562 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



mass of rock, but it is my belief from the movements of their shoulders, that 

 Croz, having done as I have said, was in the act of turning round to go down a 

 step or two himself; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell against him and 

 knocked him over. I heard one startled exclamation from Croz, then saw him 

 and Mr. Hadow flying downward: in another moment Hudson was dragged from 

 his steps, and Lord F. Douglas immediately after him. All this was the work of 

 a moment. Immediately we heard Croz's exclamation, old Peter and I planted 

 ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit: the rope was taut between us, 

 and the jerk came on us both as on one man. We held, but the rope broke 

 midway between Taugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few seconds we 

 saw our unfortunate companions sliding downward on their backs, and spreading 

 out their hands, endeavoring to save themselves. They passed from our sight 

 uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from precipice to precipice on to 

 the Matterhorngletscher below, a distance of nearly four thousand feet in height. 

 From the moment the rope broke it was impossible to help them. So perished 

 our comrades. 



Only Whymper and two of the guides were saved by the breaking 

 of the rope. 



For the space of half an hour we remained on the spot without moving a 

 single step. The two men, paralyzed by terror, cried like infants. . . . Old Peter 

 rent the air with exclamations of "Chamonix! Oh, what will Chamonix say?" 

 He meant, "Who would believe that Croz could fall?" The young man did 

 nothing but scream or sob, ' ' We are lost ! we are lost ! ' ' Fixed between the two 

 I could neither move up nor down. 



It was hours afterward before they descended the mountain and 

 some days before the bodies of three of the unfortunates were Tescued; 

 that of Lord Francis Douglas was never found. Some day, perhaps, 

 it will come forth fresh and life-like from the foot of the glacier. 



Such were the difficulties of Alpine climbing in 1865. Scarcely can 

 we realize to-day what an achievement this was. Says Javelle in his 

 " Souvenirs d'un Alpiniste " : 



After the first ascent of Mont Blanc and until that of Everest the most 

 beautiful conquest of the climbers is certainly the Matterhorn. 



Besides his own trials, Whymper describes seven other well-organ- 

 ized attempts to scale the mountain that had been made during the 

 half-dozen years preceding his achievement. The fearful cold, snow 

 storms and almost cyclonic winds of the upper reaches, contributed to 

 the discomfiture of these earlier parties. One might add that while 

 these other climbers were fine, bold mountaineers, they lacked the 

 extraordinary preparedness and resourcefulness, amounting almost to 

 luck, of Edward Whymper. 



It may be said that this ascent made little direct contribution to 

 the sum of knowledge. It did have the effect, however, of awakening 

 a widespread interest in the Alps. Of course, the terrible accident con- 

 tributed not a little to this result. The next few years witnessed the 



