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FOC-BOW SEEN FROM THE MATTERHORN ON JULY 14, 1865,

“THE TAUGWALDERS THOUGHT THAT IT HAD SOME CONNECTION WITH THE ACOIDENT”

* S@RAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS IN THE YEARS 1860-69.

BY

EDWARD WHYMPER

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Toil and pleasure, in their natures opposite, are yet linked together

in a kind of necessary connection.—Livy.

FIFTH EDITION

LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1900

Alt rights are reserved.

PREFACE.

In the year 1860, shortly before leaving England for a long conti- nental tour, a certain eminent London publisher requested me to make for him some sketches of the great Alpine peaks. At that time I had only a literary acquaintance with mountain-climbing, and had not even seen—much less set foot upon—a mountain. Amongst the peaks which were upon the list was Mont Pelvoux, in Dauphiné. The sketches that were required of it were to celebrate the triumph of some Englishmen who intended to make its ascent. They came—they saw—but they did not conquer. By a mere chance I fell in with a very agreeable Frenchman who accompanied this party, and was pressed by him to return to the assault. In 1861 we did so, with my friend Macdonald— and we conquered. ‘This was the origin of my Scrambles amongst the Alps. The ascent of Mont Pelvoux (including the disagreeables) was a very delightful scramble. The mountain air did not act as an emetic; the sky did not look black, instead of blue; nor did I feel tempted to throw myself over precipices. I hastened to enlarge my experience, and went to the Matterhorn. I was urged towards Mont Pelvoux by those mysterious impulses which cause men to peer into the unknown. This mountain was reputed to be the highest in France, and on that account was worthy of attention ; and it was believed to be the culminating point of a picturesque district of great interest, which was then almost entirely unexplored! The Matterhorn attracted me

i PREFACK.

simply by its grandeur, It was considered to be the most com- pletely inaccessible of all mountains, even by those who ought to have known better. Stimulated to make fresh exertions by one repulse after another, I returned, year after year, as I had opportunity, more and more determined to find a way up it, or to prove it to be really inaccessible. |

A considerable portion of this volume is occupied by the history of these attacks on the Matterhorn, ‘and the other excursions that are described have generally some connection, more or less remote, with that mountain or with Mont Pelvoux. All are new excursions (that is, excursions made for the first time), unless the contrary is pointed out. Some have been passed over very briefly, and entire ascents or descents have been disposed of ina single line. If they had been worked out at full length, three volumes, instead of one, would have been required. Generally speaking, the salient points alone have been dwelt upon, and the rest has been left to the imagination. This treatment spares the reader from much useless repetition.

In endeavouring to make the book of some use to those who may wish to go mountain-scrambling, whether in the Alps or elsewhere, undue prominence, perhaps, has been given to our mistakes and failures; and it will doubtless be pointed out that our practice must have been bad if the principles which are laid down are sound, or that the principles must be unsound if the practice was good. We were not immaculate. Our blunders are not held up to be admired, or to be imitated, but to be avoided.

These Scrambles amongst the Alps were holiday excursions, and as such they should be judged. They are spoken of as sport, and nothing more. The pleasure that they gave me cannot be transferred to others. The ablest pens have failed, and I think must always fail, to give a true idea of the grandeur of the Alps. The most minute descriptions of the greatest writers do nothing more than convey impressions that are entirely erroneous—the reader conjures up visions, it may be magnificent ones, but they

PREFACE, ill

are infinitely inferior to the reality. I have dealt sparingly in descriptions, and have employed illustrations freely, in the hope that the pencil may perhaps succeed where the pen must inevi- tably have failed.

About fifty of the subjects were drawn on the wood by the late Mr. James Mahoney, and I am much indebted to that artist for the care and fidelity with which he followed my slight memoranda, and for the spirit he put into his admirable designs. Most of his drawings will be identified by his monogram. Twenty of the remainder are the work of Mr. Cyrus Johnson.

It is now my pleasant duty to acknowledge assistance ren- dered, directly or indirectly, by friends and strangers, at home and abroad. First of all, my thanks are due to my companions for having placed their journals and sketches freely at my disposal. I am particularly obliged to Mr. J. Longridge, to Mr. T. F. Mitchell, and to Mr. W. Cutbill, for the facilities that they granted me when examining the Fell Railway in 1869. From Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., and Mr. Robert H. Scott, F.R.S., I have received many friendly hints and much valued criticism ; and aid, in a variety of ways, from Mr. Budden, Prof. Gastaldi, and Sig. Giordano, in Italy; from M. Emile Templier and the Maréchal Canrobert, in France; and from Mr. Gosset of Berne. I am indebted to the Messrs. Longman for the use of a portion of their Map of the Western Alps. The other Maps are original.

Lonpon, June, 1900.

aie PREFACE.

Notes TO THE PREFACE OF THE FirrH EDITION.

THE First Edition of Scrambles amongst the Alps appeared in the summer of 1871, and the Second Edition in the autumn of the same year. In 1879, a Third (condensed) Edition was published, under the title The Ascent of the Matterhorn. The book then remained out of print for twelve years. In the Fourth Edition (1893) the matter which was omitted in the Third one was restored; the text was revised generally ; corrections which had become necessary in consequence of the lapse of years were made; and, in the Appendix, the History of the Matterhorn was brought down to date. ‘

Amongst changes and developments which are not noted in the narrative, it may be mentioned that an Inn at Lognan has _ replaced the chalets, and that there is another one at Prerayen, in addition to the old buildings. A cabane has been opened at Chanrion.» A new Inn (Hotel des Jumeaux) has been put up at Breuil, and the Albergo del Monte Cervino at Giomein has been enlarged. The building on the summit of the Col Théodule, which was formerly termed ‘the hut, is now called Pavillon du Col St. Théodule.

The Maps have been re-engraved, on copper. That of the Matterhorn and its Glaciers is after the Siegfried Map of Switzer- land, with such additions as are needful to adapt it to the text. The Map of the Chain of Mont Blane is based on the Survey of Capt. Mieulet, the map by Mr. Adams-Reilly, and the Carte Dufour, but numerous corrections and additions have been made from personal observation. The Map of the Valley of Valpelline, — etc., has been constructed from the new Italian Official Map, the survey by Mr. Reilly, and the Cafte Dufour..

EARLY ASCENTS OF THE AIGUILLES D’ARVE.—In the Annuaire of the Club Alpin Francais published in 1899 there is an article by Dr. Fodéré upon the Aiguilles d’Arve. Dr, Fodéré has

Gy

PREFACE. Vv

ascended both the Southern and the Central Aiguilles, and says he found by levelling that the Southern Aiguille is the higher of the two. He also gives the ‘name of a person (Célestin Bellet) who made an ascent of the Central Aiguille in 1845, and the name of another person (Elie Savoye) who did the same before 1864. In the Alpine Journal, vol. xviii, pp. 165-8, there is a reference to an ascent of the Central Aiguille which was made in 1839. These were probably the excursions which were referred to by Mons. Ad. Joanne, about which both I and my companions were perhaps unduly sceptical. See ‘pp. 169-174. Dr. Fodéré’s article came under my notice after the sheets of Chap. VIII. were worked off.

Tur DEaTH or CuristrAN ALMER.—Most of the characters mentioned in Scrambles have now departed. One of the last to go was my old Guide and Friend Christian Almer. This ideal mountain-guide celebrated the 70th anniversary of his birthday by making an ascent of the Wetterhorn along with his Wife, who was then aged 72; and from this display of vigour when three- score and ten he might have been expected to have lived much longer. To my great regret, he died on May 17, 1898, aged 72. See p. 341, and the Alpine Journal, vol. xviii, pp. 185-6.

CHANGES ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE Marrernorn.—In August, 1895, I ascended the south-west ridge as far as the base of the Great Tower, to photograph places in which I was interested. More than thirty years had elapsed since my last

‘visit, and I found that great. changes had taken place in the

interval. The summit of the Col du Lion was lower than it was formerly, from diminution of the snow; and the passage across it was shorter than it used to be. For the next 150 feet or so of ascent there was little alteration, but thence upwards the ridge had tumbled to pieces, and many familiar places were unrecognizable. No spot on this ridge is more firmly fixed in my recollection than ‘the Chimney.’ [See Hlustration facing p. 106. | b

vi PREFACE.

Only a remnant of it was left—more than half of the Chimney had disappeared; and from that point upwards everything was altered. Difficult places had become easy, and easy places had become difficult. The angle in which a thick knotted rope is now dangling, which is one of the steepest bits of the ascent, did not exist in 1864. ¥

The first Refuge on the southern side of the Matterhorn was made on the ledge called the ‘cravate’ [p. 405]. Later on, a cabane was built close to the base of the Great Tower. Its life. seeming precarious, a third refuge, another cabane, was erected in 1893 about 160 feet lower down, and came into use in 1894. This latter hut occupies very nearly the position of my third tent-platform. A view of it is given in Chap. IT. of my Gide to Zermatt and the Matterhorn, after photographs taken in 1895.

Upon p. 103, I characterize the Great Tower as ‘one of the most striking features on the ridge.” In 1864, there were no signs of decay about the base-of this huge pinnacle. In 1895 it seemed to me that it would not be long before it would collapse. Woe betide those who may be beneath the Great Tower when it falls,

CARREL'’S GALLERY.—By reference to pp. 403-4, it will be seen that Jean-Antoine Carrel, upon his descent of the Matterhorn, on July 17, 1865, came down at one part of the way by a some- what easier route than that which was taken upon the ascent. The opinion of Mr. Craufurd Grove about this ‘somewhat easier route’ wilh be found on p. 407. Mr. Grove was the first tourist to ascend the Matterhorn on the Italian side; and, so far as I am aware, no one again went that way until Aug. 1895, when Mr. W. E. Davidson, with the guides Daniel Maquignaz and Christian Klucker, made an ascent by what was generally, though perhaps not exactly, the route taken by Mr. Grove. Mr. Davidson strongly endorses Mr. Grove’s opinion. ‘Traces of the two previous ascents were observed by Mr. Davidson.

PREFACE. vii

EXPLORATION OF THE FurGG Ripcr.—In 1899, Sig. Guido Rey, of Turin, undertook a very bold and enterprising explora- tion of the Furgg Ridge—that which leads from the Furgg Grat towards the summit of the Matterhorn. The information that Sig. Rey communicated to me arrived too late to be incorporated in Appendix C.

“T started from Breuil with Antoine Maquignaz and a porter on Aug. 24, 1899, at one o’clock in the night, and went to the Breuiljoch, and thence directly up the Furggen Ridge, as far as the point reached by Mummery,—which may be called ‘?Epaule de Furggen’ At this point real difficulty begins.

Meanwhile Daniel Maquignaz, with two porters and a large amount of rope, had reached the summit of the Matterhorn by the usual way ; and descended about 85 métres” [280 feet] “down the Furggen Ridge, until he came to a place where the rocks became overhanging. There he stopped, and fixed a rope, and let the same down to the spot where we were standing, which was about 10 métres higher than VEpaule de Furggen. By means of this rope, | and my men ascended about 80 metres, with great difficulty, the rocks being smooth and nearly vertical. After two hours of grimpade” [scrambling] “we thus arrived at the base of some overhanging rock upon which stood Daniel and his men. We were separated 12 or 15 métres from Daniel, and tried to pull ourselves up; but this was impossible on account of the great oscillation of the rope, and from there being no means of laying hold of the rock either with hands or feet. At 5 P.M. we gave up our attempts, and returned the way we had come; and, walking down the whole night, arrived at Breuil on the morning of the 25th of August. The point reached on this attempt ' was distant from the summit about 105 metres” [344 feet]. °

“T again left Breuil on the 28th, and ascended the Matterhorn by the usual Italian route. Daniel, Antoine, and porters were with me, carrying a rope ladder about 15 métres long. I descended from the summit to the Furggen Ridge as far as the point previously attained by Daniel’s party, and found means of getting a few metres lower. There I fixed the ladder, and let it down the overhanging wall. Descending it, I reached the point where we arrived on the 25th of August. Having completely explored the ridge, and touched every part of it, I returned immediately to the summit, and descended, in very bad weather, by the Hoérnli

route.”

PREFACE

vill

The following should be added to the List of Ascents of the

Matterhorn given in Appendix E. Date. Names. Route taken. REMARKS. 1877. Aug. 6. .| W. Martin Conway .| Zermatt. | Guides—P. J. Knubel and P. J. Truffer. Ss From Zermatt, and back in a day; 113 hs. walking, and 5% hs. halts (34 hs. from forced inaction due to other parties). Aug. 10-11 | Felix O. Schuster .| Zermatt. Guiles beter Baumann and P. J. Truf- er. 1879. Aug. 24-5 . | J. E. Bode Zermatt. | Guide—J. Petrus and a Porter. |

ERRATA.

Page 6, in the 5th line of note, ‘‘ belonging to” should read “leased to.” », 16, 16th line from top, ‘‘ they placed” should be ‘‘ those placed.” », 93, in the note, “by Mr. Conway” should be “by Mr. (now Sir W. Martin) Conway.” ., 180, line 2 from top, ‘‘ Hinchcliff” should be ‘‘ Hinchliff.”” There is the same error in the Index.

», 408, last line, ‘‘ by all those” should read ‘‘ by nearly all those.”

CONTENTS.

—+—

1860

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.

BEACHY HEAD—DEVIL OF NOTRE DAME—MULES—SCRAMBLING ALONE—THE WUEISS- HORN—ST. BERNARD—RASCALLY GUIDE—A VILLAGE CONCERT—STORM ON THE COL DE LAUTARET : : ; ; ; : Pages 1-13

1861

CHAPTER IL THE ASCENT OF MONT PELVOUX.

THE VALLEYS OF DAUPHINS—THE PEAKS OF DAUPHINE—MISTAKES IN THEIR IDENTIFICATION—-BARLY ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND MONT PELVOUX—INTRODUC- TION TO MONSIBUR REYNAUD—MEETING WITH MACDONALD—CROSS THE COL DE LAUTARET—NATIONAL SENTIMENTS—WE ENGAGE A GUIDE—START FOR MONT PELVOUX—PASS THE CAVERN OF THE VAUDOIS—MASSACRE OF THE VAUDOIS—FIRST NIGHT OUT—WE ARE REPULSED—ARRIVAL OF MACDONALD —THIRD NIGHT OUT—TORRENTS ON FIRE—FALLING ROCKS—ASCENT OF MONT PELVOUX—THE PYRAMID—VIEW FROM THE ‘SUMMIT—WE DISCOVER THE POINTE DES ECRINS—SURPRISED BY NIGHT—ON FLEAS—EN ROUTE FOR MONTE VISO—VALUE OF THE PASSPORT SYSTEM—DESERTERS—CAMP ON AN ANT-HILL—ST. VERAN—PRIMITIVE MANNERS—NATURAL PILLARS—ARRIVE AT BRIANGON . ; é 5 ; j ; ; 14-44

CHAPTER Wo lth:

THE MONT CENIS PASS AND THE FELL RAILWAY—THE GREAT TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS.

DILIGENCES—A STEEP RAILROAD—THE CENTRE RAIL—DESCRIPTION OF THE FELL RAILROAD—CENTRE RAIL BREAK—HISTORY OF THE MONT CENIS TUNNEL— THE ADVANCED

THE ‘‘ PERFORATRICES ’’—TEMPERATURE OF THE TUNNEL GALLERY—SYSTEM OF ATTACK—THE COST—ANNUAL PROGRESS— COMPLETION

AND INAUGURATION—GERMAIN SOMMEILLER

PRESENT TEMPERATURE OF THE

TUNNEL . ae te A ‘ : : j ‘ ; 45-71

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. MY FIRST SCRAMBLE ON THE MATTERHORN.

INTRODUCTION TO JEAN-ANTOINE CARREL—SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES IN RE- GARD TO THE MATTERHORN—RIDGES OF THE MATTERHORN—HFARLIEST ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN—ATTEMPT BY THE MESSRS. PARKER—ATTEMPT BY MESSRS. HAWKINS AND TYNDALL—ARRIVE AT BREUIL—®NWILLINGNESS OF THE GUIDES TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE MATTERHORN—THH CARRELS EN- DEAVOUR TO CUT US OUT—THE ‘GREAT STAIRCASE ’—WE DECIDE TO CAMP ON THE COL DU LION—GREAT EXCITEMENT. FROM FALLING STONES—LIGHT AND SHADE—THE ‘ CHIMNEY ’—DEFEATED—A COOL PROCEEDING . Pages 72-87

1862 CHAPTER V. . RENEWED ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN.

MR. KENNEDY'S WINTER ATTEMPT—BENNEN REFUSES TO START AGAIN—THE THHO- DULE PASS MACDONALD AND I START FOR THE MATTERHORN—NARROW ESCAPE OF KRONIG— VIOLENT WIND TURNS US BACK—ENGAGE CARREL AND PESSION AND START AGAIN —THE ‘GREAT TOWER —BAD WEATHER- TATION—VIEW FROM THE TENT—A SOLITARY BIVOUAC—MONTE VISO SEEN BY MOONLIGHT AT NINETY-EIGHT MILES’ DISTANCE—ON AIDS TO CLIMBERS—CLIMBING CLAW—FIND A NEW PLACE FOR THE TENT—I ATTAIN A GREATER ALTITUDE ALONE THAN HAD BEEN REACHED BEFORE, AND NEARLY COME TO GRIEF—I MAKE

LUC MEYNET, THE HUNCHBACK OF BREUIL—ON ALPINE TENTS—

?

—PESSION BECOMES ILL AND WE ARE OBLIGED TO RETURN SCRAMBLE ALONE ON THE MATTERHORN—PIONEERS OF VEGE-

A VOW—MY FOURTH ATTEMPT TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN—DEFEATED AGAIN BY WEATHER—THE CARRELS GO MARMOT-HUNTING, AND WE START FOR A FIFTH ATTEMPT —DEFEATED BY NATURAL DIFFICULTIES—TYNDALL ARRIVES AND CARRIES OFF THE CARRELS—A CANNONADE ON THE MATTERHORN—TYNDALL IS REPULSED—CONFLAGRATION IN DAUPHINE < ‘ é . 88-17

1863 CHAPTER VI.

THE VAL TOURNANCHE—THE BREUILJOCH—ZERMATT—THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE GRAND TOURNALIN.

THE DOUANE—“ BUT WHATISTHIS ?”’ DIFFICULTIES WITH MY LADDER:

EXPLANATION OF TYNDALL’S REPULSE—ROMAN (2) AQUEDUCT IN THE VAL TOURNANCHE—ASCEND THE CIMES BLANCHES—WE DECEIVE A GOAT—NEW PASS TO ZERMATT (BREUIL- JOCH)—AQUEOUS AND GLACIER EROSION—GLACIER VERSUS ROCKS

RESULTING FORMS (ROCHES MOUTONNEES)—MOTION OF GLACIERS PREVENTS THE ICE FROM

CONTENTS. xl

BEING FORCED INTO HOLLOWS—PROJECTIONS ALONE SUFFER— CONSEQUENT ~

FLATTENING OF ROCK-SURFACES—ROCHES NIVELEES—STRIATIONS AND THEIR MEANING—VIOLENT GLACIAL ACTION IN ICELAND—ROTUNDITY OF ROCHES MOUTONNEES PROVES A SMALL AMOUNT OF EROSION—ON LEE-SIDES—THE EROSIVE . POWER OF A GLACIER CONSTANTLY DIMINISHES—CONSERVATION OF ROCKS— SEILER’S DISINTERESTEDNESS—THE MATTERHORN CLIFFS— EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT TO A CHAMOIS—COL DE VALPELLINE—THE MASTER OF PRERAYEN— ’ ATTEMPT TO ASCEND DENT D’ERIN (D’HERENS)—THE VA CORNERE PASS—ASCENT OF THE GRAND TOURNALIN—SPLENDID VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT—ON PANORAMIC VIEWS—GOUFFRE DES BUSSERAILLES—HINTS TO HOSTS . . Pages 118-155

CHAPTER VIL. OUR SIXTH ATTEMPT TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN.

EXTREMES MEET—THUNDER AND LIGHTNING—ECHOES OF THUNDER—GREAT ROCK- FALLS DURING THE NIGHT—DEFEATED BY THE WEATHER—MYSTERIOUS MISTS 156-165

1864

CHAPTER VIII.

FROM ST. MICHEL TO LA BERARDE BY THE COL DES AIGS. D’ARVE, COL DE MARTIGNARE, AND THE BRECHE DE LA MEE.

MICHEL CROZ—COL DE VALLOIRES—THE AIGUILLES D ARVE—WE MAKE A PASS

BETWEEN THEM—COL DE MARTIGNARE—ASCENT OF THE AIGUILLE DE LA SAUSSE —THE MEISE—BRiCHE DE LA MEIJE—MELCHIOR ANDEREGG—LA GRAVE—THE BRECHE IS WON—THE VALLON DES ETANGONS - ; . 166-187

CHAPTER IX. THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE POINTE DES ECRINS.

BIVOUAG ON THE GLACIER DE LA BONNE PIERRE—DISSOLVING VIEWS—DRYNESS OF

THE AIR—-TOPOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL DAUPHINE ALPS—FIRST ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE ECRINS—A MIGHTY AVALANCHE—OUR ASCENT OF THE FINAL PEAK—ON SPLINTERS FROM SUMMITS—LE JEU NE VAUT PAS LA CHANDELLE—SHATTERED

RIDGE—ALMER’S LEAP—SURPRISED BY NIGHT—A WARNING . . 188-208

CHAPTER X. FROM VAL LOUISE TO LA BERARDE BY THE COL DE PILATTE.

CHALETS OF BNTRAIGUES—ARRIVAL OF REYNAUD—ON SNOW COULOIRS—SUMMIT OF THE COL—EXCITING DESCENT—REYNAUD COMES OVER THE SCHRUND—THE LAST OF DAUPHINE . 4 : : F ’ ; . 209-218

xii CONTENTS.

*

COHVATE Tani Reels PASSAGE OF THE COL DE TRIOLET, AND ASCENTS OF MONT DOLENT, AIGUILLE DE TRELATETE, AND AIGUILLE D’ARGENTIERE.

MAPS OF MONT BLANC—MR. ADAMS-REILLY—OUR COMPACT—THE PEAKS OF THE MONT BLANC RANGE—ACROSS THE COL DE TRIOLET—FIRST ASCENT OF MONT DOLENT —REILLY ADVOCATES PATIENCE—BIVOUAC ON MONT sUC—FIRST ASCENT OF AIG. DE TRELATRTE—THE MORAINE OF THE MIAGE—ON MORAINES IN GENERAL— ERRONEOUS VIEWS RESPECTING THEM—MORAINES IN GREENLAND—ATTEMPT TO ASCEND THE AIGUILLE D'ARGENTINRE—A CONCEALED CAVERN—FIRST ASCENT OF THE AIGUILLE D’ARGENTIERE—MR. REILLY’S MAP. . Pages 219-239

CHAPTER “XII. FIRST PASSAGE OF THE MOMING PASS—ZERMATT.

SWISS MENDICANTS—NIGHT ON THE ARPITETTA ALP—A PERILOUS PATH —ICE- AVALANCHE—SUMMIT OF THE MOMING PASS—CROZ DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF— THE CLUB-ROOM OF ZERMATT—DEATH OF MONSIEUR SEILER . . 240-249

1865 CHAPTER XIII THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE GRAND CORNIER.

ON CHOICE OF ROUTES—REGRETS—ZINAL—ASCENT OF THE GRAND CORNIER—EFFEOTS OF SUN AND FROST—GREAT RIDGES SUFFER MOST—POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BE- TWEEN ATMOSPHERIC AND GLACIER EROSION—ABRICOLLA . . 250-260

CHAPTER XIV. THE ASCENT OF THE DENT BLANCHE.

LESLIE STEPHEN—KENNEDY’S ASCENT—ON BERGSCHRUNDS—UN WELCOME ATTENTIONS —A RACE FOR LIFE—BENIGHTED—A SURPRISE : : >) 261-267

CHAPTER XV.

LOST ON THE COL D’HERENS—OUR SEVENTH ATTEMPT TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN. “

A LATE START AND THE RESULT—BEWILDERED—RETURN TO ABRICOLLA—CROSS COL D’ H&RENS TO ZERMATT—ASCEND THE THHLODULHORN—NEW IDEAS REGARDING THE MATTERHORN—DECEPTIVENESS OF THE EAST FACE—STRATIFICATION—DIP OF THE BEDS—WE TRY ANOTHER ROUTE—“‘ SAUVE QUI PEUT”’—BEATEN AGAIN 268-281

CONTENTS. | xiil

CHAPTER XVI.

ON THE VALLEY OF AOSTA AND THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE GRANDES JORASSES.

THE BOUQUETIN—ON CRETINISM AND GOITRE—CAUSES OF THEIR ORIGIN—POSSIBILITY OF CHECKING PROGRESS OF ORETINISM—THE ANCIENT GLACIER OF AOSTA AND THE MORAINES OF IVREA—RAMSAY’S EROSION THEORY—TYNDALL’S THEORY—CONTRA- DICTIONS—CRITICISM OF THE THEORIES—CONCLUSIONS—SUMMIT OF THE GRANDES JORASSES—WE START AN AVALANCHE. ° c . Pages 282-332

CHAPTER XVII. THE FIRST PASSAGE OF THE COL DOLENT.

CONFUSION OF IDEAS—A MIDNIGHT START—SUMMIT OF THE PASS—EXTRAORDINARY ICE-WALL—MANNER OF ITS DESCENT—ON ICE-AXES AND THEIR USE—ON ICE- SLOPES AND THEIR SAFETY—CRAMPONS—ARRIVAL AT CHAMOUNIX ., 888-339

CHAPTER XVIII. THE FIRST ASCENT OF.THE AIGUILLE VERTE.

CROZ LEAVES US—CHRISTIAN ALMER—SUNSET ON THE MER DE GLACE—STRUCTURE OF GLACIERS—THE ‘‘VEINED STRUCTURE”’—ORIGIN OF VEINS IN GLACIERS ASCENT OF THE AIGUILLE VERTE—ADVICE TO MOUNTAIN WALKERS—VIEW FROM

THE NOBLE ATTITUDE OF

THE SUMMIT—STORMS COME ON—A WORTHY PORTER CHAMOUNIX : j : ; : 3 5 . 840-352

CHAPTER XIX. THE FIRST PASSAGE OF THE COL DE TALEFRE.

THE COL DU GHANT—THE GLACIER DE TALEFRE—EASY WAY FROM CHAMOUNIX TO COURMAYEUR — GLISSADING — PASSES OVER THE MAIN CHAIN OF MONT BLANC : 5 : ; 3 : ; ; . 353-356

CHAPTER XxX. THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE RUINETTE—THE MATTERHORN.

FACILITY WITH WHICH THE RUINETTE CAN BE ASCENDED—NOBLE PANORAMA —ON CONCEALED CREVASSES—GUIDES’ OBJECTION TO USE OF THE ROPE—ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE ROPE—ALMER DECLINES THE MATTERHORN—ENGAGE THE CARRELS—THEIR DEFECTION—THE ITALIANS STEAL A MARCH—ARRIVAL OF LORD FRANCIS DOUGLAS—MEETING WITH CROZ AND HUDSON . ‘ 2 80/-3/ 1

C

i

Xiv CONTENTS.

at

* CHAPTER XXI. THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN.

CHARLES HUDSON—CAMP ON THE EAST FACE—OROZ REPORTS FAVOURABLY—ASCENT OF THE EASTERN FACE—CROSS TO THE NORTHERN SIDE—ARRIVAL AT SUMMIT— DISCOMFITURE OF THE ITALIANS — ASTONISHMENT AT BREUIL— MARVELLOUS PANORAMA ; : : : : FY . Pages 372-382

* CHAPTER XXIL THE DESCENT OF THE MATTERHORN.

ORDER OF THE DESCENT—A FRIGHTFUL AVALANCHE—HADOW SLIPS—DEATH OF CROZ, HADOW, HUDSON, AND LORD F. DOUGLAS—TERROR OF THE TAUGWALDERS—THE BROKEN ROPE—AN APPARITION—AN INFAMOUS PROPOSITION—SURPRISED BY NIGHT—-SEARCH FOR AND RECOVERY OF THE BODIES — OFFICIAL EXAMINATION

—THE END ; ; : : : Q 3 . 383-396 APPENDIX.

PAGE

A. THE DEATH OF BENNEN . : ek : ; A é 399 B, STRUCK BY LIGHTNING UPON THE MATTERHORN : ; j 401 C. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE MATTERHORN : : : : 402 D. TABLE OF ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN . ‘ F 424 E. TABLE OF ASCENTS OF THE MATTERHORN A ‘ ; : 425 F. GEOLOGY OF THE MATTERHORN, BY SIG. F. GIORDANO . : : 434 G. ON STRATIFICATION OF SNOW AND FORMATION OF GLACIER . : 437 H. DENUDATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE DURANCE 5 ; E 443

INDEX é 6 4 ‘ : 5 : ; 445

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Drawings were made on the Wood by

H. J. Boor, C. Jounson, W. Lapwortu, J. Manonny, J. W. Norru, A.R.A., T. D. Scorr,

ip 2.

ea3.

INS), 16. Wo 7 Ties ts

P. Sxextton, W. G. Smirs, and C. J. Stanrtanp; and were Engraved by i, J. W. and Epwarp WHYMPER. “aaa

* From Photographs. ** Designs.

FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fog-Bow, SEEN FROM THE MATTERHORN ON JULY 14, 1865. rontispiece.

Mont PELVoUX AND THE ALEFROIDE, FROM NEAR Mont To face page 34

DAUPHIN : : 3 : : é : : THE Mont Cents RoAD AND THE FELL RAILWAY, ON THE ITALIAN SIDE Fi ; : ; ; : 3 ‘ oe 50

THE ADVANCED GALLERY, ON THE FRENCH SIDE OF THE

Mont Cents TUNNEL, WITH THE ‘‘ PERFORATRICES” AT

WORK . : : 5 j ; 3 3 4 : 55 60 OUTLINES OF THE MATTERHORN FROM THE NORTH-EAST AND

FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE THKODULE PASs (TO SHEW

RipGES, AND POINTS ATTAINED ON THE DIFFERENT

ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN) . : ‘ : ” 74 THE MATTERHORN, FROM NEAR THE SUMMIT OF THE THHO-

DULE PASS . : ; ; 5 ; ‘ ; : 4 76 ‘THE CHIMNEY’. : ‘ . : : : ; ; om 106 “IN ATTEMPTING TO PASS THE CORNER I SLIPPED AND FELL” 6 108 A CANNONADE ON THE MATTERHORN (1862) : : : a 114 Tur ORAGS OF THE MATTERHORN, DURING THE STORM,

Mipnicut, Auc. 10,1863. : : ; : ; 162 DESCENDING WESTERN ARfTE OF THE POINTE DES ECRINS ks 204 ‘Wr SAW A TOE—IT SEEMED TO BELONG TO MOORE; WE

SAw REYNAUD A FLYING BODY” . : ; 5 : ap 217 Tuer SUMMIT OF THE MomING PAss IN 1864 2 : 3 A 246

. Tur Cius-Room or ZERMATT IN 1864 : , ; : 5 248 Tur BERGSCHRUND ON THE DENT BLANCHE IN 1865 . : 5 263 Tur MATTERHORN FROM THE RIFFELBERG . : 3 : . 272 SHOTIONS OF THE MATTERHORN . c ; : 5 : - 276 THe GRANDES JORASSES FROM THE VAL FERRET : ; ie 332 Tur SUMMIT OF THE Cot DOLENT ; : . : ‘ mS 334

XV1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. . 20, GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE MATTERHORN : . To face page 436 21. NATURAL PINNACLES (FORMED ‘OUT OF AN OLD MORAINE) IN THE VALLEY OF THE DURANCE tae Ths 3 3 . 443 22. VERTICAL SEOTION OF THE SNOW ON THE Cot DE VALPELLINE, Aveust 1866 (folding Plate) At the end of the Volwme. iN THE TEXT: ; , PAGE 1. Beachy Hrap. 1 2. Toe Dnvit or Notre DamMr . 4 : : ae 5 2 XS.’ MULES 3 ** 4. A Curt In DIFFICULTIES . if ** 5, WHICH IS THE BRUTE ? 8 6. At THE St. BERNARD 9 7. THE VILLAGE OF BIONA 10 2 SS co GARMB ANION te. 12) * 9.- BRIANGON : : : : 14 10. Mont Privovx FROM ABOVE LA BEssir . 21 11. In ro VAL Dd’ ALEFRED 22 12. Tor GRAND PELVoUX DE VAL LOUISE 23 13. Burrruessrs or Mont PELVouxX 27 * 14. Porrrarr or R. J. S. MacDonanp 30 15. OUTLINE TO sHEW RouTE uP Mont PELivoux 32 16. Tom Buanker Bac 41 17. NarurAL PILLAR NEAR MOLINES ‘43, ** 18. Crossine Mont CEnis (1861) 45 ** 19. Tur Lirrir PosrirLion 46 20. Tur CENTRE RAIL oN A CuRVE 48 21. SECTION oF THE FELL RAILWAY 48 * 22. Tor CovVERED WAYS OF THE Friu RAILWAY 50 23. THr Centre Ratt BREAK : : : : " ‘ 5 51 24, TUBES CONVEYING THE COMPRESSED AIR TO THE Mont Cents TUNNEL, AND JOINTS OF THE SAME ‘ : 58 25. TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE Mont CEnis TUNNEL . 59 26. Cross SECTION OF THE ADVANCED GALLERY : 2 63 27. LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE END oF THE ADVANCED GALLERY 64 * 28. PoRTRAIT OF GERMAIN SOMMEILLER 70 * 29. PorTRAIT oF J. J. BENNEN 3 F es * 30. PorRTRAIY OF JEAN-ANTOINE CARREL (1869) 81 31. THE Cot pu LioN: LOOKING TOWARDS THE T£TE DU Lion 83 32. DIAGRAM TO SHEW MANNER OF FASTENING TENT-POLES 92 33. ALPINE TENT 92

34, CLIMBING CLAW

102

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

~ RopE AND RING

AT BREvIL (GIomEIN)

Tur MATTERHORN FROM BREUIL

“Bur WHAT Is THIS 2” : p ; : ei ; AN ARCH OF THE AQUEDUCT IN THE VAL TOURNANCHE

WATER-WORN ROCKS IN THE GORGE BELOW THE GOoRNER GLACIER.

. STRIATIONS PRODUCED BY GLACIER-ACTION : SrcTions oF RocHES MouTonNEES AND RocHES NIVELEES DIAGRAM OF WEATHERED Rock

““CARREL LOWERED ME DOWN ”

PorRTRAIT oF MonsInUR FAVRE

CROSSING THE CHANNEL

. PoRTRAIT OF MICcHEL-AUGUSTE CROZ

PLAN TO SHEW ROUTE

THE AIGUILLES D’ARVE FROM ABOVE THE CHALETS OF Rieu BLanc

. PoRTRAIT oF MELCHIOR ANDEREGG Map oF THE BRACHE DE LA MEE, BTC.

170 172 180 182

DIAGRAM TO SHEW ANGLE OF SUMMIT OF MEIJE, AS SEEN FROM LA GRAVE 184

THE VALLON DES ETANGONS .

Map or THE CENTRAL DAUPHINE ALPS.

THE POINTE DES ECRINS FROM THE CoL DU GALIBIER OUTLINE TO SHEW ROUTE UP POINTE DES ECRINS . FRAGMENT FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE POINTE DES ECRINS A NicuT witH Croz

. A SNow CovLorr .

PoRTRAITS OF MR. REILLY ON A WET DAY

Our Camp on Mont Svc

Hore. Courrer

Iczk-AVALANCHE ON THE Momine Pass.

FACSIMILE or A LETTER FROM CRoz

PART oF THE SOUTHERN RIDGE OF THE GRAND CORNIER Part or THE NorTHERN RIDGE oF THE GRAND CoRNIER PorTRAIT oF LusLin STEPHEN

Portrait or T. S. Kmennepy

DIAGRAMS TO SHEW Dip oF STRATA ON THE ee HORN My TENT-BEARER—THE HuNCHBACK

Tur VILLAGE or VAL TOURNANCHE (1892)

THE BouQguETIN

A Cririn or AOSTA

IMAGINARY SECTION OF A GLACIER

QUARTZ-VEIN

My Ich-axE .

186 189 198 199 202 207 212 228 229 239 245 254 256 257 261 267 274 279 281 284 287 320 323 336

Xvill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

77. KENNEDY Ich-AXE z , ; 5 F : ; ; : BiB 78. ANOTHER Form oF ICE-AXE . : : : : . : : 337 79. CRAMPON F : : ; : : 4 : : ; : 338

* 80. PorTRAIT OF CHRISTIAN ALMER . ‘ : : ; ; : 341 * 81. ON THE MER DE GLACE. ‘ ; ; 3 : ; : 342 * 82. IcE-PINNACLES ON THE MER DE Grae Pte . : : ae 343 * 83. WrsTERN SIDE OF THE Cor DETALDFRE . : ' : 3 853 ** 84, GLISSADING . : : : : ; 5 ; ; ; 355 ** 85. THE WRONG WAY TO USE A Poon ON GLACIER. . ; : 361 ** 86. Tur RigHT WAY TO UsE A Ropr ON GLACIER : : 5 : 362 87. PorrRaitT oF Lorp FrANoIs Doveuias . : ; ; : ; 368 88. CHAPEL AT THE LAc Noir (SCHWARZSEE) . : : : : 369 89. PorTRAIT oF Rav. CHARLES HupDSon . : : , : : 371 90. ‘‘Croz! Croz!! ComME HERE!” . ; é : : ; ; 378 91. Tor SuMMIT oF THE MATTERHORN : 3 : ‘ ; 380 92. Tur AcTUAL SUMMIT OF THE MATTERHORN IN 1865 : : j 383 93. RopE BROKEN ON THE MATTERHORN . : 5 ; : . - 886 94, DraGRAM or Foa-Bow . : . ; : : : F : 388

* 95. PORTRAIT OF MONSIEUR SEILER . : : ; : P é 389 96. MANILLA ROPE BROKEN ON THE MATTERHORN ; : : : 391 97. Tur ‘SnconD’ Ropk BROKEN ON THE MATTERHORN. : : 393

** 98. THE END : , ‘ : ; : P : F 3 : 396 99. PorTRAIT oF J. B. BicH, InN 1892. : ; ; : : 3 404 100. PoRTRAIT OF THE LATE CANON CARREL, OF AOSTA : ‘ : 405

¢ 101. Porrrair oF J.-JoSEPH MAQUIGNAZ . : : 407 102. Tor SUMMIT or THE MATTERHORN IN 1874 (Neerweee Ty ‘ 408 108. Tan Hur on THE HORN RIDGE (1892) 5 : é ‘ ; 409 104. Tur ENGLISH CHURCH AT ZERMATT . : : : : : 413 105. ON THE ZERMATT RAILWAY, BETWEEN STALDEN AND KALPETRAN 421 106. Tur ‘‘Systbmr ABr” . : ‘ ; ; : : : : 422 107. Ky To THE CLUB-RoomM oF ZERMATT . : ; ; : 423

MAPS. To be placed at the end of the Volume. GENERAL Route Map. THE VALLEY OF ZERMATT, AND THE CENTRAL PENNINE ALPS. THE VALPELLINE, THE VALTOURNANCHE, AND THE,CENTRAL PENNINE ALPS. THE CHAIN OF Mont BLANC.

oF wh

THE MATTERHORN AND ITS GLACIERS.

SCRAMBLES AM

-P

THE ALPS

ONGST

BEACHY HEAD,

CHAPTER I.

ON the 23rd of July, 1860, I started for my first tour in the Alps. As we steamed out into the Channel, Beachy Head came into view, and recalled a scramble of many years ago. With the impudence of ignorance, my brother’ and I, schoolboys both, had tried to scale that great chalk cliff. Not the head itself—where sea-birds circle, and where the flints are ranged in orderly parallel lines—but at a place more to the east, where a pinnacle called the Devil’s Chimney had fallen down. Since then we have been often in dangers of different kinds, but never have we more nearly broken our necks than upon that occasion.

In Paris I made two ascents. The first to the seventh floor

1 The author of Travels in Alaska. B

2 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. I.

of a house in the Quartier Tahineate an artist friend, who was engaged, at the moment of my entry, in combat with a little Jew. He hurled him with great good-will, and with considerable force, into some crockery, and then recommended me to go up the towers of Notre Dame. Half-an-hour later I stood on a parapet of the west front, by the side of the leering fiend which for centuries has looked down upon the great city, and then took rail to Switzerland ; saw the sunlight lingering on the giants of the Ober- land; heard the echoes from the cow-horns in the Lauterbrunnen valley and the avalanches rattling off the Jungfrau; and crossed the Gemmi into the Valais, resting for a time by the beautiful Oeschinen See, and getting a forcible illustra- tion of glacier- motion in a ‘neigh-

bouring valley—the Gasteren Thal. The upper end of this valley is sn cites coimin she IC

crowned by the Tschingel Glacier, which, as it descends, passes over an abrupt cliff that is in the centre of its course. On each side the continuity of the glacier is maintained, but in the centre it is cleft in twain by the cliff. Lower down it is consolidated again. I scrambled on to this lower portion, advanced towards the cliff, and then stopped to admire the contrast of the brilliant pinnacles of ice with the blue sky. Without warning, a huge slice of the glacier broke away, and fell over the cliff on to the lower portion, with a thundering crash. Fragments rolled. beyond me; although, fortunately, not in my direction. I fled, and did not stop until off the glacier; but before it was quitted learned another lesson in glacial matters. The terminal moraine, which seemed to be a solid mound, broke away underneath me, and

shewed that it was only a superficial covering resting upon a slope of glassy ice.

CHAP. I ON MULES. 3

On the steep path over the Gemmi there were opportunities for observing the manners and customs of the Swiss mule. Though it is not perhaps in revenge for generations of ill-treatment that the mule grinds one’s legs against fences and stone-walls, and pre- tends to stumble in awkward places (particularly when coming round corners and on the brinks of precipices), their evil habit of walking on the outside edges of paths (even in the most unguarded positions) is one that is distinctly the result of association with man. The transport of wood from the mountains into the valleys occu- pies most of the mules during a considerable portion of the year.

The faggots into which the wood is made up project some distance on each side of the beast, and it is said that they walk intuitively to the outside of paths having rocks on the other side to avoid the collisions which would other- wise occur. When they carry tourists they behave in a similar manner ; and, no doubt, when the good time for mules arrives, and they no longer carry burdens, they will still continue to do the same. This habit frequently gives rise to scenes. Two mules meet; each wishes to pass on the outside, and neither will give way. It requires considerable persuasion, through the medium of the tail, before such difficulties are arranged.

I visited the baths of Leuk, and saw the queer assemblage of men, women, and children, attired in bathing-gowns, chatting, drinking, and playing at chess in the water. The company did not seem to be perfectly sure whether it was decorous for elderly men to chase young females from one corner to another, but it

4 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. TI.

was unanimous in howling: at’ the advent of a stranger who remained covered, and literally yelled when I departed without exhibiting my sketch.

I trudged up the Rhone valley, and turned aside at Visp to go up the Visp Thal, where one would expect to see greater traces of glacial action, if a glacier formerly filled it, as one is said to have done.

I was bound for the valley of Saas, and my work took me high up the Alps on either side; far beyond the limit of trees and the tracks of tourists. The view from the slopes of the Weissmies, on the eastern side of the valley, 5000 or 6000 feet above the village of Saas, is perhaps the finest of its kind in the Alps. The full height of the three-peaked Mischabel (the loftiest mountain in Switzerland) is seen at one glance; 11,000 feet of dense forests, green alps, rocky pinnacles, and glittering glaciers. The summits seemed to me then to be hopelessly inaccessible from this direction.

I descended the valley to the village of Stalden, and then went up the Visp Thal to Zermatt, and stopped there several days. Numerous traces of the formidable earthquake-shocks of five years before still remained; particularly at St. Nicholas, where the in- habitants had been terrified beyond measure at the destruction of their churches and houses. At this place, as well as at Visp, a large part of the population was obliged to live under canvas for several months. It is remarkable that there was hardly a life lost on this occasion, although there were about fifty shocks, some of which were very severe.

At Zermatt I wandered in many directions, but the weather was bad, and my work was much retarded. One day, after spend- ing a long time in attempts to sketch near the Hornli, and in futile endeavours to seize the forms of the peaks as they peered out for a few seconds above the dense banks of woolly clouds, I determined not to return to Zermatt by the usual path, and to cross the Gorner Glacier to the Riffel hotel. After a rapid

CHAP. I. SCRAMBLING ALONE. 5

scramble over the polished rocks and snow-beds which skirt the base of the Théodule Glacier, and wading through some of the streams which flow from it (at that time much swollen by the late rains), the first difficulty was arrived at, in the shape of a precipice about three hundred feet high. It seemed that it would be easy enough to cross the glacier if the cliff could be descended ; though higher up, and lower down, the ice appeared, to my inex- perienced eyes, to be impassable for a single person. The general contour of the cliff was nearly perpendicular, but it was a good deal broken up, and there was little difficulty in descending by zigzagging from one mass to another. At length there was a long slab, nearly smooth, fixed at an angle of about forty degrees between two wall-sided pieces of rock. Nothing, except the glacier, could be seen below. It was an awkward place, but being doubtful if return were possible, as I had been dropping from one ledge to another, I passed it at length by lying across the slab, putting the shoulder stiffly against one side, and the feet against the other, and gradually wriggling down, by first moving the legs and then the back. When the bottom of the slab was gained a friendly crack was seen, into which the point of the baton could be stuck, and I dropped down to the next piece. It took a long time coming down that little bit of cliff, and for a few seconds it was satisfactory to see the ice close at hand. In another moment a second difficulty presented itself. The glacier swept round an angle of the cliff, and as the ice was not of the nature of treacle or thin putty, it kept away from the little bay, on the edge of which I stood. We were not widely separated, but the edge of the ice was higher than the opposite edge of rock; and worse, the rock was covered with loose earth and stones which had fallen from above. All along the side of the cliff, as far as could be seen in both directions, the ice did not touch it, and there was a marginal crevasse, seven feet wide, and of unknown depth.

All this was seen at a glance, and almost at once I concluded that I could not jump the crevasse, and began to try along the

ix 6 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. TI.

cliff lower down; though without success, for the ice rose higher and higher, until at last further progress was stopped by the cliffs becoming perfectly smooth. With an axe it would have been possible to cut up the side of the ice; without one I saw there was no alternative but to return and face the jump.

Night was approaching, and the solemn stillness of the High Alps was broken only by the sound of rushing water or of falling rocks. If the jump should be suecessful—well ; if not, I fell into that horrible chasm, to be frozen in, or drowned in that gurgling, rushing water. Everything depended on that jump. Again I asked myself; “Can it be done?” It must be. So, finding my stick was useless, I threw it and the sketch-book to the ice, and first retreating as far as possible, ran forward with all my might, took the leap, barely reached the other side, and fell awkwardly on my knees. Almost at the same moment a shower of stones fell on the spot from which I had jumped.

The glacier was crossed without further trouble, but the Riffel,* which was then a very small building, was crammed with tourists, and could not take me in. As the way down was un- known to me, some of the people obligingly suggested getting a man at the chalets, otherwise the path would be certainly lost in the forest. On arriving at the chalets no man could be found, and the lights of Zermatt, shining through the trees, seemed to say, “Never mind a guide, but come along down, I'll shew you the way;” so off I went through the forest, going straight towards them. The path was lost in a moment, and was never recovered. I was tripped up by pine-roots, tumbled into rhododendron bushes, and fell over rocks. The night was pitch dark, and after a time the lights of Zermatt became obscure, or went out alto- gether. By a series of slides, or falls, or evolutions more or less disagreeable, the descent through the forest was at length accom-

' The Riffel hotel (the starting-point for the ascent of Monte Rosa), a deservedly popular inn, is placed at a height of 3100 feet above Zermatt (8400 above the sea), and commands a superb panoramic view.

a

CHAP. 1, THE CHURCH IN DIFFICULTIES. ¥

plished ; but torrents of a formidable character had still to be passed before one could arrive at Zermatt. I felt my way about for hours, almost hopelessly ; by an exhaustive process at last dis- covering a bridge, and about midnight, covered with dirt and scratches, re-entered the inn which I had quitted in the morning. Others besides tourists get into difficulties. A day or two afterwards, when on the way to my old station, near the Hornli, I met a stout curé who had essayed to cross ‘the Théo- dule pass. His strength or his wind had failed, and he was being carried down, a helpless bundle and a ridiculous spectacle, on the back of a lanky guide; while the peasants stood by, with folded hands, their reverence for the church almost

overcome by their sense of the ludicrous. I descended the valley, diverging from the path at Randa to mount the slopes of the Dom,' in order to see the Weisshorn face to face. The latter mountain is the noblest in Switzerland, and from this direction it looks especially magnificent. On its north there is a large snowy plateau that feeds the glacier of which a portion is seen from Randa, and which on more than one occasion has destroyed that village. From the direction of the Dom (that is, immediately opposite) this Bies Glacier seems to descend nearly vertically. It does not do so, although it is very steep. Its size is much less than formerly, and the lower portion, now divided into three tails, clings in a strange, weird-like manner to the cliffs, to which it seems scarcely possible that it can remain attached. Unwillingly I parted from the sight of this glorious mountain, and went down to Visp. <A party of English tourists had passed up the valley a short time before with a mule. The party numbered nine—eight young women and a governess. The mule earried their luggage, and was ridden by each in turn. The

1 The highest of the Mischabelhorner,

8 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. 1.

peasants—themselves not unaccustomed to overload their beasts __were struck with astonishment at the unwonted sight; and made comments, more free than welcome to English ears, on the nonchalance with which young miss sat, ealm and collected, on the miserable _ beast, while it was struggling under her weight, com- bined with that of the luggage.

Arriving once more in the Rhone Valley, I proceeded to Viesch, and ascended the Eggisch- horn; on which un- pleasant eminence I lost

my way ina fog, and my temper shortly after- wards. Then, after crossing the Grimsel in a severe thunder- storm, passed on to Brienz, Interlachen, and Bern ; and thence to Fribourg and Morat, Neuchatel, Martigny, and the St. Bernard. The massive walls of the convent were a welcome sight as I waded through the snow-beds near the summit of the pass, and

pleasant also was the courteous salutation of the brother who

bade me enter. He wondered at the weight of my knapsack, and I at the hardness of their bread. The saying that the monks make the toast in the winter that they give to tourists in the following season is not founded on truth; the winter is their most busy time of the year. But it 7s true they have exercised so much hospitality that at times they have not possessed the means to furnish the fuel for heating their chapel in the winter.’

1 The temperature at the St. Bernard in the winter is frequently 40° Fahr. below

freezing-point. January is their coldest month. See Dollfus-Ausset’s Matériawa pour Vétude des Glaciers, vols. vi. and vii.

; : ue CHAP. I. AT THE ST. BERNARD. 9.

Instead of descending to Aosta, I turned aside into the Val Pelline, in order to obtain views of the Dent d’Erin. The night had come on before Biona was gained, and.I had to knock long and loud upon the door of the curé’s house before it was opened. An old woman, with querulous voice, and. with a large goitre, answered the summons, and demanded rather sharply what was wanted; but became pacific—almost good-natured—when a five- franc piece was held in her face, and she heard that lodging and supper were requested in exchange.

My directions asserted that a passage existed from Prerayen, at the head of this valley, to Breuil, in the Val Tournanche, and the old woman, now convinced of my respectability, busied herself to find a guide. Presently she introduced a native, picturesquely attired in high-peaked hat, braided jacket, scarlet waistcoat, and indigo pantaloons, who agreed to take me to the village of Val Tournanche. We set off early on the next morning, and got to the summit of the pass with- out difficulty. It gave me my first ex- perience of considerable slopes of hard-

steep snow, and, like all beginners, I

AT THE ST. BERNARD.

endeavoured to prop myself up with my stick, and kept it owtside, mstead of holding it between myself and the slope, and leaning upon it, as should have been done. The man enlightened me; but he had, possibly, a very small opinion of his employer, and it is probably on that account that, a few minutes after we had passed the summit, he said he would not go any farther and would return to Biona. All argument was useless; he stood still, and to everything that was said answered nothing but that he would go back. Being rather nervous about descending some long snow-slopes, which still intervened between us and the head of the valley, I offered

C

a eet

10 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. I.

more pay, and he went on ‘a little way. Presently there were some cliffs down which we had to scramble. He called to me to stop, then shouted that he would go back, and beckoned to me to come up. On the contrary, I waited for him to

THE VILLAGE OF BIONA.

come down; -but instead of doing so, in a second or two he turned round, clambered deliberately up the cliff, and vanished. I supposed it was only a ruse to extort offers of more money, and waited for half-an-hour, but he did nof appear again. This was rather embarrassing, for he carried off my knapsack. The choice of action lay between chasing him and going on to Breuil, risking the loss of the knapsack. I chose the latter

A VILLAGE CONCERT. 1l

course, and got to Brewil the same evening. The landlord of the inn, suspicious of a person destitute of luggage, was doubtful if he could admit me, and eventually thrust me into a kind of loft, which was already occupied by guides and by hay. In later years we became good friends, and he did not hesitate to give credit and even to advance considerable sums.

My sketches from Breuil were made under difficulties, for my materials had been carried off. Nothing better than sugar-paper could be obtained, and the pencils seemed to contain more silica than plumbago. However, they were made, and the pass’ was again crossed, this time alone. By the following evening the old woman of Biona again produced the faithless guide. The knapsack was recovered after the lapse of several hours, and then I poured forth all the terms of abuse and reproach of which I was master.

The following night was spent at Courmayeur, and the day after I crossed the Col Ferret to Orsiéres, and on the next the Téte Noire to Chamounix.? The Emperor Napoleon arrived on the same day, and access to the Mer de Glace was refused to tourists ; but, by scrambling along the Plan des Aiguilles, I managed to outwit the guards, and to arrive at the Montanvert as the Imperial party was leaving: the same afternoon failing to get to the Jardin, and very nearly succeeding in breaking a leg by dis- lodging great rocks on the moraine of the glacier.

From Chamounix I went to Geneva, and thence by the Mont Cenis to Turin and to the Vaudois valleys. A long and weary day had ended when Paesana was reached. The inn was full, and I was tired, and about to go to bed, when some village stragglers entered and began to sing. They sang to Garibaldi! The tenor, a ragged fellow, whose clothes were not worth a shilling, took the

1 This pass is usually called the Va Cornere. It is also known as the Gra

Cornére ; which is, I believe, patois for Grand Cornier. It is mentioned in Chapters VI. and XX. of this volume.

2 In 1860, the name of this village was frequently, or usually, written Chamounix or Chamouni. Enquiry has, however, satisfied me that Chamonix is the official and correct form. See my Guide to Chamonix and Mont Blanc, p. 79.

12 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IL

lead with wonderful expression and feeling. The others kept their places, and sang in admirable time. For hours I sat en- chanted; and, long after I retired, the sound of their melody could be heard, relieved at times by the treble of the girl who belonged to the inn.

os

“ GARIBALDI !”

The next morning I passed the little lakes, which are the sources of the Po, on my way into France. The weather was stormy, and misinterpreting the patois of some natives—who in reality pointed out the right way—I missed the track, and found myself under the cliffs of Monte Viso. A gap that was occa- sionally seen, in the ridge connecting it with the mountains to the east, tempted me up; and, after a battle with a snow-slope of excessive steepness, I reached the summit. To the north there was not a particle of mist, and the violent wind coming from that direction blew one back staggering; while on the side of Italy, the valleys were completely filled with dense masses of cloud to a certain level, and there—where they felt the influence of the wind—they were cut off as level as the top of a table, the ridges appearing above them.

I raced down to Abries, and went on through the gorge of the Guil to Mont Dauphin. The next day found me at La Bessée, at the junction of the Val Louise with the Valley of the Durance, in full view of Mont Pelvoux; and by chance I walked into a

CHAP. I. STORM ON THE COL DE LAUTARET. 13

cabaret where a Frenchman was breakfasting, who, a few days before, had made an unsuccessful attempt to ascend that mount- ain with three Englishmen and’ the guide Michel Croz of Chamounix;' a right good fellow, by name Jean Reynaud.

The same night I slept at Briancon, intending to take the courier on the following day to Grenoble; but all places had been secured several days beforehand, so I set out at two P.M. on the next day for a seventy-mile walk. The weather was again bad; and on the summit of the Col de Lautaret I was forced to seek shelter in the wretched little hospice. It was filled with work- men who were employed on the road, and with noxious vapours proceeding from them. The inclemency of the weather was preferable to the inhospitality of the interior. Outside, it was disagreeable, but grand; inside, it was disagreeable and mean.” The walk was continued under a deluge of rain, and I felt the way down—so intense was the darkness—to the village of La Grave, where the people of the inn detained me forcibly. It was perhaps fortunate that they did so; for, during that night, blocks of rock fell at several places from the cliffs on to the road with such force that they made large pits in the macadam. I resumed the walk at half-past five the next morning, and proceeded, under steady rain, through Bourg d’Oysans to Grenoble, arriving at the latter place soon after seven P.M.

This was the end of the Alpine portion of my tour of 1860, on which I was introduced to some of the great peaks, and acquired the passion for mountain-scrambling, the development of which is described in the following chapters.

1] had been sent to the Val Louise, to illustrate this ascent.

2 Since that time a decent house has been built on the summit of this pass. The old vaulted hospice was erected for the benefit of the pilgrims who formerly crossed the pass en route for Rome.—Joanne’s Itinéraire dw Dauphine.

BRIANCON.

CHAPTER II. THE ASCENT OF MONT PELVOUX.

‘“«Thus fortune on our first endeavour smiles.” VIRGIL.

Tue district of which Mont Pelvoux and the neighbouring summits are the culminating points,’ is, both historically and topographically, one of the most interesting in the Alps. As the nursery and the home of the Vaudois, it has claims to permanent attention. The names of Waldo and of Neff will be remembered

1 See the Map in Chap. IX., and the General Map.

CHAP. It. THE VALLEYS OF DAUPHINE. 15

when men more famous in their time will be forgotten; and the memory of the heroic courage and the simple piety of their disciples will endure as long as history lasts.

This district contains the highest summits in France, and some. of its finest scenery. It has not perhaps the beauties of Switzer- land, but has charms of its own. Its cliffs, torrents, and gorges are unsurpassed; its deep and savage valleys present pictures of grandeur, and even sublimity, and it is second to none in the boldness of its mountain forms.

The district includes a mass of valleys which vie with each other in singularity of character and dissimilarity of climate. Some the rays of the sun can never reach, they are so deep and narrow.! In others the very antipodes may be found; with temperature more like that of the plains of Italy than of Alpine France. This great range of climate has a marked effect on the flora of these valleys. Sterility reigns in some; stones take the place of trees; débris and mud replace plants and flowers : while in others, in a few miles, one passes vines, apple, pear, and cherry trees, the birch, alder, walnut, ash, larch, and pine, alternating with fields of rye, barley, oats, beans, and potatoes.

The valleys are for the most part short and erratic. They are not, apparently, arranged on any definite plan. They are not dis- posed, as is frequently the case elsewhere, either at right angles to, or parallel with, the highest summits; but they wander hither and thither, take one direction for a few miles, then double back, and then perhaps resume their original course. Thus, long perspectives are rarely to be seen, and it is difficult to form a general idea of the disposition of the peaks.

The highest summits are arranged almost in a horse-shoe form. The loftiest of all, which occupies a central position, is the Pointe

1 The depth of the valleys is so great that the sun not only is not seen for more than a few hours per day during the greater portion of the year, but in some places —at Villard d’Aréne and at Andrieux for example—it is not seen at all for one hundred days.—Ladoucette’s Hautes-Alpes, p. 599.

16 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IL.

des Ecrins; the second in height, the Meije,! is on the north; and “Mont Pelvoux, which gives its name to the entire block, stands almost detached by itself on the outside.

The district is still very imperfectly known ; there are prob- ably many valleys, and there are certainly many summits which have never been trodden by the feet of tourist’ or travellers; but in 1861 it was even less known. Until quite recently there was, practically, no map of it; General Bourcet’s, which was the best that was published, was completely wrong in its delineation of the mountains, and was frequently incorrect in regard to paths or roads.

The mountainous regions of Dauphiné, moreover, are not sup- plied, like Switzerland, Tyrol, or even the Italian valleys, with accommodation for travellers. The inns, when they exist, are often filthy beyond description. Rest is seldom obtained in their beds, or decent food found in their kitchens, and guides there are none. The tourist is thrown very much on his own resources, and it is not therefore surprising that these districts are less visited and less known than the rest of the Alps.’

Most of the statements current in 1861 repens these mountains had been derived from two authors*—M. Elie de Beaumont and the late Principal J. D. Forbes. Their works,

* Sometimes called the Aiguille du Midi de la Grave, or the Aiguille de la Medje.

» By the lapse of time, some of the remarks in the above paragraphs have become inaccurate. Since the first publication of Scrambles amongst the Alps, Dauphiné has been more frequently visited, and at several of the places that are mentioned in this and in other chapters there is now tolerable accommodation for travellers. A railway has been opened from Embrun to Briangon, with a station at La Bessée, whence a good carriage-road leads up the Val Louise. There are now two hotels at La Ville de Val Louise. The high mountains of Dauphiné are pretty completely explored, and the principal peaks are frequently ascended by tourists.

3 “Faits pour servir X l’Histoire des Montagnes de l’Oisans,” by Elie de Beaumont in the Annales des Mines; and Norway and its Glaciers, followed by Excursions in the High Alps of Dawphiné, by J. D. Forbes.

The following works also treat more or less of the districts referred to in this chapter :—Outline Sketches in the High Alps of Dauphiné, by Prof. T. G. Bonney ;

cHar.1. PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS ON MONT PELVOUX. 17

however, contained numerous errors in regard to the identification of the peaks, and, amongst others, they referred the supremacy to the Mont Pelvoux, the highest point of which they termed the Pointe des Arcines, or des Ecrins. Principal Forbes erroneously identified the high peak seen from the valley of St. Christophe, with that seen from the valley of the Durance, and spoke of both as the Mont Pelvoux, and M. de Beaumont committed similar mistakes. In point of fact, at the time when M. de Beaumont and Forbes wrote their respective memoirs, the proper relation of the Mont Pelvoux to the neighbouring summits had been deter- mined by the engineers employed on the survey for the map of France; but their observations were not then accessible ‘to the public, although they had evidently been seen by M. de Beaumont. This party of surveyors, led by Captain Durand, made an ascent of Mont Pelvoux from the side of the Val d’Ailefroide—that is, from the direction of Val Louise—in 1828. According to the natives of the Val Louise, they got to the top of the second peak in height, and remained upon it, lodged in a tent for several days, at a height of 12,904 feet. They took numerous porters to carry wood for fires, and erected a large cairn on the summit, which has caused the name of Pic de la Pyramide to be given to their summit.

In 1848, M. Puiseux made an ascent from the same direction, but his Val Louisan euide stopped short of the summit, and allowed this courageous astronomer to proceed by himself."

Histoire des Hautes-Alpes, by J. OC. F. Ladoucette; tinéraire du Dauphiné, by Adolphe Joanne (2nd part); Tour dw Monde, 1860, edited by Ed. Charton ; Zhe Israel of the Alps, by Alexis Muston ; 4 Memoir of Felix Neff, by W. S. Gilly. Engravings of Dauphiné scenery are to be found in Voyages Pittoresqywes dans Vancienne France, by Ch. Nodier, J, Taylor, and A, de Cailleux, and in Lord Monson’s Views in the Departments of the Istre and the High Alps.

1 M, Puiseux took for guide a man named Pierre Bornéoud, of Claux in the Val Louise, who had accompanied Captain Durand in 1828. In 1861, the expedition of M. Puiseux was quite forgotten in the Val Louise. I am indebted to M. Puiseux for the above and other details.

D

18 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

In the middle of August 1860, Messrs. Bonney, Hawkshaw, and Mathews, with Michel Croz of Chamounix, tried to ascend the Pelvoux, likewise from the same direction. These gentlemen spent several days and nights upon the mountain; and, encounter- ing bad weather, only attained a height of 10,430 feet.

M. Jean Reynaud, of whom mention has’ been made in the preceding chapter, accompanied the party of Mr. Mathews, and he was of opinion that the attempt had been made too late in the season. He said that the weather was usually good enough for high mountain ascents only during the last few days of July, and the first ones of August,’ and suggested that we should attempt to ascend the mountain in the following year at that time. The proposition was a tempting one, and Reynaud’s cordial and modest manner made it irresistible, although there seemed small chance that we should succeed where a party such as that of Mr. Mathews had been beaten.

At the beginning of July 1861, I despatched to Reynaud from Havre, blankets (which were taxed as “ prohibited fabrics”), rope, and other things desirable for the excursion, and set out on the tour of France; but, four weeks later, at Nimes, found myself collapsed by the heat, then 94° Faht. in the shade, and took train at once to Grenoble.

I lost my way in the streets of this picturesque but noisome town,” and having only a half-hour left in which to get a dinner and take a place in the diligence, was not well pleased to hear that an Englishman wished to see me. It turned out to be my friend Macdonald, who confided to me that he was going to try to ascend a mountain called Mont Pelvoux in the course of ten

1 This is a common saying in Dauphiné. It means that there is usually less snow on the mountains during these days than at any other time of the year. The natives have an almost childish dread of venturing upon snow or glaciers, and hence the period of minimum snow seems to them to be the most favourable time for excursions.

* In the last thirty years, Grenoble has been greatly improved and extended, and it is now one of the finest towns in France,

CHAP. II. MONT PELVOUX FROM THE EAST. 19

days; but, on hearing of my intentions, he agreed to put in an ap- pearance at La Bessée on the 3rd of August. In a few moments more I was perched in the banquette en route for Bourg d’Oysans, in a miserable vehicle which took nearly eight hours to accom- plish less than thirty miles.

At five on a lovely morning I shouldered my knapsack and started for Briangon. Gauzy mists clung to the mountains, but melted away when touched by the sun, and disappeared by jerks (Gn the manner of views when focused in a magic lantern), reveal- ing the wonderfully bent and folded strata in the limestone cliffs behind the town. Then I entered the Combe de Malval, and heard the Romanche eating its way through that wonderful gorge, and passed on to Le Dauphin, where the first glacier came into view, tailing over the mountain side on the right. From this place until the summit of the Col de Lautaret was passed, every gap in the mountains shewed a glittering glacier or a soaring peak. The finest view was at La Grave, where the Meije rises by a series of tremendous precipices 8000 feet above the road.t The finest distant view of the pass is seen after crossing the Col, near Monétier. A mountain, commonly supposed to be Monte Viso, appears at the end of the vista, shooting into the sky;* in the middle distance, but still ten miles off, is Briangon, with its inter- minable forts, and in the foreground, leading down to the Guisane, and rising high up the neighbouring slopes, are fertile fields, studded with villages and church spires. The next day I walked over from Briangon to La Bessée, to my worthy friend Jean Reynaud, the surveyor of roads of his district.

All the peaks of Mont Pelvoux are well seen from La Bess¢e, the highest point, as well as that upon which the engineers erected their cairn. Neither Reynaud nor any one else knew this.

1 See Chapter VIII. 2 Monte Viso is not seen from the Lautaret Road. That this is so is seen when one crosses the Col du Galibier, on the south side of which pass the Monte Viso is

visible for a short time.

20 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

The natives knew only that ‘the engineers had ascended a peak, and had seen from that a still higher point, which they called the Pointe des Arcines or des Ecrins. They could not say whether this latter could be seen from La Bessée, nor could they tell the peak upon which the cairn had been erected. They knew nothing of the ascent of Monsieur Puiseux, and they tonfidently asserted that the highest point of Mont Pelvoux had not been attained by any one. It was this point we wished to reach, and we were under the impression that the highest point was concealed by the peaks we saw, and would be gained by passing over them. Nothing prevented our starting at once but the absence of Macdonald and the want of a baton. Reynaud suggested a visit to the postmaster, who possessed a weapon of local celebrity. Down we went to the bureau, but it was closed; we halloed through the slits, but no answer. At last the postmaster was discovered en- deavouring (with very fair success) to make himself intoxicated. He was just able to ejaculate, “France! ’tis the first nation in the world!” which is a phrase used by a Frenchman at times that a Briton begins to shout, “We won’t go home till morning ”— national glory being uppermost in the thoughts of one, and home in those of the other. The baton was produced; it was a branch of a young oak, about five feet long, gnarled and twisted in several directions. “Sir,” said the postmaster, as he presented it, “France! ’tis the first—the first nation in the world, by its”—he stuck. “Batons?” I suggested. “Yes, yes, sir; by its batons, by its—its,’ and here he could not get on at all. As I looked at this young limb, I thought of my own; but Reynaud, who knew everything about everybody in the village, said there was not a better one, and we went off with it, leaving the official staggering in the road, muttering, “France! ’tis the first nation in the world!” The 3rd of August came, and as Macdonald did not appear, we started for the Val Louise ; our party consisting of Reynaud, my- self, and a porter, Jean Casimir Giraud, nicknamed “little nails,” the shoemaker of the place. An hour and a half’s smart walking

CHAP. Il. THE MAYOR OF LA VILLE. 21

took us to La Ville de Val Louise, our hearts gladdened by the glorious peaks of Pelvoux shining out without a cloud around them. I renewed acquaintance with the mayor of “La Ville.” His aspect was original, and his manners were gracious, but the

MONT PELVOUX FROM ABOVE LA BESSEE.

odour which proceeded from him was dreadful. The same may be said of many of the inhabitants of these valleys.’

1 Their late préfet shall tell why. ‘The men and women dress in sheepskins, —which have been dried and scoured with salt, of which the feet are used as clasps, the fore feet going round the neck, and the hinder ones round the loins. Their arms are naked, and the men are only distinguished from the women by the former wearing wretched drawers, and the latter a sort of gown, which only covers them to just below the knees. They sleep without undressing upon straw, and have only sheepskins for coverings... . The nature of their food, combined with their dirtiness, makes them exhale a strong odour from their bodies, which is smelt from afar, and is almost insupportable to strangers. .. . They live in a most indifferent manner, or rather they linger in dreadful misery ; their filthy and hideous countenances announce their slovenliness and their stink.”—Ladoucette’s Histoire des Hautes-Alpes, pp. 656-7.

22 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

At “La Ville” the Val Louise splits into two branches—the Val d’Entraigues on the left and the Vallon d’Alefred (or Aile- froide) on the right. Our route was up the latter, and we moved steadily forwards to the village of La Pisse, where a certain Pierre Sémiond lived, who was reputed ‘to know more about Mont Pelvoux than any other man. He looked an* honest fellow, but unfortunately he was ill and could not come. He

recommended his brother, an aged creature, whose furrowed and wrinkled face hardly seemed to announce the man we wanted. Having no choice, we engaged him and again set forth.

Walnut and a great variety of other trees gave shadow to our path and fresh vigour to our limbs; while below, in a

sublime gorge, thundered the torrent, whose waters took their rise from the snows we hoped to tread on the morrow. The mountain could not be seen at Ve Ville, IN THE VAL D’ALEFRED. owing to a high intervening ridge. We were now moving along the foot of this to get to the chalets of Alefred (or, as they are some- times called, Aléfroide), where the mountain actually commences. From this direction the subordinate, but more proximate peaks appear considerably higher than the loftier ones behind, and

CHAP. II. THE GRAND PELVOUX DE VAL LOUISE. 23

sometimes completely conceal them. But the whole height of the peak which in these valleys goes under the name of the “Grand Pelvoux” is seen at one elance from summit to base, SIX or seven thousand feet of nearly perpendicular cliffs.

_WiyNPER St

THE GRAND PELVOUX DE VAL LOUISE.

The chalets of Alefred are a cluster of wooden huts at the foot of the Grand Pelvoux, and are close to the junction of the streams which descend from the Glacier de Sapenicre (or du Selé) on the left, and the Glaciers Blanc and Noir on the right. We rested a minute to purchase some butter and milk, and Sémiond picked up a disreputable-looking lad to assist in trans- porting our stores.

Our route now turned sharply to the left, and all were glad that the day was drawing to a close, so that we had shade from the mountains. A more cheerless and desolate valley it is scarcely possible to imagine. It contains miles of boulders, débris, stones, sand, and mud; few trees, and they placed so high as to be almost out of sight. Not a soul inhabits it. The mountains are too steep for the chamois, too inhospitable for the marmot, and too repulsive for the eagle. We did not see a single living thing in this sterile and savage valley during four days, except

24 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. OHAP. II.

some few poor goats which had been driven there against their will.

It was a scene in keeping with the diabolical deed perpetrated here about four hundred years ago—the murder of the Vaudois of Val Louise, in the cavern which was now in sight, though high above us. Their story is very sad. Peaceftil and industrious, for more than three centuries they had inhabited these retired valleys in tranquil obscurity. The Archbishops of Embrun en- deavoured, though with little success, to get them within the pale of their church; their efforts were aided. by others, who com- menced by imprisonments and torture,’ and at last adopted the method of burning them by hundreds at the stake.?

In the year 1488, Albert Cattanée, Archdeacon of Cremona and legate of Pope Innocent VIII., would have anticipated the barbarities which at a later date roused the indignation of Milton and the fears of Cromwell;* but, driven everywhere back by the Waldenses of Piedmont, he left their valleys and crossed the Mont Genevre to attack the weaker and more thinly populated valleys of the Vaudois in Dauphiné. At the head of an army which is said to have been composed of vagabonds, robbers, and assassins (who had been tempted to his banner by promises of absolution beforehand, of being set free from the obligation of vows which they might have made, and by the confirmation: of property to them which they might have wrongfully acquired), as well as regular troops, Cattanée poured down the valley of the Durance. The inhabitants of the Val Louise fled before a host that was ten times their number, and took up their abode in this

1 It became a regular business. ‘‘ We find amongst the current accounts of the Bailiff of Embrun this singular article—‘ Item, for persecuting the Vaudois, eight *”_Muston, vol. i. p. 38.

2 On the 22nd of May 1398, eighty persons of the valleys of Freissinieres and Argentiére, and one hundred and fifty persons of the Val Louise, were burnt at Embrun.—Muston, vol. i. p. 41.

* See Morland’s History of the Evangelical Churches of Piedmont, 1658 ; Cromwell’s Acts, 1658 ; and Burton’s Diary, 1828.

sols and thirty deniers of gold.

CHAP. II. MASSACRE OF THE VAUDOIS. 25

cavern, where they had collected provisions sufficient for two years. But intolerance is ever painstaking; their retreat was discovered. Cattanée had a captain who combined the resources of a Herod with the cruelty of a Pelissier, and, lowering his men by ropes, fired piles of brushwood at the entrance to the cavern, suffocated the majority, and slew the remainder. The Vaudois were relentlessly exterminated, without distinction of age or sex. More than three thousand persons, it is said, perished in this massacre; the growth of three hundred and fifty years was de- stroyed at one blow, and the valley was completely depopulated. Louis XII. caused it to be re-peopled, and after another three centuries and a half, behold the result—a race of monkeys."

We rested a little at a small spring, and then hastened on- wards till we nearly arrived at the foot of the Sapeniére Glacier, when Sémiond said we must turn to the right, up the slopes. This we did, and clambered for half-an-hour through scattered trees and fallen boulders. Then evening began to close in rapidly, and it was time to look for a resting-place. There was no difficulty in getting one, for all around there was a chaotic assemblage of rocks. We selected the under side of a boulder which was more than fifty feet long by twenty high, cleared out the rubbish, and then collected wood for a fire.

That camp-fire is a pleasant reminiscence. The wine-cask had got through all its troubles; it was tapped, and the French- men seemed to derive some consolation from its execrable contents. Reynaud chanted scraps of French songs, and each

1 The commune of the Val Louise contains at the present time between three and four thousand inhabitants. This erétin population was described by M. Elise Reclus in the Zour du Monde, 1860. He said—‘‘ They attain the highest possible development of their intelligence in their infancy, and—abundantly provided with majestic goitres, which are lengthened and swollen by age—are in this respect like ourang-outangs, who have nothing more to acquire after the age of three years. At the age of five years the little crétins have already the placid and mature expression which they keep all their lives. . . . They wear trousers, and coats with tails, and a large black hat.”

E

Ne ST le a - SORAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. 11

contributed his share of joke, story, or verse. The weather was perfect, and our prospects for the morrow were good. My com- panions’ joy culminated when some red fire was thrown into the flames. It hissed and bubbled for a moment or two, and then broke out into a grand flare. The effect of the momentary light was magnificent ; the mountains all around Were illuminated for a second, and then relapsed into their solemn gloom. One by one our party dropped off to sleep, and at last I got into my blanket bag. It was hardly necessary, for, although we were at a height of about 7000 feet, the minimum temperature was above 40° Fahrenheit.

We roused at three, and made a start at half-past four. Giraud had been engaged as far as this rock only, but as he wished to go on, we allowed him to accompany us. We mounted the slopes and quickly got above the trees, then had a couple of hours’ clambering over bits of precipitous rock and banks of débris, and, at a quarter to seven, got to a narrow glacier—Clos de YHomme—which streamed out of the plateau on the summit, and nearly reached the Glacier de Sapeniére. We worked as much as possible to the right, in hopes that we should not have to cross it, but were continually driven back, and found that it could not be avoided. Old Sémiond had a strong objection to travel on the ice, and made explorations on his own account to endeavour to escape it; but Reynaud and I preferred to cross, and Giraud stuck to us. This glacier was narrow—in fact, one could throw a stone across it—and it was easily mounted on the side; but in the centre it swelled into a steep dome, up which we were obliged to cut. Giraud stepped forward and said he should like to try his hand, and having got hold of the axe, would not give it up; and here, as well as afterwards when it was necessary to cross the gullies filled with hard snow, which abound on the higher part of the mountain, he did all the work, and did it efficiently.

Old Sémiond of course came after us when we got across. We then zigzagged up some snow-slopes, and shortly afterwards commenced to ascend the interminable array of buttresses which

Ba Ne yp Wee nee ge CHAP. II. THE BUTTRESSES OF MONT PELVOUX. 27

are the great peculiarity of Mont Pelvoux. The rocks were very steep in many places, yet on the whole afforded good hold, and no climbing should be called difficult which does that. Gullies abounded among them, sometimes of great length and depth. They were frequently rotten, and would have been difficult for a single man to pass. The uppermost men were continually abused for dislodging rocks and for harpooning those below with their batons. However, without these incidents the climbing would have been dull—they helped to break the monotony.

We went up chimneys and gullies by the hour together, and always seemed to be coming to something, although we never got to it. The outline sketch will help to explain the situation. We stood at the foot of a great but-

tress—perhaps about 200 feet high—and looked up. It did not go to a point as in the diagram, because we could not see the top; although we felt convinced that behind the fringe of pinnacles we did see there was a

BUTTRESSES OF MONT PELVOUX.

top, and that 7 was the edge of the plateau we so much desired to attain. Up we mounted, and reached the pinnacles; but, lo! another set was seen,—and another,—and yet more—till at last we reached the top, and found it was only a buttress, and that we had to descend 40 or 50 feet before we could commence to mount again. When this operation had been performed a few dozen times it began to be wearisome, especially as we were somewhat in the dark as to our whereabouts. Sémiond, however encouraged us, and said he knew we were on the right route,—so away we went once more. It was now nearly mid-day, and we seemed no nearer the summit of the Pelvoux than when we started. At last we all joined together and held a council. “Sémiond, old friend, do you know where we are now?” “Oh yes, perfectly, to a yard and a

28 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. Il.

half.” “Well, then, how much are we below this plateau?” He affirmed we were not half-an-hour from the edge of the snow. “Very good; let us proceed.” Half-an-hour passed, and then another, but we were still in the same state,—pinnacles, buttresses, and gullies were in profusion, but the plateau was not in sight. Then we called him again—for he had been staring about latterly, as if in doubt—and repeated the question. “How far below are we now?” Well, he thought it might be half-an-hour more.. “ But you said that just now! Are you sure we are going right?” Yes, he believed we were. Believed! that would not do. “Are you sure we are going right for the Pic des Arcines?” “Pic des Arcines!” he ejaculated in astonishment, as if he had heard the words for the first time. “Pic des Arcines; no! but for the pyramid, the celebrated pyramid he had helped the great Capitaine Durand,’ ete.

Here was a fix;—we had been talking about it to him for a whole day, and now he confessed he knew nothing about it. I turned to Reynaud, who seemed thunderstruck. ‘“ What did he suggest?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well,” we said, after expressing our minds pretty freely to Sémiond, “the sooner we turn back the better, for we have no wish to see your pyramid.”

We halted for an hour, and then commenced the descent. It took us nearly seven hours to come down to our rock; but I paid no heed to the distance, and do not remember anything about it. When we got down we made a discovery which affected us as much as the footprint in the sand did Robinson Crusoe: a blue silk veil lay by our fireside. There was but one explana- tion,—Macdonald had arrived; but where was he? The baggage was soon packed, and we tramped in the dusk, through the stony desert, to Alefred, where we arrived about half-past nine. “Where is the Englishman?” was the first question. He was gone to sleep at La Ville.

We passed that night in a hay-loft, and in the morning, after settling with Sémiond, posted down to catch Macdonald. We had already determined on the plan of operation, which was to get

CHAP. I. SECOND START FOR THE SUMMIT. 29

him to join us, return, and be independent of all guides, simply taking the best man we could get as a porter. I set my heart on Giraud,—a good fellow, with no pretence, although well up to the work. We were disappointed ; he was obliged to go to Briangon.

The walk soon became exciting. The natives inquired the result of our expedition, and common civility obliged us to stop. But I was afraid of losing my man, for it was said he would wait only till ten o’clock, and that time was near at hand. At last I dashed over the bridge,—time from Alefred an hour and a quarter. A cantonnier stopped me, saying that the Englishman had just started for La Bessée. I rushed after him, turned angle after angle of the road, but could not see him; at last, as I came round a corner, he was also just turning another, going very fast. I shouted, and luckily he heard me. We returned, reprovisioned ourselves at La Ville, and the same evening saw us passing our first rock, en route for another. I have said we determined to take no guide; but, on passing La Pisse, old Sémiond turned out and offered his services. He went well, in spite of his years and disregard of truth. “Why not take him?” said my friend. So we offered him a fifth of his previous pay, and in a few seconds he closed with the offer. This time he came in an inferior position,—we were to lead, he to follow. Our second porter was a youth of twenty-seven years, who was not all that could be desired. He drank Reynaud’s wine, smoked our cigars, and quietly secreted the provisions when we were nearly starving. Discovery of his proceedings did not at all disconcert him, and he finished up by getting several items added to our bill at La Ville, which, not a little to his disgust, we disallowed.

This night we fixed our camp high above the tree-line, and indulged ourselves in the healthy employment of carrying our fuel up to it. The present rock was not so comfortable as the first, and, before we could settle down, we were obliged to turn out a large mass which was in the way. It was very obstinate, but moved at length; slowly and gently at first, then faster and faster,

30 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

at last taking great jumps in “the air, striking a stream of fire at every touch, which shone out brightly as it entered the gloomy valley below, and long after it was out of sight we heard it bounding downwards, and then settle with a subdued crash on the glacier beneath. As we turned back from this curious sight, Reynaud asked if we had ever seen a torrent on fire, and said that in the spring, the Durance, swollen by the melting of the snow, sometimes brings down so many rocks, that, where it passes through a narrow gorge at La Bessée, no water whatever is seen, but only boulders rolling over and over, grinding each other into powder, and striking so many sparks that the stream looks as if it were on fire. We had another merry evening with nothing to mar it; the weather was perfect, and we lay backward in luxurious repose, looking at the sky spangled with its ten thousand brilliant lights.

: “The ranges stood ‘Transtignred in the silver flood, Their snows were flashing cold and keen, ‘Dead white, save where some sharp ravine Took shadow, or the sombre green Of hemlocks turned to pitchy black, Against the whiteness at their back.” 1

Macdonald related his experiences over the café noir. He had travelled day and night for several days in order to join us, but had failed to find our first bivouac, and had camped a few hundred yards from us under another rock, higher up the mountain. The next morning he discerned us going along a ridge at a great height above him, and as it was useless to endeavour to over- take us, he lay down and watched with a heavy heart until we had turned the corner of a buttress, and vanished out of sight.

1 J. G. Whittier, ‘‘ Snow-Bound.”

CHAP. Il. AN ALARM. 31

Nothing but the heavy breathing of our already sound asleep comrades broke the solemn stillness of the night. It was a silence to be felt. Nothing? Hark! what is that dull booming sound above us? Is that nothing? There it is again, plainer— on it comes, nearer, clearer; ‘tis a crag escaped from the heights above! What a fearful crash! We jump to our feet. Down it comes with awful fury ; what power can withstand its violence ? Dancing, leaping, flying; dashing against others; roaring as it descends. Ah, it has passed! No; there it is again, and we hold our breath, as, with resistless force and explosions like artillery, it darts past, with an avalanche of shattered fragments trailing in its rear! “Tis gone, and we breathe more freely as we hear the finale on the glacier below.’

We retired at last, but I was too excited to sleep. At a quarter-past four every man once more shouldered his pack and started. This time we agreed to keep more to the right, to see if it were not possible to get to the plateau without losing any time by crossing the glacier. To describe our route would be to repeat what has been said before. We mounted steadily for an hour and a half, sometimes walking, though more frequently climbing, and then found, after all, that it was necessary to cross the glacier. The part on which we struck came down a very steep slope, and was much erevassed. The word crevassed hardly _expresses its appearance—it was a mass of formidable séracs. We found, however, more difficulty in getting on than across it ; and, thanks to the rope, it was passed in safety. Then the in- terminable buttresses began again. Hour after hour we proceeded upwards, frequently at fault, and obliged to descend. The ridge behind us had sunk long ago, and we looked over it, and all others, till our eyes rested on the majestic Viso. Hour after hour passed, and monotony was the order of the day. When twelve

1M. Puiseux, on his expedition of 1848, was surprised, when at breakfast on the side of the mountain, by a mass of rock of more than a cubic yard falling like a bomb at his side, which threw up splinters in all directions.

32 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

o'clock came we contemplated the scene with satisfaction. All the summits in sight, with the single exception of the Viso, had given in, and we looked over an immense expanse of peaks and snow- fields. Still the pinnacles rose above us, and opinions were freely uttered that we should see no summit of Pelvoux that day. Old Sémiond had become a perfect bore. Whenever one rested for a moment to look about, he would say, with a complacent chuckle, “Don’t be afraid, follow me.” We came at last to a very bad MONT PELVOUX

c___os

PIC DE LA PYRAMIDE HIGHEST POINT : 12,920 12,973 EE: : > GRAND PELVOUX : ? DE VAL LOUISE : 12,343

SPRING

1 Baum DES VAUDOIS

~<— VAL D'ENTRAIGUES VALLON DALFRED = VILLE — VAL LOUISE

CHALETS OF ALEFROIDE

piece, rotten and steep, and giving no hold. Here Reynaud and Macdonald confessed to being tired, and talked of going to sleep. A way was discovered out of the difficulty ; then some one called out, “ Look at- the Viso,” and we saw that we almost looked over it. We worked away with redoubled energy, and at length caught sight of the head of the glacier as it streamed out of the plateau. This gave us fresh hopes; we were not deceived; and with a simultaneous shout we greeted the appearance of our long-wished- for snows. <A large crevasse separated us from them, but a bridge was found, we tied ourselves in line, and moved safely over it.

CHAP. II. WE GAIN THE SUMMIT. 33

_ Directly we got across there rose before us a fine snow-capped summit. Old Sémiond cried, “The pyramid! I see the pyramid!” “Where, Sémiond, where?” “There; on the top of that peak.” There, sure enough, was the cairn he had helped to erect more than thirty years before. But where was the Pic des Arcines which we were to see? It was invisible, and somewhat sadly we moved towards the pyramid, sighing that there was nothing to conquer. Hardly had we gone two hundred paces, before there rose a superb white cone on the left, which had been hidden before by a slope of snow. We shouted—“'The Pic des Arcines!” and inquired of Sémiond if he knew whether that peak had been ascended. As for him, he knew nothing, except that the summit before us was called the pyramid, from the cairn he had, ete. etc., and that it had not been ascended since. “All right then—face about,” and we immediately turned at right angles for the cone, the porter making faint struggles for his beloved pyramid. Our progress was stopped, in the sixth of a mile, by the edge of the ridge connecting the two peaks, and we perceived that it curled over in a lovely volute. We involuntarily retreated. Sémiond, who was last in the line, took the opportunity to untie himself, and refused to come on; said we were running dangerous risks, and talked vaguely of crevasses. We tied him up again, and pro- ceeded. The snow was very soft; we were always knee-deep, and sometimes floundered in up to the waist; but a simultaneous jerk before and behind always released one. By this time we had arrived at the foot of the final peak. Its left-hand ridge seemed easier than that upon which we. stood, so we curved round to get to it. Some rocks peeped out 150 feet below the summit, and up these we crawled, leaving our porter behind, as he said he was afraid. I could not resist the temptation, as we went off, to turn round and beckon him onwards, saying, “ Don’t be afraid—follow me,’ but he did not answer to the appeal, and never went to the top. The rocks led to a short ridge of ice—our plateau on one side, and a nearly vertical precipice on the other. Macdonald cut F

34 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. Il.

up it, and at-a quarter: to two we stood ‘shaking hands on the loftiest summit of the conquered Pelvoux.

The day still continued all that could be desired, and, far and near, countless peaks burst into sight, without a cloud. to hide them. The mighty Mont Blanc, full seventy miles away, first caught our eyes, and then, still farther off, the Monte Rosa group; while, rolling away to. the east, one unknown range after another succeeded in unveiled splendour; fainter and fainter in tone, though still perfectly defined, till at last the eye was unable to distinguish sky from mountain, and they died away in the far-off horizon. Monte Viso rose up grandly, but it was less than forty miles away, and we looked over it to a hazy mass we knew must be the plains of Piedmont. Southwards a blue mist seemed to indicate the existence of the distant Mediterranean, and to the west we looked over to the mountains of Auvergne. Such was the panorama; a view extending in nearly every direction for more than one hundred miles. It was with some difficulty we wrenched our eyes from the more distant objects to contemplate the nearer ones. Mont Dauphin was very con- spicuous, but La Bessée was not readily perceived. Elsewhere not a human habitation could be seen; all was rock, snow, or ice; and, large as we knew were the snow-fields of Dauphiné, we were surprised to find that they very far surpassed our most ardent imagination. Nearly in a line between us and Monte Viso, immediately to the south of Chateau Queyras, was a splendid group of mountains of great height. More to the south an unknown peak seemed still higher; while close to us we were astonished to discover that there was a mountain which appeared even loftier than that on which we stood. At least this was my opinion. Macdonald thought that it was not so high, and Reynaud that it was much about the same elevation as our own peak.

This mountain was distant a couple of miles or so, and was separated from us by a tremendous abyss, the bottom of which

S) = a Ss 4 a a

PIC SANS NOM

ALbLFROIDE

(12,920)

(12,973)

(12,845 )

=

5

eek

os ;

s Ha Ma

WHY ME:

i Hig Ay i Mil

THE DURANCE

FROM NEAR MONT DAUPHIN, IN THE VALLEY OF THE DURANCE

‘

MONT PELVOUX AND THE ALEFROIDE

cHap.u. DISCOVERY OF THE POINTE DES ECRINS. 35

we could not see. On the other side rose this mighty wall- sided peak, too steep for snow, black as night, with sharp ridges and pointed summit. We were in complete ignorance of its whereabouts, for none of us had been on the other side. We imagined that La Bérarde was in the abyss at our feet, while it was in reality beyond the other mountain.’

We left the summit at last, and descended to the rocks, where I boiled some water, obtained by melting snow. After we had fed, and smoked our cigars (lighted without difficulty from a common match), we found it was ten minutes past three, and high time to be off. We dashed, waded, and tumbled for twenty-five minutes through the snow, and then began the long descent of the cliffs. It was then nearly four o'clock, and, as it would be dark at eight, it was evident that there was no time to be lost, and we pushed on to the utmost. Nothing remarkable occurred going down. We kept rather closer to the glacier, and crossed at the same point as in the morning. Getting off it was like getting on it—rather awkward. Old Sémiond had got over—so had Reynaud; Macdonald came next, but, as he made a long stretch to get on to a higher mass, he slipped, and would have been in the bowels of a crevasse in a moment had he not been tied.

It was nearly dark by the time we had crossed, but I still hoped that we should be able to pass the night at our rock. Macdonald was not so sanguine, and he was right; for at last we found ourselves quite at fault, and wandered helplessly up and down for an hour, while Reynaud and the porter indulged in a little mutual abuse. The dreary fact that, as we could

1 This mountain is the culminating point of the group, and is named on the French map Pointe des Ecrins. It is seen from the Val Christophe, and from that direction its ridges completely conceal Mont Pelvoux. But on the other side—that is, from the direction of La Bessée or the Val Louise—the reverse is the case : the Pelvoux completely conceals it.

Unaware that this name was going to be applied to it, we gave the name Pic des Arcines, or des Ecrins, to our summit, in accordance with the traditions of the natives.

is.

36 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

not get down, we must stay “where we were, was now quite apparent.

We were at least 10,500 feet high, and if it commenced to rain or snow, as the gathering clouds and rising wind seemed to threaten, we might be in a sore plight. We were hungry, having eaten little since 3 A.M., and a torrent we hear] close at hand, but could not discover, aggravated our thirst. Sémiond endeavoured to get some water from it; and, although he succeeded in doing so, he was wholly unable to return, and we had to solace him by shouting at intervals through the night.

It would be difficult to select a more detestable locality for a night out of doors. There was not shelter of any kind, and it was too steep to promenade. Loose rubbly stones covered the ground, and had to be removed before we could sit with any comfort. This was an advantage, although we hardly thought so at the time, as it gave us some employment; and, after an hour’s active exercise of that interesting kind, I obtained a small strip about nine feet long, on which it was possible to walk. Reynaud was _ furious at first, and soundly abused the porter, whose opinion as to the route had been followed rather than that of our friend, and at last settled down to a deep dramatic despair, and wrung his hands with frantic gesture, as he exclaimed, “Oh, malheur, malheur! Oh misérables!”

Thunder commenced to growl, and lightning to play among the peaks above, and the wind, which had brought the tempera- ture down to nearly freezing-point, began to chill us to the bones. We examined our resources. They were six and a half cigars, two boxes of vesuvians, one-third of a pint of brandy-and- water, and half-a-pint of spirits of wine. The spirit-lamp was lighted, and the remaining spirits of wine, the brandy and some snow were heated by it. It made a strong liquor, but we only wished for more of it. When that was over, Macdonald endea- voured to dry his socks by the lamp, and then the three lay down under my plaid to pretend to sleep. Reynaud’s woes were

CHAP. II. “AS TO FLEAS.” 37

ageravated by toothache; Macdonald somehow managed to close his eyes. 3 ;

The longest night must end, and ours did at last. We got down to our rock in an hour and a quarter, and found the lad not a little surprised at our absence. We feasted at the cave, and performed some very necessary ablutions. The persons of the natives are infested by certain agile creatures, rapid of motion, numerous and voracious. It is dangerous to approach too near, and one has to study the wind, so as to get on their weather-side. In spite of all such precautions my unfortunate companion and myself were being rapidly devoured alive. We only expected a temporary lull of our tortures, for the interiors of the inns are like the exteriors of the natives, swarming with this species of animated creation. ie

It is said that once, when these tormentors were filled with an unanimous desire, an unsuspecting traveller was dragged bodily from his bed! This needs confirmation. One word more, and I have done with this vile subject. We returned from our ablutions, and found the Frenchmen engaged in conversation. “Ah!” said old Sémiond, “as to fleas, I don’t pretend to be different from any one else,—J have them.” This time he certainly spoke the truth.

We got down to La Ville in good time, and luxuriated there for several days; played many games of bowls with the natives, and were invariably beaten by them. At last it was necessary to part, and I walked southwards towards Monte Viso, while Macdonald went to Briangon.

While I have not attempted to conceal that the ascent of Mont Pelvoux is of a rather monotonous character, the view from its summit may be confidently recommended. A glance at the map will show that, with the single exception of Monte Viso, it is better situated than any other mountain of considerable height for viewing the Western Alps.

Our discovery that the peak which is now called the Pointe

38 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

des Eerins was a separate and distinet mountain from Mont Pel- voux—and not its highest point—gave us satisfaction, although it was also rather of the nature of a disappointment.

On our return to La Bessée we wrongly identified it with the peak which is seen from that place on the left of Mont Pelvoux. The two mountains bear a considerable resemblance to each other, so the mistake is not, perhaps, unpardonable. The latter mount- ain is considerably higher than the Wetterhorn. or Monte Viso, and it had no name. We called it the Pic Sans Nom, and this name has been adopted.

It has been observed that it is improbable the French surveyors would have remained for several days upon the Pic de la Pyramide without visiting the loftier and true summit of Mont Pelvoux. If they did, it is strange that they did not leave some memorial of their visit. The natives who accompanied them asserted that they did not pass from one to the other, and we therefore claimed to have made the ascent of the loftiest point for the first time. The claim, however, cannot be sustained, on account of the ascent of M. Puiseux. It is a matter of little moment; the excursion had for us all the interest of a first ascent; and I look back upon this, my first serious mountain scramble, with more satisfaction, and with as much pleasure as upon any that is recorded in this volume.

After parting from my agreeable companions, I walked by the gorge of the Guil to Abries, and made the acquaintance at that place of an ex-harbour-master of Marseilles—a genial man, who spoke English well. Besides the ex-harbour-master and some fine trout in the neighbouring streams, there was little to invite a stay at Abries. The inn—l’Etoile, chez Richard—was a place to be avoided. Richard, it may be observed, possessed the instincts of a robber. At a later date, when forced to seek shelter in his house, he desired to see my passport, and, catching sight of the words John Russell, he entered that name instead of my own in a report to the gendarmerie, uttering an exclamation of joyful surprise at

CHAP. II. PATOIS. 39

the same time. I foolishly allowed the mistake to pass, and had to pay dearly for it; for he made out a lordly bill, against which all protest was unavailing. :

His innocent and not very extraordinary mistake was eclipsed by a gendarme of Bourg d’Oysans, who took the passport, gravely held it wpside down for several minutes, pretended to read it, and handed: it back, saying it was all right.

Round about Abries the patois of the district is more or less Italian in character, and the pronunciation of the natives reminds one of a cockney who attempts to speak French for the first time. Here bread is pronounced pane, and cheese, fromargee. There are a considerable number of dialects in use in this corner of France ; and sometimes in the space of only a few miles one can find several, which are almost as unintelligible to the natives of the surrounding districts as they are to the traveller. In some districts the spelling of the patois is the same, but the pronuncia- tion is different—in this resembling Chinese. It is not easy for the stranger to understand these dialects, either written or spoken; and this will be readily perceived from the samples given below, which are different versions of the parable of the prodigal son.t

1 ‘Un garten homme aie dous gargous; lou pus jouve dissec & soun paire :— ‘Moun paire, beila me la pourtiou d’ou ben que me reven.’ Et lou paire fec en chascu sa part. Et paou de tens apres, lou cadet, quant aguec fachs sa pacoutilla, se mettec en routo et s’en anec dinc un pais eiloigna, ounte mangec tout ce qu’aié enbe les fumelles. Et quant aguec tout fricassa l’y aguec dine aqueou pais-acqui une grande famine, et coumensec a aver famp.”

The above is a specimen of the patois of the neighbourhood of Gap ; the follow- ing is that of Monétier :—

‘Un home avas dou bos. Lou plus giouve de isou disse & son pere :—‘ Moun pere, moun pere, douna-me soque me duou reveni de vatre be.’ Ht lou pere lour faze ou partage de soun be. Paouc de giours apres, lou plus giouve deiquelou dou bos, apres aveira amassa tout so que aou lavie, sen ane diens un pais etrangie ben leigu, aount aous dissipe tout soun be diens la grande deipensa et en deibaucha. Apres qu’aou lague tout deipensa, larribe una grand famina diens iquaou pais ilai, et aou cheique diens lou besoign.” —Ladoucette’s Histoire des Hautes- Alpes, pp. 613, 618.

40 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

I quitted the abominations of Abries to seek a quiet bundle of hay at Le Chalp—a village some miles nearer to Monte Viso. On approaching the place the odour of sanctity’ became distinctly perceptible ; and on turning a corner the cause was manifested— there was the priest of the village, surrounded by some of his flock. I advanced humbly, hat in hand, but altnost before a word could be said, he broke out with, “Who are you?” “ What are you?” “What do you want?” I endeavoured to,explain. “You are a deserter; I know you are a deserter; go away, you can’t stay here; go to Le Monta, down there; I won’t have you here,” and he literally drove me away. The explanation of his strange behaviour was, that Piedmontese soldiers who were tired of the service had not unfrequently crossed the Col de la Traversette into the valley, and trouble had arisen from harbouring them. However, I did not know this at the time, and was not a little indignant that I, who was marching to the attack, should be taken for a deserter.

So I walked away, and shortly afterwards, as it was getting dark, encamped in a lovely hole—a cavity or kind of basin in the earth, with a stream on one side, a rock to windward, and some broken branches close at hand. Nothing could be more perfect: rock, hole, wood, and water. After making a roaring fire, I nestled in my blanket bag (an ordinary blanket sewn up double round the legs, with a piece of elastic riband round the open end), and slept, but not for long. I was troubled with dreams of the Inquisition ; the tortures were being applied—priests were forcing fleas down my nostrils and into my eyes—and with red-hot pincers were taking out bits of flesh, and then cutting off my ears and tickling the soles of my feet. This was too much; I yelled a great yell and awoke, to find myself covered with innumerable crawling bodies. They were ants. I had camped by an ant-hill, and, after making its inhabitants mad with the fire, had coolly lain down in their midst.

1 See p. 21.

CHAP. II. DEFEATED. 4]

The night was fine, and as I settled down in a neighbouring hole, a brilliant meteor sailed across full sixty degrees of the cloudless sky, leaving a trail of light behind which lasted for

THE BLANKET BAG.

several seconds. It was the herald of a splendid spectacle. Stars fell by hundreds; and not dimmed by intervening vapours, they sparkled with greater brightness than Sirius in our damp climate.

The next morning, after walking up the valley to examine Monte Viso, I returned to Abries, and engaged a man from a neighbouring hamlet, for whom the ex-harbour-master had sent ; an inveterate smoker, and thirsty in proportion, whose pipe never left his mouth except to allow him to drink. We returned up the valley together, and slept in a hut of a shepherd, whose yearly wage was almost as small as that of the herdsman spoken of in Hyperion by Longfellow; and the next morning, in his company, proceeded to the summit of the pass which I had crossed in 1860. We were baffled in our attempt to get closer to the mountain. A deep notch! with precipitous cliffs cut us off from it. The snow-

1 There are three cols or passes close to Monte Viso on its northern side, which

G

42 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

slope, too, which existed in the preceding year on the Piedmontese side of the pass, was now wanting, and we were unable to descend the rocks which lay beneath. A fortnight afterwards the mount- ain was, however, ascended for the first time by Messrs. Mathews and Jacomb, with the two Croz’s of Chamounix. Their attempt was made from the southern side, and thé ascent, which was formerly considered a thing totally impossible, has become one of the most common and favourite excursions of the district.

We returned crest-fallen to Abries. The shepherd, whose boots were very much out of repair, slipped upon the steep snow- slopes, and performed wonderful and alarming gyrations, which took him to the bottom of the valley more quickly than he could otherwise have descended. He was not much hurt, and was made happy by a few needles and a little thread to repair his abraded garments. The other man, however, considered it wilful waste to give him brandy to rub in his cuts, when it could be disposed of in a more ordinary and pleasant manner.

The night of the 14th of August found me at St. Veran, a village made famous by Neff, but in no other respect remarkable, saving that it is supposed to be the highest in Europe. The Protestants now form only a miserable minority; in 1861 there were said to be 120 to 780 Catholics. The poor inn was kept by one of the former, and it gave the impression of great poverty. There was no meat, no bread, no butter or cheese, and almost the only things that could be obtained were eggs. The bill for supper, bed, and breakfast, amounted to one and sevenpence.

In this neighbourhood, and indeed all round about Monte

lead from the valley of the Po into that of the Guil. The deep notch spoken of above is the nearest to the mountain, and although it is by far the lowest gap in that part of the chain, and would seem to be the true Col Viso, it does not appear to be used as a pass. The second, which I crossed in 1860, has the name Col del Color del Porco given to it upon the Sardinian map! The third is the Col de la Traversette ; and this, although higher than at least one of those mentioned above, is that which is used by the natives who pass from one valley to the other. 1 Its height is about 6600 feet above the sea,

CHAP. II. NATURAL PILLARS. 43

Viso, chamois still remain in considerable numbers. They said at. St. Veran that six had been seen from the village on the day I was there, and the innkeeper declared that he had seen fifty together in the previous week! I myself saw in this and in the previous season several small companies round about the Viso. It is perhaps as favourable a district as any in the Alps for a sports- man who wishes to hunt chamois, as the ground over which they wander is by no means of excessive difficulty.

The next day I descended the valley to Ville Vieille, and passed near the village of Molines, on the opposite side of the valley, a

ON

a

NATURAL PILLAR NEAR MOLINES (WEATHER ACTION).

remarkable natural pillar, in form not unlike a champagne bottle, about seventy feet high, which had been produced by the action of

»

44 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. II.

the weather, and, in all probability, chiefly by rain. In this case a “block of euphotide or diallage rock protects a friable lime- stone.”* The contrast of this dark cap with the white base, and the singularity of the form, made it a striking object. These natural pillars are among the most remarkable examples of the potent effects which can be produced by long*continued action of quiet-working forces. They are found in several other places in the Alps,’ as well as elsewhere. ;

The village of Ville Vieille boasts of an inn with the sign of the Elephant; which, in the opinion of local amateurs, is a proof that Hannibal passed through the gorge of the Guil. I remember the place, because its bread, being only a month old, was un- usually soft; and, for the first time during ten days, it was possible to eat some, without first of all chopping it into small pieces and soaking it in hot water, which produced a slimy paste on the outside, but left a hard untouched kernel.

The same day I crossed the Col Isoard to Briancon. It was the 15th of August, and all the world was en féte; sounds of revelry proceeded from the houses of Serviéres as I passed over the bridge upon which the pyrrhic dance is annually performed,’ and natives in all degrees of inebriation staggered about the paths. It was late before the lights of the great fortress came into sight ; but unchallenged I passed through its gates, and once more sought shelter under the roof of the Hotel de lOurs.*

1 J. D. Forbes.

* In the gorge of the Dard, near Aosta; near Euseigne, in the Val d’Hérens ; near Stalden, in the Visp Thal; near Ferden, in the Lotschen Thal; and, on a grander scale, near Botzen, in Tyrol, and in America on the Colorado river of the west.

3 See Ladoucette’s Hautes-Alpes, p. 596.

4 The Hotel de l’Ours has ceased to exist. The Hétel de la Paix in the town,

and another at the Railway Station, are now the two most frequented places. The latter is by far the better of the two.

CROSSING MONT CENIS (1861).

CHAPTER LU.

THE MONT CENIS—THE FELL RAILWAY—THE GREAT TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS.

GurE-BooKS say that the pass of the Mont Cenis is dull. It is long, certainly, yet it has a fair proportion of picturesque points, and it is not easy to see how it can be dull to those who have eyes. In the days when it was a rude mountain-track, crossed by trains of mules, and when it was better known to smugglers than to tourists, it may have been somewhat dull; but when Napoleon’s road changed the rough path into one of the finest highways in Europe, mounting in grand curves and by uniform grades, and rendered the trot possible throughout the entire distance, the Mont Cenis became one of the most interesting passes in the Alps. The diligence service which was established was excellent, and there was little or nothing to be gained by

46 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

travelling in a more expensive manner. The horses were changed as rapidly as on the best lines in the best period of coaching in England, and the diligences themselves were as comfortable as a “milord” could desire. The most exciting portion of the route was undoubtedly that between Lanslebourg and Susa. When the zigzags began, teams of mules were hooked on, &nd the driver and his helpers marched by their side with long whips, which they handled skilfully. Passengers dismounted, and stretched their legs by cutting the curves. The pace was slow but steady, and scarcely a halt was made during the rise of 2000 feet. Crack! crack! went the whips as the corners of the zigzags were turned. Great commotion among the mules! They scrambled and went round with a rush, tossing their heads and making music with their bells. The summit was gained, the mules were detached and trotted back merrily, while we, with fresh horses, were dragged at the gallop over the plain to the other side. The little postilion seated on the leader smacked his whip lustily as he swept round the corners cut through the rock, and threw his head back, as the echoes returned, expectant of smiles and of future centimes.

The air was keen and often chilly, but the summit was soon passed, and one quickly de- scended to warmth again. Once more there was a change. The

horses, reduced in number to three, or perhaps two, were the sturdiest and most sure of foot, and they raced down with the pre- cision of old stagers. Woe to the diligence if they stumbled! So thought the conductor, who screwed down the breaks as the corners were approached. The horses, held well in hand, leant inwards as the top-heavy vehicle, so suddenly checked, heeled almost over; but in another moment the break was released, and again they swept down, urged onwards by whip, “hoi,” and “ha” of, the driver. All this was changed. The Victor Emmanuel railway super- seded a considerable portion of Napoleon’s road, and the “ Fell”

CHAP. III. THE FELL RAILWAY. 47

railway did the rest; and when the great tunnel of the Alps was opened for traffic, that brought about another change.

The Fell railway, which was open about four years, was a line that well deserved attention. Forty years earlier, Mr. Charles Vignolles, the eminent engineer, and Mr. Ericsson, patented the idea which became an accomplished fact on the Mont Cenis. Nothing was done with it until Mr. Fell, the projector of the rail- way which bore his name, took it up; and to him much credit was due for bringing an admirable principle into operation.

The Fell railway followed the great Cenis road very closely, and diverged from it either to avoid villages or houses, or, as at the summit of the pass on the Italian side, to ease the gradients. The line ran from St. Michel to Susa. The distance between those two places is, as the crow flies, almost exactly equivalent to the distance from London to Chatham; but by reason of the numerous curves and detours the length of the line was nearly brought up to the distance of London from Brighton. From St. Michel to the summit of the pass it rose 4460 feet, or 900 feet more than the highest point of Snowdon is above the level of the sea; and from the summit of the pass to Susa, a distance less than that from London to Kew, it descended no less than 5211 feet!

The railway itself was a marvel. For fifteen miles and three- quarters it had steeper gradients than one in fifteen. In some places it rose one foot in twelve and a half! An incline at this angle, starting from the base of the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, would reach the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral if it were placed at Temple Bar! A straight piece of railway constructed on such a gradient seems to go up a steep hill, One ‘in eighty, or even one in a hundred, produces a very sensible diminution in the pace of a light train drawn by an ordinary locomotive ; how, then, could a train be taken up an incline siz times as steep? It was accomplished by means of a third rail placed mid- way between the two ordinary ones, and elevated above them.’

1 This third rail, or, as it was termed, ‘‘the centre rail,” was laid on all the

43 SORAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. OHAP. IIT.

The engines were provided ‘with two pairs of horizontal driving-wheels as well as with the ordinary coupled vertical ones, and the power of the machine was thus much increased. The horizontal wheels gripped the centre rail with great tenacity by being brought together, and were almost incapable of slipping, like the ordinary wheels when on even a moderate gradient. The third rail was the ordinary double- headed. rail, and was

laid horizontally. It

ie was bolted down to Bay,

wrought-iron chairs,

three feet apart, which were fixed

Ee SH ? SSS eee eter ally, 4 by common coach- ane De Fe eae Ue yf 4 agGor RSS A= hy screws to a longitu- THE CENTRE RAIL ON A CURVE. dinal sleeper, laid

across the usual transverse ones. The sleepers were attached to each other by fang-bolts. The dimensions of the different parts will be seen by reference to the annexed cross section :—

SCALE OF FEET

fe) | 2 3 4 5 6

For some distance from St. Michel the gradients were not un- usual, and a good pace was maintained. The first severe piece was about two miles up, where there was an incline of one in

steep portions of the line, and round all except the mildest curves. Thirty miles, in all, of the road had the centre rail.

CHAP. III. A STEEP RAILWAY. 49

eighteen ' for more than half-a-mile. The line rose at one step one hundred and sixty-four feet. Thence to Modane the gradients were again moderate (for a railway) and the distance—about ten miles and a half from St. Michel—was accomplished without difficulty in an hour. Modane station was 1128 feet above St. Michel, so that on this easy portion of the line there was an average rise of 110 feet per mile, which is equal to a gradient of one in forty-eight; an inclination sufficiently steep to bring an ordinary locomotive very nearly to a halt.

Just after passing Modane station there was one of the steepest inclines on the line, and it seemed preposterous to suppose that any train could ascend it. When this was passed, the line mounted by comparatively easy gradients towards Fort Lesseillon. It was then at a great height above the Arc, and wound around the faces of the cliff out of which the Napoleon road was cut, looking down upon the foaming stream below. The next remarkable point was at Termignon. The track made a great bend, then doubled back, and rose in a little more than a mile no less than three hundred and thirty-four feet. This was, perhaps, the most striking piece of the whole ‘line.

Lanslebourg station, 254 miles from, and 2220 feet above, St. Michel, was arrived at in two hours and a quarter from the latter place, and the railway then rose continuously to the summit of the Mont Cenis pass, accomplishing an ascent of 2240 feet in six miles and a third of distance. It was curious and interesting to watch the ascent of the trains from Lanslebourg. The puffs of steam were seen rising above the trees, sometimes going in one direction, and sometimes in directly the contrary, occasionally concealed by covered ways—for over two miles out of the six the line was enclosed by planked sides and a corrugated iron roof to keep out the snow—and then coming out again into daylight. The zigzags of the old Cenis road are well known as one of the

1 The inclination of the steepest part of Old Holborn Hill.—Roney’s Rambles

on Railways. H

50 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

most remarkable pieces of :road-engineering in the Alps. The railway followed them, and ran parallel to the road on the outside throughout the whole distance, with the, exception of the turns at the corners, where it was carried a little farther out, to render the curves less sharp. Nevertheless they were sufficiently sharp (135 feet radius), and would have been impréeticable without the centre rail.

The run across the top of the pass, from the Summit station to the Grande Croix station—a distance of about five miles—was

THE COVERED WAYS ON THE “FELL” RAILWAY (ITALIAN SIDE OF THE MONT CENIS):

soon accomplished, and then the tremendous descent to Susa commenced. This, as seen from the engine, was little less than terrific. A large part of this section was covered in,’ and the curves succeeded one another in a manner unknown on any other line. From the outside the line looked more like a monstrous serpent than-a railway. Inside one could see but a few yards ahead, the curves were so sharp. On emerging into the open air, one looked down some three or four thousand feet of precipice and steep mountain-side. The next moment the engine turned suddenly to the left, and driver and stoker had to grip firmly to

‘ On the Italian side there were about three-quarters of a mile of strongly-built avalanche galleries, and more than three miles of covered way.

MN

<ul wy

ih

I ee fe;

THE MONT CENIS ROAD AND THE FELL RAILWAY, NEAR THE SUMMIT OF THE PASS, ON THE ITALIAN SIDE,

CHAP. III. THE CENTRE RAIL BREAK. | 51

avoid being left behind. The next, it turned as suddenly to the right; the next there was an accession or diminution of speed, from a change in the gradient. An ordinary engine, moving at fifty miles an hour, with a trai behind it, is not usually very steady, but its motion is a trifle compared with that of a Fell engine when running down hill.

The trains, however, ran smoothly, and this was partly due to the fact that each carriage was provided with a centre rail break. The flat face A, and the corresponding one on the opposite side, were brought together against the two sides of the centre rail by the shaft B being ni i = a

0

turned, and they held it as | i : in a vice. This greatly | ! a |

diminished up - and - down ol i motion, and rendered oscilla- |

tion almost impossible. The ES ee steadiness of the train was still further maintained by pairs of flanged guide-wheels under each of the carriages, which, on straight pieces of line, barely touched the centre rail, but pressed upon it directly there was the least deviation towards either side.

The steam was shut off, and the breaks applied, a very few minutes after beginning the descent to Susa. The trains might then have run down for the entire distance by their own weight. In practice, it was difficult to apply the proper amount of retarda- tion ; the breaks had frequently to be whistled off, and sometimes it was necessary to steam down against them. Ordinarily, they went down with the steam shut off, and with the centre rail breaks screwed up moderately; and when a train composed of two or three carriages and a luggage-van was running down at the maximum speed allowed (fifteen miles an hour), the breaks could pull it up dead within seventy yards. The engines were also provided with centre rail breaks, on a pattern somewhat different

52 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. OHAP. II.

from those on the carriages, and the flat sides which pressed against the rails were renewed every journey. A single run from Lanslebourg to Susa made grooves into them about three-eighths of an inch in depth.

The Fell railway was an experimental line, and as such it was a success. It reduced the time that was formerly occupied in passing from St. Michel to Susa by nearly one-half; it lessened expense and gave increased comfort to travellers. The gauge (3 feet 72 inches) was a mistake, inasmuch as it lost time and caused trouble by the transference of the passengers, limited the power of the engines, and rendered the rolling stock unfit for general use, when the line was pulled up—which, according to the terms of the concession that was granted to the promoters, was done when the great tunnel of the Alps was opened for traffic.

When M. Medail of Bardonnéche—more than half a century ago — pointed out that a shorter tunnel could be constructed beneath the Alps between his village and Modane than at any other place in the Sardinian States having a similar elevation above the level of the sea, neither he, nor any other person, had the least idea how the project could be executed.

The first step was taken by the geologists Sismonda and Ele de Beaumont. They predicted that calcareous schists and quartzite rocks would form a large proportion of the strata through which the tunnel would pass. It takes a miner one hour and a half to two hours to make an ordinary hole for blasting (28 inches deep) in calcareous schist, and not less than eight hours to make one 20 inches deep in quartzite’ When would the tunnel have been finished if the ordinary processes had been alone employed ?

The ordinary processes were clearly unavailable. The tunnel would be of prodigious length, and would have to be constructed without shafts. At no place where a shaft would have been of

' These were the times actually occupied in the tunnel.

OHAP. III. THE GREAT TUNNEL OF THE ALPS. 53

any use would it have been possible to make one less than 1000 feet deep! If one had been made about midway between the two ends, it would have been no less than 5315 feet deep. “I estimate,” says. M. Conte,’ “that the sinking of a shaft a mile in depth would occupy not less than forty years. I do not know that a depth of 1000 feet has been hitherto passed.” ”

“Several projects were presented to the Sardinian government, some proposing to shorten the length of the tunnel by raising its level, and others to accelerate the boring of the holes for blasting ; but they were all put aside as impossible, or as having been insufficiently studied. The first one seriously considered by the government was that of M. Maus, a Belgian engineer. He pro- posed to construct a tunnel of 12,230 métres between Bardonnéche and Modane, with a ruling gradient of 19 in 1000. The advance of the small gallery in front was to be made by means of a machine with chisels, put in motion by springs, that would have cut the rock into blocks—leaving them attached only at the back—which were afterwards to be brought down by means of wedges.”

“M. Colladon of Geneva suggested moving the tools of the machine of M. Maus by means of compressed air, but he neither pointed out the means of compressing the air, nor how it was to be applied as a motive power.”

“The government had constructed the railway from Turin to Genoa, and engineers were studying how to tug the trains up the incline at Busalla, which has a gradient of 1 in 29. MM. Grandis, Grattoni, and Sommeiller proposed to compress air by means of the ‘compresseur 4 choc, and to employ it for the traction of the trains.”

“Mr. Bartlett, an English engineer on the Victor Emmanuel

1 M. Conte, a well-known French engineer, was a member of a commission ap- pointed to examine the progress of this tunnel in 1863. His Report is one of the most accurate and complete accounts of it that have been published.

2M. Conte refers to tunnel -shafts.

54 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

Railway,’ had invented a machine for making holes for blasting, which was put in motion by steam. The machine was imperfect, and while experiments were being made with it (by means of compressed air), M. Sommeiller invented the boring - machine which is now used in the tunnel.”

“The problem then appeared to be solved. The inventors joined themselves to M. Raneo—who had taken part in their experiments on the Genoa Railway—and prepared a scheme, after having found out that they could compress air to a high pressure, that this air could be led from closed reservoirs and transmitted to great distances without a sensible diminution of its pressure, and that it could be employed to move the boring-machine which was intended to make the holes for blasting. A commission was appointed to examine the project, and its members satisfied them- selves that the scheme was feasible. The Act of August 15, 1857, authorised the government to construct the section of the Victor Emmanuel Railway between Susa and Modane, and MM. Grandis, Grattoni, and Sommeiller, were appointed to direct the works.”

“M. Medail indicated the general direction of the tunnel be- tween Modane and Bardonnéche. M. Maus drew his line a little more to the east, nearer to Modane. The engineers who directed the work approached the latter course, and selected that which seemed to them to be the shortest, the most easy to come out at, and, especially, the most convenient to lay out.”

“Tt is needless to insist on the importance of the tracing of the course of the tunnel. It was necessary—Ist, To establish upon the mountain a sufficient number of marks in order to determine the vertical plane passing through the axis of the gallery; 2. To measure exactly the distance between the two mouths; 3. To determine the difference of level between the two mouths, in order to arrange the gradients of the tunnel. These delicate operations

' The Victor Emmanuel Railway Company no longer exists. The section in France was joined to the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway, and that in Italy to the Alta Italia system.

CHAP. III. ITS LENGTH. 55

were entrusted to MM. Borelli and Copello. M. Grandis under- took the control of the work. . . In 1858 the triangulations and levellings were undertaken, and they were terminated at the end of the year.”

On account of the peculiar situation of the ends of the tunnel, two small, connecting, curved tunnels had to be made. At first, “the construction of these terminal curves was naturally neglected for the establishment of the two false mouths in the direction of the general line.”

“The length between the two false mouths is 12,220:00 métres. The entry on the side of Italy is at a height of = 1335-38 ‘5 1202°82

Difference of level 132:56 This difference of level is overcome by a gradient of 222 in 10,000, which rises from the French

% A France

entry to the centre! , = 13564 A gradient of 1 in 2000, which rises eit the Italian entry to the centre’. Si eOO ns, 132-58

PP)

If a single gradient had ruled throughout, rising from the French to the Italian side, it would have been reduced to 217 in 20,000; but although this would have been of the greatest advantage in working the line, it would have added one more difficulty to the construction of the tunnel. There were enough difficulties without adding another.”

“Tt was, besides, evident that driving the tunnel to a summit doubled the chances of the two ends meeting, and negatived to a

1 The summit is a few feet higher than M. Conte states, as the gradients were increased. The length of the tunnel also is slightly greater than that mentioned above. The calculated length was 13,3644 yards (12,220 métres). The actwal length, excluding the small curved tunnels at its ends, is 13,379} yards. Its total length, including the curved tunnels, is 14,0513 yards, or 8 miles all but 85 feet.

56 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

certain extent, the possibilities ‘of error from the two operations upon which the least dependence could be placed—the trian- gulation and the levelling. Provided that the two axes were in the same direction, they were obliged to meet sooner or later ; whether this happened a few yards more to the north or to the south was of no importance.” :

At the commencement of the tunnel, in 1857, there was no accommodation at either end for those employed on the works; and for a long time both engineers and workmen had to submit to numerous privations. Roads had to be made, and barracks to be erected. One after another, houses and shops were added, and at last the tunnel-buildings alone formed considerable villages at the two ends.”

The situations of the two mouths are essentially different from each other. That at Bardonnéche comes out at the bottom of the Valley of Rochemolles; that at Fourneaux (Modane) 300 feet above the Mont Cenis road. At the latter end the débris has been shot out from the mouth down the mountain-side; and, large as the tip (to use the language of navvies) undoubtedly is, it is difficult to believe one sees all the material that has been extracted. It is interesting as showing the greatest angle at which débris will stand. Its faces have, as nearly as possible, an angle of 45°.

During four years the ordinary means of excavation were alone employed, and but 1300 yards were driven. In this time the machines were being constructed which were destined to

1 Conte. Conférences faites a V Ecole Impériale des Ponts et Chaussées. 1864.

» At Bardonnéche alone there were :—1. Close to the tunnel-mouth—lodgings for the miners, the principal storehouses, stables, forges for repairing the drills. 2. At Bardonnéche, half-a-mile distant from the mouth—large barracks for the

workmen ; six other buildings for workmen; one house for other employés ;

repairing-shops for the machinery ; storehouses; a foundry ; the building con-

a4

taining the ‘‘compresseurs 4 choc,” and the reservoirs for feeding the same ; gas-

works ; a building containing an infirmary, washhouses, etc. ; two buildings for

‘““compresseurs & pompe ;” one building for new reservoirs of compressed air; a cantine and a porter’s lodge. An enumeration of the buildings at Fourneaux

(Modane) would be nearly a repetition of the above.

CHAP. III. THE BORING MACHINES. 57

supersede a large part of the manual labour. At the beginning of 1861 they were sufficiently advanced to be put to work, and in the summer of that year I went from Briangon to Bardonnéche to see them in operation.’

The clocks of Oulx had just struck twelve on the night of the 16th of August, as the diligence crawled into the village from Briangon, conveying a drunken driver, a still more intoxicated conducteur, and myself. The keeper of the inn at which we stopped declined to take me in, so I sought for repose in a neigh- bouring oatfield, and the next morning mightily astonished a native when I rose enveloped in my blanket bag. He looked aghast for a moment at the apparition which seemed to spring out of the ground, and then turning round in a nervous, twitching manner, dropped his spade and fairly bolted, followed by hearty shouts of laughter.

Bardonnéche was about an hour distant. A strange banging noise could be heard a long way off, and a few minutes after my arrival, I stood in one of the shops by the side of the machine which was causing it, and by the side of M. Sommeiller, the inventor of the machine. They were experimenting with one of his “perforatrices,” and a new form of boring-rod, upon a huge block of rock which was already riddled by more than a hundred holes, varying from one inch to four and a half in diameter. The perforatrice—a simple-looking cylinder fixed in a square frame, and connected with a few pipes and stop-cocks—was placed in a fresh position in front of the rock, and, at a sign from the engineer, was set in motion. A boring-rod darted out like a

1 In the previous year I visited Modane, and, favoured by introductions from M. Ch. Lafitte, at that time President of the Victor Emmanuel Railway, was shown all that there was then to be seen. I visited Modane again in 1869, and, for the third time, went to the end of the advanced gallery. I have to thank M. Mella and Sig. Borelli, the directors of the works in 1861 at Modane and Bardonnéche respectively, for their attention in 1860-1, and particularly Signor Copello, who latterly became director at Modane, for the facilities given and for the information

afforded by him.

58 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

flash of lightning, chipped out several fragments at a blow, and withdrew as quickly as it had advanced. Bang, bang, it went again with the noise of a gong. In ten seconds the head of the borer had eaten itself a hole; in a minute it had all but dis- appeared; in twelve it had drilled a hole nearly a yard deep, as cleanly as a carpenter could in a piece of wood! The rod not only moved backwards and forwards, and advanced as the hole grew deeper, but turned gently round the whole time., A jet of water, projected with great force, cooled the chisel, and washed out the chips. More ai was turned on, and the sound of the blows could no longer be distinguished one from another. They made a continuous rattle, and the rate was increased from two hundred to no less than three hundred and forty strokes per minute, or about half as fast again as the motion of the piston-rod of an express locomotive when going sixty miles an hour.

On approaching the tunnel-mouths, the pipes were seen which conducted the compressed air for the working of these boring- machines. They were eight inches in diameter, supported on pillars of masonry. As these pipes (B), outside the tunnel, were ex-

posed to constant vari- ations of temperature —sometimes to as much as 54° Fahr. in a single day —it was necessary to guard against their expansion and contraction. They were fixed accordingly

at stated intervals by means of iron rods, the lower ends of which were carried through

the masonry and bolted to plates on the outside. The intermediate pipes were carried on rollers (pD) on the tops of the pillars, and

KC <

CHAP. III. GREAT SIZE OF THE TUNNEL. 59

between each of the fixed points there was one pipe having an enlarged mouth—terminated by a cheek—which received the end (A) of the ordinary pipe. A circular pipe of leather (C) was secured to the cheek by means of a metal washer, and, pressed down by the compressed air on the end of the ordinary pipe, made the joint sufficiently air-tight, although it did not hinder the advance or the retreat of the pipe. In the tunnel itself, where the temperature was not subject to such fluctuations, these pre- cautions were not nécessary, and the pipes were carried along the walls, supported by brackets, as far as the end of the finished work. Through these pipes highly compressed air was conducted, and was delivered at the end of the “advanced gallery” where the boring-machines were at work, with only a slight diminution in

its pressure, notwith- “=

standing the escapes which occurred at the joints. |

On entering the tunnel one was struck by ite “size. . The Italians, with mag-

nificent disregard of

SCALE OF FEET

expense, or from re- ° 5 10 Is 20 gard to the future,

constructed it with two pairs of rails, and with a footpath on each side. From the rails to the crown of the arch its height is just 20 feet, and its width is 26 feet 6 inches. It is almost everywhere lined with masonry, a small fraction only of the rock is left unsupported. Not observed, though nevertheless existing, is a covered way about 3 feet 4 inches high, and 4 feet

60 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

wide, which is made in the floor of the tunnel between the rails. It is in fact a tunnel within a tunnel. Originally its dimensions were less, and it was intended merely as a subway in which the pipes conveying the compressed air might be placed, and as a drain. It was found convenient to enlarge its size, and after that was done—on at least one occasion—i% served a purpose for which it was not originally intended. On the 15th of September 1863, a sudden fall of rock occurred, which killed several miners and imprisoned about sixty* others who were at work in the advanced gallery. They were greatly alarmed, and expected to be starved; but at last one of them remembered this subway, and they escaped by its means. After that occasion, the miners, knowing they had this exit, troubled themselves very little about eboulements.

During its construction, the temperature of the tunnel re- mained tolerably uniform throughout the year, although much higher in some parts than in others. On the occasion of my visit in 1869, the exterior temperature was 634° Fahr. in the shade; a mile from the entrance it was 65°, and the mouth looked like the sun on a misty November day. At two miles the thermometer showed 70°, the atmosphere had become foul, and the mouth was invisible. In two hundred and fifty paces more, it had risen to 75°, the tunnel was filled with dense clouds of smoke, the light of an ordinary miner’s lamp could not be perceived at the distance of five or six yards, and respiration was difficult, for the atmosphere was vile. This was at the end of the finished work. Hence air was drawn by pumping-engines at the mouth, for it was here- abouts that all the foul vapours naturally accumulated. The great vault was no longer overhead, and the way was reduced to a drift eight or nine feet wide and scarcely as much high, en- cumbered with waggons filled with débris, between which and the walls one could barely pass. In a hundred feet or so, we emerged —comparatively speaking—into a blaze of light. Two hundred greasy, smoky, but still light-giving lamps, hung from the walls.

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CHAP. II. TEMPERATURE OF THE TUNNEL. 61

Drops of water flashed past them like gems. Two hundred men toiled at the enlargement of the gallery —bearded, grimy men, some on their backs, some on their sides, some working overhead, some half naked, some quite naked—all tapping laboriously at their mining-rods, and all perspiring profusely. The temperature had risen to 814°. The multitude of the lights, the crowd of men, and the obscurity of the smoke, helped to make the tunnel look an immense size—in fact, at, this part, in its rough, unfinished con- dition, it was sometimes little less than 30 feet high and 35 feet wide. Not merely was rock removed at the top and sides, to be afterwards replaced by masonry, but it was occasionally excavated for an inverted arch, which was placed wherever it was necessary. The temperature was, as nearly as possible, the same at the roof of the gallery as it was on the floor; for jets of compressed air were let off above. The work of the masons would otherwise have been unendurable.

There was a difference then of 18° Fahr. between the temper- ature outside the mouth and at the end of the finished work. In winter this difference was trebled or quadrupled. How much of the increase was due to the lights, men, and horses, and how much to the natural temperature of the rock? If the heat had increased in the tunnel, yard by yard, at the same rate as it does when descending into the earth, the temperature in its centre should have been about 90° higher than at its mouth. Although it was known that the rate of increase was much less than this, the actual rate was not known. I believe it is correct to say that not a single observation was made upon the natural temperature of the rock: until after the advanced galleries met. Shortly after their junction was effected, at the end of 1870, Signor F. Giordano (Inspector of Italian Mines) directed his attention to the question, and found that the highest reading he could obtain (near the centre of the tunnel) was 85°-1 Fahr. The temperature of the ai at the same part was slightly above 86°.

About 2000 feet on the French side of the tunnel were under-

62 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. OHAP. III.

going the processes of enlargement and completion in the summer of 1869. In some places portions of the advanced gallery re- mained untouched, and then one came to caverns, such as have been described above. This section was being completed faster than the advanced gallery was being driven. It was pleasant to get away from it farther into the bowels of the mountain; the heat became less, and the atmosphere more pure. The noise of the hammers died gradually away, and at last no sound could be heard, except of our own footsteps and of water running in the subway. After a time the banging of the chisels could be dis- tinguished which were at work on the front of the attack. Five hundred paces took us to them. The ponderous frame, technically called “Vaffit,” supported nine of the machines known as “ per-

“

foratrices;” each perforatrice propelled a boring-rod, and each boring-rod was striking the rock at the rate of 200 strokes per minute, with a force of 200 pounds.’ The terrific din that these 1800 strokes per minute, given with such force, made in a rock- chamber that was only 8 ft. 3 in. high, and 9 ft. 24 in. wide, can hardly be imagined; neither can an adequate idea be given of the admirable manner in which the machines accomplished their work. In spite of the noise and the cramped position in which the men necessarily toiled on account of the limited space, the work went steadily forward day and night. Each man knew his part. The foremen directed by signs rather than by words; the labourers guided the chisels; the workmen regulated the supply of air; the machinists were ready in case of accident; slim boys, with long-nosed cans, oiled the machinery. Order triumphed in the midst of apparent confusion. One saw the results of years of perfecting and of practice. Things were very different at the beginning, when everything was new both to workmen and — engineers.

The best form of boring-rod for all kinds of rock, excepting °

' The perforatrices were independent machines, and one could be stopped or removed without arresting the progress of the others.

CHAP. III. SYSTEM OF BORING ADOPTED. 63

such as were homogeneous, was hit upon in 1861, and it was always used afterwards.’ The head had the form of a Z. For homogeneous rock, the ordinary form of chisel was found best. Almost all the details of the machinery, the size of the gallery, the dimensions and number of the holes, and the manner of firing them, were changed since the beginning; the general principles alone remained unaltered. The system latterly adopted was as

follows. A hole 4? inches in diameter was made to a depth of

aa yy Va ro) °O a4 S 2 2

1)

fe) AO

| Zi}, O © i |

2 j

ke Soren Conn 9 ve a OnE: Pc Me eee, aie y,

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aera a :

) : Oo ° ea ° O° , : o m4 ve So 5 ZY

) e "

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— : : ° : ae ° ©

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rae

CROSS SECTION OF THE ADVANCED GALLERY.

about a yard, towards the centre of the drift, but rather nearer to the floor than to the roof. Fifty to sixty holes, according to circumstances, of less diameter, but of about equal depth, were then driven into the remainder of the face. All the holes were .then dried and cleaned by jets of compressed air, the “afftt” was withdrawn behind strong iron-bound doors, and six of the small holes nearest to the large one were charged and fired. The force

1 In 1863, on the French side, in order to advance one metre, 103 holes, 34

inches deep, were bored; 1254 lbs. of powder and 200 metres of match were consumed ; and 158 drills were used up.

64 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

of the explosion went in the direction of least resistance, which was towards the central hole, and a breach was made such as is indicated in the longitudinal section, given below, by the thick dotted line. The remaining holes were then charged and fired in sets of six or eight at a time, those nearest to the breach being exploded first. This system was found more economical than firing a large number of shots at one time. The waggons were then advanced, and the débris was cleared away; the two pairs of rails at the sides, shown in the

cross section, were for waggonets, y 7

whose contents were afterwards

transferred to large waggons. The “affat” was then again advanced. These operations were repeated with unvarying regularity twice every day.

The temperature at the work- ing face of the advanced gallery was seldom higher than from 75° to 76°, and the atmosphere was as pure as could be desired, when the machines were at work.! This, not- withstanding the presence of more than. thirty’ men,” and’ almost ds. ronefronwax section oh oun ayen many lamps, in a space about nine ioe, are agalg feet wide, eight high, and fifty long. The comparative lowness of the temperature was of course due to the expansion of the com- pressed air.

At the distance of a hundred and sixty paces, the sound of the machines could not be distinguished, and the atmosphere ' The temperature was raised to 80° or 86° after the mines were exploded. > 1 chef; 4 machinists; 2 master miners, who determined the direction of the holes ; 8 labourers, who guided the boring-rods ; 9 workmen, who looked after the

perforatrices ; 5 boys; 8 labourers ; 2 workmen, who kept up communication with the exterior,—in all, 39 persons.

CHAP. III. ACCIDENTS DURING CONSTRUCTION. 65

i

again gradually deteriorated as we returned to the region which might, not improperly, be termed infernal. Once more we passed through the foul vapours and the arniy of miners, engaged on the work of enlargement. Laborious as the work of these men un- doubtedly was, it was lighter and far less dangerous than that of our coal-cutters. The heat, although it seemed considerable to one coming from a lower temperature, was not excessive. The miners worked readily enough for their three francs a-day,' and took to their labours cheerfully ; very few skulkers were seen in the Mont Cenis tunnel. The following table shows how small was the risk to life.

Farat Accipents which occurred at the Great TUNNEL oF THE APs from the commencement of the works to Sept. 1871 (French side only) :-—

Inside the Tunnel. Outside the Tunnel. Hromdallsiotirock = 4) >; 4/8 Falls from heights. . . 2 Accidents from waggons . 14 From: falls of rock, <1.) 7-4 Premature explosions. . 3—25 Explosion of gunpowder . 5—11

Total . 36

Nearly one-half of the fatal accidents arose from men being run over by waggons. ‘This chiefly came from the impossibility of making the miners walk on the footways at the sides of the tunnel. They would walk on the rails. The result was that they were not unfrequently killed, although the greatest precautions were taken with the waggons descending with débris. The total is insignificant when one considers the number of men engaged and the length of time over which it was spread, and it compares favourably with almost any other enterprise of similar magnitude.

The waggons laden with débris ran down, on the French side, by their own weight, on account of*the gradient, and so did the truck on which I descended with my guide—the courteous engineer who directed the works. Fresh relays of miners were entering, and those whom they relieved were coming out with

1 The workmen in the advanced gallery received five franes a-day, and a small

bonus per métre if they exceeded a certain fixed distance. K

66 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

their arms around each others’ ‘waists “in the manner of school- boys and lovers.” The air seemed chilly, although it was a bright summer day; and our nostrils, for hours after leaving the tunnel, yielded such supplies of carbon as to suggest that the manufacture of compressed soot might have been profitably added to the already numerous industries of the works. *%

In 1869 about four thousand men were employed on the tunnel, and they completed ten to eleven feet every day. The average daily progress of the preceding five years was ten feet one inch. Each yard of progress cost latterly about £200. The

1 On the French side they were employed as follows (subdivisions are omitted for the sake of brevity) :— (1.) In the advanced gallery—

‘ Ajusteurs ’ ‘ ; ; 4 13 Miners 2 : : ‘ : 14 Labourers . 3 : : > LO Boys : ‘ : 3 : 18 ¢ : 180 (2.) Enlargement by manual labour— Miners : ; : : oO Labourers . : : , eS Boys : : : ; : 30 : : 720 Masonry— Masons and dressers of stone . 58 Labourers . : : ; AO Boys : : : . : 52 - é 280 (3.) Manufactories, machinery, stores (exterior works)— Smiths, joiners, fitters, etc. Pomel 20) Labourers . : ; F . 440 Boys ; ; ; : , 10 ; : 570 (4.) Overseers, foremen, clerks, etc. . ; : : 60 (5.) Platelayers, transport of materials, etc. : : 180 Total : ; 1990 Horse power of machines— Hydraulic wheels. : : ests 480 Ventilating machines : : ; : 300 Sundry. ‘ : 2 : 80 Total horse-power of machinery : 860

Horses employed in clearing away débris 80

4

CHAP. III. THE STRATA PIERCED. 67

total expenditure amounted to about £3,000,000 (£224 per yard). This sum, however, included the expense of the whole of the machinery and of the exterior works. The amount does not seem extravagant when we remember that for every yard of advance, never less—and frequently more—than seventy cubic yards of rock had to be excavated, and to be carried away (when the work was approaching completion) a distance of three miles; that about twenty-five cubic yards of masonry had to be built, the stone for which was conveyed twelve miles in a mountainous country ; that all the machinery employed was constructed and invented ex- pressly for the tunnel, and that the creation of two small towns was necessary.

The strata which were pierced agreed very satisfactorily in their nature and in their thickness with the indications of the geologists.’ Remarkably little water was met with: the miner’s dreaded enemy seemed to fly before the engineer who utilised its power. I have not entered into a description of the manner in which this was accomplished, because it has been frequently done by others; but there was nothing more interesting in regard to the tunnel than the way in which the waste powers of nature were applied for the reduction of the difficulties of the under-

1 TABLE OF THE STRATA, COMMENCING FROM THE FRENCH SIDE.

Thickness of the

Métres. Metres. Strata in Metres. 1. Débris . : ; from 0 to 128 128-00 2. Anthracitic schists : 5 128-00 2095-85 1967-35 Om Quarvzibe.” Wy. F : i 2095-35 BS 2476-75 381-40 4. Anhydrite . : : Eas 2476-75 a 2696-90 220-15 5. Compact calcareous rock oe 2696-90 ie 2730-90 34-00 6. Talcose schists . : 5 2730-90 * 2780-20 49-30 7. Compact calcareous rock a 2780-20 ‘ 2802-02 21-82 8. Anhydrite . : ‘ 45 2802-02 Fe 2831-75 29-73 9. Calcareous schists : op 2831-75 se 2852-95 21-20 10. Anhydrite . : : As 2852-95 55 2867-15 14-20 11. Calcareous schists ; a 2867-15 ss 3264-00 396-85 12. Anhydrite . ; F a}. 3264-00 sh 3334-45 70-45 13. Calcareous schists : “e 3334-45 Fa 2o:00) 8899-10

‘

SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. »

There was not a single steam-engine on the works;

68 CHAP. III.

taking.

everything was done with compressed air, or by hydraulic power. Just one half of the tunnel was driven at the end of October

1866, after more than nine years of labour. The third quarter was finished by the end of 1868, and upon the 26th December 1870 the junction of the advanced galleries was successfully effected. The engineers shook hands through a hole made in the centre of the drifts, and then blew away the narrow wall which separated France from Italy."

_ Four weeks before this took place, the men who were employed in the advanced gallery on the French side heard distant rumbling sounds, and leaving off work, could distinctly hear their comrades firing blasts in the other gallery. At this time the two parties

were about 400 feet distant from each other. As the interval

1 TABLE SHOWING THE ANNUAL PROGRESS OF THE ADVANCED GALLERY ON EACH SIDE.

BARDONNECHE. MopANne. Total of ve two General o ‘ sides per Total. 1857 27-28 10-80 38-08 By 1858 | 257-57 201-95 459-52 som 1859 | 236-35 6 132-75 362-10 ApOUT 1861 193-00 193-00 1862 243-00 243-00 1861 | 170-00 aah 170-00 1862 | 380-00 Saas 380-00 1863 | 426-00 376-00 802-00 By ieee ae 466-65 1087-85 4 865 | 765-30 458-40 23-7 mechanical < 1866 Nieto 6355-25 es 4232.30 heen > 10,587-55 means: 1867 | 824-30 687-81 1512-11 1868 | 638-60 681-55 1320-15 1869 | 827-70 603-75 1431-45 1870 | 889-45 745-85 1635-30 E Total ad- | Total Barry, 7080-25 || vance at }- 5153-80 || length of ; 12,233-55 : Modane tunnel J

CHAP. 1II. THE INAUGURATION. 69

which separated them lessened, so the excitement of the engineers became more and more intense. What if the two ends should not meet! At last the calewlated length of the tunnel (12,220 métres) was excavated, but still the galleries did not meet! The two parties knew from the sounds of the shots that they were very close to each other, and they proceeded with the utmost caution. Several trying days of suspense passed before the happy moment arrived, and then it was discovered that there was an error of 44} feet in the calculated length. This did not, however, cause any inconvenience. The work was pressed forward with increased assiduity, and on the 1st of September 1871 the masonry was completed, the rails were laid, and the tunnel was ready for use. It was formally opened on 17th September. The inaugural train of twenty carriages, drawn by two of the largest and most power- ful locomotives ever built, conveying 500 gentlemen, who had assembled together by invitation from all parts of Europe, left Turin at 6.30 A.M. and after a run of three hours and three- quarters arrived at Bardonnéche. A brief halt was made here, and then the train proceeded through the tunnel to Fourneaux (Modane). The passage through occupied twenty-two minutes. At Modane, a number of distinguished persons entered the train, whose length became increased to twenty-four carriages. This monster train started from Fourneaux to return to Bardonnéche at 12.30 p.m, drawn by two locomotives, and pushed behind by a third one. The return passage of the tunnel occupied forty-two minutes. At Bardonnéche a sumptuous banquet was given, to which about 700 persons sat down ; and, after it was over, the company returned to Turin.

From the first, very little inconvenience was experienced from the imperfect ventilation of the tunnel, and the temperature at its centre was by no means oppressive. In the shade at Bardonnéche, before the first run through was made, the thermometer registered 69° Fahr. The maximum heat in my carriage when passing through was 78°, and a quick-acting mercurial maximum thermo-

70 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. III.

meter, which I fixed on the outside of the carriage, registered only Cin le ihe steep gradient on the French side reduced the pace of the train on the return journey, and the thermometer outside the carriage registered 82°. Inside, however, 78° was, as before, the

maximum heat. 8

It is difficult to apportion the credit of bringing this great work to a successful end amongst those who were engaged upon it. From the commencement to the termination Grattoni and

GERMAIN SOMMEILLER,

Sommeiller were at the head of the enterprise, and upon them its chief responsibilities rested. They designed (sometimes separately, but more usually jointly) the whole of the machinery that was employed, and they gained the chief rewards. Grattoni lived to receive the highest honours. His friend and coadjutor Germain Sommeiller, exhausted by work, retired to his birth-place, St. Jeoire en Faucigny, to obtain a little rest. It was taken too late ; he succumbed to his labours, and died at the comparatively early age of fifty-six years, on the 11th of July"1871. “If we may believe the companions of his youth,” said M. Conte, at the conclusion of the pamphlet from which I have already quoted, a Sommeiller cherished the idea, which we now realise, at the

cHAP.1m. PRESENT TEMPERATURE OF THE TUNNEL. tal

time he was studying at the University of Turin. This idea he never abandoned.” Englishmen ought to be amongst the first to recognise his boldness and perseverance, although they played no part in the execution of the tunnel. It is the grandest conception of its kind; it must always be one of the highways of Europe;

and it has become an important portion of the high road to India.

NotTkr UPON THE PRESENT TEMPERATURE OF THE Mont Crnis TUNNEL.

The dowest temperature observed at the centre of the Tunnel in 1892 was 62°°6 Fahr., on February 15, at 1 p.m. At the same time, the temperature at the North (or Modane) mouth was 23° Fahr., and at the South (or Bardonnéche) mouth it was 35°°6 Fahr.

The highest temperature observed at the centre of the Tunnel in 1892 was 73°°4 Fahr., on October 15, at 1 p.m. ; and, at the same time, the temperature at the North mouth was 50°, and at the South mouth was 53°°6 Fahr.

This information was supplied by Signor F. Cornetti (Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo), who says that there is no sensible variation in temperature at the centre of the tunnel in any twenty-four hours, whatever fluctuations may occur at the mouths. Thus, on the 15th December 1892, temperature at the Bardonnéche mouth ranged from 26°°6 to 44°°6 Fahr., and at the Modane mouth from 24°'8 to 26°°6 Fahr., yet in the centre of the tunnel it remained constant at 64°°4 Fahr.

It would appear that the rock at the centre has cooled very considerably in the twenty-one years which have elapsed since the opening of the tunnel.

CHAPTER IV.

MY FIRST SCRAMBLE ON THE MAT IWORHORN.

‘What power must have been required to shatter and to sweep away the missing parts of this pyramid ; for we do not see it surrounded by heaps of frag- ments ; one only sees other peaks—themselves rooted to the ground—whose sides, equally rent, indicate an immense mass of débris, of which we do not see any t trace in the neighbourhood. Doubtless this is that débris which, in the form of pebbles, boulders, and sand, fills our valleys and our plains.” Dr SAUSSURE.

Two summits amongst those in the Alps which yet remained virgin had excited my admiration. One of these had been attacked numerous times by good mountaineers without success ; the other, surrounded by traditional inaccessibility, was almost untouched. These mountains were the Weisshorn and _ the Matterhorn.

After visiting the great tunnel of the Alps in 1861, I wandered for ten days in the neighbouring valleys, intending, presently, to attempt the ascent of these two peaks. Rumours were floating about that the former had been conquered, and that the latter was shortly to be assailed, and they were confirmed upon arrival at Chatillon, at the entrance of the Val Tournanche. My interest in the Weisshorn abated, but it was raised to the highest pitch on hearing that Professor Tyndall was at Breuil, and intending to try to crown his first victory by another and still greater one.

Up to this time my experience with guides had not been fortunate, and I was inclined, improperly, to rate them at a low value. They represented to me pointers out of paths, and large consumers of meat and drink, but little more; and, with the recol- lection of Mont Pelvoux, I should have greatly preferred the company of a couple of my countrymen to any number of guides. In answer to inquiries at Chatillon, a series of men came forward

OUAP. Iv. THE MATTERHORN. 73

whose faces‘expressed malice, pride, envy, hatred, and roguery of every description, but who seemed to be destitute of all good qualities. The arrival of two gentlemen with a guide, who they represented was the embodiment of every virtue, and exactly the man for the Matterhorn, rendered it unnecessary to engage any of the others. He was a man of large proportions ; and, although in acquiring him I did not obtain exactly what was wanted, his late employers did exactly what they wanted, for I incurred the re- sponsibility, without being aware of it, of paying his back fare, which must have been a relief at once to their minds and _ to their purses.

When’ walking up towards Breuil,’ we inquired for another man of all the knowing ones, and they, with one voice, proclaimed that Jean-Antoine Carrel, of the village of Val Tournanche, was the cock of his valley. We sought, of course, for Carrel; and found him a well-made, resolute-looking fellow, with a certain defiant air which was rather taking. Yes, he would go. Twenty francs a-day, whatever was the result, was his price. I assented. But I must take his comrade. “Why so?” Oh, it was impossible to get along without another man. As he said this an evil counte- nance came forth out of the darkness and proclaimed itself the comrade. I demurred, the negotiations broke off, and we went up to Breuil. This place will be frequently mentioned in subsequent chapters, and was in full view of the extraordinary peak, the ascent of which we were about to attempt.

It is unnecessary to enter into a minute description of the Matterhorn, after all that has been written about that famous mountain. Those by whom this book is likely to be read will know that the summit of the peak is nearly 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, and that it rises abruptly, by a series of cliffs which may properly be termed precipices, a clear 5000 feet above the glaciers which surround its base. They will know too that it was the last great Alpine peak which remained unscaled,—less on

1 Sometimes spelt Breil. L

74 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IV.

account of the difficulty of doin® so, than from the terror inspired by its invincible appearance. There seemed to be a cordon drawn around it, up to which one might go, but no farther. Within that invisible line gins and effreets were supposed to exist — the Wandering Jew and the spirits of the damned. The superstitious natives in the surrounding valleys (many of whom firmly believed it to be not only the highest mountain in the Alps, but in the world) spoke of a ruined city on its summit wherein the spirits dwelt; and if you laughed, they gravely shook their heads; told you to look yourself to see the castles and the walls, and warned one against a rash approach, lest the infuriate demons from their impregnable heights might hurl down vengeance for one’s derision. Such were the traditions of the natives. Stronger minds felt the influence of the wonderful form, and men who ordinarily spoke or wrote like rational beings, when they came under its power seemed to quit their senses, and ranted, and rhapsodised, losing for a time all common forms of speech. Even the sober De Saussure was moved to enthusiasm when he saw the mountain, and— inspired by the spectacle—he anticipated the speculations of later geologists, in the striking sentences which are placed at the head of this chapter.

The Matterhorn looks equally imposing from whatever side it is seen. It never seems commonplace; and in this respect, and in regard to the impression it makes upon spectators, it stands almost alone amongst mountains. It has no rivals in the Alps, and but few in the world.

The seven or eight thousand feet which compose the actual peak have several well-marked ridges and numerous others.1 The most continuous is that which leads towards the north-east; the summit is at its higher, and the little peak, called Hornli, is at its lower end. Another one that is well pronounced descends from the summit to the ridge called the Furggen Grat. The slope of the mountain that is between these two ridges will be referred to

1 See the Map of the Matterhorn and its Glaciers.

SUMMIT (14780)

SOUTH-BAST RIDGE fs eS

DIRECTION OF THE ZMUTT GLACIER

\

THE HORNLI (9492)

s é |

THE MATTERHORN FROM THE NORTH-EAST,

SUMMIT (14780)

SOUTH-WEST RIDGE NORTH-EAST RIDGE

Sea SHOULDER (17 HPAULB) COL DU LION EN AUTHOR'S FIRST TENT PLATFORM ! TYNDALL JULY 28, 1862 TRIE DU LION : WHYMPER, JULY 26, 1862 WHYMBER, JULY 19, 1862

TYNDALL, AUG, 20, 1860 CDONALD & WHYMPER, JULY &, (862

4 sel THE DENT BLANCHE a :

WHYMPER, AUG. 30, I8GI S SECOND TENT PLATFORM

GLACIER DU LION 2

THE MATTERHORN FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE THEODULE PASS.

(10,899 FEET)

in : 4,

CHAP. IV. Fe ar RIDGES OF THE MATTERHORN. 743)

as the eastern face. A third, somewhat less continuous than the others, descends in a south-westerly direction, and the portion of the mountain that is seen from Breuil is confined to that which is comprised between this and the second ridge. This section is not composed, like that between the first and second ridge, of one grand face; but it is broken up into a series of huge preci- pices, spotted with snow-slopes, and streaked with snow-gullies. The other half of the mountain, facing the Z’Mutt Glacier, is not capable of equally simple definition. There are precipices, apparent, but not actual; there are precipices absolutely per- pendicular; there are precipices overhanging; there are glaciers, and there are hanging glaciers; there are glaciers which tumble great séracs over greater cliffs, whose débris, subsequently con- solidated, becomes glacier again; there are ridges split by the frost, and washed by the rain and melted snow into towers and spires: while, everywhere, there are ceaseless sounds of action, telling that the causes are still in operation which have been at work since the world began; reducing the mighty mass to atoms, and effecting its degradation.

Most tourists obtain their first view of the mountain either from the valley of Zermatt or from that of Tournanche. From the former direction the base of the mountain is seen at its narrowest, and its ridges and faces seem to be of prodigious steep- ness. The tourist toils up the valley, looking frequently for the great sight which is to reward his pains, without seeing it (for the mountain is first perceived in that direction about a mile to the north of Zermatt), when, all at once, as he turns a rocky corner of the path, it comes into view; not, however, where it is expected; the face has to be raised up to look at it—it seems overhead. Although this is the impression, the fact is that the summit of the Matterhorn from this point makes an angle with the eye of less than 16°, while the Dom, from the same place, makes a larger angle, but is passed by unobserved. So little can dependence be placed on unaided vision.

aft Me

76 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. omar. vw.

The view of the mountain from Breuil, in the Val Tournanche, is scarcely less striking than that on the other side; but, usually, it makes less impression, because the. spectator has grown accustomed to the sight while coming up the valley. From this direction the mountain is seen to be broken up into a series of pyramidal wedge-shaped masses. On the othet side it is remark- able for the large, unbroken extent of cliffs that it presents, and for the simplicity of its outline. It was natural to suppose that a way would more readily be found to the summit on a side thus broken up than in any other direction. The eastern face, fronting Zermatt, seemed one smooth, inaccessible cliff, from summit to base. The ghastly precipices which face the Z’Mutt Glacier forbade any attempt in that direction. There remained only the side of Val Tournanche; and it will be found that nearly all the earliest attempts to ascend the mountain were made upon that side.

The first efforts to ascend the Matterhorn of which I have heard, were made by the guides, or rather by the chasseurs, of Val Tournanche." These attempts were made in the years 1858-9, from the direction of Breuil, and the highest point that was attained was about as far as the place which is now called the “Chimney” (cheminée), a height of about 12,650 feet. Those who were concerned in these expeditions were Jean-Antoine Carrel, Jean Jacques Carrel, Victor Carrel, the Abbé Gorret, and Gabrielle Maquignaz. I have been unable to obtain any further details respecting them.

The next attempt was a remarkable one; and of it, too, there is no published account. It was made by the Messrs. Alfred, Charles, and Sandbach Parker, of Liverpool, in July 1860. ‘These gentlemen, without guides, endeavoured to storm the citadel by attacking its eastern face >that to which reference was just now made as a smooth, impracticable cliff. Mr. Sandbach Parker

* There were no guides, properly speaking, in this valley at that time, with the exception of one or two Pessions and Pelissiers.

* This face is on the right hand of the large engraving facing this page. It is represented, more prominently, in the plate of the Matterhorn from the Riffelberg.

DENT BLANCHE

EAST FACE

THE “SHOULDER”

coL DU LION

Ni

|

| |

th

i

,

|

iD

) ij iit

THE MATTERHORN, FROM NEAR THE SUMMIT OF THE THEODULE PASS,

cHap.iv. FIRST ATTEMPTS TO ASCEND THE MATTERHORN. 77

informs me that he and his brothers went along the ridge between the Hornli and the peak until they came to the point where the ascending angle is considerably increased. This place is marked on Dufour’s map of Switzerland 3298 métres (10,820 feet). They were then obliged to bear a little to the left to get on to the face of the mountain, and, afterwards, they turned to the right, and ascended about 700 feet farther, keeping as nearly as was practicable to the crest of the ridge, but, occasionally, bearing a little to the left—that is, more on to the face of the mountain. The brothers started from Zermatt, and did not sleep out. Clouds, a high wind, and want of time, were the causes which prevented these daring gentlemen from going farther. Thus, their highest pot was under 12,000 feet. |

The third attempt to ascend the mountain was made towards the end of August 1860, by Mr. Vaughan Hawkins, from the side of the Val Tournanche. A vivid account of his expedition has been published by him in Vacation Tourists ;” and it has been referred to several times by Professor Tyndall in the numerous papers he has contributed to Alpine literature. I will dismiss it, therefore, as briefly as possible.

Mr. Hawkins had inspected the Matterhorn in 1859, with the guide J. J. Bennen, and had formed the opinion that the south- west ridge*® would lead to the summit. He engaged J. Jacques Carrel, who was concerned in the first attempts, and, accompanied by Bennen (and by Professor Tyndall, whom he had invited to take part in the expedition), he started for the gap between the little and the great peak.*

1 Mr. Hawkins was unaware that any attempts had been made before his own,

and spoke of it as the first. 2 Macmillan, 1861.

3 This ridge is seen on the left of the large engraving accompanying this chapter; and if the reader consults this view, the explanatory outlines, and the maps, he will be able to form a fair idea of the points which were attained on this

and upon the subsequent attempts. 4 Since this time the small peak has received the name Téte du Lion. The gap

is now called the Col du Lion ; the glacier at its base, the Glacier du Lion ; and the

gully which connects the Col with the glacier, the Couloir du Lion.

78 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IV.

Bennen was a guide who: was beginning to be talked about. During the chief part of his brief career he was in the service of Wellig, then landlord of the inn on the Eggischhorn, and was hired out by him to tourists. Although his experience was limited, he had acquired a good reputation; and his book of certificates, which is lying before me,! shows that he was highly esteemed by his employers. A good-looking man, with courteous,

J. Je BENNEN (1862).

gentlemanly manners, skilful and bold, he might have taken a front place amongst guides if he had only been endowed with more prudence. He perished miserably, in the spring of 1864, not far from his home, on a mountain called the Haut de Cry, in the Valais.”

Mr. Hawkins’ party, led by Bennen, climbed the rocks abutting against the Couloir du Lion, on its south side, and attained the Col du Lion, although not without difficulty. They then followed the south-west ridge, passed the place at which the

1 By the kindness of its owner, Mr. F. Tuckett. 2 See Appendix A.

CHAP. IV. MR. HAWKINS’ ATTEMPT IN 1860 9

earliest explorers had turned back (the Chimney), and ascended about 300 feet more. Mr. Hawkins and J. J. Carrel then stopped, but Bennen and Professor Tyndall mounted a few feet higher. They retreated, however, in less than half-an-hour, finding that there was too little time; and, descending to the Col by the same route as they had followed on the ascent, proceeded thence to Breuil, down the Couloir instead of by the rocks. The point at which Mr. Hawkins stopped is easily identified from his descrip- tion. Its height is 12,992 feet above the sea. I think that Bennen and Tyndall could not have ascended more than 50 or 60 feet beyond this in the few minutes they were absent from the others, as they were upon one of the most difficult parts of the mountain. This party therefore accomplished an advance of about 350 or 400 feet.

Mr. Hawkins did not, so far as I know, make another attempt ; and the next was made by the Messrs. Parker, in July 1861. They again started from Zermatt; followed the route they had struck out on the previous year, and got a little higher than before ; but they were defeated by want of time, shortly after- wards left Zermatt on account of bad weather, and did not again renew their attempts. Mr. Parker says—“In neither case did we go as high as we could. At the point where we turned we saw our way for a few hundred feet farther; but, beyond that, the difficulties seemed to increase.” I am informed that both attempts should be considered as excursions undertaken with the view of ascertaining whether there was any encouragement to make a more deliberate attack on the north-east side.

My guide and I arrived at Breuil on the 28th of August 1861, and we found that Professor Tyndall had been there a day or two before, but had done nothing. I had seen the mountain from nearly every direction, and an ascent of it seemed, even to a novice like myself, far too much for twenty-four hours. I

1 A view of this place faces p. 106.

80 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. Iv.

intended to sleep out upon it, as* high as possible, and to attempt to reach the summit on the following day. We endeavoured to induce another man to accompany us, but without success. Matthias zum Taugwald and other well-known guides were there at the time, but they declined to go on any account. A sturdy old fellow—Peter Taugwalder by name—said she would go! His price? “Two hundred frances.” “What, whether we ascend or not?” “ Yes—nothing less.” The end of the matter was, that all the men who were more or less capable showed a strong dis- inclination, or positively refused to go (their disinclination being very much in proportion to their capacity), or else asked a pro- hibitive price. This, 1t may be said once for all, was the reason why so many futile attempts were made upon the Matterhorn. One first-rate guide after another was brought up to the mountain, and patted on the back, but all declined the business. The men who went had no heart in the matter, and took the first opportunity to turn back.’ For they were, with the exception of one man, to whom reference will be made presently, universally impressed with the belief that the summit was entirely inaccessible.

We resolved to go alone, and anticipating a cold bivouac, begged the loan of a couple of blankets from the innkeeper. He refused them; giving the curious reason, that we had bought a bottle of brandy at Val Tournanche, and had not bought any from him! No brandy, no blankets, appeared to be his rule. We did not require them that: night, as it was passed in the highest cow- shed in the valley, which is about an hour nearer to the mountain than is the hotel. The cowherds, good fellows, seldom troubled by tourists, hailed our company with delight, and did their best to make us comfortable; brought out their little stores of simple food, and, as we sat with them round the great copper pot which hung over the fire, bade us in husky voice; though with honest intent, to beware of the perils of the haunted cliffs. When night was coming on, we saw, stealing up the hill-side, the forms of Jean-

' The guide Bennen must be excepted.

CHAP. IV. JHAN-ANTOINE CARREL. 7 81

Antoine Carrel and the comrade. “Oh ho!” I said, “you have repented?” “Not at all; you deceive yourself.” “Why then have you come here?” “Because we ourselves are going on the mountain to-morrow.” “Oh, then it is not necessary to have more than three.” “Not for us.” I admired their pluck, and had a strong inclination to engage the pair; but, finally, decided against it. The comrade turned out to be the J. J. Carrel who had been with Mr. Hawkins, and was nearly related to the other man.

JEAN-ANTOINE CARREL (1869).

Both were bold mountaineers; but Jean-Antoine was incom- parably the better man of the two, and was the finest rock-climber I have ever seen. He was the only man who persistently refused to accept defeat, and who continued to believe, in spite of all dis- couragements, that the great mountain was not inaccessible, and that it could be ascended from the side of his native valley.

The night wore away without any excitement, except from some fleas, a party of whom executed a spirited fandango on my cheek, to the sound of music produced on the drum of my ear, by one of their fellows beating with a wisp of hay. The two Carrels

M

82 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IV.

crept noiselessly out before daybreak, and went off. We did not leave until nearly seven o’clock, and followed them leisurely, leay- ing all our properties in the cow-shed ; sauntered over the gentian- studded slopes which intervene between the shed and the Glacier du Lion, left cows and their pastures behind, traversed the stony wastes, and arrived at the ice. Old beds of hard snow lay on its right bank (our left hand), and we mounted over them on to the lower portion of the glacier with ease. But, as we ascended, crevasses became numerous, and we were at last brought to a halt by some which were of very large dimensions; and, as our cutting powers were limited, we sought an easier route, and turned, naturally, to the lower rocks of the Téte du Lion, which overlook the glacier on its west. Some good scrambling took us in a short time on to the crest of the ridge which descends towards the south; and thence, up to the level of the Col du Lion, there was a long natural staircase, on which it was seldom necessary to use the hands. I dubbed the place “The Great Staircase.” Then the cliffs of the Téte du Lion, which rise above the Couloir, had to be skirted. This part varies considerably in different seasons, and in 1861 we found it difficult; for the fine weather of that year had reduced the snow-beds abutting against it to a lower level than usual, and the rocks which were left exposed at the junction of the snow with the cliffs had few ledges or cracks to which we could hold. But by half-past ten o’clock we stood on the Col, and looked down upon the magnificent basin out of which the ZMutt Glacier flows. We decided to pass the night upon the Col, for we were charmed with the capabilities of the place, al- though it was one where liberties could not be taken. On one side a sheer wall overhung the Tiefenmatten Glacier. On the other, steep, glassy slopes of hard snow descended to the Glacier du Lion, furrowed by water and by falling stones. On the north there was the great peak of the Matterhorn,’ and on the south the

1 The engraving is made after a sketch taken from the rocks of the Matterhorn, just above the Col.

CHAP. IV. MY FIRST CAMP ON THE MATTERHORN. 83

cliffs of the Téte du Lion. Throw a bottle down to the Tiefen- matten—no sound returns for more than a dozen seconds.

7

si ke ‘how fearful

And dizzy ‘tis, to cast one’s eyes so low!”

THE COL DU LION: LOOKING TOWARDS THE TETE DU LION.

But no harm could come from that side. Neither could it from the other. Nor was it likely that it would from the Téte du Lion, for some jutting ledges conveniently overhung our proposed resting-place. We waited for a while, basked in the sunshine,

84 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IV.

and watched or listened to the Carrels, who were sometimes seen or heard, high above us, upon the ridge leading towards the summit; and, leaving at mid-day, we descended to the cow-shed, packed up the tent and other properties, and returned to the Col, although heavily laden, before six o’clock. This tent was con- structed on a pattern suggested by Mr. Frahcis Galton, and it was not a success. It looked very pretty when set up in London, but it proved thoroughly useless in the Alps. It was made of light canvas, and opened like a book; had one end closed per- manently and the other with flaps; it was supported by two alpenstocks, and had the canvas sides prolonged so as to turn in underneath. Numerous cords were sewn to the lower edges, to which stones were to be attached; but the main fastenings were by a cord which passed underneath the ridge and through iron rings screwed into the tops of the alpenstocks, and were secured by pegs. The wind, which playfully careered about the surround- ing cliffs, was driven through our gap as through a blow-pipe; the flaps of the tent would not keep down, the pegs would not stay in, and it exhibited so marked a desire to go to the top of the Dent Blanche, that we thought it prudent to take it down and sit upon it. When night came on we wrapped ourselves in it, and made our camp as comfortable as the circumstances would allow. The silence was impressive. No living thing was near our solitary bivouac; the Carrels had turned back and were out of hearing; the stones had ceased to fall, and the trickling water to

murmur— ‘“The music of whose liquid lip Had been to us companionship, And, in our lonely life, had grown To have an almost human tone.” }

It was bitterly cold. Water froze hard in a bottle under my head. Not surprising, as we were actually on snow, and in a position where the slightest wind was at once felt. For a time we dozed,

1 J. G. Whittier.

CHAP. IV. LIGHT AND SHADE. 85

but about midnight there came from high aloft a tremendous explosion, followed by a second of dead quiet. A great mass of rock had split off, and was descending towards us. My guide started up, wrung his hands, and exclaimed, “O my God, we are lost!” We heard it coming, mass after mass pouring over the precipices, bounding and rebounding from cliff to cliff, and the great rocks in advance smiting one another. They seemed to be close, although they were probably distant, but some small frag- ments, which dropped upon us at the same time from the ledges just above, added to the alarm, and my demoralised companion passed the remainder of the night in a state of shudder, ejaculat- ing ‘terrible, and other adjectives.

We put ourselves in motion at daybreak, and commenced the ascent of the south-west ridge. There was no more sauntering with hands in the pockets,—each step had to be earned by down- right climbing. But it was the most pleasant kind of climbing. The rocks were fast and unencumbered with débris; the cracks were good, although not numerous; and there was nothing to fear except from one’s-self. So we thought, at least, and shouted to awake echoes from the cliff Ah! there is no response. Not yet; wait a while, everything here is upon a superlative scale. Count a dozen, and then the echoes will return from the walls of the Dent d’Hérens, miles away, in waves of pure and undefiled sound; soft, musical, and sweet. Halt a moment to regard the view! We overlook the Téte du Lion, and nothing except the Dent d’Hérens, whose summit is still a thousand feet above us, stands in the way ; the ranges of the Graian Alps—an ocean of mountains—are seen at a glance, governed by their three great peaks, the Grivola, Grand Paradis, and Tour du Grand St. Pierre. How soft, and yet how sharp, they look in the early morning! The mid-day mists have not begun to rise; nothing is obscured; even the pointed Viso, all but a hundred miles away, is perfectly defined.

Turn to the east, and watch the sun’s slanting rays coming across the Monte Rosa snow-fields. Look at the shadowed parts,

86 SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. CHAP. IV.

and see how even they—radiant with reflected light—are more brilliant than man knows how to depict. See, how—even there— the gentle undulations give shadows within shadows; and how— yet again—where falling stones or ice have left a track, there are shadows upon shadows, each with a light and a dark side, with infinite gradations of matchless tenderness. When, note the sun- light as it steals noiselessly along, and reveals countless unsus- pected forms ;—the delicate ripple-lines which mark the concealed crevasse, and the waves of drifted snow; producing each minute more lights and fresh shadows; sparkling on the edges and glittering on the ends of the icicles; shining on the heights and illuminating the depths, until all is aglow, and the dazzled eye returns for relief to the sombre crags.

Hardly an hour had passed since we left the Col before we arrived at the “Chimney.” It proved to be the counterpart of the place to which reference has been made at p. 5; a smooth, straight slab of rock was fixed, at a considerable angle, between two others equally smooth." My companion essayed to go up, and, after crumpling his long body into many ridiculous positions, he said that he would not, for he could not, manage it. With some little trouble I got up unassisted, and then my guide tied himself on to the end of our rope, and I endeavoured to pull him up. But he was so awkward that he did little for himself, and so heavy that he proved too much for me, and after several attempts he untied himself, and quietly observed that he should go down. I told him he was a coward, and he mentioned his opinion of me. I requested him to go to Breuil, and to say that he had left his ‘monsieur’ on the mountain, and he turned to go; whereupon I had to eat humble pie and ask him to come back; for, although it was not very difficult to go up, and not at all dangerous with a man standing below, it was quite another thing to come down, as the lower edge overhung in a provoking manner.

' Mr. Hawkins referred to this place as one of excessive difficulty. He, however, found it coated with ice; we found it free from ice.

CHAP. IV. A COOL PROCEEDING. 87

The day was perfect; the sun was pouring down grateful warmth; the wind had fallen; the way seemed clear, no in- superable obstacle was in sight; but’ what could one do alone ? I stood on the top, chafing under this unexpected contretemps, and remained for some time irresolute ; but as it became apparent that the Chimney was swept more frequently than was necessary (it was a natural channel for falling stones), I turned at last, descended with the assistance of my companion, and returned with him to Breuil, where we arrived about mid-day.

The Carrels did not shew themselves. We were told that they had not got to any great height,’ and that the ‘comrade,’ who for convenience had taken off his shoes and tied them round his waist, had managed to let one of them slip, and had come down with a piece of cord fastened round his naked foot. Not- withstanding this, they had boldly glissaded down the Couloir du Lion, J. J. Carrel having his shoeless foot tied up in a pocket handkerchief.

The Matterhorn was not assailed again in 1861. I left Breuil with the conviction that it was little use for a single person to organise an attack upon it, so great was its influence on the morals of the guides; and persuaded that it was desirable at least two should go, to back each other when required: and departed with my guide” over the Col Théodule, longing, more than before, to make the ascent, and determined to return, if possible, with a companion, to lay siege to the mountain until one or the other was vanquished.

1 J learned afterwards from Jean-Antoine Carrel that they got considerably higher than upon their previous attempts, and about 250 or 300 feet higher than Professor Tyndall in 1860. In 1862, I saw the initials of J.-A. Carrel cut on the