather. So this brave man allowed himself to be 
 buried in the snow all the year round with his wife 
 and daughter ; for it often accumulates even to the 
 top of the roof ; and they could only breathe and 
 see the sky through a little tower in the middle of 
 the house. Thus he passed thirty-three years in 
 perfect serenity. And from this elevation he could, 
 in one sense, command all Germany. I must be 
 permitted this remembrance of a simple-minded, 
 
192 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 honest soul. The contrast between his patriarchal 
 hospitality and the often stormy majesty of the 
 mountain, is striking, and, at the same time, resting 
 and pleasant. When I ascended the Brocken for 
 the first time as a young man, I reached the top at 
 eleven o'clock at night, having lost my way, and 
 being pierced through and through with the cold ; 
 but some dogs, in answer to my call, signalized my 
 approach, and the good Gerlach came running to 
 meet me with a lantern and some brandy. Next 
 morning, when I left, he would descend with me as 
 far as the forests, and his eyes were full of tears. I 
 was, no doubt, the last visitor whom he would see 
 that year ; for the snow already threatened to entomb 
 them. This year I did not find him there ; and I 
 could not help mourning for him, for his name is 
 attached to the history of the mountain. 
 
 The Brocken is now a sort of necessity to the 
 people of Lower Germany. They love to contem- 
 plate from its summit that fatherland which seems 
 so parcelled out and divided to those who do not 
 view it from above. Students, above all, go there 
 in numbers. There are universities all around, — 
 Marburg, Gottingen, Jena, Leipzig, Halle, Berlin ; 
 and the ascent of the Brocken is a sort of exercise 
 which the students feel obliged to take. 
 
 It is not, however, only on account of this sin- 
 gular spectacle which is seen from the summit, but 
 from the nature of its rocks and firs, that the 
 Brocken has become famous among the poets. It 
 is here that, for a long time, if we are to believe the 
 tradition all the witches in Germany have held 
 
THE BROCKEN. 193 
 
 their rendezvous. They even assert that the devil 
 himself hailed down the rocks which cover the cupola 
 of the mountain. 
 
 For some years past the ascent of this moun- 
 tain has been wonderfully facilitated. I have re- 
 lated with what difficulty I formerly mounted. In 
 order to understand this, it is necessary to know that 
 the Brocken is not a mountain, but literally a heap 
 of stones. It is probable that originally it was 
 composed of high needles of granite, of which some 
 are still to be seen in other parts of the Hartz. 
 In course of time these needles have become di- 
 vided into enormous blocks, which have fallen and 
 accumulated around the base, so that, at length, 
 nothing but ruins remain of the primitive edifice. 
 It is amidst these blocks that the fir-trees have rooted 
 themselves. The waters filter through and roar 
 below, and every moment after you quit the regular 
 paths, you run the risk of falling into some bog, 
 which is half covered with moss and large plants. 
 Otherwise, there is scarely a precipice, I may say 
 scarcely a ravine, into which one could fall. It is 
 a squat monster, on the round back of which a man 
 may easily climb. This time I ascended it, not on 
 foot, not on a mule, not in a chair carried by 
 porters ; I went up in a post-chaise. They have 
 made an excellent road, as sure and safe as the gravel 
 path of a park, without any danger, without any 
 difficulty, without even a jump ; and by just paying a 
 very moderate toll, every one is free to avail himself 
 of it I could not believe my eyes when I found 
 myself in my carriage, with my Hanoverian postilion 
 
194 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 smacking his whip and blowing his horn on this 
 height, which had cost me so dear at my first 
 ascent. Add to that, that I had travelled from 
 Dresden to Harzburg during the day, and had 
 reached the foot of the Brocken after a journey of 
 300 miles by railway. 
 
 THE HEXENTANZPLATZ. — THE ZLSENSTEIN. 
 
 It was in the midst of a wild and desert place, 
 among heaps of naked and sombre rocks, between 
 which the Bode winds its course, that in former 
 times the sorceresses of the north held their solemn 
 meeting every year on the first of May. The place 
 was well chosen, and few persons were likely to 
 have the indiscretion to trouble their rendezvous. 
 Even in our civilized times, in full daylight, under 
 the azure of a fine sky, and in the glad rays of the 
 sun, these dark shapeless masses, so rugged and so 
 strange, arrest the smile on the lips of the traveller, 
 and cause him to think that, however little super- 
 stitious he may be, he would feel rather strange 
 about midnight, on some peak, or in some dark pas- 
 sage of this convulsion of nature, which has the ap- 
 pearance of a petrified tempest. Let him suppose, 
 to increase the effect, that heavy clouds were hang- 
 ing over the summits, that pale lightnings and heavy 
 thunders were seen and heard, and there would be 
 wanting few favorable conditions to any one who 
 wished to assure himself that he was at all times 
 master of his nervous system. 
 
 It is on the Hexentanzplatz that Goethe has placed 
 
THE BROCKEN, HEXENTANZPLATZ 
 
THE BEOCKEN. 195 
 
 the scenes of the witches' meeting (the Walpurgis 
 night) in the drama of ' Faust :' — 
 
 'How strangely across these abysses shines a 
 northerly and dim light, which penetrates even into 
 the depths of the gulf ! There rises a vapor ; fur- 
 ther off an unhealthy exhalation. Here, through a 
 veil of mists, flashes a warm brightness, sometimes 
 like a light thread, sometimes breaking out as from 
 a living source. Here, it winds in a thousand 
 streaks across the valley, and further on, in a nar- 
 row gorge, it collects all at once. Near us falls a rain 
 of sparks, which cover the soil with a gold dust ; 
 but look there, in all its heights, the wall of rocks is 
 in a blaze.' 
 
 Mephistopheles. — ' Does not Lord Mammon light 
 up his palace splendidly for the feast ?' 
 
 l o* 
 
 We can now ascend quite easily on to the Plateau 
 of the Witches, thanks to a staircase of eleven hun- 
 dred steps. There we are almost opposite to the 
 granite rocks of the Eossetrappe (Horse's Hoof- 
 print). From the one side you command the valley 
 of the Bode ; from the other a vast plain towards 
 the west. 
 
 The Ilsenstein, like most part of the Hartz Moun- 
 tains, is isolated, and terminates the chain of moun- 
 tains which go towards the east, towards the plateau 
 of Thuringia. It is in front of the Brocken, and is 
 an immense block of granite, which rises to a peak 
 at more than 300 feet above the valley, in which 
 flows the little river Use, forming an innumerable 
 
196 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES 
 
 number of cascades, which are particularly charm- 
 ing, from their bright and smiling appearance in the 
 midst of such stern scenery. 
 
 According to tradition, there was at the summit 
 of the Ilsenstein an enchanted palace, inhabited by 
 a king of the Hartz, named Ilsan ; and he had a 
 daughter of remarkable beauty, named Use. A 
 wicked fairy caused this charming princess to die of 
 jealousy. She is still to be seen sometimes, as the 
 superstitious people think, bathing in the river 
 which bears her name. If she meets a traveller, 
 she conducts him to the interior of the mountain, 
 where she loads him with riches. Perhaps the 
 meaning of this legend is, that this mountain con- 
 tains, like the Eammelsberg, precious mines. The 
 summit is reached by a steep pathway, which 
 passes over blocks of naked rock of the most singular 
 forms. 
 
 From the Ilsenstein you gain the top of the 
 Brocken by an easy and picturesque road. This 
 mountain, the usual end and aim of excursions in 
 the Hartz, is estimated very differently by persons 
 who have made the ascent. As on the Bighi, the 
 common desire of tourists is to see the sun rise ; 
 but though a pure sky is favorable for the spectacle, 
 there are also unexpected moments which answer 
 the traveller's wishes as perfectly. We had started 
 in the evening from Ilsenstein in very bad weather ; 
 but we had the good fortune next day to witness one 
 of the curious sights which leave a much stronger 
 impression than that of a splendid and vast pano- 
 rama stretched out beneath one's feet. The clouds 
 
THE BKOCKEN. 197 
 
 which were crowded over the valley in a compact 
 and heavy mass, resembled a sea formed of immense 
 and motionless waves ; electric currents passed from 
 one to another from time to time, but without pro- 
 ducing the least noise. At this moment the sun 
 rose, and, by a strange contrast, lighted up, in a 
 reddish tint, the upper part of the mountain on 
 which we were, without communicating any of this 
 lively color to the lower mass of clouds, which 
 retained their leaden hues : it seemed as if all the 
 bright rays were broken one by one, and decom- 
 posed on their surface. The effect was magical : it 
 appeared like two different worlds seen the one 
 from the other, — the earth seen from some superior 
 planet. To describe faithfully what we felt at this 
 moment would require the genius of Milton or of 
 Dante. 
 
 Magasin Pittoresque. 
 
XIV, 
 
 PARNASSUS. 
 
 Castri is the name of a miserable village perched 
 on a rock, like the nest of a bird of prey ; it is also 
 the name borne in the present day by the site of 
 Delphos, the ancient sanctuary of Apollo. 
 
 At a little distance from Arakhova, ascending by 
 roads where the Kleplit alone can venture without 
 trembling, you arrive at excavations worked in the 
 rock and consecrated formerly to the god Pan and 
 the nymph Gorycia. A long inscription, all de- 
 faced, indicates the Gorycian cave, to which access 
 for horses was practicable in the time of Pausanias, 
 who declares that he had never seen a grotto more 
 spacious, or more beautiful ; but now a great part 
 of it is filled up by water and ruins. It was at the 
 Gorycian cave that the Thyades, priestesses of 
 Athens, used to assemble at one time of the year, 
 calling to them the women of Phocis and foreign 
 women, whom devotion brought to Delphos. Be- 
 coming excited at last, by their mysterious practices, 
 and, for the time being, in a state of delirium, they 
 then mounted the most impracticable paths, and 
 
PARNASSUS, 199 
 
 reached tlie highest peak of Parnassus. There, lost 
 in the clouds, they gave themselves up to strange 
 madness in honor of Apollo. 
 
 Some ruins of marble sarcophagi, hidden under 
 the vines which on this side cover the stony and 
 rapid slope of the valley ; a subterranean chamber 
 into which it is easy to penetrate ; the impression 
 of the hinges and of the enormous nails of a door in 
 the rock ; a door which closed, as they say, a secret 
 road leading to the tripod of the Sibyl ; some little 
 columns sustaining the external vestibule of a poor 
 church ; a basement wall, which they regard as in- 
 dicating the place of the temple of Apollo, in which 
 the god used to be, and on which may be read an 
 inscription well preserved, recording the decrees 
 made in honor of the benefactors of the temple, 
 the names of several architects employed in con- 
 structing or enlarging it, and the enfranchisement 
 of a slave by his consecration to the god ; lastly, all 
 along the only path which traverses the valley, 
 niches of various sizes cut in the rock, and in which 
 the image of a Madonna has taken the place of the 
 rich oblations of the Pagans : — this is all which is 
 left to remind us of the existence of proud Delphos. 
 No temples nor statues covered with gold, and 
 shining in the sun ; no longer any dances, or 
 games, or solemn processions, or assemblies of the 
 people ; no Amphictyons regulating the destinies oi 
 Greece; no more conquerors eager to tear from 
 heaven the secret of their future lives ; no longer any 
 philosophers bowing before the sagest and truest 
 
200 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 device which the genius of Paganism ever brought 
 forth : * Know thyself.' 
 
 All has disappeared, just as on the day after a 
 fete, the splendid scaffolding, the music, the dances, 
 and the pleasure-seeking people, are gone. The 
 pale and sorrowful Sibyl seems alone to inhabit 
 these sombre and desert places. In a dream into 
 which the imagination easily falls, one sees her 
 pass, unhappy in her glory and in her involuntary 
 science, and conducted by inflexible priests, who 
 force her to sit on the fatal tripod, where the god 
 awaits her with his furies, his delirium, his tortures, 
 and his obscure lies. This recollection is the only 
 one which vividly strikes the mind when you stop 
 at Delphos. All around are abysses, half open and 
 yawning gulfs, resounding echoes, rocks blackened 
 as if by fire : such was, and such is still, the valley 
 of Delphos. 
 
 If the riches and the magnificence destined to 
 veil the terrible mysteries have disappeared, Nature 
 is there just the same. Now, as formerly, the 
 Phocean, who comes to dream, to seek the shade, 
 or to gather flowers, must pass over to the other 
 side of Parnassus, in order to find the green 
 and melodious forests of Daulis. Some olive-trees 
 grow in the hollow of the valley at the outlet from 
 which they become more abundant, until they form 
 a great wood on the plain, which extends to the 
 gulf. In the night, if you awake, you hear the wind 
 which comes ceaselessly from the sea, and beats 
 against the sides of the rocks, making most lugu- 
 brious noises ; and yet, at some paces from thence, 
 
PABNASSUS. 20J 
 
 in the bay and on the banks of Crissa, the same 
 wind sings or sighs in soft and melancholy tones. 
 At Delphos, it becomes a dull groaning, a pro- 
 longed plaint, which fills the soul with sadness, and 
 makes you fear, when you listen to it, that the 
 ancient oracle may have recovered its voice, in 
 order to reveal to you the future which lies before 
 
 vou. 
 
 «/ 
 
 Y. Gemeniz, Voyage en Greece. 
 
 The Greeks have placed the dwellings of the 
 Muses, that is to say, the source of poetical inspira- 
 tion, as well as the dwelling of the gods, on the 
 highest summits, — there where earth seems to touch 
 heaven. The Muses haunted Olympus, Pieria, 
 Helicon, and, above all, Parnassus. 
 
 Parnassus is one of the most beautiful mountains 
 of Greece ; on its snowy summits walked the chaste 
 Muses in their purity ! The summits of Parnassus 
 are often enveloped in clouds. 'Who ever saw 
 Liakoura without clouds ?' said Lord Byron. This 
 peculiarity agrees with the destiny which ancient 
 mythology attributed to the holy mountain. The 
 poetical creation is a mystery ; it was becoming to 
 envelop it in mysterious clouds. 
 
 Among the Greeks, all inspirations were sisters ; 
 Parnassus consecrated the alliance of poetical and 
 religious enthusiasm. Whilst the Thyades cele- 
 brated there those dances which the madness oi 
 Bacchus had animated, the Pythian, seated on the 
 
202 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 tripod, breathed in the prophetic emanations of the 
 mountain, Apollo had his temple there, in the place 
 of which there now flourishes a laurel, an emblem of 
 the inspiration which does not die. The Muses 
 bathed there in the stream of Castalia, which is still 
 flowing, and whose remarkably pure and light water 
 is a charming emblem of the limpid poetry of 
 the Greeks. Ingenious in linking the natural pecu- 
 liarities of places with ideas, such as the fables 
 connected with those places express, the ancients 
 had placed the temple of Apollo at the foot of the 
 peaked rocks named the Brilliants (Phedriades), 
 which reflect even now with so much power the 
 arrows of the god. In their eyes the god of light 
 and heat was the god of verse ; and they dedicated 
 to him a steep and inaccessible peak. The perfec- 
 tion of art is a warm and luminous summit, up 
 which no pathway leads, and to which only the 
 flight of a divine will carries any one. 
 
 Above the site of the ancient Delphos rises the 
 double summit so often invoked by poets. It stands 
 over against the very picturesque grotto, from which 
 flows the spring of Castalia. M. Ulrichs points out 
 that certain Latin poets, such as Ovid and Lucan, 
 who never were at Delphos, seem to believe that the 
 two peaks, at the foot of which the town was built, 
 form the culminating point of Parnassus, whilst 
 Parnassus has really only one peak, and that is 
 true in every sense, at least of the ancient Par- 
 nassus. 
 
 One evening, at Drachmani, finding myself at 
 the foot of the Parnassus, and following with my 
 
PAENASSUS. 203 
 
 eye tlie vultures which hover over its sides, I recalled 
 the famous liue, — 
 
 " C'est en vain qu'au Parnasse un te'rne'raire auteur." 
 
 I found an immense effort of reflection necessary to 
 convince me that this proud mountain, which stood 
 erect before me, bathing its rocks, its firs, and its 
 abysses in the violet tints of evening, was really the 
 Parnassus of Boileau. 
 
 On the other hand, I really found the Parnassus 
 which was before me in the ancient poets, and 
 above all, in Euripides. And while gazing on those 
 rocks, glittering, as they were, in all the brightness 
 of a southern sun, I did not feel the words of the 
 poet in the * Phenician Virgins ' at all too strong : — 
 
 ' Thou rock irradiate with the sacred flame, 
 That blazing on thy artful brow, 
 Seems double to the vale below.' 
 
 J. J. Ampebe, La Poesie Grecque en Grece. 
 
 The route from the monastery of St. Luke, at 
 Delphos, turns along the sides of the Kirphis or 
 Xero-Youni, just where it joins the Parnassus or 
 Liakoura. After ascending for about half an hour, 
 you come to a little chapel situated in the most 
 delicious position, close to a spring of water shaded 
 by plantains. There was probably here in old 
 times a religious station for the pilgrims who came 
 to Delphos, for the road seemed to follow the old 
 route. When once you have passed these ravines 
 
204 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 of the chain of the Kirphis you perceive the entrance 
 to the deep gorge from which old Delphos was 
 visible. Just at the entrance of this gorge, high up 
 in the mountain, on the extreme bounds of the 
 cultivated ground, and at the foot of those snowy 
 cones which give an imposing physiognomy to the 
 frowning brow of the Liakoura, appears like a vigi- 
 lant watch, the city of Arachova. Some black pine 
 forests seem placed near the edge of this sort of 
 glacier like a dyke intended to stop the invasion of 
 the snows. At the other extremity of this gorge, 
 also very high up, at the foot of the porphyry rocks, 
 is the village of Castri, built on the ruins of 
 Delphos. 
 
 There remained still two hours on horseback to 
 turn all the hills and re- ascend as far as to Castri, 
 which one always keeps in view ; but in proportion 
 as we neared it the sight became at each step more 
 beautiful. In the lower parts of the hills one has 
 to cross short well-watered and well-planted valleys, 
 keeping in your eye the fresh valley of the Plistus. 
 As soon as the top of the hills is reached, the bay of 
 Salon a, the gulf of Corinth, and in the distance 
 the mountains of the Peloponnesus, become visible. 
 Going a little further, we found the sea disappear 
 again, and we were in an enclosure of high moun- 
 tains, and as it were isolated from the rest of the 
 world. It must have been a fine spectacle when on 
 the solemn feast days the ancient processions used 
 to wind away from the two opposite sides, arriving 
 by sea at Crissa, and by land on the coasts of Ara- 
 chova. From the time of first stepping on this 
 
PARNASSUS. 205 
 
 sacred ground the traveller passed over tombs : 
 some had been erected on this part of the route, 
 just as a Christian of ancient days might have 
 caused his to be erected near Jerusalem, or in the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat ; others have been brought 
 down by the fall of the upper rocks, whose enormous 
 fragments lie dispersed around. Nothing less than 
 one of those violent earthquakes, which are so 
 common here, is necessary to pred/pitate them. 
 
 The tombs continue as far as the monastery of 
 St. Elias. At some steps from the monastery flows 
 a little river which comes from the spring of Castalia, 
 situate a little above, on the right of the road. A 
 torrent descends from the Parnassus by a fissure 
 between two steep rocks, the rock Naplia and that of 
 Hyampeia, down which they say the fabulist iEsop 
 was precipitated by the inhabitants of Delphos. 
 When it reaches the extremity of this narrow fissure, 
 the torrent is received into a short arched passage, 
 and flows into a square basin dug by nature itself in 
 the rock, but increased a little by the hand of man. 
 This basin, which is about 30 feet long by 10 wide, 
 encloses* the celebrated fountain of Castalia. Below 
 the fountain, on the side of a rock a hundred feet 
 in perpendicular height, are scooped out three niches. 
 That in the middle, which is the largest, probably 
 contains a statue of Apollo, and the two others the 
 statues of the god Pan and of the nymph Castalia. 
 A fourth niche, placed on the right, is shut in by 
 walls, and transformed into a chapel dedicated to 
 St. John, which has, no doubt, succeeded to the 
 
206 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Herounr dedicated to Antinoiis. The Christian re- 
 ligion has all over Greece established its altars in 
 the very places sanctified by ancient feelings of 
 reverence. . . . Seated on a rock in the sound of 
 the murmurs of this torrent, on the edge of the Cas- 
 talian fountain, which two formidable rocks shut in 
 on one side, whilst the other opens on to a deep 
 valley — a real solitude enclosed on all sides by 
 mountains, I could conceive without difficulty the 
 impression of religious feeling which must seize on 
 the imagination of visitors, and dispose them to 
 receive the decisions of the oracle. 
 
 J. A. Buchon, La Grece continentale et la Moree. 
 
 * A little temple erected by the Greeks in honor of deified 
 heroes. 
 
XV. 
 
 MOUNT AT HO 8. 
 
 BY DR. HUNT. 
 
 On Easter Monday, after a stay of five days, we 
 set out with mules provided for us by the convent to 
 the town of Chariess, in the centre of the Peninsula, 
 where the Turkish Aga and the v council of deputies 
 from all the convents reside for the disposal of public 
 business. It was necessary to make this visit, in 
 order that our imperial firman and our letter from 
 the Greek Patriarch might be examined, and that 
 we might be informed how to make the tour of the 
 convents with the greatest ease and security. The 
 distance from Batopaidi to Chariess is two hours and 
 three quarters. About three miles from the former 
 we had a most striking view of the summit of Athos. 
 The whole ride furnishes a succession of sublime 
 Alpine scenery. Instead of the usual salutations 
 which are exchanged between travellers who meet 
 on the road, the only one we now heard was the 
 Easter congratulation, ' Christ is risen ;' to which 
 the answer is, ' He is the true God.' 
 
 Chariess is the only town in the Peninsula, 
 
208 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 situated nearly in the centre of it, on the side of a 
 natural amphitheatre, clothed with the richest ver- 
 dure, and cultivated in a manner to render it highly 
 picturesque. The meadows are so luxuriant as to 
 be cut thrice in a year, owing to the richness of the 
 soil, the complete shelter they enjoy, and the ju- 
 dicious manner in which the water is distributed by 
 irrigation. The vineyards and filbert-gardens are 
 also dressed with uncommon care. Excepting the 
 
 houses where the Aga and the council of deputies 
 reside, it contains only a few shops, which furnish 
 the monasteries with cloth, sugar, tobacco, snuff, and 
 cordials. Every Saturday a bazaar or market is 
 held there, to which the hermits repair in order to 
 sell what they have manufactured in their solitary 
 huts. Knit stockings, pictures of saints, a few 
 simple oils and essences distilled from plants, com- 
 mon knives and forks, on the horn-handles of which 
 
MOUNT ATHOS. 209 
 
 they engrave, with aqua-fortis, a series of ancient 
 Greek moral adages, compose their principal labors. 
 The trade of making manuscripts is still practised 
 by them ; many devout pilgrims preferring a psalter 
 or prayer-book written by a hermit on the holy 
 mountain to the clearest printed copy. "Women are 
 prevented from coming to the town, as well as from 
 visiting any of the convents ; nor is any Mussulman 
 permitted to have a shop there. . . . 
 
 As the road we were now about to take towards 
 Santa-Laura and the hermitages would conduct us 
 amongst crags and mountains, and to places where 
 there are few mules to be procured, we left the 
 greatest part of our baggage to be sent across the 
 Isthmus, to the convent of Xeropotamo, there to 
 await our arrival. . . . 
 
 The natural scenery here is particularly striking, 
 and the summit of Mount Athos, once consecrated 
 by the fame and altars of the Athoan Jove, rears 
 itself with awful grandeur above the surrounding 
 mountains. The manner in which the torrents, 
 breaking from the cliffs above St. Anne's, are dis- 
 tributed by a thousand little wooden aqueducts, so 
 as to water every spot of garden or vineyard, is 
 worthy of being remarked. The woods and thickets 
 in the neighborhood are extremely luxuriant, and 
 the Arachne arbutus flourishes in such profusion as 
 to supply the common fuel. The season was un- 
 favorable for our visiting the summit of Athos, 
 whence the monks assured us that all the islands of 
 the Cyclades may be seen, and even Constantinople, 
 in clear weather. They reckon it a journey of five 
 
210 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 hours from the hermitage to the top of Mount 
 Athos. 
 
 When the learned Greeks fled from Constanti- 
 nople in 1453, they took with them to Western 
 Europe their most valuable manuscripts ; those 
 which they left were probably secreted in the 
 monasteries. The libraries in the islands of the 
 sea of Marmora and of Mount Athos, of the Patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, and of St. Saba, near Jeru- 
 salem, were carefully examined by Mr. Carlyle and 
 myself. . . . 
 
 On taking leave of Father Gerasimos of Chi- 
 liantari, we congratulated him on the grace and 
 tranquillity which his little religious commonwealth 
 enjoyed in the midst of the wars and revolutions of 
 Europe ; but he replied that, on the contrary, they 
 were in a state of perpetual conflict with three most 
 powerful enemies — the devil, their own lusts, and 
 the travelling caloyers, who embezzle the alms by 
 which the convent should be supported. He accom- 
 panied us to the gate, and shaking us affectionately 
 by the hand, said he hoped he had left such an im- 
 pression of himself on our hearts that we might be 
 mutually glad to see each other if Providence ever 
 brought us again together, quoting a Turkish 
 proverb, ' That mountain never approaches moun- 
 tain, nor island island ; but that man often unex- 
 pectedly meets fellow-man.' 
 
 We had an escort assigned to us of six well- 
 armed Albanians ; our road conducted us through 
 the most picturesque and magnificent scenery ; but 
 in some places so dangerous from the precipices 
 
MOUNT ATHOS. 211 
 
 which beetle over the sea that a false step of our 
 mules might have been fatal. Six miles from 
 Chiliantari we came to the ruins of a castle called 
 Callitze ; and two miles further we halted to break- 
 fast under the shade of some Oriental planes near a 
 fountain, and the bed of a river filled with scarlet 
 oleanders and agnus castus. The spot is called 
 Paparnitz ; here we saw once more* cows and ewes 
 with their young, a proof that we had passed the 
 holy precincts. 
 
 From De. Hunt's papers. (Extract from ' Memoirs relating to 
 European and Asiatic Turkey,' edited from MS. Journals 6^/Robebt 
 
 WAIiPOLE.) 
 
 * No woman is allowed to enter the gates of any convent on 
 the holy mountain ; nor is any female animal permitted to come 
 upon the peninsula. The caloyers, or lay brothers, tell every 
 traveller that no female animal could live there or upon Mount 
 Athos, although they see doves, swallows, and other birds building 
 their nests and hatching their young in the thickets, 
 
XVI. 
 310 UNT ELBTJRZ IN THE CAUCASUS. 
 
 SIR E. K. PORTER, OCTOBER 1817. 
 
 Early in the morning we descended the northern 
 side of the town into a plain, keeping for a consider- 
 able way along the foot of some high, well- wooded 
 ground, after which we ascended again over a suc- 
 cession of lands until we reached the village and post 
 of Zergifskoy, a place situated on the slope of a con- 
 siderable hill, conspicuous even as far as Stavrapol, 
 from its being composed of whitish sand, which from 
 that distance has the appearance of snow. Here two 
 Cossacks were given me for an escort ; but how dif- 
 ferent were they, both in person and costume, from 
 my friends of the Don ! Their stature was low, their 
 visages rugged, and their garb of the wildest and 
 most savage fashion. These people belong to the 
 foot of the Caucasus ; and, as I proceeded further, 
 I found most of the inhabitants habited in a similar 
 manner. A small cloth cap, bound with sheepskin or 
 fur, fits almost close to their head ; while a short 
 vest covers their body, and, falling as far as the knee, 
 meets a pair of loose trousers, which, stuffed into 
 
MOUNT ELBUEZ. 213 
 
 boots, completes the uncouth but picturesque habili- 
 ment. Their arms are a musket slung across the 
 shoulder, protected from the damp by a hairy case ; 
 a straight sword fastened to the left side by the belt 
 round their waist ; a dagger of great breadth, and 
 also a large knife, pendent from the same. On the 
 right and left of their breast is sewn a range of nar- 
 row pockets, each large enough to hold a wooden case 
 containing a charge of powder ; the range usually 
 counts six or eight of these charges. Independent 
 of this magazine, few go without a light cartouche- 
 box attached to another belt which covers the right 
 shoulder. Their saddle and the rest of their horse 
 accoutrements differ little from the fashion of most 
 other Cossacks. But both man and horse are, in 
 some measure, protected by their "bouka" & sort of 
 cloak made of the hair of the mountain-goat, and 
 only manufactured by the mountainers. This forms 
 an excellent defence against rain or wind, when 
 brought round the body, but in mild weather it is 
 merely tied on behind. In addition to the cloak they 
 wear a hood for the protection of the face and ears, 
 called a " bashlick" No fixed color marks the uni- 
 form of the military branch of the imperial Cossacks, 
 but brown, grey, and white, seem the favorite hues. 
 On quitting Zergifskoy we mounted the height, 
 and continued travelling over a country similar to 
 that we had passed the preceding day. We hoped 
 to gain the town of Alexandroff before night, but 
 were disappointed, and obliged to halt at the village 
 of Severnaia, finding it impossible to proceed on so 
 dangerous a road after dusk. We set off, however, be- 
 
214 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 times in the morning ; and, after traversing a rather 
 uneven country, at the distance of eight or ten versts 
 from our lodgings, reached the brow of a very steep 
 hill, from whence, for the first time, I beheld the 
 stupendous mountains of Caucasus. No pen can ex- 
 press the emotion which the sudden burst of this 
 sublime range excited in my mind. I had seen almost 
 all the wildest and most gigantic chains in Portugal 
 and Spain, but none gave me an idea of the vastness 
 and grandeur of that I now contemplated. This 
 seemed Nature's bulwark between the nations of 
 Europe and of Asia. Elborus (Elburz), amongst 
 whose rocks tradition reports Prometheus to have 
 been chained, stood, clad in primeval snows, a world 
 of mountains in itself, towering above all, its white 
 and radiant summits mingling with the heavens ; 
 while the pale and countless heads of the subordi- 
 nate range, high in themselves, but far beneath its 
 altitude, stretched along the horizon till lost to sight 
 in the soft fleeces of the clouds. Several rough and 
 huge masses of black rock rose from the interme- 
 diate plain ; their size was mountainous, but being 
 viewed near the mighty Causasus, and compared 
 with them, they appeared little more than hills ; yet 
 the contrast was fine, their dark brows giving greater 
 effect to the dazzling summits which towered above 
 them. Poets hardly feign when they talk of the 
 genius of a place. I know not who could behold 
 Caucasus and not feel the spirit of its sublime soli- 
 tudes awing his soul. 
 
 After a description of a ten-days' journey, Sir 
 It. K. Porter continues : — The road lay over a con- 
 
MOUNT ELBURZ, 215 
 
 tinuation of the extensive plain, part of which we 
 had crossed the day before ; it bore a direction due 
 east. On our right rolled the Terek, breaking over 
 its stony bed, and washing with a surge, rather 
 than a flowing stream, the rocky bases of the moun- 
 tains which rise in progressive acclivities from its 
 bold shores. The day had begun to clear about 
 noon; and the dark curtain of vapors, which had 
 so long shut these stupendous hills from my sight, 
 broke away into a thousand masses of fleecy clouds ; 
 and, as they gradually glided downwards, exhaled 
 into ether, or separated across the bows of the moun- 
 tains, the vast piles of Caucasus were presented to 
 my view ; a world of themselves ; rocky, rugged, and 
 capped with snow ; stretching east and west beyond 
 the reach of vision, and shooting far into the skies. 
 It was a sight to make the senses pause ; to oppress 
 even respiration, by the weight of the impression on 
 the mind of such vast and overpowering sublimity. 
 The proud head of Elborus was yet far distant ; but 
 it rose in hoary majesty above all, the sovereign of 
 these giant mountains finely contrasting its silvery 
 diadem, the snow of ages, with the blue misty brows 
 of its intermediate subject range ; and they, being 
 yet partially shrouded in the dissolving masses of 
 white cloud, derived increased beauty from compari- 
 sons with the bold and black forms of the lower 
 mountains nearer the plains, whose rude and tower- 
 ing tops and almost perpendicular sides sublimely 
 carry the astonished eye along the awful picture ; 
 creating those feelings of terrific admiration to which 
 words can give no name. 
 
216 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 After a ride of two versts,* we reached the key 
 of the celebrated pass into Georgia, where I rejoined 
 my companions. 
 
 There is a tradition here that, during the subsid- 
 ing of the Deluge, the Ark of Noah, while floating 
 over these mountains in the direction of Ararat, its 
 place of final rest, smote the head of Elborus with 
 its keel, and the cleft it made in the mountain has 
 remained ever since. To give any color of feasibi- 
 lity to the legend it had better have represented that 
 the ark struck off the top of the one mountain in its 
 passage to the other ; for, otherwise, Elborus, tower- 
 ing as it is, being at present much lower than Ara- 
 rat, it could not have been touched at all by the 
 sacred vessel floating towards so much higher a re- 
 gion. But this oral tradition of some junction having 
 taken place between Elborus and the earliest person- 
 ages of Holy Writ, is not the only honor of the kind 
 attached to the history of this celebrated mountain. 
 Heathen tradition and classical writers affirm that 
 Elborus was the huge and savage rock of the Cau- 
 casus to which Prometheus was bound. And who 
 but iEschylus has drawn its picture ? In his pages 
 alone we find the magnitude, sublimity, and terrors 
 of that " stony girdle of the world," that quarry of 
 the globe, whence all its other mountains may seem 
 to have been chiselled; such are its wonderful 
 abysses, its vast and caverued sides and summits of 
 every form aud altitude mingling with the clouds. 
 There is still a tradition amongst the natives who 
 
 * Two English miles comprise about three versts Russian. 
 
MOUJsT ELBUBZ. 217 
 
 reside in the valleys of Elborus that the bones of an 
 enormous giant, exposed there by divine wrath, are 
 yet to be seen on its smaller summit. Indeed the 
 story is so much a matter of firm belief with the rude 
 tribes in that quarter of the Caucasus that people 
 are to be found amongst them who will swear they 
 have seen these huge remains. 
 
 Sib K. K. Poetee, Travels in Georgia, Persia, etc. 
 
XVII. 
 
 THE TAURUS MOUNTAINS OF CILICIA 
 (B UL GEAR-DA GH). 
 
 BY ELISEE RECLUS. 
 
 The appearance of the Bulghar-Dagh differs sin- 
 gularly according to the seasons. In autumn, a 
 season unfortunately chosen by the greatest number 
 of travellers, Nature has already lived its rapid and 
 fugitive life, and burnt up by the heat, it is preparing 
 for the long sleep of winter. The fields are yellow 
 like straw, and only narrow lines of verdure are 
 visible along the banks of the rivers ; even the hills 
 which rise above the narrow plain seem to hide 
 their shrubs under an immense grey veil. Beyond 
 extends, it is true, on the sides of the mountains, 
 the green zone of the conifers ; but the high peaks 
 are covered with dried-up pasture ; all vegetation 
 has faded, even to the herbs watered by the snows. 
 It might be supposed that a fire had passed over 
 this chain of mountains, whose only beauty consists 
 in the boldness and severity of its forms. But 
 the traveller who looks on Bulghar-Dagh in the joy- 
 ful season of spring, or even in the beginning of 
 
THE TAURUS MOUNTAINS. 219 
 
 summer, will have no Arabia Petrea before his 
 eyes ; he will behold a marvellous paradise of fresh- 
 ness and beauty exposed in all its splendor to a 
 southern sun. A plain, which is narrow on the 
 west, but rather wide in the direction of Tarsus, 
 extends to the base of the mountain heights, and is 
 covered with luxuriant vegetation, interrupted here 
 and there by many cultivated fields, which appear 
 almost like a chess-board. Beyond rise the first 
 hills which set off the verdure of the plain by their 
 chalky sides ; but whose summits are also crowned 
 by clumps of trees. Higher up, the spurs of the 
 mountains stretch out their promontories, which are 
 remarkable for their red ochre notches, and cut up by 
 steep fissures. The slopes which flank these spurs 
 are clothed with vast forests of cedars, firs and juni- 
 pers. A line, often indistinct to the naked eye, 
 but which the telescope reveals in all its clearness, 
 separates this zone of forests from the pastures of 
 emerald green which stretch into all the valleys 
 their fresh verdure, dotted with patches of dazzling 
 snow. Higher still rise in towers the peaks of 
 Bulghar-Dagh, like gigantic black crytals separated 
 one from the other by plates of silver. The entire 
 chain 'forms, as it were, an immense cone, whose 
 base is bathed by a sea of blue, and whose summit 
 loses itself in an atmosphere no less azure than the 
 streams. 
 
 M. Kotschy, who had ascended to the highest 
 peak of Bulghar-Dagh in 1836, in company with 
 Eussegger, wished to do so again in 1856. Full of 
 admiration of this proud mountain, Eussegger had 
 
220 MOUNTAIN ADVEN1UKES. 
 
 given it the name of Allah-Tepessi, or mountain of 
 God ; but the real name under which it is known 
 in the country is Metdesis. It may be reached 
 from Gullek, by the valley which stretches out to 
 the west of the village ; and in no part of Syria or 
 of Anatolia, not even on the slopes of Lebanon, are 
 cedars to be found so fine as those which cover the 
 slopes of this valley, even to a height of more than 
 6000 feet. Many thousand of these beautiful cedars 
 grow in splendid groups above the sea of pines, firs 
 and junipers. But, unhappily, in spite of the posi- 
 tive prohibitions of the Pacha, the shepherds have 
 a habit of firing the brambles of the high moun- 
 tains, and often these fires spread even as far as 
 the forests. During the night these conflagrations 
 resemble a flaming flood, rolling its waves along the 
 slopes ; and by day they veil the mountain in their 
 sombre smoke ; so that soon nothing is to be seen but 
 blackened trunks where there once stood splendid 
 groves. 
 
 Above the zone of the cedars, one enters into 
 that of the brambles, which takes the place of what 
 in Europe would be pasture land. In the Cilician 
 Taurus, except by the banks of its streams, one 
 seldom sees grassy slopes ; even to the foot of barren 
 rocks and wastes of snow, grow ligneous plants, 
 and bushes with foliage of a fine green. At a height 
 where on our mountains there extends a uniformly 
 grey pasture land, tufts of brilliantly-colored flowers 
 adorn the soil, introducing thus into these regions 
 a variety and a brightness of which our Alps can 
 give us no idea. 
 
THE TAURUS MOUNTAINS. 221 
 
 The ascent of the Metclesis resembles that of 
 most other snowy mountains ; one has to walk along 
 the edge of precipices, to pass through couloirs, 
 which are frightful in appearance, assisting oneself 
 with one's hands in the steepest parts, and trying 
 the depth of the snow before placing the feet upon 
 it. When a man goes straight up, as Russegger did 
 in 1836, he finds the ascent very difficult ; but much 
 of the fatigue may be avoided by making a detour 
 towards the east, and climbing first to the point 
 of the Tchubanhuju, or the Shepherd's Call, a 
 mountain so named because the young shepherds, 
 as soon as they have arrived at the summit, never 
 fail to shout their triumph to their companions who 
 are below in charge of the flocks. On the western 
 side of the Tchubanhuju, may be remarked in the 
 midst of a field of snow, a vast extent of ice which 
 might make one believe in the existence of a glacier 
 similar to those of the Alps ; but these transparent 
 and bluish masses are due to the action of a con- 
 siderable stream, which, during cold nights, melts 
 the snows near it ; then afterwards this melted snow 
 turns into ice. 
 
 The peak of the Metdesis, which is 10,800 feet 
 high, commands a very extensive horizon, " a pano- 
 rama of divine beauty," said Russegger. In the 
 first place, all the great peaks of the chain are 
 visible ; each of them being more than 10,400 feet 
 high, covered with snow on the side exposed to the 
 north wind, and showing their sombre-colored rocks 
 on the slopes which are turned towards the south. 
 On the north side the inclination of the Metdesis 
 
222 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 is suddenly interrupted by a frightful precipice ; 
 a field of eternal snow, dotted with enormous 
 stones, tills up a high valley. Spots of quiet color 
 scattered about like islands, tell of gardens and 
 orchards ; and on the north side, in one place, they 
 form a sort of archipelago. This is where the in- 
 dustrious population of Orte-Boor live. Beyond 
 this, quite on the horizon, like distant mirrors, 
 the waters of two great lakes, and the snows of 
 Erdchich, the highest point of Asia Minor, glitter 
 in the sun. Beyond all this region rise other moun- 
 tains as numberless as the waves of the sea ; while 
 on the south inferior chains are to be seen, as well 
 as the plain of Tarsus, and the blue Mediterranean. 
 By crossing the chain of mountains through one 
 of the two passes which lead over to the northern side, 
 Gejek-Deppe and the pass of Xochan, and following 
 a road which has been daringly cut over the edge of 
 the precipices, the argentiferous lead-mines of Bul- 
 ghar Maaden will be reached. These mines have 
 been" worked since 18J:2 by a hundred industrious 
 Greeks. From this charming modern village, you 
 descend into the paradise-like valley of Al-Chodcha, 
 with its innumerable orchards. It is in this valley, 
 according to the natives, that the marvellous plant 
 grows whose flowers shine like a number of sparks 
 during the night. The sheep and cattle which 
 browse on this fairy plant, chew gold, and soon theli- 
 tes th are covered with thin sheets of the precious 
 metal Those travellers who are happy enough to 
 meet with this flower of light gather it with care, 
 and almost immediately afterwards they see at their 
 
A GORGE ]N THE TAURUS 
 
MOUNT TAURUS. 223 
 
 feet another plant, whose roots are attached to ingots 
 of gold. " May you find the flower of light !" the 
 Persians say to travellers. M. Kotschy, however, 
 great botanist as he is, has not been able in all his 
 researches to discover in the Bulghar-Dagh this 
 plant with its luminous flowers. 
 Elisee Eeclus. Paysages du Taurus cilicien. Revue Germanique. 
 
 MOUNT TAUEUS. BY W. G. BROWNE, 1802. 
 
 The route from Kara-Bignar to Erakli employed 
 us about twelve hours ; the road is over a sandy 
 plain, which is little cultivated. Erakli, however, 
 is agreeably situated in the midst of gardens full of 
 fruit and forest-trees. About forty minutes from 
 the city begins the ascent of the mountainous ridge, 
 a continuation of Taurus. It employed us nearly 
 five hours to reach the summit. The Kaludjis, not 
 knowing the road, were obliged to take guides 
 from Erakli to conduct them. A little further we 
 came to a small village, near which I saw, perhaps, 
 an acre or two of cultivated land. The Turkmans 
 with their flocks, dwelling under tents, inhabit this 
 almost inaccessible region. A series of stupendous 
 bare rocks succeeds to the first summit. The air is 
 cool and salubrious, even in the hottest season ; and 
 pellucid springs give spirit and animation to the 
 scene. The summit of this primitive ridge is com- 
 posed of a large grained marble ; other calcareous 
 substances recline on its ample sides, or are up- 
 heaved by its frequent asperities. They are all of 
 
224 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 them massy rocks, without any appearance of strata. 
 A number of very ancient cedars, whose stunted 
 growth and fantastic branches cast a gloomy shade, 
 diversifying the rugged sides of the mountain. 
 
 In my visit to the Turkman tents, I remarked a 
 strong contrast between their habits and those of 
 the Bedouin Arabs. With the latter, the rights of 
 hospitality are inviolable; and while the host pos- 
 sesses a cake of bread, he feels it a duty to furnish 
 half of it to his guest ; the Turkman offers nothing 
 spontaneously, and if he furnishes a little milk or 
 butter, it is at an exorbitant price. With him it is 
 a matter of calculation whether the compendious 
 profit of a single act of plunder, or the more ignoble 
 system of receiving presents from the caravans for 
 their secure passage, be most advantageous. The 
 Arab values himself on the hasb-we-nasb, that is, 
 his ancient pedigree ; the Turk on his personal 
 prowess. With the former civility requires that 
 salutations be protracted to satiety ; the latter 
 scarcely replies to a salam aleikum. 
 
 The muleteers, who had preferred this devious 
 path to the highroad to avoid the Dellis, were now 
 alarmed at the frequent visits of the Turkmans. 
 They described me to them as an officer of Chappan 
 Oglon's retinue, employed to communicate with the 
 English fleet on the coast, an explanation which ap- 
 peared to satisfy them ; and fortunately I was able 
 to support that character. It is to be observed that 
 Chappan Oglon has a large military force at his 
 disposal, and administers justice with a rod of iron. 
 His vengeance pursues on eagle's wings the slightest 
 
MOUNT TAURUS. 225 
 
 transgression against his authoiity. Our precau- 
 tions at night were redoubled ; and I divided the 
 time into two watches, which I ordered my ser- 
 vant to share with me, but the disposition to sleep 
 having speedily got the better of his vigilance, 
 a pipe, although carefully placed under the carpet 
 on which I slept, was stolen unperceived before 
 morning. 
 
 The dress of the Turkmans consists of a large 
 striped and fringed turban, fastened in a manner 
 peculiar to themselves ; or sometimes of a simple 
 high-crowned cap of white felt. A vest, usually 
 white, is thrown over the shirt ; the Agas superadd 
 one of cloth ; and in general, and in proportion to 
 their rank and wealth, they approximate to the 
 dress of the capital. But the common people wear 
 a short jacket of various colors. A cincture is 
 indispensably required, in which are fixed an enor- 
 mous yatagar and pistol. 
 
 -Many of them wear half boots, red or yellow, 
 laced to the leg ; the dress of the women is a 
 colored vest, and a piece of white cotton cloth on 
 the head, covering part of the face. They are mas- 
 culine and active, performing all the harder kinds 
 of labor required by the family. Their features 
 are good, but not pleasing. The men are gener- 
 ally muscular, and well proportioned; tall, straight, 
 and active. Their teeth are white and regular ; 
 their eyes are often extremely piercing ; and there 
 is an air of uncommon boldness in their counten- 
 ances and mode of p.Jdress. Their complexions are 
 clear, but sunburnt. In a word, they have every- 
 
226 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 thing that denotes exhaustless health and vigor of 
 body. A great resemblance is visible between them 
 and the populace of Constantinople ; but the latter 
 appear effeminate by the comparison. Every 
 action and every motion of the Turkman is marked 
 by dignity and grace. Their language is clear and 
 sonorous, but less soft than that of the capital ; ex- 
 pressing, as may be conceived, no abstract ideas, 
 for which the Turkish is indebted to the Arabic 
 alone ; but, fitted to paint the stronger passions, 
 and to express in the most forcible manner and la- 
 conic terms, the mandates of authority. Their 
 riches consist of cattle, horses, arms, and various 
 habiliments. How lamentable to think that with 
 persons so interesting, and a character so energetic, 
 they unite such confirmed habits of idleness, vio- 
 lence, and treachery. From the rising of the sun 
 till his disappearance the males are employed only 
 in smoking, conversing, inspecting their cattle, or 
 visiting their acquaintance. They watch at night 
 for the purpose of plunder, which, among them, is 
 honorable in proportion to the ingenuity of the con- 
 trivance or the audacity of the execution. Their 
 families are generally small, and there is reason to 
 think that their number is not increasing. 
 
 The destructive locust has not spared even the 
 solitary domain of these wandering tribes. An in- 
 finity of junipers and cedars overspread the first 
 descent of the mountain, which is long and steep, 
 and covered with loose stones. Those near the 
 summit are granite and hornblende ; lower down, 
 limestone is the prevailing substance. The dwarf 
 
MOUNT TAURUS. 227 
 
 elder, whose odor is very agreeable, skirts the moun- 
 tain to a certain height. The route from Erakli to 
 Tarsus occupied in the whole about twenty-nine 
 hours. On the third day we rode for about a mile 
 through the bed of a torrent, now dry, but occa- 
 sionally flowing between lofty and tremendous 
 rocks. We soon after ascended another range in- 
 ferior in height to the first ; having crossed it we 
 continued our journey through a beautifully wooded 
 valley in which there are a great variety of orna- 
 mental trees and shrubs. On one side is a precipice 
 descending to the dry bed of a torrent, and on both, 
 lofty and almost perpendicular rocks shaded with 
 the most luxuriant verdure. A few spots might be 
 remarked which were capable of cultivation ; but 
 the valley contained many fragments of granite, 
 micaceous schistus and limestone. 
 
 From the last resting-place another descent 
 ensued, which at length brought us into an exten- 
 sive plain, shortly afterwards to Tarsus, distant 
 about three hours from the sea. 
 
 W. G. Beown, 1802. From Walpole's Turkey, 
 
XYin. 
 
 MOUNT LEBANON. 
 
 ASCENT BY LORD LINDSAY IN 1837. 
 
 Starting from Deir el Akhruar, at a quarter past 
 four in the morning, and ascending through woods 
 of prickly oak and vselonidi, we reached in three 
 hours the ruined village Ainnet, from which begin 
 the steep ridges of Lebanon. All the trees ceased 
 now, except a species of dwarf cedar, emitting a 
 delicious fragrance, which replaced them, and con- 
 tinued, though diminishing in number, almost to 
 the summit. The rocky slope of the mountain is 
 covered with yellow, white, red, and pink flowers, 
 affording delicious food to the bees ,of Lebanon : 
 their honey is excellent. At eight we came in 
 sight of Lake Leman of the East, or Yemouni, as 
 every one pronounced it, lying to the south, em- 
 bosomed between the upper and lower ridges. An 
 hour afterwards, we reached an immense wreath of 
 snow, lying on the breast of the mountain, just be- 
 low that summit ; and from that summit, five min- 
 utes afterwards, what a prospect opened before us ! 
 Two vast ridges of Lebanon, curving westwards from 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 229 
 
 the central spot where we stood, like horns of a 
 bent bow or the wings of a theatre, run down towards 
 the sea, breaking in their descent into a hundred 
 minor hills, between which, unseen, unheard, and 
 through as deep, and dark, and jagged a chasm as 
 ever yawned, the Kadisha, or Sacred River of Le- 
 banon, rushes down to the Mediterranean, the blue 
 and boundless Mediterranean, which, far on the west 
 horizon, meets and mingles with the sky. Our eyes 
 coming home again, after roving over this noble 
 view, we had leisure to observe a small group of 
 trees, not larger, apparently, than a clump in an 
 English park at the very foot of the northern 
 wing or horn of this grand natural theatre : — these 
 were the far-famed cedars. We were an hour and 
 twenty minutes in reaching them, the descent being 
 very precipitous and difficult. As we entered the 
 grove, the air was quite perfumed with their odor, 
 " the smell of Lebanon " so celebrated by the pen of 
 inspiration. 
 
 We halted under one of the largest trees, in- 
 scribed with De La Borde's name on one side, and 
 De La Martine's on the other. But do not think 
 that we were sacrilegious enough to wound these 
 glorious trees ; there are few English names com- 
 paratively, I am happy to say, — I would as soon cut 
 my name on the wall of a church. 
 
 Several generations of cedars, all growing promis- 
 cuously together, compose this beautiful grove. The 
 younger are very numerous ; the second-rate would 
 form a noble wood of themselves, were even the pat- 
 riarchal dynasty quite extinct, — one of them, by no 
 
230 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 means the largest, measures nineteen feet and a 
 quarter in circumference, and, in repeated instances, 
 two, three, and four large trunks spring from a sin- 
 gle root, but they have all a fresher appearance than 
 the patriarchs, and straighter stems, — straight as 
 young palm-trees. Of the giants, there are seven 
 standing very near each other, all on the same hill ; 
 three more, a little further on, nearly in a line with 
 them, and, in a second walk of discovery, after my 
 companions had lain down to rest, I had the pleasure 
 of detecting two others low down on the northern 
 edge of the grove, twelve therefore in all, of which 
 the ninth from the south is the smallest, but even 
 that bears tokens of antiquity coeval with its 
 brethren. 
 
 The stately bearing and graceful repose of the 
 young cedars contrast singularly with the wild and 
 frantic attitude of the old ones, flinging abroad their 
 knotted and muscular limbs like so many Laocoons, 
 while others, broken off, lie rotting at their feet ; but 
 life is strong in them all, they look as if they had 
 been struggling for existence with evil spirits, and 
 God had interposed and forbidden the war, that the 
 trees He planted might remain living witnesses to 
 faithless men of that ancient " Glory of Lebanon," — 
 Lebanon, the emblem of the righteous, — which de- 
 parted from her when Israel rejected Christ ; her 
 vines drooping, her trees few, that a child may 
 number them, she stands blighted, a type of the 
 unbeliever! And blighted she must remain till 
 her second spring, the day of renovation from the 
 presence of the Lord, when, at the voice of God, 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 231 
 
 Israel shall spring anew to life, and the cedar and 
 the vine, the olive of Carmel and the rose of Sharon, 
 emblems of the moral graces of God, reflected in 
 His people, shall revive in the wilderness, to beautify 
 the place of His sanctuary and to make the place of 
 His feet glorious, to swell the chorus of Universal 
 Nature to the praise of the living God. 
 
 We had intended proceeding that evening to 
 Psherre, but no, we could not resolve to leave those 
 glorious trees so soon, the loveliest, the noblest, the 
 holiest, in the wide world. The tent was pitched, 
 and we spent the rest of the day under their 
 " shadowy shroud." Oh, what a church that grove 
 is ! Never did I think Solomon's Song so beautiful, 
 and that most noble chapter of Ezekiel, the thirty- 
 first, I had read it on the heights of Syene, Egypt 
 on my right hand, and Ethiopia on my left, with 
 many other denunciations (how awfully fulfilled !) 
 of desolations against Pathros, and judgments upon 
 No, — but this was the place to enjoy it, lying under 
 one of those vast trees, looking up every now and 
 then into its thick boughs, the little birds warbling, 
 and a perpetual hum of insect life pervading the air 
 with its drowsy melody. Eden is close by, — these 
 are " the trees of Eden," " the choicest and best of 
 Lebanon," these are the trees (there can be none 
 nobler) which Solomon spoke of, " from the cedar of 
 Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall," the object of 
 repeated allusion and comparison throughout the 
 Bible, — the emblem of the righteous in David's 
 Sabbath hymn, and, honor upon honor, the like- 
 
232 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 ness of the countenance of the Son of God in the 
 inspired Canticles of Solomon. 
 
 Our encampment was very picturesque that 
 night, the fire throwing a strong light on the cedar 
 that o'ercanopied us : those enormous arms, of 
 ghastly whiteness, seemed almost alive and about to 
 grasp and catch us up into the thick darkness they 
 issued from. 
 
 The direct road from the cedars to the village 
 of Eden is little more than two hours ; we were de- 
 sirous, however, of seeing the famous Convent of 
 Canubin (or Anubin, as they pronounced it, always 
 dropping the initial C), and accordingly, on arriving 
 at Psherre, after an hour and twenty minutes' ride, 
 we sent on the baggage direct under Allwyn's care, 
 who was not well enough to accompany us. 
 
 The descent to Psherre (the Beshirai of the 
 maps) was very precipitous, but nothing to what 
 awaited us beyond it; the village lies in a lovely 
 valley, all verdant with vines and fruit-trees, and 
 musical with cascades ; and the breezes of Lei anon, 
 — who that has ever quaffed can forget them ? To 
 the east, on the slope of the valley, stands the Con- 
 vent of Mar Serkis, almost concealed among thick 
 groves, with a very remarkable pointed rock arising 
 over it. Our route lay westwards, along the edge 
 of the ravine, broken every now and then by deep 
 gullies, descending from the northern Lebanon, each 
 with its torrent dashing down from the mountains, 
 and sometimes forming beautiful cascades over the 
 rocks, light clouds of spray hovering over their de- 
 scent. We passed the- village Hatsheit at nine, and 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 233 
 
 that of Belansi at ten, both situated on the edge of 
 the chasm ; looking eastwards from this point to- 
 wards its head, we saw the river Kadisha, like a 
 silver thread descending from Lebanon. The whole 
 scene bore that strange and shadowy resemblance to 
 the wonderful landscape delineated in "Kubla 
 Khan," that one often feels in actual life, when the 
 whole scene around you appears to be re-enacting 
 after a long interval, your friends seated in the same 
 juxtaposition, the subject of conversation the same, 
 and shifting with the same " dream-like ease," that 
 you remember at some remote indefinite period of 
 pre-existence ; you always know what will come 
 next, and sit spell-bound as it were in a sort of 
 calm expectancy. One would almost have thought 
 Coleridge had been here in some such vision, or at 
 least that some such description of the valley had 
 been unconsciously lingering on his memory, — the 
 general resemblance between the scene he has 
 painted and that before us is so striking. I dare 
 not insist on the coincidence of there being "a 
 sacred river " in both landscapes, in proof of their 
 identity, " there is a river in Macedon, and there is 
 a river at Monmouth ; it is called the Wye at Mon- 
 mouth ; it is out of my province what is the name 
 of the other river, but it is all one, and so like as my 
 fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmon in 
 both !" 
 
 Beyond Belansi we began the descent to Canubin 
 by a very difficult path, occasionally hewn into rude 
 steps. This magnificent ravine (I speak of it gene- 
 rally, as we viewed it from different points) is of 
 
234: MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 immense depth, broken into vast hollows, overhung 
 with trees, chiefly prickly oaks, and shooting into 
 pinnacles, between which the mountain torrents 
 rush down on all sides, some of them forming beau- 
 tiful cascades, many hundred feet in height. At 
 Canubin, however, the voice even of the Kadisha is 
 scarcely heard ; a profound silence reigns, all is 
 grandeur, but grandeur in repose, — the choicest 
 place in the world for dreaming away one's life in 
 monastic inactivity. The convent hangs about 
 two-thirds down the precipice, partly built up 
 against, partly excavated in the rocks ; it looks as 
 if held by cramping irons in its present position, so 
 deep is the abyss below, so menacing the rocks that 
 overhang it. 
 
 Here, in winter only, resides the Batrah, or 
 Patriarch, of the Maronites : we had expected to 
 see him, but were disappointed to hear that he had 
 flown off with all the brethren to Adiman, their 
 summer residence on the top of the mountain op- 
 posite. 
 
 Several leaves of the Syriac Bible alighted at our 
 feet as we rode up to the gate, and a lay-Maronite, 
 who made his appearance at the window above it, 
 seemed quite indifferent to their fate. He informed 
 us, in addition to the unwelcome news of the Bat- 
 rah's absence, that there was nothing in the con- 
 vent for man or beast. This did not at all coin- 
 cide with our plans, which were to rest there a few 
 hours, feed our horses and ourselves, and then pro- 
 ceed in the afternoon to Eden ; we, therefore, the 
 gate being open, took possession of the monastery, 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 235 
 
 searched and discovered corn in abundance, fed our 
 horses, established ourselves in the pleasantest 
 place we could find, and then tried to persuade the 
 Maronite that food for man was also producible, 
 assuring him, as we did from the first, that we had 
 feloush enough to pay for it. All persuasion was 
 in vain till a sort of major-domo arrived, to whom 
 intelligence had been sent of the capture of the con- 
 vent ; from that moment all was cordial hospitality, 
 — he unlocked a small room, furnished with mats, 
 produced some of the sweet red wine of Lebanon, 
 and, by degrees, the most sumptuous dejeuner a la 
 fourchette we had seen for many a day made its ap- 
 pearance, — salad, cheese, grapes honey, and dibs, a 
 syrup expressed from grapes, and delicious Arab 
 bread, — a meal for princes ! 
 
 Duriug the glow of victory, for we virtually re- 
 signed our conquest the moment that hospitable 
 thoughts were evinced by the rightful proprietors, 
 we explored the convent as thoroughly as a lingering 
 respect for bolts and bars permitted. There is no- 
 thing worth seeing except the church, which is a 
 large and beautiful grotto cut lengthways in the 
 rock that overhangs the monastery. The portraits 
 of the patriarchs mentioned by old travellers, no 
 longer line its walls, but there are several paintings 
 of a character superior to that one would expect to 
 see in such an out-of-the-way place, — daubs, but 
 done in Italy ; the best of them was an assumption 
 of the Virgin over the altar. In, and on a press 
 in the church, lay many books and manuscripts, the 
 former chiefly printed at Rome by the Propaganda, 
 
236 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 some of the latter most beautifully written, — all in 
 Arabic, I suppose, but in the Syriac character. The 
 Bible to which the leaves that flew out of the win- 
 dow with such empressement to welcome us be- 
 longed, lay in a small apartment at the end of a 
 long gallery built up against the rock, and over- 
 looking the gate. 
 
 After a hearty meal and comfortable siesta we 
 remounted, and with the major-domo as guide, a 
 merry and good-humored fellow, re-ascended the 
 gorge we had come down by, but up its western 
 side. We presently passed a small chapel cut in 
 the rock ; the whole valley, indeed, is full of the 
 excavated dwellings of ancient hermits. The scenery 
 was still more beautiful at this evening hour, the 
 southern declivity all shadow, except the salient 
 points of rock. 
 
 After about an' hour's ascent we came in sight 
 of the vale of Eden, with the village on the 
 northwest side of it, so that we had to wind round 
 the head of the valley to reach it, — there is no 
 cutting across country in Mount Lebanon, and who 
 would wish to do so, and abridge his enjoyment? 
 Above, below, around you, wherever you cast your 
 eyes, man and nature vie with each other in beauti- 
 fying and enriching the landscape. Man affording 
 nature a field to display her bounty upon, by ter- 
 racing the hills to their very summits, that not a 
 particle of their soil may be lost, — Nature in reward- 
 ing his toil by the richest luxuriance, pouring grain 
 into his lap, and wine into his cup, without measure. 
 The slopes, too, of the valleys one mass of verdure, 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 237 
 
 are yet more productive than the hills, thanks " to 
 the springs of Lebanon " that come gushing down 
 so fresh and cool and melodious in every direction, 
 — vines twine around and hang in garlands from 
 every tree; mulberries are cultivated in immense 
 quantities, with houses for the silk-worms, of dry 
 branches or matting, bound with reeds, built be- 
 tween the trees ; they never pluck off the leaves, 
 but cut whole boughs off for the silk-worms ; the 
 trees, however, are little injured in appearance, as 
 many boughs as are seen on a young fig-tree being 
 left untouched on each. The fig-trees are beautiful, 
 the apricots delicious, and as common as apples in 
 England. Walnut-trees of majestic growth and 
 beautiful produce, flourish beside the deep torrent- 
 beds, along with the weeping willow and Lombardy 
 poplar, the only unfruitful trees in this garden of 
 Eden ; for all I have said, though descriptive gene- 
 rally of the valleys of this part of Lebanon, applies 
 strictly to that we have just descended to from Ca- 
 nubin. And then the cordial greeting of the country 
 people, poor, but all seemingly happy and contented, 
 and as like each other in features as brothers and 
 sisters, — a smile on every woman's countenance, all 
 of them unveiled, and some very pretty, the steeples 
 of the village churches peeping out through the 
 trees, and the bells answering each other across the 
 ravines every morning and evening, were moral 
 charms that doubled the attractions of the scenery ; 
 we felt ourselves in a Christian country and almost 
 among brethren. 
 
 Eden is built on a lofty ridge, extremely pre- 
 
238 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 cipitous, its sides supported by terraces, wherever 
 it has been possible to introduce them, planted with 
 vines, mulberries, and corn. A considerable tor- 
 rent, augmented in its course by minor rills, flowing 
 in cascades from the hills, rushes down a deep ra- 
 vine towards the south. We reached the village 
 after a quarter-of-an-hour's ascent from the bridge, 
 and found our friend Allwyn encamped near a cas- 
 cade in a magnificent grove of walnut-trees. Pell 
 and I, pursuant to his advice, started off immediate- 
 ly on foot for the brow of a hill about twenty min- 
 utes distant to catch the sunset view of the western 
 side of Lebanon ; it was superb ! Tripoli was con- 
 cealed by the rising ground, but the headland, the 
 part where the merchants reside, the vessels, the 
 towers, remnants of the old fortifications of the 
 knightly Berengers, were clearly visible, and the 
 seaward course of Kadisha, distinguishable at inter- 
 vals by its snow-white foam. More to the south, 
 we saw the bold headland near Batroun, the moun- 
 tain that hid Djibail, etc., etc., and, beyond all, the 
 Mediterranean . 
 
 A crowd of villagers congregated under the 
 trees in front of our tent that night : children were 
 romping about, some one was modulating the shep- 
 herd's reed not unmelodiously, it was a more cheer- 
 ful scene than I ever witnessed in the lowlands of 
 Syria or Palestine, where the merry-hearted sigh 
 and the mirth of the tabret has almost ceased in 
 the land. * * * 
 
 We returned to Psherre, by the direct route, the 
 following afternoon, with the intention of proceed- 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 239 
 
 ing to Zachli, by Akoura and Afka, along the 
 heights of Lebanon and thence to Damascus. 
 Burckkardt is the only traveller I know of who has 
 taken this route ; and a most sublime and beautiful 
 one it is, so far as Akoura and Afka, beyond which 
 I cannot speak of it, the guide having led us, either 
 ignorantly or knavishly, into another road. 
 
 Loed Lindsay, Letters on Egypt, Edom, and the Holy Land. 
 
XIX. 
 MOUNT ARARAT. 
 
 BY SIR ROBT. KER PORTER, NOV. 1817. 
 
 On leaving our halting-place, a fuller view of the 
 great plain of Ararat gradually expanded before us, 
 and the mountain itself began to tower in all its 
 majesty to the very canopy of heaven. It bore 
 southeast from the line of our caravansary. We 
 now took a descending position, due east over a 
 stony and difficult road, which carried us, for more 
 than ten versts, through several close and rocky 
 denies, and over as many frozen streams, till we 
 reached a small Mahometan village on the side of 
 the Mosduan hills. We halted there for the night, 
 and, for the first time, I slept under the roof of a 
 Mussulman. My goodly escort had already made 
 themselves acquainted with the substance of the 
 honest people ; for, in our way to the village, some 
 of them spied a flock of sheep with their shepherd, 
 at a little distance on the plain, and starting away 
 scoured off immediately towards them. Not guess- 
 ing their intentions, I supposed they were aware of 
 the approach of some hostile band, and were charg- 
 
 i 
 
MOUNT ARARAT. 241 
 
 ing to meet them. My surprise, therefore, was 
 rather excited when I saw them plunge into the mass 
 of the flock, the shepherd run for his life, and in a 
 few minutes the troop return with their spoils, — two 
 or three sheep with their throats cut, which were 
 soon skinned, dressed, and eaten. This was nothing 
 more, in their opinion, than a mere exercise of 
 their horses ; a chcvppow (or fray), as much their 
 right as the air they breathe, and as little to be 
 complained against by the owner of the sheep as the 
 gathering of a few turnips in a neighbor's field 
 might be by some of us, though it certainly was 
 something new to an Englishman of the nineteenth 
 century to find himself thus at the head of a band 
 with such habits. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th of Nov. (O. S.) we 
 left our hospitable Mussulmans ; for whether they 
 were so inclined or overawed by the fierce looks 
 and glittering arms of my attendants, I will not 
 pretend to say, but I had no reason to complain 
 of their want of civility. We set forth over a road 
 as hard as that of the day before, in a direction 
 southeast, and gradually descending from a great 
 height through a very extended sloping country, 
 towards the immense plain of Ararat. In our way 
 we passed the relics of a considerable town called 
 Talish. A little further we saw the ruins of what 
 had been a fine caravansary on the side of a moun- 
 tain stream, and from amidst the mouldering 
 walls, we observed a few half-starved wretches creep- 
 ing to the air, as if that were their only aliment. 
 Indeed, sterility seemed to have been the curse of 
 
242 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 this immediate spot. Not a trace of verdure was 
 discoverable on the ground ; all parts were covered 
 with volcanic stones, or rather masses of cinders, as 
 if thrown from an iron forge, — black, heavy, and 
 honey-combed. Lower down, upon this long de- 
 clivity, rises a mound of earth and rock, which in 
 
 Monnt Ararat. 
 
 any neighborhood but that of Ararat, would be 
 called a mountain. Here it appears scarcely a hill. 
 Its form and substance are evidently those of an 
 extinguished volcano ; but in what age it has been 
 at work, we have not means to guess ; no authors 
 
MOUNT ARARAT. 243 
 
 of established verity, ancient or modern, having 
 said one word of any known volcanic eruption in 
 the region of Ararat. Besides the cinders above 
 mentioned, I observed in several places during our 
 downward march large portions of rock, of a soft 
 red stone, bearing likewise the marks of calcination. 
 As the vale opened beneath us in our descent 
 my whole attention became absorbed in the view 
 before me. A vast plain, peopled with countless 
 villages, the towers and spires of the churches of Eitch 
 mai-adzan, arising from amidst them, the glittering 
 waters of the Araxes, flowing through the fresh green 
 of the vale ; and the subordinate range of mountains 
 skirting the base of the awful monument of the 
 antediluvian world. It seemed to stand a stupen- 
 dous link in the history of man, uniting the two 
 races of man, before and after the flood. But it 
 was not until we arrived upon the flat plain that I 
 beheld Ararat in all its amplitude of grandeur. 
 From the spot on which I stood it appeared as if 
 the largest mountains of the world had been piled 
 upon each other to form this one sublime immensity 
 of earth, and rock, and snow. The icy peaks of its 
 double heads rose majestically into the clear and 
 cloudless heaven ; the sun blazed bright upon them 
 and the reflection sent forth a dazzling radiance 
 equal to other suns. This point of the view united 
 the utmost grandeur of plain and height. Bat the 
 feelings I experienced while looking on the moun- 
 tain are hardly to be described. My eye, not able 
 to rest for any length of time upon the blinding 
 glory of its summits, wandered down the apparently 
 
24A MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 interminable sides, till I could no longer trace their 
 vast lines in the mists of the horizon ; when an. 
 irrepressible impulse, immediately carrying my eye 
 upwards again, refixed my gaze upon the awful glare 
 of Ararat ; and this bewildered sensibility of sight 
 being answered by a similar feeling in the mind, for 
 some moments I was lost in a strange suspension of 
 the powers of thought. 
 
 Agridagh is the name given to this sublime 
 mountain by the Turks ; and the Armenians call it 
 Malis ; but all unite in revering it as the haven of 
 the great ship which preserved the father of man- 
 kind from the waters of the deluge. The height of 
 Ararat has never yet been measured with any satis- 
 factory degree of accuracy ; though Capt. Monteith, 
 of the Madras Engineers, has gone nearer to the 
 mark, perhaps, than any other traveller. . . These 
 inaccessible summits have never been trodden by the 
 foot of man since the days of Noah, if even then ; 
 for my idea is, that the ark rested in the space be- 
 tween these heads, and not on the top of either. 
 Various attempts have been made, in different ages, 
 to ascend these tremendous mountain-pyramids, but 
 in vain. Their form, snows, and glaciers, are in- 
 surmountable obstacles, the distance being so great, 
 from the commencement of the icy region to the 
 highest point, cold alone would be the destruction 
 of any person who should ha^ve the hardihood to 
 persevere.* 
 
 * Nevertheless, this ascent was accomplished in 1850, by Col, 
 Khodzko. 
 
MOUNT AEARAT. 245 
 
 On viewing Mount Ararat from the northern side 
 of the plain its two heads are separated by a wide 
 cleft, or rather glen, in the body of the mountain. 
 The rocky side of the greater head runs almost per- 
 pendicularly down to the northeast, while the lesser 
 head rises from the sloping bosom of the cleft in a 
 perfectly conical shape. Both heads are covered 
 with snow. The form of the greater is similar to 
 the lesser, only broader and rounder at the top, and 
 shows to the northwest a broken and abrupt front, 
 opening, about half-way down, into a stupendous 
 chasm, deep, rocky, and peculiarly black. At that 
 part of the mountain, the hollow of the chasm re- 
 ceives an interruption from the projections of minor 
 mountains, which start from the sides of Ararat, like 
 branches from the root of a tree, and run along in 
 undulating progression till lost in the distant vapors 
 of the plain. 
 
 The dark chasm which I have mentioned as 
 being on the side of the great head of the mountain, 
 is supposed by some travellers to have been the 
 exhausted crater of Ararat. Dr. Benizzi even 
 affirms it, by stating that, in the year 1783, during 
 certain days of the months of January and February, 
 an eruption took place in that mountain ; and he 
 suggests the probability of the burning ashes ejected 
 thence at that time, reaching to the southern side of 
 the Caucasus (a distance in a direct line of two hun- 
 dred and twenty versts) ; and so depositing the vol- 
 canic productions which are found there. The reason 
 he gives for this latter supposition is, that the trapp 
 seen there did not originate in those mountains, 
 
246 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 and must, consequently, have been sent thither by 
 volcanic explosions elsewhere. And that this else- 
 where, which he concludes to be Ararat, may have 
 been that mountain, I do net pretend to dispute ; 
 but these events must have taken place many 
 centuries ago, even before history took note of the 
 spot ; for, since that period, we have no intimation 
 whatever of any part of Ararat having been seen in 
 a burning state. This part of Asia was well known 
 to the ancient historians, from being the seat of 
 certain wars they describe ; and it cannot be sup- 
 posed that, had so conspicuous a mountain been 
 often, or ever (within the knowledge of man) in a 
 state of volcanic eruption, we should not have heard 
 of it from Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, or others ; but, 
 on the contrary, all these writers are silent on such 
 a subject with regard to Ararat ; while every one 
 who wrote in the vicinities of Etna or of Vesuvius 
 had something to say of the thunders and molten 
 fires of those mountains. That there are volcanic 
 remains, to a vast extent, around Ararat, every 
 person who visits its neighborhood must testify ; 
 and, giving credit to Dr. Benigg's assertion, that an 
 explosion of the mountain had happened in his 
 time, I determined to support so interesting a fact, 
 with the evidence of every observation on my part, 
 when I should reach the spot. But, on arriving at 
 the monastery of Eitch-mai-adza, where my remarks 
 must chiefly be made, and discoursing with the 
 fathers on the idea of Ararat having been a volcano, 
 I found that a register of the general appearance of 
 the mountain had been regularly kept by their pre- 
 
MOUNT ARARAT. 247 
 
 decessors and themselves, for upwards of eight hun- 
 dred years ; and that nothing of an eruption, or any 
 thing tending to such an event, was to be found on 
 any one of these notices. When I spoke of an ex- 
 plosion of the mountain having taken place in the 
 year 1783, and which had been made known to 
 Europe by a traveller declaring himself to have 
 been an eye-witness, they were all in surprise ; and, 
 besides the written documents to the contrary, I was 
 assured by several of the holy brethren, who had 
 been resident in the plain for upwards of forty years, 
 that during the whole of that period they had never 
 seen even a smoke from the mountain. Therefore, 
 how the author in question fell into so very erro- 
 neous a misstatement, I can form no guess. 
 
 ISjb 11. K. Poetek, Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, eto. 
 
XX. 
 
 MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 ASCENT BY DR. ROBINSON, MAKCH 1838. 
 
 The lower and easier road from Wady-et-Taiyibeh 
 to Sinai enters the Feiran from the head of Wady 
 Mukatteb, and follows it up Wady-esh-Sheikh almost 
 to the convent. From the point where we now 
 were, this road is long and circuitous ; while a 
 shorter one strikes directly towards the convent, 
 ascending in part by a narrow and difficult pass. 
 We took the latter ; and, crossing Wady-esh-Sheikh, 
 proceeded on a course S.E. by S., up to the broad 
 Wady, or rather sloping plain, Es-Seheb, thickly 
 studded with shrubs, but without trees. Here and 
 around Wady-esh-Sheikh are only low hills, lying 
 between the rocky mountains behind us and the 
 cliff of Sinai before us ; and forming, as it were, a 
 lower belt around the lofty central granite region. 
 Over these walls, — low walls of porphyry or grun- 
 stein, — like those above described, run in various 
 directions, stretching off to a great distance. 
 
 We came to the top of the plain at a quarter 
 
MOUNT SINAI. 249 
 
 before eleven o'clock, where is a sharp, but rough, 
 pass, full of debris, having on the right a low, sharp 
 peak called El-Orf. From this point to the base of 
 the cliffs of Sinai there is a sort of belt or track of 
 gravel or sand, full of low hills and ridges. 
 
 The black and frowning mountains before us, 
 the outworks, as it were, of Sinai, are here seen to 
 great advantage, rising abrupt and rugged from 
 their very base, eight hundred to a thousand feet in 
 height ; as if forbidding all approach to the sanc- 
 tuary within. 
 
 At half-past twelve o'clock we began gradually 
 to ascend towards the foot of the pass before us, 
 called by our Arabs Mukb Hawy, Windy Pass, and 
 by Burckhardt Mukb-er-Rahah, from the tract 
 above it. We reached the foot at a quarter past 
 one o'clock, and, dismounting, commenced* the slow 
 and toilsome ascent along the narrow defile, about 
 S. by E., between blackened shattered cliffs of 
 granite, some eight hundred feet high, and not 
 more than two hundred and fifty yards apart ; which 
 every moment threatened to send down their ruins 
 on our heads. Nor is this at all times an empty 
 threat ; for the* whole pass is filled with large stones 
 and rocks, the debris of these cliffs. The bottom 
 is a deep and narrow watercourse, where the 
 wintry torrent sweeps down with fearful violence. 
 A path has been made for camels along the shelving 
 piles of rocks, partly by removing the topmost 
 blocks, and sometimes by laying down large stones 
 side by side, somewhat in the manner of a Swiss 
 mountain road. But although I had crossed the 
 
250 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 most rugged passes of the Alps, and made from 
 Chamounix the whole circuit of Mont Blanc, I had 
 never found a path so rude and difficult as that we 
 were now ascending. The camels toiled slowly and 
 painfully along, stopping frequently ; so that, al- 
 though it took them two hours and a quarter to 
 reach the top of the pass, yet the distance cannot 
 be reckoned at more than one hour. . . . Higher up 
 the path lies in the bed of the torrent, and became 
 less steep. As we advanced the sand was occa- 
 sionally moist, and on digging into it with the hand, 
 the hole was soon filled with fine sweet water. We 
 tried the experiment in several places. Here, too, 
 were several small palm-trees, and a few tufts of 
 grass, the first we had seen since leaving the borders 
 of the Nile. Burckhardt mentions a spring, called 
 Kaneitan, in this part of the pass ; but it was now 
 dry; at least we neither saw nor heard of any. In 
 the pass we found upon the rocks two Sinaitic in- 
 scriptions, one of them having over it a cross of the 
 same date. 
 
 It was half-past three o'clock when we reached 
 the top, from which the convent was said to be an 
 hour distant, but we found it two hours, as did also 
 Burckhardt. Descending a little into a small Wady, 
 which has its head here, and runs off through a cleft 
 in the western mountains, apparently to Wady 
 Budhwah, we soon began to ascend again gradually 
 on a course S.E. by S., passing by a small spring of 
 good water, beyond which the valley opens by 
 degrees, and its bottom becomes less uneven. Here 
 the interior and loftier peaks of the great circle of 
 
MOUNT SINAI. 251 
 
 Sinai began to open upon us, black, rugged, de- 
 solate summits ; and as we advance, the dark and 
 frowning front of Sinai itself (the present Horeb of 
 the monks) began to appear. We were still gra- 
 dually ascending, and the valleys gradually opening, 
 but as yet all was a naked desert. Afterwards a few 
 shrubs were sprinkled about, and a small encamp- 
 ment of black tents was seen on our right, with 
 camels and goats browsing, and a few donkeys be- 
 longing to the convent. The scenery through which 
 we now passed reminded me strongly of the moun- 
 tain around the Mer de Glace in Switzerland. I had 
 never seen a spot more wild and desolate. 
 
 As we advanced, the valley still opened wider 
 and wider, with a gentle ascent, and became full of 
 shrubs and tufts of herbs, shut in on each side by 
 lofty granite ridges with rugged, shattered peaks a 
 thousand feet high, while the face of Horeb rose 
 directly before us. Both my companion and myself 
 involuntarily exclaimed, ' Here is room enough for 
 a large encampment !' Beaching the top of the 
 ascent, or water-shed, a fine broad plain lay before 
 us, sloping down gently towards the S.S.E., enclosed 
 by rugged and venerable mountains of dark granite, 
 stern, naked, splintered peaks and ridges, of inde- 
 scribable grandeur, and terminated at the distance 
 of more than a mile by the bold and awful front of 
 Horeb, rising perpendicularly in frowning majesty 
 from twelve to fifteen hundred feet in height. It was 
 a scene of solemn grandeur, wholly unexpected, and 
 such as we had never seen ; and the associations 
 which at the moment rushed upon our minds were 
 
252 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 almost overwhelming. As we went on, new points 
 of interest were continually opening to our view. 
 On the left of Horeb a deep and narrow valley runs 
 up S.S.E. between lofty walls of rock, as if in con- 
 tinuation of the S.E. corner of the plain. In this 
 valley, at the distance of nearly a mile from the 
 plain, stands the convent, and the deep verdure of 
 its fruit trees and cypresses is seen as the traveller 
 approaches — an oasis of beauty amid scenes of the 
 sternest desolation. At the S.W. corner of the plain 
 the cliffs also retreat, and form a recess or open 
 place extending from the plain westward for some 
 distance. From this recess there runs up a similar 
 narrow valley on the west of Horeb, called El-Leja, 
 parallel to that in which the convent stands, and in 
 it is the deserted convent El-Arab'in, with a garden 
 of olive and other fruit trees not visible from the 
 plain. A third garden lies at the mouth of El-Leja, 
 and a fourth further west in the recess just men- 
 tioned. The whole plain is called Wady-er-Bahah ; 
 and the valley of the convent is known to the Arabs 
 as Wady Shu'eib, that is, the vale of Jethro. Still 
 advancing, the front of Horeb rose like a wall before 
 us ; and one can approach quite to the foot and 
 touch the mount. Directly before its base is the 
 deep bed of a torrent, by which in the rainy season 
 the waters of El-Leja and the mountains around 
 the recess pass down eastward across the plain. 
 As we crossed it our feelings were strongly affected 
 at finding here so unexpectedly a spot so entirely 
 adapted to the Scriptural account of the giving of 
 the Law. No traveller has described this plain, nor 
 
MOUNT SINAI. 253 
 
 even mentioned it, except in a slight and general 
 manner, probably because the most have reached 
 the convent by another route without passing it, 
 and perhaps, too, because neither the highest point 
 of Mount Sinai (now called Jabel Musa), nor the 
 still loftier summit of St. Catherine, is visible from 
 any part of it. 
 
 As we approached the mountain our head Arab, 
 Besharah, became evidently quite excited. He 
 prayed that our pilgrimage might be accepted, and 
 bring rain, and with great earnestness besought that 
 when we ascended the mountain we would open a 
 certain window in the chapel there, towards the 
 south, which, he said, would certainly cause rain to 
 fall. He also entreated, almost with tears, that we 
 would induce the monks to have compassion on the 
 people, and say prayers as they ought to do for rain. 
 When told that God alone could send rain, and they 
 should look to Him for it, he replied, * Yes, but the 
 monks have the book of prayer for it ; do persuade 
 them to use it as they ought.' There was an ear- 
 nestness in his manner which was very affecting. 
 From the Wady-esh-Sheikh to the convent is a dis- 
 tance of twenty-five minutes by a difficult path 
 along the rocky bed of the narrow valley. We had 
 come on in advance of the loaded camels, and 
 reached the convent at half-past five o'clock. Under 
 the entrance were many Arabs in high clamor, serfs 
 of the convent, who were receiving a distribution of 
 some kind of provision from above ; we did not learn 
 what. The only regular entrance at present is by a 
 door, nearly thirty feet (or more exactly twenty- 
 
254 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 eight feet nine inches) from the ground, the great 
 door having been walled up for more than a century. 
 On making known our arrival, a cord was let down 
 with a demand for our letters, and we sent up the 
 one we had received from the branch convent in 
 Cairo. This proving satisfactory, a rope was let 
 down for us, in which seating ourselves, we were 
 hoisted up one by one by a windlass within to the 
 level of the floor, and then pulled in by the hand. 
 The superior himself — a mild-looking old man with 
 a long white beard — received us with an embrace 
 and a kiss, and conducted us to the strangers 1 rooms. 
 While these were preparing, we seated ourselves in 
 the adjacent piazza upon antique chairs of various 
 forms, which have doubtless come down through 
 many centuries, and had a few moments of quiet to 
 ourselves in which to collect our thoughts. I was 
 affected by the strangeness and overpowering gran- 
 deur of the scene around us ; and it was for some 
 time difficult to realize that we were now actually 
 within the very precincts of that Sinai on which 
 from earliest childhood I had thought and read with 
 so much wonder. Yet, when at length the impres- 
 sion came with its full force upon my mind, although 
 not given to the melting mood, I could not refrain 
 from bursting into tears. 
 
 We were soon put in possession of our rooms, 
 and greeted with kindness by the monks and attend- 
 ants. . . . Here all travellers have lodged who have 
 visited the convent for many generations, but they 
 have left no memorials behind except in recent 
 years. . . . The garden was now suffering from 
 
MOUNT SINAI. 255 
 
 drought, but it looked beautifully verdant in con- 
 trast with the stern desolation that reigns all around. 
 Besides the tall dark cypresses which are seen from 
 afar, it contains mostly fruit trees, few vegetables 
 being cultivated in it. Indeed the number and 
 variety of fruit trees is surprising, and testifies to 
 the fine temperature and vivifying power of the 
 climate, provided there be a supply of w r ater. The 
 almond-trees are very large, and had been long out 
 of blossom. The apricot trees were also large, and 
 like the apple-trees, were now in full bloom. There 
 were also pears, pomegranates, figs, quinces, mul- 
 berries, olives, and many vines, besides other trees 
 and shrubs in great variety. The fruit produced is 
 said to be excellent. 
 
 The name of Sinai is now given by the Chris- 
 tians in a general way to this whole cluster of 
 mountains. The peak of Jebel Miisa has commonly 
 been regarded as the summit of Mount Sinai, the 
 place where the Law was given. . . . We measured 
 across the plain, where we stood, along the water- 
 shed, and found the breadth to be at that point 2700 
 English feet or 900 yards, though in some parts it 
 is wider. The distance to the base of Horeb, mea- 
 sured in like manner, was 7000 feet, or 2333 yards. 
 The northern slope of the plain, north of which we 
 stood, we judged to be somewhat less than a mile in 
 length by one-third of a mile in breadth. We may, 
 therefore, fairly estimate the whole plain at two 
 geographical miles long, and ranging in breadth 
 from one-third to two-thirds of a mile, or as equi- 
 valent to a surface of at least one square mile. This 
 
256 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 space is nearly doubled by a recess on the west, and 
 by the broad and level area of Wady-esh-Sheikh on 
 the east, which issues at right angles to the plain, 
 and is equally in view of the front and summit of the 
 present Horeb. 
 
 The examination of this afternoon convinced us 
 that here was space enough to satisfy all the requi- 
 sitions of the Scriptural narrative, so far as it relates 
 to the assembling of the congregation to receive the 
 Law. Here, too, one can see the fitness of the 
 injunction to set bounds around the mount that 
 neither man nor beast might approach too near. 
 The encampment before the mount, as has been 
 before suggested, might not improbably include 
 only the head-quarters of Moses and the Elders, and 
 of a portion of the people, while the remainder, 
 with their flocks, were scattered in the adjacent 
 valleys. 
 
 E. Robinson. D.D., Biblical Researches in Palestine and the 
 adjacent regions. 
 
XXI. 
 
 GUNGOOTREE, THE SACRED SOURCE 
 
 OF THE GANGES. 
 
 BY EMMA ROBERTS. 
 
 Having recovered from the fatigues and bruises 
 attendant on our journey to the source of the 
 Jumna, to the great dismay of a portion of our 
 followers, we determined to proceed to Gungootree, 
 whence the sacred river Ganges takes its rise. The 
 nearest route from Kursalee to Gungootree may be 
 traversed in four days, but the natives always en- 
 deavor to dissuade travellers from taking it at any 
 season of the year, recommending in preference a 
 lower, more circuitous, and therefore longer way. 
 The more direct road leads over a great arm of the 
 Bundurpooch mountain which separates the valleys, 
 or rather channels through which the sacred rivers 
 hurry from their icy birthplace. The greater part 
 of this tract is desert and uninhabited, conducting 
 the wayfarer through regions of rock and snow, 
 destitute of the dwellings of man, or of supplies for 
 his use ; there is danger also that fuel niay be want- 
 ing for that necessary solace to the weary, a blazing 
 fire ; while the necessity of dispensing with every- 
 
258 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 thing like superfluous baggage must oblige the party 
 to rest at night in caves and clefts of the rocks. 
 
 Amidst the most formidable evils reported ot this 
 route is the bis-ka-kowa, or poisonous wind, said to 
 blow over the highest ridge, and to exhale from 
 noxious plants on the borders — a very natural sup- 
 position among a race of people ignorant of the 
 effects produced on the atmosphere at so great an 
 elevation. Yielding to the universal clamor, we 
 consented to take the longer and safer path, but 
 some friends who were obliged to forego the journey 
 to Grungootree crossed into the valley of the Ganges 
 by a very difficult and romantic route. After part- 
 ing company at Banass, they descended to the banks 
 of the Bhim, a roaring torrent, rushing beneath pre- 
 cipices upwards of 2000 perpendicular feet from the 
 river; the eagles wheeling through the sky from 
 their eyries near the summit, appearing not larger 
 than crows. The ascent then led over a mountain 
 covered with cedars, a noble forest, not uncheerful, 
 though marked with sombre grandeur. 
 
 The next day's march conducted the party along 
 the banks of a torrent which poured down the face 
 of a mountain from a bed of snow near its summit. 
 The day was cold, the ground hard with frost, but 
 the air bracing, and the scenery wild and magni- 
 ficent. A long and toilsome ascent over Unchi- 
 ghati followed ; scrambling up the bed of a stream 
 over rough stones, rendered slippery from being 
 cased in ice, they reached the limit of the cedar 
 forest, and subsequently came to birch and small 
 rhododendrons. The scene then assumed a very 
 
GUNGOOTBEE. 
 
 259 
 
 wintry aspect, and soon everything like foliage was 
 left behind. Attaining the crest of the pass, which 
 was covered with snow, and at an elevation of some 
 hundred feet above the limit of the forest, on look- 
 ing back to Bundurpooch, Duti Manji, and Ba- 
 chuncha peak and ridge, few scenes of more sublime 
 grandeur could be found throughout the whole ol 
 
 View in the Himalayas. 
 
 these stupendous regions. The prospect of range 
 after range of the south and east was very extensive ; 
 an ocean of ridges in one wide amphitheatre, closed 
 in by the line of the snowy mountains resting their 
 fantastic peaks against the dark blue sky. Below 
 the course of the Bhagirati could be traced, which, 
 after issuing from its gigantic bed of snow, rejoicing 
 
260 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 in its escape from the wintry mountains, and their 
 rugged and awful approaches, flows in tranquil 
 beauty through a peaceful valley. In descending 
 the southeast side of the pass, the birch which had 
 clothed the previous path gave place to pines and 
 evergreen oaks, which grew in great abundance in 
 advance of the cedar ; the rhododendron, which near 
 the crest was merely a creeper, became a tree, a 
 change in the nature of vegetation marking the 
 different heights, which is exceedingly interesting to 
 the traveller. 
 
 The descent of this mountain to Nemgang was 
 long and painful, and to Europeans a new route, the 
 generality of travellers crossing the ridge from the 
 Jumna to the Ganges, either higher up or lower 
 down ; but the next day's march compensated for 
 all the fatigue incurred in its approach. Descending 
 to the Bini-ke-Garh, a torrent rushing down a high 
 ridge to the northward, the glen which it watered 
 proved of surpassing beauty ; nothing could exceed 
 the loveliness of the foliage which clothed this 
 summer valley, or rather vista ; for, opening on a 
 view of the precipitous heights of the Unchi-Ghati, 
 it contrasted its romantic attractions with the sub- 
 lime features of the mountains beyond. Beaching 
 the junction of the Bini and the Bhagirati, the holy 
 name given to the sacred river, the travellers found 
 the Ganges a noble stream, much wider and deeper 
 than the Jumna, at the same distance from its 
 source, but not so tumultuous. 
 
 Descending to Nangang by a different route to 
 that already mentioned, we also were compelled to 
 
GUNGOOTREE. 261 
 
 encounter many difficulties ; the prospects, however, 
 repaid them. Equally grand, though different in 
 character to those last described, at a very consider- 
 able depth below, we looked upon a cultivated 
 scene — the hanging terraces common to these hills, 
 waving with grain, and watered by winding streams, 
 and running along the base of high woody trees. 
 Beyond, again, were the eternal mountains in all 
 their varieties ; snow resting on the crests of some, 
 others majestically grouped with venerable timber, 
 and others bleak, bare, and barren, rising in frown- 
 ing majesty from the green and sunny slopes which 
 smiled below. Between these different ranges ran 
 deep ravines, dark with impenetrable forests, ren- 
 dered more savage by the awful music of the torrents 
 roaring through their fastnesses, while presently 
 their streams issuing forth into open day, were seen 
 winding round green spots bright with fruit-trees. 
 Such, or nearly such, for every traveller sees them 
 under a different medium, were the prospects which 
 beguiled us as we slipped and slid down the steep 
 side of the mountain-pass. Nangang formed our 
 halting-place ; several days' march still lay before 
 us, and there were more mountains to climb and 
 more forests to thread. We now observed a diversity 
 in the timber, chestnuts of magnificent growth being 
 the prevailing tree. Our sportsmen found plenty 
 of game : the monah, the feathered wonder of the 
 Himalaya, and other varieties of the pheasant tribe, 
 peopled these vast solitudes, and paid tribute to the 
 guns of the invading strangers. 
 
 We met with some delightful halting-places on 
 
262 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 the line of march, grassy terraces, carpeted with 
 strawberry and wild Howers, where the cowslip, the 
 primrose, and the buttercup, brought the pranked- 
 out fields of our native country strongly to the mind. 
 Many of the travellers in the Himalaya are moved 
 even to rapture at the sight of the first daisy which 
 springs spontaneously in their path ; as an exotic in 
 some garden of the plains it excites deep emotion ; 
 but growing wild, spangling the meadow-grass with 
 its silvery stars, it becomes infinitely more interest- 
 ing ; and the home-sick, pining exile will often 
 gather its earliest encountered blossom weeping. 
 
 Leaving this luxuriant vegetation, we arrived 
 at a wild spot, the summit of a ridge of peaks 
 covered with snow ; and though the prospect was 
 more circumscribed, and all of a greater sameness, 
 we enjoyed it amazingly. We seemed to be hemmed 
 in on all sides with thick-ribbed ice, transported to 
 antarctic snows, imprisoned amid icebergs, vast, 
 freezing, and impassable. Presently, however, we 
 emerged, and descending through the snow, reached 
 the boundary-line between the districts of the Jumna 
 and the Ganges. The extreme limits of these river- 
 territories were marked in the manner usually em- 
 ployed in rude and desolate places, by heaps of 
 stone, — many raised by Europeans, — who thus com- 
 memorate their pilgrimage. These cairns being 
 destitute of inscriptions, it is impossible to say who 
 the adventurous architects were, since no European 
 name has any chance of being retained in its primi- 
 tive form by a native. 
 
 The next point of great interest is the summit 
 
GUNGOOTREE. 263 
 
 of a ridge, whence the first view of the Ganges is 
 obtained, a sight which never fails to raise the droop- 
 ing spirits of the Hindoo followers, and which excites 
 no small degree of enthusiasm in the breast* of the 
 Christian travellers. • The sacred river, as seen from 
 this height, flows in a dark, rapid, and broad stream, 
 and, though at no great apparent distance, must 
 still be reached by more than one toilsome march. 
 From a height about two miles from Gungootree, 
 the first glimpse, and that a partial one, is obtain- 
 able of that holy place, which lies sequestered in a 
 glen of the deepest solitude, lonely, and almost in- 
 accessible, for few there are who could persevere in 
 surmounting the diinculties of the approach. Con- 
 siderable distances must be traversed over project- 
 ing masses of rough stones, flinty, pointed, and un- 
 certain, many being loose, and threatening to roll 
 over the enterprising individual who attempts the 
 rugged way. Sometimes the face of the rock must 
 be climbed from cliff to cliff ; at others, where there 
 is no resting-place for hand or foot, ladders are 
 placed in aid of the ascent ; while awful chasms be- 
 tween are passed on some frail spar flung across. 
 These horrid rocks would seem indeed to form in- 
 vincible barriers to the approach of the holy place, 
 but religious enthusiasm on the one hand, and scien- 
 tific research, stimulated by curiosity, on the other, 
 render the barriers inadequate for resisting the in- 
 vasions of man. The difficult nature of the access, 
 however, prevents the concourse of pilgrims who 
 resort to more easily attainable places esteemed 
 sacred on this hallowed river. 
 
264 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 The grandeur of the scene which opened upon 
 us, as we at length stood upon the threshold 
 of Gungootree, cannot be described in words. 
 Rocks were piled upon rocks in awful majesty, 
 all shivered into points, which rise one upon 
 another in splendid confusion, enclosing a glen of 
 the wildest nature, where the Ganges, beautiful 
 in every haunt, from its infancy to its final junction 
 with the ocean, pours its shallow waters over a bed 
 of shingle, diversified by jutting rocks, and every 
 leaf shadowed by the splendid foliage of some fine 
 old trees. The devotee who undoubtingly believes 
 that every step he takes towards the source of that 
 holy river, which, from his infancy, he has been 
 taught to look upon as a deity, will lead him into 
 beatitude, is content to seek its origin at Gungoo- 
 tree, but the real source of the sacred stream lies 
 still higher, in more inaccessible solitudes ; and it 
 was reserved for the ardor of those who measured 
 the altitude of the highest peaks, and penetrated to 
 the utmost limits of man's dominion, to trace the 
 exact birthplace of the holy river. Captains Hodg- 
 son and Herbert, in 1818, found at the height of 
 13,800 feet above the sea-level, the Bhagarati, or 
 true Ganges, issuing from beneath a low arch at the 
 base of a vast mass of frozen snow, nearly three hun- 
 dred feet in height, and composed of different layers, 
 each several feet in thickness, and, in all probability, 
 the accumulation of ages. Neither here, nor at 
 Gungootree, is there anything resembling a cow's 
 mouth to support the popular fallacy, which must 
 have been invented by persons utterly unacquainted 
 
GUNGQOTREE, TUB HIMALAYAS. 
 
GUNGOOTKEE. 265 
 
 with the true features of the sceue in which the 
 sacred river gladdens earth with its ever-bounteous 
 waters. 
 
 A pilgrimage to Gungootree is accounted one oi 
 the most meritorious actions which a Hindoo can 
 perform ; and in commemoration of his visit to this 
 holy place, a Ghoorka chieftain has left a memorial 
 of his conquests and his piety, in a small pagoda, 
 erected in honor of the goddess, on a platform of 
 rock, about twenty feet higher than the bed of the 
 river. The Brahmins who have the care of this 
 temple are accommodated with habitations in its close 
 vicinity ; there are a few sheds for the temporary 
 residence of pilgrims, many of whom, however, are 
 content with such shelter as the neighboring caves 
 can afford. The usual ceremonies of bathing, pray- 
 ing, and marking the forehead, were gone through 
 at this place, the officrating Brahmin taking care 
 that the fees should be duly paid. Notwithstanding 
 the stern and sullen nature of his retreat at some 
 periods of the year, he may be said to lead a busy life, 
 conversing with devout pilgrims and carriers of water 
 to distant lands who require his seal to authenticate 
 their burdens ; and making the most out of all his 
 visitors, whatever their country or their creed may 
 be. Though dispensing with his orisons we paid 
 him for his services, and it seemed a matter of in- 
 difference to him on what account he received the 
 cash. 
 
 E. Robeets, Hindostan, the shores of the Bed Sea, and the Himalaya 
 Mountains. 
 
XXII. 
 
 ADAM'S PEAK, CEYLON. 
 
 ASCENT BY DR. DAVY, 1817. 
 
 The first excursion which I made into the interior 
 after ray arrival in Ceylon, was to Adam's Peak, the 
 highest mountain in the island, and one that can- 
 not fail to excite the interest of the traveller ; its 
 name being known, and its fame spread all over the 
 world, and being an object of veneration almost 
 equally to the Buddhist and the Hindoo, to the 
 Mahometan and the nominal Christian of India, 
 each of whom considers it a sacred mountain, and 
 has attached to it some superstitious tale. 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1817, at dawn, I set out 
 from Colombo in company with my friends, the Rev. 
 G. Bisset, William Granville, Esq., and Mr. Moon : 
 on the 17th we reached Ratnapoora, and on the' 
 evening of the 19th, the summit of the Peak, dis- 
 tant from Colombo only sixty-six miles. 
 
 Our mode of travelling varied with the nature 
 of the road and country. The first sixteen miles we 
 went expeditiously in gigs, over an excellent road, 
 through a populous country, delightfully shaded the 
 
adam's peak, ceylon. 267 
 
 greater part of the way by the rich and beautiful 
 foliage of extensive groves of cocoa-nut trees, which 
 form a deep belt round the southwest part of the 
 island. 
 
 On leaving the great maritime road at Pantara 
 to strike into the interior, we exchanged our gigs 
 for the indolent Indian vehicles, palanqueens, in 
 which we were carried as far as Ratnapoora, in 
 Saffragan, about forty-three miles from Colombo, 
 over a pretty good new road, through a country low 
 and yet hilly, in general overgrown with wood, very 
 thinly inhabited (having been a border region) and 
 little cultivated ; and excepting here and there, ex- 
 hibiting few objects and little scenery of an interest- 
 ing nature. At Horima, where we slept the first 
 night in our palanqueens, we noticed the remains of 
 a Hindoo building of the simplest kind of architec- 
 ture, the style of which has already been alluded to. 
 The next morning at dawn, just before sunrise, from 
 a hill over which we were passing, we had a splendid 
 dew of a tropical wilderness ; hills, dales and plains, 
 all luxuriantly wooded, bounded by blue mountains, 
 fleecy clouds resting on the low ground, and a bril- 
 liant sky overhead. The charms of the prospect 
 were heightened by the coolness and freshness of the 
 air, and by the animation of the scene, produced 
 by the notes of a variety of birds, some of them 
 reminding one of the blackbird, others of the song 
 of the thrush, and others of that of the red-breast ; 
 with which were mixed the harsh cries of the wild 
 peacock, jungle-fowl and parrot, the soft cooing of 
 doves, and the shrill sounds of innumerable insects. 
 
268 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 .... Though not eight miles from. Adam's Peak, the 
 river here is hardly fifty feet above the level of the 
 
 sea At Ratnapoora we left our palanqueens aud 
 
 proceeded towards the mountains, each in a chair 
 lashed to two bamboos, and carried on men's shoul- 
 ders. In this manner we travelled about nine miles 
 as far as Palabatula Four miles from Ratna- 
 poora we stopped to breakfast at Gillemalle, a beau- 
 tiful spot The latter half of the way is almost 
 
 one continued ascent by a narrow, rocky path, shaded 
 either by an impenetrable jungle, or by trees so 
 covered with parasitical plants, that each resembles 
 a bower. This kind of luxuriant vegetation is pro- 
 bably connected with the dampness of the climate, 
 and the frequent and heavy showers which fall in 
 this part of the country. Owing to the same cause, 
 the country is infested with leeches, from which the 
 naked legs of our bearers suffered not a little, aud 
 from which we did not escape completely. Pataba- 
 tula is the last inhabited station on the peak. We 
 gladly sought shelter there from a heavy thunder- 
 storm which had deluged us with rain for more than 
 two hours. There is a little Wilhare at this spot, 
 and two open amblams, or rest-houses, one small, 
 where we took up our quarters, and the other pretty 
 large, where we found assembled at least two hun- 
 dred pilgrims of both sexes and of all ages, either 
 going to, or returning from the Peak. 
 
 At dawn, the next morning, we started for the 
 summit on foot, the mountain-path we had to ascend 
 
 admitting of no other mode of travelling After 
 
 toiling up this steep, gloomy path about two miles, 
 
adam's peak, ceylon. 269 
 
 we came to a halting-place on a little platform 
 above a precipice, from which we had a prospect of 
 the country below, that was at once grand and 
 beautiful. 
 
 About h.dlf-vz,j up the mountain we crossed a 
 small torrent that flows over an immense tabular 
 mass of rock ; and about a mile further, to the bed 
 of a much larger torrent, the Setagongola, which 
 may be considered the parent stream of the Kalu- 
 ganga. This river scene was a very impressive 
 one, and extremely picturesque ; the torrent, with 
 fine effect, rushed from a. wooded height down a 
 channel obstructed by great masses of rock, on 
 which were assembled numerous groups of pilgrims 
 variously employed, some bathing, some making a 
 frugal repast on cold rice, and others resting them- 
 selves lying at full length, or sitting cross-legged in 
 the Indian fashion, chewing betel. About half a 
 mile from the river we crossed a little glen. The 
 descent, which is very steep, was facilitated in the 
 most difficult parts by rude wooden ladders. The 
 opposite ascent was in appearance of a much more 
 formidable nature, but the danger is removed by 
 steps having been cut in the rock. About half-way 
 up the rock, on the left-hand side, is the figure of a 
 man rudely cut, and an inscription in Singalese, 
 both commemorating the being by whom the steps 
 had been made. From the top of this bare rock we 
 were once more gratified with an extensive view. A 
 thunderstorm was gathering ; the scene was magni- 
 ficent and awful, and of a nature to baffle descrip- 
 tion Yery soon after leaving the rock, the storm 
 
270 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 commenced, attended with very heavy rain, and with 
 thunder and lightning extremely loud and vivid. 
 There being no shelter, it was useless to halt ; we 
 continued ascending without intermission, the diffi- 
 culty of the path increasing with the height. 
 
 The storm lasted till about half-past two, when 
 we had reached a little flat, covered with stunted 
 wood. Whilst we stopped here to rest ourselves for 
 a few minutes under a rude shed made for the use 
 of pilgrims, the weather rapidly improved ; the rain 
 nearly ceased, the thunder was to be heard only 
 rolling at a distance, the mists and clouds were dis- 
 persing, and we presently had the pleasure of seeing 
 the object of our toil immediately above us, the 
 Peak, of a conical form, rising rapidly and majesti- 
 cally to a point. 
 
 We arrived at the top of the mountain a lit- 
 tle after three o'clock. The rain was over, the air 
 clear, and the sun shining. The magnificent views of 
 the surrounding scenery amply repaid us for a labo- 
 rious march, and all the difficulties we had to contend 
 with. 
 
 From the surrounding scenery our curiosity 
 soon led us to examine the summit of the mountain. 
 It is very small ; according to a measurement m ade 
 by Lieut. Malcolm (the first European who ascended 
 the Peak), its area is seventy-four feet by twenty- 
 four. It is surrounded by a stone wall five feet high, 
 built in some places on the brink of the precipice. 
 The apex of the mountain is a rock, which stands 
 in the middle of the enclosure, about six or eight 
 feet above the level ground. On the top is the 
 
adam's peak, ceylon. 271 
 
 object of worship of the natives, the Sree-pada, the 
 sacred impression, as they imagine, of the foot of 
 Boodhoo, which he stamped on his first visit to the 
 island. It is a superficial hollow, five feet three 
 inches and three quarters long, and between two feet 
 seven inches and two feet five inches wide. It is 
 ornamented with a margin of brass, studded with a 
 few gems, of little value ; it is covered with a roof, 
 which is fastened to the rock by four iron chains, 
 and supported by four pillars ; and it is surrounded 
 by a low wall. The roof was lined with colored 
 cloths ; and its margin being decked with flowers and 
 streamers, it made a very gay appearance. The 
 cavity certainly bears a coarse resemblance to the 
 figure of the human foot. 
 
 We passed the night on the mountains ; and it 
 was the first time since I had entered the tropics 
 that I had occasion to complain of cold. The next 
 morning before sunrise, we were awoke by the shouts 
 of a party of pilgrims just arrived. They consisted 
 of several men and women, all native Singalese, 
 neatly dressed in clean clothes. They immediately 
 proceeded to their devotions. A priest, in his yellow 
 robes, stood on the rock close to the impression of 
 the foot, with his face to the people, who had ranged 
 themselves in a row below, some on their knees, 
 with their hands uplifted and joined palm to palm, 
 and others bending forward with their hands in the 
 same attitude of devotion. The priest, in a loud, 
 clear voice, sentence by sentence, recited the articles 
 of their religious faith and duties, and, in response, 
 they repeated the same after him. When he had 
 
272 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 finished, they raised a loud shout, and he retiring, 
 they went through the same ceremony by themselves 
 with one of the party for their leader. 
 
 An interesting scene followed this ; wives affec- 
 tionately and respectfully saluted their husbands, 
 and children their parents, and friends one another. 
 An old grey-headed woman first made her salams to 
 a really venerable old man ; she was moved to tears 
 and almost kissed his feet ; he affectionately raised 
 her up. Several middle-aged men then salamed 
 the patriarchal pair ; these men were salamed in re- 
 turn by still younger men, who had first paid their 
 respect to the old people ; and, lastly, those nearly 
 of the same standing slightly salamed each other, 
 and exchanged betel leaves. The intention of these 
 salutations, I was informed, was of a moral kind, to 
 confirm the ties of kindred, to strengthen family love 
 and friendship, and remove animosities. The Ma- 
 hometans, there is good reason to believe, first as- 
 signed the name to this mountain by which it is 
 generally known amongst Europeans. The moor- 
 men of Ceylon still call it Adam Malay ; they say 
 that Adam, when turned out of Paradise, lamented 
 his offence on the summit of the Peak standing on 
 one foot (of which the impression remains) until he 
 was pardoned by God. 
 
 From Db. Davy's Interior of Ceylon. 
 
xxrnr. 
 
 ASCENT OF THE GUNUNG-TALANG, 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 A chain of mountains rims through the whole 
 length of the island of Sumatra ; and the ranges are, 
 in many places, double and treble. Some near the 
 equator attain the height of 15,000 feet ; and among 
 them are extensive plains of a great elevation. The 
 mountains are mostly on the western side. One, 
 which is an active volcano, is known in the island 
 under the name of Scelassie. It is up wards of 9000 
 feet above the level of the sea, and was in a state of 
 eruption in the month of October 1845. Several 
 Dutchmen were not afraid to make the ascent even 
 during this period. Some extracts are given from 
 the narrative of one of them. 
 
 On our way from Solok to Mocara Pamy, we 
 had perceived from time to time, from the top of 
 the hills, columns of smoke rising from the Scelassie ; 
 and more than once this sight had awakened in us a 
 desire to visit this mountain. We made our wishes 
 known to the overseer, Mr. Yan der Yen, who re- 
 ceived us cordially, and fully approved of the pro- 
 
274 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ject. He himself superintended the preparations, 
 and the very next day, October the 21st, we were 
 on horseback by five o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Scarcely had we been on the road a quarter of 
 an hour, when we came to a deep cutting covere d 
 
 The Soelassie, Sumatra. 
 
 with loose flints which made the road so dangerous 
 that we were obliged to descend and lead our horses. 
 We crossed a little bamboo bridge without any pa- 
 rapet, and after having climbed up a steep slope we 
 were rewarded for our trouble by a most magnificent 
 
THE GUNUNG-TALANG, 275 
 
 view. And in the distance we saw the Scelassie, 
 which continued to throw out its columns of 
 smoke. 
 
 Near Batol-Bandjak, where we stopped, we saw 
 in abundance these trachyle flints. The inhabitants 
 made us visit several mineral springs in the neigh- 
 borhood ; and we found that the water was bitter 
 and sulphurous. 
 
 In the evening we reached the Batol-Bedjand- 
 jang at the foot of the volcano. We resumed our 
 march at five o'clock in the morning in the midst of 
 mist and very disagreeable fine rain. The ther- 
 mometer pointed at 68°. And we had to climb suc- 
 cessively three sufficiently steep ridges of more than 
 600 feet in height each. At the top of the last one, 
 the view extended over a plateau covered with a rich 
 vegetation of trees and shrubs, at the extremity of 
 which we reached a new ascent of about 1300 feet. 
 The soil, which is composed of a mixture of sul- 
 phurous and calcareous earth, had become hot ; and 
 here and there rose little clouds of smoke from the 
 bottom of the crevasses. 
 
 It was eleven o'clock when we took a moment's 
 repose at the bottom of the highest peak which still 
 stood above us, and towered about 300 feet above 
 our heads. And here, although a strong smell of 
 sulphur indicated the neighborhood of the crater 
 and the end of our journey, yet the activity of the 
 volcano also became more evident. In the midst 
 of the blocks of old lava which surrounded us, 
 the vegetation had diminished, the brambles had 
 dried up, and the trunks of the trees were black- 
 
276 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ened and burnt. We rapidly cleared the space 
 which remained, and arrived at a crevasse situated 
 between the two summits, from one of which 
 the crater was to be seen in all its imposing gran- 
 deur. 
 
 What a majestic spectacle it was ! Before us 
 stood open the old crater by which all the activity of 
 the volcano had developed itself for ages past, and 
 further off the one then in a state of eruption. It 
 appeared like a lake of recent formation environed 
 by flames and clouds of smoke. The dead silence 
 which reigned around us was only interrupted by the 
 subterranean noises of the volcanoes. 
 
 On the southwest, at about 360 feet from the 
 summit, the furnace was fully at work. The western 
 side was formed by a vertical wall over which a part 
 of the lava escaped. On the south side, a sloping 
 ridge is lost in depths which the eye cannot pene- 
 trate. As far as can be seen, crevasses appeared 
 from whence escaped clouds of smoke. 
 
 To get a nearer view of the lake, we descended the 
 sloping sides, helping ourselves as much by our 
 hands as by our feet, and never letting go our hold 
 on one block of rocks until we could fix ourselves 
 firmly on another. So we were witnesses of what 
 was going on within ; and we heard a continuous 
 noise resembling that made by the paddle-wheels of 
 many steamboats in motion. 
 
 Mr. Van der Yen here ran into the greatest 
 danger. Having gone quite close to an opening, the 
 hot lava gave way under his feet ; but happily it 
 rested on a mass which was already hardened ; so 
 
THE GUNUNG-TALANG. 277 
 
 that he had time to jump off backwards. The heat 
 did not permit us to remain long in the crater ; we 
 were obliged to abandon it hastily in order to visit 
 the little sulphur lake which was under the ridge 
 on to which we had climbed. This lake, which is 
 of a rounded form, is about 160 feet in diameter. 
 Three of us descended an almost vertical wall, of 
 perhaps twenty-two feet high, down to a quantity of 
 boiling water. Clinging with one hand to the cre- 
 vasses they could with the other get out some spoon- 
 fuls ; but the strong smell of sulphur in this water 
 obliged them to get up again very quickly. 
 
 We then recrossed the plateau to the point where 
 we had commenced our examination in order to see 
 about preparing a convenient lodging-place for the 
 night. By ten o'clock in the evening we were 
 wrapped in our cloaks and seeking to get some sleep 
 on our stony beds when the rain came on again with 
 great violence. Clouds from whence proceeded such 
 hghtning as illuminated the heavens succeeded each 
 other in rapid succession ; and three times our tent 
 was nearly carried away. The water streamed in 
 upon us ; and we trembled with cold. The wind also 
 put out our lights ; but by the illumination of the 
 lightning we managed after many efforts to fix our 
 tent firmly; and then under its feeble shelter we 
 waited for the day. 
 
 We had struggled for some hours against the 
 unchained elements, and their fury might, for aught 
 we knew, have been prolonged ; so it was a great 
 relief to us in the morning to see the sky become 
 perfectly pure and cloudless before we set out on 
 
278 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 our return. "We descended by the eastern side, 
 whose slopes were less dangerous, right down to the 
 bottom of the extinct crater, and up again on the 
 other side to the summit, from whence we were 
 able to enjoy a magnificent view over hills and 
 valleys, lakes, rivers, and islands, which were spread 
 out beneath our eyes. 
 
 Nouvelles Annales des Voyages. 
 
XXIV. 
 
 PETER BOTTE, MAURITIUS. 
 
 ASCENT BY CAPTAIN LLOYD, LIEUTS. TAYLOR, 
 PHILLPOTTS AND KEPPEL IN 1832. 
 
 You are no doubt aware, from my former letter, 
 that the Peter Botte has always been considered 
 inaccessible ; and although a tradition exists of a 
 man of that name having ascended it and losing 
 his life in returning, it is seldom believed, no au- 
 thentic account remaining of the fact. A French- 
 man, forty years ago, declared that he had got on 
 the top by himself, and made a hole in the rock for 
 a flag-staff ; and his countrymen naturally believed 
 him ; but the value of this assertion may also be 
 judged, of by the present narrative. 
 
 The ascent has been frequently attempted, and 
 by several people, of late years : once by the officers 
 of His Majesty's ship Samarang, who lost their way 
 and found themselves separated from the Peter 
 Botte itself by a deep cleft in the rock, and in con- 
 sequence were compelled to return. Captain Lloyd, 
 chief civil engineer, and your old friend Dawkins, 
 made the attempt last year, and succeeded in reach- 
 
280 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ing a point between the shoulder and the neck, 
 where they planted a ladder which did not reach 
 half-way up a perpendicular face of rock that ar- 
 rested their progress. This was the last attempt. 
 Captain .Lloyd was then, however, so convinced of 
 the practicability of the undertaking, that he deter- 
 mined to repeat the experiment this year, and ac- 
 cordingly made all his preparations by the beginning 
 of this month. On the 6th he started from town, 
 accompanied by Lieut. Phillpotts of the 29th regi- 
 ment, Lieut. Keppel, R.N. (my old messmate), and 
 myself, whom he asked to join him. He had pre- 
 viously sent out two of his overseers with about 
 twenty-five Negroes and Sepoy convicts to make all 
 necessary preparations. They carried with them a 
 sort of tent, and ropes, crow-bars, a portable ladder, 
 provisions, and everything we could possibly want 
 for three or four days, as we intended to remain on 
 the shoulder of the mountain, close to the base of 
 Peter Botte, until we either succeeded, or were con- 
 vinced of its impossibility. These men had worked 
 hard, and on our arriving at the foot of the moun- 
 tain we found the tent and all our tools, etc., safely 
 lodged on the shoulder of Peter Botte. I may as 
 well describe here the appearance of the mountain. 
 From most points of view it seems to rise out of the 
 range which runs nearly parallel to that part of the 
 sea-coast which forms the Bay of Port Louis ; but 
 on arriving at its base you find that it is actually 
 separated from the rest of the range by a ravine or 
 cleft of tremendous depth. Seen from the town (as 
 you will perceive by the sketch) it appears a cone 
 
4«^BA 
 
 PETER BOTTE, MAURITIUS 
 
PETER BOTTE. 281 
 
 with a large overhanging rock at its summit, but 
 so extraordinarily sharp and knife-like is this, in 
 common with all the rocks on the island, that when 
 seen end on, as the sailors say, it appears nearly 
 quite perpendicular. In fact, I have seen it in fifty 
 different points of view, and cannot yet assign to it 
 any one precise form. But to my tale. 
 
 We dined that evening and slept at the house 
 of a Frenchman in the plain below, and rose early 
 next morning much exhausted by the attacks of 
 bugs. All our preparations being made, we started, 
 and a more picturesque line of march I have seldom 
 seen. 
 
 Our van was composed of about fifteen or twenty 
 Sepoys of every variety of costume, together with a 
 few Negroes carrying our food, dry clothes, etc. 
 Our path lay up a very steep ravine formed by the 
 rains in the wet season, which having loosened all 
 the stones, made it anything but pleasant ; those 
 below were obliged to keep a bright look out for 
 tumbling rocks, and one of these missed Keppel and 
 myself by a miracle. From the head of this gorge 
 we turned off along the other face of the mountain ; 
 and it would have been a fine subject for a picture, 
 to look up from the ravine below and see the long 
 string slowly picking their ' kittle ' footsteps along 
 a ledge not anywhere a foot broad ; yet these mon- 
 keys carried their loads full four hundred yards along 
 this face, holding by the shrubs above, while below 
 there was nothing but the tops of the forest for more 
 than nine hundred feet down the slope. 
 
 On rising to the shoulder a view burst upon us 
 
282 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 which quite defies my descriptive powers. We stood 
 on a little narrow ledge or neck of land, about twenty 
 yards in length. On the side which we mounted 
 we looked back into the deep wooded gorge we had 
 passed up ; while on the opposite side of the neck, 
 which was between six and seven feet broad, the 
 precipice went sheer down fifteen hundred feet to 
 the plain. One extremity of the neck was equally 
 precipitous, and the other was bounded by what to 
 me was the most magnificent sight I ever saw. A 
 narrow, knife-like edge of rock, broken here and 
 there by precipitous faces, ran up in a conical form, 
 to about 300 or 350 feet above us, and on the very 
 pinnacle old ' Peter Botte ' frowned in all his glory. 
 I have done several sketches of him, one of which, 
 from this point, I send by the same ship as this 
 letter. 
 
 After a short rest we proceeded to work. The 
 ladder (see sketch) had been left by Lloyd and Daw- 
 kins last year. It was about twelve feet high, and 
 reached, as you may perceive, about half-way up a 
 face of perpendicular rock. The foot, which was 
 spiked, rested on a ledge not quite visible in the 
 sketch, with barely three inches on each side. A 
 grapnel-line had been also left last year, but was 
 not used. A Negro of Lloyd's clambered from the 
 top of the ladder by the cleft in the face of the rock, 
 not trusting his weight to the old and rotten line. 
 He carried a small cord round his middle, and it 
 was fearful to see the cool, steady way in which he 
 climbed, where a single loose stone or false hold must 
 have sent him down into the abyss ; however, he 
 
PETER BOTTE. 283 
 
 fearlessly scrambled away, till at length we heard 
 hini halloo from under the neck, ' All right !' These 
 Negroes use their feet exactly like monkeys, grasp- 
 ing with them every projection almost as firmly as 
 with their hands. The line carried up he made 
 fast above, and up we went all 'shinned' in suc- 
 cession. It was, joking apart, awful work. In 
 several places the ridge ran to an edge not a foot 
 broad, and I could, as I held on, half-sitting, half- 
 kneeling across the ridge, have kicked my right 
 shoe down to the plain on one side, and my left into 
 the bottom of the ravine on the other. The only 
 thing that surprised me was my own steadiness and 
 freedom from all giddiness. I had been nervous in 
 mounting the ravine in the morning, but gradually 
 I got so excited and determined to succeed, that I 
 could look down that dizzy height without the 
 smallest sensation of swimming in the head ; never- 
 theless, I held on uncommonly hard, and felt very 
 well satisfied when I was safe under the neck. And 
 a more extraordinary situation I never was in. The 
 head, which is an enormous mass of rock, about 
 thirty-five feet in height, overhangs its base many 
 feet on every side. A ledge of tolerably level rock 
 runs round three sides of the base, about six feet in 
 width, bounded everywhere by the abrupt edge of 
 the precipice, except in the spot where it is joined 
 by the ridge up which we climbed. In one spot, 
 the head, though overhanging its base several feet, 
 reaches only perpendicularly over the edge of the 
 precipice, and most fortunately it was at the very 
 spot where we mounted. Here it was that we 
 
284 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 reckoned on getting up ; a communication being 
 established with the shoulder by a double line of 
 ropes, we proceeded to get up the necessary materiel, 
 — Lloyd's ladder, additional coils of rope, croAV-bars, 
 etc. But now the question, and a puzzler, too, was 
 how to get the ladder up against the rock. Lloyd 
 had prepared some iron arrows with thongs to fire 
 over ; and, having got up a gun, he made a line fast 
 round his body, which we all held on, and going 
 over the edge of the precipice on the opposite side, 
 he leaned back against the line and fired over the 
 least projecting part. Had the line broken he would 
 have fallen 1800 feet. Twice this failed ; and then 
 he had recourse to a large stone with a lead line, 
 which swung diagonally, and seemed to be a feasible 
 plan ; several times he made beautiful heaves, but 
 the provoking line would not catch, and away went 
 the stone far below ; till at length Molus, pleased, I 
 suppose, with his perseverance, gave us a shift of 
 wind for about a minute, and over went the stone, 
 and was eagerly seized on the opposite side. 
 
 Hurrah, my lads ! steady's the word ! Three 
 lengths of the ladder were put together on the ledge, 
 a large line was attached to the one which was over 
 the head, and carefully drawn up ; and finally, a 
 two-inch rope to the extremity of which we lashed 
 the top of our ladder, then lowered it gently over 
 the precipice till it hung perpendicularly, and was 
 steadied by two Negroes on the ridge below. iC All 
 right ; now hoist away !" and up went the ladder, 
 till the foot came to the edge of our ledge, where 
 it was lashed in firmly to the neck. We then hauled 
 
PETER BOTTE. 285 
 
 away on the guy to steady it, and made it fast ; a line 
 was passed over by the lead-line to hold on, and up 
 went Lloyd, screeching and hallooing, and we all 
 three scrambled after him. The union-jack and a 
 boat-hook were passed up, and old England's flag 
 waved freely and gallantly on the redoubted Peter 
 Botte. No sooner was it seen flying than the Un- 
 daunted, frigate, saluted in the harbor, and the guns 
 of our saluting battery replied ; for though our ex- 
 pedition had been kept secret until we started, it 
 was made known on the morning of our ascent, 
 and all hands were on the lookout, as we afterwards 
 learnt. We then got a bottle of wine to the top of 
 the rock, christened King William's Peak, and drank 
 his Majesty's health, hands round the Jack, and 
 then Hip ! hip ! hip ! hurrah ! 
 
 I certainly never felt anything like the excite- 
 ment of that moment ; even the Negroes down on the 
 shoulder took up our hurrahs ; and we could hear 
 far below, the faint shouts of the astonished inhabi- 
 tants of the plain. We were determined to do 
 nothing by halves, and accordingly made prepara- 
 tion for sleeping under the neck. After dinner, as 
 it was getting dark, I screwed up my nerves and 
 climbed up to our queer little nest at the top, fol- 
 lowed by Tom Keppel and a Negro, who carried 
 some dry wood, and made a fire in a cleft under the 
 rock. Lloyd and Phillpotts soon came up, and we 
 began to arrange ourselves for the night, each tak- 
 ing a glass of brandy to begin with. I had on two 
 pairs of trousers, a shooting waistcoat, jacket, and 
 large flushing jacket over that, a thick woollen sail- 
 
286 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 or's cap and two blankets ; and each of us lighted a 
 cigar as we seated ourselves to wait for the ap- 
 pointed hour for the signal of our success. It was 
 a glorious sight to look down from that giddy pinna- 
 cle over the whole island, lying so calm and beauti- 
 ful in the moonlight, except where the broad, black 
 shadows of the other mountains intercepted the 
 light. Here and there we could see a light twink- 
 ling in the plains, or a fire of some sugar manufac- 
 tory ; but not a sound of any sort reached us ex- 
 cept an occasional shout from the party down on 
 the shoulder (we four being the only ones above). 
 At length, in the direction of Port Louis, a bright 
 flash was seen, and after a long interval, the sullen 
 boom of the evening gun. We then prepared our 
 pre-arranged signal ; and whiz went a rocket from 
 our nest, lighting up for an instant the peaks of the 
 hills below us, and then leaving us in darkness. We 
 next burnt a blue light ; and nothing can be con- 
 ceived more perfectly beautiful than the broad glare 
 against the overhanging rock. The wild-looking 
 group we made, in our uncouth habiliments, and the 
 narrow ledge on which we stood, were all distinctly 
 seen ; while many of the tropical birds, frightened 
 at our vagaries, came glancing down in the light, 
 and then swooped away, screeching into the gloom 
 below, for the gorge on our left was as dark as 
 Erebus. We burnt another blue light, and threw 
 up two more rockets, when our laboratory being ex- 
 hausted, the patient-looking, insulted moon had it 
 all her own way again. We now rolled ourselves 
 up in our blankets, and having lashed Phillpotts, 
 
PETER BOTTE. 287 
 
 who was a determined sleep-walker, to Keppel's 
 leg, we tried to sleep ; but it blew strong before the 
 morning, and was very cold. We drank all our 
 brandy, and kept tucking in the blankets the whole 
 night without success. At day -break we rose, stiff, 
 cold, and hungry, and I shall conclude briefly by 
 saying that, after about four or fiye hours' hard 
 work, we got a hole mined in the rock, and sunk 
 the foot of our twelve-foot ladder deep in this, lash- 
 ing a water-barrel, as a landmark, at the top , and, 
 above all ; a long staff, with a union-jack flying. We 
 then hi turn mounted to the top of the ladder to 
 take a last look at a view such as we might never 
 see again, and bidding adieu to the scene of our toil 
 and triumph, descended the ladder to the neck, and 
 casting off the guys and hauling-lines, cut off all 
 communication with the top. 
 
 In order to save time and avoid danger, we now 
 made fast a line from the neck to the shoulder, as 
 tight as possible, and hanging on our traps by means 
 of rings, launched them one by one from the top, 
 and down they flew, making the line smoke. All 
 were thus conveyed safely to the shoulder, except 
 one unlucky bag, containing a lot of blankets, my 
 spy-glass, and sundry other articles, which not be- 
 ing firmly fixed, broke the preventer-line, and took 
 its departure down to Pamplemousses. We at 
 length descended and reached the shoulder all safe 
 and without any accident, except that of the 
 blankets, not a rope-yarn being left to show where 
 we got up. We then breakfasted, and after a long 
 and somewhat troublesome descent, got to the low 
 
288 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 country, and drove in Lloyd's carriage to town, 
 where we were most cordially welcomed by all oul 
 countrymen, though I believe we were not quite so 
 warmly greeted by the French inhabitants, who are 
 now constrained to believe that their countrymeD 
 alone did not achieve the feat, and that the British 
 ensign has been the first to wave over the redoubta- 
 ble Peter Botte. 
 
 Liuet. Taylob, Royal Geographical Society's Transactions. 
 
XXV. 
 
 THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. 
 
 ASCENT BY BERTHELOT. 
 
 It was on the 8th of July that I determined to 
 climb to the very Peak of Teyde, better known in 
 Europe under the name of the Peak of Teneriffe. 
 I intended to reach it by the southern slopes ; and 
 I knew that before me no one had attempted it on 
 that side, because the paths which lead to it are 
 almost impracticable ; but then I thought I might 
 possibly find there some plants which had escaped 
 the learned researches of Broussonnet, and of Ch. 
 Smith ; and this hope alone outweighed all the 
 obstacles. I was, at this time, at Chasna, a village 
 situated in a most picturesque position on the south 
 of the peak, and at about 4600 feet above the level 
 of the sea, although it was hardly three leagues 
 distant from the southern side of the isle. I set 
 out from thence at five o'clock in the morning, 
 with Mr. Macgregor, then English consul at the 
 Canaries, and with two guides, who were to accom- 
 pany us. After two hours' march, we arrived at 
 the base of the central mountains. The pines 
 
290 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 whicn covered almost all the land that we had 
 crossed, gradually became more rare ; and as we 
 advanced into the gorge of Oucanca these beautiful 
 trees insensibly disappeared, and were replaced by 
 viscous brooms. Oucanca is a place which is 
 worthy of a visit ; a volcanic eruption, accompanied 
 no doubt by violent commotions, overthrowing the 
 base of the central mountains, gave birth to the 
 gorge now existing there. The principal crater, 
 which is easily recognized, vomits a torrent of vi- 
 trified lava which inundates the neighboring places, 
 and follows its course towards the coast, traversing 
 a space of more than two leagues. The wildness 
 of this place is still more increased by the enormous 
 rocks which seem to have become detached from the 
 neighboring heights. 
 
 Emerging from the gorges of Oucanca, we con- 
 tinued to ascend the mountain in front of us ; the 
 white heaths, of which we had already found some 
 bushes, then showed themselves in greater number, 
 and soon extended so as to form a sort of belt of 
 vegetation exclusively round the bases of the peak. 
 
 The place at which we had arrived was called 
 Degollada de Oucanca. Teneriffe was in front of 
 us ; we could already count the torrents of black 
 lava which marked its sides ; and we could also see 
 all the central mountains of Teneriffe. Indeed it 
 is only from this point that a view can be obtained 
 which embraces the whole group of these volcanic 
 summits. This view is most imposing ; and no de- 
 scription can give a just idea of it. These Canadas 
 mountains which may probably have once formed a 
 

 : - ,l-!! i-:- ir..;=.-..-h-ii=- iii''ii;-iVii l ,'ili!iii; i i:- J ^ 
 
THE PEAK OF TENEKIFFE. 291 
 
 perfectly circular chain, present now two great 
 passages whose ruinous approaches plainly indicate 
 the violent causes which have created them. Their 
 high crests rise to more than 9000 feet above the 
 level of the ocean ; and all the space enclosed by 
 their line of circumvallation round these trachytic 
 mountains constitutes one immense crater, whose 
 origin was probably prior to that of the peak itself 
 which the geologist Escolar called el Tiijo de las 
 Ganadas (the son of the Ganadas). It is nearly 
 in the middle of this elliptical crater, of which the 
 greatest diameter is about five leagues, that the 
 Peak rises, still smoking, above all this agitated soil. 
 The vast circle which surrounds it is known at 
 Teneriffe by the name of the gorges of the Peak, 
 {Ganadas del Teyde, or simply Ganadas). 
 
 The path which conducts to the Degollada of 
 Oitcanca, in the bottom of the gorges, is a very 
 rugged one ; the opposite slope of the mountain is 
 almost perpendicular, and presents, in several places, 
 precipices which are more than 900 feet deep. 
 When we were descending into the interior of the 
 Ganadas we could scarcely conceive how we should 
 ever arrive there ; but at last we succeeded. The 
 level of these gorges is about 9000 feet above the 
 sea ; and the Peak rises about 3000 feet above this 
 level. We had, on one side, the vast slopes of the 
 great cone, and on the other the chain of mountains 
 from which we had descended, and whose almost 
 perpendicular side served of old as a division to the 
 immense boiling crater. Truly an astonishing spec- 
 tacle ! If in imagination we go back to the ages 
 
292 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 of geological disturbance in which this frightful 
 volcano was in all its activity we shall not be able 
 to think without horror of that flaming gulf of more 
 than nine leagues in circumference, and of 900 feet 
 in depth. Yet only thus can we form an idea of 
 the state of fermentation of this era of incandes- 
 cence ; and the formation of the Peak in the middle 
 of this gulf will then appear only a secondary phe- 
 nomenon. 
 
 After having admired these grand volcanic effects, 
 and before we proceeded stiU nearer to the base of 
 the Peak, we were obliged to rest ourselves at the 
 source of La Piedra, for we were suffocated by the 
 heat. In this elevated region, the air is always 
 calm and clear, the heavens always of a brilliant 
 azure ; and the lightest cloud never comes to break 
 its uniformity. The intensity of the solar rays in 
 these gorges, their reflection from the layers of 
 white gravel stone, their dazzling scintillation on 
 the fragments of pumice-stone and obsidian, which 
 cover the ground, are so many causes of the high 
 temperature. Prom thence you look down on the 
 clouds ; and so there are none of those pleasant 
 mists which in the lower regions, from time to time 
 refresh the atmosphere, moisten the earth, and 
 vivify the vegetation. The inhabitant of the plains, 
 who crosses this belt, soon feels its influence ; the 
 extreme dryness of the air closes the pores, stops 
 perspiration, and cracks his skin ; an immoderate 
 thirst ceaselessly torments him, and often he seeks 
 in vain for some hidden spring which still could 
 only quench his thirst for an instant. It is in vain 
 
THE PEAK OF TENEKIFFE. 293 
 
 also that to avoid the heat of the sun, he tries to 
 take refuge under the bushes of broom or the shadow 
 of some rock ; the earth everywhere is burning, 
 everywhere the heat is insupportable, everywhere 
 there reigns this depressing stillness, and he is 
 speedily forced to quit the shelter in which no 
 breath of air can be felt. 
 
 The source of La Piedra suplies a deliciously 
 cool water, to which the goats that are left to 
 wander in these gorges, and the bees whose hives 
 are placed in its neighborhood, come to quench 
 their thirst. A quantity of white broom grows near 
 it ; and indeed this useful shrub is the ornament of 
 these Canadas. The goats browse, too, on its 
 stems, whilst the bees ceaselessly suck the perfumed 
 flowers. So, even in the most desert places, Nature 
 seems to have provided for the wants of all. With- 
 out the broom, which is so abundantly spread over 
 this valley, how could these flocks and precious 
 swarms subsist ? and yet the latter form one of the 
 most important branches of rural economy to the 
 inhabitants of the south. 
 
 We now continued our way along the defile of 
 Canada Blanca ; and our guides made us after- 
 wards cross a torrent of lava which was on our 
 right, then another, and soon after a third. They 
 call all these places which have been invaded by the 
 eruptions mat pais (mauvais pays). In proportion to 
 the height we attained, did the obstacles seem to 
 become more and more insurmountable ; and every 
 minute we had to scramble over the heaps of scoria, 
 or the masses of obsidian, which lay in bur way. 
 
294 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 We had marched for more than two hours over this 
 terrible ground, when our guides, who had already 
 stopped several times to consult together, began to 
 appear uncertain as to the road which they ought 
 to follow ; and very soon one of them came to an- 
 nounce to us that we had wandered from the right 
 way, and that we must give up our enterprise. We 
 were not of his mind ; we had gone too far to give 
 up ; but somehow we felt that we must get out of 
 that particular spot, for night was coming on ; and 
 besides this place, to which our ignorant guides had 
 conducted us, was a discouraging one. The lava 
 heaped up in blocks surrounded us on every side, 
 and further on it appeared to be spread in sheets ; 
 so we did not know which way to turn. However, 
 at all hazards, and by main force Ave managed to 
 clear a way for the unfortunate horse that carried 
 our provisions, and which had almost been killed 
 over and over again during this journey. 
 
 We were nearly worn out with fatigue when we 
 arrived at the foot of a mountain of pumice, lean- 
 ing against the Peak. On getting clear of this 
 pumice our shoes and stockings were in rags ; but 
 we had already reached one of the slopes of the 
 Peak, and we took courage. I knew this place too, 
 for it was the way I had gone in 1825 on my first 
 expedition. Certain now of wandering no more, 
 we pushed on boldly towards La Estancia, where 
 we at length arrived about nine o'clock, in the light 
 of a fine moon. 
 
 In spite of the height of this station, we found 
 the temperature very supportable ; we breathed the 
 
THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. 295 
 
 purest air, and some light gusts of north wind 
 brought to us the perfume of the broom. Our 
 people had no sooner arrived than they collected a 
 quantity of the neighboring bushes, which they 
 heaped together and lighted. On this they laid to 
 roast an unfortunate goat, which they had killed in 
 the Canadas. Soon after supper they grouped 
 themselves round the fire ; and each fell asleep in 
 his place. As for me, I could not do much in that 
 way, for the forced march of the day had heated my 
 blood ; and in such a state of irritation one sleeps 
 but ill, especially on rocks. The spectacle beneath 
 my eyes was likewise too full of attraction for me ; 
 the serenity of the heavens, the solitude of the 
 place, the strange forms of the rocks heaped around 
 our bivouac, and those grand shadows which veiled 
 the gorges, out of which we had just come — all 
 these things formed an imposing tableau. 
 
 It was three o'clock in the morning when *we 
 left the place of our bivouac in order to advance 
 towards the point of the Peak. The pathway which 
 we followed first, although very much inclined, is 
 notwithstanding practicable enough ; but on ap- 
 proaching the Altavista, the irregularity of the 
 ground became frightful on account of the incum- 
 brance of the various matters which the volcano had 
 vomited; and one could not walk too cautiously 
 amidst so many crevasses and roughnesses. After 
 having got clear of this mat pais del Teyde, as our 
 guides call it, we arrived at the course of La Ram- 
 bleta. Everything seemed to point out the exist- 
 ence in this place of a crater anterior to that of the 
 
296 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 summit of the Peak ; for it is from hence that all 
 the numerous torrents of lava flowed which have 
 inundated the Canadas. The Teyde or Peak must 
 have had intervals of rest ; and it was probably after 
 one of them that a new eruption produced the 
 Peak. This volcanic head which has covered up 
 the old opening really rises in the midst of La 
 Rambleta ; now it crowns the mountain, and the 
 slopes of its summit which we saw beneath us, were 
 lighted up by the rays of the rising sun. Sulphure- 
 ous exhalations were already perceptible ; and we 
 saw that we were near the end of our enterprise ; 
 but this little cone remained still to be ascended, 
 and its height was about 440 feet. The pumice- 
 stones and the remains of lava rendered this ascent 
 very fatiguing ; however, after we had rested and 
 taken breath several times we at length reached the 
 summit. 
 
 The view which one enjoys at this elevation is 
 perfectly grand ; it would be imposible for me to 
 give an exact idea of it ; to explain the impression 
 which this sublime spectacle produced on me would 
 be still more difficult. I felt at the same time a sort 
 of giddiness and yet of ecstasy ; I was dumb with 
 admiration. From that culminating point whence 
 the eruptions burst forth at 12,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, our view embraced seven islands. 
 On the east, the high peaks of the grand Canary 
 pierced through the clouds that were gilded by the 
 rays of the sun ; further on, we discovered Lanze- 
 rote and Forteventura ; on the west, the shadow of 
 Teneriffe extended in an immense triangle as far as 
 
THE PEAK OF TENER1FFE. 297 
 
 Gomera ; and not far off were to be seen Palma and 
 the isle of Ferro. Below us lay Teneriffe, with the 
 whole circuit of its coasts, the different chains of 
 its mountains, its plateaux, and its picturesque val- 
 leys. Our eyes wandered long over this multitude 
 of hollows and risings which the play of the shadows, 
 showed to us ; we could have wished to make out 
 all the localities, and to recognize every object ; but 
 the panorama was too distant for it to be possible to 
 seize all its details ; it was but a plan in relief ; we 
 could not properly appreciate the heights and the 
 distances, for from thence even the hills seemed to 
 sink under the Peak. We were almost beside our- 
 selves with admiration at the immensity of this pic- 
 ture ; but the scene soon changed its aspect. As 
 the sun advanced in its course, so the vapors rose 
 on all sides ; gradually we saw condensed masses 
 floating about, and white clouds forming them- 
 selves over the places where a great quantity of ve- 
 getation sucked in and constantly reproduced new 
 mists. Thus insensibly the whole surface of the 
 island became covered, over which we stood as over 
 an ocean of clouds. 
 
 Beethelot, Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie. 
 
XXVI. 
 
 THE SIERBA NEVADA. 
 
 CLIMBING A PRECIPICE. 
 
 Around the head of the lake were crags and pre- 
 cipices in singularly forbidding arrangement. As 
 we turned thither we saw no possible way of over- 
 coming them. At its head the lake lay in an angle of 
 the vertical wall, sharp and straight, like the corner 
 of a room ; about three hundred feet in height, and 
 for two hundred and fifty feet of this a pyramidal 
 pile of blue ice rose from the lake, rested against 
 the corner, and reached within forty feet of the top. 
 Looking into the deep blue water of the. lake, I con- 
 cluded that in our exhausted state it was madness 
 to attempt to swim it. The only other alternative 
 was to scale that slender pyramid of ice and find 
 some way to climb the forty feet of smooth wall 
 above it. . . . Upon the top of the ice we found 
 a narrow, level platform, upon which we stood to- 
 gether, resting our backs in the granite corner, and 
 looked down the awful pathway of King's Canon, 
 until the rest nerved us enough to turn our eyes 
 upward at the forty feet of smooth granite which lay 
 between us and safety. 
 
 
THE SIERRA NEVADA, 299 
 
 Here and there were small projections from its 
 surface, little protruding knobs of feldspar, and cre- 
 vices riven into its face for a few inches. 
 
 As we tied ourselves together, I told Cotter to 
 hold himself in readiness to jump down into one of 
 these in case I fell, and started to climb up the wall, 
 succeeding quite well for about twenty feet. About 
 two feet above my hands was a crack, which, if my 
 arms had been long enough to reach, would proba- 
 bly have led me to the very top ; but I judged it 
 beyond my powers, and, with great care, descended 
 to the side of Cotter, who believed that his superior 
 length of arm would enable him to make the reach 
 
 I planted myself against the rock, and he started 
 cautiously up the wall. Looking down the glare 
 front of ice, it was not pleasant to consider at what 
 velocity a slip would send me to the bottom, or at 
 what angle, and to what probable depth, I should 
 be projected into the ice-water. Indeed, the idea 
 of such a sudden bath was so annoying that I lifted 
 my eyes toward my companion. He reached my 
 farthest point without great difficulty, and made a 
 bold spring for the crack, reaching it without an 
 inch to spare, and holding on wholly by his fingers. 
 He thus worked himself slowly along the crack 
 toward the top, at last getting his arms over the 
 brink, and gradually drawing his body up and out 
 of sight. It was the most splendid piece of slow 
 gymnastics I ever witnessed. For a moment he 
 said nothing ; but when I asked if he was all right, 
 he cheerfully repeated, ' All right.' It was only a 
 moment's work to send up the two knapsacks and 
 
300 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 barometer, and receive again my end of the lasso. 
 As I tied it round my breast, Cotter said to me, in 
 an easy, confident tone, ' Don't be afraid to bear 
 your weight.' I made up my mind, however, to 
 make that climb without his aid, and husbanded 
 my strength as I climbed from crack to crack. I 
 got up without difficulty to my former point, rested 
 there a moment, hanging solely by my hands, gath- 
 ered every pound of strength and atom of will for 
 the reach, then jerked myself upward with a swing, 
 just getting the tips of my fingers into the crack. 
 In an instant I had grasped it with my right hand 
 also. I felt the sinews of my fingers relax a little, 
 but the picture of the slope of ice and the blue lake 
 affected me so strongly that I redoubled my grip 
 and climbed slowly along the crack, until I reached 
 the angle, and got one arm over the edge as Cotter 
 had done. As I rested my body on the edge and 
 looked up at Cotter, I saw that, instead of a level 
 top, he was sitting upon a smooth, roof-like slope, 
 where the least pull would have dragged him over 
 the brink. He had no brace for his feet, nor hold 
 for his hands, but had seated himself calmly, with 
 the rope tied round his breast, knowing that my 
 only safety lay in being able to make the climb en- 
 tirely unaided ; certain that the least waver in his 
 tone would have disheartened me, and perhaps 
 made it impossible. The shock I received on seeing 
 this affected me for a moment, but not enough to 
 throw me off my guard, and I climbed quickly over 
 the edge. When we had walked back out of dan- 
 ger we sat down upon the granite for a rest. 
 
THE SIERRA NEVADA. 301 
 
 In all my experience of mountaineering I have 
 never known an act of such real, profound courage 
 as this of Cotter's, It is one thing, in a moment of 
 excitement, to make a gallant leap, or hold one's 
 nerves in the iron grasp of will ; but to coolly seat 
 one's self in the door of death, and silently listen 
 for the fatal summons, and this all for a friend — for 
 he might easily have cast loose the lasso and saved 
 himself— requires as sublime a type of courage as I 
 know. . . . 
 
 It was about two o'clock when we reached the 
 summit and rested a moment to look back over our 
 new Alps, which were hard and distinct under di- 
 rect unpoetic liglit ; yet with all their dense grey 
 and white reality, their long, sculptured ranks, and 
 cold, still summits, we gave them a lingering fare- 
 well look, which was not without its deep fullness • 
 of emotion, then turned our backs and hurried 
 down the debris slope into the rocky amphitheatre 
 at the foot of Mount Brewer, and by five o'clock 
 had reached our old camp-ground. We found here 
 a note pinned to a tree informing us that the party 
 had gone down into the lower canon, five miles be- 
 low, that they might camp in better pasturage. 
 
 The wind had scattered the ashes ol our old 
 camp-fire, and banished from it the last sentiment 
 of home. We hurried on, climbing among the rocks 
 which reached down to the crest of the great lateral 
 moraine, and then on in rapid* stride along its 
 smooth crest, riveting our eyes upon the valley be- 
 low, where we knew the party must be camped. 
 
 At last, faintly curling above the sea of green 
 
302 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 tree tops, a few faint clouds of smoke wafted up- 
 ward into the air. We saw them with a burst of 
 strong emotion, and ran down the steep flank of 
 the moraine at the top of our speed. Our shouts 
 were instantly answered by the three voices of our 
 friends, who welcomed us to their camp-fire with 
 tremendous hugs. 
 
 After we had outlined for them the experience 
 of our days, and as we lay outstretched at our ease, 
 warm in the blaze of the glorious camp-fire, Brewer 
 said to me, " King, you have relieved me of a dread- 
 ful task. For the last three days I have been com- 
 posing a letter to your family, but somehow I did 
 not get beyond, ' It becomes my painful duty to in- 
 form you.' " 
 
 Clabence King, Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada. 
 # (Atlantic Monthly). 
 
XXVII. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT VOLCANO. 
 
 BY H. DE SAUSSURE IN 1855. 
 
 You have often asked me to communicate some de- 
 tails relating to my journey in Mexico ; but until 
 the present time I have not found it possible to 
 begin the relation of my observations on the geo- 
 graphy of this interesting country. I shall now 
 confine myself to speaking of the discovery of an 
 ancient extinct volcano, about which there are re- 
 markably curious points, worthy of the attention of 
 the geographer as well as of the geologist. But when 
 I talk of the discovery of this mountain, I do not 
 pretend that it had never been visited by any one, 
 for the inhabitants of the surrounding district knew 
 it very well; but no traveller has ever suspected 
 its existence, and even the inhabitants of the Mexi- 
 can towns are quite in ignorance about it. 
 
 On the southwest of the valley of Mexico, ex- 
 tends the green province of Michoacan, which with 
 good reason passes for the garden of Mexico, and 
 which unites the advantages of a broken-up soil, 
 furrowed by a great number of water-courses, and 
 
304 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 of a temperate climate. When the traveller gets 
 into one of these green meadows, after having tra- 
 velled a long time in the sandy plains of Anahuac 
 and the marshes of the basin of Mexico, he expe- 
 riences a peculiar delight at the sight of these 
 wooded hills between which stretch verdant mea- 
 dows, rivers with their pure, clear waves, and en- 
 chanting lakes on the bosom of which float islets 
 covered with a rich vegetation. In the other dis- 
 tricts of this country some wild and rugged moun- 
 tains conceal veins of precious metal which, at the 
 present time, are the sole riches of these Spanish 
 republics. The most flourishing of these districts 
 is that of Angangeo, situated on the confines of the 
 State of Mexico. I quitted this locality on the 6th 
 of August, 1855, and directed myself to the west 
 towards the village of Taximaroa. I had received 
 some vague intimation of the existence in this 
 region of a great mountain bearing the name of San 
 Andres, but I had some trouble in finding a guide 
 who should conduct me to it. 
 
 All the volcanoes of Mexico are easy of access. 
 The slope of their sides is so gentle that one can 
 ascend on horseback to a considerable height ; but 
 they are always covered with forests which hide the 
 horizon and the summit of the mountain. Every- 
 where the visual ray is arrested by the trunks of 
 venerable trees which seem to dispute the ground, 
 Or which lie heaped together in masses of rotten- 
 ness, where all living nature seems to retire into 
 shade from the eye of the passer-by. This vigorous 
 and gigantic vegetation, the fruit of a tropical 
 
THE SAN ANDHES, MEXICO. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT VOLCANO. . 305 
 
 climate, and remarkably fertile soil, excites for a 
 length of time j)he imagination of the traveller ; but 
 all this ends at last in fatigue, and its monotony fills 
 the soul with ennui and sadness. Here, however, 
 the uniformity is broken by great openings among the 
 trees ; and the horizontal ground appears to me to 
 have belonged to a series of dried-up lakes. The 
 mountain of San Andres is, in fact, very distinct. Its 
 sides are not uniformly inclined ; but they are cut up 
 into plains, mounds, and hills, on the mountain itself. 
 This vast whole presents a mass of domes and of 
 crests, separated by plains and valleys ; and it rises 
 gradually by stages to the last plateau, on the level 
 of which surges up the rounded rock which forms 
 the highest point. 
 
 The straight path which conducts from the 
 village of Jaripea to the place of the sulphur 
 works, sometimes crosses the marshes of the plains, 
 sometimes goes down into ravines, in which our 
 steps were attended with danger every moment. 
 The soil of the mountain is entirely composed of a 
 bluish trachyte, crossed by an infinity of very wide 
 lines of obsidian, so that, in many places, men and 
 horses walk literally over glass. All the neigh- 
 boring plains are of much the same character, and 
 are besides inundated with basaltic overflowings, 
 which have boiled up through a multitude of chinks 
 with which the ground has been riddled during the 
 numerous cataclysms which the incessant volcanic 
 shocks have caused. 
 
 After several hours' march Ave came out suddenly 
 on a pebbly amphitheatre, in which the most curious 
 
306 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 sj)ectacle was presented to our eyes. At the bottom 
 of this species of shaft is to be seen a circular pond, 
 more than three hundred feet wide, filled with a 
 troubled and boiling water, from which escapes a 
 cloud of vapor loaded with mephitic gases. All 
 the divisions of the amphitheatre are rocks com- 
 pletely bare of earth or vegetation, softened and 
 whitened by the sulphurous vapors with which the 
 atrnosjDhere of this gulf is loaded. On these rocks 
 are to be seen yellow and red rays, which indicate 
 the incessant action of sulphur ; and a languishing 
 vegetation covers on all sides the edges which are 
 perpendicularly cut. This struggle between a bud- 
 ding vegetation and the noxious emanations which 
 keep it down, has something sad in it, which renders 
 the appearance of these desolate places still more 
 wild. The marsh of hot water which occupies the 
 lower parts, to judge by the steepness of its edges, 
 is of a great depth. Out of it they continually 
 draw sulphur mixed with mud, which is used in the 
 manufacture of powder, after it has been purified by 
 fusion. Some earthen huts and a little building 
 for the works have been constructed for this busi- 
 ness, and at a distance from the lagune, at which 
 less of the mephitical exhalations are felt ; but such 
 is still the influence of the sulphurous vapors at 
 this distance, that it transforms the argillaceous 
 earth of which the houses are built into different 
 sulphates, principally into alum, so that they act- 
 ually crumble away periodically. This phenomenon 
 is one of the most curious that can be seen any- 
 where. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT VOLCANO. 307 
 
 We gave the rest of the day to exploring dif- 
 ferent parts of the mountain, and, guided by two 
 Indians, we penetrated into an elevated valley, 
 using our hatchets to clear the way for ourselves 
 through the thick parts of the forests, the extraor- 
 dinary vegetation of which surpasses in majesty and 
 vigor all that I had seen on the mountains of 
 Mexico. The ground is strewed with gigantic 
 trunks, which are heaped pell-mell under the thick 
 foliage of living trees ; and when we tried to get 
 clear of them by stepping from one to another, they 
 crumbled and fell into dust, drawing us in their 
 fall down into a bed of ferns and other plants, so 
 that we found ourselves in a manner between moun- 
 tains of decayed substances. 
 
 For about an hour our attention had been at- 
 tracted by a strange noise, like that of a cataract at 
 a distance, when we perceived a great column of 
 white smoke, whose curling flakes seemed to be 
 thrust out over the summit of the fir-trees which 
 cover the flanks of the valley. 
 
 On reaching the place whence the noise pro- 
 ceeded we were struck by the grandeur of the 
 spectacle which it presented. Before us was a 
 whitened slope, which appeared as if covered with 
 porcelain. 
 
 On the top of this there was a well with an 
 opening about six feet across, from whence escaped, 
 Avith a horrible whistling noise, an immense jet of 
 vapor, which rose into the ah' to a considerable 
 height. 
 
 At the same time a flood of boiling water over- 
 
308 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 flowed from this opening and ran in several streams 
 down to the valley. This phenomenon could only 
 be compared to that of the Geysers of Iceland ; and 
 here, as there, the results were the same. The 
 waters in their course deposit a quantity of silica, 
 and form all around those white rocks whose sub- 
 stance I have compared to that of porcelain. All 
 the stones which these waters moisten are in a state 
 of growth. Their surface is soft, like a species of 
 paste ; and when this becomes solid, it is a sort of 
 compact opal. 
 
 San Andres has many other curiosities too. 
 Not far from this jet of vapor, and in the same 
 valley, there is another hot spring, in the middle of 
 divers little basins, which look as if they had been 
 cut by the hand of man. But this latter offers 
 scarcely any object of interest except that of a 
 simple mineral spring, unless it is the high tem- 
 perature of its waters, which are found to be nearly 
 212°. 
 
 We continued our course through the woods, 
 always guided by our Indians, and rising gradually 
 up the sides of the valley, but without going beyond 
 the circuit of half a league, suddenly we saw open- 
 ing before us a gulf whose argillaceous and perpen- 
 dicular banks threatened to give way under our 
 feet. In the depth of this hole we saw a marsh of 
 muddy water, agitated by a violent ebullition. Its 
 level first fell, then rose in immense swellings, and 
 broke out and fell on all sides in waves of foam. 
 Some firs, which the falling of the banks had let 
 down, were beaten up in this funnel, and agitated 
 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT VOLCANO. 309 
 
 in the boiling waves of this grey mud, they were 
 subjected to a regular cooking operation, and shaken 
 about like a vegetable in a pot of boiling water. 
 The suddenness with which we came on this spec- 
 tacle rendered it still more frightful. We fell back, 
 seized with fear at the thought that the earth 
 might fail under our feet, and that the least im- 
 prudence would precipitate us into this gulf, where 
 a frightful death would be inevitable. 
 
 We could not help comparing this marvellous 
 picture to certain fairy scenes which belong to the 
 middle ages. If, instead of being placed in the 
 bosom of the deserts of America, the mountain 
 which we have described had been found on the 
 banks of the Rhine, it would have added more than 
 one legend to the Gothic traditions of Germany. 
 Is not the kettle of Eubezahl like this caldron of 
 the mountain, in which the trees of the forest are 
 cooked? And this dreadful place — if the witches 
 of Macbeth lived in it — would it not be a perfect 
 picture ? 
 
 It is highly probable that the San Andres has 
 many other objects worthy of attention ; but the 
 impenetrable forests which entirely cover it, pre- 
 vent the traveller from exploring it at his ease. 
 In another excursion, which I afterwards made be- 
 yond the sulphur factory, I saw a vast glade, in 
 which the ground is occupied by a lake of bitter 
 water, fed, no doubt, from subterranean sources. 
 Nothing can be more triste than these isolated 
 places, where an expanse of brackish water is bor- 
 dered all around by the venerable trees of a silent 
 
310 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 and monotonous forest, which neither deer nor 
 parrots ever come to enliven. It was there that, 
 seized by a violent attack of fever, I became inca- 
 pable of pushing further the exploration of the San 
 Andres. I deplored this circumstance the more 
 because it rendered it impossible for me to visit the 
 peak of the mountain which the inhabitants call 
 the Oerro Grande, the altitude of which very sensibly 
 passes the limit of arborescent vegetation. They 
 even assert that it is not free from perpetual snows ; 
 but the information which a traveller obtains from 
 the natives is too vague to inspire much confi- 
 dence. 
 
 Letter of M. H. de Saussube to M. de la Koquette, Bulletin de 
 la Societe de Gtographie. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 THE SILL A OF GAB AG AS. 
 
 A. DE HUMBOLDT. 
 
 I remained two months at Caracas, where M. Bon- 
 pland and I lived in a large house in the most ele- 
 vated part of the town. From a gallery we could 
 survey at once the summit of the Silla, the serrated 
 ridge of the Galipano, and the charming valley of 
 the Guayra, the rich culture of which was pleasingly 
 contrasted with the gloomy curtain of the surround- 
 ing mountains. It was in the dry season, and to 
 improve the pasturage, the savannahs and the turf 
 covering the steepest rocks were set on fire. These 
 vast conflagrations, viewed from a distance, produce 
 the most singular effects of light. Wherever the 
 savannahs, following the undulating slope of the 
 rocks, have filled up the furrows hollowed out by 
 the water, the flame appears, on a dark night, like 
 currents of lava, suspended over the valley. The 
 vivid but steady light assumes a reddish tint, when 
 the wind, descending from the Silla, accumulates 
 streams of vapor in the low regions. At other 
 times (and this effect is still more curious) these 
 
312 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 luminous bands, enveloped in thick clouds, appear 
 only at intervals when it is clear ; and as the clouds 
 ascend, their edges reflect a splendid light. These 
 various phenomena, so common in the tropics, ac- 
 quire additional interest from the form of the moun- 
 tains, the direction of the slopes, and the height of 
 the savannahs covered with Alpine grasses. During 
 the day the wind of Petare, blowing from the east, 
 drives the smoke towards the town, and diminishes 
 the transparency of the air. 
 
 In a country abounding in such magnificent 
 scenery, and at a period when, notwithstanding 
 some symptoms of popular commotion, most of the 
 inhabitants seem only to direct their attention to 
 physical objects, such as the fertility of the year, the 
 long drought, or the conflicting winds of Petare, and 
 Catia, I expected to find many individuals well 
 acquainted with the lofty surrounding mountains. 
 But I was disappointed ; and we could not find in 
 Caracas a single individual who had visited the sum- 
 mit of the Silla. Hunters do not ascend so high on 
 the ridges of mountains, and in these countries jour- 
 neys are not undertaken for such purposes as gather- 
 ing Alpine plants, carrying a barometer to an elevated 
 point, or examining the nature of rocks. Accus- 
 tomed to a uniform and domestic life, the people 
 dread fatigue and sudden changes of climate. 
 They seem to live not to enjoy life, but only to pro- 
 long it. 
 
 Our walks led us often in the direction of two 
 coffee-plantations, the proprietors of which, Don 
 Andres de Ibarra and M. Blandin, were men of agree- 
 
THE SILLA OF CARACAS. 313 
 
 able manners. These plantations were situated 
 opposite the Silla de Caracas. Surveying, by a tele- 
 scope, the steep declivity of the mountain, and the 
 form of the two peaks by which it is terminated, we 
 could form an idea of the difficulties we should have 
 to encounter in reaching its summit. Angles of 
 elevation, taken with the sextant at our house, had 
 led me to believe that the summit was not so high 
 above sea-level as the great square of Quito. This 
 estimate was far from corresponding with the notions 
 entertained by the inhabitants of the city. Moun- 
 tains which command great towns, have acquired, 
 from that jrery circumstance, an extraordinary cele- 
 brity in both continents. Long before they have 
 been accurately measured, a conventional height is 
 assigned to them, and to entertain the least doubt 
 respecting that height is to wound national prejudice. 
 The Captain- General, Senor de Guevara, directed the 
 teniente of Chacao to furnish us with guides to con- 
 duct us on our ascent of the Silla. These guides 
 were Negroes, and the} 7 knew something of the path 
 leading over the ridge of the mountain, near the 
 western peak of the Silla. This path is frequented 
 by smugglers, but neither the guides nor the most 
 experienced of the militia, accustomed to pursue the 
 smugglers in these wild spots, had been on the 
 eastern peak, forming the most elevated summit of 
 the Silla. 
 
 During the whole month of December the moun- 
 tain (of which the angles of elevation made me 
 acquainted with the effects of the terrestrial re- 
 fraction) had appeared only five times free of clouds. 
 
314 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 In this season of the year two serene days seldom 
 succeed each other, and we were therefore advised 
 not to choose a clear day for our excursion, but 
 rather a time when, the clouds not being elevated, 
 we might hope, after having crossed the first layer 
 of vapors uniformly spread, to enter into dry and 
 transparent air. We passed the night of the 2nd of 
 January in the Estancia de Gallegos, a plantation of 
 coffee-trees, near which the little river of Chacaito, 
 flowing in a luxuriantly shaded ravine, forms some 
 fine cascades in descending the mountains. The 
 night was pretty clear, and though on the day pre- 
 ceding a fatiguing journey, it might have .been well 
 to have enjoyed some repose, M. Bonpland and I 
 passed the whole night in watching three occulta- 
 tions of the satellites of Jupiter. I had previously 
 determined the instant of the observations, but we 
 missed them all, owing to some error of calculation 
 in the Gonnaissance des Temps. The apparent time 
 had been mistaken for mean time. 
 
 I was much disappointed by this accident, and 
 after having observed at the foot of the mountain 
 the intensity of the magnetic forces before sunrise, 
 we set out at five in the morning, accompanied by 
 slaves carrying our instruments. Our party consisted 
 of eighteen persons, and we all walked one behind 
 another, in a narrow path, traced on a steep declivity 
 covered with turf. We endeavored first to reach 
 a hill, which towards the southeast seems to form a 
 promontory of the Silla. It is connected with the 
 body of the mountain by a narrow dyke, called by 
 the shepherds the Gate, or Puerta de la Silla. We 
 
THE SILLA OF CARACAS. 315 
 
 reached this dyke about seven. The morning was 
 fine and cool, and the sky then seemed to favor 
 our excursion. I saw that the thermometer kept 
 a little below 57°. The barometer showed that 
 we were already 685 fathoms above the level of 
 the sea — that is, nearly 80 fathoms higher than at 
 the Venta, where we enjoyed so magnificent a view 
 of the coast. Our guides thought that it would 
 require six hours more to reach the summit of the 
 Silla. 
 
 We crossed a narrow dyke of rocks, covered with 
 turf, which led us from the promontory of the Puerta 
 to the ridge of the great mountain. Here the eye 
 looks down on two valleys, or rather narrow defiles, 
 filled with thick vegetation. On the right is per- 
 ceived the ravine which descends between the two 
 peaks to the farm of Muiioz ; on the left we saw the 
 defile of Chacaito, with its waters flowing out near 
 the farm of Gallegos. The roaring of the cascades 
 is heard, while the water is unseen, being concealed 
 by thick groves of erythrina, clusia, and the Indian 
 fig-tree. Nothing can be more picturesque in a 
 climate where so many plants have broad, large, 
 shining, and coriaceous leaves, than the aspect of 
 trees when the spectator looks down from a great 
 height above them, and when they are illumined by 
 the almost perpendicular rays of the sun. 
 
 From the Puerta de la Silla the steepness of the 
 ascent increases, and we were obliged to incline our 
 bodies considerably forward as we advanced. The 
 slope is often from 30° to 32°. We felt the want 
 of cramp-irons, or sticks shod with iron. Short 
 
316 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 grass covered the rocks of gneiss, and it was equally 
 impossible to hold by the grass, or to form steps, as 
 we might have done in softer ground. This ascent, 
 which was attended with more fatigue than danger, 
 discouraged those who accompanied us from the 
 town, and who were unaccustomed to climb moun- 
 tains. We lost a great deal of time in waiting for 
 them, and we did not resolve to proceed alone till 
 we saw them descending the mountain instead of 
 climbing up it. The weather was becoming cloudy ; 
 the mist already issued in the form of smoke, and 
 in slender and perpendicular streaks, from a small, 
 luminous wood which bordered the region of Alpine 
 savannahs. It seemed as if a fire had burst forth at 
 once on several points of the forest. These streaks 
 of vapor gradually accumulated together, and rising 
 above the ground, were carried along by the morn- 
 ing breeze, and glided like a light cloud over the 
 rounded summit of the mountain. M. Bonpland 
 and I foresaw from these infallible signs that we 
 should soon be covered by a thick fog, and lest our 
 guides should take advantage of this circumstance 
 and leave us, we obliged those who carried the most 
 necessary instruments to precede us ; we continued 
 climbing the slopes which led towards the ravine 
 of Chacaito. . . . 
 
 The eastern peak is the most elevated of the two 
 which form the summit of the mountain, and to this 
 we directed our course with our instruments. The 
 hollow between the two peaks has suggested the 
 Spanish name of Silla (saddle), which is given to 
 the whole mountain. . . . We were sometimes so 
 
THE SELLA OF CAEACAS. 317 
 
 enveloped in mist that we could with difficulty 
 find our way. At this height there is no path, 
 and we were obliged to climb with our hands 
 when our feet failed us, on the steep and slippery 
 declivity. 
 
 After proceeding for the space of four .hours 
 across the savannahs, we entered a little wood com- 
 posed of shrubs and small trees, called el Pejual. 
 We spent a long time in examining the fine resinous 
 and fragrant plants of the Pejual. Quitting the 
 little thicket of Alpine plants, we found ourselves 
 again in a savannah. We climbed over a part of 
 the western dome, in order to descend into the hollow 
 of the Silla, a valley which separates the two sum- 
 mits of the mountain. We there had great diffi- 
 culties to overcome, occasionally, by the force of the 
 vegetation. 
 
 Wandering in this thick wood of musacese or 
 arborescent plants, we constantly directed our course 
 towards the eastern peak, which we perceived from 
 time to time through an opening. On a sudden we 
 found ourselves again enveloped in a dense mist ; 
 the compass alone could guide us, but in advancing 
 northward we were in danger at every step of finding 
 ourselves on the brink of that enormous wall of 
 rocks which descends almost perpendicularly to 
 the depth of six thousand feet towards the sea. We 
 were obliged to halt. Surrounded by clouds sweep- 
 ing the ground, we began to doubt whether we 
 should reach the eastern peak before night. Hap- 
 pily, the Negroes who carried our water and pro- 
 
318 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 visions soon reached us, and we resolved to take 
 some refreshment. 
 
 We were three quarters of an hour in reaching 
 the summit of the pyramid. Having arrived 
 there, we enjoyed for a few minutes only the se- 
 renity of the sky. We were at thirteen hundred 
 
 Bridge in the Cordilleras. 
 
 and fifty fathoms of elevation. We gazed on an 
 extent of sea, the radius of which was thirty-six 
 leagues. 
 
 It was half-past four when we finished our ob- 
 servations. Satisfied with the success of our journey, 
 we forgot that there might be danger in descending 
 in the dark steep declivities covered by a smooth 
 and slippery turf. The mist concealed the valley 
 from us, but we distinguished the double hill of La 
 Puerta, which, like all objects lying almost per- 
 pendicularly beneath the eye, appeared extremely 
 
THE SILLA OF CARACAS, 319 
 
 near. We relinquished our design of passing the 
 night between the two summits of the Silla, and 
 having again found the path we had cut through 
 the thick wood of the heliconia, we soon arrived at 
 Pejual, the region of odoriferous and resinous 
 plants. 
 
 As there is scarcely any twilight in the tropics, 
 we pass suddenly from bright daylight to darkness. 
 The moon was on the horizon, but her disk was 
 veiled from time to time by thick clouds, drifted by 
 a cold and rough wind. Rapid slopes, covered with 
 yellow and dry grass, now seen in shade, and now 
 suddenly illumined, seemed like precipices, the 
 depth of which the eye sought in vain to measure. 
 We proceeded onwards in single file, and endea- 
 vored to support ourselves by our hands, lest we 
 should roll down. The guides, who carried our in- 
 struments, abandoned us successively, to sleep on 
 the mountain. Among those who remained with 
 us was a Congo black, who evinced great address, 
 bearing on his head a large dipping-needle : he held 
 it constantly steady, notwithstanding the extreme 
 declivity of the rocks. The fog had dispersed by 
 degrees in the bottom of the valley, and the 
 scattered lights perceived below us caused a double 
 illusion. The steeps appeared still more dangerous 
 than they really were ; and during six hours of con- 
 tinued descent we seemed to be always equally near 
 the farms at the foot of the Silla. We heard very 
 distinctly the voices of men and the notes of guitars. 
 Sound is generally so well propagated upwards, that 
 
320 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 in a balloon at the elevation of 18,000 feet the bark- 
 ing of dogs is sometimes heard. 
 
 We did not arrive till ten at night at the bottom 
 of the valley. 
 
 A. de Humboldt, Voyages aux regions tquinoxiales du nouheau 
 continent. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 CHIMBORAZO. 
 
 ASCENT BY BOUSSINGAULT. 
 
 Eiobamba is perhaps the most singular diorama in 
 the world. The town presents nothing remarkable 
 in itself; but it is placed on one of the sterile 
 plateaux so common in the Andes, which, at this 
 great elevation, have all of them a characteristic 
 appearance of winter, which impresses the traveller 
 with a feeling of sadness. In order to reach it he 
 has to pass through very picturesque places ; and 
 this increases the depression produced by the 
 change ; for it is always with regret that one leaves 
 the climate of the tropics for the frosts of the north. 
 
 From the house where I lived I could look over 
 Capac-Urcu, Tunguragna, Cubille, Carguairazo, and 
 lastly, to the north, Chimborazo ; besides several 
 other celebrated mountains of the Paramos, which, 
 though they have not the honor of perpetual snow, 
 are still none the less worthy of the attention of 
 the geologist. 
 
 This vast amphitheatre, which bounds on all sides 
 the horizon of Eiobamba, is the scene of continually 
 
322 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 varied phenomena. It is curious to observe the 
 different appearances of these glaciers at different 
 hours of the day ; and to see their apparent heights, 
 varying from one moment to another, from the effect 
 of atmospheric refractions ; and it is with great 
 interest that one sees produced in a space so circum- 
 scribed all the great phenomena of meteorology. 
 Here it is one of those clouds that De Saussure has 
 so well described as parasitical clouds, which has 
 just attached itself to the middle part of a cone of 
 trachyte : it sticks to it ; and the wind, though 
 blowing strongly, cannot move it. Soon the thunder 
 bursts from this mass of vapor ; hail mingled with 
 rain inundates the lower part of the mountain, 
 whilst its snowy summit, which the storm has not 
 yet reached, is vividly lighted up by the sun. 
 Further on, it is a sharp peak of ice resplendent 
 with light ; it stands out against the azure of the 
 heavens, and all its forms may be distinguished even 
 to the minutiae ; the atmosphere is remarkably clear, 
 and yet this peak is covered with a cloud which 
 seems to emanate from its own bosom, so that one 
 might imagine it to have come out of smoke. This 
 cloud is already become a light vapor, and soon it 
 disappears altogether. But soon also it reproduces 
 itself just to disappear again. This intermittent 
 formation of the clouds is a very frequent pheno- 
 menon on the summits of mountains covered with 
 snow. It is chiefly observable in serene weather, 
 always some hours after the culmination of the sun. 
 In these conditions the glaciers may be compared 
 to condensers thrust up towards the high regions of 
 
CHIMBORAZO. 323 
 
 the atmosphere, in order to dry up the water by 
 freezing it, and to bring back in this way to the 
 surface of the earth the water which they find in a 
 state of vapor. 
 
 These plateaux, surrounded by glaciers, some- 
 times present the most lugubrious aspect, when a 
 continued wind brings to them the humid air of the 
 hot regions. The mountains become invisible, and 
 the horizon is masked by a line of clouds which 
 seem to touch the earth. The day is cold and 
 damp, — this mass of vapor being almost impene- 
 trable to the solar light. It is a long twilight, the 
 only one which is known in the tropics; for in 
 the equatorial zone the night succeeds suddenly to 
 day, so that the sun seems to become extinguished 
 in setting. 
 
 I could not better finish my researches on the 
 trachytes of the Cordilleras than by a special study 
 of Chimborazo. In order to do so, it was certainly 
 sufficient to approach its base : but what made me 
 go beyond the snowy boundary — what made me 
 determine on the ascent — was the hope of obtaining 
 the mean temperature of an extremely elevated 
 station. And, although this hope was frustrated, 
 my excursion, I hope, was not without its use with 
 regard to science. 
 
 My friend, Colonel Hall, who had already ac- 
 companied me up Antisana and Cotopaxi, wished 
 again to go with me on this expedition, in order to 
 add to the knowledge which he already possessed 
 of the topography of Quito, and to continue his re- 
 searches on the geography of plants. 
 
324 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 From BAobaniba, Cliimboraza presents two slopes 
 of very different inclinations. The one which looks 
 towards the Arenal is very abrupt ; and there are to 
 be seen coming out from under the ice numerous 
 points of trachyte. The other, towards the place 
 called Chillapullu, not far from Mocha, is, on the 
 contrary, little inclined, but of a considerable extent. 
 After having well examined the environs of the 
 mountains, it was by this slope that we resolved to 
 attack it. On the 14th of December, 1831, we went 
 to lodge at the farm of the Chimb orazo, where we 
 found dry straw to lie on, and some sheep-skins to 
 keep us from the cold. The farm stands on an ele- 
 vation of 12,350, so that the nights are cool there ; 
 and as a resting place, it is not agreeable, because 
 wood is scarce. We were already in the region ox 
 graminaceous plants, which has to be crossed before 
 the region of perpetual snow is reached : there all 
 ligneous vegetation ends. 
 
 On the loth, at seven in the morning, we put 
 ourselves en route, guided by an Indian from the 
 farm. We followed, in ascending, a rivulet enclosed 
 between two walls of trachyte, whose waters descend 
 from the glacier ; but very soon we quitted this 
 crevasse, in order to direct our steps towards Mocha, 
 going along the base of Chimborazo. We rose 
 insensibly ; and our mules walked with trouble and 
 difficulty through the debris of rock which has accu- 
 mulated on the foot of the mountain. The slope 
 then became very rapid, the ground was unstable, 
 and the mules stopped almost at every step to make 
 a long pause ; they no longer obeyed the spur. The 
 
CHIMBORAZO. 325 
 
 breathing of the animals was hurried and panting. 
 We were then precisely at the height of Mont Blanc, 
 for the barometer indicated an elevation of 15,626 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 After we had covered our faces with masks of 
 light gauze, in order to preserve ourselves from 
 accidents such as we had met with on the Antisana, 
 we began to ascend a ridge which abutted on a 
 very elevated point of the glacier. It was midday. 
 We went up slowly ; and, as we got further and 
 further on to the snow, the difficulty of breathing in 
 walking became more and more felt ; but we easily 
 regained our strength by stopping at every eight or 
 ten steps without always sitting down. As we went 
 on, we felt extreme fatigue from the want of con- 
 sistency in a snowy soil, which continually gave way 
 under our feet, and in which we sank sometimes up 
 to the waist. In spite of all our efforts, we were 
 soon convinced of the impossibility of advancing ; 
 in fact, a little farther on the shifting snow was more 
 than four feet deep. We went to rest on a block 
 of trachyte, which resembled an island in the midst 
 of a sea of snow. The height noted down was 
 16,623 feet; so that, after much fatigue, we had 
 only reached 997 feet higher than the place where 
 we set out. 
 
 At six o'clock, we were back at the farm. The 
 weather had been splendid, and Chimborazo had 
 never appeared to us so magnificent ; but, after our 
 fruitless journey, Ave could not help looking at it 
 with a feeling of spite. We were determined to 
 attempt the ascent by the abrupt side ; that is to 
 
326 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 say, by the slope which looks towards the Arenal. 
 We knew that it was on this side that Hum- 
 boldt had ascended this mountain ; for they had 
 pointed out to us at Riobamba the point to which 
 he had reached ; but it was impossible for us to 
 obtain exact information as to the route which he 
 had followed to get there, for the Indians who had 
 accompanied that intrepid traveller were no longer 
 living. 
 
 At seven o'clock the next day we took the road 
 towards the Arenal. The sky was remarkably pure. 
 On the east we perceived the famous volcano of 
 Sangay, in the province of Macas, which, nearly a 
 century before, La Condamine had seen in a state of 
 permanent incandescence. In proportion as we 
 advanced, the land rose sensibly. In general the 
 trachytic plateau which supports the isolated peaks 
 with which the Andes are, as it were, bristling, rise 
 gradually to the base of these same peaks. The 
 numerous and deep crevasses which furrow these 
 plateaux seem all to start from a common centre ; 
 they become narrower as they get away from this 
 centre. We could only compare them to the lines 
 on the surface of a cracked glass. 
 
 We were at a height of 16,071 feet when we 
 took to journeying on foot. The ground had be- 
 come altogether impracticable for the mules ; and, 
 besides, those animals, whose instinct is extraor- 
 dinary, tried to make us understand the great fa- 
 tigue which they felt ; their ears, usually so straight 
 and attentive, were quite drooping, and, during the 
 frequent halts which they made for breath, they 
 
CHIMBOEAZO. 327 
 
 never ceased looking towards the plain. Few riders 
 have probably taken their steeds to such a height ; 
 and to travel on the back of mules, over a moving 
 soil beyond the limits of the snow, requires, perhaps, 
 several years' experience in riding in the Andes. 
 
 After having examined the locality in which we 
 were, we saw that in order to gain a ridge which 
 ascended towards the summit of Chimborazo, we 
 must first climb an excessively steep ascent just in 
 front of us. It was formed in great part of blocks 
 of rock of all sizes, disposed in slopes. Here and 
 there these fragments of trachyte were covered by 
 sheets of ice more or less extensive, and in several 
 points you could clearly see that these debris of rock 
 lay over the hardened snow. They proceeded con- 
 sequently from the recent falls which had taken 
 place in the uppor part of the mountain. These 
 falls are frequent, and in the midst of the glaciers of 
 the Cordilleras what one has most to fear are the 
 avalanches in which there are realty more stones 
 than snow. 
 
 At eleven o'clock we finished crossing a very 
 extended sheet of ice on which we had been obliged 
 to cut notches in order to make sure of our steps. 
 This passage was not without danger, for a slide 
 might have cost us our lives. We entered then afresh 
 on the debris of trachyte, which was firm earth to 
 us, and from that time we were able to ascend more 
 rapidly. We marched along in a file, I first, then 
 Col. Hall, and my Negro last. He followed my steps 
 exactly, in order not to endanger the safety of the 
 instruments which were intrusted to him. We kept 
 
328 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 an absolute silence during our march, experience 
 having taught me that nothing exhausts so much as 
 a sustained conversation at this height ; and during 
 our halts, if we exchanged a few words, it was in a 
 low voice. It is, in a great measure, to this pre- 
 caution that I attribute the state of health which I 
 have constantly enjoyed during my ascents up vol- 
 canoes. And this precaution I imposed, so to speak, 
 in a despotic manner on those who accompanied me , 
 for, on the Antisana, an Indian who neglected it; 
 and called with all the strength of his lungs to Col. 
 Hall, who had lost his way as we were passing 
 through a cloud, was attacked with giddiness and 
 hemorrhage. 
 
 "We had now reached the ridge at which we were 
 aiming. It was not what we had thought it from a 
 distance, for, in fact, there was little snow on it ; but 
 then its sides were so steep that they were very 
 difficult to climb. We were obliged to make almost 
 unheard-of efforts, and such gymnastics are painful 
 in these aerial regions. At last we arrived at the 
 foot of a perpendicular wall of trachyte which was 
 many hundred feet in height. There was a visible 
 feeling of discouragement in the expedition when 
 the barometer told us that we were only at a height 
 of 18,460 feet. This was little for us, for it was 
 not even the height to which we had attained 
 on Cotopaxi. Besides, Humboldt had ascended 
 higher on Chimborazo ; and we wished at least to 
 attain the point at which that learned traveller had 
 stopped. Explorers of mountains when they are 
 discouraged are always very much disposed to sit 
 
CHIMBORAZO. 329 
 
 down, and that is what we did on the Pena Colorada 
 (Red Rock). It was the first rest sitting that we 
 had allowed ourselves ; and as we were all excess- 
 ively thirsty our first occupation was to suck some 
 icicles in order to quench this thirst. 
 
 It was a quarter to one p. M., and yet we felt- 
 quite cold enough, and the thermometer was down 
 to 31°. We then found ourselves enveloped in a 
 cloud. When this had disappeared we examined 
 our situation. Looking towards the red rock, we 
 had on the right a frightful abyss ; on the left, 
 towards the Arenal, we could distinguish an ad- 
 vanced rock, which looked like a turret. It was 
 important to reach this in order to see if we could 
 turn the red rock, and to ascertain at the same time 
 if it were possible to continue our ascent. Access 
 to this turret was difficult, but I managed it with 
 the assistance of my two companions. I saw then 
 that if we succeeded in climbing over a very inclined 
 surface, covered with snow, which leant against one 
 face of this red rock opposite to the side by which 
 we had reached it, we should attain a very consider- 
 able elevation. And in order to get a clear idea of 
 the topography of Chimborazo, let any one picture 
 to himself an immense rock, sustained on all sides 
 by such props, which from the plain seem to lean 
 against this enormous block in order to shore it up. 
 
 Before undertaking this dangerous passage, I 
 ordered my Negro to go and try the snow. It was 
 of a convenient consistency. Hall and the Negro 
 succeeded in turning the foot of the position which 
 I occupied, and I joined them when they were suffi- 
 
330 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ciently firmly planted to receive me, for in order to 
 rejoin them it was necessary to slide down about 25 
 feet of ice. At the moment of setting forward, a 
 stone detached itself from the top of the mountain, 
 and fell quite close to Col. Hall. He tottered and 
 fell; I thought him wounded, and was only reas- 
 sured when I saw him get up and examine with his 
 magnifying glass the sample of rock which was so 
 roughly submitted to our investigation ; the unlucky 
 trachyte was of the same kind as that on which we 
 were walking. 
 
 We advanced carefully ; on the right we could 
 support ourselves on the rock, on the left the de- 
 clivity was frightful, and before going forward we 
 began by familiarizing ourselves with the precipice. 
 This is a precaution which should never be neglected 
 in the mountains, whenever a dangerous place has 
 to be passed. De Saussure said so long ago, but 
 it cannot be repeated too often ; and in my adven- 
 turous journeys among the peaks of the Andes I 
 have never lost sight of this wise precept. 
 
 We began already to feel more than we had yet 
 done the effect of the rarefaction of the air ; we 
 were obliged to stop every two or three steps, and 
 often even to lie down for two or three seconds. 
 Once seated we were all right again ; our suffering 
 was only during the time that we were in motion. 
 But the snow itself soon rendered our progress as 
 slow as it was dangerous. It was only soft for about 
 three or four inches, and below was a very hard 
 and slippery ice, in which we were obliged to cut 
 notches. The Negro went before in order to make 
 
CH1MB0RAZ0. 331 
 
 these steps, and the labor exhausted him in a 
 moment. I went forward to relieve him, and slid ; 
 but happily for me, Hall and my Negro held me up. 
 However, for an instant we were all in imminent 
 danger. This incident made us hesitate a moment, 
 but taking new courage, we resolved to go on ; the 
 snow became more favorable ; we made a last effort, 
 and in an hour and three quarters we were on the 
 desired ridge. There, we were convinced that it 
 was impossible to do more, being now at the foot of 
 a prism of trachyte, of which the upper basis, 
 covered with a cupola of snow, forms the summit of 
 Chimborazo. 
 
 The ridge at which we had arrived was only 
 some feet in width. On all sides we were environed 
 with precipices, and surrounded by the strangest 
 sights. The deep color of the rock contrasted in 
 the most striking manner with the dazzling white- 
 ness of the snow. Long stalagmites of ice appeared 
 suspended over our heads, so that one might have 
 thought that a magnificent cascade had frozen there. 
 The weather was beautiful, some light clouds only 
 being visible in the west ; the air was quite calm, 
 so that the view was very extensive ; the situation 
 was new, and we felt a lively satisfaction in it. We 
 were at a height of 19,513 feet, which is, I believe, 
 the greatest height to which men have . ever 
 climbed. 
 
 After some moments' repose, we found ourselves 
 entirely recovered from our fatigues, and neither of 
 us experienced those uncomfortable sensations which 
 most persons who have ascended high mountains 
 
332 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 have done. Three quarters of an hour after our 
 arrival rny pulse, and also Ool. Hall's, beat 106 in 
 a minute ; we were thirsty, and evidently under a 
 slightly feverish influence ; but it was not a painful 
 state. My friend was very gay, and constantly 
 saying the most piquant things, notwithstanding 
 that he was occupied in drawing the view that lay 
 beneath us. All sounds seemed to me, however, 
 thinned in a remarkable manner, and the voices of 
 my companions were so much changed that under 
 any other circumstances it would have been im- 
 possible to recognize them. The slight noise which 
 the blows of my hammer on the rock made also 
 surprised us very much. 
 
 The rarefaction of the air generally produces 
 very marked results on climbers. On the summit 
 of Mont Blanc, De Saussure felt an uneasiness and 
 a disposition to sickness ; and his guides, who were 
 all inhabitants of Chamounix, experienced the same 
 sensations. This state of uneasiness increased also 
 when he made any movement, or when he fixed his 
 attention on any observations which he was making. 
 The first Spaniards who went over the high moun- 
 tains of America were attacked, according to the 
 account of Acosta, by nausea and stomach com- 
 plaints. Bouguer had several attacks of hemor- 
 rhage in the Cordilleras of Quito ; the same thing 
 happened on Monte Bosa to M. Zumstein ; and 
 lastly, on Chimborazo. MM. de Humboldt and Bon- 
 pland, at the time of their ascent of the 23rd of 
 June, 1802, felt a disposition to vomit, and the 
 blood came out of their lips and of their gums. As 
 
CHIMBOEAZO. 333 
 
 for ourselves, we had, certainly, found a difficulty in 
 breathing, and extreme lassitude as we ascended ; 
 but these inconveniences ceased with the movement. 
 Once at rest, and we believed ourselves to be in our 
 normal state ; perhaps we must attribute our insen- 
 sibility to the effects of rarefied air, to our prolonged 
 stay in the high towns of the Andes. When one 
 has seen the activity which there is in towns like 
 Bogota, Micuipampa, Potosi, etc., which are at from 
 8000 to 12.000 feet above the sea, when one has 
 been witness of the strength and prodigious agility 
 of the toreadors in a bull-fight at Quito, which is at 
 a height of more than 9000 feet ; when one has seen, 
 lastly, young and delicate women give themselves 
 up to dancing during entire nights in localities 
 almost as elevated as Mont Blanc, where the cele- 
 brated De Saussure found hardly enough strength to 
 consult his instruments, and where his vigorous 
 mountaineers fell exhausted whilst digging a hole in 
 the snow ; if, I must add, a celebrated battle, that 
 of Pichincha, was fought at a height differing little 
 from that of Mont Blanc, it will be granted, I think, 
 that man may become accustomed to breathe the 
 rarefied air of the highest mountains. 
 
 Whilst we were occupied in making our observa- 
 tions on Chimborazo the* weather continued fine, 
 and the sun was so hot as slightly to incommode us. 
 Towards three o'clock we perceived some clouds 
 forming below in the plain ; the thunder soon began 
 to growl below our position, and though the noise 
 was not loud, it was prolonged ; we thougnt at first 
 that it was a bramido, or subterranean rumbliug. 
 
334 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 Dark clouds then gathered round the base of the 
 mountain, and they slowly rose towards us. So we 
 had no time to lose, for it was essential that we 
 should pass the bad places before we were overtaken, 
 as otherwise we should run into the greatest dan- 
 gers. A heavy fall of snow, or a frost which should 
 render the way slippery, would suffice to hinder 
 our return, and we had no provision for a stay on 
 the glacier. 
 
 The descent was difficult. After we had got 
 down from 900 to 1200 feet, we penetrated into 
 clouds, by entering them from above : a little lower, 
 hail began to fall, which considerably chilled the 
 air, and at the moment at which we met the Indian 
 who took care of our mules, the cloud broke over us 
 in hail that was so large as to be quite painful when 
 the hailstones struck either our heads or faces. 
 
 In proportion as we descended an icy rain was 
 mixed with the hail. Night surprised us on the 
 road ; and it was eight o'clock when we reached the 
 farm. 
 
 The observations which I was able to collect 
 during this excursion tend all of them to confirm 
 my ideas on the nature of the trachyte mountains 
 which form the chain of the Cordilleras; for I have 
 seen repeated on Chimborazo aU the facts which I 
 have noticed in treating of the volcanoes of the 
 equator. It is evidently itself an extinct volcano, 
 like Cotopaxi, Antisana, Tunguragua, and in gen- 
 eral the mountains which stand thickly on the 
 plateaux of the Andes. The mass of Chimborazo is 
 formed by the accumulation of trachytic debris, 
 
THE CORDILLERAS, PERU. 
 
CHIMBORAZO. 335 
 
 heaped together without any order. These frag- 
 ments, of a size which is often enormous, have been 
 thrown together in a solid state ; their angles are 
 always sharp, and nothing indicates that there has 
 been any fusion, or even a simple state of softness. 
 Nowhere in any of the volcanoes of the equator 
 does one observe anything which would lead one to 
 presume that there had been a flow of lava ; nothing 
 but muddy, elastic fluids, or incandescent blocks of 
 trachyte, more or less solid, have come out of these 
 craters, and these have often been thrown to con- 
 siderable distances. 
 
 On the 23rd of December, in the afternoon, I 
 quitted Kiobamba, directing my course towards 
 Guayaquil, where I was to embark in order to visit 
 the coast of Peru. It was in sight of Chimborazo 
 that I separated from Col. Hall. During my stay 
 in the province of Quito I had enjoyed his con- 
 fidence and his friendship ; his perfect acquaintance 
 with the localities had been of the greatest use to 
 me, and I had found in him an excellent and in- 
 defatigable travelling companion ; and lastly, both 
 of us had served for a long time in the cause of 
 independence. Our farewells were full of regret, 
 and something seemed to tell us that we should 
 never meet again. This fatal presentiment was but 
 too well founded, for some months afterwards my 
 unhappy friend was assassinated in a street of 
 Quito. 
 
 Boussingaflt, Voyages aux Volcans de VEquatmr. 
 
XXX. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF PERUVIAN BARK. 
 
 The whole world, and especially tropical countries 
 where intermittent fevers prevail, have long been 
 indebted to the mountainous forests of the Andes for 
 that inestimable febrifuge which has now become 
 indispensable, and the demand for which is rapidly 
 increasing, while the supply decreases throughout all 
 civilized countries. There is, probably, no drug 
 which is more valuable to man than the febrifugal 
 alkaloid which is extracted from the chinchona trees 
 of South America ; and few greater blessings could 
 be conferred on the human race than the naturaliza- 
 tion of these trees in India and other congenial 
 regions, so as to render the supply more certain, 
 cheaper, and more abundant. 
 
 It would be strange indeed, if, as is generally 
 supposed, the Indian aborigines of South America 
 were ignorant of the virtues of Peruvian bark, yet 
 the absence of this sovereign remedy in the wallets 
 of itinerant native doctors who have plied their 
 trade from father to son since the time of the Incas, 
 
DISCOVERY OF PERUVIAN BARK. 
 
 337 
 
 certainly gives some countenance to this idea. It 
 seems probable, nevertheless, that the Indians were 
 aware of the virtues of Peruvian bark in the neigh- 
 borhood of Loxa, 230 miles south of Quito, where 
 its use was first made known to Europeans, and the 
 Indian name for the tree, ' quina quina? ' bark of 
 bark, indicates that it was believed to possess some 
 special medicinal properties. The Indians looked 
 upon their conquerors with dislike and suspicion ; it 
 is improbable that they would be quick to impart 
 knowledge of this nature to them ; and the interval 
 which elapsed between the discovery and settlement 
 of the country and the first use of Peruvian bark by 
 Europeans may thus easily be explained. 
 
 It may be added, however, that though the 
 Indians were aware of the febrifugal qualities of 
 this bark, they attached little importance to them 
 — they think that the cold North alone permits 
 the use of fever-bark, consider it very heating, 
 and therefore an unfit remedy in complaints which 
 they believe to arise from inflammation of the 
 blood 
 
 In about 1630, Don Juan Lopez de Canizares, 
 the Spanish Corregidor of Loxa, being ill of an 
 intermittent fever, an Indian of Malacotas is said to 
 have revealed to him the healing virtues of quin- 
 quina bark, and to have instructed him in the 
 proper way to administer it, and thus his cure was 
 effected. 
 
 In 1638, the wife of Luis Geronimo Fernandez 
 de Cabrera Bobadilla y Mendoza, fourth Count of 
 Chinchon, lay sick of an intermittent fever in the 
 
338 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUBES. 
 
 palace at Lima. Her famous cure induced Linnaeus, 
 long afterwards, to name the whole genus of quinine 
 yielding trees in her honor, ' Chinchona.' 
 
 The Count of Chinchon returned to Spain in 
 1640, and his Countess, bringing with her a quan- 
 tity of the healing bark, was the first person 
 to introduce this invaluable medicine into Europe. 
 .... After the cure of the Countess of Chincha, the 
 Jesuits were the great promoters of the introduction 
 
 of the bark into Europe In 1670, the Jesuit 
 
 missionaries sent parcels of the powdered bark to 
 Rome, whence it was distributed to members of the 
 fraternity throughout Europe by the Cardinal de Lu- 
 go, and used for the cure of agues with great success. 
 Hence the name of ' Jesuit's bark,' and ' Cardinal's 
 bark ;' and it was a ludicrous result of its patronage 
 by the Jesuits that its use should have been for a 
 long time opposed by Protestants and favored 
 by Eoman Catholics. In 1679, Louis XIV. bought 
 the secret of preparing quinquina from Sir Robert 
 Taylor, an English doctor, for two thousand louis- 
 d'ors, a large pension, and a title. Erom that 
 time Peruvian bark seems to have been recognized 
 as the most efficacious remedy for intermittent 
 fevers 
 
 The region of chinchona trees extends from 19° 
 S. lat., to 10° N., following the almost semicircular 
 curve of the Cordillera of the Andes on 1740 miles 
 of latitude. They flourish in a cool and equable tem- 
 perature on the slopes, and in the valleys and ravines 
 of the mountains, and surrounded by the most ma- 
 jestic scenery, never descending below an elevation 
 
 i; 
 
 ! 
 
DISCOVERY OF PERUVIAN BARK. 339 
 
 of 2500, and ascending as high as 9000 feet above 
 the sea. Within these limits their usual companions 
 are tree-ferns, melastomaceaa, arborescent passion- 
 flowers, and allied genera of chinchonaceous plants 
 Below them are the forests, abounding in palms and 
 bamboos ; above their highest limits are a few lonely 
 Alpine shrubs. 
 
 But within this wide zone grow many species of 
 chinchona, and within its own narrower belts as 
 regards elevation above the sea, some yielding the 
 inestimable bark, and others commercially worthless. 
 The chinchona plant has never been found in any 
 part of the world beyond the limits already de- 
 scribed. 
 
 When in good soil and under favorable circum- 
 stances they become large forest trees ; on higher ele- 
 vations, and when crowded and growing in rocky 
 ground, they frequently run up to great heights with- 
 out a branch, and at the upper limit of their zone 
 they become mere shrubs. The leaves are of a great 
 variety of shapes and sizes, but in most of the finest 
 species they are lanceolate, with a shining surface of 
 bright green, traversed by crimson veins, and petioles 
 of the same color. The flowers are very small, 
 but hang in clustering panicles, like lilacs, generally 
 of a deep roseate color, paler near the stalk, 
 dark crimson within the tube, with white, curly 
 hairs bordering the laciniae of the corolla. The 
 flowers of C. micrantha are entirely white. They 
 send forth a delicious fragrance which scents the air 
 
 in their vicinity The roots, flowers and capsules 
 
 of the chinchona trees have a bitter taste, with tonic 
 
340 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 properties ; but the upper bark is the only part 
 which has any commercial value. 
 
 Until the present century, Peruvian bark was 
 used in its crude state, and numerous attempts were 
 made at different times to discover the actual heal- 
 ing principle in the bark before success was finally 
 attained. The first trial, which is worthy of atten- 1 
 lion, was made in 1779, by the chemists Buguet and 
 Oornette, who recognized the existence of an essen- 
 tial salt, a resinous and an earthy matter in quin- 
 quina bark. In 1790, Fourcroy discovered the ex- 
 istence of a coloring matter, afterwards called chin- 
 chona red ; and a Swedish doctor, named Westring, 
 in 1800, believed that he had discovered the active 
 principle in quinquina bark. E-euss, a Russian 
 chemist, in 1815, was the first to give a tolerable 
 analysis of it ; and about the same time, Dr. Dun- 
 can, of Edinburgh, suggested that a real substance 
 existed as a febrifugal principle. Dr. Gomez, a 
 surgeon in the Portuguese navy, in 1816, was the 
 first to isolate this principle, and he called it chiii- 
 chonine. 
 
 But the final discovery of quinine is due to the 
 French chemists Pelletier and Caventou in 1820. 
 They considered that a vegetable alkaloid, analo- 
 gous to morphine and strychnine, existed in quin- 
 quina bark ; and they afterwards discovered that 
 the febrifugal principle was seated in two alkaloids, 
 separate or together, in the different kinds of bark, 
 called quinine and chinchonine, with the same vir- 
 tues, which, however, were much more powerful in 
 quinine. The discovery of these alkaloids in the 
 
DISCOVERY OF PERUVIAN BaRK. 341 
 
 quinquina bark, by enabling chemists to extract the 
 healing principle, has greatly increased the useful- 
 ness of the drug. In small doses they promote the 
 appetite and assist digestion ; and chinchonine is 
 equal to quinine in mild cases of intermittent fever ; 
 but in severe cases the use of quinine is absolutely 
 
 necessary India and other countries have been 
 
 vainly searched for a substitute for quinine, and we 
 may say with as much truth now as Lambert did 
 in 1820, ' This medicine, the most precious of all 
 those known in the art of healing, is one of the 
 greatest conquests made by man over the vegetable 
 kingdom. The treasures which Peru yields, and 
 which the Spaniards sought and dug out of the 
 bowels of the earth, are not to be compared for 
 utility with the bark of the quinquina tree, which 
 they for a long time ignored ' 
 
 The species yielding ' red bark,' the richest and 
 most important of all the chinchonse, is found in 
 the forests on the western slopes of Mount Chirn- 
 borazo, along the banks of the rivers Chanchan, 
 Chasuan, San Antonio, and their tributaries. . . 
 
 The collection of bark in the South American 
 forests was conducted from the first with the most 
 reckless extravagance : no attempt worth the name 
 has ever been made either with a view to the con- 
 servancy or cultivation of the chinchona-trees, and 
 both the complete abandonment of the forests to the 
 mercy of every speculator, as in Peru, Ecuador, and 
 New Granada, and the barbarous meddling legisla- 
 tion of Bolivia have led to the equally destructive 
 results. The bark-collector enters the forest and 
 
34:2 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 destroys the first clump of trees he finds, without a 
 thought of any measure to preserve the continuance 
 of a supply of bark. Thus in Apollobaraba, where 
 the trees once grew thickly round the village, no 
 full-grown one is now to be found within eight or 
 ten days' journey, and so utterly improvident are the 
 collectors that, in the forests of Cochabamba they 
 
 
 Eio Vinagre Cascade, in the Cordilleras. 
 
 bark the tree without felling, and thus ensure its 
 death ; or, if they cut it down, they actually neglect 
 to take off the bark on the side touching the ground, 
 to save themselves the trouble of turning the trunk 
 over. 
 
DISCOVERY OF PERUVIAN BARK. 343 
 
 In 1839 Dr. Boyle recommended the introduc- 
 tion of the chinchona plants into India, pointing 
 ont the Neilgherry and Silhet hills as suitable sites 
 for the experiment, and Lord William Bentinck took 
 some interest in the project ; ... . . . but this attempt 
 
 was surrounded by difficulties, from which all other 
 undertakings of a similar nature have been free. 
 When tea was introduced into the Himalayan dis- 
 tricts, it had been a cultivated plant in China for 
 many ages, and experienced Chinese cultivators 
 came with it. But the chinchona had never been 
 cultivated since the discovery «of its value in 1638 ; 
 it had remained a wild forest tree ; all information 
 concerning it was solely derived from the observa- 
 tions of European travellers who had penetrated into 
 the virgin forests, and the only guidance for cul- 
 tivators in India is to be found in the report of these 
 travellers, and in the .experience slowly acquired by 
 careful and intelligent trials. Great as these diffi- 
 culties were, they were probably exceeded by the 
 perils and risks of every description which must be 
 encountered in collecting plants and seeds in South 
 America, and conveying them to India. 
 
 But the vast importance of the introduction of 
 these plants into our Indian empire, and the inesti- 
 mable benefits which would thus be conferred on the 
 millions who inhabit the fever-haunted plains and 
 jungles, were commensurate with the difficulties of 
 the undertaking. . . . 
 
 In 1859 my services were accepted to superin- 
 tend the collection of chinchona-plants and seeds 
 in South America, and their introduction into India ; 
 
344 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 I was authorized by Lord Stanley, then Secretary of 
 State for India, to make such arrangements as 
 should best ensure the complete success of an 
 enterprise the result of which were expected to 
 add materially to the resources of our Indian 
 empire. 
 
 By the spring of 1861, a large supply of plants 
 and young seedlings was established in the Neil- 
 gherry hills; and at the present moment we have 
 thousands of chinchona-plants of all the valuable 
 species flourishing and multiplying rapidly in 
 Southern India and in Ceylon. 
 
 Extracts from Travels in Peru and India, by Clement H. 
 Makkham, F.S.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
XXXI. 
 
 ANIMAL LIFE IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. 
 
 THE CONDOK — THE EAGLE — THE JACKDAW — THE LAG- 
 OPUS — INSECTS OF THE HIGH REGIONS. 
 
 Of all the animals that inhabit the lofty, barren 
 summits of mountains, the lammergeyer of the 
 Alps and the condor of the Andes are the most re- 
 markable. The latter especially, as the king of 
 birds, by his solitary habits, and the immense 
 heights to which he soars alone, has gained an indi- 
 yiduality that no other bird possesses. His starting 
 place is often from peaks, where the air is too rari- 
 fied for any other animal to breathe, and soaring 
 sublimely thence, he moves upward and upward, 
 till he becomes a mere speck in the dark blue heavens. 
 Until Humboldt, in a residence of seventeen 
 months amid the native mountains of this bird, 
 studied his habits and peculiarities, its name was 
 surrounded with a romance and mystery like that 
 once attached to the ancient griffins and dragons. 
 The exact truth, however, invests him with suffi- 
 cient interest. He seems to scorn the earth, never 
 
346 
 
 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 visiting it except to gratify his hunger. The rest of 
 the time, a mere speck in the thin ether, or else lost 
 to sight entirely, he sails all day above the region 
 of thunder clouds and storms, surveying with his 
 piercing eye the earth rolled out like a map below 
 
 The Condors. 
 
 him. Enjoying existence in an atmosphere too rare 
 for any creature but himself to breathe, and in a 
 temperature in which neither man nor beast could 
 exist, he is surrounded with impenetrable mystery 
 till he descends to the earth for food. Such is his 
 keenness of sight, that even from the lofty heights 
 
ANIMAL LIFE IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. 347 
 
 at which he soars, he can detect the lifeless carcass 
 of an ox, or the unsuspecting lamb on the plain be* 
 low. This solitary bird then becomes gregarious, 
 and quite a flock of them will gather together 
 around the putrefying body. But even in this filthy 
 feast they are dainty at the commencement. First 
 they pluck out the eyes and then the tongue as de- 
 licate morsels, when they attack the bowels and 
 flesh, and never leave off the ravenous repast till 
 they are so gorged that it is with difficulty they can 
 fly at all. In this helpless condition they are some- 
 times attacked with clubs by the natives, and cap- 
 tured. The condor is not, however, always content 
 with carrion, for he frequently comes down with his 
 terrific swoop on sheep, deer and animals of a simi- 
 lar size, and there are many stories told of infants 
 being carried off by him to the mountains. 
 
 Similar stories are told of the eagle of the Alps 
 and of our own country. " The last known fact of 
 this kind," says M. Pouchet in the Univ.ers, " took 
 place in the Vaiais in 1838. A little girl five years 
 old, called Marie Delex, was playing with one of 
 her companions on a mossy slope of the mountain, 
 when all at once an eagle swooped down upon her 
 and carried her away in spite of the cries and pre- 
 sence of her young friends. Some peasants, hear- 
 ing the screams, hastened to the spot, but sought in 
 vain for the child, for they found nothing but one of 
 her shoes on the edge of the precipice. The child, 
 however, was not carried to the eagle's nest, where 
 only two eaglets were seen, surrounded by heaps of 
 goat's and sheep's bones. 
 
348 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 It was not till two months after this that a shep- 
 herd discovered the corpse of Marie Delex, fright- 
 fully mutilated, and lying on a rock, half a league 
 from where she had been borne off. 
 
 An instance of this kind, which occurred in the 
 autumn of 1868, is thus narrated by a teacher in 
 County Sippah, Missouri : " A sad casualty occurred 
 at my school a few days ago. The eagles have been 
 very troublesome in the neighborhood for some time 
 past, carrying off pigs, lambs, etc. No one thought 
 that they would attempt to prey upon children ; but 
 on Thursday, at recess, the little boys were ont some 
 distance from the house, playing marbles, when the 
 sport was interrupted by a large eagle swooping down 
 and picking up little Jemmie Kenney, a boy of eight 
 years, and flying away with him. The children 
 cried out, and when I got out of the house, the ea- 
 gle was so high I could just hear the child scream- 
 ing. The alarm was given, and from screaming and 
 shouting in the air, etc., the eagle was induced to 
 drop his victim ; but his talons had been buried in 
 him so deeply, and the fall was so great, that he 
 was killed, as either would have been fatal." 
 
 When pressed by hunger the condor will attack 
 even larger animals. Two together will sometimes 
 pounce on a bullock, and tear him with their talons, 
 till exhausted with fatigue he thrusts out his tongue, 
 when they immediately seize it and pull it out by 
 the roots. At length the poor beast rolls bellowing 
 on the plain, a helpless victim to his small but 
 fierce adversaries. 
 
 The condor has a crest something like a cock's 
 
ANIMAL LIFE IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. 349 
 
 comb. The neck is bare of feathers, except just at 
 the juncture with the body, where it is encircled by 
 a collar of soft, silky, white down, about two inches 
 broad. The back, wings and tail are sometimes of 
 a greyish black, at others of a brilliant black. 
 
 Some of these birds are of such enormous size 
 that then: extended wings reach a span of fourteen 
 feet. 
 
 The nests of these dwellers in the mountains are 
 very curious objects. " Fierce and solitary," says 
 M. Pouchet in the Urrivers, "the eagles suspend 
 their nests in the midst of the most horrible preci- 
 pices without dreading either the roar of the cata- 
 ract, or the crash of the avalanche. The bulk of the 
 work and the mass of the material employed are in 
 proportion to the strength of the architect. The 
 eyrie of the eagle is only a heap of great branches 
 of trees, an entangled fagot, forming a thick, rude 
 mattress, twelve to fifteen feet in circumference. 
 This nest serves the couples which build it for their 
 whole lives, but its size increases with years, be- 
 cause the bones of all the animals brought thither 
 by the parents and devoured by the hungry family, 
 are heaped up round it in such a manner, that at a 
 certain lapse of time the eyrie of one of these rob- 
 bers becomes a pestilential charnel house. 
 
 The nests built by the goshawk display even less 
 skill ; it employs only little fagots, .and yet its nest 
 is four feet in circumference." 
 
 J. T. Headley. 
 
350 MOUNTAIN ADVENTTJKES. 
 
 Birds naturally represent the population of the 
 highest altitudes. In the Andes the condor ; in the 
 Alps the eagle and the vulture hover over the most 
 gigantic peaks. Those creatures being organized 
 for long voyages are the great sailors of the atmo- 
 spheric ocean, just as the terns and the petrels are 
 the great sailors of the Atlantic. The jackdaw, 
 that species of very black crow, which has a yellow 
 beak and bright red claws, does not attain to so 
 great a height in the air ; but it is, par excellence, 
 the bird of high peaks, — of the regions of snows 
 and of sterile summits. We find it on the top of 
 Monte Kosa and of the Col du Geant, 11,373 feet 
 above the sea. Collected in flocks in the windings 
 and turnings of the mountain, and skimming over 
 the steepest rocks, the jackdaw utters his noisy note. 
 Just those places which are particularly steep and 
 precipitous, and which make us giddy, have a parti- 
 cular attraction for birds ; gigantic fir-trees, bell- 
 towers, old steeples, the battlements of castles stand- 
 ing high above deep valleys, pinnacles of cathedrals, 
 isolated peaks whose foundations rise out of fright- 
 ful precipices, these are their chosen dwellings ; it is 
 on these heights that they build their nests. True 
 cenobites of the air, condemned like those of the 
 Thebais to the most frugal and austere diet, they 
 delight in solitude, and appear content just in 
 proportion to the distance which separates them 
 from man. 
 
 There are also more graceful birds which dwell 
 in the realms of ice and frost, and enliven the 
 changeless and barren landscape. The greenfinch 
 
ANIMAL LIFE IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. 351 
 
 of the snow loves this cold country so much 
 that it seldonis descends to the wooded regions. 
 The accentor of the Alps sometimes follows it to 
 these great heights, but prefers the stony and sterile 
 region which separates the zone of vegetation from 
 that of perpetual snow ; others rise after them at 
 times in pursuit of insects to the height of nearly 
 10,000 or 11,000 feet. 
 
 The earth has its birds as well as the air, even 
 at these heights. Certain kinds only use their 
 wings for a few moments at a time, and when it is 
 impossible for them to walk. Such are the galli- 
 naceous tribe ; and of these the snowy region has 
 its own sjDecies, as it has its own sparrows. The la- 
 gopus, or snow hen, is found in Iceland as well as in 
 Switzerland. This bird will rise into regions of per- 
 petual ice and remain nestled at great altitudes. In 
 winter its plumage takes the appearance of the frost 
 in which it lives. The snow is so necessary to it 
 that at the approach of summer it mounts higher 
 in order to find it. It nestles and rolls itself in it 
 with great delight. It digs holes in order to find 
 shelter from the wind, the only inconvenience which 
 it fears in its icy dwelling. Any pieces of lichen or 
 grain brought up by the wind suffice for its nourish- 
 ment, together with insects which it hunts for its 
 young ones. 
 
 Insects are, in fact, nearly the only creatures 
 which multiply in these desolate regions; and m 
 this respect they are like the Polar countries. In 
 the temperate zone the coleoptera are to be seen in 
 greater numbers and in greater variety than in the 
 
352 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUEES. 
 
 neighboring regions of the Equator. In the Arctic 
 regions, during the short summer, the insects come 
 out in great numbers. And in the high Alps it is 
 the class of coleoptera which predominates ; they 
 reach to a height of more than 9000 feet on the 
 southern side, and to about 7300 feet on the oppo- 
 site side. These little creatures may be discovered 
 in the holes, and they are almost always carnivor- 
 ous, for at so great a height vegetable nourishment 
 altogether fails. Their wings are so short that they 
 appear to be completely destitute of them ; so that 
 they seem shielded by Nature from the great cur- 
 rents of air which would infallibly carry them away 
 if their wings were not, as it were, reefed in. In- 
 deed other kinds, such as the neuroptera and butter- 
 flies, are sometimes met with, but these have been 
 carried by the wind to these heights, and they only 
 perish in the snow. The neves and the ice-fields 
 are covered with victims who have thus perished. 
 Yet there are certain species which brave the in- 
 fluence of the frost and are found even at the height 
 of 12,000 or 15,000 feet. Mr. J. D. Hooker has 
 observed butterflies on Mount Momay, at a height 
 of more than 16,000 feet ; but, as mentioned above, 
 they are only poor shipwrecked creatures whom the 
 wind drives up in spite of themselves. 
 
 The arachnidse, which in so many respects ap- 
 proach the class of insects, have also the privilege of 
 being able to resist the cold of mountains. One, 
 almost microscopic insect of the Alps, the desoria 
 glacialis, inhabits exclusively the neighborhood of 
 glaciers. But really the melancholy of their abodes 
 
ANIMAL LIFE IN MOUNTAIN KEGIONS. 353 
 
 seems to be reflected in the appearance of these 
 little animals ; they no longer present the variety of 
 tints which characterizes them elsewhere : and they 
 are nearly all of a black or sombre color, which at 
 the first approach deceives you as to then existence 
 in the holes which they inhabit. At these heights 
 the habits of insects are also modified according to 
 the localities in which they live. M. P. Lioy, who 
 has drawn up a philosophical sketch of the laws 
 which organic nature obeys, and of which it is the 
 ever-changing manifestation, remarks that the noc- 
 turnal insects of the plain become diurnal in moun- 
 tainous places. That is, in fact, that the elevated 
 regions reproduce in some respects the conditions of 
 lower places during the night ; they keep, even after 
 the rising of the sun, the freshness and the shade, 
 which evening alone gives in the plains. 
 
 Such is a picture of animal life in those Alpine 
 regions where the fauna gradually becomes smaller 
 and smaller until at last it gives place to solitude 
 and desolation. Beyond the last stage of vegeta- 
 tion, beyond the extreme point to which insects and 
 mammifers attain, all becomes silent and without 
 inhabitant ; yet still the air is full of infusoria, and 
 of microscopic anhnalculse, which the wind raises 
 likes dust, and which are found in the air to an 
 unknown height 
 
 So the animal kingdom does not disappear with- 
 out having, so to speak, exhausted all the organiza- 
 tions compatible with the state of the soil as it be- 
 comes more and more chilled, and of the atmosphere 
 which becomes more and more rarefied. Birds, like 
 
354 MOUNTAIN ADVENTUKES. 
 
 outposts of the great army of living beings, seem to 
 defend the mountains against the invasion of death. 
 The rapacious ones are, in some sort, the scouts 
 the passeres, the climbers, and some of the gaUinaB, 
 answer to the main body of the army ; and they 
 love the intermediate region between the forests and 
 the perpetual snows. The last firs, the last bushes, 
 are like watch-towers from which they take observa- 
 tions on the weather, and hold themselves ready to 
 descend if it be threatening, or to ascend whenever 
 there is any lessening of the cold. In this middle 
 region the harmonious songs of the linnet and the 
 nightingale have something doubtful about them ; 
 but the song of the mountain birds breathes joy and 
 tells of the pleasure of living. M. de Tschudi 
 traces in a few lines a delicious picture of the 
 existence of birds on the mountains. I translate 
 freely : 
 
 ' Eather before the sky is colored with the first 
 morning tints, even before a light breath of air 
 announces the approach of day, while the stars still 
 sparkle in the firmament, the birds give the first 
 signal of the awakening of nature. First a light 
 sound is heard from the fir-trees, a kind of cooing 
 in which the notes gradually become more distinct. 
 It gets quicker by degrees and ends by swelling 
 into a harmonious chorus, rising and falhng froin 
 branch to branch as the bow of the musician passes 
 from the gravest chords to those which are more 
 acute. Then a more ringing noise sounds out all 
 at once, and voices timid at first sing each their 
 characteristic notes, each species making itself 
 
ANIMAL LITE IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. 355 
 
 heard, and its own song more or less distinctly. 
 The soft and melancholy nocturne has ceased ; and 
 now the winged people give the sun a serenade 
 as he comes to warm up again their cold, damp 
 dwellings.' 
 
 . . . One would like to live a moment of 
 this aerial existence in the intermediate belt of 
 earth, with just sufficient vegetation to afford a 
 shelter from the mid-day heats and from the mid- 
 night cold, just light enough for the eye to discern 
 the magnificent panorama of mountains, and to gaze 
 with delight into the firmament ; but man is less 
 favored in this respect than the birds. He is not 
 organized as they are to rise in the air and live in 
 regions of very different atmospheric density. 
 Happily, however, the difficulty which we feel in 
 accomplishing a rapid and continuous ascent does 
 not imply an absolute incompatiblity of the higher 
 regions with human life. We may become accli- 
 matized to great heights. . . . The town of 
 Quito, situated at between 8000 and 9000 feet above 
 the level of the sea, comprises a numerous popula- 
 tion which does not appear to suffer from the ele- 
 vation. Another town of the Andes, Potosi, is 
 12,300 feet high, and contains more than a hundred 
 thousand souls. After De Saussure had remained 
 fifteen days on the top of the Alps, his pulse re- 
 gained its normal motion ; and Boussingault, after 
 a prolonged stay in the towns of the Andes, could 
 easily bear the low temperature of the top of Chim- 
 borazo. But there are precautions to be taken if 
 we would with impunity transport ourselves into 
 
 12487 85 
 
356 MOUNTAIN ADVENTURES. 
 
 these high situations, where, once established, and 
 in suitable circumstances, it becomes possible to 
 live : we should begin by habituating ourselves gra- 
 dually to the barometrical changes of the atmo- 
 sphere. 
 
 A. Maubt, Le Monde alpestre, Revue des Deux Mondes. 
 
 THE END. 
 

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