MOUNTAIN OBSERVATORIES IN AMERICA AND EUROPE. 29 



On tlie tenth of August Mr. Serviss left Chamounix with a guide 

 and one porter. M. Janssen, then at Chamounix, predicted that the 

 weather was sure to be fine. As far as tlie Grands-Mulets the dangers 

 are few, thougli tlie crevasses near the junction are sometimes trouble- 

 some and occasionally perilous. (Madame Marke and Olivier Gay were 

 lost here in 1870.) The night was passed at the cabin at Grands-Mulets. 



It is customary to leave the cabin for the ascent to the summit about 

 midnight in order to pass the snow-slopes before the action of the sun 

 has loosened the avalanches and weakened the snow-bridges over the 

 crevasses. Mr, Serviss did not leave, however, until about 3.30 A.M. 

 At the height of 12,000 feet one comes to the Petit Plateau, "a 

 comparatively horizontal lap of snow which is frequently swept by 

 avalanches of ice descending from the enormous seracs that hang like 

 cornices upon the precipices above. It is one of the most dangerous 

 places on the mountain. ' Men have lost their lives here and will 

 again lose them,' is the remark of Mr. Conway, the Himalayan climber, 

 in describing his passage of the place. ' Many times have I crossed it,' 

 said M. Vallot, the mountain meteorologist, ' but never without a sink- 

 ing of the heart, and the moment we are over the Petit Plateau I 

 always hear my guides, trained and fearless men, mutter ' Once more 

 we are out of it' . . . Above the Petit Plateau is a steep ascent called 

 the Grands Monties which leads to the Grand Plateau, a much wider 

 level than the other, edged with tremendous ice-cliffs and crevasses 

 and situated at a level of 13,000 feet." Here they were caught in a 

 storm and quickened their steps; " it would not do to be caught here. 

 The Grand Plateau has taken more lives than its ill-starred neighbor 

 below." Here the party bore off to the right amid "a wilderness of 

 snow and ice encompassed with precipices, chasms, and pitfalls, tread- 

 ing on we knew not what, assailed by a wild storm, all landmarks 

 obliterated, and our foot-steps filling so fast with drifted snow that in 

 two minutes we could not see from what direction we had last come." 

 (It was here that Dr. Bean, Mr. Randall, Rev. Mr. Corkendale, with five 

 guides and three porters, — eleven persons in all, — were lost in 1870.) A 

 fortunate break in the clouds allowed the guide a momentary view of 

 familiar rocks, and in due time they found the refuge hut at the 

 Rochers des Bosses. The successful ascent was made on August 29. 

 On August 18 three persons had ascended from the Italian side, and 

 had perished in the crevasses above the Grands-Mulets (Dr. Schnur- 

 dreher, guide, and porter). Their bodies were found August 26 

 and brought to Chamounix. Mr. Serviss adds the gruesome remark : 

 "Every boy in Chamounix understands how a body should be 

 brought down from Mt. Blanc." 



The ascent of August 29 was made by the Corridor, and the day 



