76 Historical 



At the time of his second journey, in October, 1837, the officers 

 of the Astrolabe and the Zelee made the ascent of the Peak. 

 Dumont d'Urville 104 reports their sensations in these words: 



In agreement with my observations in 1826, MM. Dumoulin and 

 Coupvent noted .... the numbness of the extremities of the body. 

 During the night, the thermometer dropped to — 0.5°. MM. Dubouzet, 

 Dumoulin, and Coupvent, especially the latter, felt severe headaches. 

 (P. 32.) 



The surgeon, Le Guillou, 105 reporting the same ascent, says: 



Several of our comrades were afflicted by a strange symptom; 

 they had copious nosebleeds, and we were forced to stop a few 

 moments. (P. 29.) 



On September 18, 1842, ascent of M. Charles Sainte-Claire De- 

 ville; 10G he does not say a word about physiological disturbances. 



Itier, 107 who climbed the Peak December 28, 1843, gives more 

 importance than his predecessors to the sufferings he felt: 



We left the Estancia d'Ariba (3104 meters), and mounted on foot 

 the sort of path which winds between two flows of obsidian; walking 

 is painful among these fragments of pumice stone mingled with ashes 

 which give under the foot; besides, the sun began to affect us, and 

 the effect of the rarefaction of the air soon added to the fatigue of 

 our effort. My heart throbbed violently, and the arteries of my brain 

 shared in this distress; the headache it caused forced me to stop 

 frequently; my companion, less accustomed to mountains than I, felt 

 these effects much more than I did; he stopped every ten steps, 

 suffocating, exhausted. (Vol. I, p. 28.) 



I shall quote finally the account reported from the notes of a 

 traveller by Madame Elizabeth Murray, an English artist, 108 of an 

 ascent of the Peak, made in August, by four Englishmen and an 

 American: 



To pass the night, we made our bivouac at the Estancia de los 

 Ingleses, at a height of 9933 feet. (Vol. II, p. 20.) .... 



One of us was seized by extreme weakness, shivering, and 

 violent headache; we covered him with rugs, lighted a good fire, 

 and the heat, added to the effects of a little liquor, partially revived 

 him. (P. 121.) 



It was late, and we stretched ourselves on the ground, wrapped 

 in our rugs. Shortly after, my companion on the right rose and 

 complained bitterly of extreme cold, pains, and distress in his stomach. 

 We placed him near the fire, and gave him warm water and brandy. 

 He began to be well enough to permit us to sleep when my 

 neighbor on the left was attacked, then treated in the same way. 

 Both suffered severely from the symptoms well known to ocean 

 voyagers; these symptoms are not rare on the Peak; they are some- 

 times attributed to sulphurous exhalations, but I think that they are 



