320 Historical 



meters; another felt absolutely nothing. On Mount Etna, de Gour- 

 billon felt nothing, whereas his companion Wilson suffered greatly. 

 In the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn (4275 meters), Hugi was in 

 very good condition, as were his companions, except one of the 

 sturdiest guides of the Oberland, who had vertigo and nausea. On 

 the glacier of the Maladetta, Neergaard stopped, unable to continue 

 an ascent which the celebrated geologist Cordier finished without 

 any trouble. MM. Lortet and Durier ascended Mont Blanc on the 

 same day; the accounts of their sensations are as dissimilar as 

 possible. At 5300 meters, Croce-Spinelli in his balloon was seized 

 with evident oppression; his travelling companions said that they 

 experienced nothing. 



But that is not all; the same person, in conditions which seem 

 to him identical, making the same ascent on two different occa- 

 sions, does not always have the same sensations. On his first 

 ascent of Buet, Canon Bourrit fell unconscious; the next year, he 

 had no special experience. On the Breithorn (4100 meters), M. 

 Lepileur, in 1875, felt no discomfort, whereas the following year 

 he was seized there by an unconquerable drowsiness. There is a 

 similar lack of agreement in the three ascents of Mont Blanc by 

 M. Tyndall, and the two by M. Lortet. Observations made on the 

 guides are still more conclusive. 



We must also note that while certain persons seem extremely 

 sensitive to the effects of ascents, others without any complaint 

 pass beyond the level where the great majority of travellers are 

 attacked by the usual symptoms. We saw that Dr. Martin de 

 Moussy had felt the puna at 1970 meters, whereas Jules Remy 

 could ascend almost with impunity to the summit of Chimborazo 

 (6420 meters). Victor Jacquemont seemed particularly immune 

 in this respect, as we can see from the excerpts from his letters. 

 Moreover, these facts are well known to all mountaineers; it is 

 known that certain guides are unable to follow "their gentlemen" 

 beyond a certain level, and travellers who were daring and tire- 

 less on mountains of the second rank have had to renounce 

 reaching the highest summits of the Alps. 



The numerous ascents, the narratives of which we have given, 

 definitely differ then from one another in regard to mountain sick- 

 ness, first, for reasons which seem to depend upon the mountain 

 itself, and second, for reasons which depend upon the travellers; 

 the latter may be constant or only transitory. The extremes of 

 these differences may vary between 1500 meters (M. Javelle) and 

 6000 meters; that explains, without justifying them, the thought- 

 less denials which we have so often recorded. 



