Exercise at high altitudes 



273 



conical peak of pure white which commands the Gressoney Valley. 

 To the right of this was our way, up a snow slope and still up, till 

 we reached the Lysjoch glacier, and then we were on a vast plateau 

 from which rise the peaks which form the crown of the Monte Rosa 

 group. Lyskamm was on the left, the punta Parrot, the punta Gnifetti, 

 the Ludwigshohe, and the Pyramid Vincent on the right ; for about 

 half an hour's walk it was level, though the snow entailed a certain 

 amount of effort. Looking down to the left, past Lyskamm, was the 

 Gorner Grat and Monte Cervino (Matterhorn) beyond. Our height 

 may be grasped from the fact that we were then about the level of 



FIQ. 132. The Capanna Margherita. (Aggazzotti.) 



the top of the Matterhorn. Suddenly we turned to the right and as 

 I have said crept slowly up the punta Gnifetti to the summit. 



Whilst I cannot hope that my description will really bring the 

 scene before the eye of the reader, it will suffice to show that such 

 a walk would be an intolerably tedious stroll at ordinary levels. Yet 

 it taxed our powers to the full. I cannot for a moment suppose that 

 any appreciable degree of meionexy would be induced by a walk 

 from say Fort William to the top of Ben Nevis in seven or eight or 

 nine hours. The only symptoms from which the pedestrian would 

 suffer would probably be those of cold. Not so when we arrived at 



B. R. F. 18 



