1841-42-] ASCENT OF THE JUNGFRAU. 189 



ascent of the Jungfrau. Until then no tourist had suc- 

 ceeded in reaching the top of the Jungfrau. During 

 the last two years Agassiz had often discussed with his 

 favourite guide, Jacob Leuthold, the means of reaching 

 that virgin peak, the great landmark of the Bernese 

 Oberland. 1 On the 2/th of August, Agassiz with 

 Forbes, Heath, Desor, and two others, and six guides, 

 left the Grimsel at four o'clock in the morning, arriving 

 at six o'clock P.M. at the Meril Chalets, near the lake, 

 where they were well received by the herders, who were 

 rather astonished at the arrival of such a large party. 



Next morning, at five o'clock, they left Meril, aiming 

 for the Aletsch glacier ; after a fatiguing walk on rather 

 slippery ground, among " crevasses ' and over snow 

 fields, the party reached the base of the last slope at 

 three o'clock P.M. Four of the party had been forced 

 by fatigue or giddiness to remain behind ; but the other 

 eight- -one after another in turn- -gained the summit, 

 which is only two feet long by a foot and a half broad. 

 Agassiz was the first, then Desor, Forbes behind, and a 

 French tourist, M. Duchatelier of Nantes, fourth. At 

 four o'clock the descent began ; and they arrived all safe 

 at half-past eleven P.M. at the Meril Chalets. Three 

 days later Agassiz was again at the " Hotel des Neucha- 

 telois," where he found his artist-friend, Burkhardt, 

 and his assistant, Charles Girard, anxiously awaiting his 

 return. 



1 The two brothers, Rudolph and Jerome Meyer of Aarau, in 1811 and 

 1812, made two ascents of the Jungfrau with success, although the fact is 

 contested by the mountaineers of the country. At all events, a party of 

 guides, with J. Baumann as chief, succeeded in reaching the summit on the 

 8th of September, 1828. 



