diff options
Diffstat (limited to '35434.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 35434.txt | 8201 |
1 files changed, 8201 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/35434.txt b/35434.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2d674f --- /dev/null +++ b/35434.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8201 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Above the Snow Line by Clinton Thomas Dent + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Above the Snow Line + +Author: Clinton Thomas Dent + +Release Date: March 1, 2011 [Ebook #35434] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOVE THE SNOW LINE*** + + + + + + ABOVE THE SNOW LINE + + LONDON: PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + AND PARLIAMENT STREET + + [Illustration: THE BIETSCHHORN. FROM THE PETERSGRAT] + + + + + + ABOVE THE SNOW LINE + + MOUNTAINEERING SKETCHES + BETWEEN 1870 AND 1880 + + BY + CLINTON DENT + VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ALPINE CLUB + + + "_Celui qui n'a jamais ses heures_ + _de folie est moins sage qu'il ne le_ + _pense_"--LA BRUYERE + + + +WITH TWO ENGRAVINGS BY EDWARD WHYMPER AND +AN ILLUSTRATION BY PERCY MACQUOID + + +LONDON +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. +1885 + +_All rights reserved_ + + + + + + THESE SKETCHES OF MOUNTAINEERING + I DEDICATE TO + T. I. D. + IN THE HOPE THAT A BOOK WITHOUT A HEROINE + MAY, AT LEAST, ACQUIRE SOME FEMININE INTEREST + + + + + + PREFACE + + +Some of the following sketches do not now appear for the first time; but +such as have been before published in other form have been entirely +re-written, and, in great measure, recast. + + + +To the writer the work has afforded an occasional distraction from more +serious professional work, and he cannot wish better than that it should +serve the same purpose to the reader. + +CORTINA DI AMPEZZO: +_September 1884_. + + + + + + CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. +AN EXPEDITION IN THE OLDEN STYLE + PAGE +Buried records--_Litera scripta manet_--The survival of the unfit--A 1 +literary octopus--Sybaritic mountaineering--On mountain +"form"--Lessons to be learned in the Alps--The growth and spread of +the climbing craze--Variations of the art--A tropical day in the +valley--A deserted hostelry--The hotel staff appears in several +characters--Ascent of the Balfrinhorn--Our baggage train and +transport department--A well-ventilated shelter--On sleeping out: +its advantages on the present occasion--The Mischabelhoerner family +group--A plea for Saas and the Fee plateau--We attack the +Suedlenzspitz--The art of detecting hidden crevasses--Plans for the +future--Sentiment on a summit--The feast is spread--The +Alphubeljoch--We meet our warmest welcome at an inn +CHAPTER II. +THE ROTHHORN (MOMING) FROM ZERMATT +The Alpine dramatis personae--Mountaineering fact and romance--The 31 +thirst for novelty and its symptoms--The first ascent of the +Moming--Preliminaries are observed--Rock _v._ snow mountains--The +amateur and the guide on rocks and on snow--The programme is made +out--Franz Andermatten--Falling stones in the gully--We smooth away +the difficulties--The psychological effects of reaching mountain +summits--A rock bombardment and a narrow escape--The youthful +tourist and his baggage--Hotel trials--We are interviewed--The +gushers +CHAPTER III. +EARLY ATTEMPTS ON THE AIGUILLE DU DRU +The Alps and the early mountaineers--The last peaks to 56 +surrender--The Aiguille du Dru--Messrs. Kennedy and Pendlebury's +attempt on the peak--One-day expeditions in the Alps and thoughts +on huts and sleeping out--The Chamouni guide system--A word on +guides, past and present--The somnolent landlord and his +peculiarities--Some of the party see a chamois--Doubts as to the +peak and the way--The duplicity of the Aiguille deceives +us--Telescopic observations--An ill-arranged glacier--Franz and his +mighty axe--A start on the rocks in the wrong direction--Progress +reported--An adjournment--The rocks of the lower peak of the +Aiguille du Dru--Our first failure--The expedition resumed--A new +line of ascent--We reach the sticking point--Beaten back--The +results gained by the two days' climbing +CHAPTER IV. +A DAY ACROSS COUNTRY +The art of meteorological vaticination--The climate we leave our 96 +homes for--Observations in the valley--The diligence arrives and +shoots its load--Types of travellers--The Alpine habitue--The +elderly spinster on tour--A stern Briton--A family party--We seek +fresh snow-fields--The Bietschhorn--A sepulchral bivouac--On early +starts and their curious effects on the temperament--A choice of +routes--A deceptive ice gully--The avalanches on the Bietschhorn--We +work up to a dramatic situation--The united party nearly fall +out--A limited panorama--A race for home--Caught out--A short +cut--Driven to extremities--The water jump--An aged person comes to +the rescue--A classical banquet at Ried--The old cure and his +hospitality--A wasted life? +CHAPTER V. +AN OLD FRIEND WITH A NEW FACE +Chamouni again--The hotel _clientele_--A youthful hero--The 130 +inevitable English family--A scientific gentleman--A dream of the +future--The hereafter of the Alps and of Alpine literature--A +condensed mountain ascent--Wanted, a programme--A double +"Brocken"--A hill-side phenomenon and a familiar character--A +strong argument--Halting doubts and fears--A digression on +mountaineering accidents--"From gay to grave, from lively to +severe"--The storm breaks--A battle with the elements--Beating the +air--The ridge carried by assault--What next, and next?--A +topographical problem and a cool proposal--The descent down the +Vallee Blanche--The old Montanvert hotel--The Montanvert path and +its frequenters +CHAPTER VI. +ASCENT OF THE AIGUILLE DU DRU +"_Decies repetita placebit_" +Disadvantages of narratives of personal adventure--Expeditions on 169 +the Aiguille du Dru in 1874--The ridge between the Aiguilles du +Dru and Verte--"Defendu de passer par la"--Distance lends +enchantment--Other climbers attack the peak--View of the mountain +from the Col de Balme--We try the northern side, and fail more +signally than usual--Showing that mountain fever is of the +recurrent type--We take seats below, but have no opportunity of +going up higher--The campaign opens--We go under canvas--A spasmodic +start, and another failure--A change of tactics and a new +leader--Our sixteenth attempt--Sports and pastimes at Chamouni--The +art of cray-fishing--The apparel oft proclaims the man--A canine +acquaintance--A new ally--The turning-point of the expedition--A +rehearsal for the final performance--A difficult descent--A blank +in the narrative--A carriage misadventure--A penultimate failure--We +start with two guides and finish with one--The rocks of the +Dru--Maurer joins the party--Our nineteenth attempt--A narrow escape +in the gully--The arete at last--The final scramble--Our foe is +vanquished and decorated--The return journey--Benighted--A moonlight +descent--We are graciously received--On "fair" mountaineering--The +prestige of new peaks--Chamouni becomes festive--"Heut' Abend +grosses Feuerwerkfest"--Chamouni dances and shows hospitality--The +scene closes in +CHAPTER VII. +BYE-DAYS IN ALPINE MIDLANDS +1. _A Pardonable Digression._ +On well-ordered intellects--The drawbacks of accurate +memory--Sub-Alpine walks: their admirers and their +recommendations--The "High-Level Route"--The Ruinette--An infallible +prescription for ill-humour--A climb and a meditation on grass +slopes--The agile person's acrobatic feats--The psychological +effects of sunrise--The ascent of the Ruinette--We return to our +mutton at Arolla--A vision on the hill-side. +2. _A Little Maiden._ +Saas in the olden days--A neglected valley--The mountains drained 236 +dry--A curious omission--The Portienhorn, and its good points as a +mountain--The chef produces a masterpiece--An undesirable tenement +to be let unfurnished--An evicted family--A rapid act of +mountaineering--On the pleasures of little climbs--The various +methods of making new expeditions on one mountain--On the +mountaineer who has nothing to learn, and his consequent +ignorance +CHAPTER VIII. +A SENTIMENTAL ALPINE JOURNEY +Long "waits" and entr'actes--The Mont Buet as an unknown 266 +mountain--We hire carriages--A digression on a stationary vehicle--A +straggling start--The incomplete moralist--The niece to the +moralist--A discourse on gourmets--An artistic interlude--We become +thoughtful, and reach the height of sentiment and the top of the +Mont Buet--Some other members of the party--The mountaineers +perform--How glissading ambition did o'erleap itself--A vision on +the summit--The moralist leaves us for a while--Entertainment at +the Berard Chalet--View of the Aiguille Verte--The end of the +journey +CHAPTER IX. +A FRAGMENT +An unauthentic MS.--Solitude on the mountain: its advantages to 291 +the historian of the Alps--A rope walk--The crossing of the +Schrund--A novel form of avalanche and an airy situation--A +towering obstacle--The issue of the expedition in the balance--A +very narrow escape--The final rush--Victory!--The perils of the +descent--I plunge _in medias res_--A flying descent +CHAPTER X. +THE FUTURE OF MOUNTAINEERING +Mountaineers and their critics--The early days of the Alpine 300 +Club--The founders of mountaineering--The growth of the +amusement--Novelty and exploration--The formation of +centres--Narrowing of the field of mountaineering--The upward limit +of mountaineering--De Saussure's experience--Modern development of +climbing--Mr. Whymper's experience--Mr. Graham's experience--The +ascent of great heights--Mr. Grove's views--Messrs. Coxwell and +Glaisher's balloon experiences--Reasons for dissenting from Mr. +Glaisher's views--The possibility of ascending Mount +Everest--Physiological aspect of the question--Acclimatisation to +great heights--The direction in which mountaineering should be +developed--The results that may be obtained--Chamouni a century +hence--A Rip van Winkle in the Pennine Alps--The dangers of +mountaineering--Conclusion + + ----------- + +ILLUSTRATIONS +THE BIETSCHHORN FROM THE PETERSGRAT _Frontispiece_ +THE AIGUILLE DU DRU FROM THE SOUTH _to face page_ 169 +A VISION ON A SUMMIT " 282 + + + + + + + ABOVE THE SNOW LINE + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + + AN EXPEDITION IN THE OLDEN STYLE + + + Buried records--_Litera scripta manet_--The survival of the unfit--A + literary octopus--Sybaritic mountaineering--On mountain + "form"--Lessons to be learned in the Alps--The growth and spread of + the climbing craze--Variations of the art--A tropical day in the + valley--A deserted hostelry--The hotel staff appears in several + characters--Ascent of the Balfrinhorn--Our baggage train and + transport department--A well-ventilated shelter--On sleeping out: + its advantages on the present occasion--The Mischabelhoerner family + group--A plea for Saas and the Fee plateau--We attack the + Suedlenzspitz--The art of detecting hidden crevasses--Plans for the + future--Sentiment on a summit--The feast is spread--The + Alphubeljoch--We meet our warmest welcome at an inn. + + +There exists a class of generously-minded folk who display a desire to +improve their fellow-creatures and a love for their species, by referring +pointedly to others for the purpose of mentioning that the objects of +their remarks have never been guilty of certain enormities: a critical +process, which is about equivalent to tarring an individual, but, from +humanitarian considerations, omitting to feather him also. The ordeal, as +applied to others, is unwarrantable; but there is a certain odd pleasure +in subjecting oneself to it. Now, it is but a paraphrase to say that the +more we go about, the more, in all probability, shall we be strengthened +in the conviction that the paradise of fools must have a large acreage. +The average Briton has a constantly present dread that he is likely to do +something to justify his admission into that department of Elysium. The +thought that he has so qualified, will wake him up if it crosses his mind +even in a dream, or make his blood run cold--whatever that may mean--in his +active state. Thus it falls out that he is for ever, as it were, conning +over the pass-book of his actions, and marvelling how few entries he can +find on the credit side, as he does so. It is asserted as a fact (and it +were hard to gainsay the sentiment), that _Litera scripta manet_. No +doubt; but how much more obtrusively true is it that printed matter is as +indestructible as the Hydra? It has occurred sometimes to the writer, on +very, very sleepless nights, to take down from a shelf, to slap the cover +in order to get rid of a considerable amount of dust, and to peruse, in a +volume well-known to all members of the Alpine Club, accounts written +years before, of early mountain expeditions. To trace in some such way, at +any rate to search for, indications of a fancied development of mind has a +curious fascination for the solitary man. Effusions which an author would +jealously hide away from the eyes of his friends, have a strangely +absorbing interest to the man who reflects that he himself was their +perpetrator. + +(M1) + +We most of us, whatever principles we assert on the matter, keep stowed +away, in some corner or another, the overflow of a fancied talent. The +form varies: it may, perhaps, be a five act tragedy, possibly a +psychological disquisition, or a sensational novel in three volumes of MS. +It is a satisfaction to turn such treasures out from time to time when no +eyes are upon us, even if it be only to thank Heaven devoutly that they +have always lain unknown and uncriticised. "Il n'y a rien qui rafraichisse +le sang comme d'avoir su eviter de faire une sottise." Of work done, of +which the author had no especial reason to be proud, a feeling of +thankfulness in a lesser degree may arise from the consciousness that, if +ever recognised at all, it is now, happily, forgotten. So have these early +effusions sometimes amused, not infrequently astounded, and at the worst +have nearly always brought the wished-for slumber; and yet in Alpine +writings the same accounts were for the most part as faithful +representations as the writer could set down on paper of impressions made +at the time. It has often occurred to me to ask what manner of description +a writer would give of an expedition made many years before. How would the +lapse of time influence him? Would he make light of whatever danger there +was? Would the picture require a very decided coat of varnish to make it +at all recognisable? Would the crudities come out still more strongly, or +would the colours all have faded and sunk harmoniously together in his +picture? The speculation promised to be interesting enough to make it +worth while to give practical effect to the idea. Now the expedition +narrated in this chapter was made in 1870, and possibly, therefore, if a +description were worth giving at all, it had better have been given fresh. +We can always find some proverb tending more or less to justify any course +of action that we may be desirous of pursuing, and by distorting the +meaning of a quotation manage to serve our own ends. Of all the ill-used +remarks of this nature, surely the most often employed is, "Better late +than never;" the extreme elasticity of which saying, in the application +thereof, is well evidenced by the doctor who employed it in justification +of his late arrival when he came on a professional visit to the lady and +found the baby learning its alphabet. + +(M2) + +When an aquarium was a fashionable resort, amongst a good many queer and +loose fish, we became familiar with a monstrously ill-favoured beast +called a cuttle-fish: and may have had a chance of seeing how the animal, +if attacked by his physical superior, resorted to the ingenious plan of +effusing a quantity of ink, and, under cover of this, retreating hastily +backwards out of harm's way. There are some, less ingenuous than the +Octopus, who retreat first into obscurity and then pour out their effusion +of ink. But it is more common to use the flare of an epigram or of a +proverb, as a conjurer does his wand, to distract attention for the moment +and divert the thought current from matters we do not wish to be too +evident. At any rate, I must in the present instance lay under tribute the +author of Proverbs, and add another straw to the already portentous burden +that they who wish to compound for literary sins have already piled on his +back. Apologising is, however, a dangerous vice, as a well-known writer +has remarked. The account, though a sort of literary congenital cripple, +has still a prescriptive right to live. Besides this expedition was +undertaken in the pre-Sybaritic age of mountaineering, and before the +later refinements of that art and science had taken firm hold of its +votaries. What would the stern explorers of former time have thought, or +said, if they had perceived persons engaged on the glaciers sitting down +on camp-stools to a light refection of truffle pie and cold punch? Such +banquets are not uncommon now, though precisians with a tendency to +dyspepsia still object strongly to them. In those days, too, mountaineers +were not so much differentiated that climbers were talked of by their +fellows like cricketers are described in the book of Lillywhite. "Jones," +for instance, "is a brilliant cragsman, but inclined to be careless on +moraines." "Noakes," again, "remarkably sure and steady on snow, fairly +good in a couloir, would do better if he did not possess such an +astounding appetite and would pay more attention to the use of the rope." +"Stokes possesses remarkable knowledge of the Alps; on rocks climbs with +his head; we wish we could say honestly that he can climb at all with his +hands and feet." "Thompson, first-rate step-cutter; walks on snow with the +graceful gait and unlaboured action of a shrimp-catcher at his work: kicks +down every loose stone he touches." Thus different styles of climbing are +recognised. "Form," as it is called in climbing, was in the old days an +unknown term, and yet it is probable that the "form" was by no means +inferior to any that can be shown now-a-days. The reason is obvious enough +and the explanation lies simply in the fact that the apprenticeship served +in the mountains was then much longer than it is now. People did not so +often try to ride a steeple-chase before they had learnt to sit in a +saddle, or appreciated that the near side was the best by which to get up. +When this particular expedition was made (towards which I feel that I am +an unconscionable time in making a start) I had been five or six seasons +in the Alps, during the first two of which I had never set foot on a +snow-slope. There had always seemed to me from the first, to be so much +absolutely to learn in mountaineering: there is no less now, indeed there +is more, for the science has been developed, but it seems beyond doubt, +that fewer people recognise the fact. Like most other arts, it can only be +learnt in one way, by constant practice, by constant care and attention +and by always doing everything in the mountains to the best of one's +ability. Too many may seem to think that there is a royal road, and fail +to recognise that a plebeian does not alter his status by walking along +this variety of highway. + +(M3) + +Time rolled on. The fascination of climbing spread abroad, and it followed +with the increasing number of mountaineers that more and more difficulties +were experienced in attempts to diversify the sport in the Alps alone, and +in emerging from the common herd of climbers. Then a new danger arose. The +sport grew fashionable--a serious symptom to its true lovers. Books of +Alpine adventure readily found readers; novels, and other forms of +nonsense, were written about the mountains; accounts of new expeditions +were telegraphed at once to all parts of the world, and found as important +a place in the newspapers as the Derby betting, or the latest reports as +to the precise medical details of some eminent person's internal +complaint. Still further did the craving for novelty spread, and more +strange did the means of satisfying it become. The mountains were ascended +without guides: in winter; by people afflicted with mental aberration who +wore tall hats and frock coats on the glaciers; by persons who were +ignorant of the laws of optics as applied to large telescopes; in bad +weather, by wrong routes and so forth. Then, too, set in what may be +called the variation craze. This is very infectious. For those who can see +no beauty in a scene that some one else has gazed on before it is still a +passion. We may still at times, in the Alps, hear people say, "Oh yes, +that is a very fine expedition, no doubt, but I don't think I care much +about undertaking it; you see so and so has done it; couldn't we manage to +strike out a different line?" The result is a "variation" expedition. The +composer when hard driven, and not strongly under the influence of the +Muse, will at times take some innocent, simple melody and submit it to +exquisite torture by writing what he is pleased to call variations. +Sometimes he will not rest till he has perpetrated as many as thirty-two +on some innocent little tune of our childhood. The original air becomes +entirely lost, like a sixpence buried in a flour bag, and we may marvel, +for instance, as may the travelled American, at the immense amount of +foreign matter that may be introduced into "Home, sweet home." Even so +does the climber sometimes practise his art. But for one who entertains a +strict respect for the old order of things, and for the memory of an age +of mountaineering now rapidly passing into oblivion, to write in any such +strain would be intolerable. And so, even as a theatrical manager when his +brilliant play, stolen, or, as it is generally described, "adapted," from +the French, does not run, I may be allowed to raise the curtain on a +revival of the old drama, a comedy in one short act, and not provided with +any very thrilling "situations." The "scenarium" lay ready to hand in the +leaves of an old journal, which may possibly share, with other old leaves, +the property of being rather dry. But we are meandering, as it were, in +the valleys, and run some risk of digressing too far from the path which +should lead to the mountain in hand. There is a story of a clergyman who +selected a rather long text as a preface to his discourse, and finding, +when he had read it at length a second time, that his congregation were +mostly disposed in attitudes which might be of attention, but which were, +at the same time, suggestive of slumber, wisely concluded to defer +enlarging upon it till a more fitting occasion, and dismissed his hearers, +or at any rate those present, with the remark that they had heard his text +and that he would not presume to mar its effectiveness by any exordium +upon it. _Revenons._ + +(M4) + +In the early part of August 1870, our party walked one sultry day up the +Saas Valley. The dust glittered thick and yellow on our boots. Many of the +smaller brooks had struck work altogether, while the main river was +reduced to a clear stream trickling lazily down between sloping banks of +rounded white boulders that shone with a painful glare in the strong +sunlight. The more muscular of the grasshoppers found their limbs so +lissom in the warmth that they achieved the most prodigious leaps out of +sheer lightheartedness; for they sprang so far that they could have had no +definite idea where they might chance to light. On the stone walls busy +little lizards, with heaving flanks, scurried about with little fitful +spurts, and vanished abruptly into the crannies, perpetually playing hide +and seek with each other, and always seeming out of breath. The foliage +drooped motionless in the heavy air and the shadows it cast lengthened +along the dusty ground as steadily as the streak on a sundial. The smoke +from the guides' pipes (and guides, like itinerant nigger minstrels, +always have pipes in their mouths when moving from the scene of one +performance to another) hung in mid air, and the vile choking smell of the +sputtering lucifer matches was perceptible when the laggards reached the +spot where a man a hundred yards ahead had lighted one of these +abominations. + +To pass under the shade of a walnut tree was refreshing like a cold +douche; and to step forth again into the heat and glare made one almost +gasp. Flannel shirts were miserably inadequate to the strain put upon +their absorbent qualities. The potatoes and cabbages were white and +piteously dusty. Even the pumpkins seemed to be trying to bury their plump +forms in the cool recesses of the earth. Everywhere there seemed a +consciousness as of a heavy droning hum. All of which may be concisely +summed up in the now classical opening remark of a well-known comedy +character, one "Perkyn Middlewick" to wit, "It's 'ot." + +(M5) + +When within a little distance of the hotel I enquired whether it was worth +while for one of the party to push on to secure rooms. The guides thought, +on the whole, that it was unnecessary, and this opinion was justified +subsequently by the fact that we found ourselves the sole occupants of the +hotel during the week or so that we remained in the district. It was the +year of the war; ugly rumours were about, but very few tourists. +Selecting, therefore, the most luxurious apartment, and having given over +to the care of one Franz, who appeared in the character of "boots" to the +hotel, a remarkable pair of cowhide brogues of original design, as hard as +sabots and much more uncomfortable, I sat down on a stone slab, in order +to cool down to a temperature that might permit of dining without fear of +imperilling digestion. So pleased were the hotel authorities at the +presence of a traveller that they exerted themselves to the utmost to +entertain us well, and with remarkable results. I find a record of the +dinner served. There were ten dishes in consecutive order, exclusive of +what Americans term "fixings." As to the nature of nine it was difficult +to speak with any degree of certainty, but the tenth was apparently a +blackbird that had perished of starvation and whose attenuated form the +chef had bulged out with extraneous matter. Franz, who seemed to be a sort +of general utility man to the establishment, had thrown off, with the ease +of a Gomersal or a Ducrow, the outward habiliments of a boots and appeared +now as a waiter, in a shirt so hard and starched that he was unable to +bend and could only button his waistcoat by the sense of touch. The repast +over, Franz removed the shirt front and unbent thereupon in manner as in +person. Assuming engaging airs, he entered into conversation, disappearing +however for short intervals at times, in order, as might be inferred from +certain sounds proceeding from an adjoining apartment, to discharge the +duties of a chamber-maid. Subsequently it transpired that he was the +proprietor of the hotel. + +(M6) + +We agreed to commence our mountaineering by an ascent of the Balfrinhorn, +a most charming walk and one which even in those days was considered a +gentle climb. There are few peaks about this district which will better +repay the climber of moderately high ambition, and it is possible to +complete the expedition without retracing the steps. There is no danger, +and it is hard to say to what part of the mountain an enthusiast would +have to go in order to discover any: so the expedition, though perhaps +prosaic, is still very interesting throughout and quite in the olden +style. The solitude at the hotel was somewhat dull, and the conversational +powers of the guides soon exhausted if we travelled beyond the subject of +chamois hunting, I did indeed try on one occasion to explain to them, in +answer to an earnest request, the military system of Great Britain. But, +with a limited vocabulary, the task was not easy and, as I could not think +of any words to express what was meant by red tape, circumlocution, and +short service, my exposition was limited to enlarging on the facts that +the warriors of my native country were exceeding valiant folk with very +fine chests, that they wore highly padded red coats and little hats like +half bonbon boxes cocked on one side and that they would never consent to +be slaves. Burgener, anxious for some more stirring expedition, suggested +that we should climb the Dom from the Saas side or make a first ascent of +the Suedlenzspitz. We had often talked of the former expedition, which had +not at the time been achieved, and, in order to facilitate its +accomplishment, divers small grants of money had been sent out from +England to be expended in the construction of a hut some five hours' walk +above Fee. In answer to enquiries, the guides reported with no small +amount of pride, that the building had been satisfactorily completed and +they were of opinion that it was ready for occupation. At some length the +process of building was described and it really seemed from their account +that they had caused to be erected a shelter of unduly pretentious +dimensions. It appeared, however, that the residence was equally well +placed to serve as a shelter for an ascent of the Suedlenzspitz and we +decided ultimately to attack that peak first. Great preparations were +made; an extensive assortment of very inferior blankets was produced and +spread out in the road in front of the hotel, either for airing or some +other ill-defined purpose, possibly from some natural pride in the +extensive resources of the hotel. Then they pulled down and piled into a +little stack, opposite the front door, fire wood enough to roast an ox, or +convert an enthusiast into a saint. + +(M7) + +One fine afternoon we started. The entire staff and _personnel_ of the +hotel would have turned out to wish us good luck, but did not actually do +so, as he was engaged in a back shed milking a cow. Laden with a large +bundle of fire wood, I toiled up the steep grass slopes above Fee, leading +to the Hochbalm glacier. The day was oppressively hot, and I was not +wholly ungrateful on finding that the string round my bundle was loose and +that the sticks dropped out one after another: accordingly I selected a +place in the extreme rear of the caravan, lest my delinquencies should +perchance be observed. The sun beat mercilessly down upon our backs on +these bare slopes and we sighed involuntarily for Vallombrosa or Monaco or +some equally shady place. The guides, who up to that time had spoken of +their building as if it were of somewhat palatial dimensions, now began +rather to disparage the construction. Doubts were expressed as to the +effects certain storms and heavy falls of snow might have had on it and +regrets that the weather had prevented the builders from attending as +minutely to details of finish and decoration as they could have wished. +Putting this and that together, I came to the conclusion that the erection +would probably be found to display but indifferent architectural merit. +However, there was nothing better to look forward to. "Where is it?" "Oh, +right up there, under the big cliff, close to where Alexander is." In the +dim distance could be distinguished the form of our guide as a little dark +mass progressing on two pink flesh-coloured streaks, striding rapidly up +the hill. The phenomenon of colour was due to the fact that, prompted by +the sultriness of the day, Alexander had adopted in his garb a temporary +variation of the Highland costume. A few minutes later he joined us, +clothed indeed, and in a right, but still a melancholy frame of mind. +Shaking his head sadly, he explained that a grievous disaster had taken +place, evidently in the spring. The forebodings of the +constructively-minded rustics we had left below, who knew about as much of +architecture as they did of metaphysics, proved now to be true. They had +remarked that they feared lest some chance stone should have fallen, and +possibly have inflicted damage on the hut. Why they had selected a site +where such an accident might happen, was not at the moment quite obvious, +but it became so later on. Burgener told us that the roof had been carried +away. Beyond question the roof was gone; at any rate it was not there, and +the rock must have fallen in a remarkable way indeed, for the cliff above +was slightly overhanging, and the falling boulder, which was held +accountable for the disaster, had carried away every vestige of wood-work +about the place, not leaving even a splinter or a chip. However, to the +credit of the builders, be it said that they had tidied up and swept very +nicely, for there was no sawdust to be seen anywhere, nor indeed, any +trace of carpentering work. The hut consequently resolved itself into a +semi-circular stone wall, very much out of the perpendicular, built +against a rock face. The chief architect, evidently a thoughtful person, +had not omitted to leave a door. But it was easier on the whole to step +over the wall, which I did, with as much scorn as Remus himself could have +thrown into the action when seeking to aggravate his brother Romulus. So +we entered into possession of the premises without, at any rate, the +trouble of any preliminary legal formalities. + +(M8) + +In the matter of sleeping out, all mountaineers pass, provided they keep +long enough at it, through three stages. In the early period, when imbued +with what has been poetically termed the "ecstatic alacrity" of youth, +they burn with a desire to undergo hardship on mountains. Possibly a +craving for sympathy in discomfort--that most universal of human +attributes--prompts them to spend their nights in the most unsuitable +places for repose. The practical carrying out of this tendency is apt to +freeze very literally their ardour; at least, it did so in our case. Then +follows a period during which the climber laughs to scorn any idea of +dividing his mountain expedition. He starts the moment after midnight and +plods along with a gait as free and elastic as that of a stage pilgrim or +a competitor in a six days' "go-as-you-please" pedestrian contest: for +those who have a certain gift of somnambulism this method has its +advantages. Finally comes a stage when the climber's one thought is to get +all the enjoyment possible out of his expedition and to get it in the way +that seems best at the time. Now again he may be found at times tenanting +huts, or the forms of shelter which are supposed to represent them. But +his manner is changed; he no longer travels burdened with the impedimenta +of his earlier days. He never looks at his watch now, except to ascertain +the utmost limit of time he can dwell on a view. With advancing years and +increasing Alpine wisdom, he derides the idea of accurately timing an +expedition. His pedometer is probably left at home; he eats whenever he is +hungry, and ceases to consider it a _sine qua non_ that he must return to +hotel quarters in time for dinner. Nor does he ever commit the youthful +folly of walking at the rate of five miles an hour along the mule path in +the valley or the high road at the end of an expedition, gaining thereby +sore feet and absolutely nothing else. When he has reached this stage, +however, he is considered _passe_; and when he has reached this stage he +probably begins really to appreciate to the full the depth of the charm to +be found in mountaineering. + +But I digress even as the driven pig. A miserable night did we spend +behind the stone wall. About 9 P.M. came a furious hail-storm: at 10 P.M. +rain fell heavily: at 11 P.M. snow began and went on till daybreak about 4 +A.M. At 5 A.M. we got up quite stiff and stark like a recently killed +villain of melodrama, when carried off the stage by four supers. By 6 A.M. +I had got into my boots. At 9 A.M. we swooped down once more on Franz at +the hotel at Saas, persuaded him to relinquish certain scavenging +occupations in which he was engaged, and to resume his post of waiter. A +day or two later we sought our shelter once more. No luxurious provisions +did we take with us. Some remarkable red wine, so sour that it forced one +involuntarily to turn the head round over the shoulder on drinking it, +filled one knapsack. The other contained slices of bread with parallel +strata of a greasy nature intervening. These were spoken of, when we had +occasion to allude to them, as sandwiches. The fat was found to be an +excellent emollient to my boots. + +(M9) + +The Suedlenzspitz, though tall, labours under the topographical +disadvantage of being placed in the company of giants. Close by, on the +north side, is the Nadelhorn (14,876 ft.), while to the south, at no great +distance, the Dom towers far above, reaching a height of 14,942 feet. In +the Federal map of Switzerland (which is not very accurate in its +delineation of the Saas district), the height of the Suedlenzspitz is +marked as 14,108 ft. North and south from the Suedlenzspitz, stretch away +well-marked, but not particularly sharp ridges, the northern being chiefly +of snow, and inclined at a moderate angle. To the east, a sharper rocky +ridge falls away, terminating below, after the fashion of a "rational" +divided skirt, in two undecided continuations which enclosed the Fall +glacier. Climbing up by this ridge, Mr. W. W. Graham ascended the mountain +in 1882. The "variation" is described as presenting very serious +difficulties. But in our day, the old-fashioned custom of ascending +mountains by the most obviously practicable way was still in vogue, and we +decided, therefore, to make for the northern buttress. Leaping over the +wall enclosing the ground-floor of our bivouac, we descended on to the +Hochbalm glacier, made our way across the upper snow basin, and in good +time reached the foot of the slope no great distance south of the +Nadelhorn. The view during this part of the walk is very characteristic of +the range. From almost any point of view, the traveller is surrounded on +three sides by a clearly marked amphitheatre of very beautifully formed +mountains. On the right, the shapely little Ulrichshorn rises up in a +self-sufficient manner, like a single artichoke in a vegetable dish. In +front is the mass of the Nadelhorn and Suedlenzspitz, while, looking back, +the view of the mountains on the east side of the Saas valley is one of +great and varied beauty. It must be confessed that these statements are +derived principally from a contemplation of the map, for, to tell the +truth, the recollection of the panorama we actually saw is rather +indistinct. This much, however, I may record with confidence; that in all +parts of the Saas district, the views struck me, in a day when I did not +very much look at them, as possessing strong individuality and the +greatest beauty. + +(M10) + +The Zermatt district may be still more striking, and they who have no time +to visit both, no doubt do wisely to seek the more hackneyed valley. But +for such as do not look upon guide-book statements as the dicta of an +autocrat, and can exercise a thousandth part of the independence of +judgment they manifest in the ordinary affairs of life, a brief deviation +to the Saas country will come as a revelation. After the crowd, dust, and +bustle of the highway to the recognised centre of the Alps, to turn aside +to this region is a relief, like stepping out of a crowded ball-room on to +a verandah, or gliding away in a gondola from the railway station at +Venice. Look, too, at the architecture of the great mountains here, and +the spectator will perceive how nature has succeeded to perfection in +achieving what all artists fail in doing; that is in designing, and in a +manner that precludes criticism, a pendant; and a pendant too to the +Zermatt panorama. The necessary object in the foreground of the +picture--which we all know to be an hotel--is provided. Who but nature would +think of framing a pure white picture in a setting of the soft green +pastures below, and the deep blue sky above? but here it is, and it is +perfect. Yet the blue of the sky is repeated in the picture, for the +towering seracs throw azure shadows on the satin-smooth snow slopes at +their feet. Rest, strength, eternal solidity above in the mountain forms +and crags; repose, softness, and the charm of a brightness below that must +yield and fade before long to gather force for fresh development and +renewal. No need to seek far for a parallel in our human world. Between +the two districts, Zermatt and Saas-Fee, there is but the difference +between the man who impresses at once by the force of character, and the +man who has to be studied and learned before we recognise that he is +something beyond the ordinary run of our fellow-creatures. + +(M11) + +Before leaving England we had made tolerably minute inquiries, but had +failed to discover any record of a previous ascent of the Suedlenzspitz, +though, as suggested by Mr. W. M. Conway, the mountain may have been +previously climbed by Mr. Chapman. Some uncertainty, therefore, whether we +should find any traces of previous climbers, gave the required piquancy to +the expedition. We made at once up the slope for a long rocky buttress, +and towards a part of the mountain down which the guides asserted stones +had been known to fall in the afternoon. This statement was probably made +with a view of encouraging their charge to greater exertions, for an old +sprained ankle compelled me to the continual necessity of putting my best +foot foremost in walking over difficult places. Still, the rocks were at +no point very formidable, and progress was rendered somewhat easier by the +fact that no critical companion was with me, so I felt at perfect liberty +to transport myself upwards in any style that happened to suit the +exigencies of the moment. I had not at that time quite passed the stage of +believing all that the guides asserted with reference to the climbing +capacities of the individual who pays them for assisting his locomotion, +and had a distinct idea that I mastered all the obstacles in a +particularly skilful manner. They said as much in fact, but reiterated +their compliments so often that I somewhat fear now that I must frequently +have given occasion for these remarks of approbation; remarks which I have +since observed are more frequently called forth to cover a blunder than to +praise an exhibition of science. Probably my progress was about as +graceful and sure as that of a weak-legged puppy placed for the first time +in its life on a frozen pond, or a cockroach seeking to escape from the +entrapping basin, for I had not then developed, in climbing rocks, the +adhesive powers of--say the chest, which longer practice will sometimes +furnish. We were accompanied by a porter of advanced years whose +conversational powers were limited by an odd practice of carrying heavy +parcels in his mouth. The day before he had carried up a large beam of +wood for the camp fire in this manner. I never met a man with so much jaw +and so little talk. He had apparently come out in order to practise +himself for the mastication of the Saas mutton, for at the end of the day +he would accept of nothing but a sum of two francs, for which I was very +thankful. Similar disinterestedness in men of his class is not often met +with nowadays. + +(M12) + +After awhile we left the buttress of rock and turned our attention to a +snow slope and made our way up its crest. Here steps were necessary but +there was no particular difficulty, for the slope resembled a modern +French drawing-room tragedy, in that it was as broad as it was long. We +had but to feel that the rope was taut, and could then look about with +security. In good time we stepped on to the ridge, and a glance upwards +showed that the way was easy enough. We could not but feel that if we were +to achieve the honour of a first ascent, such honour would be principally +due to the fact that we had subdivided the secondary peaks of the chain +more minutely than other travellers. The principle has been carried still +further in these latter days, and as any little pale fish that can be +caught and fried is considered whitebait, and any article that ladies +choose to attach to their heads is termed a bonnet, so any point that can +be climbed by an individual line of ascent is now held to be a separate +mountain. A considerable snow cornice hung over on the northern side of +the arete and great care was necessary, for the ridge itself was so broad +and easy, that less careful guides might have made light of it; but +Burgener, though he had already acquired a reputation for brilliancy and +dash, never suffered himself for one moment to lose sight of the two great +qualities in a guide, caution and thoroughness. At each step he probed the +snow in front of him with all the diligence of a chiffonnier. It followed +that our progress was somewhat slow, but it was none the less highly +instructive. The accurate sense of touch in probing doubtful snow with the +axe requires and deserves very much more practice than most people would +imagine. The unpractised mountaineer may climb with more or less ease a +difficult rock the first time he is brought face to face with it, but long +and carefully acquired experience is necessary before a man can estimate +with certainty the bearing power of a snow bridge with a single thrust of +the axe. Indeed many guides of reputation either do not possess or never +acquire the muscular sense necessary to enable them to form a reliable +opinion on this matter. As a rule, if the rope be properly used and such a +mistake be made, somebody plunges through, is hauled out again and no harm +is done; but there are occasions when serious accidents have happened, +when probably lives have been lost owing to want of skilled knowledge in +this detail of snow mountaineering. I have known guides who never failed +when they came to a treacherous-looking bridge, to give it one apparently +careless thrust with the axe and then walk across with perfect confidence; +and I have seen others do exactly the same and disappear suddenly to cool +regions below through the bridge; and _vice versa_. The unskilful prober +will make wide detours when he might go in safety, and the man of good +snow touch will avoid what looks sound enough: till in returning, perhaps +you see that the hard crust concealed but rotten things beneath: as in an +ill-made dumpling. It needs no small amount of training to judge between +the man who quickly and with certainty satisfies himself of the safety of +a particular snow passage, and the man who is too careless properly to +investigate it; yet without such experience the amateur is not really able +to decide whether a guide be a good or a bad one. + +(M13) + +Here and there along the ridge short rock passages gave a welcome relief +and at length we stood on the highest point of the ridge which culminates +so gently in the actual peak of the Suedlenzspitz. Our first care was to +scrape about and hunt diligently for traces of any previous party. No +relic of conviviality could be found, and as all the flat stones about +appeared to be in their natural state of disorder, we piled up some of +them into a neat little heap, and came to the conclusion that we had +performed very doughty deeds. But we were younger then. The sun was out, +there was a dead calm, and we lay for a while basking in the warmth and +planning a serious expedition for some future year. It may seem strange in +these days of rocket-like mountaineering when the climber, like the poet, +_nascitur non fit_, but the peak whose assault we discussed was none other +than the Matterhorn. It was no longer thought that goblins and elves +tenanted its crags; but although these spectres had not yet been +frightened away and turned out of house and home by sardine boxes and +broken bottles, some trace of prestige still adhered to the mountain. It +had not then, like a galley slave, been bound with chains, or, even as a +trussed chicken, girt about with many cords. Nor was the ascent of the +peak then talked about as carelessly as might be a walk along Margate +pier. Alexander Burgener had never been up the peak, though he was most +anxious to get an opportunity of doing so. I can remember well the advice +that was given to me on the top of the Suedlenzspitz to practise further on +a few less formidable mountains before attacking the fascinating Mont +Cervin itself. Alas for the old days and the old style of mountaineering! +It may be doubted whether such discussions often take place nowadays; but +then it was only my sixth season in the Alps. The following year we did +hatch out the project laid on the top of the Suedlenzspitz to climb the +Matterhorn together. To this moment I can remember as I write every detail +of the climb and every incident of the day as vividly as if it were +yesterday; and what a splendid expedition it was then. The old, old +fascination can never come back again in quite the same colours; better, +perhaps, that it should not. Is it always true that "a sorrow's crown of +sorrow is remembering happier things"? Surely there is a keenness and a +depth of pleasure to be found in recalling happiness, though it may never +return in its old form; and the memory of pleasure just toned with a trace +of sadness is one of the most profound emotions that can stir the human +heart. Go on and climb the Alps ye that follow: nowhere else will you find +the same pleasure. But it is changed, and in this amusement the old +fascination will never be quite the same to you. It may be, it will be, +equally keen, but as there is a difference between skating on virgin ice +and that which, though still good, is scored by marks of predecessors, so +will you fail to find a something which in the olden days of +mountaineering seemed always present. Go elsewhere if you will, and seek +fresh fields for mountaineering enterprise in the Caucasus, the Himalayas, +the Andes. There you will find the mountains have a charm of their own: +the mark is as good, but it is not the Alpine mark. That has been taken by +others. _Beati possidentes._ + +(M14) + +Judging by the nature of these sentiments it would seem that we must have +become pensive to the verge of slumber while on the summit. In descending, +we followed our morning's tracks, and scorning the seductive shelter of +the hut made straight down for the hotel. On this occasion we found Franz, +who was a man of varied resources and accomplishments, hanging his shirt, +which apparently he had just washed, up to dry. Our unexpected arrival +appeared to disconcert him a little, for the straitened nature of his +wardrobe precluded him, to his great disappointment, from appearing at +dinner in full costume. He conceived, however, an ingenious, though +somewhat transparent subterfuge, and made believe that he had got a bad +cold in the chest which compelled him to button his coat up tight round +the neck. In honour of our achievements he said he would go down to the +cellar and bring us up a curious old wine. The cellar consisted apparently +of a packing-case in a shed. Old the wine may have been; curious it +certainly was, for it possessed a strong heathery flavour and seemed to +turn hot very suddenly and stick fast in the throat like champagne at a +suburban charity ball. But nevertheless, with the remnants of the +blackbird or some other _rara avis_ made into a species of pie, we feasted +royally. + +A few days later we crossed over to Zermatt by the Alphubel Joch, a heavy +fall of snow having prevented any idea of making our contemplated assault +on the Dom. A Swiss gentleman of a lively nature and excessive loquacity +accompanied us. He was not an adroit snow walker, and disappeared on some +five or six occasions abruptly into crevasses. The moment, however, that +he got his head out again, he resumed his narrative at the exact point at +which it had been perforce broken off without exhibiting the least +discomposure. The subject to which his remarks referred I did not succeed +in ascertaining. We parted at a little chalet not far from the Riffel, +leaving our friend lying flat on his back on the grass contemplating the +sky with a fixed expression, with his hands folded over his waistcoat. He +may have been a poet inspired with a sudden desire for composition for +aught I know, or may have assumed this attitude as likely to facilitate +the absorption of a prodigious quantity of milk which he took at the +chalet. + +As we drew nearer to the odd mixture of highly coloured huts and +comfortable hotels that make up the village of Zermatt, a sense of +returning home crept over the mind, a consciousness of friends at hand, of +warm welcomes, mixed with the half presentiment that is always felt on +such occasions, that some change would be found; but happily it was not +so. The roadway was in its former state; the cobble stones a trifle more +irregular and worn more smooth, but still the same. The same guides, or +their prototypes, were sitting on the same wall drumming their heels. The +same artist was hard at work on a sketch of the Matterhorn in a field hard +by. The same party just returning from the Goerner Grat. The same man +looking out with sun-scorched face from the salon window and the same +click from the self-willed billiard balls on the uncertain table below. +Ay, and the same unmistakable heartfelt greetings and handshakings at the +door of the Monte Rosa. Churlish indeed should we have been if we had +sighed to think that we had met our warmest welcome at an inn. + + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + + THE ROTHHORN (MOMING) FROM ZERMATT + + + The Alpine dramatis personae--Mountaineering fact and romance--The + thirst for novelty and its symptoms--The first ascent of the + Moming--Preliminaries are observed--Rock _v._ snow mountains--The + amateur and the guide on rocks and on snow--The programme is made + out--Franz Andermatten--Falling stones in the gully--We smooth away + the difficulties--The psychological effects of reaching mountain + summits--A rock bombardment and a narrow escape--The youthful + tourist and his baggage--Hotel trials--We are interviewed--The + gushers. + + +The writer of an Alpine narrative labours under more disadvantages than +most literary folk--if authors generally will permit the association, and +allow that those who rush into print with their Alpine experiences have +the smallest claim to be dignified with such a title. One drawback is that +their accounts necessarily suffer from a paucity of characters. A five-act +tragedy supported, to use a theatrical expression, by two walking +gentlemen, one heavy lead and a low comedy "super," might possibly pall +upon an audience, but in Alpine literature, if I may be permitted to push +the metaphor a little further, not only is this the case but the unhappy +reader finds the characters like "barn stormers" playing now comedy, now +tragedy, and sometimes, it may possibly be added, dramas of romance. + +(M15) + +Again, in all matters absolutely relating to mountaineering in the Alps, +the narrator feels bound to stick to matters of fact. The drama of romance +must be excluded from his repertoire, or, at any rate, very cautiously +handled. I knew a man once, who on a single occasion went a-fishing in +Norway and caught a salmon. Naturally he was proud of the achievement, and +when in the company of brother sportsmen, would hold up his head, assume a +knowing air, and take part in the conversation, such conversation +relating, of course, to the size of the various fish those present had +caught. Such unswerving and prosaic veracity did my friend possess, that, +though sorely tempted as he must have been on many occasions, for ten +years he never added a single ounce to the weight of his fish. A writer, +an Alpine scribbler at any rate, is perhaps justified if he introduces +incidents into an account of an expedition which may not have happened on +that particular occasion, but which did happen on some other; and surely +he may, without impropriety, romance a little on such part of his work as +is not strictly geographical; for example, he may describe a chalet as +being dirty, when according to the peasant's standard of cleanliness it +would have been considered spotless, or describe a view as magnificent, +when as a matter of fact he paid no attention to it, but he would be +acting most culpably if he asserted that he got within fifty feet of the +summit, well knowing that he was not fifty feet from the base of the peak, +or if he stated that rocks were impossible, or an ice-fall impracticable, +when the sole reason for his failure consisted in his being possessed with +a strong desire to go back home. Of course a writer can only give his own +impressions, and these are much tempered by increased experience and the +lapse of time, but in taking up old accounts of Alpine work one not +unfrequently finds a good deal of description that requires toning down. +In these sketches I have striven honestly to render all that relates +intimately to the actual mountains as accurate as possible, and would +sooner be considered a dull than an unreliable historian. + +It is no easy matter to reproduce almost on the spot an account of a climb +with absolute accuracy, however strong the desire may be to do so. +Besides, a climber does not pursue his pastime with a note book +perpetually open before him. If he does, his mountaineering is more of a +business than he is usually willing to admit. The guide often, the amateur +commonly, fails to recognise exactly from a distance a line of ascent or +descent on rocks, though but just completed. Still more difficult is it to +work out the precise details of a particular route on a map or photograph. +The microscopist knows that the higher powers of his instrument give him +no additional insight into the structure of certain objects, but rather +mislead. Even so may my readers be asked to employ but gymnoscopic +criticism of these sketches. + +(M16) + +In September 1872 our party reached Zermatt from Chamouni by the +"high-level" route, a series of walks which no amount of familiarity will +ever deprive of their charm, and concerning which more will be found +elsewhere in this work. All Alpine climbers were then burning as fiercely +as they ever did to achieve something new. They had just begun to realise +that the stock of new peaks and passes was not inexhaustible, and that the +supply was wholly inadequate to meet the demand. This feeling showed +itself in various ways. Climbers looked upon each other with something of +suspicion and jealousy, and if any new expedition was being planned by any +one of their number the others would quickly recognise the state of +affairs. If an Alpine man were found secreted in obscure corners +conversing in a low voice with his guides and intent on a study of the +map, or if he returned evasive answers when questioned as to his plans, he +was at once set down as having, probably, a new expedition in mind. As for +the guides, they assumed at once airs of importance, as does a commencing +schoolboy newly arrayed in a tall hat, and exhibited such mystery that +their intentions were unmistakable. Their behaviour, indeed, may have been +partly due to the fact that the natural efforts of their comrades to +extract information was invariably accompanied by somewhat undue +hospitality, and their brotherly feelings were usually expressed in an +acceptably liquid form. As a rule such hospitality did not fail in its +object. Whether due to a certain natural leakiness of mind on the part of +the guides or not, I cannot say, but certainly the information always +oozed out, and the intentions of the party were invariably thoroughly well +known before the expedition actually started to achieve fresh glory. Every +one of the first-rate peaks in the Zermatt district had been ascended, +most of them over and over again, before 1872, but the Rothhorn was still +out of the pale of the Zermatt expeditions. Messrs. Leslie Stephen and F. +Craufurd Grove, who first climbed the peak, ascended it from Zinal, and +descended to the same place. It seemed to us, therefore, that if we could +prove the accessibility of the mountain from Zermatt, we should do +something more than merely climb the peak by a new route. The rocks looked +attractive, and the peak itself lay so immediately above Zermatt that it +seemed possible enough to make the ascent without sleeping out or +consuming any great amount of time. + +We went through all the necessary preliminary formalities. We assumed airs +of mystery at times; why, I know not. We inspected distant peaks through +the telescope. At other times we displayed an excess of candour, and +talked effusively about districts remote from that which we intended to +investigate. We climbed up a hill, and surveyed the face of our mountain +through a telescope, thereby wasting a day and acquiring no information +whatever. We pointed out to each other the parts of the mountain which +appeared most difficult, and displayed marvellous differences of opinion +on the subject, owing, as it is usually the case, to the circumstance that +we were commonly, in all probability, talking at the same time about +totally distinct parts of the peak. With the telescope I succeeded in +discovering to my own entire satisfaction a perfectly impracticable route +to the summit. Finally, in order that no single precaution might be +omitted to ensure success, we sent up the guides to reconnoitre--a most +useless proceeding. We had new nails put in our boots, ordered provisions, +uncoiled our rope and coiled it up again quite unnecessarily, gave +directions that we should be called at an unhallowed hour in the morning, +and went to bed under the impression that we should not be object in the +least to turn out at the time arranged. + +(M17) + +It is on the rock mountains of Switzerland that the acme of enjoyment is +to be found. Not that I wish to disparage the snow-peaks; but if a +comparison be instituted it is to most climbers, at any rate in their +youthful days, infinitely in favour of the rock. Of course it may be +argued that there are comparatively few mountains where the two are not +combined. But a mountaineer classifies peaks roughly as rock or snow, +according to the chief obstacles that each presents. A climber may +encounter serious difficulties in the way of bergschrunds, steep couloirs, +soft snow, and so forth; but if on the same expedition he meets with rocks +which compel him to put forth greater energies and perseverance than the +snow required, he will set the expedition down as a difficult rock climb, +simply, of course, because the idea of difficulty which is most vividly +impressed on his mind is in connection with that portion of his climb, and +_vice versa_. An undeniable drawback to the snow peaks consists in their +monotony. The long series of steps that have to be cut at times, or the +dreary wading for hours through soft or powdery snow, are not always +forgotten in the pleasure of overcoming the difficulties of a crevasse, +reaching the summit of a peak, or the excitement of a good glissade. It is +the diversity of obstacles that meet the rock climber, the uncertainty as +to what may turn up next, the doubt as to the possibility of finding the +friendly crack or the apposite ledge, that constitute some of the main +charms. Every step is different, every muscle is called into play as the +climber is now flattened against a rough slab, now abnormally stretched +from one hold to another, or folded up like the conventional pictures of +the ibex, and every step can be recalled afterwards with pleasure and +amusement as the mountain is climbed over again in imagination. + +(M18) + +But there is more than this; on rocks the amateur is much less dependent +on his guides and has much more opportunity of exercising his own powers. +It must be admitted that on rocks some amateurs are occasionally wholly +dependent not on, but from their guides, and take no more active share in +locomotion than does a bale of goods in its transit from a ship's hold to +a warehouse. Too often the amateurs who will not take the trouble to learn +something of the science and art of mountaineering are but an impediment, +an extra burden, as has been often said, to the guides. The guides have to +hack out huge steps for their benefit. The amateurs wholly trust to them +for steering clear of avalanches, rotten snow bridges, and the like. The +amateur's share in a snow ascent usually consists, in fact, either in +counselling retreat, insisting on progress, indicating impossible lines of +ascent, or in the highly intellectual and arithmetical exercise of +counting the number of steps hewn out to ensure his locomotion in the +proper direction. + +Place the unpaid climber, on the other hand, on rocks. Here the +probability is that a slip will entail no unpleasant consequences to +anyone but the slipper. The power of sustaining a sudden strain is so +enormously increased when the hands have a firm grip that the amateur can, +if he please, sprawl and scramble unaided over difficult places with +satisfaction to himself and usually without risk to anyone else; that is, +as soon as he has fully persuaded the guides (no easy task, I admit) that +the process of pulling vehemently at the rope, possibly encircling his +waist in a slip knot, is as detrimental to his equilibrium as it is to his +digestion. Guides, however, as has been hinted, do not acknowledge this +fact in animal mechanics, and their employers frequently experience as an +acute torture that compressing process which, more deliberately applied, +is not regarded by some as hurtful, but rather as a necessary +accompaniment of fashionable attire. When the amateur has succeeded in +overcoming the natural instinct of the guides to pull when there is no +occasion to do so, he becomes a unit in the party, a burden of course, and +a hindrance to some guides, but nothing to what he was on the snow. + +Sentiments similar to the above have not unfrequently been set forth in +print: they seldom, if ever, actuate the minds of mountaineers when +actually engaged in their pastime or when describing their exploits to +less skilled persons. + +There is great satisfaction, too, in translating one's self over a given +difficult rock passage without other assistance than that provided by +nature herself, and without surreptitious aid from one's neighbour in the +shape of steps. Then again, snow mountains are as inconsistent as cheap +aneroids. One day each step costs much labour and toil, and almost the +next perhaps the peak will allow itself to be conquered in one-tenth of +the time. Not that the writer seeks to argue that there is no pleasure to +be derived from snow mountains. It is to climbing _per se_ that these +remarks apply. After all, everyone has his own opinion; but he who has not +tasted the pleasures of a really difficult and successful rock +climb--especially if it be a new one--knows not what the Alps can really do +for his amusement. + +(M19) + +An expedition of suitable magnitude and difficulty was suggested by the +guides, viz. an ascent of the Rothhorn (or Moming) from the Zermatt side. +Mr. Passingham of Cambridge was at the time staying at the Monte Rosa +Hotel, and it was soon arranged that we should combine our forces. The +guides, on being asked their opinion as to the projected climb, reported +diplomatically that, given fine weather, the ascent would be difficult but +possible. This is the answer that the guides generally do give. We decided +to attempt the whole excursion in a single day, considering that a short +rest in the comparatively luxurious beds provided by M. Seiler was +preferable on the whole to more prolonged repose in a shepherd's hut; for +the so-called repose means usually a night of misery, and the misery under +these conditions is apt to make a man literally acquainted with strange +bed-fellows. At 2 in the morning we sought for the guides' room, to +superintend the packing of our provisions. It was not easy to find, but at +last we discovered a dingy little subterranean vault with one small window +tightly jammed up and covered with dust. Of this den there were two +occupants. One was employed silently in eating large blocks of a curious +boiled mess out of a pipkin. The other was smoking a very complicated +pipe, and sitting bolt upright on a bench with half a bottle of _vin +ordinaire_ before him. Why he was carousing thus in the small hours was +not evident. From these signs we judged correctly that the apartment was +devoted to the guides as a dining, smoking, club and recreation room. + +Our staff was already in attendance, and it struck both of us that the +success of the expedition was a foregone conclusion if it depended on the +excellence of our guides--Alexander Burgener, the embodiment of strength, +endurance, and pluck; Ferdinand Imseng, of activity and perseverance, +alone would have sufficed, but we had in addition a tough, weather-beaten, +cheery companion (for he was always a companion as well as a guide), Franz +Andermatten, ever sagacious, ever helpful and ever determined. It would be +hard to find a successor adequately to fill our old friend's place. It is +impossible to efface his memory from my mind, nor can I ever forget how on +that day he showed all his best qualities and contributed mainly to our +success.(1) The prologue is spoken; let us raise the curtain on the +comedy. + +(M20) + +The guides had already made their usual preparations for packing up--that +is to say, they had constructed a multiplicity of little paper parcels and +spread them about the room. As to the contents of these little parcels, +they were of course uncertain, and all had to be undone to make sure that +nothing had been omitted. A good deal of time was thus lost, and nothing +much was gained, except that we corrected the error of packing up a +handful of loose lucifers and two tallow dips with the butter and honey in +a glass tumbler. Then the parcels were stowed away in the knapsacks, the +straps of course all rearranged and ultimately replaced by odds and ends +of string. Eventually, at 3 A.M., we started, leaving the two occupants of +the guides' room still engaged in the same manner as when they first came +under observation, and walked up the narrow valley running due north of +Zermatt and leading towards the Trift Joch and the base of the mountain +for which we were making. Having journeyed for about half an hour, it was +discovered that the telescope had been left behind. Franz instantly +started off to get it; not because it was considered particularly +necessary, but chiefly on the ground that it is not orthodox to go on a +new expedition without a telescope. We stumbled up the narrow winding +path, and close below the moraine called our first halt and waited for +Franz's return. I selected a cool rock on which to complete the slumber +which had been commenced in bed and continued on a tilted chair in the +guides' room. After waiting an hour we decided to proceed, as no answer +was returned to our frequent shouts. Presently, however, a distant yell +attracted our attention, and we beheld, to our astonishment, the cheery +face of Franz looking down on us from the top of the moraine. Stimulated +by this apparition, we pushed on with great vigour, clambered up the +moraine, whose extreme want of cohesion necessitated a treadmill style of +progression, and having reached the top passed along it to the snow. Here +we bore first to the right, and then, working round, made straight for a +sharp-topped buttress which juts out at a right angle from the main mass +of the mountain. Arrived at a patch of rocks near the commencement of the +arete, we disencumbered ourselves of superfluous baggage; that is to say, +after the traditional manner of mountaineers, we discarded about +three-fourths of the impedimenta we had so laboriously dragged up to that +point, and of which at no subsequent period of the expedition did we make +the slightest use. Next, we prepared for such rock difficulties as might +present themselves, by buttoning up our coats as tight as was convenient, +and decorated our heads respectively with woollen extinguishers like unto +the covers placed by old maids over cherished teapots. + +It is a grand moment that, when the difficulty of an expedition opens out, +when you grasp the axe firmly, settle in to the rope, and brace up the +muscles for the effort of the hour: a moment probably the most pleasurable +of the whole expedition, when the peak towers clear and bright above, when +the climber realises that he is on the point of deciding whether he shall +achieve or fail in achieving a long wished for success, or what it may be +perhaps allowable to call a cutting-out expedition (for even mountain +climbers are prone to small jealousies). The excitement on nearing the +actual summit often rather fades away than increases, and the climber +lounges up the last few steps to the top with the same sort of nonchalance +that a guest invited to drink displays in approaching the bar. + +(M21) + +Dividing into two parties, we passed rapidly along the snow ridge which +abuts against the east face of the mountain. The cliffs of the Rothhorn +seem almost to overhang on this face, and were from our point of view +magnificent. On the right, too, the precipice is a sheer one, to employ a +not uncommon epithet. Without much difficulty we clambered up the first +part of the face of the mountain, taking a zigzag course towards the large +gully which is distinctly visible from the other side of the valley, and +which terminates above in a deep jagged notch in the ridge not far below +the summit. Gradually the climbing became more difficult, and it was found +necessary to cross the gully backwards and forwards on several occasions. +In so crossing we were exposed to some risk from falling stones; that is +to say, some chips and bits of rock on a few occasions went flying by +without any very apparent reason. In those days mountaineers were in the +habit of considering these projectiles as a possible source of risk. A +later generation would pass them by as easily as the stones passed by us, +and it is not now the fashion to consider such a situation as we were in +at all dangerous. It is difficult to see the reason why. Perhaps people's +heads are harder now than they were then. For the greater part of the time +we kept to the left or south side of the gully, and reaching the notch +looked right down upon the commencement of the Glacier du Durand, a fine +expanse of snowfield, singularly wild-looking and much crevassed. Turning +to the right, we ascended a short distance along the ridge, and then a +halt was called. The guides now proceeded to arrange a length of some +hundred feet of rope on the rocks above to assist in our return. The +process sorely tried our patience, and we were right glad when the signal +was given to go on again. We had now to leave the arete, to descend a +little, and so pass on to the west face of the mountain, and by this face +to ascend and gradually work back to the ridge. No doubt during this part +of the climb we made much the same mistake in judgment as had previously +been made on a memorable ascent of the Matterhorn, and crossed far more on +to the face than was really necessary or advisable. The mountain has since +the time when these lines were originally written passed through the +regular stages of gradual depreciation, and it is more difficult now to +realise that we considered it at the time very difficult. Probably, +however, subsequent travellers have improved considerably on the details +of the route we actually followed; at any rate the ascent is now +considered quite proper for a novice to attempt, at any rate by the novice +himself. We worked ourselves slowly along in the teeth of a biting cold +wind, and without finding the fixed rope necessary to assist our progress. +Reaching the ridge again, the way became distinctly easier, and we felt +now that the peak was at our mercy. Presently, however, we came to a huge +inverted pyramid of rock that tried rather successfully to look like the +summit, and we had some little difficulty in surmounting it. By dint of +strange acrobatic feats and considerable exertion we hoisted our leading +guide on to the top. It was fortunate for him perhaps that the seams of +his garments were not machine-sewn, or he would certainly have rent his +raiment. Finding, however, that the only alternative that offered when he +got to the top of the rock was to get down again on the other side, the +rest of us concluded that on the whole we should prefer to walk round. The +last few yards were perfectly easy, and at 1.30 P.M. we stood on the +summit enjoying a most magnificent view in every direction. + +(M22) + +It is a somewhat curious phenomenon, but one frequently remarked, that the +mountaineer's characteristics seem abruptly to change when he reaches the +summit of a peak. The impressionable, excitable person instantly becomes +preternaturally calm and prosaic, while those of lymphatic temperament +have not unfrequently been observed to develop suddenly rather explosive +qualities, and to yell or wave their hats without any very apparent +incitement thereto. Individuals whose detractors hold to be gifted with +poetic attributes have been heard to utter quite commonplace remarks, and +I have even known a phlegmatic companion so far forget himself, under +these modifying circumstances, as to make an excessively bad pun and laugh +very heartily at it himself, quite an unusual occurrence in a wag. Others +find relief for their feelings by punching their companions violently in +the back, or resorting to such horse-play as the area of the summit allows +scope for. Directly, however, the descent commences the climber resumes +his normal nature. The fact is, that in most cases, perhaps, the chief +pleasure of the expedition does not come at the moment when the climber +realises that he is about to undo, as it were, all his work of the day. +There is no real climax of an expedition, and, as has been said, it is +quite artificial to suppose that the enjoyment must culminate on reaching +the top. But still it is considered proper to testify to some unusual +emotional feelings. Some of the most enjoyable climbs that the mountaineer +can recall in after life, are not those in which he has reached any +particular point. Guides consider it becoming to evince in a somewhat +forced way the liveliness of their delight on completing an ascent. But +such joy as they exhibit is usually about as genuine and heartfelt as an +organ-grinder's grin, or a Lord Mayor's smile on receiving a guest whom he +does not know and who has merely come to feed at his expense. + +The wind was too cold to permit of a very long stay on the summit, and +having added a proper number of stones to the cairn, a ceremony as +indispensable as the cutting of a notch in the mainmast when the +traditional fisherman changes his shirt, we descended rapidly to the point +where it was necessary to quit the ridge. Down the first portion of the +steep rock slope we passed with great caution, some of the blocks of stone +being treacherously loose, or only lightly frozen to the face. + +(M23) + +We had arrived at the most difficult part of the whole climb, and at a +rock passage which at that time we considered was the nastiest we had ever +encountered. The smooth, almost unbroken face of the slope scarcely +afforded any foot-hold, and our security almost entirely depended on the +rope we had laid down in our ascent. Had not the rope been in position we +should have varied our route, and no doubt found a line of descent over +this part much easier than the one we actually made for, even without any +help from the fixed cord. Imseng was far below, working his way back to +the arete, while the rest of the party were holding on or moving but +slowly with faces turned to the mountain. Suddenly I heard a shout from +above; those below glanced up at once: a large flat slab of rock, that had +afforded us good hold in ascending, but proved now to have been only +frozen in to a shallow basin of ice, had been dislodged by the slightest +touch from one of the party above, and was sliding down straight at us. It +seemed an age, though the stone could not have had to fall more than ten +feet or so, before it reached us. Just above me it turned its course +slightly; Franz, who was just below, more in its direct line of descent, +attempted to stop the mass, but it ground his hands against the rock and +swept by straight at Imseng. A yell from us hardly awoke him to the +danger: the slab slid on faster and faster, but just as we expected to see +our guide swept away, the rock gave a bound for the first time, and as, +with a startled expression, he flung himself against the rock face, it +leapt up and, flying by within a few inches of his head, thundered down +below. A moment or two of silence followed, and then a modified cheer from +Imseng, as subdued as that of a "super" welcoming a theatrical king, +announced his safety, and he looked up at us with a serious expression on +his face. Franz's escape had been a remarkably lucky one, but his hands +were badly cut about and bruised. In fact it was a near thing for all of +us, and the mere recollection will still call up that odd sort of thrill a +man experiences on suddenly recollecting at 11 P.M. that he ought to have +dined out that evening with some very particular people. Had not the rock +turned its course just before it reached Franz, and bounded from the face +of the mountain over Imseng's head, one or more of the party must +unquestionably have been swept away. The place was rather an exceptional +one, and the rock glided a remarkably long distance without a bound, but +still the incident may serve to show that falling stones are not a wholly +imaginary danger. + +(M24) + +It would have been difficult, with the elementary knowledge of +mountaineering that I now see we possessed at that day, to have descended +without using the attached rope, and quite out of the question for anyone +possessed of a proper respect for his suit of dittos to have done so. In +this latter respect we had to exercise economical caution: for we had no +very great store at the hotel or many changes of raiment. It is generally +possible to gauge pretty accurately an Alpine traveller's experience by +the amount of luggage he takes on a tour. Some tourists, following the +advice given in the "Practical Guide Book" (a disconnected work written in +the style of Mr. Jingle's conversation, but much in favour at one time), +were in the habit of travelling with one suit of clothes and a portable +bath. The latter, though they took it with them, they seldom took more +than once; at the best it was of comparatively little use as an article of +apparel, but imparted an aromatic flavour to anything packed up in its +immediate neighbourhood. In those youthful days we considered, forsooth, +that a little leathern wallet adequately replaced a portmanteau, and in +transporting luggage did not always act on the sound commercial maxim that +you should never do anything for yourself which a paid person might do +equally well for you; consequently a heavy rain shower reduced the +traveller to inactivity, and an oversight on the part of the laundress +entailed consequences that it is not permissible to mention. + +Meanwhile our turn had come to move on. A zigzagging crack, which was too +narrow to admit of anything but a most uncomfortable position, afforded +the only hand and foot hold on which we could rely. Our gloveless hands, +clutching at the rope, cooled down slowly to an unpleasant temperature +that rendered it doubtful whether they were attached to the arms or not, +and we began to wish we had gone down the Zinal side of the mountain. +However, Imseng wormed himself along the rocks, to which he adhered with +the tenacity of a lizard, and finally reached the end of our rope and a +region of comparative safety. We followed his example slowly, and, having +joined him, seated ourselves on some rocks inappropriately designed for +repose, and finished off the food we had with us. Climbing carefully down +the east face of the mountain, we reached the snow ridge and passed +rapidly along it, our spirits rising exuberantly as we looked back on the +vanquished peak. As usually happens, the guides had entirely forgotten the +place where they had concealed our baggage on the ascent, and in fact had +hidden it so carefully that they had some difficulty in finding it when +they came to the spot. It is curious to note how often the instinct of +guides, so much talked about, is at fault in this matter, and how +systematically they are in the habit of carrying up on the mountains +superfluous articles, hiding them with entirely unnecessary precautions, +and subsequently forgetting the whole transaction. + +(M25) + +While they searched about for their cache we enjoyed the use of tobacco, +if such an expression be allowable in the case of some curious stuff +purchased in the valley. Still, as the packet in which it was contained +was labelled "Tabak," we considered it to be such. Being indulgently +disposed, and not being profound botanists, poetic license alone enabled +us to imagine that + + "We soared above + Dull earth, in those ambrosial clouds like Jove, + And from our own empyrean height + Looked down upon Zermatt with calm delight." + +(M26) + +It may have been so; it gave me a sore throat. Descending rapidly, we +reached the Monte Rosa Hotel at 7 P.M., in an exultant frame of mind, a +ragged condition of attire, and a preposterous state of hunger. The whole +time occupied in the climb was sixteen hours. Of this an hour was wasted +while we were waiting for the telescope, and three-quarters of an hour was +spent in arranging the rope, by the aid of which we descended. Probably in +actual climbing and walking we employed rather under thirteen hours; but +the snow was in excellent order, and we descended on the whole very +rapidly. Our trials were not over for the day, when we reached the hotel. +Two arch young things had prepared an ambuscade and surprised us +successfully at the door of the hotel. Sweetly did they gush. "Oh! where +had we been?" We said we had been up in the mountains, indicating the +general line of locality with retrospective thumb. "Oh! wasn't it +fearfully dangerous? Weren't we all tied tightly together?" (as if, on the +principle of union being strength, we had been fastened up and bound like +a bundle of quill pens). "Oh! hadn't we done something very wonderful?" +The situation was becoming irritating. "Oh! didn't we have to drag +ourselves up precipices by the chamois horns on the tops of our sticks?" +"No indeed----" "Oh! really, now, that guide there" (a driver with +imperfectly buttoned garments who was sitting on the wall with a vacuous +look) "told us you were _such_ wonderful climbers." It was becoming +exasperating. "And oh! we wanted to ask you so much, for you know all +about it. _Do_ you think we could walk over the Theodule? Papa" (great +heavens! he must be a nonagenarian) "thinks we should be so foolish to +try. Could you persuade him?" "Well, really----" "Wouldn't the precipices +make us dreadfully giddy?" "No, no more than you are now." "Oh! thank you +so much. And you really won't tell us what awful ascent you have been +making?" It was maddening. "After dinner perhaps?" "Oh! thank you. Oh! +Sustie" (this to each other; they both spoke together: probably the names +were Susie and Tottie), "won't that be delightful?" By dexterous +manoeuvring we escaped these gushing Circes during the evening. Happening +to pass later on by the open door of the little _salon_, the following +remark was overheard: "My dear, the conceit of these climbing objects is +quite dreadful. They do nothing but flourish their nasty sticks and ropes +about: they want the whole place to themselves" (we had been sitting on +wooden chairs in the middle of the high street, near an unsavoury heap of +refuse), "and they talk, talk, talk, my dear, all day and all night about +what they have been doing in the mountains and of their nonsensical +climbs. And what frights they look. I think they are perfectly horrid." +Can the voice have been that of the gusher? + + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + + EARLY ATTEMPTS ON THE AIGUILLE DU DRU + + + The Alps and the early mountaineers--The last peaks to + surrender--The Aiguille du Dru--Messrs. Kennedy and Pendlebury's + attempt on the peak--One-day expeditions in the Alps and thoughts + on huts and sleeping out--The Chamouni guide system--A word on + guides, past and present--The somnolent landlord and his + peculiarities--Some of the party see a chamois--Doubts as to the + peak and the way--The duplicity of the Aiguille deceives + us--Telescopic observations--An ill-arranged glacier--Franz and his + mighty axe--A start on the rocks in the wrong direction--Progress + reported--An adjournment--The rocks of the lower peak of the + Aiguille du Dru--Our first failure--The expedition resumed--A new + line of ascent--We reach the sticking point--Beaten back--The results + gained by the two days' climbing. + + +(M27) + +Accounts of failures on the mountains in books of Alpine adventure are as +much out of place, according to some critics, as a new hat in a crowded +church. Humanly speaking, the possession of this head-gear under such +circumstances renders it impossible to divert the thoughts wholly from +worldly affairs. This, however, by the way. Now the pioneers of the Alps, +the Stephenses, the Willses, the Moores, the Morsheads, and many others, +had used up all new material with alarming rapidity, I might say voracity, +before the climbing epoch to which the present sketches relate. There is +an old story of a man who arrived running in a breathless condition on a +railway platform just in time to see the train disappearing. "You didn't +run fast enough, sir," remarked the porter to him. "You idiot!" was the +answer, "I ran plenty fast enough, but I didn't begin running soon +enough." Even so was it with the climbers of our generation. They climbed +with all possible diligence, but they began their climbing too late. +Novelty, that is the desire for achieving new expeditions, was still +considered of paramount importance, but unfortunately there was very +little new material left. It is difficult to realise adequately now the +real veneration entertained for an untrodden peak. A certain amount of +familiarity seemed indispensable before a new ascent was even seriously +contemplated. It had occurred to certain bold minds that the aiguilles +around Chamouni might not be quite as bad as they looked. In 1873 the +chief of the still unconquered peaks of the Mont Blanc district were the +Aiguille des Charmoz, the Aiguille Blaitiere, the Aiguille du Geant, the +Aiguille Peuteret, the Aiguille du Dru, and a few other minor points. All +of these have since been captured, some of them bound in chains. Opinions +differed considerably as to their accessibility. Some hopeful spirits +thought that by constantly "pegging away" they might be scaled; others +thought that the only feasible plan would be indeed to peg away, but were +of opinion that the pegs should be of iron and driven into the rock. Such +views naturally lead to discussions, sometimes rather heated, as to +whether mountaineering morality might fitly tolerate such aids to the +climber. Of all the peaks mentioned above, the Aiguille du Dru and the +Aiguille du Geant were considered as the most hopeful by the leading +guides, though the older members of that body held out little prospect of +success. It is a rather curious fact that the majority of the leading +guides who gave their opinions to us in the matter thought that the +Aiguille du Geant was the more promising peak to attack. Subsequent +experience has proved that they were greatly in error in this judgment. +The Aiguille du Geant has indeed been ascended, but much more aid than is +comprised in the ordinary mountaineer's equipment was found necessary. In +fact, the stronghold was not carried by direct assault, but by sapping and +mining. There is a certain rock needle in Norway which, I am told, was +once, and once only, ascended by a party on surveying operations bent. No +other means could be found, so a wooden structure was built up around the +peak, such as may be seen investing a dilapidated church steeple; and the +mountain, like the Royal Martyr of history, yielded up its crowning point +at the scaffold. We did not like the prospect of employing any such +architectural means to gain our end and the summit, and, from no very +clearly defined reasons, turned our attention chiefly to the Aiguille du +Dru. Perhaps the prominent appearance of this Aiguille, and the fact that +its outline was so familiar from the Montanvert, gradually imbued us with +a certain sense of familiarity, which ultimately developed into a notion +that if not actually accessible it might at least be worth trying. It +seemed too prominent to be impossible; from its height--12,517 feet +only--the mountain would doubtless not attract much attention, were it not +so advantageously placed. Thousands of tourists had gazed on its +symmetrical form: it had been photographed, stared at through binoculars, +portrayed in little distorted pictures on useless work-boxes, trays and +other toy-shop gimcracks, more often than any other mountain of the chain, +Mont Blanc excepted. Like an undersized volunteer officer, it no doubt +made the most of its height. But in truth the Aiguille du Dru is a +magnificent mountain form, with its vast dark precipices on the north +face, with its long lines of cliff, broken and jagged and sparsely +wrinkled with gullies free from even a patch or trace of snow. Point after +point, and pinnacle after pinnacle catch the gaze as we follow the edge of +the north-west "Kamm," until the eye rests at last on the singularly +graceful isosceles triangle of rock which forms the peak. It is spoken of +lightly as merely a tooth of rock jutting up from the ridge which +culminates in the Aiguille Verte, but when viewed from the Glacier de la +Charpoua it is obviously a separate mountain; at any rate it became such +when the highest point of the ridge, the Aiguille Verte, had been climbed +by somebody else. The cleft in the ridge on the right side of the main +mass of the Aiguille du Dru is a very deep one as seen from the glacier, +and the sharp needle of rock which is next in the chain is a long way from +the Aiguille du Dru itself. North and south the precipices run sheer down +to the glaciers beneath. The mountain has then four distinct sides, three +of them running down to great depths. Thus, even in the prehistoric days +of Alpine climbing, it had some claim to individuality and might fairly be +considered as something more than, as it were, one unimportant pinnacle on +the roof of some huge cathedral. Perhaps, however, repeated failures to +ascend the mountain begot undue veneration and caused an aspiring climber +to look with a prejudiced eye on its dimensions. + +(M28) + +So far as I know, the mountain had never been assailed till 1873, when +Messrs. Pendlebury and Kennedy made an attempt. Mr. R. Pendlebury has +kindly furnished me with notes of the climb, which I may be allowed to +reproduce nearly in his own words:--Two parties started simultaneously for +the expedition. One was composed of Messrs. Kennedy and Marshall, with the +guides Johann Fischer and Ulric Almer of Grindelwald; the other party +consisted of the Rev. C. Taylor, Messrs. W. M. and R. Pendlebury, with the +guides Hans Baumann, Peter Baumann, and Edouard Cupelin. The +first-mentioned party slept at the Montanvert, while the others enjoyed +themselves in a bivouac high up on the side of the Glacier de la Charpoua +between the Aiguille du Dru and the Aiguille Moine. This Glacier de la +Charpoua, it may be mentioned, is sometimes called the Glacier du Chapeau. + +(M29) + +The bivouac appears to have been so comfortable that Mr. Pendlebury and +his friends did not take advantage of their start. The Montanvert +detachment, who found no such inducement to stay one moment longer than +was absolutely necessary(2) in their costly quarters, caught them up the +next morning, and the whole party started together. Mr. Kennedy's guides +kept to the left of the Glacier de la Charpoua, which looks more broken up +than the right-hand side, but apparently proved better going. This, +however, it should be observed, was in 1873, and these hanging glaciers +alter marvellously in detail from year to year, though always preserving +from a distance the same general features. On the same principle, at the +proper distance, a mother may be mistaken for her daughter, especially by +a judicious person. But on drawing near, however discreet the observer may +be, he is yet conscious of little furrows, diminutive wrinkles, and +perhaps of a general shrinkage not to be found in the more recent +specimen. Speaking very generally, I should say that these glaciers are, +on the whole, easier to traverse than they used to be: at any rate my own +personal observation of this particular little glacier extends over a +period of some years, and the intricacies--it is hardly proper to call them +difficulties--were distinctly less towards the end of the time than they +were at the beginning. Of course a different interpretation might be put +upon such an opinion: with the evolution of mountaineering skill the +complexity of these crumpled up snow-fields may seem to have disentangled, +but I am assured that in this particular case it was not so. + +(M30) + +This digression must be pardoned. It arose naturally from the circumstance +that the route Mr. Kennedy adopted would have proved, at any rate in later +years, a digression from the best way. Mr. Pendlebury's party went +straight up, keeping, that is, to the right-hand side of the glacier. +Towards the upper part the snow slopes became steeper, and soon some +step-cutting was required. The object in view was to reach the lowest +point in the ridge between the Aiguille du Dru and the Aiguille Verte. It +was thought that, by turning to the left from the col, it might be +possible to reach the summit by the eastern arete. The col itself from +below seemed easily attainable by means of a narrow zigzagging gully, +interrupted here and there, that runs down from the summit of the ridge. +Ascending by the rocks on the left of the gully the party made for some +little way good progress, but then a sudden change came over the scene. +After a consultation, it was proposed that the guides Hans Baumann, Peter +Baumann, and Fischer should go on a little by themselves and make for the +ridge, which they estimated lay about half an hour above them. They were +then to examine the rocks above and to bring back a report. The rest of +the party remained where they were, and disported themselves as +comfortably as circumstances would permit. Hour after hour, however, +passed away, and the three guides seemed to make but little progress. They +returned at last with the melancholy tidings that they had climbed nearly +up to the ridge and had found the rocks very difficult and dangerous. (It +should be noted that the line of attack chosen on this occasion--the first +serious attempt on the peak--was devised by Hans Baumann, and it says much +for his sagacity that this very route proved years afterwards to be the +right one.) Questioned as to the advisability of proceeding upwards, the +guides employed their favourite figure of speech and remarked that not for +millions of francs would they consent to try again. Hans Baumann asserted +that he had never climbed more difficult rocks. This opinion, as Mr. +Pendlebury suggested at the time, was probably owing to the fact that the +cliffs above were covered with snow and glazed with ice, and this +condition of the mountain face made each step precarious. The amateurs of +the party were of opinion that the ridge would prove attainable later in +the season or in exceptionally fine weather. As to the possibility of +climbing the rocks above--that is to say, the actual peak--none of the party +were able to come to any very positive conclusion. At a rough guess it was +estimated that the party halted between two and three hundred feet below +the ridge. On the presentation of the guides report the whole caravan +turned back and reached Chamouni safely, but not entirely without +incident, for the monotony of the descent and Mr. Taylor's head were +broken by the fall of a big stone. This little accident, Mr. Pendlebury +remarked with disinterested cheerfulness, was but a trifle. I have not +been able to ascertain Mr. Taylor's views on the subject. + +When our party first essayed the ascent we knew none of the above +particulars, save only that some mountaineers had endeavoured to reach the +ridge but had failed to ascend to any great height. Of the actual cause of +their ill success, and whether it were owing to the unpropitious elements +or to the actual difficulties encountered, we were unaware. + +(M31) + +At the time of which I am writing, a somewhat novel mode of ascending +mountains was coming into vogue, which consisted in waiting for a suitable +day at headquarters, starting at unheard-of hours, and completing the +expedition in one day--that is, within twenty-four hours. It was argued in +support of this plan, that it was economical and that bivouacking was but +a laborious and expensive method of obtaining discomfort. There are, said +the advocates of the method, but few mountains in the Alps which cannot be +ascended with much greater comfort in one day than in two. The day's climb +is much more enjoyable when it is possible to start from sleeping quarters +in which it is possible to sleep. The argument that repose in hotel beds, +though undoubtedly more luxurious, was of comparatively little use if +there were no time to enjoy it, was held to be little to the purpose. Some +enthusiasts were wont to state that passing a night in a chalet, or those +magnified sentry boxes called cabanes, constituted half the enjoyment on +the expedition. This is a little strong--like the flavour of the +cabanes--and if it were actually so the whole pleasure would be but small. +The camper out arises in the morning from his delicious couch of soft +new-mown hay in a spotty and sticky condition, attended with considerable +local irritation, and feeling like a person who has recently had his hair +cut, with a pinafore but loosely tied around his neck. Porters, like +barbers, exhibit a propensity for indulging in garlic immediately before +pursuing their avocation, which is not without discomfort to their +employers. (And here I may note as a psychological fact that one action of +this permeating vegetable is to induce confidential propensities in the +consumer. The point may be deemed worthy of investigation, by personal +experiment, by botanists and students of materia medica, men who in the +interests of science are not prone to consider their personal comfort and +finer sensibilities.) Again, in unsettled weather a fine day is often +wasted by journeying up in the afternoon to some chalet, or hovel, merely +to enjoy the pleasure of returning the following morning in the rain. +There is some force too in the argument that but little actual time is +gained by the first day's performance, for it is very difficult to start +at anything like the prearranged hour for departure from a camp. An +immensity of time is always spent in lighting the morning fire, preparing +breakfast, and getting under way. On the other side, some little time is +undoubtedly saved by discarding the wholly superfluous ceremony of +washing, a process at once suggesting itself to the mind of the Briton +abroad if he beholds a basin and cold water. + +The sum of the argument would seem to be that camping out in some one +else's hut is but an unpleasant fiction; that if the climber chooses to go +to the expense, he can succeed in making himself a trifle less comfortable +in his own tent or under a rock than he would be in an hotel; and that he +is the wisest man who refrains from bivouacking when it is not really +necessary and is able to make the best of matters when it is: and +undoubtedly for many of the recognised expeditions it is essential to have +every possible minute of spare time in hand. + +(M32) + +We were naturally rather doubtful as to the successful issue of our +expedition, at any rate at the first attempt, and we therefore impressed +upon the guides the necessity of not divulging the plan. The secret, +however, proved to be so big that it was too much for two, and they +imparted consequently so much of the information as they had not adequate +storage for in their own minds to any who chose to listen. Consequently +our intentions were thoroughly well known before we started. There were in +those days, perhaps, more good guides, at any rate there were fewer bad +ones, in Chamouni than are to be found nowadays. We could not, however, +obtain the services--even if we had desired them--of any of the local +celebrities. As a matter of fact, we were both of opinion that a training +in climbing, such as is acquired among the Oberland and Valais men by +chamois hunting and constant rock work, would be most likely to have +produced the qualities which would undoubtedly be needed on the aiguilles. + +The question of the efficiency of the Chamouni guides and of the Chamouni +guide system, a question coeval with mountaineering itself, was burning +then as fiercely as it does now. The Alpine Club had striven in vain to +improve matters; they had pointed out that ability to answer a kind of +mountaineering catechism did not in itself constitute a very reliable test +of a peasant's power; they had pointed out too that the plan of electing a +"guide chef" from the general body of guides was one most open to abuse, +one sure to lead to favouritism and injustice, and one obviously ill +calculated to bring to the front any specially efficient man. But +unhappily the regulations of the body of guides were, and still are, +entangled hopelessly in the French equivalent for red tape. Jealousy and +mistrust of the German-speaking guides, whom serious mountaineers were +beginning to import in rather formidable numbers, were beginning to awaken +in the simple bosoms of the Savoyard peasants; and our proceedings were +consequently looked upon with contemptuous disfavour by those who had any +knowledge of our project. + +(M33) + +On August 18, 1873, we started. Our guides were Alexander Burgener as +leader, Franz Andermatten, the best of companions, our guide, our friend, +and sometimes our philosopher, as second string, while a taciturn porter +of large frame and small mind, who came from the Saas valley, completed +the tale. Of Burgener's exceptional talent in climbing difficult rocks we +had had already good proof, and no doubt he was, and still is, a man of +remarkable daring, endurance, and activity on rocks. I had reached then +that stage in the mountaineering art at which a man is prone to consider +the guide he knows best as, beyond all comparison, the best guide that +could possibly exist. The lapse of years renders me perhaps better able +now to form a dispassionate judgment of Burgener's capacity and skill. +Both were very great. I have seen at their work most of the leaders in +this department. Burgener never had the marvellous neatness and finish so +characteristic of Melchior Anderegg, who, when mountaineering has passed +away into the limbo of extinct sports, such as bear-baiting, croquet, and +pell-mell, will, if he gets his deserts, even by those who remember +Maguignaz, Carrel, Croz, and Almer, still be spoken of as _the_ best guide +that ever lived. Nor was Burgener gifted with the same simple unaffected +qualities which made Jakob Anderegg's loss so keenly felt, nor the +lightness and agility of Rey or Jaun; but he united well in himself +qualities of strength, carefulness, perseverance and activity, and +possessed in addition the numerous attributes of observation, experience, +and desire for improvement in his art which together make up what is +spoken of as the natural instinct of guides. These were the qualities that +made him a first-rate, indeed an exceptional, guide. _Nunc liberavi animam +meam._ There is an old saying, involving a sound doctrine, that + + When you flatter lay it on thick; + Some will come off, but a deal will stick. + +The porter proved himself a skilful and strong climber, but he was as +silent as an oyster and, like that bivalve mollusc when the freshness of +its youth has passed off, was perpetually on the gape. + +(M34) + +A hot walk--it always is hot along this part--took us up to the Montanvert. +The moonlight threw quaint, fantastic shadows along the path and made the +dewy gossamer filaments which swung from branch to branch across the track +twinkle into grey and silver; and anything more aggravating than these +spiders' threads at night it is hard to imagine. What earthly purpose +these animals think they serve by this reckless nocturnal expenditure of +bodily glue it is hard to say: possibly the lines are swung across in +order that they may practise equilibrium; possibly the threads may serve +as lines of escape and retreat after the male spinners have been a-wooing. +The atmosphere through the wood was as stuffy as a ship's saloon in a +storm, and we were right glad to reach the Montanvert at 3.30 A.M. Here, +being athirst, we clamoured for refreshment. The landlord of the +ramshackle hostelry at once appeared in full costume; indeed I observed +that during the summer it was impossible to tell from his attire whether +he had arisen immediately from bed or no. He seemed to act on the +principle of the Norwegian peasant, who apparently undresses once a year +when the winter commences, and resumes his garments when the light once +more comes back and the summer season sets in. Our friend had cultivated +to great perfection the art of half sleeping during his waking hours--that +is, during such time as he might be called upon to provide entertainment +for man and beast. Now at the Montanvert, during the tourists' season, +this period extended over the whole twenty-four hours. It was necessary, +therefore, in order that he might enjoy a proper physiological period of +rest, for him to remain in a dozing state--a sort of aestival +hybernation--for the whole time, which in fact he did; or else he was by +nature a very dull person, and had actually a very restricted stock of +ideas. + +The landlord produced at once a battered teapot with a little sieve +dangling from its snout, which had been stewing on the hob, and poured out +the contained fluid into two stalked saucers of inconvenient diameter. +Stimulated by this watery extract, we entered into conversation together. +The sight of a tourist with an ice axe led by a kind of reflex process to +the landlord's unburdening his mind with his usual remarks. Like other +natives of the valley he had but two ideas of "extraordinary" expeditions. +"Monsieur is going to the Jardin?" he remarked. "No, monsieur isn't." +"Then beyond a doubt monsieur will cross the Col du Geant?" he said, +playing his trump card. "No, monsieur will not." "Pardon--where does +monsieur expect to go to?" "On the present occasion we go to try the +Aiguille du Dru." The landlord smiled in an aggravating manner. "Does +monsieur think he will get up?" "Time will show." "Ah!" The landlord, who +had a chronic cold in the head, searched for his pockethandkerchief, but +not finding it, modified the necessary sniff into one of derision, and +then demanded the usual exorbitant price for the refreshment, amounting to +about five times the value of the teapot, sieve and all. We paid, and left +him chuckling softly to himself at our insane idea, as he replaced the +teapot on the hob in readiness for the next arrival. That landlord, though +physically sleepy, was still wide awake in matters of finance. He once +charged me five francs for the loan of a secondhand collection of holes +which he termed a blanket. + +(M35) + +We got on to the glacier at the usual point and made straight across the +slippery hummocks to the grass slope encircling the base of the Aiguille +du Dru and the Glacier de la Charpoua. The glacier above gives birth to a +feeble meandering little stream which wanders fitfully down the mountain +side. At first we kept to the left, but after a while crossed the little +torrent, and bearing more to the right plodded leisurely up the steep +grass and rock slope. We had made good progress when of a sudden Franz +gave a loud whistle and then fell flat down. The other two guides +immediately followed his example and beckoned to us with excited +gesticulations to behave in a similarly foolish manner. Thereupon we too +sat down, and enquired what the purport of this performance might be. It +turned out that there was a very little chamois about half a mile off. +Knowing that it would be impossible to induce the guides to move on till +the animal had disappeared, we seized the opportunity of taking an early +breakfast. The guides meanwhile wriggled about on their stomachs, with +eyes starting out of their heads, possessed by an extraordinary desire to +miss no single movement of the object of their attention. "See, it moves," +said Franz in a whisper. "Himmel! it is feeding," said Burgener. "It must +be the same that Johann saw three weeks ago." "Ach! no, that was but a +little one" (no true chamois hunter will ever allow that a brother +sportsman can possibly have set eyes on a larger animal than himself). +"Truly it is fine." "Thunder weather! it moves its head." In their +excitement I regretted that I could not share, not being well versed in +hunting craft: my own experience of sport in the Alps being limited to +missing one marmot that was sitting on a rock licking its paws. In due +course the chamois walked away. Apparently much relieved by there being no +further necessity to continue in their former uncomfortable attitudes, the +guides sat up and fell to a warm discussion as to the size of the animal. +A chamois is to a guide as a fish to the baffled angler or the last new +baby to a monthly nurse, and is always pronounced to be beyond question +the finest that has ever been seen. To this they agreed generally, but +Franz, whose spirits had suddenly evaporated, now shook his head dismally, +with the remark that it was unlucky to see a single chamois, and that we +should have no success that day. Undaunted by his croaking, we pursued our +way to the right side of the glacier, while our guide, who had a ballad +appropriate to every occasion, sang rather gaspingly a tremulous little +funeral dirge. We worked well across to the right, in order to obtain the +best possible view of the Aiguille, and halted repeatedly while discussing +the best point at which to attack the rocks. While thus engaged in +reconnoitring close under the cliffs of the ridge running between the +Aiguille Moine and the Aiguille Verte, a considerable block of ice, +falling from the rocks above, whizzed past just in front of us and capered +gaily down the slope. Hereupon we came rather rapidly to the conclusion +that we had better proceed. Half an hour further on we reached the top of +a steep little snow slope, and a point secure from falling stones and ice. +Recognising that we must soon cross back to the rocks of the Dru, we tried +to come to a final conclusion as to the way to be chosen. As usual, +everybody pointed out different routes: even a vestry meeting could hardly +have been less unanimous. Some one now ventured to put a question that had +been troubling in reality our minds for some time past, viz. which of the +peaks that towered above us was really the Aiguille du Dru. On the left +there were two distinct points which, though close together, were +separated apparently by a deep rift, and some distance to the right of the +col which the previous party had tried to reach, a sharp tooth of rock +towered up to a considerable height. Evidently, however, from its position +this latter needle could not be visible from Chamouni or from the +Montanvert. Again, it was clear that the mass comprising the two points +close together must be visible from the valley, but which of the two was +the higher? Alexander gave as his opinion that the more distant of these +two points, that on the right, was the higher, and turned to the porter +for confirmation. That worthy nodded his head affirmatively with extreme +sagacity, evidently implying that he was of the same opinion. Franz on the +other hand thought the left-hand peak was the one that we ought to make +for, arguing that it most resembled the Dru as seen from the Montanvert, +that there was probably little difference in height between the two, that +our ascent would not be believed in unless we were to place a flag on the +point visible from Chamouni, and finally that the left-hand peak seemed to +be the easier, and would probably be found to conceal the sharper point of +the right-hand summit. Having expressed these views, he in turn looked +towards the porter to ascertain his sentiments. The porter, who was +evidently of a complaisant temperament, nodded his head very vigorously to +intimate that these arguments seemed the more powerful of the two to his +mind, and then cocked his head on one side in a knowing manner, intended +to express that he was studying the angles and that he was prepared to +find himself in the right whichever view prevailed. We did not find out +for certain till some time after that the right-hand summit, though +concealed from view by the Montanvert, is very distinctly visible from +Chamouni: excusable ignorance, as most of the Chamouni people are unaware +of it to this day. Professor Forbes, as Mr. Douglas Freshfield has kindly +pointed out to me, with his usual accuracy distinguished and also measured +the two summits, giving their heights respectively as 12,178, and 12,245 +feet.(3) Knowing little as we did then of the details of the mountain, we +followed Franz's advice and made for the left-hand peak, under the +impression that if one proved accessible the other might also, and there +really seemed no reason why we should not, if occasion demanded, ascend +both. + +(M36) + +Leading up from the glacier two distinct lines of attack presented +themselves. The right-hand ridge descends to the col very precipitously, +but still we had some idea that the rocks did not look wholly impossible. +Again, on the left of the Dru the rocks are cut away very abruptly and +form the long precipitous ridge seen from the Montanvert. This ridge was +so jagged that we could see no possible advantage in climbing to any part +of it, except just at the termination where it merges into the +south-western face of the main mountain. The choice therefore, in our +judgment, lay between storming the mountain by the face right opposite to +us or else making for the col and the right-hand ridge; but the latter was +the route that Messrs. Pendlebury and Kennedy had followed, and we could +not hope to succeed where such giants had failed. Burgener indeed wished +to try, but the rest of the party were unanimously in favour of attempting +to find a way up the face, a route that at the worst had the merit of +novelty. We thought too that if a closer acquaintance proved that the +crags were ill arranged for upward locomotion, we might be able to work +round on the face and so reach the col by a more circuitous route. With +the naked eye--especially a myopic one--the rocks appeared unpromising +enough; while viewed through the telescope the rocks looked utterly +impossible. But little faith, however, can be rested in telescopic +observations of a mountain, so far as the question of determining a route +is concerned. Amateurs, who, as a rule, understand the use of a telescope +much better than guides, have not the requisite experience to determine +the value of what they see, while but few guides see enough to form any +basis for determination. Moreover, the instrument we carried with us, +though it had an extraordinary number of sections and pulled out like the +ill-fated tradesman's trousers in a pantomime, was not a very remarkable +one in the matter of definition. Still it is always proper and orthodox to +look at a new peak through the telescope, and we were determined not to +neglect any formality on the present occasion. + +(M37) + +We were now rather more than half-way up the Glacier de la Charpoua. To +reach the most promising-looking point at which we might hope to get on +the rocks, it was necessary to travel straight across the snow at about +the level on which we stood. Now, this Glacier de la Charpoua is not +constructed on ordinary principles. Instead of the orthodox transverse +bergschrund it possesses a longitudinal crack running up its whole length, +a peculiarity that vexed us hugely. Half a dozen times did we attempt to +cross by some tempting-looking bridge, but on each occasion we were +brought to a stand by impassable crevasses; then had to turn back, go up a +little farther, and try again. It was already late in the day and we could +ill spare the time lost in this to and fro movement. Eventually we reached +a little patch of rocks not far from the head of the glacier. No sooner +had we reached these rocks than the guides hunted up a suitable place and +concealed some utterly worthless property as carefully as if they expected +evil-minded marauders to be wandering about, seeking what they might +pilfer. Having effected the cache with due care, Franz once again burst +into a strange carol, the burden of which was unintelligible, but the +chorus made frequent allusion to "der Teufel." We now saw that, after all, +the only feasible plan would be to cut our way still higher up a steep +slope, and thus to work right round, describing a large curve. An +occasional step required to be scraped, for the glacier is in shadow till +late in the morning, owing to the Aiguille Verte intervening and cutting +off the sun's rays. Throughout the day our second guide had been burning +with a desire to exhibit the good qualities of the most portentous ice axe +I ever saw, an instrument of an unwieldy character resembling a labourer's +pick on the top of a May pole. Its dimensions were monstrous and its +weight preposterous: moreover, the cutting spike had an evil curve and, +instead of hewing out blocks of ice neatly, preferred to ram a huge hole +in the slope and stick fast therein, while a quiver ran through its mighty +frame and communicated itself to the striker, who shuddered at each blow +as after taking a dose of very bitter physic. However, Franz was so proud +of his halberd that we were obliged to sacrifice rapid progress to the +consideration of his feelings, and he was accordingly sent on to cut the +steps which were now found necessary. With no little exertion did he +construct a staircase of which the steps were about the size of foot +baths, and with no slight impatience did we watch his gymnastics and +athletic flourishes, which were a sort of mixture of tossing the caber and +throwing the hammer combined with a touch of polo. Ultimately we were able +to quit the glacier for the actual face of the mountain, at a point +probably not very much below that struck by the previous party; but it was +our intention at once to bear off to the left. + +(M38) + +We blundered a little on the rocks at first after the long spell of +snow-walking. A cry from Franz caused us to look round, and we perceived +that he had got entangled with the big axe, the spike of which was +sticking into the third button of his waistcoat, causing him, as the +strain on the rope above and below folded him up in a rather painful +manner, to assume the attitude of a mechanical toy monkey on a stick. +Fearing that he might be placed in the condition in which cats' meat is +usually offered for sale, we slackened the rope and saved him from +impending perforation, but with the result that the axe bounded off down +the slope, turned two or three summersaults, and then stuck up defiantly +in a distant patch of snow, looking like a sign-post. While Franz went off +to recover his loved treasure we huddled together on a very little ledge +of rock, and sat there in a row like busts on a shelf--if the simile be not +considered anatomically inappropriate. But these delays had wasted much +time, and already success seemed doubtful. Little time could now be +devoted to consultation, and little good would have come of it; now that +we were on the rocks the only thing to do was to go straight on and see +what would happen. At the same time we had a dim consciousness that we +were considerably to the right of the best line of ascent. Our "general +idea"--to borrow a military phrase of which, by the way, it may be remarked +that the idea in question is usually confined to the general and is not +shared in by the troops--consisted in making for the left-hand side or +Montanvert aspect of the final peak. We set our teeth, whatever that may +mean, then fell to with a will and for some two hours went with scarcely a +check. And a rare two hours' climb we had. The very thought of it makes +the pen travel swiftly over the paper, as the scene comes back in every +detail. How Burgener led the way without hesitation and almost without +mistake; how our second guide chattered unceasingly, caring nought for a +listener; how they both stuck to the rocks like limpets; how the big axe +got in everybody's way; how the rope got caught on every projecting spur +of rock, jerking back the unwary, or when loose sweeping down showers of +small angular stones from the little platforms and ridges, thereby +engendering ill blood and contumely; how the silent porter climbed +stolidly after us, and in the plenitude of his taciturn good-humour poked +at us from below with his staff at inconvenient moments and in sensitive +places; how at one moment we were flat against the rock, all arms and +legs, like crushed spiders, and at another gathered into great loops like +a cheese maggot on the point of making a leap; how a volley of little +stones came whistling cheerily down from above, playfully peppering us all +round; how our spirits rose with our bodies till we became as excited as +children: of all these things it boots not to give any detailed +description. Those who can recollect similar occasions need but to be +reminded of them, and, to tell the truth, the minutiae, though they are so +graven upon the mind that a clear impression could be struck off years +afterwards, are apt to prove somewhat tedious. Two facts I may note. One, +that the rocks were at first very much easier than was expected; another, +that we should have done better had we discarded the rope on this part of +the climb: the rocks were hardly a fit place for those who could not +dispense with its use. Ever and anon the guides' spirits would rise to +that level which may be called the shouting point, and they would joedel +till they were black in the face, while the melodious roll of sound echoed +cheerily back from the distant cliffs of the Aiguille Moine. And so we +journeyed up. + +(M39) + +Meanwhile the weather had changed; black clouds had come rolling up and +were gathering ominously above us; it was evident that we had no chance of +reaching the summit that day, even if it were practicable, but still we +persevered desperately in the hope of seeing some possible route for a +future attack. Progress, however, on a rock peak is necessarily slow when +there are five on the rope, and we should probably have done more wisely +if we had divided into two parties. We kept well to the left to a point on +the face where a huge tower of rock stands four-square to all the winds of +heaven that blow; and above us, as a matter of fact, there seemed to be a +good many winds. This landmark, very conspicuous and characteristic of +these aiguilles, seemed to be close to the ridge, but on reaching it we +found that there was still a stiff passage intervening between us and the +point from which we could overlook the other side of the mountain. Now we +bore to the right and the climbing became more difficult. We made our way +straight up a very shallow gully and finally reached a point on the +western ridge overlooking the Montanvert, close to where this ridge merges +into the corresponding face of the peak. Here a halt was called, for two +reasons. In the first place a few flakes of snow were softly falling +around and the gathering clouds betokened more to follow. Secondly, so far +as we could judge through the mist, it was apparently impossible to ascend +any higher from the place we had reached. So we cast off the rope and +clambered separately to various points of vantage to survey the work that +lay before us. The summit of the peak, enveloped in thin cloud, appeared +to tower no great height above us, but we were too close under the cliff +to estimate its elevation very correctly. At the time we thought that if +we could only keep up the pace at which we had been going, an hour's climb +would have sufficed to reach the top. We found, it may be remarked +parenthetically, that we were egregiously in error in this estimate some +years later. The shifting clouds made the rock face--that is, the small +extent of it that we could see at all--look much more difficult than in all +probability it actually was. Through the mists we made out, indistinctly, +a formidable-looking irregular crack in the rock face running very +straight up and rather to our left, which apparently constituted the only +possible route from our position to a higher level. But from where we +stood we could not have reached the lower end of this crack without a +ladder of about fifty feet in length, and the mist entirely prevented us +from judging whether we could reach it by a detour. The choice lay between +hunting for some such line or else in trying what seemed on the whole more +practicable, viz. working round by the north-east face again, so as to +search for a more easy line of ascent. But the latter alternative would +have involved of necessity a considerable descent. While we debated what +course to take the mists swept up thicker and thicker from below, and in a +moment the peak above us was concealed and all the view cut off. A +piercingly cold wind began to rise and a sharp storm of hail and sleet +descended. Hints were dropped about the difficulty of descending rocks +glazed over with ice with a proper amount of deliberation. It was +obviously impossible to go up and might soon become very difficult to go +down. The question was not actually put, but, in conformity with what was +evidently the general sense of the meeting, we somewhat reluctantly made +up our minds to return. A dwarf stone man was constructed, the rope +readjusted, and half an hour's descent put us out of the mist and snow. We +stopped again and stared upwards blankly at the leve line of mist hanging +heavily against the peak. Burgener now came forward with a definite +resolution and proposed that we should stay where we were for the night +and try again the next day. This was referred to a sub-committee, who +reported against the suggestion on the ground that the stock of provisions +left consisted of a tablespoonful of wine, four rolls, and a small piece +of cheese which had strayed from the enveloping paper in the porter's +pocket and as a consequence smelt of tobacco and was covered with hairs +and fluff. These articles of diet were spread on a rock and we mentally +calculated the exact proportion that would fall to each man's share if we +attempted, as proposed, to subsist on them for a day and a half. But +little deliberation was required. We decided at once to return. The porter +gathered the fragments lovingly together and replaced them with other +curious articles in his side pocket. By 8.30 P.M. we were back at +Chamouni, having been out a little under twenty hours. + +(M40) + +A day or two later we made up our minds to start once more. Great +preparations were made for an early departure, the idea that we should +find it distasteful to start at the hour at which a London ball begins +being scouted, as it usually is over-night. We impressed on an intelligent +"boots" with great earnestness the absolute necessity of waking us +precisely at midnight, and then went to our repose, feeling about as much +inclined for sleep as a child does during the afternoon siesta intended to +prepare it for the glories of a pantomime. The "boots" did not fail; in +fact he was extra-punctual, as our departure was the signal for his +retiring. At midnight the party assembled in the little courtyard in front +of the hotel, but a dismal sight met our gaze. Under the influence of a +warm sou'-wester, thick black clouds had filled the valley, and a gentle +drizzle reminded us of the balmy climate of our own metropolis in +November. Our Alpine tour for the season was nearly at an end, and we +gazed despondently around. Ultimately one practical person suggested that +if we did not go to the mountain we might as well go to bed, and the +practical person endorsed his suggestion by walking off. A scurvy +practical joke did the clerk of the weather play on us that night. In the +morning the bright sunbeams came streaming in through the window, the sky +was cloudless and the outline of every peak was sharply defined in the +clear air. A more perfect morning for the expedition could hardly have +been chosen. Some ill-timed remarks at breakfast referring pointedly to +people who talk a good deal over-night about early starts, and the deep +concern of the "boots" at our presumed slothfulness, goaded us to +desperation. We determined to start again and to have one more try the +next day whatever the weather might prove to be. Once more we found +ourselves in the small hours of the morning on the path leading to Les +Ponts. Had it not been for the previous day's lesson we should probably +have turned back from this point, for the whole of the mountain opposite +was concealed in thick drifting mist. The guides flatly refused to go on +as matters stood. We were determined on our side not to give it up, and so +a compromise was effected. It was agreed to wait for an hour or two and +see if matters mended. So we stretched ourselves out on a damp sloping +rock, prepared to resume our journey at the slightest indication of a +change for the better. Rest at such a time even under these hard, not to +say stony, conditions is seductive, and, as we lay half dozing, strange +heretical thoughts came crowding into the mind. Why toil up this mountain +when one can rest in luxury on these knobby rocks? Why labour over the +shifting moraine, the deceitful glacier, the slippery rock? What is the +good of it all? Can it be vanity or----"Vorwaerts!" The dream vanished as the +cheery cry broke out from the guide engaged on outpost duty, and as we +rose and stretched ourselves the whole aspect of affairs seemed changed. A +distinct break in the clouds at the head of the Mer de Glace gave promise +of better things in store, and we felt almost guilty of having wasted an +hour or more at our halt. The break became larger and larger, and before +long the great cloud banks resolved into one huge streamer flying from the +summit of the peak. I fancy that, at any rate in the early stages of +mountaineering, many good chances are thrown away on such days, for guides +are as a rule somewhat prone to despondency in the early morning hours. +Once started, however, they became wondrously keen, complained of our +delay, and even asserted with some effrontery that they had predicted fine +weather all the time, and this without a blush; still some one rather +neatly defined blushing as a suffusion least seldom seen in those who have +the most occasion for it, and guides share with politicians a certain +power of manipulating their opinions to suit the exigencies of the moment. +The traces of our former attempt assisted us materially on the glacier. +Our plan of attack consisted in getting on the rocks at our former point, +but working on this occasion much more directly up the face. Burgener +conceived that by following this line of assault we should be able to +ascend, by means of a gully which existed only in his own imagination, to +a more practicable part of the peak. Between the two summits of the +Aiguille du Dru may be seen, at any rate in photographs, a +tempting-looking streak of snow: it seemed possible, if we could once +reach the lower point of this streak, to follow its line upwards. The +lower peak of the Dru is well rounded on its eastern face, and the rocks +appear more broken than in other parts of the mountain. + +(M41) + +If we could but once reach the cleft between the peaks there seemed every +chance of our being able to reach the lower summit. At the outset progress +was fast. We followed our former line till we were in sight of the rock +tower and then at once bore off to the right. The climbing was rather more +difficult, at least it seemed so to us in those days, than on the other +part of the mountain with which we had previously made acquaintance. A +series of short flat gullies had to be climbed, but there were exceedingly +few inequalities to help us. The rope was of little or no use and might +perhaps have been laid aside with advantage. We soon found that we had +reached a higher point than at our previous attempt, and as the leader +constantly returned favourable reports our spirits rose; so elated in fact +did we become that the exact formalities to be observed on reaching the +top were seriously discussed whenever the occasion offered for +conversation, which was not very often. Old Franz chattered away to +himself, as was his wont when matters went well, and on looking back on +one occasion I perceived the strange phenomenon of a smile illuminating +the porter's features. Howbeit, this worthy spake no words of +satisfaction, but pulled ever at his empty pipe. By dint of wriggling over +a smooth sloping stone slab we had got into a steep rock gully which +promised to lead us to a good height. Burgener, assisted by much pushing +and prodding from below and aided on his own part by much snorting and +some strong language, had managed to climb on to a great overhanging +boulder that cut off the view from the rest of the party below. As he +disappeared from sight we watched the paying out of the rope with as much +anxiety as a fisherman eyes his vanishing line when the salmon runs. +Presently the rope ceased to move and we waited for a few moments in +suspense. We felt that the critical moment of the expedition had arrived, +and the fact that our own view was exceedingly limited made us all the +more anxious to hear the verdict. "How does it look?" we called out. The +answer came back in patois, a bad sign in such emergencies. For a minute +or two an animated conversation was kept up; then we decided to take +another opinion and accordingly hoisted up our second guide. The chatter +was redoubled. "What does it look like?" we shouted again. "Not possible +from where we are," was the melancholy answer, and in a tone that crashed +at once all our previous elation. I could not find words at the moment to +express my disappointment: but the porter could and gallantly he came to +the rescue. He opened his mouth for the first time and spoke, and he said +very loud indeed that it was "verdammt." Precisely: that is just what it +was. Having made this short speech, the porter allowed the smile to fade +away from his features, shook out some imaginary ashes and proceeded to +light some visionary tobacco, sucking at a lighted match through the +medium of an empty pipe. It seemed hard to believe at first that we were +to be baulked when so near the summit, and it was not till the guides had +tried again and again to storm the almost vertical wall of smooth rock and +had shown the utter impossibility of turning it either right or left, that +we felt we were really beaten. One more forlorn chance remained: we might +try the west face of the mountain from the spot we had reached at our +first attempt, when the weather had prevented us from making any further +progress. Had there been more time at our disposal we should have done +better to try another line of ascent more to our right, that is, nearer to +the col, and it might be possible to reach the cleft between the two +summits by this means. As for the snow streak which looked so tempting at +a distance, it is a delusion and a snare, if the latter term be applicable +to a place which appears to be much more difficult to get into than it +probably would be to get out of. We had already pretty fully realised that +the mountain was more difficult to ascend than we had ever contemplated, +and it seemed advisable at the moment to make for some definite point +which at any rate we felt sure of reaching and to study the peak in detail +to the best of our ability; so we made towards our cairn, though with +little hope of gaining much knowledge thereby. + +(M42) + +Without much difficulty, but not without some little danger from falling +stones (though on the whole, the mountain is remarkably free from these +annoyances, there being as a matter of fact but few loose stones to fall), +we reached our former point and were able to judge distinctly of how much +higher we had reached at our second attempt. We saw also that upward +progress from the point on which we stood would not be possible, but it +must be remembered that we were able only to see a small strip of the +mountain lying directly above. Every crag that was not absolutely vertical +appeared to overhang, and the few small cracks that might have afforded +hand and foot hold led nowhere in particular. Altogether the view was +depressing although limited. There was no time to hunt about for other +routes, or we should certainly have done so, for we felt that though +beaten our discomfiture only arose from the fact that we had chosen a +wrong line of ascent. Possibly within a few yards of us lay a feasible +route, but we knew not on which side it might be. Here it occurred to the +porter for the first time that his pipe was empty and had been so all day: +he thereupon made his second remark, which consisted in an audible request +for something to put in it. We had dragged up with us (as a matter of fact +the porter had carried it the whole time) some 200 feet of rope, thinking +it might help us in the descent, but the part of the mountain on which we +were presents no more difficulties in this respect than does Avernus. + +(M43) + +Arrived on the snow slope opposite the rock face on which we had been +climbing during the day, we stopped, extended the telescope, and tried to +make out our exact line, and endeavoured also to discover what had been +our error; no easy task, as any persons of experience will admit. At any +time the appearance of this peak is deceptive, and the outline no more +guides you to a knowledge of the natural details than does the outline of +a fashionable lady's dress. But as we looked the mountain seemed flattened +out by reason of a blue evening mist which obscured all the +irregularities. So we turned and resumed our journey down, running hard +across the Mer de Glace, for the shades of night drew on apace, and +reached Chamouni at 8.30 in the evening, leaving the guides at the +Montanvert with half a bottle of thin red wine between three of them. We +were overtaken by Edouard Cupelin, one of the best of the Chamouni guides, +at any rate on rock mountains, on our way down, and he gave us a rather +sensational account of his own adventures on the peak. In justice to him +it should be mentioned that he was almost the only Chamouni guide who +seemed to think the ascent possible, and in his opinion the general line +that we had adopted was the correct one. Our second expedition thus from +first to last occupied about 201/2 hours, but the halts were not nearly so +numerous as on the first occasion. The experience of our two days' +climbing led us to the conclusion that Cupelin was right. From the +peculiar character of the rocks and the fact that our climbing lay chiefly +along short flat gullies we were unable, as already remarked, to get a +very clear idea of any part of the mountain except that on which we were +actually engaged, and we were led to the opinion that the only plan to +find a possible route would consist in trying in succession from below the +different parts of the southern face. The final peak, which from this side +shoots up clearly defined from the great mass of the mountain, seemed to +us tolerably easy of ascent provided one could reach the base. A sort of +depression extends three parts of the way round, and the edge of this +shallow moat appeared to be defended by an inaccessible belt of vertical +rock. The actual rocks were wholly unlike any met with elsewhere in our +experience. Great vertical slabs were fitted together with an accuracy +which was beautiful in its perfection, but irritating beyond conception to +the climber. Progress upwards, when above the level of the col, +necessitated a series of fatiguing gymnastics like swimming uphill, but +the rocks where they were possible proved invariably firm and good. On +both occasions we were stopped by sheer difficulty and probably saw the +mountain at its very best. The snow on the rocks, which proved such a +formidable difficulty to Mr. Pendlebury's party, had almost entirely +disappeared before our assault. The rocks were warm and the weather on the +second day was perfect. + +(M44) + +Such is the history of our first two attempts to climb this mountain. They +served but to whet our appetite for success, but it was not till years +after that we were fortunate enough to meet with that success. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + + A DAY ACROSS COUNTRY + + + The art of meteorological vaticination--The climate we leave our + homes for--Observations in the valley--The diligence arrives and + shoots its load--Types of travellers--The Alpine habitue--The elderly + spinster on tour--A stern Briton--A family party--We seek fresh + snow-fields--The Bietschhorn--A sepulchral bivouac--On early starts + and their curious effects on the temperament--A choice of routes--A + deceptive ice gully--The avalanches on the Bietschhorn--We work up + to a dramatic situation--The united party nearly fall out--A limited + panorama--A race for home--Caught out--A short cut--Driven to + extremities--The water jump--An aged person comes to the rescue--A + classical banquet at Ried--The old cure and his hospitality--A + wasted life? + + +The summer season of 1878 was one of the worst on record. Meteorologists, +by a species of climatic paradox, might have had a fine time of it; +mountaineers had a most wet and disagreeable time of it. The weather +prophets easily established a reputation for infallibility--according to +the accepted modern standard of vaticination--by predicting invariably evil +things. They were thus right five times out of six, which will readily be +acknowledged as very creditable in persons who were uninspired, save by a +desire to exalt themselves in the eyes of their fellow tourists. But, as +in the case of that singularly hopeful person Tantalus, the torture was +rendered more artistic and aggravating by sporadic promise of better +things. One day the rock aiguilles were powdered over and white-speckled +with snow. The climber looked up longingly at the heights above, but +visions of numbing cold and frost-bitten fingers caused him to thrust the +latter members into his pockets and turn away with a sigh, to put it +mildly, and avert his gaze from the chilling spectacle. Then would he +follow his daily practice--his thrice-a-daily practice in all +probability--of overeating himself. Perhaps, while still engaged at _table +d'hote_ in consuming, at any rate in masticating, the multiform dish +generically named "chevreuil," the glow of a rosy sunset, and the hope of +brighter things in store for the morrow, would attract him to the window. + +(M45) + +The next day would produce scorching heat, a clear sky, a rising +barometer, and a revival of spirits; diet, as the physicians say, as +before. The powdered snow would disappear off the ledges and, melting, +distribute itself more uniformly over the rocks, which as a result +presented a shining appearance, as the morning face of a schoolboy or the +Sunday face of a general servant. At night a clear sky and a sharp frost +in the high regions, and the next day the mountain would be more +impossible than ever. Still, recognising that another few hours of +grateful sunshine would cause the thin film of ice glazing the rocks to +melt and evaporate, the energetic climber (and we were very energetic that +year) would summon his guides and all his resolution, pack up his traps, +and start for a bivouac up aloft, to return, in all probability, at the +end of twenty-four hours, in a downfall of rain and in the condition of +steamy moisture so tersely described by Mr. Mantalini. Such, during July +1878, was our lot day after day in the glorious Alpine climate. We paced +up and down, with the regularity of sentries, between our camp on the +Aiguille du Dru and Couttet's hotel at Chamouni. Occasionally we ascended +some distance up the Glacier de la Charpoua and took observations. Once or +twice we proceeded far enough on the rocks of the Aiguille du Dru to prove +the impossibility of ascending them to any great height. Still we were +loth to depart and run the risk of losing a favourable opportunity of +assaulting the mountain with any chance of success. It fell out thus that +we had good opportunities of observing our fellow creatures and the +various types of travellers who, notwithstanding the weather, still +crowded into Chamouni; for it was only on rock peaks such as the Aiguille +du Dru, or difficult mountains like the Aiguille Verte, that climbing was +impossible. This condition of things did not affect to any very +appreciable extent the perambulating peasants who constitute the vast +majority of the body known as guides in Chamouni. These worthies merely +loafed a little more than they were wont to do, if that be possible. +Perhaps the gathering invariably to be found, during twenty hours out of +the twenty-four, at the cross roads near Tairraz's shop was still more +numerously attended, and there was some slight increase in the number of +sunburnt individuals who found intellectual exercise sufficient to +apologise for their existence in wearing their hands in their pockets, +smoking indifferent tobacco, expectorating indiscriminately, and uttering +statements devoid of sense or point to anybody who cared to listen. The +weather had no effect on them; whether wet or dry, cold or warm, they +still occupied themselves from June to September in the same manner. Once +in the early morning, and once again about five o'clock in the evening, +were they momentarily galvanised out of their listlessness by the arriving +and departing diligences. + +(M46) + +On the arrival of the caravan the contingent was usually reinforced by +some of our own countrymen. The proper attitude for the English visitor at +Chamouni to assume, when watching the evening incursion of tourists, +consisted in leaning against the wall on the south side of the street, and +so to pose himself as to indicate independence of the proceedings and to +wear an expression of indifference tinged with a suggestion of cynical +humour. This was usually accomplished by wearing the hands in the pockets, +tilting the hat a little over the eyes, crossing the legs, and laughing +unduly at the remarks of companions, whether audible or not. Some few +considered that smoking a wooden pipe assisted the realisation of the +effect intended: others apparently held that a heavy object held in the +mouth interfered with the expression. I have observed that these same +onlookers were bitterly indignant at the ordeal they had to pass through +on returning to their native shores via Folkestone, when clambering +wearily with leaden eyes and sage-green complexions up the pier steps. Yet +the diligence travellers, begrimed with dust, stung of horse flies, +cramped, choked, and so jolted that they recognised more bony prominences +than previous anatomical knowledge had ever led them to expect they +possessed, were none the less objects of pity. Still human nature is +always worthy of study, and those who arrived, together with those who +went to see them arrive, were equally interesting under the depressing +climatic influences which so often forbade us to take our pleasure +elsewhere. + +(M47) + +It was curious to note how, day after day, the diligence on its arrival +released from the cramped thraldom of its uncomfortable seats almost +exactly the same load. As the great lumbering yellow vehicle came within +sight, one or two familiar faces would be seen craning out to catch the +first sight of an old guide or mountain friend. These _habitues_ as a rule +secured for themselves the corner seats. We knew exactly what their +luggage would be. A bundle of axes like Roman "fasces" would be handed out +first, with perhaps a little unnecessary ostentation, followed by a coil +of rope which might have been packed up in the portmanteau, but usually +was not; then a knapsack, with marks on the back like a map of the +continent of America if the owner was an old hand, and a spotless minute +check if he were only trying to look like one. The owners of the knapsacks +would be clad in suits that once were dittos, flannel shirts and the +familiar British wide-awake, the new aspirants for mountaineering fame +decorating their head gear with snow spectacles purchased in Geneva. Very +business-like would they show themselves in collecting their luggage +before anybody else; then, with a knowing look at the mountains, they +would make their way to Couttet's. Next, perhaps, would follow a party of +some two or three spinsters travelling alone and as uncertain about their +destination as they were of their age. To attract such, some of the hotel +proprietors, more astute than their fellows, despatched to the scene of +action porters of cultivated manners and obsequious demeanour, who seldom +failed, by proving themselves to be "such nice polite men, my dear," to +ensnare the victims. Burdened with the numerous parcels and odd little +bags this class of traveller greatly affects, the nicely mannered porter +would lead the way to the hotel or pension, probably bestowing, as he +passed, a wink on some friend among the guides, who recognised at once the +type of tourist that would inevitably visit the Montanvert, probably the +Chapeau and possibly the Flegere, and recognising too the type in whom +judicious compliments were not likely to be invested without satisfactory +results. Such people invariably enquired if they could not be taken _en +pension_. Somewhat frugal as regards diet, especially breakfast, but with +astounding capacities for swallowing _table d'hote_ dinners or such +romance as the guides might be pleased to invent on the subject of their +own prowess and exploits. Charming old ladies these often were, as pleased +with the novelty of everything they saw around them as a gutter child in a +country meadow. Their nature changes marvellously in the Alps. Scarcely +should we recognise in the small wiry traveller in the mountains the same +individual whom we might meet in town--say in the neighbourhood of +Bloomsbury. I have noticed such a one not a hundred miles from there whose +energy for sight-seeing when in the Alps surpassed all belief. Yet here +she seemed but a little, wrinkled, bent-in-the-back old woman, flat of +foot, reckless at crossings, finding difficulty on Sunday mornings in +fishing a copper out of her reticule for the crossing sweeper, by reason +of the undue length of the finger-tips to her one-buttoned black kid +gloves, and accompanied on week days, perhaps for the sake of contrast, by +a sprightly little black and tan dog of so arrogant a disposition that it +declined to use in walking all the legs which Providence had furnished it. +Next, perhaps, the British paterfamilias, who might or might not be a +clergyman, most intractable of tourists; ever prone to combine instruction +with amusement for the benefit of his bored family, slightly relaxing on +week days, but rigid and austere on Sundays beyond conception. And then +the foreign sub-Alpine walker or "intrepide," clad in special garments of +local make and highly vaunted efficiency, garrulous, smoky, voracious, a +trifle greasy, and dealing habitually in ecstatic hendecasyllables +expressive of admiration of everything he saw. Next the family party, +possibly with a courier, with whom the younger members were, as a rule, +unduly familiar: the boys wearing tailed shooting coats, consorting but +ill with Eton turn-down collars, groaning under the burden of green baize +bags containing assorted guide books, strange receptacles for the +umbrellas of the party, and with leathern wallets slung around their +shoulders, stuffed with the useless articles boys cherish and love to +carry with them; the girls awkwardly conscious and feeling ill at ease by +reason of the practical dresses, boots, and head gear devised for them at +home, looking tenderly after a collection of weakly sticks tipped with +chamois horns and decorated with a spirally arranged list of localities; +the whole party in an excessively bad temper, which the boys exhibited by +pummelling and thumping when "pa" was not looking and the girls by little +sniffs, head tossings, and pointed remarks at each other that they had no +idea what guys they looked. It will be observed that the constant bad +weather induced a cynical condition of mind. + +(M48) + +We made up our minds, notwithstanding the attractions of this varied +company, to quit them for a while, to seek fresh snow-fields and glaciers +new, and to leave the rocks of the Aiguille du Dru for a time unmolested. +At the suggestion of Jaun we betook ourselves to the Oberland for a +contemplated ascent of the Bietschhorn by a new route. Under a tropical +sun we made our way by the interminable zigzags through the Trient valley +down to Vernayaz, where we met again, like the witches in "Macbeth," in +thunder and in rain. Our project was to ascend the Bietschhorn from the +Visp side and descend it by the usual route to Ried. This form of novelty +had become so common in mountaineering that a new word had been coined +expressly to describe such expeditions, and the climber, if he succeeded +in his endeavour, was said to have "colled" the peak. The phrase, however, +was only admissible on the first occasion, and it was subsequently +described by any who followed, in more prosaic terms, as going up one side +and down the other. + +(M49) + +We did not experience any unusual difficulty in leaving Visp tolerably +early in the morning. The chorus of frogs, who were in remarkably fine +voice that night in the neighbouring swamps, kept us awake, and the proper +musical contrast was provided by the alto humming of some hungry +mosquitoes. Our plan of assault was to camp somewhere at the head of the +Baltschieder Thal, which is a dreary stony valley with only a few huts +that would scarcely be considered habitable even by a London +slum-landlord. The living inhabitants appeared to consist of three unkempt +children, two pigs, one imbecile old man, and a dog with a fortuitous +family. On the whole, therefore, we came to the conclusion that nature +would probably provide better accommodation than the local architectural +art, and a short search revealed a most luxurious bivouac, close to the +left moraine of the Baltschieder Glacier, under the shelter of the +Faeschhorn and a little above the level of the ice fall. A huge, flat slab +of rock formed the roof of a wedge-shaped cavity capable of holding at +least six persons, if disposed in a horizontal position. The space between +the floor and the roof, it is true, was not much more than three feet; but +the chamber, though well sheltered, demanded no ventilating tubes to +ensure a proper supply of fresh air. Having a little spare time and being +luxuriously inclined, we decided to sleep on spring beds. First we swept +the stone floor, then covered it with a thick layer of dry rhododendron +branches, over which were laid large sods of dried peat grass, and the +beds were complete. The pointed ends of the twigs showed rather a tendency +to penetrate through the grassy covering during the night, but otherwise +the mattresses were all that could be desired. About two in the morning we +got up--that is, we would have got up had it not been physically impossible +to do so by reason of the lowness of the roof. A more correct expression +would be perhaps to say that we turned out, rolling from under the shelter +of the slab one after another. By the dim light of an ineffective candle, +poked into the neck of a broken bottle, we found it no easy matter to +collect all the articles which the guides had of course unpacked and +stowed away as if they were going to stay a week; indeed, a certain bottle +of seltzer water will probably still be found--at any rate the bottle +will--by anyone who seeks repose in the same quarters. + +(M50) + +We started in the usual frame of mind--that is to say, everybody was +exceedingly facetious for about three minutes. In about ten minutes one of +the party, who would slake his thirst unduly at a crystal spring near the +bivouac the previous evening, found that his boot lace was untied; +circumstances which do not seem associated at first sight, but are not, +nevertheless, infrequently observed. So again have I often remarked that a +good dinner overnight develops in an astonishing manner admiration for +distant views when ascending on the subsequent day. Within a quarter of an +hour the amateurs of the party ceased to indulge in conversation, their +remarks dying away into a species of pained silence similar to that which +is induced in youthful voluptuaries by the premature smoking of clay +pipes. The guides, however, seldom if ever desisted from dialogue, and +never for the purpose of listening to each other's remarks. Still, the +respiratory process is governed by the same conditions in the case of +guides as in other mortals, and though they would scorn to stoop to the +boot-lace subterfuge, and feel that a sudden admiration for scenery would +deceive no one, they yet found it necessary before long to distribute +their burdens more equally; a process achieved by halting, untying several +strings, taking out several parcels and replacing them in the same +positions. By these various methods we acquired what athletes call "second +wind" and stepped out more strongly. We crossed a moraine of the usual +inconsistency--however, the subject of loose moraines has been, I fancy, +touched upon by other writers. The Baltschieder Glacier sweeps at a right +angle round a mountain christened, not very originally, the Breithorn. +This particular member of that somewhat numerous family blocks up the head +of the Baltschieder Thal. We skirted the north base of the Breithorn, +passing between it and the Jaegihorn, and arriving at the top of a steep +little slope came in full view of the eastern slopes of our objective +peak. At this point Maurer gave vent to a dismal wail of anguish as it +suddenly occurred to him that he had left the bottle of seltzer water down +below. With some difficulty did we persuade him that it was not necessary +to return for it, although the idea of repose was not wholly distasteful, +but we felt that we had probably all our work cut out for us in one sense, +and that the days were none too long for such an expedition as the one we +had in hand. Two distinct lines of attack appeared to offer themselves. +One route, more to our right, led upwards by a gentle curved ridge, +chiefly of snow, connecting the Baltschieder Joch with the northern arete +of the mountain. In 1866 Messrs. D. W. Freshfield and C. C. Tucker, as we +learnt subsequently, attained a high point by this way and were only +prevented from accomplishing the actual ascent by bad weather, though they +did enough to prove the practicability of the route. However, this way, +which appeared the easier of the two, was evidently the longer from our +position. The other route had the advantage of lying straight in front of +us. Its attraction consisted of a broad long gully of snow enclosed +between two ridges of rock. By the dim morning light the snow appeared +easy enough and was evidently in suitable condition: howbeit, long snow +couloirs, at the summit of which rocks overhang, are not usually to be +recommended when the mountain itself is composed of friable material. Now +it would be difficult to find in the whole of the Alps a mountain more +disposed to cast stones at its assailants than the Bietschhorn, a fact of +which we were fully aware. Every ascent of this disintegrating peak so +rearranges the rocks that the next comers would not be wholly without +justification if they pleaded that the details of their ascent were to a +great extent new. Still, mountaineers up to the present have not been +quite reduced to such a far-fetched claim to novelty, although in these +latter days they have at times come perilously near it. Judging by the +direction of the strata, we felt certain that the rock ridges must be +practicable, and the problem in mountaineering set before us consisted in +finding out how we might best ascend without subjecting ourselves to the +inconveniences experienced by some of the early martyrs. + +(M51) + +An early breakfast put fresh strength into us. It is a common mistake of +mountaineers not to breakfast early enough and not to breakfast often +enough. If it be desired to achieve a long expedition when there is not +likely to be too much spare time, the wise man will eat something at least +every two hours up to about 10 o'clock in the morning, supposing, for +instance, he started about 2 A.M. It is astonishing to notice how the full +man gains upon the empty one on fatiguing snow slopes. We strode rapidly +across the basin of snow called the Jaegifirn and arrived at the foot of +the gully. But now we could see that our suspicions were more than +verified: ugly-looking marks in the snow above indicated falling stones, +and the snow itself was obviously in a condition prone to avalanches. This +danger must always be present in couloirs to a greater or less extent in +such seasons as the one we were experiencing. There had been sufficient +power of sun to convert the contents of the gully into what would have +been, in fine weather, a glistening ice slope. But much fresh snow had +fallen recently. It but rarely can happen, when snow has fallen late in +the season or during the hot months, that the new and the old layers can +become properly amalgamated. If, therefore, there is too great a thickness +of fresh snow to allow of steps being cut through this into the ice +beneath, such couloirs are unsafe. The mark of a single avalanche due to +the sliding off of the fresh snow on the ice beneath--a mark easily enough +recognised--would deter any save an unwise person or a novice from +attempting such a line of ascent. The marvellous hereditary instinct so +often attributed to guides in judging of this condition really reduces +itself to a matter of very simple observation and attention, and one +within the reach of anybody. But travellers in the Alps too often appear +to treat their reasoning faculties like they do their tall hats, and leave +them at home. The question then was, Were the rocks right or left of this +snow gully practicable? We all agreed that they were, and proceeded at +once to test the accuracy of our opinion. + +(M52) + +We crossed the bergschrund--that godsend to writers on mountaineering in +search of material to act as padding--and without dwelling on its insecure +bridge longer than we need now dwell on the subject made swiftly for some +rocks on the left. Scarcely had we gained them when a rush of snow and +ice, of no great dimensions, but still large enough to be formidable, +obliterated all the tracks we had just made. This settled the point at +once, and we felt that by the rocks alone would it be proper to force the +ascent. While on the ridge we were safe enough, and had the advantage as +we clambered up of a most commanding position from whence we could view +the frequent avalanches that swept by. The rain of the previous night, +though it had only lasted for an hour or two, had evidently had a great +effect on the state of the snow, and the avalanches seemed to pour down +almost incessantly: probably some forty or fifty swept by us while we +climbed by the side of the gully, and our situation gave rise to that +feeling of somewhat pained security which is experienced when standing on +a railway platform as an express train dashes by; we certainly felt that +some of the downfalls would have reduced our party to a pulp quite as +easily and with as much unconcern as the train itself. The guides, who do +not perhaps tax their memories very severely for a parallel on such an +occasion, asserted, as they generally do, that they had never seen +anything like it in the whole course of their lives. They then fell to +whistling, laughed very gaily, and borrowed tobacco from each other. + +(M53) + +Gradually our difficulties became more pronounced, and conversation on +indifferent topics was discarded, the remarks being confined to brief +exclamations such as "Keep it tight!" "Don't touch that one!" "Hold on +now!" "You're treading on my fingers!" "The point of your axe is sticking +into my stomach!" and similar ejaculations. Once in a way we ascended for +a few feet by the snow, though never quite losing touch of the rocks, and +sank waist deep in the soft compound filling up the gully. Then we went +back to the rotten rocks for a brief spell, well content to be more out of +the reach of chance fragments of ice falling down the shoot. It is +wonderful to note how quickly time passes in an exciting climb of this +nature; but our progress was actually rather rapid, so fast indeed that we +did not fully realise at one period that we were getting into difficulties +and that we had without doubt strayed, Christian-like, from the narrow +path which was evidently the right one. Throughout the day we were +conscious that the climb was too long to be completed if we made any +serious mistake involving the retracing of steps. Quite suddenly, our +situation became critical: a hurried glance up and down along the line +revealed the fact that each member of the party had to do all he knew to +preserve his position. The attitudes were ungainly enough to suggest +instantaneous photographs at an ill-selected movement of four individuals +dancing a "can-can." Maurer was engaged apparently in an extremely close +and minute inspection of the toe of his right boot. Another member of the +party was giving a practical illustration of the fact that he could, by +extreme extension of his arms, stretch more than his own height, while a +third was endeavouring to find out why the power of co-ordinating his +muscular movements was suddenly lost to him, and why he could not persuade +his left leg to join his right. For a few moments Jaun, who was leading, +hung on by his finger-tips and the issue of the expedition hung in the +balance. But our leader, by dint of some complicated sprawls, transferred +himself over a passage of rock on which we had no earthly reason to be, +and assisted the rest of the party to regain a more promising line of +ascent. For those few minutes the situation was dramatic enough, and the +thought crossed my mind that the curtain might not improbably descend on +it; a solution of the difficulty which commends itself to the playwright +when he has involved his _dramatis personae_ in difficulties, but which is +not without its objections to the climber. On the whole the rocks on this +face of the mountain are much more difficult than on the other, and, +writing now after the lapse of some years, I am disposed to think that +these are perhaps the most difficult crags of any that I have ever met +with to climb properly, that is with a minimum of risk to one's self and +to one's companions; as a good proof of this I may say that the ascent +would probably have appeared fairly easy to a novice and that it required +some little Alpine experience to realise their real difficulty and their +treacherous nature. There was scarcely time to test adequately all hand +and foothold, and examination of rocks by what surgeons term palpation is +a _sine qua non_ in rock climbing. Undoubtedly the mountain was not in the +best possible order. We may possibly have rearranged the rocks in our line +of ascent in a more convenient manner for those who follow. Certainly we +may fairly say that in our actual line of ascent we left no stone unturned +to ensure success. + +(M54) + +Close below the ridge--within perhaps ten feet of it, for if I remember +aright our leader had actually reached the crest--came the climax to what +was perhaps rather a perilous climb. The first and second on the rope had +met in their upward passage a huge cube of rock whose security they had +carefully tested, and to surmount which it was necessary to stretch to the +fullest extent in order to gain a respectable hold for the hands. We were +all four in a direct line one below the other, and the two last on the +rope were placed perforce directly beneath the treacherous crag. By an +extension movement which conveyed some notion of the sensation experienced +by those on the rack, I had reached a handhold pronounced to be of a +passable nature by those above. By this manoeuvre I succeeded in getting my +feet exactly to a place on which the others, who were much heavier than I, +had stood in security; without rhyme or reason the block of stone, which +was about the size of a grand pianoforte, suddenly broke away from under +me; a huge gap seemed cloven out in the mountain side, and Maurer, below, +had only just time to spring aside, enveloped in a cloud of dust, and to +throw himself flat against the rock, while the rope was strained to the +utmost. Fortunately the handhold above was sound and I was able to hold on +with feet dangling in the air, searching in vain for some projection on +which to rest. Those above were too insecure to give any efficient help, +and in fact possibly viewed my struggles, inasmuch as they were not fully +aware at first of what had happened, with as much equanimity as a person +inside a boat contemplates the gymnastic performances of a bather trying +to climb over the edge. As the cloud of dust cleared off, however, and +Maurer's face gradually beamed through it like the sun in a fog, for the +excitement had made him the colour of a cornet player giving vent to a +high note, they began to realise that something abnormal had happened, +while the distant thundering reverberations of the falling mass assured +them that it was no ordinary slip. Meanwhile Maurer planted his axe so as +to give me some foothold, and with a push from below and a pull from +above, fortunately simultaneous, I succeeded in planting my feet where my +hands were, and subsequently undoubling found that we were within a few +feet of the ridge, that the panorama beyond was undoubtedly magnificent, +but was thrown out in strong relief by deep blue-black thunder-clouds +advancing towards us. + +Jaun now removed his empty pipe from his mouth and replaced it by a +lucifer match, which, either as an aid to reflection or possibly for +medicinal purposes, he chewed as he contemplated the ridge. A miserably +cold wind with a remarkable knack of detecting all the rents in our +raiment whistled around; above, the summit of the mountain was enveloped +in driving thick mist and cloud. Still the final ridge looked fairly easy, +and indeed proved to be so. The snow was deep and soft, and the stones +below were so arranged as to remind us forcibly of a newly mended road in +our native country; big and little, all seemed loose, and all arranged +with their sharpest points and edges uppermost. The ridge is moderately +broad, and we were able to flounder along with fair rapidity. Spurred on +by the unpromising look of the weather and stimulated by the cold wind, +which rendered any halts so unpleasant as to be out of the question, we +set to work in earnest and found ourselves at the base of the final little +snow and rock cone earlier than the length of the ridge had led us to +expect. As we stepped on to the summit we experienced the curious +sensation usually arising when climbing through clouds, that the mountain +itself was sinking away rapidly from under our feet. The panorama was +wholly composed of a foreground consisting of mist, and presented +therefore comparatively few attractions. + +(M55) + +It was already so late in the afternoon that we could not have afforded to +stay in any case, and, as we felt that serious difficulties might possibly +be encountered in descending, we set off at once, visions of a warm +welcome and a hot bath at Ried rising before our minds. The idea of +descending by way of the Baltschieder Joch was negatived without a +division. The northern ridge of the Bietschhorn is a counterpart of the +one by which we had ascended, with the solitary advantage in our case that +we had to go down it and not up. The snow slopes leading down to the Nest +Glacier were much broader, and we were strongly tempted more than once to +quit the ridge for this western face of the mountain. Ultimately, +persuaded that the condition of the snow justified us in so doing, we +struck straight down on to the Nest Glacier, skirted round the ridge of +rocks dividing the Nest Glacier from the Birch Glacier, and catching sight +of a little green patch some way below, threw off the rope and rushed +precipitately down to it. Misguided by a few gleams of sunshine breaking +out between the driving clouds, we conceived the idea of repose and +thought that we might as well be aired and dried. Below, the hotel at Ried +was in full view, and it seemed but an hour or two from us: but our +troubles were not yet over. The five minutes' halt on such occasions not +uncommonly expand into five-and-fifty, and we rather deliberately averted +our gaze from the western view of the valley, up which the thunder-clouds +were advancing steadily in close formation. Eventually we decided to move +on, in order to avoid getting once more wet through. Vain hope: rapid +though our descent was to the level of the forest it was not rapid enough. +We ran furiously down the rough slopes, but, as the storm advanced and we +perceived that we should be caught, the agitation of our minds gradually +equalled the agitation of our bodies. We seemed to get no nearer Ried, +while the darkness increased rapidly around us. Knowing the proclivities +of guides on such occasions, my companion and I agreed that nothing should +induce us to leave a path, should we perchance find one. Now, in a dim +light it is exceedingly easy to discover paths, but extremely difficult to +discover that variety of track that leads anywhere. Determined, however, +to stick to our resolution, we found ourselves continually pursuing level +stretches right and left, only to find that, as routes to any particular +place, they were snares and delusions; that there was a path with long +zigzags we knew, and indeed, finally, a shout from the guides, who skipped +about downhill with an utter disregard for the integrity of their joints, +and adopted that curious cantering gait considered on the stage to express +light-hearted joy, announced that they had discovered the way. With +characteristic inconsistency, they had no sooner found what we had been so +long searching for than they proposed to leave it and make short cuts, so +called; but we were inflexible, and determined not to leave our path or be +seduced by the attractions of a perpendicular descent through an unknown +territory. The hotel lights were no longer visible, but we knew that they +lay straight below us. The question was whether we should turn right or +left. The guides settled the matter by darting off ahead, ostensibly from +a perfect acquaintance with their situation, but actually as we suspected +to avoid being worried with unpleasant topographical questions. Gradually +as we followed the track our stern purpose began to waver, for it was +pointed out by some one that the path, though undoubtedly a good one in +point of construction and general purpose, had two distinct disadvantages +from our present point of view; one being that it led uphill, and the +other that it ran in the wrong direction. There are certain contingencies +in life in which the Briton finds but one adequate method of relieving and +expressing his feelings, such, for instance, as when he finds himself +bespattered with mud from the passing hansom on a carefully selected +shirt-front and a white tie that would have moved to envy; or when, again, +as the last to leave his club at night he finds the only remaining +head-gear to consist of a well-worn beaver many sizes too large, with fur +under the brim and a decoration of little rosettes and bobstays. It is +hard to see why the ejaculation of any particular monosyllable should do +him good at such a juncture. Hard words unquestionably break no bones, but +neither do they mend the broken collar-stud or the ruptured bootlace; and +yet if he swallows the expression down it will certainly ferment within +him, and fermentation is characterised by multiplication. If, on the +contrary, he articulates his feelings, the whole situation suddenly +appears changed, and he can view the most untoward circumstances once more +with a calm serenity of temper. But the remedy, though potent, specific +almost, is too valuable to be resorted to constantly, and should be +reserved, like Thursday's razor, for the most special occasions. + +(M56) + +Our situation on the present occasion fully justified us in resorting to +the source of relief vaguely alluded to, and we employed it simultaneously +with the happiest results. Now the guides triumphed, and such was our +accommodating mood that we actually acceded to their counsel and embarked +on a perilous descent down a vertical gully. Scarcely had we turned into +it when the storm broke and the rain came down in sheets, and very damp +sheets too. Some one now suggested that the wisest plan would be to remain +under shelter till the rain had passed off. It was argued against this +amendment, and with a certain amount of force, first that there was no +probability of the rain stopping, and secondly that there was no shelter: +so we went on. Gradually, as we became more wet, we grew more desperate, +and before long floundered down as regardless of bumps as a bluebottle in +a conservatory: at one moment slithering over wet slabs of rock to which +damp tufts of moss were loosely adherent, at another climbing carefully +over gigantic toothcombs of fallen trees, then plunging head +foremost--sometimes not exactly head foremost--through jungle-like masses of +long grass and dwarf brushwood. Soaked to the skin, steamy, damp, and +perspiring like bridegrooms, we went on, utterly reckless as to our +apparel, and haunted by a perpetual idea that we should find ourselves +ultimately at some place whence further descent would be impossible. + +(M57) + +Within a few minutes the party divided and Jaun and I found ourselves +together. By the lightning flashes I saw him from time to time; on one +occasion he suddenly disappeared from view, and on joining him cautiously +a little while after I found that he had just previously seated himself +abruptly on a flat rock, immediately underneath a miniature torrent. The +fact that we did not at every ten seconds run against large trees +confirmed the idea that we were now almost out of the wood; accordingly we +halloaed, as the occasion seemed suitable, but no answer was returned from +our companions. Now came the question of how we were to cross the torrent +which we knew lay between us and the hotel. Jaun cheerfully remarked that +the best plan would be to find the bridge. This was obvious enough, but he +confessed that he had forgotten at what part of the river's course the +bridge lay. However, keeping close together, we made towards the right, on +which side the stream lay. The slopes were here more level and less +carelessly laid out. Our hopes revived, for the hotel could only be a few +minutes off, and between the peals of thunder we could hear the roar of +the torrent and could hear also the hollow sound due to the boulders +rolling over its stony bed. Of a sudden we came on to its banks, and +formidable enough the stream looked. The idea of searching for the bridge +seemed childish, for the whole of the frail wooden structure had probably +been carried away long before down to the Rhone valley. The hotel was only +a few yards off, and again the situation was exasperating enough to +justify a resort to extreme measures, if it were an extreme measure to +express forcibly a wish that the torrent might be--well, temporarily +stopped up at some higher point. Jaun now volunteered to wade across. It +was quite unnecessary for him to divest himself of any clothing for the +purpose, and in fact when he had succeeded very pluckily in reaching the +other side he was not in the least degree wetter than when he started. He +shouted some observations from the other side, which I took to mean that +he would go on to the hotel and procure a lantern. Accordingly I seated +myself to await his return, selecting unintentionally a little pool of +water, which however did just as well as anything else. + +(M58) + +Before long a flashing light advancing indicated that Jaun had been +successful, and two forms were seen dimly on the opposite side, one with a +light. The bearer of the lantern was an aged person in shirt sleeves and a +highly excited frame of mind. The aged person, on the distant shore, +gesticulated as violently as a marionette doll when its wires have got +hitched up wrong, and then, seemingly possessed of a sudden fury, rushed +violently down a steep place and beckoned frantically with his lantern. +This seemed to mean that I was to descend to a point on the bank opposite +to where he stood. It now appeared that there was a bridge within a few +yards of us, if a single spiky, submerged, and insecure trunk could be +considered such. The old man embraced me warmly when I had made my way +across, slapped me hard on the back, and then laughed very loud and +suddenly. Then he darted off with the agility and abruptness of movement +of an elderly lady from the country crossing in front of an omnibus, or a +hen, a foolish animal that always waits to the last moment before running +needlessly to the wrong side of the road. Guided by the lantern which the +impulsive veteran flourished wildly in every direction, so that no one +dared approach him, in another ten minutes we reached the hotel and found +ourselves, with the exception of our companions, who had arrived a few +minutes before--Heaven only knows how, for they did not--fortunately the +only occupants of the hotel. The volatile sexagenarian calmed down, put on +his coat, put out his lantern, and retired to repose in an outhouse, a +shelter to which I fancy he was relegated owing to certain physical +infirmities. + +(M59) + +It was eleven o'clock, and we had been pretty actively employed for +twenty-one hours. The idea of food and a change of raiment was not, +therefore, distasteful. A middle-aged female with an excessively +"rational" and hygienic waist, who said she was the waitress, volunteered +to serve the banquet, but the change of raiment necessary was naturally +beyond her means, while the idea of borrowing from the aged person's +wardrobe did not commend itself to us, so we ordered in a large stock of +towels. "But," I remarked, "you can't go about in a bath towel"--the truth +of which assertion was immediately evident, for they were so small that it +was difficult to fasten them with any degree of security; accordingly +blankets were requisitioned, and a very classical effect in costume was +thus produced, though what the Romans did when there was a gale of wind I +do not know. To keep up the delusion we arranged the chairs after the +fashion of couches, and appeased our hunger with a curious repast of +stewed apples and mixed biscuits, the sole articles of food that could be +discovered. However, to anticipate, we fared better the next day at +breakfast; for though Bright Chanticleer proclaimed the morn at 3 A.M. he +did not proclaim any subsequent period of time, as he was captured and +cooked for our repast. The waitress while we supped was busily engaged in +stoking up the stove, and seized upon our damp raiment with avidity to +have it ready for the next morning; so energetic was she in fact that we +felt it necessary to remonstrate, foreseeing the probability that our +clothes might have to be brought back to us in a dust shovel: we remarked +that, though sorry for our misdeeds, we would limit for choice the +repentant nature of our apparel to the sackcloth we were then wearing and +would dispense with the adjunct of ashes. The unreliable nature of the +fastenings of our costume prevented us from accompanying our forcible +remarks with properly impressive gestures. The remonstrance, however, had +the desired effect, and our garments the next day, though somewhat +shrivelled and inconveniently tight here and there, still proved that they +had resisted effectively the fire as well as the water. + +(M60) + +The amount of luxury found in the Loetschthal since those days has +materially improved. Time was when the only accommodation for the +traveller was to be found at the humble tenement of Mons. le Cure, a +worthy old creature as I remember him, who appeared to keep an apiary in +his back drawing-room and was wont to produce the most excellent honey and +the most uncompromising bread; the latter article, as one might judge, was +baked about as often as the old gentleman washed himself. But the milk of +human kindness flowed strongly in him (as it may be said to do in those +who have been made the subjects of transfusion), though, to tell the +truth, it was somewhat decidedly flavoured with garlic, and it needed much +resolution to attentively listen to the confidential communications he was +in the habit of whispering. A man of education and gentle refinement--at +any rate of mind--his was a hard lot, buried away in a squalid little +parish, with no earthly being to talk to possessed of more than one idea; +yet he slaved on contentedly enough with no thought beyond the peasants in +his own district and of how he might relieve their condition, too often at +the expense of his own welfare; isolated more than any ascetic, for his +mental existence was that of a hermit, from circumstances and not from +will. The thought of solitary confinement is terrible, but utter mental +isolation is hideous. Yet, while he entertained us hospitably with fare +which, though rough, was the very best he could offer, he would not join +in the repast: not, probably, from lack of appetite, but from a feeling +that, owing to prolonged seclusion and association with the peasants, the +more fashionable and accepted methods of preparing food for consumption +and conveying it to the mouth, with subsequent details, were somewhat dim +to his recollection. Yet his conversation flowed fast and he talked well: +the while any reference to friends and fellow-travellers would cause him +to pause for a moment or two, look upwards around the room, and fetch a +rather long breath before he recommenced. A curiously gaunt old creature +he seemed at first sight: with wonderful, bony, plastic hands capable of +expressing anything; grotesque almost in his unkempt rustiness; provoking +a smile at first, but sadness as one learnt more of him. And how closely +are the two emotions associated. In truth Humour was born a twin, and her +sister was christened Pathos. + +I can recall that he accepted a sum of ten francs when we parted in the +morning. His eyes glistened with pleasure as he took the coin and +straightway made for a ramshackle hovel on the hill-side, where lay an +aged person "tres-malade." Possibly after his visit there was left a happy +peasant in that tumble-down cabin--an emotional object more often described +than witnessed. But all this took place years ago, and as we passed the +collection of dilapidated tenements in one of which our old friend once +lived, I failed to recognise his former dwelling-place. The timbers grew +old and worn, the bands rusty, and one day the wheel which had worked +steadily for so long stopped. Yet the stream which had moved it ran on as +if nothing had happened. Was it a wasted life? Who can say if there be +such a thing? + + A few can touch the magic string, + And noisy Fame is proud to win them: + Alas! for those that never sing, + But die with all their music in them. + +We passed on: in a few minutes the houses were lost to view and there was +left but the reflection of how much more, worthy of study, there was in +this old cure's nature than in the majority of Swiss with whom +mountaineering brings us in close contact. + +(M61) + +As we descended the Loetschthal to Gampel the air seemed to thicken. The +excessive warmth allowed our garments to stretch once again to their +wonted girth, and we became less thoughtful. The vignette of the ancient +cure dissolved away and was replaced by a view (mental only, unhappily) of +our aiguille at Chamouni, black and bare of snow, inviting another attack. +Gampel does not tempt the traveller much to seek repose, and we therefore +caught the first train that came crawling along the valley and shaped our +course for Chamouni in a second-class carriage tenanted by a _pension_ of +young ladies out for a holiday apparently, who all chirped and twittered +and wrangled for the best places till the going down of the sun, like the +Temple sparrows. + + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + + AN OLD FRIEND WITH A NEW FACE + + + Chamouni again--The hotel _clientele_--A youthful hero--The + inevitable English family--A scientific gentleman--A dream of the + future--The hereafter of the Alps and of Alpine literature--A + condensed mountain ascent--Wanted, a programme--A double "Brocken"--A + hill-side phenomenon and a familiar character--A strong + argument--Halting doubts and fears--A digression on mountaineering + accidents--"From gay to grave, from lively to severe"--The storm + breaks--A battle with the elements--Beating the air--The ridge + carried by assault--What next, and next?--A topographical problem + and a cool proposal--The descent down the Vallee Blanche--The old + Montanvert hotel--The Montanvert path and its frequenters. + + +It was the summer of 18-- and our old quarters at Couttet's hotel knew us +once more. As we drove into the village of Chamouni we turned our heads +carelessly around to note the various new hotels that might have arisen +since our last visit. Observing that they were four or five in number, we +rightly conjectured that we should find all the hotel keepers complaining +bitterly of the hard times and the want of custom. Also we wondered in how +many ways it was possible to build a house without any particular system +of drainage, a deficiency which was at that time becoming very marked in +Chamouni, but has since, I believe, been improved. Yet the place itself +had not altered essentially. New buildings of imposing exterior and little +else do not materially alter a place that leads a life like that of modern +Chamouni. The population, which throughout the summer appears to pass its +time in the streets with its hands in its pockets, was still amusing +itself in the same way. The tone of the village was just the same as we +had always known it, and even M. Couttet himself had not succeeded in +imparting any marine flavour by building an odd little lighthouse with an +iron flag on the top which the architect had ingeniously represented as +streaming permanently in a direction indicating a wind favourable for fine +weather. We knew that we should find the same denizens in the hotel; and +they were there. + +(M62) + +There was a very young man with a very parti-coloured face from exposure +on the glaciers, who had recently completed the thousand-and-first ascent +of Mont Blanc and was perpetually posing gracefully against the door-post +or in a lattice-work summer-house a few steps from the hotel, gazing +towards the mountain and rather eagerly joining in any conversation +relating to the perils of the ascent. There were three or four young +ladies of various periods of life who gazed at him with admiration and +enquired at intervals if he wasn't very tired; to which the young man +replied carelessly that he was not, and inwardly thought that the +discomfort of sunburn and the consequent desquamation was on the whole +cheaply bought, the while he wished the expedition had not cost so much +and that so many others had not thought of making the same ascent. And +then there came a lithe, active lady walker who had been up Mont Blanc and +a great many other mountains too, and paid no more attention to the +guides' stereotyped compliments than a suspicious dog does to those of a +nervous visitor: so the young man's nose was put out of joint and he would +have laughed scornfully at the fickleness of hero worship had not the skin +of his face been in danger of cracking, and he wished his shirt collar had +not been starched and thumped by the village washerwoman into the form of +a circular linen saw. + +(M63) + +Then there was an excitable Englishman of impulsive habits, with a large +family who were perpetually playing a game of follow-my-leader with their +parent, and who were under orders to weigh anchor on the following morning +at five o'clock for the Montanvert and the Mauvais Pas. The boys were +stoking up for the occasion with raw apples, and the girls were occupied, +when not pursuing their restless father, in preparing a puggaree for his +hat. There was a gentleman who affected the curious untidiness of raiment +not unfrequently noticed among Sunday frequenters of the Thames, and who +sought to establish a mountaineering reputation by constantly gazing at +the peaks around in a knowing manner and wearing a flannel shirt of an +obtrusive pattern destitute of any collar. There were guides about, who +were on the point of being paid for their services and who were +exceedingly polite and obsequious; others whose "tour" had just passed, +were, proportionately, less deferential. There was an elderly lady whose +whole soul appeared bent on a little stocking from which she never parted, +and who turned the knitting needles to more account for toilet and other +small purposes than I could have conceived to be possible. There were two +or three mountaineers who appeared anxious only to avoid everyone's gaze +and who might be seen in byways and odd corners talking to bronzed guides +who looked like business. Finally, there was a gentleman of statistical +and scientific tendencies, much given to making quietly astonishing +statements of astronomical facts and gently smiling as he rolled over his +tongue and enjoyed the flavour of the vast numbers with which it was his +pleasure to deal. He absolutely revelled and wallowed in figures. +Buttonholed in a corner and compelled to listen with deferential +attention, I secretly writhed as he crushed me slowly with the mere weight +of his numerals. He shared with others of his frame of mind the +peculiarity of always keeping something in hand and skilfully working up +to a climax. Such and such a star was so many millions of miles off. We +opened our eyes to the proper degree of width and observed, "Bless me!" +or, "You don't say so?" Instantly he would rejoin, "Ah, but that's nothing +to so and so," and then favoured us with a still more immeasurable +distance. We expressed a slightly greater degree of intelligent amazement. +Thereupon he nodded his head, gently inclined it a little to one side, and +smiled softly. It gave him such evident pleasure to have a listener that I +attended with due reverence to his enthusiastic computations; knowing my +man, I felt sure that he was keeping back a real staggerer to finish up +with, and was prepared to assume varying degrees of surprise up to the +moment when it should come. Unfortunately I misjudged its advent, and +feeling that I had somewhat lost in his estimation by evincing undue +astonishment at a comparatively small array of figures, I sought to turn +the conversation by requesting to know how long he thought it might be +before the great rock peaks around us would have crumbled away to their +bases. The calculation was too trivial and the number of millions of +generations too small to interest him much, but he vouchsafed an +approximate estimate. + +(M64) + +I let him babble on and fell a-thinking. The peaks were crumbling away bit +by bit no doubt, the glaciers shrinking. At a bound the mind leapt into a +future which, after all, might be not so very unlike a past. The Alps +things of the past! What, I wondered, when the mountains were all levelled +down and smiling valleys occupied the troughs of the glaciers of to-day, +would some future commentators make of the literature so industriously +piled up by the members and followers of the Alpine Club? Imagination ran +riot as in a dream, and I fancied some enthusiast exploring the buried +city of the second Babylon and excavating the ruins of the "finest site in +Europe." I pictured to myself the surprise in store for him on digging out +the effigies of some of our naval and military heroes, and the mingled +feelings with which he would contemplate the unearthed statue of George +IV. It seemed possible that in that far-off epoch to which my friend's +calculations had borne me, the Alpine Club itself might have ceased to +exist. Pursuing his explorations in an easterly direction, the excavator +might perchance have lighted on a strange tunnel, almost Arcadian in its +simplicity of design, and marvelled at the curious and cheap idols of wax +and wood which the people of that ancient day had evidently worshipped. +Turning north again, this Schliemann of the future would pass by the ruins +of S. Martin's Church, eager to light upon the precious archives of the +historic Alpine Club itself. How eagerly he would peruse the lore +contained in the Club library, anxious to decipher the inscriptions and +discover what manner of men they were who lived and climbed when mountains +and glaciers were still to be found on this planet. Human nature would +probably not have changed much, and the successful explorer might even +have been asked to favour a scientific society of the future with the +result of his discoveries, to which in all probability he would have +acceded, with a degree of reluctance not quite sufficient to deter the +secretary of the society from pressing him. + +(M65) + +An abstract of his description of our sibylline leaves I fancied might run +somewhat in this style:--After commenting on the fact that the maps and +illustrations did not usually correspond in number with the list set forth +in the index of the volumes unearthed, he might proceed thus:--"In pursuit +of their great and glorious object these ancient heroes appear to have +undergone vast personal discomfort. It is difficult therefore to realise +fully why so many engaged in this form of exploration. Instances have been +given by other learned antiquarians who have studied the habits of this +people, of a similar purposeless disregard of comfort, such as the +four-wheeled wooden boxes in which they travelled about, the seats in +their churches, &c. The outset of their expedition was almost invariably +characterised by a display of bad temper, attributed to early rising. +After a varying number of hours of excessive toil the travellers were wont +to arrive at some fearsome chasm spoken of as a 'bergschrund.' On this, if +the subject-matter of their narrative was insufficient in quantity, they +were wont to descant and enlarge at length; sometimes, as we judge, in +their descriptions they enlarged the bergschrund itself. They then crossed +it. Immediately after this incident they were in the habit of eating, and +the minute and instructive details commonly given enable us to form a +tolerably accurate opinion as to the nature of the diet with which they +supported their exhausted frames. Next they traversed strange localities +for which there appear to have been no adequately descriptive expressions +in their own language. In fact the difficulty of deciphering these records +is greatly increased by the fact that the writers were versatile +linguists, for they constantly make use of words of a hybrid character. +They were evidently practised meteorologists and took much interest in +this subject, as may be gathered throughout from their writings. At length +they reached summits, of the nature of which we in our time can have but a +feeble conception. So great was their relief at the termination of their +self-imposed but toilsome task, that they habitually burst forth into +language characterised by a wealth of imagery and a fervour of poetic +description which unfortunately conveys but little idea to us in our day +of what they actually saw. In descending they were all commonly within an +ace of meeting with a violent death. The mode in which the danger attacked +them varied within certain restricted limits, but it always occurred and +the escape was always narrow. The peril over, they remarked that they +breathed freely again, and then at once fell to eating. Arrived at a +successful termination of their wearisome labour, they advised others to +do the same. They dealt out unsparing satire to their companions, +unlimited praise to their guides, and unmeasured ridicule to their porter. +They commonly expressed throughout their descriptions grave doubts and +uncertainty as to the issue of the expedition: a curious and noteworthy +fact, for the heading of the accounts always divulged at the outset their +ultimate success. The construction, therefore, of their narratives was in +accordance with a well-recognised model and appeared capable of little +variation. The only other facts that we can glean are that they were +prodigious eaters, were much pestered by some extinct species of insects, +and that they make frequent allusions to a substance termed tobacco. The +constant repetition of these incidents stamps upon their writings the +impress of unexaggerated veracity. Still they were not universally held in +favour, indeed were regarded with disapprobation by some individuals of +their own race. It would seem indeed from internal evidence that, had it +not been for frequent and sharp criticism of their proceedings, their +pastime might never have inveigled so many persons with its seductive +fascination." + +Now at the time at which these prophetic fancies were conjured up we had +just completed an expedition which it seemed might be worthy of attention, +solely on the ground of its very contradictoriness. For the features of +this climb were most opposed to those already mentioned, and in fact +mention of it scarcely seemed admissible in an Alpine narrative. We took +no porter with us to fill the role of first low comedy man. We had very +little to eat; our stock of wine ran out through a leaky gourd; our +tobacco was wet and there was no bergschrund, and yet all this happened on +a mountain close to Chamouni. + +(M66) + +"Some vast amount of years ago, ere all my youth had vanished from me," as +the poet says, at a date therefore which for obvious reasons it is +inexpedient here to mention, I found myself, as already mentioned, at +Chamouni. With me was an old mountain friend and fellow climber, J. Oakley +Maund. We were both burning with desire to add to the list of the many +successful expeditions we had made together, but, as a matter of fact, +were somewhat gravelled for lack of suitable matter. Like a ministry on +the eve of a general election or a gentleman without a sixpenny-piece at a +theatre, we were sorely in need of a programme. The locality was somewhat +unfortunately chosen for those in whom the ancient spirit was not yet +quite extinct and who wanted to do something new. Ever since the days when +Jacques Balmat, Dr. Paccard, and the great De Saussure had donned strange +apparel and shown the way--that is to say, for nearly a hundred +years--people had been climbing mountains in the district, and it was not +to be wondered at if it were hard to find some expedition which nobody +else had thought of, or, worse still, had achieved. We gazed at the map +and made thumb marks all over it. In every conceivable direction ran +little lines indicative of previous explorations. We studied the _carte en +relief_, but without much hope of getting any information of value from +this inaccurate and lumpy absurdity. Mont Blanc, which, according to this +work of plastic art, was modelled out as some eight or ten thousand feet +higher than any other point of the chain, had had all the snow worn off +its summit by much fingering, so that the component pasteboard showed +through. Rivers ran uphill in this map, and lakes were inclined at an +angle; bits of sticking plaister represented towns and villages, and the +whole article was absolutely bristling with little spikes and points like +the old panoramas of London or the docks at Liverpool. Still a +considerable number of people seemed willing enough to pay fifty centimes +for the pleasure of indicating elaborate expeditions on it with their +fore-fingers, and appeared to derive pleasure from gazing on a pasteboard +misrepresentation when they could by looking out of window see the real +thing for nothing. We abandoned the _carte en relief_ and took Jaun and +Kaspar Maurer into our confidence. The only suggestions that they could +make were the Aiguille des Charmoz and the Dent du Geant. The former of +these two peaks we had both tried to ascend in former seasons, without +success. Jaun did not think then that it was possible, and without sharing +his opinion we gave way to it. With regard to the latter mountain we all +thought at the time that an undue amount of what is vaguely termed +"artificial aid" would be necessary to ensure success, an opinion +confirmed by subsequent events, for when Signor Sella achieved the honour +of the first ascent he was only able to accomplish it by somewhat +elaborate engineering appliances. Some bold person of an original turn of +thought suggested of course a variation of some way up Mont Blanc, but the +utter impossibility of discovering the slightest deviation from any +previously ascended route and the utter uselessness of trying to find one +caused a general shout of derision, and the bold person thereupon withdrew +his suggestion and ordered some coffee. Besides, the weather was fine; +every day swarms of tourists could be seen, crawling up the sides of the +monarch of mountains, in numbers as many as the flies on a sugar loaf in a +grocer's window on a hot day. + +One evening we sat in front of Couttet's hotel staring pensively at the +familiar outline of the row of aiguilles, and wishing we had lived in the +days of Albert Smith, the best friend Chamouni ever had. At any rate, at +that time the natives were unsophisticated and the mountains about were +not all done to death. The valley between us and the chain was filled with +a light haze, not sufficient to conceal the outline of the mountains but +yet enough to blot out their detail and solidity. As the moon rose behind +the chain we saw a strange phenomenon. A silhouette was thrown forwards on +to the curtain of haze and photographed on it with sharp and clear +definition, so that we could recognise, at an immense height, the shadowed +peaks looking almost as massive as the actual mountains. Nor was this all; +a second curtain of mist seemed to be suspended, in a vertical stratum, in +front of the former one, and the shadows were again marked out on this, +infinitely more magnified and less distinct, but still perfectly +recognisable. As a result we were able to see the semblance of three +distinct tiers of mountains one above the other, looking so massive that +we could scarcely realise that they were but transparent ghosts of the +peaks; and the phenomenon, a double "Brocken," must have lasted for more +than half an hour. However, we desired something more of the nature of the +substance than the shadow, and ultimately came to the conclusion that it +was absolutely necessary for our peace of mind to accomplish something on +the morrow, and as it really mattered but little what that something might +be, provided a good climb was afforded, we must yield to circumstances and +perforce adopt the latter-day necessity of all mountaineers. If we could +not find the right way up some new mountain we could at least take the +wrong way up an old one. + +(M67) + +So the next morning we walked up to the Pierre Pointue as a preliminary +step--a good many and rather arduous steps--towards the object in view. The +exertion of toiling up the zigzags or the more rarefied atmosphere had a +remarkable effect on one of the party, whose face when we reached the +chalet was found to be wreathed in smiles and wearing an expression of +great intelligence. He had in fact become possessed of an idea. Bubbling +over with self-satisfied chuckles, he suggested that we should ascend the +Aiguille du Midi by the face directly in front of us and then descend on +the other side, thus making a col of the mountain. The idea found favour +instantly, and the intelligent person was so much pleased that he ordered +a bottle of wine, plastered over with a very costly variety of label, and +regretted it. Investigation of the cellar revealed only two casks of wine, +but the "carte" comprised a long list of various vintages. Fired with +enthusiasm and inflated with _limonade gazeuse_, we left the chalet and +strode vigorously up the hill in order to prospect the route and +reconnoitre the rocks. The exertion and the pace soon told upon us, the +sooner that it was a hot, enervating day; the kind of day that makes one +perforce admire the ingenious benevolence of nature in fashioning out on +the grassy slopes rounded inequalities, exactly adapted to those of the +human figure in a seated or recumbent position. The heated air rising from +the ground gave flickering and distorted views of distant objects, like +unto marine phenomena viewed through the cheap panes of a seaside +lodging-house window. The grasshoppers were extraordinarily busy; the bees +droned through the heavy air; the ants, overcome apparently by the +temperature, had given up for the time straining their jaws by their +foolish practice of carrying large parcels about without any definite +object, and had retired to the shady seclusion of their own heaped-up +residences; the turf was most inviting. It now occurred to us that there +was no absolute necessity for the whole party to ascend on the present +occasion, and that perhaps the guides might go up quicker alone. The +details of this suggestion were acceded to on the part of the amateurs of +the party with astonishing alacrity and unanimity. We laid the scheme +before the guides, and they also thought it a very fine one. Thereupon, +with much parade and ceremony, they braced themselves up for great +exertion, borrowed the telescope, remarked that they expected to be back +some time during the night, and started upwards with somewhat over-acted +eagerness. My companion and I disposed ourselves comfortably in the shade, +and resumed an argument which had originally commenced some days +previously. I waxed eloquent on the subject under discussion and with much +success, for such was the force of my logic and the cogency of my +reasoning that I bore down on my opponent, and reduced him in a short time +to absolute silence, from which he did not awake for nearly two hours. + +(M68) + +About this time the guides, who in all probability had also been +comfortably asleep within a short distance of us, returned and gave a +favourable report concerning the mountain. Elated by this news, we climbed +a short distance further up, and met there a large party of ephemeral +acquaintances who were taking an afternoon's pleasure on the hills. After +the manner of people when so engaged, they set forth with great energy and +climbed up a steep little rock tump a few hundred yards distant. Arrived +at the summit, they roared out unintelligible remarks to us, and we did +the same to them till we were hoarse; we waved our hands and hats and they +flourished their handkerchiefs as if they were our dearest friends on +earth, just setting out on an emigrant ship for the Antipodes. The party +then descended; the nearer they came the less friendly and demonstrative +were we, and by the time we met the warmth of affection recently +manifested on both sides had wholly evaporated, and we conversed in +ordinary tones on indifferent topics. Then they set out for another little +hill, and we were moved, apparently by some uncontrollable impulse, to go +through the same idiotic performance. Emotional behaviour of a similar +kind is not infrequently observed in the mountains. We journeyed together +back to the Pierre Pointue, viewing each other with distrust and +suspicion; and when it was found that we had bespoken the beds--if the +exaggerated packing-cases lined with straw bags could be considered +such--we parted on terms the reverse of friendly. So frail are the links +that bind human affections. + +(M69) + +Standing in front of the hut was a type of character very familiar in +these tourist-frequented districts. His exterior was unpromising; his +beard of a fortnight's growth, or thereabouts, somewhat fitful withal and +lacking in uniformity of development. A hard hat, with a shining green +veil folded around its battered outline, decorated his head; his raiment +was black and rusty, his legs cased in canvas gaiters fastened with many +little girths and buckles, and in his right hand he grasped a trusty +three-franc pole made of wainy deal, and surmounted at the top by a brown +knob similar to those which come out suddenly when we try to open a chest +of drawers in a cheap lodging. He fidgeted about for a while, asked +questions in a rather loud tone of voice at us, and we felt that it was +his intention to enter into conversation. It was even so. After a while he +sidled up and requested with much diffidence to be informed what we +proposed to climb on the morrow. Now the true mountaineer, however amiable +his disposition, always shrinks up into his shell when such a question is +put to him on the eve of an expedition. My companion indicated by a sweep +of the arm a space of territory extending about from the Mont Buet on the +one side round to the Aiguille de Goute on the other. Our friend surveyed +from end to end the extensive panorama suggested, then looked seriously at +us and observed that we should probably find it a fine walk. We expressed +gravely the opinion that he was quite right, and then went in to dinner, +while our composite friend expatiated on the project to his companions as +an expedition but little out of the ordinary run, and one that he was +perfectly prepared to undertake himself if so disposed; then he resumed +his contemplation of a rock some ninety feet or so in height jutting out +through the glacier above, which he was under the impression was a lady +descending from Mont Blanc. We did not learn his name, but the individual +may, nevertheless, possibly be recognised. Some points of the argument +were still unsettled when we climbed over the edges of our respective +boxes and vanished into the strawy depths below. The clear moonlight +streamed in through the window and prevented sleep; so I lay in my wooden +box thinking over the recent discussion, but with such a distinct +intention--like little Paul Dombey with Mrs. Pipchin--of fixing my companion +presently, that even that hardy old mountaineer deemed it prudent to +counterfeit slumber. + +In the small hours of the morning we got under weigh. For some time we had +been leading a life of sloth in Chamouni, and the delight of finding +ourselves once more on the mountain path, and making for a rock climb, +entirely precluded that fractiousness which, as all readers of Alpine +literature know, ought properly to be described at this period of an +expedition. The path was irregular and demanded some equanimity, for the +stumbling-blocks were innumerable and artfully placed to trip up the +unwary in an aggravating manner. Feeling it unfair that all the work +should be thrown on the guides, I had volunteered, rather magnanimously, +to bear part of the burden, and selected the lantern as my share. By this +means it was not only possible to walk in comfort over a well-lighted +track, but the bearer was enabled also to regulate the pace to a speed +convenient to his own feelings. Before long, however, we reached the lower +snow patches of the Glacier des Pelerins, and the light was no longer +necessary. + +(M70) + +We made straight across the crisp snow to the base of a promising-looking +rock buttress lying to the right of the snow gully that runs up the side +of the mountain, feeling sure that either by the rocks or the snow a way +up could be found. And now I am painfully conscious of a glaring defect in +this Alpine narrative. A mountain ascent without a bergschrund is as tame +as a steeplechase without a water jump, but candour compels the admission +that no bergschrund was visible. Either we had hit on a spot where the +orthodox chasm was filled up for the time, or else this particular glacier +was an exception to all others previously treated of in mountain +literature. In a few seconds we found ourselves on the rocks, delighted to +exchange the monotonous mode of progression compulsory on snow for the +varied gymnastic exercises demanded on rocks. The sun had risen, the axes +clanked merrily against the stones, the snow was in good condition for +walking, everything seemed favourable, and we gazed down complacently on +the distance already traversed. Above us the mountain was broken up and +easy, and we climbed on rapidly, each in the fashion that seemed best to +him. So good was our progress at first, that we were already far up the +buttress, and could barely see our morning's tracks in the snow beneath, +when a halt was called for breakfast, and we had time to look around. Now, +however unconventional this expedition may have been in many respects, the +sagacious student of Alpine literature will know that it must be wholly +impossible to omit all reference to the weather. As soon might one expect +two prosaic persons of slight acquaintanceship to abjure the topic at a +chance meeting. The western sky wore a rather ominous look of half +mourning, and heavy grey and black clouds were whirling about and forming +up in close order in a manner suggestive of rising wind. Even at this +stage of the proceedings the thought crossed our minds that the storm +which was evidently brewing might possibly overtake us, and that perhaps +we ought at once to turn back. + +(M71) + +One thing was evident; that we must decide quickly, whatever we did. We +determined to push on for a while, and with that intent girded ourselves +with the rope and worked our way on to the top of the first buttress. At +this point, further progress directly upwards was impossible, and we were +compelled to cross the gully and make for the rock on the left-hand side. +Considerable care is always necessary in crossing, horizontally, a gully +filled with snow, where the rope is rather a source of danger than of +security. We had to give all our attention to the passage, and when we +reached the rocks opposite, the climbing, though not formidable, was still +sufficiently difficult to occupy all our thoughts for the moment, and we +had but little leisure, and perhaps but little inclination, for +meteorological observations. At the top of the rocks a promising snow +slope, stretching upwards with gentle curves and sweeps, seemed to offer a +fair prospect of rapid progress. Such snow slopes are at all times a +little deceptive. Even when the climber is close to them they look +oftentimes much easier than they immediately after prove to be. From a +distance, say from under the verandah of a comfortable hotel, when the +climber _in posse_ indicates the way he would pursue with the end of his +cigar, they are absurdly easy. So, too, are obstacles in the +hunting-field, such as stiff hedges and uncompromising gates, easy enough +when the Nimrod studies them as he whirls along in an express train. +Subsequently, when immediately associated with a horse, these same +obstacles assume a different guise. Then are the sentiments of the hunter +prone to become modified, and compassion for dumb beasts becomes more +prominent in the thoughtful votary of the chase, till finally it may be +observed that the little wits jump sometimes more than the great ones. +Even so does the mountaineer often discover, on a nearer acquaintance that +the snow incline up which he proposed to stride merrily is inclined at a +highly inconvenient angle. However, at the commencement of our slope we +found the snow in good condition, and advanced quickly for some little +distance, but before we had got very far it was necessary to resort to the +axe, and we had then ample opportunities of looking round. The clouds were +lowering more and more, but as they were swept up by a sou'westerly wind, +the intervening mass of the mountain prevented us from seeing thoroughly +what might be in store for us. The wind, too, was growing stronger every +minute, and my companion, who was still pursuing his argument, and, as it +appeared subsequently, making some rather good points, had to exert +himself considerably in order to make his voice heard. + +Presently we halted for a few minutes on some spiky little rocks, and +again looked about. The weather prospects were just in that doubtful state +that prompts every member of the party to ask the others what they think. +Maurer looked exceedingly vacant and made no remark. Jaun put a bit of +snow in his mouth, but declined to give an opinion. We, not to be outdone, +assumed very profound expressions, as if prepared to find ourselves in the +right whatever happened, but, following the example of Lord Burleigh in +the famous tragedy, we said nothing either. At last, some one suggested +that we might go on for a little, and then see. Accordingly we went on for +a little, but then as a matter of fact the mists swept up around us and we +did not see anything at all. It was, no doubt, inconvenient that we were +unable to penetrate with our gaze to the regions above, but still we felt +that there was one slight counterbalancing advantage, for there was +present the haunting consciousness that the gigantic telescope of Chamouni +was pointed in our direction, and at least the enveloping mist ensured +that privacy which is not always accorded to climbers pursuing their +pastime within range of these instruments of science. + +(M72) + +In the hope that the condition of the upper snow might be good, and +perhaps rather mistaken in the height we had already reached, we made up +our minds to push on, with the view of reaching at any rate the top of the +ridge before the storm broke. Every now and again a rent in the clouds +above, lasting for a few seconds, showed us that the wind was blowing with +great force, as thin clouds of loose snow were swept up and whirled along +the face in curling wreaths. The spectacle might not, at first sight, have +been thought highly diverting: yet as we pointed upwards to the ridge and +watched the racing snow-drifts driving over the slopes we were making for, +we all laughed very heartily. So universal is the tendency to be amused at +the sight of discomfort that it even extends to the contemplation of its +occurring shortly to oneself. In the paulo-post-future the experience is +exhilarating: in the actual present it is less laughter-moving. Laughter +in the presence of events that are, in the true sense of the word, +sensational, comes almost as a reflex action (to borrow an expression from +the physiologists), and the sympathetic distress that follows takes an +appreciable time to develop. I can recall once being a witness with some +others of a ghastly accident by which several people were precipitated, +together with a mass of broken timbers and debris of all sorts, from a +great height. A door was burst open and the ruin met our eyes suddenly. To +this day I can remember sounds of laughter at the first view--hysterical if +you like to call it so, and not mirthful, but still laughter. In a few +seconds the realisation of what had happened came, and then came the +distress and with it expressions of horror, as all worked manfully to help +and rescue the sufferers. The sequence of emotions was perfectly natural, +and only they who have never passed through such an experience would speak +of inhumanity. There is no want of humanity in the matter. The suddenness +of the impression begets the train of emotions, and the brain grasps the +facts but slowly. To take another instance: I have been told by a man +whose quickness and presence of mind were remarkable--a man who as a +schoolboy won a Royal Humane Society's medal--that on one occasion he +witnessed a friend fall over a staircase from a great height. The accident +was in the highest degree unexpected: and the witness walked leisurely on +as if nothing had happened. But in a few seconds came like a severe blow +the sudden realisation of what had taken place. Thought is not always +quick. We can no more exert our minds to their fullest capacity on a +sudden than we can put forth our utmost physical strength on a sudden. +Action when almost instantaneous is independent of the higher mental +faculties, and is but a reflex. The experience of those who have been in +railway accidents will be of the same nature. In climbing up a very steep +or difficult place if a man falls all are prepared more or less for such +an accident. The whole attention is given to guarding against a probable +contingency, and it follows that the mind can instantly realise its +occurrence. And that such is the case I have been unlucky enough to +witness, though most fortunately the fall was attended with no serious +consequences. On the same principle, to take a more trivial example, on +difficult rocks it is the rarest possible accident for a man to sprain his +ankle or knee. The muscles are always prepared for a possible slip and +kept in tension on the alert. On the loose moraine, when walking leisurely +or carelessly, such an accident is a thousand times more likely to occur. + +(M73) + +Our leader worked away with a will, but the snow got harder at every step. +The growing force of the wind, which in nautical language had increased +from that vague degree known as a capful to the indefinite force of a +stiff breeze, and the increasing steepness of the slope, compelled Jaun to +make the steps larger and larger as we ascended. It soon became evident +that the storm would overtake us long before we could hope to get on to +the ridge, and that we had deliberately walked into something of a trap. +The steps had been cut so far apart that to descend by the same line would +have involved the construction of a fresh staircase, and on actually +turning, we found that what was a stiff breeze behind us was a half gale +when it met our faces. It was certainly easier to go on than to go back; +so we went further and fared much worse. The slope became steeper, the ice +harder, the half gale became a whole gale, and the delay between each step +seemed interminable. Suddenly, as we passed from under the lee of a +projecting slope on our right, a tremendous gust of wind, which seemed to +have waited for a few moments in order to collect its full forces, swept +suddenly down and almost tore us from our foothold. With that a torrent of +hail fell, and for a few moments we had enough to do to hold on where we +stood. Even my companion's conversation slackened. He had astutely +selected a place in the caravan immediately behind me, and as the gale was +blowing directly on our backs was enabled to fire off his remarks and +arguments without any possibility of response. Anything that I said in +answer was audible only to our leader, who took not the smallest interest +in the discussion. Unfortunately, too, it was difficult to listen with any +attention; for as the gusts came on we were forced to swing all our faces +round like chimney cowls instantly in the same direction. The squalls +became more frequent and more violent, the thunder and lightning played +around merrily, and as the wind howled by we had to throw ourselves flat +against the slope, adopting the undignified attitudes of a deer-stalker +nearing the brow of a Scotch hill--attitudes which bring somewhat unduly +into prominence the inadequate nature of the national costume. +Fortunately, as has been said, we were screened from view; and our poses, +though possibly ungraceful, were at any rate uncriticised. The big +hailstones, falling softly around, filled up the steps as they were made, +and our feet were buried up to the ankles in a moment. In a minute or two +the hurricane passed for the time; then we arose, shook ourselves, smiled +at nothing in particular, and the leader would find time during the +comparative lull to hack out three or four fresh steps. Certain sounds, +not accounted for by the elements, coming up from below, may have been +suggestions or may have been arguments, but they were knocked out of all +intelligible shape before they reached the head of the caravan. Not even +the porter at Lloyd's or the captain of a merchantman could have made +himself audible in that cyclone. Upwards we went, fighting for each step +and for each yard gained as hard as if we were storming a fortress. Even +while the leader had his axe in the air ready to deliver a fresh blow a +distant roar would betoken another onslaught, and we instantly fell flat +down like tin soldiers struck with the well-directed pea, and disposed +ourselves at a convenient angle of resistance; and so we went on, when we +did go on at all. If the relation is wearisome it is also realistic, for +we found that the actual experience was far from being lively; but all +things must have an end, including even the _feuilleton_ in a Parisian +newspaper or the walk up to the Bel Alp on a hot day, and the termination +came almost unexpectedly. + +(M74) + +We had got thoroughly tired of perpetually clinging on by the simple force +of adhesion to the storm-swept slope, and felt almost inclined to give up +the struggle against the elements and to go straight on trusting to +chance. Maurer, below, wore the expression of frowning discontent best +seen in amateur tenors singing a tender love ditty. Jaun had remarked +half-a-dozen times that the very next squall would infallibly sweep us all +away, and his cheerful prophetic utterances really seemed on the point of +being fulfilled, when, almost suddenly, the snow seemed to vanish from +under our feet, and we found ourselves on the summit of the ridge; at +least directly above us no more ascent appeared to present. It was +difficult to realise adequately the exact direction in which we were +facing, but I suppose that as the ridge runs about north and south by the +compass, we were facing a little south of east. This was an important +matter to decide, as the mist was gathered thick around and the idea of +descent had to be at once considered now that we had got to a position of +some degree of definiteness. At our feet the snow slope fell away in a +manner so distinct that we were without doubt really on the top of some +portion of the ridge. The difficulty was to estimate how far to our right +the summit of the Aiguille du Midi itself lay. However, we felt with +relief the truth of somebody's remark that we had at length succeeded in +getting somewhere; so far, no doubt, matters were satisfactory. Howbeit, +our pleasure was somewhat modified by the discovery that the gale blew +with considerably more force on the south-east side than it did on the one +by which we had ascended. We looked towards the south and endeavoured to +gather our wits together to elucidate the geographical problem that +presented. At the foot of the slope must lie the upper basin of the Vallee +Blanche and the Glacier de Tacul; unfortunately there seemed to be a +prodigious storm going on in that basin, and clouds of loose snow were +whirling about in all directions. It was impossible to understand these +winds; one might have thought that AEolus had just stepped out to attend a +committee meeting of the gods, and that all his subordinates were having +high jinks during his absence. + +(M75) + +The possibility of actually completing the ascent of the mountain seemed +out of the question, and the hope that we might have crept under the +shelter of the ridge to the final little rock cone of the Aiguille was +literally thrown to the winds. Here again, therefore, this narrative is +highly unconventional, for it is impossible to consult M. Roget's +"Thesaurus" and indulge with its aid in any grandiloquent description of +the view from the summit, although my account has now reached the stage at +which such word painting ought properly to be inserted. We turned to our +right, the direction in which the peak lay, and walked some little way +along the ridge till we got under shelter of a rock; now we were able once +more to stand upright and, huddled together, took the opportunity which +had been denied to us for some hours to interchange views. All agreed that +the situation was vile; that word, at least, may be taken as the resultant +of the various forcible epithets actually employed. All agreed that the +cold was intense, the prospect doubtful, and the panorama _nil_. There was +but one redeeming feature: extreme discomfort will reveal humour in those +in whom that quality would not be expected _a priori_ to find a +dwelling-place, and to each one of us the spectacle of his three wobegone +companions seemed to afford, if not amusement, at least an inkling of +complacency. Maurer removed the pack from his shoulders, and it was then +perceived that our cup of misery was full, and our sole remaining bottle +of wine completely empty. We had originally started with two, one white +and one red, of an inferior and indigestible quality, but had left the +white wine down below on the snow; we had previously drunk it. The other +bottle had broken against some projecting rock in climbing up, and the +resulting leakage had led to the formation of a very large circular red +patch in the small of Maurer's back, wherever that anatomical region might +be situated in our squat and sturdy little guide. After muttering together +in patois for a little while the guides seized their axes and suddenly +commenced with great vigour to hack out a large hole in the ice. We fell +to also, and for some few minutes all worked away with the best of good +will; the splinters and little blocks of ice flew around under our blows, +and before long we had excavated a flat basin capable of holding water. At +the least, the exercise had the effect of warming us, and Maurer, who +previously, from the effects of the cold, had been the colour of a +congested alderman in the face, gradually assumed a more healthy hue. We +now inquired what the object might be of preparing this cavern. Thereupon +Jaun gave vent to the ingenious suggestion that we had better remain where +we were and sleep in it. The idea seemed too likely to lead to permanent +repose to be commendable, and we received his proposition, as befitted its +nature, with some coolness, remarking that on the whole we should prefer +to go home. This view led to further conversation; ultimately we descended +a few feet on the south-east side and then made our way along the face of +the slope in a south-westerly direction towards the hut on the Aiguille du +Midi. The snow was soft, and we went on for some distance without +difficulty, till we again reached the ridge on the south-west side of the +Aiguille, having thus passed round the base of the final peak of the +mountain, which consists of a comparatively small rocky cone jutting up +from the main ridge. We were still of course a long way from the hut, but +as in this situation we were much more sheltered, we took the opportunity +to review the state of affairs and to consider our position, which for the +moment, like that of the pocket of a lady's ball dress, was indeterminate. +What were we to do? As with the diners at "Prix fixe" restaurant, there +were three courses for us: we might go down on one side, we might descend +on the other side, or we might remain where we were. The latter +alternative was as distasteful now as it had been just previously, and it +was negatived decisively. "Very good," said the guides; "if you won't stay +here we must go down that way," and they pointed in a direction westerly +by the compass. My companion and I were opposed to this plan for two +reasons: one that the route would, if it led anywhere in particular, take +us down to the Glacier des Bossons, where we did not want to go, the other +that by reason of the marvellous fury of the hurricane it would have been +altogether impossible to follow at all the line indicated. We were only in +fact able to dart out from under shelter of the rock and peer down into +the misty depths for a few seconds at a time, for the gale took our breath +away as completely as in the "cavern of the winds" at Niagara. To have +climbed down a new and difficult rock cliff in the face of the numbing +cold would have been little short of suicidal. + +(M76) + +It is Artemus Ward, I think, who describes the ingenious manner in which +Baron Trenck, of prison-breaking fame, escaped on one occasion from +durance vile. For fifteen long years the Baron had lain immured, and had +tried in vain to carry out all the sensational methods of escape ever +suggesting themselves to his fertile brain. At last an idea occurred to +him. He opened the door and walked out. By an intellectual effort of +almost equal brilliancy and originality we solved the difficulty that +beset us: we turned towards the south-east and walked quietly down the +slope for a hundred feet or so. Simplicity of thought is characteristic of +great minds. Why, nevertheless, it had not occurred to us before to escape +by this line I can no more explain than I can give the reason why all the +ladies in a concert-room smile, as one woman, when a singer of their own +sex makes her appearance on the platform, or why itinerant harp players +always wear tall hats. Immediately the complexion of affairs brightened +up. The wind was much less furious than it had been on the ridge, and the +hail was replaced by snow. Jaun now gave it as his opinion that the best +line of descent would consist in crossing round the head of the Vallee +Blanche and the upper slopes of the Glacier du Geant, so as to join the +ordinary route leading from the Col du Geant to the Montanvert. But in the +thick mist it would have been far from easy to hit off the right track, +and we thought it possible to make a short cut to the same end, and to +find a way directly down the Vallee Blanche towards the rocks known as the +Petit Rognon. We had no compass with us, but the direction of the slope +indicated the proper line of descent to follow. In most years it would not +be easy to discover the way through the complicated crevasses of the +ice-fall situated between the "Rognon" and the easterly rocks of the +Aiguille du Midi; but in 18-- so much snow had fallen early in the spring +and so little had melted during the summer, that we experienced +comparatively little difficulty in descending almost in a straight line. +During this part of the expedition the good qualities of our guides showed +once more to advantage. Unquestionably while on the ridge they had put +forward suggestions which were rather wild in character, and which were +proved now to be mistaken. The intense cold and the beating of the storm +seemed rather to have paralysed their usually calm judgment, and it is an +odd fact that guides, even when first rate, are oftentimes more affected +by such conditions than are the amateurs whom they conduct. We could no +more, with such experience as we possessed, have led the way aright as our +leader did with unerring sagacity, than an untutored person could write +out a full orchestra score. We could only insist on a given line being +taken if in their judgment it were possible. Once fairly started, we felt +that we must push our plan through, employing the same form of argument as +the man did in support of a bold statement that a certain beaver, closely +pursued by a dog, had climbed up a tree. It was not a question now whether +we could do it, or could not do it; we had to do it. The day was far +spent, there was possibly much difficult work before us, and the exertion +already undergone had been tolerably severe. The temptation was therefore +great rather to scamp the work of finding the best and safest track +through the ice-fall, but our leader displayed as much care and +thoroughness as if he were strolling over snow slopes with a critical +Chamouni guide behind him. A momentary glimpse of the familiar form of the +Aiguille du Geant right in front of us confirmed the judgment that we were +on the right track. In descending the ice-fall we passed to the right of +the Petit Rognon, and at the base of the Seracs halted and thought we +would have something to eat. Maurer produced our stock of provisions, +which consisted of one roll studded with little bits of broken glass and +reduced by the action of wine and water to the consistence of a poultice. +The refection was, therefore, as unsatisfactory as a meal out of a loosely +tied nosebag to a cab horse. And now for another departure from +time-honoured custom. All mountain narratives at this period of the day +make reference to the use of tobacco, the well-earned pipe, and so forth. +But the sleety rain, which for the last hour and a half had replaced the +snow, had soaked everything so thoroughly that an attempt to carry out the +orthodox proceeding did not, like most failures, end in smoke. So we +trudged on again empty and unsolaced. + +(M77) + +As the shades of night were falling, four dripping and woe-begone +travellers might, to borrow the novelist's common mode of expression, have +been observed toiling up the steep path towards the old Montanvert +hotel--that is, they might have been observed by anybody who was foolish +enough to be out of doors on such a detestable evening. We entered the +familiar little room, an ingenious compound of a toyshop and a barrack, +and notwithstanding that we were viewed with marked disfavour by the other +guests therein assembled in consequence of our moist and steamy condition, +we seated ourselves and called for refreshment. The atmosphere in the +stuffy den called the salon was a trifle pungent, and having contributed a +little additional dampness to the apartment we set off again. That +familiar old room with its odd collection of curiosities, in which the +fare was on the whole more disproportionate to the price than at any other +institution of a similar kind in the mountains, has ceased to exist long +ago. I fancy that it did not require much pulling down. It is happily +replaced now by one of the best managed and most comfortable mountain +hotels to be found in the Alps, a sure sign of which attraction is to be +found in the fact that it is, at any rate, spoken of with disfavour by the +inhabitants of the village below or by such as do not hold shares. Another +hour's descent and we passed through the few scattered houses just outside +Chamouni. The attractions on the way down had not diverted us from our +stern purpose of reaching Couttet's hotel as soon as possible. We had +politely declined the invitation of a perennially knitting young woman to +view a live chamois. The spasmodic smile called up by each approaching +tourist faded from her countenance as we passed by. Four times did we +decline the gentle refreshment of _limonade gazeuse_, once did we sternly +refuse to partake of strawberries, and twice to purchase crystals. It was +dark as we neared the town; it may have been my fancy, but I cannot help +thinking that I perceived our old friend the blind beggar with the +lugubrious expression which he wore when on duty, and with the tall hat +which served the purpose of an alms'-box, and which he did not wear when +on duty, enjoying himself in a very merry manner by the side of a blazing +fire. Notwithstanding that night had fallen there was still a little group +by the bridge round the one-armed telescope man, anxiously crowding to +hear the last news of the two insane Englishmen who had without doubt +perished that day miserably on the rocks of the Midi. A project had +already been started to organise an expedition on the morrow to search for +the bodies; and we might very possibly, if we had cared for the +excitement, have been allowed to join the party. + +(M78) + +As in a play the most striking situation is by the discreet author +reserved to the conclusion, so in this contradictory chapter the most +glaring deficiency comes now at the end. My readers, if they have +generously followed me so far, will recognise that we not only went on +something of a fool's errand, incurring considerable difficulty and +perhaps risk in that mission, but that we never got up the mountain at +all. The force of contradictoriness can no further go. Still, it may be +pointed out that we did actually accomplish all that was novel in the +expedition. Once on the ridge, the remaining portion of the climb is, in +fine weather, easy and well known, so the fact that the Aiguille du Midi +can be ascended by this line by any one consumed with an ambition to do +so, is beyond doubt. We were not probably at one point more than twenty +minutes or half an hour from the actual summit. I cannot honestly advise +anybody to follow our tracks; but in all probability, if someone should +desire to do so, he need not, under favourable conditions, contemplate +meeting with any unsurmountable difficulties. + + [Illustration: THE AIGUILLE DU DRU + FROM THE SOUTH] + + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + + ASCENT OF THE AIGUILLE DU DRU + + + "_Decies repetita placebit_" + + + Disadvantages of narratives of personal adventure--Expeditions on + the Aiguille du Dru in 1874--The ridge between the Aiguilles du Dru + and Verte--"Defendu de passer par la"--Distance lends + enchantment--Other climbers attack the peak--View of the mountain + from the Col de Balme--We try the northern side, and fail more + signally than usual--Showing that mountain fever is of the + recurrent type--We take seats below, but have no opportunity of + going up higher--The campaign opens--We go under canvas--A spasmodic + start, and another failure--A change of tactics and a new + leader--Our sixteenth attempt--Sports and pastimes at Chamouni--The + art of cray-fishing--The apparel oft proclaims the man--A canine + acquaintance--A new ally--The turning point of the expedition--A + rehearsal for the final performance--A difficult descent--A blank in + the narrative--A carriage misadventure--A penultimate failure--We + start with two guides and finish with one--The rocks of the + Dru--Maurer joins the party--Our nineteenth attempt--A narrow escape + in the gully--The arete at last--The final scramble--Our foe is + vanquished and decorated--The return journey--Benighted--A moonlight + descent--We are graciously received--On "fair" mountaineering--The + prestige of new peaks--Chamouni becomes festive--"Heut' Abend + grosses Feuerwerkfest"--Chamouni dances and shows hospitality--The + scene closes in. + + +It is to some extent an unfortunate circumstance that in a personal +narrative of adventure the result is practically known from the very +beginning. The only uncertainty that can exist is the actual pattern on +which the links of the chain are united together, for the climax is from +the outset a foregone conclusion. The descriptive account will inevitably +conduct the reader along a more or less mazy path to an assured goal. +There is certainly one other variety, but that takes the less satisfactory +form of an obituary notice. Even in a thoroughly well-acted play a +perceptible shudder runs through the audience when two actors select each +a chair, draw them down to the footlights, and one announces "'Tis now +some fourteen years ago." The expression in its pristine dramatic +simplicity may still be heard in transpontine theatres, but modern realism +insists usually on a paraphrase. The audience cannot but feel, however +thrilling the story to be told, that at any rate the two players have +survived the adventures they have to narrate, and on the whole a good many +wish they hadn't. There sit the heroes, and exert themselves as they will +their recital is apt to fall somewhat flat. In like manner I will not +attempt to conceal the fact that the ultimate result of our numerous +attempts on the peak which forms the subject of this chapter was that we +got up it, and the fact may also be divulged that we came down again, and +in safety. Indeed, it seems difficult now to realise the length of time +during which our ultimate success oscillated in the balance--at one time +appearing hopeless, at another problematical, at times almost certain, and +then again apparently out of our reach. + +(M79) + +In 1874, with two guides, of whom Alexander Burgener was one, we started +for the Montanvert with the intention of making for the ridge between the +Aiguille du Dru and the Aiguille Verte, with the object of further +investigating the route which Messrs. Pendlebury, Kennedy and Marshall had +essayed on an occasion already described, when the bad condition of the +rocks frustrated their hopes. The mountain was probably in a very +different state on this occasion, and we experienced no very great +difficulty in discovering a fairly easy route up the rocks. The chief +trouble consisted in the fact that the rock gully by which the ascent is +chiefly made was extensively plastered over with ice, a condition in which +we nearly always found it. The last part of the climb up to the ridge +affords a most splendid scramble. The face is so steep on either side that +the climber comes quite suddenly to a position whence he overlooks the +northern slope, if slope it may be called, and looks down on to the +Glacier du Nant Blanc. Seen in grey shadow, or half shrouded in shifting +mists and coloured only with half-tints, the precipice is magnificent; +huge sheets of clear ice coat its flanks, and the almost unbroken descent +of rock affords as striking a spectacle as the mountaineer fond of wild +desolation can well picture. + + If you would see this slope aright, + Look at it by the pale grey light. + +On the left the mass of the Aiguille du Dru cuts off the view of the +fertile regions; far away on the right the huge tapering towers of rock +form a massive foreground stretching away to the base of the Aiguille +Verte. The spectator too seems strangely shut off, so that, gazing around, +on either side he can see but a narrow extent of the mountain. We looked +down and did not like what we saw; we looked up and liked it less. The day +was fine and the mountain in good condition. I can recall now that our +eyes must have wandered over the very route that ultimately proved to be +the right one, and yet to none of us that afternoon did it appear in the +least degree possible. Unquestionably the crags of the Aiguille du Dru +looked formidable enough from this point of view, and we could not but +think that nature must have provided some easier mode of access to the +summit than this face seemed to afford. We climbed along the ridge till we +were almost against the face of the mountain, but then we had to turn our +gaze so directly upwards that matters looked still worse. Then we faced +about and climbed in the other direction. The rocks seemed to grow bigger +and bigger the more we looked at them. What the guides actually thought I +do not quite know, but at the moment my own impression was that it would +be impossible to ascend more than two or three hundred feet: so we turned +and came back. Even while we yet descended the thought came that this face +of the mountain was perhaps not so utterly hopeless as it had appeared a +few minutes previously, and in my own mind I decided that, should we fail +in discovering some much more promising line from another point of view, +we would at least return to the ridge often enough to familiarise +ourselves with this aspect of the mountain, with the idea that such +familiarity if it did not succeed in breeding contempt might at least give +birth to a more sanguine frame of mind. The farther we got from our point +of view the more hopeful did the mental impression seem to become, and by +the time we reached Chamouni we had all separately arrived at the +conclusion--somewhat selfish perhaps, but justifiable under the +circumstances--that if asked what we thought of the possibility of +ascending by the face we had tried, we would give honestly the opinion we +had formed while on the ridge, and not the opinion at which we had arrived +subsequently. + +(M80) + +Other explorers were meanwhile at work on the mountain, but so far as I +could learn all their attempts were made on the south-western peak. At any +rate they followed more or less the line we had first struck out. Some +thought that the lower peak alone was feasible, others that the higher +peak was attainable only from the south-western side. So thought Mr. E. R. +Whitwell; so again, Mr. J. Birkbeck, jun., both of whom reached probably a +much higher point on the south-western face than we succeeded in obtaining +in 1873. + +In 1875 we were making our way once more by the Col de Balme to Chamouni, +and being in somewhat of a reflective mood, induced by the consumption of +a soup-tureen full of bread and milk at the hotel at the top of the pass, +we sought a shady spot hard by whence a good view of the Aiguille du Dru +could be obtained, and contemplated the precipices as seen from this point +of view. The northern slope leading up to the ridge over which we had +looked lay well before us. The upper part of the mountain looked +distinctly different as far as accessibility was concerned. It seemed just +possible, if a way could only be found up from the level of the ridge to a +certain ledge some distance above, that the final mass might be feasible. +There appeared to be a sort of gully sloping upwards in a direction curved +away from us, in which the snow lay so thick that the rocks on either side +could not, we thought, be very steep. At the least it seemed to be worth +our while to make for this gully, which was obviously unattainable from +the ridge itself, for it was here cut off by a belt of straight rock. + +(M81) + +A few days later we carried the idea into effect. It was necessary to +engage some one to carry the tent, and Burgener was deputed to search for +a porter of a willing disposition and suitable physical conformation. +Presently he came back in company with a shambling youth of great length +of limb and somewhat lanky frame. We inquired if he were willing to come +with us, whereupon the young man was seized with violent facial +contortions, and we perceived that he suffered from an impediment in his +speech. Not wishing to render him nervous by our presence, we took a short +turn in the garden, leaving him where he stood. On our return the young +man's efforts culminated in the remark, "How much?" We said, "Twenty-five +francs," and then started off to consult the barometer. On coming back +after this interval we found that the young man had just previously +succeeded in articulating "Yes." The practical result of this one-sided +colloquy was that the next day the tall young man was laden with the tent, +with directions to carry it up to a point immediately opposite the +Montanvert below the Glacier du Nant Blanc. The tall young man shouldered +his burden and started off with great activity. We followed him somewhat +later under the rather transparent pretence of going to hunt for crystals +next day. Making our way up by a long ridge lying between the Glacier du +Nant Blanc and a little snow patch dignified in some maps by the +appellation of the Glacier du Dru, we skirted round the base of the +Aiguille looking constantly upwards to find some practicable line of +ascent, and hoping that we might discover one which would conduct us up on +to the main mass of the mountain before we had got opposite to the point +by which we had made our ascent from the southern side. It soon became +evident that we were very unlikely to find a way. Far above jutted out a +little horizontal table of rock. Burgener observed that if we could only +get there it would be something. So far his remarks did not appear +inaccurate, but it was perfectly clear before long that there was no +chance of getting any higher, supposing we could get on to this platform; +yet a little further, and we perceived that we could not even get to it. +Ultimately we discovered that the platform itself was an optical delusion. +It did not seem worth while to make any attempt to reach the summit of the +ridge from the side we were on, even if we could have done so, which I +doubt. The day may come when the climber will seek to discover some +variation to the route up the peak; but mountaineering skill will indeed +have improved out of all knowledge if anyone ever succeeds in getting up +this northern face. From every point of view we surveyed it, and from +every point of view, in our opinion, it was equally impossible. So in the +evening we came back once more to the tent, from the door of which +protruded a pair of thick boots. These encased the feet articulated to the +lanky legs of the tall young man, who had been enjoying a siesta of some +ten or twelve hours' duration. Kicking gently at a prominent bulging of +the canvas on the opposite side to the door had the effect of waking our +slumbrous friend, who was exceedingly sarcastic at our want of success; +so, at least, we judged by his expression of countenance. For a long while +his efforts yielded no verbal result. But his words seemed as it were to +stick fast in an endeavour to bring them out three or four abreast through +a portal that was capable only of allowing egress to them in single file. +Of a sudden the jostling syllables broke down the obstructing barrier, and +he startled us by pouring forth a string of remarks with precipitate +volubility. Knowing, however, that it would be some time before we could +hope to try the peak again, we were not loth to leave him under the +impression, to be communicated to his friends at Chamouni, that we had +come to the conclusion that the mountain was inaccessible. + +(M82) + +It was not till 1878 that we were able to revisit once more the scene of +our many failures. + +During the winter months, however, the thought of the stubborn Aiguille +had been from time to time discussed, and when J. Oakley Maund and I came +back to Chamouni we had very serious intentions. This time we were both +possessed with one fixed determination with regard to the Aiguille. Either +we would get up to the top or, at the worst, would, as far as lay in our +power, prove that it was inaccessible by any line of attack. By my wish, +our first attempts were to be made by the old route leading towards the +lower peak; not that we were very sanguine of succeeding by this line of +ascent, but rather because we felt that no very great amount of +exploration would be necessary to determine whether the higher point could +or could not be reached from this side; but though our intentions were +good we were scarcely prepared for the difficulties that met us from the +beginning. The elements seemed to have set their faces against us. Time +after time when all was ready for a start we were baulked by snow, wind, +or rain. Day after day we sat waiting in vain for the favourable moment, +sometimes at our bivouac high up above the Mer de Glace, by the side of +the Glacier de la Charpoua, till hope deferred and a series of _table +d'hote_ dinners combined with want of exercise to make the heart sick and +the individual despondently dyspeptic. Perhaps the wind would shift round +a point or two towards the north and a couple of fine days occur. +Straightway we set off for the tent which we left concealed at the +bivouac. Then came the rain again, and we had to return soaked and +dejected. Sometimes it rained before we got to the Montanvert and +sometimes after, and in fact we seemed to be making perpetually fitful +excursions from the kitchen fire at the Montanvert to that at Couttet's +hotel. On hydropathic principles we found the state of the elements no +mean form of cure for the mountain fever. Still, like the hungry butler, +we reflected that everything comes to him who waits, and seizing every +possible opportunity did manage to achieve some climbing during the rare +intervals of moderately favourable weather. + +(M83) + +The campaign was opened with an attempt made with Jaun and Andreas Maurer +as guides. A youth of hollow visage and weak joints (a relation, possibly, +of our friend with the one defective articulation), who did not much enter +into the spirit of the expedition, and who seemed by his expression to +echo Hamlet's interrogation as to the necessity of bearing fardels, +carried our tent up to the grass slopes by the Charpoua glacier. Here, on +a smooth, level patch of turf surrounded on three sides by rocks, we +established a little country seat, though we scarcely realised on this +first occasion how often it would be our lot to run up and spend the night +there, and to return to town the following morning. There are many and +excellent camping places about these slopes; dry dwarf rhododendron bushes +abound, and water is plentiful. There was no difficulty in rising early +the next morning, for at some time in the small hours the spindle-legged +porter was seized with terrible cramp. Under ordinary circumstances his +lower limbs were imperfectly under his control, and when thus affected +they became perfectly ungovernable, so that the neat order in which we had +disposed ourselves overnight for slumber was rudely disarranged, and we +were forced to rise and turn out till the spasms should have subsided. +Under the influence of gentle friction the spasms quieted down, and when +we left he was troubled only with a few twitching kicks, such as may be +observed in a dreaming dog. At 2 A.M. we started and wended our way up the +glacier, every step of which seemed familiar. To our surprise and delight +the snow was in first-rate order, and our spirits rose at the prospect of +a good climb; but the time had not yet come for success, and our hopes +were soon to be dashed. There was still an immense amount of snow on the +lower rock slopes over which access to the south-western peak is alone +possible, and this snow was in a highly treacherous condition. Before we +had ascended many feet the guides very properly refused to go on, a +determination with which we felt ourselves bound to acquiesce. They +pointed out that it would be unwarrantably dangerous to descend late in +the afternoon over deep snow, soft, and but loosely adhering to the rocks. +Under such conditions it is of course impossible to judge of the foothold, +and there is nothing to hold on to with the hands. There was no other +alternative, therefore, if we were to follow this route, than to wait till +more of the snow should have melted, or else to find a track where the +rocks were bare. As far as we could ascertain, however, there was no such +track to be seen. We decided to go back, but still remained at Chamouni, +for we durst not lose a single favourable opportunity. With an +imperturbability bred of long experience did we meet the sniggers and +sneers of certain croakers below, who looked with an unfavourable eye on +our proceedings. + +(M84) + +Within the next fortnight we made two further attempts by much the same +route and with the same guides, but only succeeded in going far enough to +prove that the opinion of the guides was perfectly correct with regard to +the state of the snow. Already matters seemed to justify some gloomy doubt +as to whether we could carry out even the exploratory part of our +programme, for Jaun was compelled to leave us in order to fulfil another +engagement, and we scarcely knew where to turn to find another man capable +of guiding us in the way we desired to go. Still our determination was +unshaken by our run of ill-luck. We would not give it up. With no more +definite object than that of justifying an impending _table d'hote_ +dinner, I was walking up the Montanvert path one rainy afternoon, when a +ray of sunlight suddenly burst upon me in the person of Alexander +Burgener. He had come over the Col du Geant with a party of travellers, +and to our delight was not only disengaged, but exceedingly anxious to +attack once more, or, in fact, as often as we liked, the obstinate +Aiguille. From the moment that he assumed the chief command matters began +to wear a different complexion, for we learnt that he had taken every +opportunity to consider and study the mountain. By his advice a complete +change of tactics was adopted. We decided to abandon all idea of attacking +the lower peak, and made up our minds to try the higher summit by the +route we had first followed four years previously. We had often discussed +together our chances of success on this peak, and had often come to the +conclusion that its ascent was more than doubtful. But now Burgener was so +positive of ultimate triumph, and so confident in his own powers, not only +of getting up himself, but of getting us also to our goal, that the whole +matter seemed placed before us in a different light. We might have to +wait, we might have to try many times, but still we could not but believe +the impression that now gradually formed that we must ultimately succeed. +To the spirit which Burgener displayed that year, and which he imbued in +us (at a time when it must be confessed that such a spirit was much +wanted, for we were as downcast as water-cure patients during the +process), and to his sagacity and great guiding qualities, the whole of +our ultimate success was due. I knew that, as a guide, he was immeasurably +superior to an amateur in his trained knack of finding the way, and that +in quickness on rocks the two could hardly be compared. But previously it +had always seemed to me that the amateur excelled in one great requisite, +viz., pluck. Let this record show that in one instance at least this +estimate was erroneous, for had it not been for Burgener's indomitable +pluck we should never have succeeded in climbing the Aiguille du Dru. + +(M85) + +Burgener was of opinion that from the summit of the actual ridge lying +east of the higher peak, and between it and the Aiguille Verte, it was not +feasible to ascend on to the face of the mountain, and he proposed +accordingly that we should commence by making a study of the rocks lying +to the left of the main gully running up to this same ridge, endeavouring +if possible to discover some point where we could bear off to the left on +to the real mass of the mountain. In addition he pointed out that the +upper rocks might be very difficult and require much time (as we had +already agreed together in previous years that they were altogether +impossible, this remark seemed probable enough), and it was important +therefore to discover the easiest and quickest way up the lower part of +the rock slopes. Accordingly we departed--and this was our sixteenth +attempt--from the Montanvert one morning at 1 A.M. We had long since +cultivated a manner of going about our business in such a way as to avoid +the gaze of the curious, and set forth on this occasion in much the same +spirit that burglars adopt when on evil errands intent. The day was +entirely spent as agreed in studying the lower rocks and working out +accurately the most feasible line of assault. But though we ascended on +this occasion to no very great height we were perpetually engaged in +climbing, and the quantity of snow which still lay on the rocks rendered +progress difficult and care necessary. Still it was no haphazard +exploration that we were engaged in, and the spirit of deliberation in +which we began begat a spirit of hopefulness as we went on. A fancied +insufficiency of guiding strength, coupled with a decidedly insufficient +supply of rope and an inherent idea that the new line of assault +contemplated was not to be worked out to an end at the first attempt, all +combined to drive us back to Chamouni late the same evening. + +(M86) + +_Apres cela le deluge_, and for a long time high mountaineering of any +description was out of the question. Desperate were the attempts we made +to amuse ourselves, and to while away the time. Sports and pastimes within +the limited area of the hotel premises were the fashion for a time. The +courtyard in front of Couttet's hotel was made into a lawn-tennis ground. +The village stores being ransacked yielded a limited supply of +parti-coloured india-rubber balls; the village carpenter constructed bats +out of flat pieces of wood, and we sought to forget the unpropitious +elements by playing morning, noon, and night. As a result several windows +and a lamp were reduced to ruin. Then we went a-crayfishing. A basket +carriage, which was constructed apparently of iron sheeting, but painted +over with a wicker-work pattern in order to deceive a flea-bitten grey +steed of great age with the impression that it was very light, conveyed us +to Chatelard, which by a twofold inaccuracy was termed the fishing-ground, +our object being to catch animals which were not fish and lived in water. +There the sport began, and was conducted on this wise. Sticks with a cleft +at the end, into which nondescript pieces of ill-smelling meat were +wedged, were submerged in a little brook to tempt the prey, but the only +bites we got were from the horse-flies and inflicted on our own persons; +howbeit, one or two of the party when at a distance from their +fellow-sportsmen averred that they had been on a point of catching +monsters of the deep the size of lobsters. We did not discover till +subsequently that, led astray by a plausible peasant possessed of riparian +rights and untruthful propensities, we had been fishing (or +"crustaceaning," to speak correctly) all day in a stream untenanted by any +crayfish whatever, the result being that we caught a chill and nothing +else. The ancient steed, moreover, though he bowled along merrily enough +down the hill to Chatelard and required no more stimulus than an +occasional chirrup from the driver afforded, was yet very loth to draw the +party back up the hill at the same pace, and required such constant +stimulation of a more active kind on the way back that it was found +necessary before we reached the village to stop and smooth out the creases +on his sides. The next day the report came that the spotted grey was "tres +malade," and the next day too my right arm was excessively stiff. + +A subsequent sporting expedition yielded happier results. One of the +party, gifted with diplomatic talents and a power of detecting the +vulnerable points in the character of the natives, purchased, for the sum +of one franc, information from a shockheaded juvenile suffering from a +skin eruption as to the best stocked streams. Then did the deep yield up +its carnivorous denizens. Artfully and in silence did the anglers wait for +their prey to claw the reeking bait. Deftly and warily did they withdraw +the rod, sometimes with two or three victims clinging in a bunch, and land +the spoil on the bank. Then would the crayfish loosen their hold, roll +over on their backs, flap their tails very briskly, and start off with +amazing rapidity for short country walks, speedily to be captured and +consigned to the recesses of a receptacle, bearing a suspicious +resemblance to Madame Couttet's work-basket. Ultimately they formed the +basis of a "bisque" not unworthy of Brebant. + +(M87) + +What time the india-rubber balls were all burst and the fishing-ground had +lost its attraction, seated on a tilted chair beneath the verandah we fell +a-musing and studied human nature, and the various types that presented +day after day round and about the hotel. Much was there to marvel at in +many of the costumes, to many of which the late Mr. Planche himself would +have been unable to assign a date. It has been noticed of course, times +out of mind, as a characteristic of the Briton, that a costume in which he +would not go coal-heaving at home is considered good enough for Sunday in +the Alps. One gentleman indeed, whose own apparel would have been +considered untidy even if he had been a member of a shipwrecked crew, had +been enlarging on this topic with much fervour, to a select audience, +dwelling especially on the discourtesy thus shown to the natives of the +country. I looked, when Sunday came, that he should be clad in raiment of +more than ordinary fitness and splendour, but the only changes that I +could perceive from the week-day vesture consisted in a tall hat, which +somebody had mistaken for an opera hat on some occasion, and a long strip +of rag wound round a cut finger, while his wife, who had recently been on +the glaciers, appeared in a low cut dress, so that she presented a curious +piebald appearance. The lateness of the season may have accounted for the +fact that many of the garments seemed rapidly to be resolving into their +pristine condition of warp and woof, especially about the region where it +is usual in the Alps to light the poison-darting lucifer matches of the +country. There were flannel shirts with collars on some, and flannel +shirts without them on others, while yet a third set wore white chokers +round their necks made of vulcanite, so that they looked like favourite +pug-dogs, or fashioned of a shiny paper, which obviously had no more to do +with the garment with which they were temporarily associated than the +label of an expensive wine at a second-rate restaurant has to do with the +contents of the bottle. Then we fell to anatomical study, and marvelled at +the various imperfections of development the muscle known to the learned +as the gastrocnemius(4) could exhibit in the legs of our countrymen, and +wondered why they took such pains in their costume to display its usually +unsymmetrical proportions, and wondered too if they really believed that a +double folding back of the upper part of the stocking below the +knickerbocker deceived anyone with an appearance of mighty thews. Then we +went off and tapped the barometer, which was as devoid of principle as a +bone setter, and kept on persistently rising. We made friends with a +little stray waif of a dog of obsequious demeanour and cringing +disposition, prone to roll over on its back when spoken to, thereby +displaying a curiously speckled stomach, but which was withal inclined to +be amiable, and wagged its tail so vigorously on being noticed that I +quite feared it might sustain a sprain at the root of that appendage. But +our friendship was short-lived. Before long our little friend found an +acquaintance in the shape of a small semi-shaved mongrel with a tail like +a stalk of asparagus run to seed. After a little preliminary walking about +on tiptoe, friendly overtures were made. The game commenced by the +playmates licking each others' noses; next they ran round with surprising +rapidity in very small circles, and then fell to wrestling in the middle +of the courtyard. These canine acquaintanceships always end in the same +way. Before long a sudden, sharp squeak was heard, and the last I saw of +my little friend was a vanishing form darting round the nearest corner, +with his tail as much between his legs as the excessive shortness of that +excrescence would permit. His playmate, somewhat disturbed for a moment by +this abrupt termination of the acquaintanceship, gazed pensively, with +ears erect, for a while in the direction in which his friend had vanished: +then investigated two or three unimportant objects by the sense of smell, +consumed a few blades of grass, yawned twice, stretched himself once, +rolled on something which had puzzled him, and retired to repose at a +little distance to await the expected medicinal effects of the herb of +which he had partaken. + +(M88) + +This is a true saying, that "There's small choice in rotten apples," and a +description of boredom in one place is much like the same in another. +Gradually, weariness of the flesh below in the valley became almost +intolerable, while we were longing for an opportunity to weary the flesh, +in another way, on the mountain. Ultimately, to my infinite regret, Maund +found himself obliged to depart to fulfil an engagement elsewhere, but I +still held on, though the conviction was daily becoming stronger that the +rain would go on till the winter snows came. + +(M89) + +On a mountain such as we knew the Aiguille du Dru to be it would not have +been wise to make any attempt with a party of more than four. No doubt +three--that is, an amateur with two guides--would have been better still, +but I had, during the enforced inaction through which we had been passing, +become so convinced of ultimate success that I was anxious to find a +companion to share it. Fortunately, J. Walker Hartley, a highly skilful +and practised mountaineer, was at Chamouni, and it required but little +persuasion to induce him to join our party. Seizing an opportunity one +August day when the rain had stopped for a short while, we decided to try +once more, or at any rate to see what effects the climatic phases through +which we had been passing had produced on the Aiguille. With Alexander +Burgener and Andreas Maurer still as guides we ascended once again the +slopes by the side of the Charpoua glacier, and succeeded in discovering a +still more eligible site for a bivouac than on our previous attempts. A +little before four the next morning we extracted each other from our +respective sleeping bags, and made our way rapidly up the glacier. The +snow still lay thick everywhere on the rocks, which were fearfully cold +and glazed with thin layers of slippery ice; but our purpose was very +serious that day, and we were not to be deterred by anything short of +unwarrantable risk. We intended the climb to be merely one of exploration, +but were resolved to make it as thorough as possible, and with the best +results. From the middle of the slope leading up to the ridge the guides +went on alone while we stayed to inspect and work out bit by bit the best +routes over such parts of the mountain as lay within view. In an hour or +two Burgener and Maurer came back to us, and the former invited me to go +on with him back to the point from which he had just descended. His +invitation was couched in gloomy terms, but there was a twinkle at the +same time in his eye which it was easy to interpret--_ce n'est que l'oeil +qui rit_. We started off and climbed without the rope up the way which was +now so familiar, but which on this occasion, in consequence of the glazed +condition of the rocks, was as difficult as it could well be; but for a +growing conviction that the upper crags were not so bad as they looked we +should scarcely have persevered. "Wait a little," said Burgener, "I will +show you something presently." We reached at last a great knob of rock +close below the ridge, and for a long time sat a little distance apart +silently staring at the precipices of the upper peak. I asked Burgener +what it might be that he had to show me. He pointed to a little crack some +way off, and begged that I would study it, and then fell again to gazing +at it very hard himself. Though we scarcely knew it at the time, this was +the turning point of our year's climbing. Up to that moment I had only +felt doubts as to the inaccessibility of the mountain. Now a certain +feeling of confident elation began to creep over me. The fact is, that we +gradually worked ourselves up into the right mental condition, and the +aspect of a mountain varies marvellously according to the beholder's frame +of mind. These same crags had been by each of us independently, at one +time or another, deliberately pronounced impossible. They were in no +better condition that day than usual, in fact in much worse order than we +had often seen them before. Yet, notwithstanding that good judges had +ridiculed the idea of finding a way up the precipitous wall, the prospect +looked different that day as turn by turn we screwed our determination up +to the sticking point. Here and there we could clearly trace short bits of +practicable rock ledges along which a man might walk, or over which at any +rate he might transport himself, while cracks and irregularities seemed to +develop as we looked. Gradually, uniting and communicating passages +appeared to form. Faster and faster did our thoughts travel, and at last +we rose and turned to each other. The same train of ideas had +independently been passing through our minds. Burgener's face flushed, his +eyes brightened, and he struck a great blow with his axe as we exclaimed +almost together, "It must, and it shall be done!" + +(M90) + +The rest of the day was devoted to bringing down the long ladder, which +had previously been deposited close below the summit of the ridge, to a +point much lower and nearer to the main peak. This ladder had not hitherto +been of the slightest assistance on the rocks, and had indeed proved a +source of constant anxiety and worry, for it was ever prone to precipitate +its lumbering form headlong down the slope. We had, it is true, used it +occasionally on the glacier to bridge over the crevasses, and had saved +some time thereby. Still we were loth to discard its aid altogether, and +accordingly devoted much time and no little exertion to hauling it about +and fixing it in a place of security. It was late in the evening before we +had made all our preparations for the next assault and turned to the +descent, which proved to be exceedingly difficult on this occasion. The +snow had become very soft during the day; the late hour and the melting +above caused the stones to fall so freely down the gully that we gave up +that line of descent and made our way over the face. Often, in travelling +down, we were buried up to the waist in soft snow overlying rock slabs, of +which we knew no more than that they were very smooth and inclined at a +highly inconvenient angle. It was imperative for one only to move at a +time, and the perpetual roping and unroping was most wearisome. In one +place it was necessary to pay out 150 feet of rope between one position of +comparative security and the one next below it, till the individual who +was thus lowered looked like a bait at the end of a deep sea line. One +step and the snow would crunch up in a wholesome manner and yield firm +support. The next, and the leg plunged in as far as it could reach, while +the submerged climber would, literally, struggle in vain to collect +himself. Of course those above, to whom the duty of paying out the rope +was entrusted, would seize the occasion to jerk as violently at the cord +as a cabman does at his horse's mouth when he has misguided the animal +round a corner. Now another step and a layer of snow not more than a foot +deep would slide off with a gentle hiss, exposing bare, black ice beneath, +or treacherous loose stones. Nor were our difficulties at an end when we +reached the foot of the rocks, for the head of the glacier had fallen away +from the main mass of the mountain, even as an ill-constructed bow window +occasionally dissociates itself from the facade of a jerry-built villa, +and some very complicated manoeuvring was necessary in order to reach the +snow slopes. It was not till late in the evening that we reached Chamouni; +but it would have mattered nothing to us even had we been benighted, for +we had seen all that we had wanted to see, and I would have staked my +existence now on the possibility of ascending the peak. But the moment was +not yet at hand, and our fortress held out against surrender to the very +last by calling in its old allies, sou'westerly winds and rainy weather. +The whirligig of time had not yet revolved so as to bring us in our +revenge. + + * * * * * * * * + +(M91) + +Perhaps the monotonous repetition of failures on the peak influences my +recollection of what took place subsequently to the expedition last +mentioned. Perhaps (as I sometimes think even now) an intense desire to +accomplish our ambition ripened into a realisation of actual occurrences +which really were only efforts of imagination. This much I know, that when +on September 7 we sat once more round a blazing wood fire at the familiar +bivouac gazing pensively at the crackling fuel, it seemed hard to persuade +one's-self that so much had taken place since our last attempt. Leaning +back against the rock and closing the eyes for a moment it seemed but a +dream, whose reality could be disproved by an effort of the will, that we +had gone to Zermatt in a storm and hurried back again in a drizzle on +hearing that some other climbers were intent on our peak; that we had left +Chamouni in rain and tried, for the seventeenth time, in a tempest; that +matters had seemed so utterly hopeless, seeing that the season was far +advanced and the days but short, as to induce me to return to England, +leaving minute directions that if the snow should chance to melt and the +weather to mend I might be summoned back at once; that after +eight-and-forty hours of sojourn in the fogs of my native land an +intimation had come by telegraph of glad tidings; that I had posted off +straightway by _grande vitesse_ back to Chamouni; that I had arrived there +at four in the morning, in consequence of a little misadventure, which may +be here parenthetically narrated. + +(M92) + +The afternoon diligence from Geneva did not go beyond Sallanches. However, +an ingenious young man of low commercial morality, who said that he had a +remarkable horse and a super-excellent carriage, was persuaded to drive me +on the remainder of the way to Chamouni. The young man, observing that he +had been very busy of late and had not been to bed for two nights (nor had +he, as might be judged, washed or tidied himself since last he sought +repose), took a very hearty drink out of a tumbler and climbed on to an +eminence like a long-legged footstool, which it appeared was the box seat. +With much cracking of whips and various ill-tempered remarks to his horse +we started with success, aided by the efforts of a well-meaning person +(judging by the way in which he wore his braces loosely encircling his +waist, devoted to the tending of horses), who, to oblige his friend the +driver, ran suddenly at the slothful animal in the shafts and punched the +beast very heartily in the ribs with his fist. Before we had gone a mile +our troubles began. The coachman's ill-humour subsided, it is true, but +only in consequence of Nature's soft nurse weighing his eyelids down. +Accordingly I got out my axe and poked him in the back when he curled up +under the influence of his fatigue. This made him swear a good deal, but +for a time the device was successful enough. Gradually the monotonous +jangling of the harness bells induced a somnolent disposition in me too, +and I conceived then the brilliant idea, as we were ascending the long +hill near St. Gervais at a walk, of planting the head of the axe against +my own chest and arranging the weapon in such a way that the spike was in +close contact with the small of the driver's back, so that when he fell +back it would run into him. Of a sudden I opened my eyes to find that the +jangling had ceased and the carriage stopped. We were undoubtedly at +Chamouni, and the journey was at an end. Such, however, was not quite the +case. As a matter of fact, we were not 200 yards further up the hill, the +horse was peacefully grazing by the roadside, and the young man had eluded +my artful contrivance by falling forwards off the box, where he lay +crumpled up into a shapeless heap, peacefully asleep, entangled between +the shafts, the traces, the splinter bar, and the horse's tail. + +I rubbed my eyes and forced away by an effort the confused jumble and +whirl of thoughts that were crowding through the brain. It was not the +sound of the parting farewell as the diligence lumbered away from +Chamouni, nor the slow heavy clank of the railway carriages as they +entered the station, nor the voices of the railway porters that rang in my +ears. Voices there were, but they were familiar. I started up and looked +around. Surely that was the familiar outline of the Aiguille du Dru clear +and bright above; surely that was Hartley (occupied for the moment in +mollifying the effects of sunburn by anointing his face with the contents +of a little squeeze-bottle), and there was Burgener; but what was this +untidy, sleeping mass at our feet? Gradually it dawned upon me that I was +but inverting a psychological process and trying to make a dream out of a +reality. Hartley was there; Burgener was there; and the uncomely bundle +was the outward form of the most incompetent guide in all the Alps. It was +not till next day that we learnt that this creature had previously +distinguished himself by utter imbecility in a difficult ascent up the +north face of the Zermatt Breithorn, nor did we till the next day fully +realise how bad a guide a man ranking as such might be. We kicked him in a +suitable place and he awoke; then he made the one true remark that during +our acquaintance with him he was heard to utter. He said he had been drunk +the day before; with this he relapsed, and during the remainder of the +time he was with us gave expression to nothing but whining complaints and +inaccurate statements. + +(M93) + +From four in the morning of the next day till seven in the evening, when +we reached our bivouac again, we were climbing without intermission; not +that our imbecile friend took any very active share in the day's +amusement. He was roped as last man in the caravan, and Hartley had to +drag him up the glacier. He was as slow of foot as he was of +understanding, and took no interest in the expedition. Twice we pointed +out to him half-hidden crevasses and begged that he would be careful. +Twice did he acknowledge our courtesy by disappearing abruptly into the +snowy depths. Then he favoured us with a short biographical sketch of his +wife, her attributes, and her affection for himself: he narrated the chief +characteristics of his children, and dilated on the responsible position +that as father of a family (probably all cretins, if there be any truth in +the hereditary transmission of parental qualities) he considered that he +occupied. Finally, as he appeared disposed to give us at length a memoir +of his grandfather deceased, we decided to unrope him and let him have his +own way in peace. For seven hours did he crouch under a little rock, not +daring to move either up or down, or even to take the knapsack off his +back. + +For the first time on this occasion did we succeed in climbing on to the +main peak well above the level of the ridge we had so often reached, by +means of leaving the gully at a much earlier point than usual. We followed +the exact line that we had marked out mentally on the last occasion. At +first progress was easy, but we could only make our way very slowly, +seeing that we had but one short rope and only one guide; for we had +injudiciously left the longer spare rope with our feeble-minded guide +below, and no shouts or implorations could induce him to make his way up +to us, nor had we leisure to go down to him; so we had to make the best of +matters as they were. We soon found a place where the ladder might be of +service, and spent some time in placing it in a position in which it +remains I believe till this day. + +Now, personal considerations had to a great extent to be lost sight of in +the desire to make the most of the day, and the result was that Hartley +must have had a very bad time of it. Unfortunately perhaps for him he was +by far the lightest member of the party; accordingly we argued that he was +far less likely to break the rickety old ladder than we were. Again, as +the lightest weight, he was most conveniently lowered down first over +awkward places when they occurred. + +(M94) + +In the times which are spoken of as old, and which have also, for some not +very definable reason, the prefix good, if you wanted your chimneys swept +you did not employ an individual now dignified by the title of a Ramoneur, +but you adopted the simpler plan of calling in a master sweep. This person +would come attended by a satellite, who wore the outward form of a boy and +was gifted with certain special physical attributes. Especially was it +necessary that the boy should be of such a size and shape as to fit nicely +to the chimney, not so loosely on the one hand as to have any difficulty +in ascending by means of his knees and elbows, nor so tightly on the other +as to run any peril of being wedged in. The boy was then inserted into the +chimney and did all the work, while the master remained below or sat +expectant on the roof to encourage, to preside over, and subsequently to +profit by, his apprentice's exertions. We adopted much the same principle. +Hartley, as the lightest, was cast for the _role_ of the "jeune premier" +or boy, while Burgener and I on physical grounds alone filled the part, +however unworthily, of the master sweep. As a play not infrequently owes +its success to one actor, so did our "jeune premier," sometimes very +literally, pull us through on the present occasion. Gallantly indeed did +he fulfil his duty. Whether climbing up a ladder slightly out of the +perpendicular, leaning against nothing in particular and with overhanging +rocks above; whether let down by a rope tied round his waist, so that he +dangled like the sign of the "Golden Fleece" outside a haberdasher's shop, +or hauled up smooth slabs of rock with his raiment in an untidy heap +around his neck; in each and all of these exercises he was equally at +home, and would be let down or would come up smiling. One place gave us +great difficulty. An excessively steep wall of rock presented itself and +seemed to bar the way to a higher level. A narrow crack ran some little +way up the face, but above the rock was slightly overhanging, and the +water trickling from some higher point had led to the formation of a huge +bunch of gigantic icicles, which hung down from above. It was necessary to +get past these, but impossible to cut them away, as they would have fallen +on us below. Burgener climbed a little way up the face, planted his back +against it, and held on to the ladder in front of him, while I did the +same just below: by this means we kept the ladder almost perpendicular, +but feared to press the highest rung heavily against the icicles above +lest we should break them off. We now invited Hartley to mount up. For the +first few steps it was easy enough; but the leverage was more and more +against us as he climbed higher, seeing that he could not touch the rock, +and the strain on our arms below was very severe. However, he got safely +to the top and disappeared from view. The performance was a brilliant one, +but, fortunately, had not to be repeated; as on a subsequent occasion, by +a deviation of about fifteen or twenty feet, we climbed to the same spot +in a few minutes with perfect ease and without using any ladder at all. On +this occasion, however, we must have spent fully an hour while Hartley +performed his feats, which were not unworthy of a Japanese acrobat. Every +few feet of the mountain at this part gave us difficulty, and it was +curious to notice how, on this the first occasion of travelling over the +rock face, we often selected the wrong route in points of detail. We +ascended from twenty to fifty feet, then surveyed right and left, up and +down, before going any further. The minutes slipped by fast, but I have no +doubt now that if we had had time we might have ascended to the final +arete on this occasion. We had often to retrace our steps, and whenever we +did so found some slightly different line by which time could have been +saved. Though the way was always difficult nothing was impossible, and +when the word at last was given, owing to the failing light, to descend, +we had every reason to be satisfied with the result of the day's +exploration. There seemed to be little doubt that we had traversed the +most difficult part of the mountain, and, indeed, we found on a later +occasion, with one or two notable exceptions, that such was the case. + +(M95) + +However, at the time we did not think that, even if it were possible, it +would be at all advisable to make our next attempt without a second guide. +A telegram had been sent to Kaspar Maurer, instructing him to join us at +the bivouac with all possible expedition. The excitement was thus kept up +to the very last, for we knew not whether the message might have reached +him, and the days of fine weather were precious. + +It was late in the evening when we reached again the head of the glacier, +and the point where we had left the feeble creature who had started with +us as a second guide. On beholding us once more he wept copiously, but +whether his tears were those of gratitude for release from the cramped +position in which he had spent his entire day, or of joy at seeing us safe +again, or whether they were the natural overflow of an imbecile intellect +stirred by any emotion whatever, it were hard to say; at any rate he wept, +and then fell to a description of some interesting details concerning the +proper mode of bringing up infants, and the duties of parents towards +their children: the most important of which, in his estimation, was that +the father of a family should run no risk whatever on a mountain. Reaching +our bivouac, we looked anxiously down over the glacier for any signs of +Kaspar Maurer. Two or three parties were seen crawling homewards towards +the Montanvert over the ice-fields, but no signs of our guide were +visible. As the shades of night, however, were falling, we were able +indistinctly to see in the far-off distance a little black dot skipping +over the Mer de Glace with great activity. Most eagerly did we watch the +apparition, and when finally it headed in our direction and all doubt was +removed as to the personality, we felt that our constant ill-luck was at +last on the eve of changing. However, it was not till two days later that +we left Chamouni once more for the nineteenth and, as it proved, for the +last time to try the peak. + +(M96) + +On September 11, we sat on the rocks a few feet above the camping-place. +Never before had we been so confident of success. The next day's climb was +no longer to be one of exploration. We were to start as early as the light +would permit, and we were to go up and always up, if necessary till the +light should fail. Possibly we might have succeeded long before if we had +had the same amount of determination to do so that we were possessed with +on this occasion. We had made up our minds to succeed, and felt as if all +our previous attempts had been but a sort of training for this special +occasion. We had gone so far as to instruct our friends below to look out +for us on the summit between twelve and two the next day. We had even gone +to the length of bringing a stick wherewith to make a flag-staff on the +top. Still one, and that a very familiar source of disquietude, harassed +us as our eyes turned anxiously to the west. A single huge band of cloud +hung heavily right across the sky, and looked like a harbinger of evil, +for it was of a livid colour above, and tinged with a deep crimson red +below. My companion was despondent at the prospect it suggested, and the +guides tapped their teeth with their forefingers when they looked in that +direction; but it was suggested by a more sanguine person that its form +and very watery look suggested a Band of Hope. An insinuating smell of +savoury soup was wafted up gently from below-- + + Stealing and giving odour. + +We took courage; then descended to the tent, and took sustenance. + +There was no difficulty experienced in making an early start the next day, +and the moment the grey light allowed us to see our way we set off. On +such occasions, when the mind is strung up to a high pitch of excitement, +odd and trivial little details and incidents fix themselves indelibly on +the memory. I can recall as distinctly now, as if it had only happened a +moment ago, the exact tone of voice in which Burgener, on looking out of +the tent, announced that the weather would do. Burgener and Kaspar Maurer +were now our guides, for our old enemy with the family ties had been paid +off and sent away with a flea in his ear--an almost unnecessary adjunct, as +anyone who had slept in the same tent with him could testify. +Notwithstanding that Maurer was far from well, and rather weak, we mounted +rapidly at first, for the way was by this time familiar enough, and we all +meant business. + +(M97) + +Our position now was this. By our exploration on the last occasion we had +ascertained that it was possible to ascend to a great height on the main +mass of the mountain. From the slope of the rocks, and from the shape of +the mountain, we felt sure that the final crest would be easy enough. We +had then to find a way still up the face, from the point where we had +turned back on our last attempt, to some point on the final ridge of the +mountain. The rocks on this part we had never been able to examine very +closely, for it is necessary to cross well over to the south-eastern face +while ascending from the ridge between the Aiguille du Dru and the +Aiguille Verte. A great projecting buttress of rock, some two or three +hundred feet in height, cuts off the view of that part of the mountain +over which we now hoped to make our way. By turning up straight behind +this buttress, we hoped to hit off and reach the final crest just above +the point where it merges into the precipitous north-eastern wall visible +from the Chapeau. This part of the mountain can only be seen from the very +head of the Glacier de la Charpoua just under the mass of the Aiguille +Verte. But this point of view is too far off for accurate observations, +and the strip of mountain was practically, therefore, a _terra incognita_ +to us. + +(M98) + +We followed the gully running up from the head of the glacier towards the +ridge above mentioned, keeping well to the left. Before long it was +necessary to cross the gully on to the main peak. To make the topography +clearer a somewhat prosaic and domestic simile may be employed. The +Aiguille du Dru and the Aiguille Verte are connected by a long sharp +ridge, towards which we were now climbing; and this ridge is let in as it +were into the south-eastern side of the Aiguille du Dru, much as a comb +may be stuck into the middle of a hairbrush, the latter article +representing the main peak. Here we employed the ladder which had been +placed in the right position the day previously. Right glad were we to see +the rickety old structure which had now spent four years on the mountain, +and was much the worse for it. It creaked and groaned dismally under our +weight and ran sharp splinters into us at all points of contact, but yet +there was a certain companionship about the old ladder, and we seemed +almost to regret that it was not destined to share more in our prospective +success. A few steps on and we came to a rough cleft some five-and-twenty +feet in depth, which had to be descended. A double rope was fastened to a +projecting crag, and we swung ourselves down as if we were barrels of +split peas going into a ship's hold; then to the ascent again, and the +excitement waxed stronger as we drew nearer to the doubtful part of the +mountain. Still, we did not anticipate insuperable obstacles; for I think +we were possessed with a determination to succeed, which is a sensation +often spoken of as a presentiment of success. A short climb up an easy +broken gully, and of a sudden we seemed to be brought to a standstill. A +little ledge at our feet curled round a projecting crag on the left. "What +are we to do now?" said Burgener, but with a smile on his face that left +no doubt as to the answer. He lay flat down on the ledge and wriggled +round the projection, disappearing suddenly from view as if the rock had +swallowed him up. A shout proclaimed that his expectations had not been +deceived, and we were bidden to follow; and follow we did, sticking to the +flat face of the rock with all our power, and progressing like the skates +down the glass sides of an aquarium tank. When the last man joined us we +found ourselves all huddled together on a very little ledge indeed, while +an overhanging rock above compelled us to assume the anomalous attitude +enforced on the occupant of a little-ease dungeon. What next? An eager +look up solved part of the doubt. "There is the way," said Burgener, +leaning back to get a view. "Oh, indeed," we answered. No doubt there was +a way, and we were glad to hear that it was possible to get up it. The +attractions of the route consisted of a narrow flat gully plastered up +with ice, exceeding straight and steep and crowned at the top with a +pendulous mass of enormous icicles. The gully resembled a half-open book +standing up on end. Enthusiasts in rock-climbing who have ascended the +Riffelhorn from the Goerner Glacier side will have met with a similar +gully, but, as a rule, free from ice, which, in the present instance, +constituted the chief difficulty. The ice, filling up the receding angle +from top to bottom, rendered it impossible to find hand-hold on the rocks, +and it was exceedingly difficult to cut steps in such a place, for the +slabs of ice were prone to break away entire. However, the guides said +they could get up, and asked us to keep out of the way of chance fragments +of ice which might fall down as they ascended. So we tucked ourselves away +on one side, and they fell to as difficult a business as could well be +imagined. The rope was discarded, and slowly they worked up, their backs +and elbows against one sloping wall, their feet against the other. But the +angle was too wide to give security to this position, the more especially +that with shortened axes they were compelled to hack out enough of the ice +to reveal the rock below. In such places the ice is but loosely adherent, +being raised up from the face much as pie-crust dissociates itself from +the fruit beneath under the influence of the oven. Strike lightly with the +axe, and a hollow sound is yielded without much impression on the ice; +strike hard, and the whole mass breaks away. But the latter method is the +right one to adopt, though it necessitates very hard work. No steps are +really reliable when cut in ice of this description. + +(M99) + +The masses of ice, coming down harder and harder as they ascended without +intermission, showed how they were working, and the only consolation that +we had during a time that we felt to be critical, was that the guides were +not likely to expend so much labour unless they thought that some good +result would come of it. Suddenly there came a sharp shout and cry; then a +crash as a great slab of ice, falling from above, was dashed into pieces +at our feet and leaped into the air; then a brief pause, and we knew not +what would happen next. Either the gully had been ascended or the guides +had been pounded, and failure here might be failure altogether. It is true +that Hartley and I had urged the guides to find a way some little distance +to the right of the line on which they were now working; but they had +reported that, though easy below, the route we had pointed out was +impossible above.(5) A faint scratching noise close above us, as of a +mouse perambulating behind a wainscot. We look up. It is the end of a +rope. We seize it, and our pull from below is answered by a triumphant +yell from above as the line is drawn taut. Fastening the end around my +waist, I started forth. The gully was a scene of ruin, and I could hardly +have believed that two axes in so short a time could have dealt so much +destruction. Nowhere were the guides visible, and in another moment there +was a curious sense of solitariness as I battled with the obstacles, aided +in no small degree by the rope. The top of the gully was blocked up by a +great cube of rock, dripping still where the icicles had just been broken +off. The situation appeared to me to demand deliberation, though it was +not accorded. "Come on," said voices from above. "Up you go," said a voice +from below. I leaned as far back as I could, and felt about for a +hand-hold. There was none. Everything seemed smooth. Then right, then +left; still none. So I smiled feebly to myself, and called out, "Wait a +minute." This was of course taken as an invitation to pull vigorously, +and, struggling and kicking like a spider irritated by tobacco smoke, I +topped the rock and lent a hand on the rope for Hartley to follow. Then we +learnt that a great mass of ice had broken away under Maurer's feet while +they were in the gully, and that he must have fallen had not Burgener +pinned him to the rock with one hand. From the number of times that this +escape was described to us during that day and the next, I am inclined to +think that it was rather a near thing. At the time, and often since, I +have questioned myself as to whether we could have got up this passage +without the rope let down from above. I think either of us could have done +it in time with a companion. It was necessary for two to be in the gully +at the same time, to assist each other. It was necessary also to discard +the rope, which in such a place could only be a source of danger. But no +amateur should have tried the passage on that occasion without confidence +in his own powers, and without absolute knowledge of the limit of his own +powers. If the gully had been free from ice it would have been much +easier. + +(M100) + +"The worst is over now," said Burgener. I was glad to hear it, but, +looking upwards, had my doubts. The higher we went the bigger the rocks +seemed to be. Still there was a way, and it was not so very unlike what I +had, times out of mind, pictured to myself in imagination. Another tough +scramble and we stood on a comparatively extensive ledge. With elation we +observed that we had now climbed more than half of the only part of the +mountain of the nature of which we were uncertain. A few steps on and +Burgener grasped me suddenly by the arm. "Do you see the great red rock up +yonder?" he whispered, hoarse with excitement--"in ten minutes we shall be +there and on the arete, and then----" Nothing could stop us now; but a +feverish anxiety to see what lay beyond, to look on the final slope which +we knew must be easy, impelled us on, and we worked harder than ever to +overcome the last few obstacles. The ten minutes expanded into something +like thirty before we really reached the rock. Of a sudden the mountain +seemed to change its form. For hours we had been climbing the hard, dry +rocks. Now these appeared suddenly to vanish from under our feet, and once +again our eyes fell on snow which lay thick, half hiding, half revealing, +the final slope of the ridge. A glance along it showed that we had not +misjudged. Even the cautious Maurer admitted that, as far as we could see, +all appeared promising. And now, with the prize almost within our grasp, a +strange desire to halt and hang back came on. Burgener tapped the rock +with his axe, and we seemed somehow to regret that the way in front of us +must prove comparatively easy. Our foe had almost yielded, and it appeared +something like cruelty to administer the final _coup de grace_. We could +already anticipate the half-sad feeling with which we should reach the top +itself. It needed but little to make the feeling give way. Some one cried +"Forwards," and instantly we were all in our places again, and the +leader's axe crashed through the layers of snow into the hard blue ice +beneath. A dozen steps, and then a short bit of rock scramble; then more +steps along the south side of the ridge, followed by more rock, and the +ridge beyond, which had been hidden for a minute or two, stretched out +before us again as we topped the first eminence. Better and better it +looked as we went on. "See there," cried Burgener suddenly, "the actual +top!" + +(M101) + +There was no possibility of mistaking the two huge stones we had so often +looked at from below. They seemed, in the excitement of the moment, misty +and blurred for a brief space, but grew clear again as I passed my hand +over my eyes and seemed to swallow something. A few feet below the +pinnacles and on the left was one of those strange arches formed by a +great transverse boulder, so common near the summits of these aiguilles, +and through the hole we could see blue sky. Nothing could lay beyond, and, +still better, nothing could be above. On again, while we could scarcely +stand still in the great steps the leader set his teeth to hack out. Then +there came a short troublesome bit of snow scramble, where the heaped-up +cornice had fallen back from the final rock. There we paused for a moment, +for the summit was but a few feet from us, and Hartley, who was ahead, +courteously allowed me to unrope and go on first. In a few seconds I +clutched at the last broken rocks, and hauled myself up on to the sloping +summit. There for a moment I stood alone gazing down on Chamouni. The +holiday dream of five years was accomplished; the Aiguille du Dru was +climbed. Where in the wide world will you find a sport able to yield +pleasure like this? + +Mountaineers are often asked, "What did you do when you got to the top?" +With regard to this peak the same question has often been put to me, and I +have often answered it, but, it must be confessed, always suppressing one +or two facts. I do not know why I should conceal them now any longer, the +more especially as I think there is a moral to be drawn from my +experience, or I would still keep it locked up. I had tried so hard and so +long to get up this little peak, that some reaction of mind was not +improbable; but it took a turn which I had never before and have never +since experienced in the slightest degree. For a second or two--it cannot +have been longer--all the past seemed blotted out, all consciousness of +self, all desire of life was lost, and I was seized with an impulse almost +incontrollable to throw myself down the vertical precipice which lay +immediately at my feet. I know not now, though the feeling is still and +always will be intensely vivid, how it was resisted, but at the sound of +the voices below the faculties seemed to return each to its proper place, +and with the restoration of the mental balance the momentary idea of +violently overturning the physical balance vanished. What has happened to +one may have happened to others. It appeared to me quite different from +what is known as mountain vertigo. In fact, I never moved at all from +where I stood, and awoke, as it were, to find myself looking calmly down +the identical place. It may be that the mental equilibrium under similar +circumstances has not always been so fortunately restored, and that thus +calamities on the mountains may have taken place. In another minute the +rest of the party ascended, and we were all reposing on the hard-won +summit. + +(M102) + +Far below a little white speck representing Couttet's Hotel was well in +view, and towards this we directed our telescope. We could make out a few +individuals wandering listlessly about, but there did not seem to be much +excitement; in front of the Imperial Hotel, however, we were pleased to +imagine that we saw somebody gazing in our direction. Accordingly, with +much pomp and ceremony, the stick--which it may be stated was borrowed +without leave--was fixed into a little cleft and tightly wedged in; then, +to my horror, Burgener, with many chuckles at his own foresight and at the +completeness of his equipment, produced from a concealed pocket a piece of +scarlet flannel strongly suggestive of a baby's under garment, and tied it +on to the stick. I protested in vain; in a moment the objectionable rag +was floating proudly in the breeze. However, it seemed to want airing. +Determined that our ascent should be placed beyond doubt in the eyes of +any subsequent visitors, we ransacked our stores, and were enabled to +leave the following articles:--One half-pint bottle containing our names, +preserved by a paper stopper from the inclemency of the weather; two +wooden wedges of unknown use, two ends of string, three burnt fusees, +divers chips, one stone man of dwarf proportions, the tenpenny stick, and +the infant's petticoat. + +There is a popular belief that the main object of climbing up a mountain +is to get a view from the top. It may therefore be a matter of regret to +some, but it will certainly be a matter of great congratulation to many +others, that of the view obtained I can say but little. Chamouni looked +very nice, however, from this distance. Turning towards the Aiguille Verte +we were astonished to notice that this great mass appeared to tower far +less above us than might have been expected from its much greater height +and close proximity. On the other hand, the lower south-eastern peak of +the Aiguille du Dru seemed much more below us than we had imagined would +be the case. It is a moot point in mountaineering circles how much +difference between two closely contiguous points is necessary in order +that they may be rated as individual peaks. At the time we estimated the +difference between the two peaks of our Aiguille to be about 80 feet, but +Hartley, who has since climbed the lower point, estimates that the +difference between the two must be at the very least 120 feet. Still, the +comparative meagreness of the panorama did not affect our spirits, nor +detract in any appreciable degree from the completeness of the expedition. +The Aiguille du Dru is essentially an expedition only for those who love a +good climb for climbing's sake. Every step, every bit of scrambling, +was--and is still--a pleasure. + +(M103) + +We had reached the top at half-past twelve, so that our estimate of the +time required had been a very accurate one. After spending three-quarters +of an hour on the summit we turned to the descent with regret, and +possessed with much the same feeling as a schoolboy on Black Monday, who +takes an affectionate farewell of all sorts of inanimate objects. Very +difficult the descent proved to be. We were so anxious, now that our +efforts had been finally crowned with success, that the whole expedition +should pass off without the least misadventure, that we went much more +slowly, and took more elaborate precautions than under ordinary +circumstances would have been deemed necessary. From the start we had +agreed that, whatever the hour, nothing should persuade us to hurry the +least in the descent. On such mountains, however, as the Aiguille du Dru +it is easier on the whole to get down than to get up, especially if a good +supply of spare rope be included in the equipment. At three places we +found it advisable to fix ropes in order to assist our progress. It was +curious to observe how marvellously the aspect of the mountain was changed +as we looked down the places up which we had climbed so recently; and +there were so many deviations from the straight line, that the way was +very difficult to find at all. Indeed, Burgener alone could hit it off +with certainty, and, though last on the rope, directed the way without +ever making the slightest mistake at any part. We followed precisely the +same route as in ascending, and noticed few if any places where this route +was capable of improvement, or even of alteration. + +Not till nearly five o'clock did we regain our abandoned store of +provisions; the sight of the little white packets, and especially of a +certain can of tinned meat, seen at a considerable distance below, incited +us to great exertions, for since ten in the morning we had partaken of +nothing but a sandwich crushed out of all recognisable shape. Ignoring the +probability of being benighted on the rocks, we caroused merrily on +seltzer water and the contents of the tin can. It seemed almost a pity to +quit for good these familiar rocks on which we had spent such a glorious +time, and the sun was sinking low behind the Brevent range, and the rocks +were all darkened in the grey shadows, before the guides could persuade us +to pack up and resume our journey. Very little time was lost in descending +when we had once started, but before we had reached a certain little +sloping ledge furnished with a collection of little pointed stones, and +known as the breakfast place, the darkness had overtaken us. The glacier +lay only a few feet below, when the mist which had been long threatening +swept up and closed in around us. The crevasses at the head of the glacier +were so complicated, and the snow bridges so fragile, that we thought it +wiser not to go on at once, but to wait till the snow should have had time +to harden. So we sat down under an overhanging rock, and made believe that +we enjoyed the fun. Hartley wedged a stone under his waist, as if he were +the hind wheel of a waggon going uphill, and imitated the inaction and +attitude of a person going to sleep. The guides retired to a little +distance and, as is their wont when inactive, fell to a warm discussion +over the dimensions of the different chamois they had shot, each of course +outvying the other in turn. The game has this merit at least, when there +is plenty of spare time at disposal, that if the players only begin low +enough down in the animal scale it is practically unlimited. + +(M104) + +Before long the situation ceased to be amusing, as we found that we had +managed to get wet through in the gully, and that the slowly falling +temperature was exceedingly unpleasant. I converted a cowhide knapsack +into a temporary foot-warmer, much to the detriment of such articles of +food as were still stored in its recesses, and tucked a boot under each +arm to keep the leather from hardening. Then we fell to discussing what we +would have next day for breakfast, and for some two hours found a certain +amount of solace in disputing over the merits of divers dainty dishes. +Even this fertile subject failed at length to give adequate satisfaction. +The ledge became colder and colder, and new spiky little points appeared +to develop every moment. The argument of the sportsmen grew fainter, and +we became slowly chilled through. For a while the mind became more active, +but less logical, and fanciful visions crowded thickly through it. On such +occasions it is seldom possible to fix the thoughts on events immediately +past. To my drowsy gaze the mist seemed to take the form of our native +fogs, while the condition of the ledge suggested obtrusively a newly +macadamised road. Almost at will I could transport myself in imagination +to the metropolis I had so recently left, or back again to the wild little +ledge on which we were stranded. Following up the train of sensations, it +was easy to conceive how reason might fail altogether, and how gradually, +as the senses became numbed one by one, delirium might supervene from cold +and exposure--as has often happened to arctic travellers. The thoughts flew +off far afield, and pictured the exact contrast of the immediate +surroundings. I saw a brilliantly lighted street with long rows of flaming +lamps. The windows of the clubhouses shone out as great red and orange +squares and oblongs. Carriages dashed by, cabs oscillated down the roads. +Elegantly attired youths about to commence their wakeful period (why are +men who only know the seamy side of life called "men of the world"? Is it +so bad a world, my masters?) were strolling off to places of +entertainment. A feeble, ragged creature crept along in the shadows. A +worn, bright-eyed girl, just free from work which had begun at early dawn, +dragged her aching limbs homewards, but stopped a moment to glance with +envy at a mamma and two fair daughters crossing the pavement to their +carriage; light, life, bustle, crowding everywhere. Faster and faster +follow the shifting scenes till the visions jostle and become confused----A +crack, a distant sound of a falling shower of stones, a hiss as they fall +on to the snow slopes below. The eyes open, but the mind only half awakes, +and almost immediately dreams again, with changed visions of comfortable +rooms, in which the flickering light of a coal fire now throws up, now +half conceals the close-drawn curtains, or the familiar form of books and +pictures; visions of some formless individual with slippered feet disposed +at judicious distance from the blazing coals, of soft carpets and deep +arm-chairs moulded by long use into the precise intaglio adapted to the +human frame; visions of a warm flood of subdued light, of things steaming +gently with curling wreaths of vapour. All these passed in order before +the mind, called up by the incantation of discomfort out of the cauldron +of misery, like unto the regal display manifested to that impulsive and +somewhat over-married individual, Macbeth. + +(M105) + +But before long it was most difficult to picture these pleasant sights so +vividly as to become altogether oblivious of an exceedingly chilly +personality, and ultimately human nature triumphed, and the _ego_ in a +rather frozen state became again paramount. I had begun to calculate the +number of hours we might have to remain where we were, and the probable +state in which we should be next morning, when of a sudden the mist +lifted, and disclosed the glacier just below feebly lit up by the rising +moon. We sprang instantly to our feet, almost as instantaneously returning +to our former positions by reason of the exceeding stiffness and cramp +begotten of the cold. The guides, leaving their discussion at a point +where the last speaker had, in imagination, shot a chamois about the size +of an elephant, descended to inspect the ice. The snow bridges were +pronounced secure, and we were soon across the crevasses, but found to our +disgust that we had rather overdone the waiting. The slope was hard +frozen, and in the dim light it was found necessary to cut steps nearly +the whole way down the glacier. For five hours and a half were we thus +engaged, and did not reach our camp till 2.30 A.M. Never did the tent look +so comfortable as on that morning. If, as was remarked of Mrs. Gamp's +apartment in Kingsgate Street, High Holborn, to the contented mind a +cottage is a palace, so to the weary frame may a tent be a luxurious +hotel. We rushed over the loose rocks by the snout of the glacier, and ran +helter-skelter for our bivouac. From the circumstance that the invariable +struggle for the best pillow was usually brief, and that one of the party +was discovered next morning wrong end foremost in his sleeping bag with +his boots still on his feet, I am disposed to think that we were not long +in dropping off to sleep; but the unstudied attitudes of the party +suggested rather four revellers returning from a Greenwich dinner in a +four-wheeled cab over a cobbled road than a company of sober mountaineers. +By seven o'clock, however, the predominant thought of breakfast so +asserted itself that we woke up and looked out. + +(M106) + +The first object that met our gaze was a large sheet of paper, affixed to +the rock just in front of the tent, and bearing the simple inscription +"Hooray!" This led us to surmise that our success was already known below; +for the author of the legend had returned to Chamouni the previous +evening, after having seen us on the summit. To each man was apportioned +the burden he should bear of the camp equipage. Such a collection of pots +and pans and other paraphernalia had we amassed gradually during our stay, +that our appearance as we crossed the glacier suggested rather that of +certain inhabitants of Lagado mentioned in Gulliver's voyage to Laputa. By +nine o'clock we had deposited our burdens at the Montanvert and, +disregarding the principles of the sages above referred to, ventured to +corrode our lungs by articulating our wants to the landlord. This worthy +received us with more than his usual affability, for the tidings of our +success had in truth already reached the inn. A bottle of conical form was +produced, the cork drawn with a monstrous explosion, and some very +indifferent fluid poured out as a token of congratulation. In spite of, +perhaps in consequence of, these early libations, we skipped down the +well-worn and somewhat unsavoury path with great nimbleness, and in an +hour or so found ourselves on the level path leading along the valley to +Chamouni by the English church. There, I am pleased to record, the first +man to congratulate us was our old friend M. Gabriel Loppe, without whose +kindly sympathy and constant encouragement I doubt if we should have ever +persevered to our successful end. It mattered little to us that but few of +the Chamouni guides gave us credit for having really ascended the peak, +for most of them maintained that we had merely reached a point on the +south-east face of the lower summit; indeed, to those not so familiar with +the details of the mountain as we were, it might well seem hard to realise +that the crag jutting out on the right, as seen from Chamouni, is really +the actual summit. + +Such is the record of the most fascinating rock climb with which I am +acquainted. From beginning to end it is interesting. There is no wearisome +tramping over loose moraine and no great extent of snow-field to traverse. +The rocks are wondrously firm and big, and peculiarly unlike those on +other mountains, even on many of the aiguilles about Chamouni. + +(M107) + +An odd code of mountaineering morality has gradually sprung into +existence, and ideas as to what is fair and sportsmanlike in mountain +climbing are somewhat peculiar. People speak somewhat vaguely of +"artificial aid," and are wont to criticise in very severe language the +employment of such assistance, at the same time finding it rather hard, if +driven into a corner, to define what they mean by the term. It would seem +that artificial aid may signify the driving of iron pegs into rocks when +nature has provided insufficient hand or foot-hold. Such a proceeding is +considered highly improper. To cut a step in ice is right, but to chisel +out a step on rock is in the highest degree unjustifiable. Again, a ladder +may be used without critical animadversion to bridge a crevasse, but its +employment over a rock cleft is tabooed. A certain amount of +mountaineering equipment is not only considered proper, but those who go +on the mountains without it are spoken of with great asperity, and called +very hard names; but the equipment must not include anything beyond +hobnails, rope, axes, and possibly a ladder for a crevasse; any other +contrivance is sniffed at contemptuously as artificial aid. Rockets and +such like are usually only mentioned in order to be condemned; while +grapnels, chains, and crampons are held to be the inventions of the fiend. +Why these unwritten laws should exist in such an imaginary code it is hard +to see. Perhaps we must not consider too curiously on the matter. For my +own part, if it could be proved that by no possible means could a given +bad passage be traversed without some such aid, nor turned by another +route, I should not hesitate to adopt any mechanical means to the desired +end. As a matter of fact, in the Alps scarcely any such places exist for +those who have taken the trouble to learn how to climb, and there are none +on the Aiguille du Dru. We used our ladder often enough in exploring the +mountain, but when we actually ascended it we employed it in one place +only, saving thereby at least an hour of invaluable time. Indeed, +subsequent explorers have found such to be the case; and Mr. W. E. +Davidson, in a recent ascent of the mountain, was able to find his way +without invoking the assistance of either ladder or fixed ropes. In a +marvellously short space of time, too, did he get up and down the peak on +which we had spent hours without number. Still, this is the fate of all +mountains. The mountaineers who make the third ascent are, usually, able +to sweep away the blushing honours that the first climbers might fondly +hope they had invested the mountain with. A word, a stroke of the pen, +will do it. The peaks do not yield gradually from their high estate, but +fall, like Lucifer, from summit to ultimate destination, and are suddenly +converted from "the most difficult mountain in the Alps" to "Oh yes; a +fine peak, but not a patch upon Mount So-and-so." It is but with the +mountains as with other matters of this life, save in this respect, that +once deposed they never can hope to reign again supreme. Statements +concerning our fellow-creatures when of a depreciatory, and still more +when of a scandal-flavoured, nature, are always believed by nine people +out of ten to be, if not absolutely true, at any rate well-founded enough +for repetition. A different estimate of the standard of veracity to be met +with in this world is assumed when the remarks are favourable. Even so may +it be, in some instances, with the mountains. The prestige that clings to +a maiden peak is like the bark on a wand: peel it off, and it cannot be +replaced; the bough withers, and is cast to one side, its character +permanently altered. + +(M108) + +We would fain have rested that evening, but the edict went forth that +festivities were to take place in honour of the ascent, and, to tell the +truth, that evening was not the least fatiguing part of the whole affair. +The opportunity was too good to be lost, especially as the customary mode +of testifying congratulations by firing off divers podgy little cannons, +had been omitted. Preparations were made for a display of fireworks on a +large scale. Some six rockets of moderately soaring ambition were placed +in order on the grass-plot in front of the hotel. A skilful pyrotechnist, +who knew the right end to which to apply the match, was placed in charge, +and fussed about a great deal. A very little table covered with a white +cloth, and on which were displayed several bottles, reminded the crowd of +loafers who assembled expectant as the darkness came on, that a carousal +was meditated. At last the word was given, and the pyrotechnist, beaming +with pride, advanced bearing a lighted taper attached to the end of a +stick of judicious length. A hush of expectancy followed, and experienced +persons retired to sheltered corners. The fireworks behaved as they +usually do. They fizzed prodigiously, and went off in the most unexpected +directions. One rocket, rather weak in the waist, described, after a +little preliminary spluttering, an exceedingly sharp, corkscrew-like +series of curves, and then turned head-over-heels with astounding rapidity +on the lawn, like a rabbit shot through the head, and there lay flat, +spluttering out its gunpowdery vitals. Another was perfectly unmoved at +the initial application of the kindling flame, but then suddenly began to +swell up in an alarming way, causing the pyrotechnist, who had no previous +experience of this phenomenon, to retreat somewhat hastily. However, one +of the rockets rose to a height of some five-and-twenty feet, much to the +operator's satisfaction, and we were all able to congratulate him warmly +on his contribution to our entertainment as we emerged from our places of +security. + +(M109) + +A series of smaller explosions, resulting from the drawing of corks, was +the next item in the programme, and appeared to give more general +satisfaction. Then the bell rang, and the master of the ceremonies +announced that the ball was about to commence. Some over-zealous person +had unfortunately sought to improve the condition of the floor for +dancing, by tracing an arabesque pattern on the boards with water, using +for the purpose a tin pot with a convenient leak at the bottom. It +followed that the exercise of waltzing in thick boots was more laborious +than graceful. Without, the villagers crowded at the windows to gaze upon +our fantastic gyrations. But little formality had been observed in +organising the ball; in fact, the ceremony of issuing cards of invitation +had been replaced by ringing a bell and displaying a placard on which it +was announced that the dance would commence at nine o'clock. However, the +enjoyment appeared to be none the less keen, for all that the dancers were +breathing fairly pure air, taking no champagne, and not fulfilling any +social duty. But for the costumes the gathering might have been mistaken +for a fashionable entertainment. All the recognised types to be met with +in a London ball-room were there. The conversation, judging from the +fragments overheard, did not appear to be below the average standard of +intellectuality. The ladies, who came from the various hotels of Chamouni, +displayed, as most English girls do--_pace_ the jealous criticism of +certain French writers, more smart than observant--their curious faculty of +improvising ball costume exactly suitable to the occasion. There was a +young man who had a pair of white gloves, and was looked upon with awe in +consequence, and who, in the intervals of the dances, slid about in an +elegant manner instead of walking. There was a middle-aged person of +energetic temperament who skipped and hopped like the little hills, and +kept everything going--including the refreshments. There was a captious and +cynical person, who frowned horribly, and sat in a corner in the verandah +with an altogether superior air, and who, in support of the character, +smoked a cigar of uncertain botanical pedigree provided by the hotel, +which disagreed with him and increased his splenetic mood. Elsewhere, at +more fashionable gatherings, he would have leaned against doorposts, +cultivated a dejected demeanour, and got very much in other people's way. +There was a pianist who was a very clever artist, and found out at once +the notes that yielded no response on the instrument, and who, like his +more fashionable analogue, regularly required stimulants after playing a +waltz. It mattered little what he played--polka, waltz, galop, or +mazurka--whatever the tune, the couples all rotated more or less slowly +about; so it was evidently an English gathering. At such impromptu dances +there is always a strong desire to show off musical talent. No sooner did +the hireling pianist desist than a little cluster gathered around the +instrument, assured him that he must be tired, and volunteered to play. +Finally he was induced to rest, and a young lady who knew "Rousseau's +Dream," or some tune very like it, triumphantly seated herself and +favoured the company with that air in waltz time, whereat the unsuccessful +candidates for the seat smiled scornfully at each other, and rolled up +their eyes, and would not dance. So they, in turn, triumphed, and the +young lady blushed, and said she had never seen such a stupid set of +people, and went away and sat by her parents, and thought the world was +indeed hollow. The hireling came back, and all went on merrily again. + +(M110) + +In the yard outside the crowd increased. In the midst of the throng could +be seen Maurer, resplendent in a shirt the front of which was like unto a +petrified bath-towel, wearing a coat many sizes too large, his face +beaming with smiles and shining from the effects of drinks offered in the +spirit of good fellowship on all sides. Close by stood Burgener, +displaying similar physiognomical phenomena, his natural free movements +hampered by the excessive tightness of some garments with which an admirer +of smaller girth had presented him. Let us do justice to the guides of +Chamouni, who might not unnaturally have found some cause for +disappointment that the peak had been captured by strangers in the land. +On this occasion, at any rate, they offered the hand of good fellowship, +and listened with admiring attention while our guides, in an unknown +tongue, expatiated on the difficulties and dangers they had successfully +overcome--difficulties which did not appear to become less by frequent +repetition. Let us leave them there. They did their work thoroughly well, +and might be pardoned, under all the circumstances, for a little swagger. + +(M111) + +The days grow shorter apace. The sun has barely time to make the ice peaks +glisten, ere the cold shadows creep over again. Snow lies thick on ledge +and cranny, and only the steepest mountain faces show dark through the +powdery veil. Bleak night winds whistle around the beetling crags and +whirl and chevy the wreathing snow-clouds, making weird music in these +desolate fastnesses, while the glaciers and snow-fields collect fresh +strength against the time when their relentless destroyer shall attack +them once again at an advantage. The scene is changed. The clear air, the +delicate purity of the Alpine tints are but recollections, and have given +way to fog, mist, slush, and smoke-laden atmosphere. Would you recall +these mountain pictures? Draw close the curtains, stir the coals into an +indignant crackling blaze, and fashion, in the rising smoke, the mountain +vista. How easy it is to unlock the storehouse of the mind where these +images are stowed away! how these scenes crowd back into the mind! What +keener charm than to pass in review the memories of these simple, +wholesome pleasures; to see again, as clear as in the reality, every +ledge, every hand and foot-hold; to feel the fingers tingle and the +muscles instinctively contract at the recollection of some tough scramble +on rock or glacier? The pleasures of the Alps endure long after the actual +experience, and are but invested; whether the interest can be derived by +any one but the actual investor is a matter for others to decide. For my +own part, I can only wish that any one could possibly derive a hundredth +part of the pleasure in reading, that I have had in writing, of our +adventures. + + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + + BYE-DAYS IN ALPINE MIDLANDS + + + 1. _A Pardonable Digression._ + + On well-ordered intellects--The drawbacks of accurate + memory--Sub-Alpine walks: their admirers and their + recommendations--The "High Level Route"--The Ruinette--An infallible + prescription for ill-humour--A climb and a meditation on grass + slopes--The agile person's acrobatic feats--The psychological + effects of sunrise--The ascent of the Ruinette--We return to our + mutton at Arolla--A vision on the hill-side. + + 2. _A Little Maiden._ + + Saas in the olden days--A neglected valley--The mountains drained + dry--A curious omission--The Portienhorn, and its good points as a + mountain--The chef produces a masterpiece--An undesirable tenement + to be let unfurnished--An evicted family--A rapid act of + mountaineering--On the pleasures of little climbs--The various + methods of making new expeditions on one mountain--On the + mountaineer who has nothing to learn, and his consequent + ignorance. + + + + + 1. _A Pardonable Digression._ + + +There are some, and they are considered, on the whole, fortunate by less +highly gifted individuals, who possess minds as accurately divided up into +receptacles for the storage of valuable material as a honeycomb. Every +scrap of information acquired by the owner of such a well-ordered +intellect is duly sifted, purged, ticketed, and finally pigeon-holed in +its proper cell, whence it could undoubtedly be drawn out at any future +time for reference, were it not for the fact that the pigeon-holes are all +so very much alike that the geometrically minded man commonly forgets the +number of the shelf to which he has relegated his item of knowledge. He +need not really regret that this should be the case; persons with this +exceedingly well-ordered form of mind are apt to be a little too precise +for ordinary folk, and may even by the captious be rated as dull +creatures. A love for the beautiful is not usually associated with +excessively tidy habits of mind. An artist's studio in apple-pie order +would seem as unnatural as a legal document drawn up on aesthetic +principles. If the truth be told, the picturesque is always associated +with--not to mince matters--the dirty; and the city of Hygeia, however +commendably free from the latter quality, would be but a dreary and +unattractive town. Nor would it, as seems to be sometimes supposed, be +quite a paradise to that terrible and minatory person, the sanitarian. On +the contrary, he would probably be found dining with the undertaker--off +approved viands--and the pair would be bewailing the hard times. + +(M112) + +I knew a man once who was marvellously proud of a certain little cabinet, +devoted to the reception of keys, all of which were arranged in a +remarkably orderly manner. He was fond of demonstrating the system, which +seemed, in truth, highly business-like; but I lost faith one day in his +method, on finding that he did not know the locks which the several keys +were constructed respectively to open. It is with the mind's eye as with +the bodily eye. We are able only to focus sharply one thing at a time, and +the beauty of a given view, from the physiological standpoint, consists in +the softened indistinctness of all objects out of the range of absolute +focus--a fact of which the early Florentine artists evinced a curious +disregard, and which their modern imitators, who, at least in our +scientific age, ought to know something of the elementary laws of optics, +render themselves somewhat ridiculous by servilely copying. So is it also +with the memory. A certain indistinctness of detail often renders the +recollection even more pleasing; we may be able only to reproduce from the +pigeon-hole, as it were, a rather indistinct, blotted-in impression, but +as the artist would be fully justified in working up such a study into a +finished picture, so may the writer be allowed also to elaborate from his +mental sketch a complete work. Now, in wandering in those numerous +districts in the mountains of Switzerland which cannot properly be classed +as sub-Alpine, and yet are not lofty enough to warrant their explorer in +dignifying his rambles by the term "climbing," one great charm consists in +the fact that, while everything is pleasing, there is no distinct +objective point that we are bidden to admire. The critical tendency is a +very constant factor in human character, and the chief business the +professional critic has to learn consists in finding out how far he may +legitimately go, and how he may best say what he is called upon to +express. Now even the least critical of our race, the gushing section of +humanity, feel irresistibly disposed to cavil at anything they are told +they must admire. Perhaps, though, it is not the critical attributes which +come out on such occasions in them. Possibly it is but an example of that +still more uniformly found characteristic of man and woman, a quality +which, in the process of the descent of our species, has been handed down +without the least alteration from such lower animals as the mule for +instance, and for which, oddly enough, we have no proper term in our +language this side of the water, but know it as "cussedness." + +(M113) + +Most travellers hear with a slight feeling of relief, on arriving at their +destination and inquiring what there is to be seen, that there is nothing +in particular, and the sub-Alpine walker has this charm perpetually with +him. His expedition cannot fail, for it does not aim at any particular +object on the attainment of which it depends whether he considers himself +successful or not. These sub-Alpine walks and rambles form the background, +the setting, the frame, and the surrounding of the more sharply defined +and more memorable high expeditions. Perhaps these are but the sentiments +of advancing mountaineering age; certainly they may be heard most often +from those who have reached that period of life when they no longer pay +heed to wrinkles in their trousers, when they are somewhat exacting in the +matter of club dinners, and when they object strongly to receiving +assistance from younger folk in putting on their overcoats. Howbeit, as we +may recall the statement made in the "Delectus,"-- + + Neque semper arcum + Tendit Apollo, + +even so does the mountaineer occasionally relax his muscles, and find +pleasure in the Alpine midlands. Moreover, the writer feels that the +perpetual breathing of rarefied air may be apt to induce too great a +strain on his readers, and recollects that a piano always tuned to concert +pitch is not so harmonious an instrument as one occasionally unstrung; so +some relief is at times necessary. Contrast, inasmuch as nature provides +it on every hand, we may be sure is a thing for which man has an +instinctive craving; and to my mind, at least, a picture in which rich +colouring is introduced, and where the result of the blending is +harmonious, is more satisfactory than the work which appeals by what I +believe artists would call "tone." The principle applies rather widely. We +may have observed that young ladies of prepossessing appearance love to be +accompanied by dogs of repulsive mien. The costermonger, again, if +possessed, as he always is, of a hoarse voice, is not completely equipped +unless provided with a boy companion capable of sending forth in alternate +measure the shrillest cries which the human larynx is capable of emitting. +Thus may the pair better vaunt their wares, compel attention, and attract +notice. The same objects, at any rate the latter two, influence an author, +and not only in all cases, it would seem, when he is actually engaged in +writing. So our expeditions, now to be described, may be looked upon as +material for contrast, and may be skipped if thought fit--at any rate by +purchasers--without risk of wounding the writer's feelings. + +(M114) + +Some years ago we were travelling over that district of the Alps which to +the true lover of mountain scenery can never become hackneyed--that is, the +stretch of glacier land between Chamouni and Zermatt, first made known by +Messrs. Foster, Jacomb, Winkfield, and others, and known to mountaineers +as the "high-level route." We had reached Monvoisin, then, possibly still, +one of the cosiest and most comfortable little inns to be found among the +mountains. An immense variety of first-rate glacier passes of moderate +difficulty lie between this Val de Bagne and the Arolla valley; the Col de +la Serpentine, the Col Getroz, the Col de Breney, the Col Chermontane, and +others, all of high interest and varied scenery, tempt the walker +according to his powers. We selected on this occasion the Col du Mont +Rouge, having a design on the bold little peak towering just above the +Col, and known as the Ruinette. This peak, it may be at once mentioned, +was ascended for the first time in 1865 by Mr. Edward Whymper, a +mountaineer who has never ceased happily to add to his spoils and trophies +since in all parts of the globe, and who, unlike most of the clan, has +kept in the front rank from the day he first climbed an Alpine slope. + +(M115) + +We arrived soaked through, and with deplorably short tempers, at the hotel +at Monvoisin. Now tobacco has been vaunted as a palliative to persons in +this emotional state. Liquid remedies, described by the vulgar-minded as +"a drop of something short," or, more tersely, "a wet," have been +recommended as tending to induce a healthier state of mind. But there is +one specific remedy which never fails, and to this by tacit consent we at +once resorted. + +Even as one touch of nature has been stated, on reliable authority, to +make the whole world kin, so may one touch of a lucifer match, if +discreetly applied beneath well-seasoned logs, induce even in the most +irritable and wearied individual a change of feeling and a calm +contentment. As the logs crackled and spluttered, hissing like angry cats, +so did the prescription purge away, if not the evil humours, at any rate +the ill-humour engendered by sore feet and damp raiment, till it vanished +with the smoke up the chimney. As a matter of actual fact, however, it +ought to be stated that the greater part of the smoke at first made its +way into the room. Before long, assisted by a passable dinner, which acts +on such conditions of mind as do the remedies known to the learned in +medicine as "derivatives," we waxed monstrous merry. We laughed heartily +at our own jokes, and with almost equal fervour at those of other people--a +very creditable state of feeling, as any who have associated much with +facetiously disposed folk will be ready to acknowledge. As the evening +wore on, and the fire burnt lower, we became more silent and thoughtful, +watching the pale blue and green tongues of flame licking round the +charred logs. There is a pleasure, too, in this state. No one felt +disposed to break the charm of thoughtfulness in the company by throwing +on fresh fuel. The fire had done its work, had helped matters on, had left +things a little better than it found them--an epitome of a good and useful +life. The embers fell together at last, throwing up but a few short-lived +sparks; nothing remained but the recollection of what had been once so +bright, and a heap of ashes--a fit emblem; for one of the party who was the +life and soul of the expedition can never again join in body with us in +the Alps, or revisit those Alpine midlands he loved so keenly. We rose +from our seats and threw back the curtains from the window. The mists had +vanished, and with them all doubt and all uncertainty, while the stream of +light from the full moon seemed a promise of peace and rest from +elsewhere. + +(M116) + +At an early period of a walk there is always the greatest objection to +putting forth exertion, the result of which has almost immediately to be +undone. That man is indeed robust, and possessed of three times the +ordinary amount of brass, if he fails not to find it distasteful to walk +up a hill at the end of an expedition, or down one at the commencement. +The drawback to the commanding position of the hotel at Monvoisin lies in +the fact that it is absolutely necessary to descend the hill to begin +with, which always seems a sinful waste of energy, seeing that the grass +slopes opposite, which are steep, have immediately afterwards to be +climbed. The natural grass steps looked inviting, but in the language of +the Portuguese dialogue book we found them all either "too long or much +short." One ascent over a grass slope is very much like another, and +description in detail would be as wearisome as the slopes themselves often +prove. Yet it is worthy of notice that there is an art to be acquired even +in climbing grass slopes. We had more than one opportunity on the present +occasion of seeing that persons look supremely ridiculous if they stumble +about, and we noticed also that, like a bowler when he has delivered a +long hop to the off for the third time in one over, the stumbler +invariably inspects the nails in his boots, a proceeding which deceives no +one. It is quite easy to judge of a man's real mountaineering capacity by +the way in which he attacks a steep grass slope. The unskilful person, who +fancies himself perfectly at home amongst the intricacies of an ice-fall, +will often candidly admit that he never can walk with well-balanced +equilibrium on grass, a form of vegetable which, it might be thought in +many instances of self-sufficient mountaineers, would naturally suit them. +There is often real danger in such places, and not infrequently the wise +man will demand the use of the rope, especially when there are any tired +members among the party. There is no better way of learning how to +preserve a proper balance on a slope than by practising on declivities of +moderate steepness, and it is astonishing to find how often those who +think they have little to learn, or, still worse, believe that there is +nothing to learn, will find themselves in difficulties on a mountain-side, +and forced to realise that they have got themselves into a rather +humiliating position. We may have seen before now, all of us, +distinguished cragsmen to whom an ascent of the Weisshorn or Matterhorn +was but a mere stroll, utterly pounded in botanical expeditions after +Edelweiss, and compelled to regain a position of security by very +ungraceful sprawls, or, worse still, have to resort to the unpardonable +alternative of asking for assistance. It is on such places that the skill +born of constant practice is best shown in the peasant as contrasted with +the amateur; but the latter could easily acquire the art, were he not, as +a rule, too high and mighty to do so. It is a great point, too, if the +expedition is to be thoroughly enjoyed, to transport one's self over the +earlier part of the day's climb with the least possible amount of +exertion. The art possibly resembles that which, I am told, is acquired by +those of ill-regulated minds, whom the force of circumstances and the +interests of society compel to exercise themselves for a certain number of +hours daily in that form of unproductive labour exemplified in the machine +known as the treadmill. No doubt the very ardent mountaineer might find +that facilities would be accorded to him during such time as he cannot +visit the Alps of practising this art in the manner indicated. + +(M117) + +Before long, the smooth unbroken snow slope leading up to the Col du Mont +Rouge, glistening like a sheet of amber-coloured satin in the light of +early dawn, came into sight. One of the party, who had complained +throughout of the slow pace at which he had been going, and who was +already far ahead, now went through a singular performance. Conceiving +that he would stimulate us to greater exertion by displaying his own +agility, he suddenly shot forth, as an arrow from the bow, and ran at +great speed on to the snow slope. But he had misjudged the hardness of the +snow. It fell out, therefore, that after two or three curious flounders +his limbs suddenly shot out to all points of the compass. A desperate +effort to recall his members under control resulted only in his suddenly +coiling up into a little round ball, like a spider in a state of +nervousness, and in that shape descending with considerable momentum, and +not a few bumps, down the slope over some knobby stones and on to a +fortunately placed little grass ledge. When we joined him a few minutes +later, he observed unblushingly that he had found a capital place for +breakfast. So have I seen a skater, after performing a few exercises of a +somewhat violent nature, resembling the dances performed by nigger +minstrels wearing excessively long boots, suddenly sit down and instantly +adjust a perfectly correctly applied strap. On resuming our journey the +agile member was firmly secured with a rope, for fear, as we told him, +that he should become possessed with a sudden idea to hunt for a suitable +place for luncheon by resorting to his previous tactics. Somewhat +crestfallen, he took a place in the rear of the caravan, and condescended +to make use of the little notches scraped out by the leader in the hard +snow. + +(M118) + +A few minutes later the full sunlight of early morning burst upon us, and +produced, as it always does on such occasions, a feeling of supreme +contempt for those slothful individuals who had not got up as early as we +had. This moment of exhilaration is often the very best of a whole +expedition, and is apt to lead, I know not why, to an ebullition of +feeling, which usually takes the form of horse-play and practical joking. +A series of gentle slopes led us up to the Col. Our ascent took us +gradually round the base of the Ruinette, and we cast anxious glances to +our right to see if any practicable line of rocks could be made out. The +mountain is tolerably steep from this side, but the rocks are broken and +were bare of snow. On the summit of the Col the party divided, the agile +person and some of the others deciding that they would go straight on to +Arolla, while Burgener and I bespoke the services of the porter, and made +straight for the long buttress of rock running down almost directly to the +Col on the north-west face of the mountain. Half an hour's complicated +scrambling resulted in our attaining a little level plateau of rock on the +ridge. As we looked down on to the great snow-field from which the Getroz +glacier takes its origin, we perceived, far away, the forms of our +companions looking like a flight of driven grouse about a quarter of a +minute after the sportsman has missed them with both barrels. No doubt +they were enjoying themselves thoroughly, but from our point of view the +sight of some four or five individuals walking along at ten-foot intervals +with bowed heads and plodding gait did not suggest any very consummate +pleasure. Rejoicing, therefore, that they were making nice tracks for us +to follow later in the day, we turned again to the rocks above. Following +always the ridge, we clambered straight up, and found opportunities for +very pretty gymnastics (that is, from our own point of view) on this part +of the mountain. Our object was to select rocks that would give good +practice in climbing, rather than to pick out the easiest possible line, +and as a result we got into more than one difficult place, difficult +enough at any rate to demand much conversation on the part of the guides. +In about three hours from the Col we found ourselves looking over the +arete on to the southern side of the mountain with a very compact and +varied view in all directions. Close by, the long ridge of the Serpentine +formed a fine foreground, and a wide expanse of glacier district made up a +tolerably wild panorama. A few minutes' climbing along the crest landed us +above a deep notch filled in with soft snow. Into this we plunged, and in +another minute or two stood on the summit of the Ruinette. So far as we +knew at the time, the mountain had not previously been ascended from the +northern side, and, indeed, the peak does not appear to be visited nearly +so often as it deserves. Following for the most part the same line as that +taken during the ascent, we regained, in about a couple of hours, the Col. +Here we hunted diligently, seeking what we might devour, and feeling sure +that our friends would have left us something as a reward for our energy. +It transpired, however, subsequently, that the agile person's exertions +had provoked in him such an appetite that there was little if anything to +leave, so we followed the tracks laid out in the snow, noticing with some +concern that one member of the previous party had sunk at every step some +eighteen inches deeper into the soft compound than anybody else. By the +marks on the snow we perceived, also, that he had trailed his axe along by +his side, a sure sign of weariness. By sunset we had gained the Pas de +Chevres, and ran gaily down the gentle slope towards the hotel. A little +distance from the building we came so suddenly upon a manly form, +outstretched, like a stranded star-fish, on a mossy bank, that we almost +leaped upon his stomach. Yet he moved not, and was apparently wrapped in +slumber. We stopped and crept cautiously up to survey him more closely. It +was the agile person. + + + + + 2. _A Little Maiden._ + + +(M119) + +In the old days of mountaineering, Saas was a place more often talked +about than visited. The beauty of the scenery around was indeed +unquestionable, the number of expeditions of every degree of difficulty +seemed almost without limit, first-rate guides could be obtained with +ease, and yet there was never any difficulty in finding quarters in the +hotels. In ascending the main valley from Visp the great stream of +travellers divided at Stalden into a large stream that made its way to +Zermatt and a little rivulet that meandered along the much finer valley +towards Saas and the Mattmark. It thus fell out that, notwithstanding a +small body of indefatigable mountaineers had explored the higher peaks and +passes on both sides of the valley with tolerable completeness, there was +left a considerable number of smaller expeditions capable of providing +good amusement for the climber desirous of acquiring fame or of exploring +the less known districts. In these days, when the soaring ambition of +mountaineers has led them to climb heights far greater than any found in +the Alps, an account of an expedition of an unimportant peak may seem out +of place. Indeed, its details were so devoid of sensational incident that +the recital may be dull; but, as will appear directly, that is not the +writer's fault; at any rate, he ventures to give it, for the same reason +that invariably prompts youthful authors to write unnecessary books; that +is, as they say in their preface, to supply a want long felt--a want, it +may be stated, usually felt in their own pockets and nowhere else. + +With every respect to the older generation of mountaineers, they are much +to blame in one matter. The stock of Alpine jokes is scanty; indeed, a +well-read author can get them all, with a little arrangement, into the +compass of one short description of a day in the mountains. Again, the +number of Alpine subjects lending themselves to facetiousness is but +small. The supply has been proved beyond question entirely inadequate to +meet the demand, but former writers have recklessly drawn on this limited +stock and entirely exhausted the topics, if not the readers. Some +allowance may therefore be made when the position is considered, and it is +realised that the writer is endeavouring to patch together a fabric with +materials almost too threadbare for use, and that he is compelled wholly +to pass by such attractive topics as the early start and consequent +ill-temper, the dirty porter, the bergschrund, the use of tobacco, or the +flea. The last-mentioned beast is in fact now universally prohibited from +intrusion into polite Alpine literature; he has had his day. But why? he +has surely some right to the place. An eminent French composer(6) has +written a ballad in his honour; but though, as old Hans Andersen wrote, he +was much thought of at one time, and occupied a high position, seeing that +he was in the habit of mixing with the human race, and might even have +royal blood in his veins, yet he is now deposed. I cannot forbear from +paying a last tribute to the memory of a departing, though formerly +constant, companion. To find oneself obliged to cut the acquaintance of a +friend whom I have fed with my own hand must give rise to some qualms. + +Unfortunately, too, the older writings are too well known of many to be +dished up again in altered form, like a Sunday dinner in the suburbs; so +that even the most common form of originality, videlicet, forgetfulness of +the source from which you are borrowing, is forbidden. Plagiarism is a +crime that seldom is allowed to pass undetected. There are many people in +this world possessed of such a small amount of originality themselves, +that they spend their whole time in searching for the want of that quality +in others. The human inhabitants of the ark, unless they made the most of +their unexampled opportunities for the study of natural history, must have +become desperately bored with each other, and no doubt, when set free, +said all the good things, each in their own independent nucleus of +commencing society, which they had heard while immured. On the whole, it +is fortunate for writers that the period known as the dark ages came to +pass; it allowed those who commenced their career on this side of the +hiatus to make, on the old lines, a perfectly fresh start. + +(M120) + +Perhaps no country in the world has had the minute topography of its +uninhabited districts so thoroughly worked out as Switzerland. Beyond +question the orography is more accurately given than anywhere else; in +this respect, indeed, no other country can compare with it. It might seem, +even to those who have studied the matter, almost impossible to find any +corner of the Alps that has not been described; and the discovery that a +few superficial square yards of Swiss territory, arranged on an incline, +had not been discussed in detail came upon the writer with somewhat of a +shock. It was clearly somebody's duty to rectify the omission and fill the +gap; whether the expedition was of importance from any point of view, or +whether any one in the wide world had the smallest desire to read a +description of it, was a matter of no moment whatever. There was a vacuum, +and it was a thing abhorrent. The mountain, to which reference is made +above, lies east of Saas, and is known to such of the inhabitants as have +any knowledge of geography as the Portienhorn. Substantially this peak is +the highest point of a long rocky ridge running north and south, and +called the Portien Grat. + +(M121) + +One fine evening we sat outside the inn at Saas just before dinner, +seriously discussing the prospect of climbing this mountain. The guides +were of opinion that we ought to sleep out, and surmised that the rocks +might be found much more difficult than they looked. With some reluctance +on our part their views were allowed to prevail on the point, and they +started off in triumph, promising to return and report when all the +necessary preparations for starting should be completed, while we went in +to prepare ourselves for the next day by an early dinner. The inn in those +days was somewhat rude, and the cuisine was not remarkable save for the +extraordinary faculty possessed by the chef for cooking anything that +happened to come in his way, and reducing it all to the same level of +tastelessness. On the present occasion, however, stimulated, no doubt, by +certain critical rebukes, he had determined to surpass himself. Towards +the end of the repast, as we sat chewing some little wooden toothpicks, +which were found to have more flavour than anything else placed on the +table, we heard the chef cross the yard and go into a certain little +outhouse. A few minutes later a subtle and delicate aroma made its way +into the apartment, leading us, after a few interrogative sniffs, to get +up and close the window. Gradually the savour became more pronounced, and +one of the party gave expression to his opinion that there was now +satisfactory proof of the accuracy of his constant statement that the +drains were out of order. Gradually intensifying, the savour assumed the +decided character of a smell, and we looked out of window to see in which +direction the cemetery lay. Stronger and stronger grew the perception as +steps came mounting up the stairs; the door opened, and all doubt was set +at rest as the chef entered, bearing proudly a large cheese. In a moment, +to his dismay, he was left undisputed master of the apartment. + +(M122) + +We left Saas equipped as for a serious expedition. A stout rustic, who was +the most preternaturally ugly man I ever saw, led the way; he had a very +large mouth and an odd-shaped face, so that he resembled a frog with a +skewer wedged across inside his cheeks. On his back he bore a bag full of +very spiky straw, which the guides said was a mattress. In about an hour's +time we arrived at a carelessly built chalet on the Almagel Alp, of which +the outside was repulsive and the inside revolting. But the experienced +mountaineer, on such occasions, is not easily put out, and exhibits very +little astonishment at anything he may see, and none at anything that he +may smell. The hut consisted of a single apartment, furnished with a +fireplace and a bed. The fireplace was situated in the centre of the room; +the couch was separated by a dilapidated hoarding from a shed tenanted by +a cow of insatiable appetite--indeed, it may have been originally designed +as a manger. The bed, which accommodated apparently the family of the +tenant, was found on actual measurement to be forty-eight inches in length +and twenty in width; nevertheless the two guides packed themselves into +it, adopting in their recumbent position the theory that if you keep your +head and your feet warm you are all right. By the flickering gleams of +firelight it could be perceived through the smoke that these were the only +portions of their frames actually in the bed owing to its excessive +shortness; but guides share, with babies in perambulators, a happy faculty +of being able to sleep peacefully whatever be the position of their heads. +The dispossessed family of the tenant would not submit, notwithstanding +strong remarks, to summary eviction, and watched our proceedings with much +interest. It was pointed out to them that curiosity was a vicious quality, +that it had been defined as looking over other people's affairs and +overlooking one's own, and that, on the whole, they had better retire, +which they did reluctantly, to a little shed in which was a large copper +pot with other cheese-making accessories. Apparently they spent the night +in scouring the copper pot. + +The mattress proved to be so tightly packed that it was easier, on the +whole, to lie awake under it than to sleep on the top of it, and less +painful. About 4 A.M. one of the guides incautiously moved his head, and +having thus disturbed his equilibrium fell heavily on to the floor. +Thereupon he woke up and said it was time to start. We bade a cheerful +adieu to our host, who was obtaining such repose as could be got by the +process of leaning against the doorpost, and made our way upwards. + +On the south side of the Portienhorn a long and rough rocky ridge, +preserving a tolerably uniform height, extends as far as the Sonnighorn. +Ultimately the ridge, still running in a southerly direction, curves +slightly round to the west up to the Monte Moro, and thus forms the head +of the Saas valley. There are several unimportant peaks in this ridge +perhaps equally worthy, with the Portienhorn, of a place in literature; +but of all the points south of the Weissmies this Portienhorn is perhaps +the most considerable, and certainly the most difficult of access. At any +rate, we climbed the peak, and this is how we did it. + +(M123) + +It was clear that the southern ridge was more feasible than the northern +one, which drops to a col known as the Zwischbergen Pass, and then rises +again to merge into the mass of the Weissmies. The whole of the western +slope of the Portienhorn is covered by the Rothblatt Glacier, the ice of +which is plastered up against its sides. We kept to the left of the +termination of this glacier, and after a brief look round turned our steps +away from the rock buttress forming the northern boundary of the glacier, +though we were of opinion that we might by this line ascend the mountain; +but we nevertheless selected the southern ridge, on the same principle +that the sportsman, perfectly capable of flying across any obstacle, +however high, sometimes, out of consideration no doubt for his horse, +elects to follow somebody else through a gap. In good time we reached a +point about halfway up the side of the mountain, and halted at the upper +edge of a sloping patch of snow. It was fortunate that we had ample time +to spare, for considerable delay was experienced here. Burgener had become +newly possessed of a remarkable knife, which he was perpetually taking out +of his pocket and admiring fondly; in fact, it provided material for +conversation to the guides for the whole day. The knife was an intricate +article, and strikingly useless, being weak in the joints; but +nevertheless Burgener was vastly proud of the weapon, and valued it as +much as an ugly man does a compliment. In the middle of breakfast the +treasure suddenly slipped out of his hand, and started off down the slope. +With a yell of anguish he bounded off after it, and went down the rocks in +a manner and at a pace that only a guide in a state of excitement can +exhibit. The incident was trivial, but it impressed on me the +extraordinary powers of sure-footedness and quickness on rocks that a good +guide possesses. An amateur might have climbed after these men the whole +day, and have thought that he was nearly as good as they, but he could no +more have gone down a couple of hundred feet as this guide did without +committing suicide, than he could have performed a double-three backwards +the first time he put on skates. He might, indeed, have gone backwards, +but he would not have achieved his double-three. Turning northwards the +moment we were on the arete, we made our way, with a good deal of +scrambling, upwards. The rocks were firm and good, and, being dry, gave no +great difficulty. Still they were far from easy, and now and again there +were short passages sufficiently troublesome to yield the needed charm to +a mountain climb, difficult enough at any rate to make us leave our axes +behind and move one at a time. But how have the times altered since our +expedition was made! Nowadays such a climb would be more fitly mentioned +casually after dinner as "a nice little walk before church," "a capital +after-breakfast scramble," "a stroll strongly recommended to persons of an +obese habit," and so forth. Nevertheless, there is a very distinct +pleasure in climbing up a peak of this sort--greater, perhaps, than may be +found on many of the more highly rated, formidable, and, if the truth be +told, fashionable mountains; for the expedition was throughout +interesting, and the contrast between the view to the west where the +Mischabelhoerner reared up their massive forms, and to the east looking +towards Domo d'Ossola and the Italian lake district, was one to repay a +climber who has eyes as well as limbs. The crest was in places tolerably +sharp, and we were forced at times to adopt the expedient, conventionally +supposed to be the only safe one in such cases, of bestriding the rock +edge. It should be stated, however, that, as usual on such occasions, when +we desired to progress we discarded this position, and made our way +onwards in the graceful attitude observed at the seaside in those who are +hunting on the sand for marine specimens. And thus we arrived ultimately +at the top, where we gave way to a properly regulated amount of subdued +enthusiasm, proportionate to the difficulty and height of the vanquished +mountain. No trace of previous travellers could be found on the summit. It +was a maiden ascent. Doubtless the mythical and ubiquitous chamois-hunter +had been up before us, for at the time I write of the district was noted +for chamois; but even if he had, it makes no difference. We have found it +long since necessary to look upon ascents stated to have been made by +chamois-hunters as counting for nothing, and in the dearth of new peaks in +the Alps, have to resort to strange devices and strained ideas for +novelty. Thus, a mountain in the present day can be the means of bringing +glory and honour to many climbers. For instance:-- + +A climbs it First ascent. +B ascends it First recorded ascent. +C goes up it First ascent from the other side. +D combines A and C's First time that the peak has been "colled." + expedition +E scrambles up the First ascent by the E.N.E. arete. + wrong way +F climbs it in the First ascent by an Englishman, or first + ordinary way ascent without guides. +G is dragged up by his First real ascent; because all the others + guides were ignorant of the topographical details, + and G's peak is nearly three feet higher than + any other point. + +Many more might be added; probably in the future many more will, for, in +modern mountaineering phrase, the Portienhorn "goes all over." By 4 P.M. +we were back again in the Saas valley. + +It seems, as I write, only yesterday that all this happened. But a regular +revolution has really taken place. There can be no question, I think, that +fewer real mountaineers are to be found in the old "playground" than +formerly. Still, there are not wanting climbers, all of them apparently of +the first rank. For among the high Alps now, even as on the dramatic stage +of to-day, there are no amateurs. + +(M124) + +A curious human fungus that has grown up suddenly of late is the +emancipated schoolboy spoken of by a certain, principally feminine, clique +of admirers as "such a wonderful actor, you know." Very learned is he in +the technicalities of the stage. The perspiring audience in the main +drawing-room he alludes to as "those in front." He knows what "battens" +are, and "flies," and "tormentors," and "spider-traps." He endeavours to +imitate well-known actors, but does not imitate the laborious process by +which these same artists arrive at successful results. But we all know +him, and are aware also, at any rate by report, of his overweening vanity, +and the manner in which he intrudes his conception of "Hamlet" or +"Richelieu" on a longsuffering public. Without the slightest knowledge +technically of how to walk, talk, sit down, go off, or come on, he rushes +on the boards possessed solely of such qualifications for his task as may +arise in a brain fermenting with conceit. Critics he regards as persons +existing solely for the purpose of crushing him, and showing ill-tempered +hostility born of envy. The judicious, if they accept and weakly avail +themselves of orders, can but grieve and marvel that there should exist +that curious state of folly which prompts a man to exhibit it before the +world, or even to thrust it upon his fellow-creatures. Some men are born +foolish--a pity, no doubt, but the circumstances are beyond their own +control; some achieve a reputation for lack of wisdom, and even make it +pay; but some thrust their folly on others, and to such no quarter need be +given. The self-constituted exponent of a most difficult art is not a whit +more ridiculous than the boy or man who rushes at a difficult peak before +he has learnt the elements of mountaineering science. A man may become a +good amateur actor if he will consent to devote his leisure to +ascertaining what there is to learn, and trying to learn it; and a man may +become a good mountaineer by adopting the same line of action. But this is +rarely the case. Too often they forget that, as a late president of the +Alpine Club remarked, "life is a great opportunity, not to be thrown away +lightly." It is said sometimes by unreflecting persons that such +institutions as the Alpine Club are responsible for the misfortunes and +calamities that have arisen from time to time, and may still arise. But +there has been a good example set if recruits would only turn to it; for +the mountaineers in the old style, speaking of a generation that climbs +but little in these days, did what it is the fashion now to call their +"work" thoroughly--too thoroughly and completely, perhaps, to please +altogether their successors. Novelty in the mountains of Switzerland may +be exhausted, but there are still too many expeditions of which, because +they have been done once or twice, the danger is not adequately +recognised. If these remarks, written in no captious spirit, but rather +with the strongest desire to lay stress on truths that are too often +ignored, should lead any aspiring but unpractised mountaineer to pause and +reflect before he tries something beyond his strength and capabilities, +some little good will at least have been done. It is not that the rules +are unknown; they are simple, short, ready to hand, and intelligible; but +the penalty that may be exacted for breaking any of them is a terribly +heavy one--_absit omen._ + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + + A SENTIMENTAL ALPINE JOURNEY + + + Long "waits" and entr'actes--The Mont Buet as an unknown + mountain--We hire carriages--A digression on a stationary vehicle--A + straggling start--The incomplete moralist--The niece to the + moralist--A discourse on gourmets--An artistic interlude--We become + thoughtful, and reach the height of sentiment and the top of the + Mont Buet--Some other members of the party--The mountaineers + perform--How glissading ambition did o'erleap itself--A vision on + the summit--The moralist leaves us for a while--Entertainment at the + Berard Chalet--View of the Aiguille Verte--The end of the journey. + + +A fair critic--in the matter of sex--discussing a recently published work +with the author, remarked that it was the most charming book she had ever +read. "I was told it would not interest me," she remarked most seriously +to him, "but really I found it delightful: there are such lovely wide +margins to the pages, you know." On much the same principle a highly +intelligent lady, noted for her theatrical discrimination, once remarked +that she liked those theatres best which afforded the longest entr'actes. +So in the Alps we felt from time to time the necessity, between the more +stirring episodes resulting from higher mountaineering, to interpose minor +expeditions, on which no less care and thought was often lavished to make +them worthy of pursuit. These were our entr'actes. Of such expeditions it +is customary to say that they are the most enjoyable of any undertaken. +Without going so far as this, it may be conceded that they have a pleasure +of their own, and it is at least no more difficult to discover a novel +form of sub-Alpine expedition than to vary the details of a big climb. One +of these episodes, undertaken while we were barred from the higher +mountains by a fall of snow, consisted in a night attack on the Mont Buet. + +(M125) + +Now the Mont Buet, although it lies close to the regular highway to +Chamouni from the Rhone valley, is a peak but rarely even seen of the +ordinary tourist; and, considering the numbers of our countrymen that +flock to the village whence they imagine that they see the summit of Mont +Blanc, the English folk who make the ascent are strangely few. Yet the +walk is not a laborious one; not more fatiguing, for example, than the +tramp from Martigny to Chamouni over the Col de Balme on a hot day. +Fashion in the mountains is very conservative, and probably it is too late +in the day now to hope that this mountain will ever gain all the +reputation it deserves, for, though comparatively unknown, its praises +have been by no means left unsung. Possibly the lowness of the guides' +tariff for the peak may have something to do with the matter, and may +serve to explain why it is so much left out in the cold; for this is a +very potent agent in determining the attractiveness of special localities. +How many go to Chamouni, and never wander along one of the most beautiful +sylvan paths in the Alps, that leads to the Glacier des Bossons through +the woods, where the view, as the spectator suddenly finds himself +confronted with the huge stream of pure glacier, topped by a most +magnificent ice-fall, and backed by the crags of the Aiguille du Midi, +compares by no means unfavourably with the more frequently photographed +panorama from the Montanvert. Ask a dozen persons at haphazard who are +staying at Chamouni where the Mont Buet is, and ten out of the number will +be unable to answer you. But the pictures hung on the line are not +invariably the best in an exhibition; and the Mont Buet is a masterpiece, +so to speak, "skied." + +(M126) + +Our party that summer at Chamouni was a large one, for we had stayed a +long time in the hotel, and knew, as the phrase goes, a great many to +speak to--quite a different thing to answering for them. We conceived the +plan of so timing our modest expedition as to arrive on the summit of the +Mont Buet about sunset. It was agreed by some members of the party that it +would be "such fun, you know," to come down in the dark. The inference to +be gathered from this is that the party was not exclusively composed of +the male sex. Two of us, reputed to be good at a bargain, were deputed to +charter carriages to convey the members of the expedition up to +Argentiere, where the ascent commenced. The carriages of Chamouni, though +no doubt practical and well suited to the mountain roads, were not found +to be of uniform excellence. Availing ourselves of a proper introduction, +we made the temporary acquaintance of an individual interested officially +in vehicular traffic, who possessed that remarkable insight into character +noticeable in all who are concerned with horses, and knew exactly what we +wanted without any preliminary explanation on our part. "Voila votre +affaire," he said, and indicated a machine that would have been out of +date when the first _char-a-banc_ was constructed. We inquired if the +somewhat unsavoury load (it had, apparently, been in recent requisition +for farming purposes) which the cart contained might be removed, and he +said there was no objection to this. "See," said the proprietor, "the +seats have backs." "But they tip up," we remonstrated. "That is nothing," +rejoined the proprietor; "they can be tied down: the carriage is good, and +has gone many miles. However, Monsieur is evidently particular; he shall +be satisfied. Behold!" and the proprietor threw open the creaking door of +a shed, and revealed to our gaze a pretentious landau with faded linings +and wheels which did not seem to be circular. This "machine," he assured +us, it would be hard to equal for locomotive purposes. Two strange beasts +were connected to it, chiefly, as it seemed, by bits of string. One of the +animals was supported on two very puffy hind legs and two very tremulous +fore-legs, and seemed perpetually on the point of going down on its knees +to supplicate that it might be allowed to go no further. Its companion was +a horse of the most gloomy nature, that no amount of chastisement could +stir from a despondent and pensive frame of mind. Both these treasures had +a capacity for detecting an upward incline that was marvellously acute. +Then there was a structure like a magnified perambulator, of which one +wheel was afflicted with a chronic propensity for squeaking, while the +other described a curious serpentine track as it rolled along. Not being, +however, in any particular hurry, we decided to avail ourselves of such +assistance as these vehicles might afford, and did, as a matter of fact, +ultimately reach our destination, if not in, at least with them. + +(M127) + +From Argentiere we followed the familiar track of the Tete Noire for some +little distance, and then bore away to the left up the valley leading +towards the Berard Chalet. The party, which had kept well together for the +first few minutes after parting with the carriages, were soon straggling +off in every direction, and the chief organiser of the expedition, +desperately anxious lest some should go astray and be no more found, ran +to and fro from one little group to another, and got into a highly +excitable frame of mind, like a busily minded little dog when first taken +out for a walk. Chief among the more erratic members was an elderly person +who had, unwisely, been asked to join the party for no very definite +reason, but because some one had said that it would be obviously +incomplete without him. The old gentleman had no previous experience of +mountain walks, but had very complete theories on the subject. He had made +great preparations for his day's climb, had carefully dieted himself the +day previously, and was not a little proud of his equipment and attire. He +was furnished with a spiked umbrella, a green tin box, and a particularly +thin pair of boots; for he wished to prove the accuracy of a theory that +man, being descended from the apes, might properly use his feet as +prehensile members, and he held that this additional aid would prove +valuable on rocks. It was currently reported, notwithstanding his +loquacity, that he was a very wise person, and indeed he dropped hints +himself, which he was much annoyed if we did not take, on the subject of a +projected literary work. We were given to understand that the publishers +were all hankering after the same, and he had a manner in conversation of +tentatively quoting passages and watching eagerly for the effects. He was +known to us as the incomplete moralist, and proved to be a very didactic +person. + +(M128) + +But this was not all; there was one other member of the party, who may be +described, as in the old-fashioned list of the "Dramatis Personae," as +"niece to the moralist." Somehow or another, she seemed to lead +everything; instinctively all gave way to her wishes, and even the chief +organiser looked to her for confirmation of his opinions before +enunciating them with decision. Bright, impulsive, wilful, she led the +moralist, subjectively speaking, whither she would, and he had no chance +at all. "She ought not to have come at all on such an expedition," he +said, looking at the light, fragile form ahead; "but you know you can't +persuade a butterfly to take systematic exercise, and everything seems to +give her so much pleasure;" and here the moralist looked rather wistful, +and somehow the artificiality seemed to fade away from him for the moment. +"Such of us," he resumed, "as stay long enough in this world cease to have +much hopefulness; and when that quality shows up too strong in the young, +such as that child yonder, somehow I don't think they often----" Here he +paused abruptly, and, selecting a meat lozenge from a store in his tin +box, put it into his mouth and apparently swallowed it at once; at any +rate, he gulped down something. It must be allowed that the moralist had +done his best to prevent his charge from accompanying the party. She had +been reminded of what learned doctors had said, that she was not to exert +herself; that certain persons, vaguely alluded to, would be very angry, +and so forth. The moralist had been talked down in two minutes. He might +as well have pointed out to the little budding leaflets the unwisdom of +mistaking warm days in March for commencing summer; and, finally, he had +surrendered at discretion, fencing himself in with some stipulations as to +warm cloaks, "this once only," and the like, which he knew would not be +attended to. So she came, and her eager brightness shed a radiance over +the most commonplace objects, and infected the most prosaic of the party, +even a young lady of varied accomplishments, who distinguished herself +later on. After all, if the flame burned a little more brightly at the +expense of a limited stock of fuel, was there anything to regret? Tone +down such brightness as hers was, and you have but an uncut diamond, or a +plant that may possibly last a little longer because its blossom, its +fruit, and with them its beauties, have been cut off to preserve the dull +stem to the utmost. Check the natural characteristics and outflow of such +natures, and you force them to the contemplation of what is painful and +gloomy. You bring them back fully to this world, and it is their greatest +privilege to be but half in it, and to have eyes blind to the seamy side. +The Alpine rose-glow owes its fascination to the fact that we know it will +soon fade. So is it with these natures. They are to be envied. We may hold +it truth with him who sings, "Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of +Cathay." But the parallel is not strictly true: the brightness will not +fade, but will be there to the end, and the streak of sadness running +through it all gives the fascination. So the wit that approaches nearest +to pathos touches us most deeply, and is one of the rarest of intellectual +talents. With what a thrill of mixed, but yet pleasurable, sensation do we +recall the timely jest of a lost friend. But all this has nothing to do +with a holiday expedition in the Alps. Still, it must be remembered, we +were on a sentimental journey in the mountains. + +Before long the chief organiser, seizing an opportunity when most of the +stragglers were within earshot, announced at the top of his voice that +luncheon would be served on certain flat rocks. This had the immediate +effect of uniting our scattered forces. The first to arrive (the moralist +was slow of foot) were some gallant members of the high mountaineering +fraternity, who throughout the day evinced astounding activity, and an +unwonted desire to carry burdens on their backs. Secretly they were +burning with an ambition to display their prowess on some "mauvais pas," +or glissade, an ambition rewarded later on in a somewhat remarkable +manner. The rock was spread, the moralist selected a comfortable place, +and, stimulated by the appearance of the viands, favoured us with certain +extracts. + +(M129) + +"There are many," he observed, holding a large piece of pie to his mouth +and eyeing it to select an appropriate place for the next bite, "who hold +that the sense of taste is not one to which we should much minister. I do +not hold with such;" and here he found the right spot, and for a minute or +two the thread of his discourse was broken off. "The painter blends +colours to please the sense of sight; the musician studies harmonies of +sound to please the ear; each appeals to but one of our imperfect senses, +and yet we think much of them for so doing; we compliment them, and give +them the appellation of artists. Now the worthy person who dexterously +compounded this article, of which, alas! I hold now but little in my hand, +appeals not to a single but to a twofold sense; he ministers alike to +taste and to smell, and I must own, after a toilsome walk, with +commendable results. He is an artist in the highest sense of the word; his +merits, to my thinking, are but inadequately recognised in this world. I +am convinced that they will be more so in another. The gourmet's paradise +shall provide for him a cherubic state of existence; then shall he have +all the pleasure that the palate can afford without any ill-omened presage +of subsequent discomfort; for, thrice happy that he will be, digestion +will be an anatomical impossibility." It may be remarked parenthetically +that the possession of a gigantic brain had not obviated, in the case of +the moralist, the deleterious effects of sour wine. But the moralist was +not, as yet, much of a cherub. + +As the speaker showed unmistakable signs of continuing his discourse, +which had been chiefly directed at a youth of whom we only knew that he +was some one's brother, if the opportunity were afforded, a sudden and +general move was made, and the proposal that a short adjournment should +take place previous to resuming our upward journey found instant favour. +The chief organiser was by common consent left to pack up. Straightway the +ladies all produced little sketch-books, and fell very vigorously to +recording their impressions of the scenery around; whilst the moralist, +already somewhat stiff, wandered from one group to the other and favoured +them with his suggestions. The result of half an hour's work with pencil +and brush was to produce diagrams of certain objects which looked +uncommonly like telegraph poles with cross bars attached, but which were +coloured of a vivid green, and were thus obviously intended for fir trees. +The moralist, not finding that his remarks were met with much favour by +the artists, selected an ascetic who sat apart from the others, and +delivered his next discourse into his inattentive but uncomplaining ear. + +(M130) + +"It seems strange to me," he remarked, "that those who are wholly unable +to depict, even in the most elementary manner, the commonplace objects +around them, are for ever seen in the Alps striving after the most +impossible art problems. If so great a stimulus is needed, a poor result +may be confidently anticipated." (Here the moralist made a fourth attempt +to light a very curious native cigar.) "If it takes the sight of Nature in +her sublimest phase, as seen in the Alps, to stimulate our friends here to +show their art, why, then they haven't much of it. A milestone should be +sufficient for the purpose, but it seems that they require a Matterhorn; +and it may be gathered, from what I have heard you and your companions +say, that what is true of Alpine art is true also of Alpine climbing, and +that the _dilettanti_ will never take the trouble to learn how much there +is to learn. Our friends here try to paint a glacier, and have not the +most elementary idea of its anatomy. They represent vast panoramas, and +know nothing of distance; they----" But here the moralist, in the excitement +of his discourse, turned a little white, probably from the depth of his +feelings; and, throwing away his cigar, walked off alone, and was +discovered shortly after perspiring a good deal, and crumpled up in a +somewhat limp and helpless state. + +The books were packed up, for the sun was setting low, and the party +wended their way up the steep grass slope till the first great dome of the +Mont Buet came well into sight. Far ahead was the niece, seemingly +unconscious of the effects that the exertion of climbing told on her +slight frame. She was apparently unaware of any companions around, though +watchful eyes and strong hands were always near lest any mischance should +befall. She spoke to no one. Nature absorbed all her faculties as she went +on with cheeks rather flushed, and bright, dilated eyes drinking in every +object and every point of beauty. As an artist in the exercise of his +craft makes the outside world acquainted with beauties ever present to his +eyes, so did the effect on her of the wondrous lights and shades and +colours around call up new thoughts and reveal fresh marvels in the +panorama to others, though well acquainted with such Alpine scenes. The +spell caught one after another, till the whole party, all held by the same +unsuspected fascination, walked silently on, while the majestic splendour +around inspired an awe in the mind that even those most familiar with the +marvels of nature in the mountains had never felt before. The mere +recognition of the fact that the same thought or emotion is passing +simultaneously through the minds of many is in itself so striking, that +the impression so caused will not ever be effaced from the mind. A crowded +hall is waiting for the advent of the orator of the occasion, and there +enters an old man whose name and work were familiar to all. Instantly, and +as if by magic, all present rose to their feet in token of respect. No +word was spoken, no signal given. The matter may seem slight, but the +scene was one that those present will never forget. The most hideous part +of the punishment in the old days to the criminal must have been the +moment when, as he stepped through the last door, the sea of faces below +him upturned simultaneously with a howl of execration. And all these +thoughts were called up by the fact that one consumptive girl was a member +of our mountain party. Well, such was the case, and it made the expedition +different in many ways from any that we had ever undertaken, but not +perhaps the less worthy of remembrance. + +(M131) + +"It looks a long way off," observed the moralist, gazing despondently +upwards. "Do you say that the object of our expedition is to climb up to +that eminence yonder? I fear lest some of the weaker members of the party +should fail." (The moralist was now the penultimate member of the party, +the absolute rear being brought up by one of the guides, who was pushing +him up with the head of his axe. The youth to whom he was in the habit of +addressing his discourses had in a revengeful mood offered similar +assistance; but the youth wore such a saturnine look when he made the +suggestion, that it was declined hastily with thanks.) "I think that if I +took a little wine"--here he took all that was left--"this feeling of +disinclination to move might conceivably pass off, and I could then +encourage some of the others on what is clearly to them an arduous +expedition. Ah me! but these little stones are excessively sharp to the +feet; let us turn off on to the snow. I have heard that it is possible to +walk uphill on such a medium, and yet scarce recognise the fact." By this +time most of the party were well on to the first summit, and the glories +of the sunset, from a point of view which it would be hard to match in all +the mountains, were beginning to display themselves to the full. The +higher we ascended the more did the eternal mass of white snow on the +other side of the valley develop and tower above us. Two or three of the +more active members were floundering in the deep snow along the ridge +uniting the two summits, and finding it, if the truth be told, no small +matter to keep pace with the niece, who skimmed lightly over the surface. +Gallantry and the desire to keep up their reputation forbade that they +should fall to the rear, or allow the rope to tighten unduly; but their +superior mountaineering experience seemed not a little in danger of being +counterbalanced by their superior weight. All over the rocks on the Sixt +side a thin grey veil of mist seemed to hang, making the cliffs appear +still more vertical than nature had moulded them, and tinting the crags at +the same time with a deep purple colour. + + [Illustration: A VISION ON A SUMMIT] + +(M132) + +In the foreground, looking south, the long jagged line of the Aiguilles +Rouges cut off the view into the Chamouni valley, and threw up still +higher and more into relief the minor peaks of the Mont Blanc chain. We +huddled together on the summit, while there seemed hardly time to turn to +all points of the compass to survey the effects. The emotional members of +the party came out strong, and the young lady of varied accomplishments, +who was adjudged by the others to be of poetic temperament, as she was +fond of alluding rather vaguely to unknown Italian geniuses, burst forth +into ecstasies. However, one or two of us had rather lost faith in her +historical knowledge and her profound acquaintance with mediaeval art on +hearing her discourse learnedly to the vacuous youth on Savonarola as an +artist of great repute, and on discovering that in the family circle she +was held in submission by an Italianised English governess--discreetly left +at the hotel. A formidable person, this preceptress, of austere demeanour, +with a dyspeptic habit, highly pomatumed ringlets, and evangelistic +tendencies--a triple combination not infrequently met with. Still, no one +paid any attention to the accomplished young lady, for an object in the +foreground of the great picture riveted the gaze of most of us. The niece +had advanced a few steps from the rest of the party, and stood a little +apart on the summit ridge of the mountain, her slight form brought out in +strong relief against the many-tinted sky. The folds of her dress +fluttered back in the light breeze, and the night wind as it came sighing +over the crest had loosened her veil and tossed it upwards. Mechanically +as she raised her hand to draw it back, the thin arm and hand seemed to +point upwards to something beyond what we could see. Instinctively the +others all drew back a few paces, and closed in together as they watched +the motionless form. The sunset glories were more than we could realise, +but somehow we felt that she was gazing with fixed eyes far, far beyond +these--into a pure and passionless region, beyond the mental grasp of the +profoundest theologian depending on his own acquired knowledge. As we +looked, though she moved no limb, her breath came faster and faster. One +or two of us made a start forwards, but at that moment the last red glow +vanished from the belt of fleecy cloud hanging in mid-sky. Lower down, the +limestone cliffs seemed strangely desolate as the icy hand of night spread +over them. The breeze suddenly dropped and died away. She stamped her foot +on the snow, and with a quick movement of the head seemed to come back +again to the scene around. "Let us go," she said, half petulantly. +Silently the party arranged themselves in order as we wended our way back +along the ridge. We had seen a sight that lingered in the mind, and that +was not easily to be erased from the memory. As we walked along we +gradually drew closer and closer together, prompted by some feeling that +all seemed to share alike--as if the recollection of what we had just seen +had dazed the mind, and brought us face to face with some influence beyond +our ordinary thoughts, and as if with nearer union we should not feel so +powerless and insignificant. But the glories of that sunset from the Mont +Buet, a scene within the reach of all of very moderate walking ability, +were far beyond the power of any language to describe, and beyond the +province of any discreet writer to attempt. The twilight gathered in fast, +and the snow already felt more crisp under foot. The roll-call was held, +and it was discovered that the only absentees were the moralist and his +propelling companion. At this point two of the skilled mountaineers of the +party recognised their opportunity, and were not slow to seize it. +Secretly they had felt that no suitable occasion had hitherto offered of +displaying their prowess, so they volunteered to perform a glissade for +the amusement and instruction of the others. The ladies clapped their +hands gleefully, and the youth, who did not know how to glissade, looked +sinister. Accordingly the skilful ones made their way to a steep snow +slope, and started off with great speed and dexterity, amidst the admiring +plaudits of the less acrobatically minded members. But the course of their +true descent did not run entirely smooth, for before half the downward +journey was accomplished the foremost member was observed suddenly to +propel himself wildly into the air, performing a remarkable antic--similar +to those known of street Arabs as cart-wheels--and the remainder of the +journey to the foot of the slope was performed with about the grace of a +floating log descending a mountain torrent. Nor was this all; the rearmost +man, apparently also possessed by an identical frenzy, leaped forth into +the air at precisely the same spot and in precisely the same manner. Had +it not been that they were known to be highly skilful and adroit +mountaineers the impression might have gained ground that the +circumstances of this part of the descent were not wholly under their own +control. Ever anxious to investigate the true cause of strange +occurrences, to their credit be it said that when they had collected their +wits and emptied their pockets of snow, they mounted up again to the scene +of the disaster, and discovered the explanation in an entirely imaginary +stone, which had, beyond doubt, tripped them up. + +(M133) + +Somewhat crestfallen, the energetic pair rejoined the rest of the troupe +and a search was instituted for the moralist. This worthy was discovered, +astonishingly weary of body but surprisingly active of mind, wedged in a +narrow rocky niche, so that he looked like the figure of a little "Joss" +in the carved model of a Japanese temple. It was found necessary to pull +him vigorously by the legs, in order to straighten out those members +sufficiently for him to progress upon them. However, he seemed to have +more to say about the sunset than anybody else, and his description of the +beauties thereof was so glowing and eloquent, that the idea crossed our +minds that possibly some of the descriptions we had read in Alpine +writings of similar scenes might be as authentic as that with which he +favoured us. "A great point in the Alps," remarked the moralist, after he +had been securely fastened by a rope to a guide for fear we should lose +him again, so that he looked like a dancing bear--"a great point in walking +amongst the Alps is that we learn to use our eyes and look around us. I +have observed that those who perambulate our native flagstones appear +perpetually to be absorbed in the contemplation of what lies at their +feet. Now here, stimulated by the beauties around, man holds, as he should +do, his head erect, and steps out boldly." At this point a little delay +was occasioned owing to the abrupt disappearance of the speaker through a +crust of snow. Some curious rumblings below our feet seemed to imply that +he had descended to a considerable depth, and was in great personal +discomfort. In the dim light we could scarcely see what had actually +happened, but concluded to pull vigorously at the rope as the best means +of getting our temporarily absent friend out of his difficulties. This we +succeeded in doing, and a strenuous haul on the cord was rewarded by the +sudden appearance of two boots through the snow-crust at our feet--a +phenomenon so unexpected that we relaxed our efforts, with the result that +the boots immediately disappeared again. A second attempt was more +successful; an arm and a leg this time came to the surface simultaneously, +and the moralist was delivered from the snowy recesses broadside on. We +rearranged his raiment, shook the snow out of the creases of his clothes, +tied a bath towel round his head, which, for some obscure reason, he had +brought with him--the towel, not his head--and harnessed him this time +securely between two members of the party. Possibly from the effects of +his misadventure, he remained silent for some time, or his flow of +conversation may have been hindered by the fact that his supporters ran +him violently down steep places whenever he showed symptoms of commencing +a fresh dissertation. It was no easy task to find the little hut in the +darkness, and it was not until after we had blundered about a good deal +that we caught sight of the beacon light, consisting of a very cheap dip +exhibited in the window, as a sign that entertainment for man and beast +might be found within. The moralist, who was always to the fore when the +subject of refreshment was mentioned, discovered a milking-stool, and +drawing it in great triumph to the best place in front of the stove, sat +down on it, with the immediate result that he was precipitated backwards +into the ash-pan. There we left him, as being a suitable place for +repentance. + +(M134) + +The rest of the party gathered for supper round the festive board, which +was rather uncertain on its legs, and inclined to tip up. Owing to some +miscarriage, the larder of the cabane was not well stocked, and all the +entertainment that could be furnished consisted of one bent-up little +sausage, exceeding black and dry, and a very large teapot. However, there +was plenty of fresh milk provided after a short interval, though the +latter article was not obtained without considerable difficulty, and +remonstrances proceeding from an adjoining shed, probably due to +somnolence on the part of the animal from which the supply was drawn. +Presently a great commotion, as of numerous bodies rolling down a steep +ladder, was heard, and there appeared at the door a large collection of +small shock-headed children, who gaped at us in silent wonder. Anxious to +ascertain the physical effects that might be induced by the consumption of +the sausage, the moralist, who amongst his many talents had apparently a +turn for experimental physiology, cut off a block and placed it in the +open mouth of the eldest of the children. This unexpected favour led to +the boy's swallowing the morsel whole, and he shortly afterwards retired +with a somewhat pained expression of countenance; the other members of the +family followed shortly after in tears, in consequence of the Italianised +young lady, who possessed a strong fund of human sympathy and a love for +the picturesque, having made an attempt to conciliate their good-will by +patting their respective heads, and asking them their names in a +conjectural _patois_. We were now ready to start again, and demanded of +our hostess what there was to pay. This request led her to go to the foot +of the ladder, which represented a staircase, and call out for the +proprietor. A little black-headed man in response instantly precipitated +himself down the steps, shot into the apartment, and, without any +preliminary calculation, named the exact price. On receiving his money he +scuttled away again like a frightened rabbit, brought the change, jerked +it down on the table, and darted off again to his slumbers. The whole +transaction occupied some five-and-twenty seconds. + +Part of the programme consisted in descending back to Argentiere by +lantern-light, but the resources of the establishment could only produce +one battered machine, and it was no easy task with this illumination to +keep the members of the party from straying away from the narrow path. +Indeed, several members did part from the rest, curiously enough in pairs; +but before long we left the narrow defile, and as we passed from under the +shelter of the slope on our right, and could see across the Chamouni +valley, we came suddenly in view of the great mass of the Aiguille Verte, +so suddenly, indeed, that it made us start back for the moment; for, +illumined by a grey ghostly light, the mountain seemed at first to hang +right over us. There is, perhaps, no finer view of the Aiguille Verte to +be obtained than from this point; certainly no finer effects of light and +shade than were granted by the conditions under which we saw it, could +have been devised to show the peak off to the best advantage. So long did +we delay to dwell on the fairy-like scene, that the vacuous youth, +accompanied by the young lady of varied accomplishments, caught us up and +joined us quite suddenly, to their exceeding confusion. The youth, without +being invited to do so, explained, blushing violently the while, that they +had lost the path in the darkness, and had only been able to regain the +track by lighting a series of lucifer matches--an entire fiction on his +part, but condoned, as evincing more readiness of wit than we had +previously given him credit for. We heard also that their way had been +barred by a swamp and a mountain stream, which, like gossip, can have had +no particular origin. The young lady, mindful of the absence of her +preceptress and consequently heedless of grammar, described the situation +neatly as being "awfully bogs." + +(M135) + +If the expedition had shown us no more than this moonlight effect, the +reward would have been ample. In truth, from first to last the expedition +was one which it would be hard to match for variety of interest in all the +sub-Alpine district. At Argentiere we rejoined the carriages, and found +the horses just a little more inclined for exertion than they had been in +the morning; their joy at going home seemed to be tempered by the fact +that they recognised that they would inevitably be called upon to start +from the same point at no very distant period; and that to return home was +but to go back to the starting-point for further laborious excursions. But +their equine tempers seemed thoroughly soured. The Italianised young lady +was taken in charge by her elder sister, who had completed her education, +and knew consequently the hollowness of the world and the folly of younger +sisters' flirtations, and securely lodged in the landau. The youth, after +an ineffectual attempt to find a place in the same carriage, climbed to +the box seat of the other vehicle, and relieved his feelings by cracking +the driver's whip with great dexterity; in fact, we discovered that this +was one of his principal accomplishments. Not the least satisfactory part +of the climb, in the estimation of some members of the party, was the fact +that the moralist had lost his note-book during his imprisonment in the +crevasse. + + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + + A FRAGMENT + + + An unauthentic MS.--Solitude on the mountain: its advantages to the + historian of the Alps--A rope walk--The crossing of the Schrund--A + novel form of avalanche and an airy situation--A towering + obstacle--The issue of the expedition in the balance--A very narrow + escape--The final rush--Victory!--The perils of the descent--I plunge + _in medias res_--A flying descent. + + +The following account is somewhat of a puzzle. It appears to contain +certain facts of so startling a nature, that the ascent to which they +refer must unquestionably have been of a very exciting character. The +details are not so wholly unlike descriptions which have passed the +searching discrimination of editors, in publications relating more or less +to Alpine matters, as to warrant the assumption that they are +fabrications. They do not appear, as far as the writer can ascertain, to +have been seen in print hitherto; but as all Alpine writings relate but +rigid matters of fact and actual occurrences, there seems no objection to +publishing the manuscript, notwithstanding that its authorship is only +conjectural. It is unfortunate that its fragmentary nature leaves one +somewhat in doubt as to the actual peak to which the description refers. +It has been suggested by a plausible commentator, judging from internal +evidence and the style of writing, that the manuscript of which the +fragment consists formed part of an account originally intended for some +work not published in this country, or even, possibly, was primarily +designed to fill the columns of one of our own daily newspapers during the +silly season. + +(M136) + +"... The day was cloudless, serene, and bright. Only in the immediate +foreground did the heavy banks, betokening a _tourmente_, sweep around +with relentless fury. Far above, the towering crags of the majestic peak +pierced the sky. How to get there! And alone! The situation was sublime; +yet more, it was fascinating; once again, it was enthralling. Far below +lay the prostrate bodies of my companions, worn out, wearied, gorged with +_petit vin_ and sardines. A thought flashed across my mind. Why should I +not scale alone these heights which had hitherto defied the most +consummate _intrepides_? In a moment the resolution was taken. For me, for +me alone, should the laurel wreaths be twined. For me should the booming +cannon, charged with fifty centimes' worth of uncertain powder, betoken +victory. For me alone should the assortment of cheap flags which had done +duty on many previous occasions of rejoicing, be dragged forth. What was +the expense to a hero when the glow of so magnificent an achievement +should swell his heart and loosen his purse-strings? The account might +reach a sum of two and a half, nay, even five francs; but what of that? I +girded myself with the trusty rope, and, attaching one end lightly to a +projecting crag twenty feet above, hauled myself in a moment on to the +eminence. Involuntarily I shot a glance downwards. The scene was +fearful--one to make the most resolute quail. But there was no time for +thought, still less for accurate description. A fearfully steep couloir, +flanked by two yawning bergschrunds, stretched away horizontally right and +left. How to cross them! It was the work of a moment. Unfastening the knot +in the rope above me, I threw myself, heart and soul, into the work. Where +heart and soul are, there must, in the ante-mortem state, be the body +also. This is logic. Thus I entered the chasm. Battling desperately with +the huge icicles that threatened me at every step, I forced my way through +the snow bridge and breathed again. The first schrund was accomplished. +Next the rope was fastened to my trusty axe, and with an herculean effort +I threw it far above me; fortunately it caught in a notch, and in a few +seconds I had climbed, with the agility of a monkey, up the tightened +cord. Goodness gracious! (_sapristi!_) what do I hear? A sudden roar below +betokened an immediate danger. Horror! sweeping and roaring up the slope +from the glacier beneath, I beheld a huge avalanche. I will conceal +nothing. I own that the appalling situation and its terribly dramatic +nature forced me to ejaculate a cry. I do not claim originality for it. I +said, 'Oh! my mother!' (_Oh! ma mere!_) This relieved me. Now was the time +indeed for coolness. Fortunate, most fortunate, that I was alone. +Thrusting the spike of the axe into the solid rock face like the spear of +Ithuriel, in the twinkling of an eye I had fastened one end of the rope to +the projecting head of the axe, and the other to my waist, and launched +myself over the ridge into space. Fortunate, most fortunate again, as in +the hurry of the moment I had attached the rope below my own centre of +gravity, that I was light-headed. Had this not been the case, assuredly I +should have dangled feet uppermost over the abyss. Not a moment too soon. +The avalanche dashed up the slope, grinding the axe to powder, but by good +luck entangling the rope between the massive blocks and carrying it up, +with myself attached, nearly 100 metres--I should say 300 feet--above where +I had previously stood. I had accomplished in a moment what might have +cost hours of toil. Again it was sublime. The thought crossed my mind that +the sublime often approaches the ridiculous. But the rocks, previously +broken up, had been ground by the sweeping avalanche into a surface smooth +as polished steel. How to descend these again! Banish the thought! The +mountain was not yet climbed. Upwards, past yawning seracs, towering +bergschrunds, slippery crevasses, gaping aretes, I made my way. For a few +hundred feet I bounded upwards with great rapidity. Despite the rugged +nature of the rocks everything went smoothly. Of a sudden a terrible +obstacle was presented to my gaze. I felt that all my hopes seemingly were +dashed. A stupendous cleft, riving the mountain's side to an unfathomable +depth, barred further progress. From top to bottom both sides of the chasm +overhung; and far below, where they joined, the angle of meeting was so +sharp that I felt that I must infallibly be wedged in without hope of +extrication if I fell. For a few moments I hesitated, but only for a few. +Close by was a tower of rock, smooth and vertical, some twelve feet +high--the height of two men, in fact. No handhold save on the top. This was +but a simple matter. Had any one else been with me, I should have stood on +his shoulders; as it was I stood on my own head. Thus I climbed to the +summit of the pointed obelisk of rock. Exactly opposite, on the farther +side of the cleft, was a similar rock cone, but the distance was too great +to spring across. I was in a dilemma--on one horn of it, in fact; how to +get to the other! I adopted an ingenious plan. Taking my trusty axe, I +placed the pointed end in a little notch in the rock, and then, with +herculean strength, bent the staff and wedged the head also into a notch. +The trusty axe was now bent like a bow. Again I hesitated before trusting +myself to the bow; in fact, it was long before I drew it. But a former +experience stood me in good stead. Once before, driven by a less powerful +impetus--merely that of a human leg--I had flown through a greater distance. +I made up my mind, and, summoning all my fortitude, placed my back against +the arc and, lightly touching one end, released the spring. Instantly I +felt myself propelled straight into mid-air, and before I had time to +realise the success of my scheme, was flung against the pinnacle on the +opposite side and embraced it. What were my feelings on finding that this +huge pinnacle had no more stability than a ninepin, and as my weight came +on to it slowly heeled over! Nor was this all. Slowly, like the pendulum +of a metronome, it rolled back again, and I found to my horror that I was +clinging to the apex of the rock, and dangling right over the chasm! I +cannot recall that in all my adventures I had ever been in a precisely +similar situation. However, a hasty calculation satisfied me that the +rocking crag must again right itself. As I expected, it did so, and as the +pinnacle of rock swung back once more to the perpendicular I sprang from +it with all my force. The impetus landed me safe, but the crag toppled +over into the abyss. Here I noted an interesting scientific fact. Taking +out my watch, I was able to estimate, by the depth of the cleft, the +height I had already climbed. _The boulder took a minute and a half in +falling before it reached anywhere._ I own that the escape was a narrow +one, and even my unblushing cheek paled a little at the thought of it. But +I could not be far now, I hoped, from the summit; and, indeed, the +condition of a dead bird which it so happened lay on the rocks--in a +passive sense--convinced me that the summit of the lofty peak was close at +hand. But few obstacles now remained. Another step or two revealed a +glassy unbroken rock cone leading to the summit. It seemed impossible at +first to surmount it, but my resources were not yet at an end. Dragging +off my boots, I tore out with my teeth the long nails and drove them in +one after another. By this means I ascended the first half of the final +peak; but then the supply of nails was exhausted, and I felt that time +would not permit me to draw out the lower nails and place them in +succession above the others. Luckily I still carried with me a flask of +the execrable _petit vin_ supplied by Mons. ---- of the inn below. I applied +a little to the rock. The effect was magical. In a moment the hard face +was softened to the consistence of cheese, and with my trusty axe I had no +difficulty in scraping out small steps. The worst was now over. Just as +the shades of night were gathering softly around, I stepped with the proud +consciousness of victory on to the very highest point. This indeed was +sublime. The toil of years was accomplished; it seemed almost a dream. +Nerved to frenzy, with a mighty sweep of the axe I struck off a huge block +from the summit to carry away as a token of conquest, and planting the +weapon in the hole, tore off garment after garment to make a suitable +flag; only did I desist on reflecting that it would become barely possible +for me to descend if I acted thus. Intoxicated with victory, I shouted and +sang for a while, and then turned to the descent. The night was fast +closing in, but this mattered not, for I made light of all the obstacles, +and they were so numerous that I succeeded perfectly by this means in +seeing my way. Faster and faster I sped along, descending with ease over +the blocks and fragments of the morning's avalanche. Now and again the +descent was assisted by fastening the rope securely to projecting crags, +and then allowing myself to slide down to its full length. Then I went up +again, untied the rope, fastened it anew below, and repeated the manoeuvre. +Thus at midnight I reached the edge of the cliff, at the foot of which my +companions had been left in the morning. I feared they might be anxious +for my safety, the more especially that I had not yet paid them for their +services. Peering over the edge of the vertical precipice into the murky +darkness, I called out. There was no response. Then I said 'Pst,' and +tapped the glassy slope with my pocket knife. Even this plan failed to +attract their attention. I shouted with still more force. Finally, +standing up on the edge of the cliff, I sent forth a shout so terribly +loud that it must have waked even a sleeping adder. A fatal error! for the +reverberation of my voice was echoed back with such fearful force from a +neighbouring crag that the shock struck me backwards, and in a moment I +was flying through mid-air--to annihilation." + + * * * * * * + +"There is a blank in this narrative which I can never fill up. This only +do I know; that when I came again to my senses, I was warmly ensconced in +a blanket, whilst my companions stood around in a circle shivering, as +they gazed at me with amazement. Their account, which I can scarcely +credit, was that as they were engaged in stretching out and shaking a +blanket preparatory to spreading their bed for the night, an apparently +heaven-sent form had descended from above into the very middle of it; the +shock tore the blanket from their grasp, and in a twinkling I lay wrapt up +safe and comfortable at their feet." + +(M137) + +Such is the fragment. It has been thought better to present it as far as +possible in its original form, and without any editing. That the account +is a little highly coloured perhaps in parts may be allowed, but some +licence may legitimately be accorded to an author who is no empty dreamer, +but has evidently experienced some rather exciting episodes. + + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + + THE FUTURE OF MOUNTAINEERING + + + Mountaineers and their critics--The early days of the Alpine + Club--The founders of mountaineering--The growth of the + amusement--Novelty and exploration--The formation of + centres--Narrowing of the field of mountaineering--The upward limit + of mountaineering--De Saussure's experience--Modern development of + climbing--Mr. Whymper's experience--Mr. Graham's experience--The + ascent of great heights--Mr. Grove's views--Messrs. Coxwell and + Glaisher's balloon experiences--Reasons for dissenting from Mr. + Glaisher's views--The possibility of ascending Mount + Everest--Physiological aspect of the question--Acclimatisation to + great heights--The direction in which mountaineering should be + developed--The results that may be obtained--Chamouni a century + hence--A Rip van Winkle in the Pennine Alps--The dangers of + mountaineering--Conclusion. + + +(M138) + +From time to time, when some accident has happened in the Alps, the press +and the public have been pleased to take such unfortunate occurrence as a +text, and to preach serious sermons to mountaineers. We have been called +hard names in our time; we have been accused of fostering an amusement of +no earthly-practical good, and one which has led to "miserable" waste of +valuable life. Gentle expressions of animadversion, such as "criminal +folly," "reckless venture, which has no better purpose than the +gratification of a caprice or the indulgence of a small ambition," "a +subject of humiliating interest," and the like, have at times been freely +used. But it is well known to authors and to dramatists that criticisms of +a nature known as "smashing" are not, on the whole, always to be deplored, +and are occasionally the best to enhance the success of the work. The +novel or play, however unreservedly condemned by the reviewer, has got +some chance of living if it be hinted that some of the situations in it +are a little _risquees_; and to a great many the idea seems constantly +present that mountaineering owes its principal attraction to the element +of risk inseparable from its pursuit. As an absolute matter of fact such +is not the case. Apart from this, however, mountaineers may be thankful +that the critics in question have, when they noticed our doings at all, +condemned us very heartily indeed, and thundered forth their own +strictures on our folly in sonorous terms; in fact, attacks of this nature +have by no means impaired the vitality of such associations as Alpine +clubs, but rather, like attacks of distemper in dogs, have increased their +value. + +It would be easy enough, from the mountaineer's point of view, and in a +work which, at the best, can interest only those who have some sympathy +with climbing as a pure pastime, to pass over these hard words, and to +reckon them as merely the vapourings of envious mortals not initiated into +the mysteries of the mountaineering craft; but such criticisms may lead or +perhaps reflect public opinion, and are not, therefore, to be treated +lightly. It might be held that for any notice to be taken at all is +complimentary, and we might seek shelter in the epigrammatic saying that +he who has no enemies has no character; that though hope may spring +eternal in the human breast, jealousy is a trait still more constantly +found. But this line of argument is not one to be adopted. The _tu quoque_ +style of defence is not one well calculated to gain a verdict. No doubt +the question has been treated often enough before, and in discussing it +the writer may seem but to be doing what nowadays the climber is forced to +do in the Alps--namely, wander again, perhaps ramble, over ground that has +been well trodden many times before. But the conditions have changed +greatly since mountaineering first became a popular pastime, and since the +first editions of "Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers" were rapidly sold out. It +is, the writer fears, only too true in these latter days that mountaineers +may be classified as Past and Present. Whether a third class may be added +of "the Future" is a question--to be answered, I hope, in the affirmative. + +(M139) + +The Alpine Club was founded in 1857 by a few ardent devotees to what was +then an entirely new form of pastime. The original members of that club +could never have even dreamed of the wide popularity mountaineering was +destined to acquire, or the influence that the establishment of the Alpine +Club was to have on it; and, like the fish in an aquarium, they can hardly +have known what they were in for. In the present day there are Alpine +clubs in almost every country in Europe, and in some countries there are +several, numbering their members in some cases by thousands. Nor is it +only on the continent of Europe that there are mountaineering clubs. Not +that the writer ventures to assert that every member of this multitude is +devoted to the high Alps, or that it is in the least degree essential to +climb high and difficult mountains in order to learn the fascination of +their natural beauties. It may be pointed out, however, that the +"miserable waste of valuable life" is in the greatest part not on the +great peaks and passes, but on little hills. Every year we read of +accidents on mountains such as the Faulhorn, the Monte Salvatore in the +Alps, or Snowdon, Helvellyn and the like in our own country. Possibly +these disasters might never have taken place had the experience of +mountaineering craft gained in high regions been properly appreciated and +utilised. The good surgeon is he who, utilising all his own and all his +predecessors' experience, recognises, and makes provision against, all the +risks that may conceivably be involved in the most trifling operation he +may be called upon to perform; and holiday ramblers in our own land and in +sub-Alpine regions might, not without advantage, profit by the example. + +(M140) + +Five-and-twenty years ago in Switzerland there were numberless heights +untrodden, passes uncrossed, and regions unexplored. Then, moreover, there +were comparatively but few to cross the passes or climb the mountains; but +those few did mighty deeds. Peak after peak fell before them, while slowly +but surely they opened up new regions and brought unexpected beauties to +light. In those days climbing as an art was but in its infancy, restricted +to a few amateurs specially qualified to pursue it, and to a very limited +number of guides--merely those, in fact (not such a numerous class as +people seem generally to imagine), who had made chamois-hunting one of the +principal objects of their lives. Gradually the art became more developed, +and with the increase of power thus acquired came increase of confidence. +From the fact that the training in the mountaineering art was gradual, it +was necessarily thorough--a fact that a good many climbers would do well to +bear in mind in these latter days. Then, of course, the charm of novelty, +so dear to the mountaineer, was seldom absent; he could strike out right +or left and find virgin soil; but in quest of novelty search had to be +made before long in remote regions. It followed that exploration was not +limited, and the early pioneers of mountaineering could, and did learn +more of the geography and varied beauties of the Alps in a single season +than their followers do, in the present day, in five or six. + +After a while the fashion of mountaineering altered sensibly, and a strong +conservatism sprang up. Certain districts became more and more frequented; +certain peaks acquired special popularity, either because they were +conveniently placed and ready of access; or because there was a certain +touch of romance about them, as in the case of the Matterhorn; or because +they had acquired the reputation of being difficult, and it was thought +that a successful ascent would stamp the climber at once as a skilful +person and a very daring creature. Thus places like Zermatt, Grindelwald, +Chamouni, and the AEggischhorn became the great centres of mountaineering, +and have remained so ever since. Independent exploration gradually gave +way to the charm of meeting others bent on the same pursuit of climbing; +but this feeling was not without its drawbacks, and tended to check what +has been called cosmopolitanism in mountaineering. How few, even among +those who visit the Alps regularly, know anything whatever of such large, +important, and interesting districts as the Silvretta group, the Rheinwald +group, or the Lepontine Alps! while districts like Zermatt are thronged +and crowded, and the mountains absolutely done to death. Not that it is +hard to understand how this narrowing of the field of mountaineering has +been brought about. There comes a time of life to most men when they find +more pleasure in meeting old friends than in making new acquaintances; and +the same feeling would appear to extend to the mountains. + +It must be confessed here that the writer is disposed to look upon +mountaineering in the Alps, in the sense in which it has hitherto been +known, as a pastime that will before long become extinct. In some soils +trees grow with extraordinary rapidity and vigour, but do not strike their +roots very deep, and so are prone to early decay. Still, it does not +follow that, even should these pessimist forebodings prove true, and +climbing be relegated to the limbo of archaic pursuits, the Alps will not +attract their thousands as they have done for many years. The dearth of +novelty is sometimes held to be the principal cause that will eventually +lead to the decay of mountaineering. There is a reasonable probability, +however, to judge from the Registrar-General's reports, that the world +will still be peopled some time hence, and possibly a generation will then +arise of mountaineering revivalists who, never having tasted the flavour +of novelty in Alpine climbing, will not perceive that its absence is any +loss. Yet in the Alps alone many seem to forget that, while they are +exhausting in every detail a few spots, there are numerous and varied +expeditions of similar nature still to be accomplished, the scenes of +which lie within a few hours of London. It is of course only to +mountaineering as a semi-fashionable craze that these remarks apply. The +knowledge of the art, acquired primarily in the Alps, which has led to the +development of mountaineering as a science will not be wasted, and the +training acquired in holiday expeditions, when amusement or the regaining +of health was the principal object, can be turned to valuable practical +account elsewhere. So shall there be a future for mountaineering. No doubt +but few may be able to find the opportunity, unless indeed they make it +somewhat of a profession, of exploring the great mountainous districts +still almost untouched--such, for instance, as the Himalayas. But it is in +some such direction as this that the force of the stream, somewhat tending +to dry up in its original channel, will, it may be hoped, spread in the +future. + +(M141) + +It has already been shown, by the results of many modern expeditions, that +the old views that obtained with respect to the upward limit of +mountaineering must, to say the least, be considerably modified. From +early times the question of the effects of rarefied air in high regions on +mountaineers has attracted attention. As a matter of fact the subject is +still barely in its infancy. A few remarks on this point may not perhaps +be thought too technical, for they bear, I hope, on the mountaineering of +the future. + +It is matter of notoriety that in these days travellers seem less subject +to discomfort in the high Alps than in former times. De Saussure, for +instance, in the account of his famous ascent of Mont Blanc in 1787, +speaks a good deal of the difficulty of respiration. At his bivouac on the +Plateau, at an elevation of 13,300 feet, the effects of the rarefied air +were much commented on; and these remarks are the more valuable, inasmuch +as De Saussure was a man of science and a most acute observer; while his +account, a thing too rare in these days, is characterised by extreme +modesty of description. The frequency of the respirations, he observed, +which ensued on any exertion caused great fatigue. Nowadays, however, +pedestrians, often untrained, may be seen daily ascending at a very much +faster pace than De Saussure seems to have gone, and yet the effects are +scarcely felt. No one now expects much to suffer from this cause, and no +one does. In recent times we hear accounts of ascents of mountains like +Elbruz, 18,526 feet, by Mr. Grove and others; of Cotopaxi, 19,735 feet, +and Chimborazo, 20,517(7) feet, by Mr. Whymper; and the most recent, and +by far the most remarkable, of Kabru in the Himalayas, about 24,000 feet, +by Mr. Graham. In all these expeditions the travellers spent nights in +bivouacs far above the level of the Grand Plateau where De Saussure +encamped. We cannot suppose that in the Caucasus, the Andes, or the +Himalayas the air differs much from that of the Alps with regard to its +rarefaction effects on travellers. In fact, the Alpine traveller would in +this respect probably be much better off, for the general conditions +surrounding him would be more like those to which he was accustomed. He +would not have, for instance, to contend with the effects of changed or +meagre diet or unaccustomed climate. + +(M142) + +Mr. F. C. Grove, a very high authority on such a point, in his description +of the ascent of Elbruz, in the course of some remarks on the rarity of +the air, states his belief that at some height or another, less than that +of the loftiest mountain, there must be a limit at which no amount of +training and good condition will enable a man to live; and he says, "It +may be taken for granted that no human being could walk to the top of +Mount Everest."(8) This was written in 1875; but a great deal has happened +since then, though the same opinion is still very generally entertained. +But with this opinion I cannot coincide at all, for reasons that appear to +me logically conclusive. In the first place, a party of three, composed of +Mr. Graham, Herr Emil Boss, and the Swiss guide Kauffman, have ascended +more than 5,000 feet higher than the top of Elbruz, and none of the party +experienced any serious effect, or, indeed, apparently any effect at all +other than those naturally incidental to severe exertion. It must be +admitted that one result of their expedition was to prove, tolerably +conclusively, that Mount Everest is not the highest mountain in the world. +Still, until it is officially deposed, it may be taken, for argument's +sake, as the ultimate point. Now, it would seem to be beyond doubt that a +man, being transported to a height much greater than Mount Everest, can +still live. In Messrs. Coxwell and Glaisher's famous balloon ascent from +Wolverhampton on September 5, 1862, described in "Travels in the Air," it +was computed that the travellers reached a height of nearly 37,000 +feet,(9) and this in less than an hour from the time of leaving the earth. +Deduct 5,000 feet from this computation, to allow for possible error, and +we still have a height left of 32,000 feet, an elevation, that is, very +considerably greater than the summit of Mount Everest--possibly a greater +elevation than the summit of any mountain. Life then, it is proved, can be +sustained at such a height, and the point that remains for consideration +is whether the necessary exertion of walking or climbing to the same +height would render the actual ascent impossible. + +(M143) + +Since the days of De Saussure some 8,000 feet have been added to the +height to which the possibility of ascending has been proved. It seems to +me unreasonable to assume that another 5,000 feet may not yet be added, +and arbitrary to conclude that at some point higher than Kabru but lower +than Mount Everest the limit of human endurance must necessarily be +reached. Mr. Glaisher himself does not appear to think that, from his +experience, any such ascent as that we have been considering would be +possible for an Alpine traveller (_op. cit._ p. 21 and elsewhere). But, +with every deference to so great an authority, a few considerations may be +submitted which tend most seriously to invalidate his conclusions and +opinions, and which may serve to show also that the effects of rarefied +air probably differ more widely in the two cases of the aeronaut and the +mountaineer than is generally supposed. Writing in 1871, Mr. Glaisher +says,(10) "At a height of three miles I never experienced any annoyance or +discomfort; yet there is no ascent I think of Mont Blanc in which great +inconvenience and severe _pain_ have not been felt at a height of 13,000 +feet; but then, as before remarked, this is an elevation attained only +after two days of excessive toil." Mr. Glaisher is here referring chiefly +to Dr. Hamel's ascent of Mont Blanc, and would seem apparently to be +unaware that, long before he wrote, the ascent of Mont Blanc, from +Chamouni and back to the same place, had been accomplished within +twenty-four hours. In 1873, if my memory serves me right, Mr. Passingham +started from Chamouni, ascended the mountain, and returned to his hotel in +a little less than twenty hours.(11) Compare such an ascent as this--not by +any means an isolated instance--with De Saussure's experience, and when we +consider how remarkable has been the development of mountaineering in this +direction, we may surely hold that to fix at present any absolute limit is +unduly arbitrary. Further, the ascents of Chimborazo and the other +mountains named above have all been accomplished since Mr. Glaisher wrote. +Mr. Glaisher states that the aeronaut may acclimatise himself to great +heights by repeated ascents; but how much more may the mountaineer then +hope to do so! The aeronaut necessarily makes ascents rapidly(12) and at +rare intervals. The mountaineer can acclimatise himself to high regions by +a constant and gradual process, a method obviously better calculated to +extend the limits of his endurance. + +Of course I am only discussing the actual possibility, not entering into +the question for a moment of whether it is worth while to do it. It may be +that to attempt an ascent of Mount Everest would prove almost as rash an +undertaking as an endeavour to swim through the Niagara rapids--that is, if +the mountaineering difficulties are so great as to make the two instances +parallel. Two points have to be considered: one, that, granted the +desirability of making such an ascent, we do not yet fully know the best +manner of undertaking it; and another, that we are still very ignorant as +to the physiological effects of rarefied air on the human frame.(13) + +(M144) + +With regard to the first point, we know indeed this much--that, granted +good condition, a man can "acclimatise" himself to great heights, and when +so acclimatised he can undergo much more exertion in very high regions +with much less effect. The experience of Mr. Whymper in the Andes, and of +Mr. Graham and others in the Himalayas, has shown this conclusively +enough. Let a man sleep at a height, say, of 18,000 feet, and then ascend +from that point another 3,000 or 4,000 feet; he may possibly feel the +effects to be so great that an attempt to sleep again at the latter height +would render him incapable of exertion the next day, as far as an ascent +is concerned. Let him descend till he can bivouac, say at 20,000 feet, and +then again try, starting afresh. After a while he would be able to +accomplish still more than at his first attempt; and so on, until he +reached the summit. But even supposing that no amount of acclimatisation +enables him to accomplish his end, he has other weapons in his armoury. + +(M145) + +The second point mentioned above is that the physiological effects of +rarefied air on the human economy are but little known; were these +understood the resources of science might be called in to obviate them. It +may be said that no amount of science will obviate the very simple fact +that exertion causes fatigue, but the answer is that we have no real idea +of all the causes which lead to this fatigue. This is not the place to +speculate on a somewhat abstruse and unquestionably complicated +physiological problem, but the direction in which the question may be +approached from the scientific side is worthy of being pointed out. This +much may be said, however, that when we talk of strong heart and strong +lungs in connection with the question of the possibility of ascending on +foot to the greatest altitudes, we are only, from the physiological point +of view, taking into account one or two factors, and perhaps not the most +important ones. The cavillers may be reminded that physiology is not and +never will become a finite science. To my mind at least, as far as human +endurance is concerned, it would be no more surprising to me to hear that +a man had succeeded in walking up Mount Everest than to know that a man +can succeed in standing an arctic climate while on a sledging expedition. +Objections like the difficulty of arranging for a supply of food, of +expense, of risk, and so forth, are not taken into account--they are really +beside the question: they have not proved insuperable obstacles in the +case of arctic exploration; they will not prove insurmountable to the +ambitious mountaineer we are contemplating. I do not for a moment say that +it would be wise to ascend Mount Everest, but I believe most firmly that +it is humanly possible to do so; and, further, I feel sure that, even in +our own time, perhaps, the truth of these views will receive material +corroboration. Mount Everest itself may offer insuperable mountaineering +obstacles, but in the unknown, unseen district to the north there may be +peaks of equal height presenting no more technical difficulties than Mont +Blanc or Elbruz. + +(M146) + +From the purely athletic point of view, then, the mountaineering +experience which has been gained almost exclusively in the Alps may, by a +still further development in the future, enable the climber so to develop +the art that he may reach the highest elevation on this world's crust; and +he may do this without running undue risk. _Cui bono?_ it may be asked; +and it is nearly as hard to answer the question as it is to explain to the +supine and unaspiring person the good that may be expected to accrue to +humanity by reaching the North Pole; yet the latter project, albeit to +some it seems like a struggle of man against physical forces which make or +mar worlds, is one that is held to be right and proper to be followed. At +the least an observer, even of limited powers, may reasonably be expected, +supposing he accomplished such a feat as the ascent of Mount Everest, to +bring back results of equal scientific value with the arctic traveller, +while the purely geographical information he should gain would have +fiftyfold greater practical value. The art and science of mountaineering +has been learned and developed in the Alps, and the acquirement of this +learning has been a pleasure to many. If the holiday nature of +mountaineering should in the future be somewhat dropped, and if a few of +those who follow should take up the more serious side, and make what has +been a pastime into a profession (and why should not some do so? That +which is worth doing at all is worth developing to the utmost possible +limit), good will come, unless it be argued that there is no gain in +extending geographical knowledge; and no advantage in rectifying surveys +and rendering them as accurate as possible. As has been remarked by Mr. +Douglas Freshfield, the advantage of including in survey parties, such as +are still engaged on our Indian frontier, the services of some who have +made mountaineering a branch to be learnt in their profession, would be +very distinct. Work done in the Alps would, in this direction, perhaps, +bear the best fruit and reap the highest practical value which it might be +hoped to attain. The value would be real. The search after truth, whether +it be in the fields of natural science, of geography, or its to-be-adopted +sister orography, can never fail to be right and good and beneficial. +Enthusiasm all this! you say. Granted freely. Without some enthusiasm and +energy the world would cease to turn, and the retarding section of mankind +would be triumphant, save that they would be too languid to realise the +victory of their principles. + +But still, if properly qualified men are to be forthcoming to meet such a +want, which undoubtedly seems to exist, the old training-ground must not +be deserted; the playground of Europe must be regarded in relation to +serious work in the same light that the playing-fields of Eton were +regarded by one who was somewhat of an authority. The Great Duke's remark +is too well known to need quotation. English folk may find it hard to hold +their own against their near relations in athletic pursuits, such as +cricket and sculling, but in mountaineering they undoubtedly lead, and +will continue to do so. In one phase indeed of the pursuit their supremacy +is menaced. In the matter of recognising the practical value to be +obtained from mountaineering in surveying and the like, they are already +behind other countries. The roll of honorary members of the Alpine Club +comprises a list of men, most of whom have utilised their mountaineering +experience to good purpose in advancing scientific exploration. In this +department it is to be hoped that we shall not suffer ourselves to be +outstripped, nor allow a store of valuable and laboriously acquired +experience to remain wasted. The threatening cloud may pass off; the +future of Alpine mountaineering may not prove to be so gloomy as it +sometimes seems to the writer in danger of gradually becoming. The +depression is, possibly, only temporary, and a natural consequence of +reaction; and the zigzagging line on the chart, though it may never +perhaps rise again to the point it once marked, yet may keep well at the +normal--better, perhaps, at such a level than at fever heat. The old cry +that we know so well on the mountains, that meets always with a ready +thrill of response, may acquire a wider significance, and men will be +found to answer to the familiar call of "Vorwaerts, immer vorwaerts!" + +After all, a century hence the mountaineering centres of to-day will +perhaps still attract as they do now. It may be possible to get to +Chamouni without submitting to the elaborately devised discomfort of the +present Channel passage, and without the terrors of asphyxiation in the +carriages of the Chemin de Fer du Nord. Surely the charm of the mountains +must always draw men to the Alps, even though the glaciers may have shrunk +up and sunk down, though places like Arolla and the Grimsel may have +become thriving towns, or radical changes such as a drainage system at +Chamouni have been instituted. If the glaciers do shrink, there will be +all the more scope for the rock climber and the more opportunity of +perfecting an art which has already been so much developed. + +(M147) + +A Rip van Winkle of our day, waking up in that epoch of the future, would +for certain find much that was unaltered. The same types of humanity would +be around him. Conceive this somnolent hero of fiction, clad in a felt +wideawake that had once been white, in knickerbockers and Norfolk jacket, +of which the seams had at one time held together, supporting his bent +frame and creaking joints on a staff with rusted spike and pick. He +descends laboriously from a vehicle that had jolted impartially +generations before him (for the carriages of the valley are as little +liable to wear out, in the eyes of their proprietors, as the "wonderful +one-hoss shay"). He finds himself on a summer evening by the Hotel de +Ville at Chamouni, and facing the newly erected Opera-house. He looks with +wondering eyes around. A youth (great-great-great-great-grandson of +Jacques Balmat) approaches and waits respectfully by his side, ready to +furnish information. + +"Why these flags and these rejoicings?" the old man asks. + +"To celebrate the tercentenary of the first ascent of Mont Blanc," the boy +answers. + +The veteran gazes around, shading his eyes with his shrivelled hand. The +travellers come in. First a triumphal procession of successful and +intrepid mountaineers. Banners wave, cannon go off--or more probably miss +fire--bouquets are displayed, champagne and compliments are poured out; +both the latter expressions of congratulation equally gassy, and both +about equally genuine. + +"Who are these?" the old man inquires. + +"Do you not see the number on their banner?" answers the youth; "they are +the heroes of the forty-fifth section of the tenth branch of the northern +division of the Savoy Alpine Club." + +"Ah!" the old man murmurs to himself, with a sigh of recollection, "I can +remember that they were numerous even in my day." + +Then follows a sad-looking, dejected creature, stealing back to his hotel +by byways, but with face bronzed from exposure on rocks, not scorched by +sun-reflecting snow; his boots scored with multitudinous little cuts and +scratches telling of difficult climbing; his hands as brown as his face; +his finger-nails, it must be admitted, seriously impaired in their +symmetry. + +"And who is this? Has he been guilty of some crime?" the old man asks. + +"Not so," the answer comes; "he has just completed the thousandth ascent +of the Aiguille...; he comes of a curious race which, history relates, at +one time much frequented these districts; but that was a great while +ago--long before the monarchy was re-established. You do well to look at +him; that is the last of the climbing Englishmen. They always seem +depressed when they have succeeded in achieving their ambition of the +moment; it is a characteristic of their now almost extinct race." + +(M148) + +"And what about the perils of the expedition?" the old man asks, +brightening up a little as if some old ideas had suddenly flashed across +his mind. "I would fain know whether the journey is different now from +what it was formerly; yet the heroes would mock me, perchance, if I were +to interrogate them." + +"Not at all," the youth replies. "There are but few of the first party who +would not vouchsafe to give you a full account, and might even in their +courtesy embellish the narrative with flowers of rhetoric. But it is +unnecessary. They will print a detailed and full description of their +exploits. It has all been said before, but so has everything else, I +think." + +"That is true," the old man murmurs to himself; "it was even so in my +time, and two hundred years before I lived a French writer commenced his +book with the remark, '_Tout est dit._' But what of the other, the +dejected survivor? does he not too write?" + +"Yes, indeed, but not in the same strain; he will but pour out a little +gentle sarcasm and native spleen, in mild criticism of the fulsome periods +he peruses in other tongues." + +"Ah me!" thinks the old man, "in one respect then I need not prove so much +behind the time. If the memory of the Alpine literature of my day were +still fresh, I could hold mine own with those I see around." + +May I be permitted, in conclusion, to come back to our own day, and to say +a very few words on the subject of mountaineering accidents? Most heartily +would I concur with any one who raised the objection that such remarks are +out of place in a chapter on the mountaineering of the future. But perhaps +we have been looking too far ahead, and there may be a period to follow +between this our time and the future to be hoped for. + +(M149) + +It has sometimes been stated and written that no one desires to remove +from mountaineering all danger. The dangers of mountaineering have been +divided by a well-known authority into real and imaginary. The supposed +existence of the latter is, I grant, desirable, especially to the +inexperienced climber; but I shall always contend that it ought to be the +great object of every votary of the pursuit to minimise the former to the +utmost of his ability. Now, it is only by true experience--that is, by +learning gradually the art of mountaineering--that the climber will achieve +this result. Few of those unacquainted with the subject can have any idea +of the extraordinary difference between the risk run on a difficult +expedition (that is, on one where difficulties occur: the name of the peak +or pass has little to do with the matter) by a practised mountaineer who +has learned something of the art, and an inexperienced climber who has +nothing but the best intentions to assist his steps. The man of experience +bears always in mind the simple axioms and rules of his craft; if he does +not he is a bad mountaineer. If the plain truth be told, accidents in the +Alps have almost invariably, to whomsoever they befell, been due to +breaking one or more of these same well-known rules, or, in other words, +to bad mountaineering. That such is no more than a simple statement of +fact a former president of the Alpine Club, Mr. C. E. Mathews, has +abundantly proved.(14) Numbers of our countrymen, young and old, annually +rush out to the Alps for the first time. Fired with ambition, or led on by +the fascination of the pastime, with scarcely any preliminary training and +no preliminary study of the subject, they at once begin to attack the more +difficult peaks and passes. Success perhaps attends their efforts. Unfit, +they go up a difficult mountain, trusting practically to the ability of +the guides to do their employers' share of the work as well as their own. +They descend, and think to gauge their skill by the name of the expedition +undertaken. The state of the weather and of the mountain determine whether +such a performance be an act of simple or of culpable folly. For such the +imaginary dangers are the most formidable. If they had taken the trouble +to begin at the beginning, to learn the difference between the stem and +stern of a boat before attempting to navigate an ironclad, they would have +recognised, and profited by, the true risks run. As it is, they are +probably inflated with conceit at overcoming visionary difficulties. They +may make, indeed, in this way what in Alpine slang is called a good +"book;" but by far the greater number fail to perceive that there is +anything to learn. It is a pastime--an amusement; they do not look beyond +this. But these same climbers would admit that in other forms of sport, +such as cricket or rowing, proficiency is not found in beginners. It is in +the study and development of the amusement that the true and deeper +pleasure is to be found. A tyro in cricket would make himself an object of +ridicule in a high-class match; the novice in the art of rowing would be +loth to display his feeble powers if thrust into a racing four with three +tried oarsmen; and yet the embryo climber can see nothing absurd in +attacking mountains of recognised difficulty. Inexperience in the former +instances at least could cause no harm, while ignorance of the elementary +principles of mountaineering renders the climber a serious source of +danger not only to himself but to others. There is no royal road to the +acquirement of mountaineering knowledge. It is just as difficult to use +the axe or alpenstock properly as the oar or the racquet; just as much +patient, persevering practice is needed; but it is not on difficult +expeditions that such inexperience can be best overcome. + +(M150) + +A man of average activity could, probably, actually climb, without any +particular experience, most of, or all, the more difficult rock peaks +under good conditions of weather and the like. But how different from the +really practical mountaineer, who strives to make an art of his pastime. +Watch the latter. First and foremost, he knows when to turn back, and does +not hesitate to act as his judgment directs. He bears in mind that there +is pleasure to be obtained from mountaineering even though the programme +may not be carried out in its entirety as planned, and realises to the +full that + + 'Tis better to have climbed and failed + Than never to have climbed at all. + +His companions are always safe with him, his climbing unselfish; he never +dislodges a loose stone--except purposely--either with hands, feet, or the +loose rope; he is always as firm as circumstances will permit, prepared to +withstand any sudden slip; he never puts forth more strength at each step +than is necessary, thus saving his powers, being always ready in an +emergency, and never degenerating into that most dangerous of +encumbrances, a tired member of a united party: not, of course, that the +vast majority of amateurs can ever hope, with their imperfect practice, to +attain to the level of even a second-rate guide; still, by bringing his +intelligence to bear on this, as he does on any other amusement, the +amateur can render himself something more than a thoroughly reliable +companion on any justifiable expedition. + +(M151) + +Let the spirit of competition lead young climbers to strive after +excellence in this direction, rather than, as is too commonly the case, +induce them to take "Times" as the criterion of mountaineering +proficiency. There are instructors enough. Even from an inferior guide an +infinite amount may be learnt; at the least such a one can recognise the +real danger of the Alps, and in this respect possesses a faculty which is +one of the chief the mountaineer has to acquire. Let the spirit in which +the Alps are climbed be of some such nature as that I have attempted to +indicate, and accidents such as those recorded in Mr. C. E. Mathews' grim +list will be of such rare occurrence that they will never be called up to +discredit mountaineering. If, perchance, any words here written shall +prompt in the future the climber to perfect his art more and more while +frequenting the old haunts, and to extend and utilise mountaineering still +more, then at least the writer may feel, like the mountain when it had +brought forth the ridiculous mouse, that his labour has not been wholly in +vain. Yet more: his gloomy forebodings shall be falsified, and with +respect to the future of mountaineering the outlook will be bright enough. + + + + + LONDON: PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + AND PARLIAMENT STREET + + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + + M1 The survival of the unfit + M2 Sybaritic mountaineering + M3 The growth of the climbing craze + M4 A tropical day in the valley + M5 A deserted hostelry + M6 The hut above Fee + M7 How ruin seized a roofless thing + M8 On sleeping out + M9 The Suedlenzspitz + M10 A plea for Saas and Fee + M11 We attack the Suedlenzspitz + M12 The art of probing snow + M13 Sentiment on a summit + M14 The feast is spread + M15 Fact and romance + M16 The thirst for novelty + M17 Rock v. snow mountains + M18 The amateur and the guide + M19 The guides' room + + 1 Franz Andermatten died in August 1883. His name is mentioned + elsewhere in these sketches, but I leave what I have written + untouched: for I do not hold with those who would efface the + recollection of all that was bright and merry in one taken from us. + + M20 A false start + M21 Falling stones in the gully + M22 Effects of reaching a summit + M23 A narrow escape + M24 The youthful tourist + M25 Hotel trials + M26 The gushers + M27 The last peaks to surrender + M28 The Aiguille du Dru + M29 The first attempt + + 2 In the old house, be it noted--not the modern luxurious combination + of a granite fortress and a palace. + + M30 First attempt on the peak + M31 Huts and sleeping out + M32 The Chamouni guide system + M33 A word on guides + M34 A landlord's peculiarities + M35 We see a chamois + +_ 3 Travels in the Alps_, p. 119. + + M36 Doubts as to the peak + M37 Telescopic observations + M38 Franz and his mighty axe + M39 A start in the wrong direction + M40 An adjournment + M41 The expedition resumed + M42 A sticking point + M43 Beaten back + M44 Results gained + M45 Autres temps, autres moeurs + M46 The diligence arrives + M47 The Alpine habitue + M48 A family party + M49 A sepulchral bivouac + M50 On early starts + M51 The rocks of the Bietschhorn + M52 Avalanches on the Bietschhorn + M53 A dramatic situation + M54 The united party nearly fall out + M55 A limited panorama + M56 A race for home + M57 Caught out + M58 The water jump + M59 A classical banquet + M60 The old cure + M61 A "pension" in a train + M62 A youthful hero + M63 A scientific gentleman + M64 A dream of the future + M65 A condensed mountain ascent + M66 Wanted, a programme + M67 The Aiguille du Midi + M68 Ephemeral acquaintances + M69 A familiar character + M70 Halting doubts and fears + M71 The storm gathers + M72 "From gay to grave" + M73 The storm breaks + M74 A battle with the elements + M75 Beating the air + M76 Descent down Vallee Blanche + M77 A scanty repast + M78 A projected expedition + M79 Expeditions on the Aig. du Dru + M80 Other climbers attack the peak + M81 We try the northern side + M82 The mountain fever recurs + M83 The campaign opens + M84 A new leader + M85 Our sixteenth attempt + M86 Sports and pastimes + M87 Apparel oft proclaims the man + + 4 Described in anatomical text-books as forming the swelling of the + calf. + + M88 A canine acquaintance + M89 Turning point of the expedition + M90 A difficult descent + M91 A blank in the narrative + M92 A carriage misadventure + M93 A strange guide + M94 Our "jeune premier" + M95 An acrobatic performance + M96 Our nineteenth attempt + M97 The rocks of the Dru + M98 What next? + M99 A narrow escape + + 5 It has transpired since that our judgment happened to be right in + this matter, and we might probably have saved an hour or more at + this part of the ascent. + + M100 The final scramble + M101 Our foe is vanquished + M102 On the summit + M103 The return journey + M104 Benighted + M105 Shifting scenes + M106 The camp breaks up + M107 Mountaineering morality + M108 Chamouni becomes festive + M109 Organising the ball + M110 Chamouni dances + M111 The scene closes in + M112 On well-ordered intellects + M113 The critical tendency + M114 The "High Level Route" + M115 A prescription for ill-humour + M116 A meditation on grass slopes + M117 The agile person's vagaries + M118 Ascent of the Ruinette + M119 Saas in the olden days + + 6 Hector Berlioz. + + M120 A curious omission + M121 The chef's masterpiece + M122 An evicted family + M123 A short cut after a knife + M124 The amateur + M125 Mont Buet + M126 We hire carriages + M127 The incomplete moralist + M128 The niece to the moralist + M129 A discourse on gourmets + M130 An artistic interlude + M131 We become thoughtful + M132 A vision on the summit + M133 The mountaineers perform + M134 A banquet at the chalet + M135 The end of the journey + M136 I rise equal to the occasion + M137 A highly coloured account + M138 The critics + M139 Growth of the amusement + M140 Novelty and exploration + M141 The upward limit + + 7 This is Mr. Edward Whymper's measurement. Humboldt, as quoted by Mr. + Whymper, gave 21,460 feet as the height. (_Alpine Journal_, vol. x. + p. 442.) + + M142 Mr. Grove's views + +_ 8 The Frosty Caucasus_, by F. C. Grove, p. 236. + +_ 9 Travels in the Air_, edited by James Glaisher, F.R.S., p. 57 (2nd + ed.). + + M143 Mr. Glaisher's experiences + +_ 10 Op. cit._ p. 9. + + 11 I understand that the expedition has since been accomplished in a + much shorter time. + + 12 In Messrs. Coxwell and Glaisher's ascent from Wolverhampton the + balloon when at the height of 29,000 feet was mounting at the rate + of 1,000 feet a minute. + + 13 I am aware of M. Paul Bert's researches; but these questions are not + to be settled in the laboratory. + + M144 Mountain acclimatisation + M145 Ascent of Mount Everest + M146 The value of mountaineering + M147 An Alpine Rip van Winkle + M148 Mountaineering in the future + M149 Dangers of the Alps + +_ 14 Vide_ _Alpine Journal_, vol. xi. p. 78. "The Alpine Obituary," by + C. E. Mathews. + + M150 The real mountaineer + M151 Conclusion + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The following changes have been made to the text: + + page ix, page number "1" added + page xiv, page number "290" changed to "291" + page 31, "gulley" changed to "gully" + page 96, "sepulchra" changed to "sepulchral" + page 113, "complicate" changed to "complicated" + page 151, "thoughful" changed to "thoughtful" + page 216, "menta" changed to "mental" + page 255, "thier" changed to "their" + page 269, "in roduction" changed to "introduction" + page 310, parenthesis added before "2nd" + page 312, "developmen" changed to "development", "gradua" changed to + "gradual" + +Variations in hyphenation (e.g. "bootlace", "boot-lace"; "doorpost", +"door-post") have not been changed. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOVE THE SNOW LINE*** + + + + CREDITS + + +March 1, 2011 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Greg Bergquist, Stefan Cramme, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This + file was produced from images generously made available by The + Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 35434.txt or 35434.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/5/4/3/35434/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works to protect the Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered +trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you +receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of +this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away +-- you may do practically _anything_ with public domain eBooks. +Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + + THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), +you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + + Section 1. + + +General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works + + + 1.A. + + +By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work, +you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the +terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) +agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this +agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee +for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work +and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may +obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set +forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + + + 1.B. + + +"Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or +associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be +bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can +do with most Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works even without complying +with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are +a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works if you +follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + + + 1.C. + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" or +PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual +work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in +the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, +distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on +the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of +course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} mission of +promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for +keeping the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} name associated with the work. You can +easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License when you +share it without charge with others. + + + 1.D. + + +The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you +can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant +state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of +your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before +downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating +derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work. +The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of +any work in any country outside the United States. + + + 1.E. + + +Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + + + 1.E.1. + + +The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access +to, the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License must appear prominently whenever +any copy of a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work (any work on which the phrase +"Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" +is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or +distributed: + + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + + + 1.E.2. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work is derived from the +public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with +permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and +distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or +charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you +must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 +or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + + 1.E.3. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic work is posted with the +permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply +with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed +by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project +Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License for all works posted with the permission of the +copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + + + 1.E.4. + + +Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License +terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any +other work associated with Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}. + + + 1.E.5. + + +Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic +work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying +the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate +access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License. + + + 1.E.6. + + +You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, +marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word +processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version posted +on the official Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} web site (http://www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form. +Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License as +specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + + + 1.E.7. + + +Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, +copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works unless you comply +with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + + 1.E.8. + + +You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or +distributing Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation." + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} works. + + + 1.E.9. + + +If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic +work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this +agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in +Section 3 below. + + + 1.F. + + + 1.F.1. + + +Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to +identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain +works in creating the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} collection. Despite these +efforts, Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works, and the medium on which they +may be stored, may contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright +or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk +or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot +be read by your equipment. + + + 1.F.2. + + +LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES -- Except for the "Right of +Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for +damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE +NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH +OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE +FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT +WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, +PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY +OF SUCH DAMAGE. + + + 1.F.3. + + +LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND -- If you discover a defect in this +electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund +of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to +the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a +physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. +The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect +to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the +work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose +to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in +lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a +refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. + + + 1.F.4. + + +Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in +paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + + + 1.F.5. + + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the +exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or +limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state +applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make +the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state +law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement +shall not void the remaining provisions. + + + 1.F.6. + + +INDEMNITY -- You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark +owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and +any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution +of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs +and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from +any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of +this or any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} work, and (c) any Defect +you cause. + + + Section 2. + + + Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} + + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic +works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including +obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the +efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks +of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance +they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}'s goals and ensuring +that the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} collection will remain freely available for +generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} and future generations. To learn more about the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations +can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation web page at +http://www.pglaf.org. + + + Section 3. + + + Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of +Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. +The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. +Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. Contributions to the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full +extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 North +1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact information +can be found at the Foundation's web site and official page at +http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + + Section 4. + + + Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive + Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment +including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are +particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. +Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable +effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these +requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not +received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or +determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have +not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against +accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us +with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the +United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods +and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including +checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please +visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + + Section 5. + + + General Information About Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} electronic works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with +anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} +eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~} eBooks are often created from several printed editions, +all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright +notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance +with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed +(zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the +old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org + + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg{~TRADE MARK SIGN~}, including how +to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email +newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + + + + + +***FINIS*** +
\ No newline at end of file |