ASCENT OF THE STRAHLECK. 303 



reached the base of the Strahleck. Their two 

 guides, Leuthold and Wahren, had engaged 

 three additional men for this excursion, so that 

 they now had five guides, none of whom were 

 superfluous, since they carried with them va- 

 rious barometric instruments which required 

 careful handling. They began the ascent in 

 single file, but the slopes soon became so steep 

 and the light snow (in which they floundered 

 to the knees at every step) so deep, that the 

 guides resorted to the usual method in such 

 cases of tying them all together. The two 

 head guides alone, Leuthold and Wahren, re- 

 mained detached, clearing the snow in front 

 of them, cutting steps in the ice, and giving 

 warning, by cry and gesture, of any hidden 

 danger in the path. At nine o'clock, after an 

 hour's climbing, they stepped upon the small 

 plateau, evenly covered with unbroken snow, 

 formed by the summit of the Strahleck. 



The day had proved magnificent. With a 

 clear sky above them, they looked down upon 

 the valley of Grindelwald at their feet, while 

 around and below them gathered the Schei- 

 deck and the Faulhorn, the pyramidal outline 

 of the Niesen, and the chain of the Stock- 

 horn. In front lay the great masses of the 

 Eiger and the Monch, while to the southwest 



