106 Historical 



This work was painful; each of them had hardly removed a few 

 shovelfuls when he stopped to breathe; a hidden distress was revealed 

 on every face; appetites were gone. Auguste Simon, the tallest, the 

 strongest, the most daring of the guides, collapsed upon the snow, 

 and almost fainted while Dr. Lepileur was feeling his pulse; it was 

 the effect of the rarefaction of the air added to fatigue and insomnia, 

 from which all of us suffered more or less. We were then about 4000 

 meters above sea level, and there are few men who are not inconven- 

 ienced at 3000 meters. I am not surprised that in this ascent we felt 

 the effects of the rarefaction of the air, which we had hardly noticed 

 in the two previous ascents. Never had we mounted so quickly from 

 Chamounix to the Grand-Plateau; starting from 1040 meters above sea 

 level, after ten and a half hours of walking we were at an elevation 

 of 3930 meters; that is a difference in level of 2890 meters, traversed 

 in less than a half day. All discomfort disappeared when we ceased 

 moving. (P. 25 of the separate printing.) 



The next day, they finished the ascent: 



The rarefaction of the air ... . compelled us to walk slowly; 

 every twenty steps we stopped breathless .... 



We were reaching the goal, but we were walking slowly, our 

 heads lowered, our chests heaving, like a procession of invalids. The 

 effect of the rarefaction of the air was felt painfully: the column 

 paused constantly. Bravais wishes to find out how long he could 

 continue climbing as quickly as possible; he stopped at the thirty- 

 second step without being able to take one more. At last at a quarter 

 of two we reached the long desired summit. (P. 27.) 



The account of the ascent of July 19, 1859, made by MM. 

 Chomel 144 and Crozet, has also given us interesting observations; 

 they followed a route different from the usual one, from the beaten 

 path, we may say, so frequent have journeys to Mont Blanc 

 become: 



There comes at last the cap of Mont Blanc, which, in spite of its 

 slight elevation above the Mer de Glace, nevertheless requires two 

 more tedious hours of ascent. During this last stretch, the lack of air 

 makes every movement of the body painful, and one must make 

 superhuman efforts to resist palpitations, sleep, and fainting .... 



Only a few feet now separate us from this long-desired summit. 

 Our self-respect spurs us on, and rising from the snow on which we 

 were stretched, we cover the rest of the way at a run .... 



And here we are on the summit of the giant of the Alps. The 

 first impression .... was, alas! a dizziness and contractions of the 

 stomach which made us reel. 



The celebrated English physicist Tyndall 145 is one of the most 

 ardent mountaineers in the Alps. Every year sees him planting 

 his alpenstock on some new summit. And it is not only with a 

 scientific purpose that he runs thus the greatest dangers; it is not 



