Mountain Journeys 83 



I made different tests to shorten this rest; I tried, for example, not 

 to continue to the end of my strength, and to stop an instant every 

 four or five steps, but I gained nothing; I was obliged, after fifteen 

 or sixteen steps, to take a rest as long as if I had made them consec- 

 utively; and this was very noteworthy, that the greatest distress 

 is not felt until eight or ten seconds after one has stopped walking. 

 The only thing that did me any good and increased my strength was 

 the cold air of the wind from the north; when as I climbed I had 

 my face turned in that direction, and swallowed great mouthfuls of 

 the air coming from it, I could take twenty-five or twenty-six steps 

 without stopping. (P. 171.) 



At last the highest crest was reached: 



§1991. I now had to make the observations and experiments, 

 which alone gave some value to this journey; and I was terribly 

 afraid that I should be able to do only a small part of what I had 

 planned. For I had already found, even on the plateau where we 

 had slept, that every observation made carefully tires one in this 

 thin air, and that is because, without realizing it, one holds his breath; 

 and since there one must compensate for the rarity of the air by the 

 frequency of his breathing, this suspension caused definite distress; I 

 was obliged to rest and to pant after observing any instrument as 

 after making a steep ascent. (P. 175.) 



What De Saussure had foreseen happened: 



§1965. When I had to get to work to set out the instruments and 

 observe them, I was constantly forced to interrupt my work and 

 devote myself entirely to breathing .... 



When I remained perfectly quiet, I felt only slight distress, a 

 little tendency to nausea. 



But when I took pains, or when I fixed my attention for a few 

 moments consecutively, and especially when I compressed my chest 

 by stooping, I had to rest and pant for two or three minutes. My 

 guides experienced similar sensations. They had no appetite. (P. 147.) 



§2021. Some could not endure all these kinds of sufferings, and 

 descended first to reach a milder air. (P. 208.) 



Farther on, De Saussure makes a very accurate statement, which 

 explains many exaggerations and many doubts: 



§2021. I observed a rather curious fact, that for some individuals 

 there are perfectly - marked limits, where for them the rarity of the 

 air becomes absolutely unendurable. I have often taken with me 

 peasants, elsewhere very robust, who at a certain height were sud- 

 denly so affected that they absolutely could not ascend higher; and 

 neither rest, nor cordials, nor the keenest desire to reach the crest 

 of the mountain could make them pass this limit. They were attacked, 

 some by palpitations, others by vomiting, others by faints, others by 

 a violent fever, and all these symptoms, disappeared as soon as they 

 breathed a denser air. I have seen persons, but only a few, whom 

 these symptoms forced to stop at eight hundred fathoms above sea 



