110 Historical 



The night at the Grands-Mulets was horrible .... At half-past 

 two we set out. 



At daybreak they reached the Grand-Plateau (3932 meters) : 



We stopped a moment to breathe .... The guides took a little 

 nourishment; but it was completely impossible for me to swallow a 

 single mouthful, although I still felt quite well. 



We climbed very slowly; we all felt an inclination to sleep which 

 was very difficult to struggle against and an intense occipital head- 

 ache, thirst and dryness of the throat, only a few palpitations, but a 

 wretched pulse which varied between 160 to 172 per minute. 



When we reached the ridge, we were all tired, and it seemed to 

 me that it would be completely impossible for me to go further. None 

 of us vomited, but almost all of us were nauseated. Like those who are 

 attacked by seasickness, I was completely indifferent about myself 

 and the others, and I wanted only one thing, to remain motionless. 

 The Englishmen who were following us seemed even more affected 

 than we were; one of them was obliged to stop and soon retraced his 

 steps. 



At last they reached the summit of Mont Blanc: 



I no longer felt any kind of illness, but the breathlessness was 

 extreme as soon as I wished to take a few steps rapidly. The least 

 movement caused me disagreeable palpitations. One of my com- 

 panions, who had felt no ill effect until then, was attacked suddenly, 

 as soon as he had reached the summit, by dizziness and almost con- 

 stant vomiting which did not cease until he reached the Grand-Plateau 

 on the way down. His stomach was empty, so that he vomited only 

 glairy and bilious matter with very painful efforts. Nothing succeeded 

 in stopping this stomach trouble; only one thing seemed to relieve his 

 condition at all, that was small fragments of pure ice which he 

 managed to swallow from time to time. His pulse was very uneven, 

 very wretched, and the thermometer placed under his tongue hardly 

 went above +32°! 



The sun was warm, the atmosphere fairly calm, so it was with 

 surprise that I observed that the temperature of the air was — 9°. 



We remained at the summit nearly two hours to make the experi- 

 ments of which I shall speak later. While I was resting, I felt quite 

 well, although it was impossible for me to take the least nourishment. 

 (P. 16.) 



The second ascent went much better. The night at the Grands- 

 Mulets was good; magnificent weather made the walking easy: 



We felt almost no discomfort except a leaden sleepiness while we 

 were climbing the slope which leads to the Dome. I have never felt any- 

 thing like it, and I am sure that I slept while I was walking. But 

 when I reached the ridge, the cold air and rubbing my forehead with 

 snow removed this congestion. 



I felt much better than on the first ascent. I even had an appetite 

 and could eat some morsels with pleasure. However, breathlessness 



