102 Historical 



exception, we were very well, gay, and full of confidence. We noted 

 this slight discomfort only to be rigorously exact. 



A. Simon almost fainted while I was feeling his pulse. He was 

 standing, and just had time to lie down on the snow to avoid a 

 complete loss of consciousness. After our arrival, he had been busy 

 clearing the tent and setting out our camping equipment without 

 feeling any discomfort; however, this time he was not quite as well 

 as the others. After some time he recovered and even ate with 

 appetite. In the evening, everyone was well; our two invalids had 

 recovered from their fatigue; I slept at night, although very uncom- 

 fortable because I could not stretch out my legs. I also felt some 

 rheumatic pains in my right knee, toward the inner edge of the knee- 

 cap, and a little neuralgia on the outer side of the left thigh. M. 

 Bravais made observations until midnight. August 29, at four o'clock 

 in the morning, I made the first observation. I was rested and felt 

 quite strong, but I had no appetite; the only food I cared to eat was a 

 few raisins; the provisions, which had been thoroughly frozen for a 

 month, and especially the meat, filled me with disgust. About six 

 o'clock, M. Bravais and I took a little bread and wine. The first hours 

 of the morning were passed in making observations and a few experi- 

 ments, during which we were standing, coming and going on the soft 

 snow. At ten minutes past ten, we started for the summit. 



The crossing of the Grand-Plateau was painful because of the 

 snow into which we sank up to the calf. I did not feel as strong as 

 in the morning, but I felt no distress. I perspired abundantly while 

 crossing the Grand-Plateau and during the first half-hour of the 

 ascent. Our hands and feet were very cold, those of M. Bravais 

 particularly. M. Martins lost his breath a little more and a little 

 more quickly than we did. Up to the foot of the upper Rochers 

 Rouges, about 4,400 meters, I had no discomfort of any sort; we took 

 350 or 400 steps consecutively without stopping for breath; but when 

 we reached this number, we felt the need of resting for a few 

 moments. The grade which we were climbing, measured with a 

 geologist's compass, was, at the elevation of 4,300 meters, 42°, and 

 the slope of our course was 16°. 



About 4,400 meters, I began to feel after ten or twelve steps a 

 little fatigue with pain like that of lumbago in the legs and knees. I 

 counted my steps again, we were still taking one hundred between 

 halts; but the last twenty were very painful to me. This pain in the 

 legs stopped as soon as I halted, and the first steps I took after that 

 were very easy. I began to be very anxious that the grade should 

 become easier. A quarter of an hour before we reached the top of 

 the upper Rochers Rouges it did become less steep. About this height 

 (4,500 meters) I perspired a little, but it lasted only a few moments. 

 After a short pause, we continued the ascent; a little before the top 

 of the upper Rochers Rouges, I had begun to feel an undefinable 

 discomfort when I was walking; I had neither headache nor palpi- 

 tations, once or twice I felt a few throbs in the carotids, no doubt 

 because I had made a few steps more quickly than the others. I was 

 not nauseated either, but I felt a general discomfort, a sort of exhaus- 

 tion. I was weak and it seemed to me that I had just enough strength 



