An Ascent of Mont Ventoux 



that mattress, now a vegetable mould, was 

 last renewed! 



Those who could not sleep were told off to 

 keep up the fire. There was no lack of hands 

 to stir it, for the smoke, which had no other 

 outlet than a large hole made by the partial 

 collapse of the roof, filled the hut with an 

 atmosphere fit to smoke herrings. To ob- 

 tain a few mouthfuls of breathable air, we 

 had to seek them in the lower strata, with our 

 noses almost on the ground. And so we 

 coughed and cursed and poked the fire, but 

 vainly tried to sleep. We were all afoot by 

 two o'clock in the morning, ready to climb 

 the highest cone and watch the sunrise. The 

 rain had stopped, the sky was glorious, 

 promising a perfect day. 



During the ascent, some of us felt a sort of 

 seasickness, caused first by fatigue and sec- 

 ondly by the rarefaction of the air. The 

 barometer had fallen 5.4 inches ; the air which 

 we were breathing had lost a fifth of its den- 

 sity and was therefore one-fifth less rich in 

 oxygen. Had we been in good condition, 

 this slight alteration in the air would have 

 passed unnoticed; but, coming immediately 

 after the exertions of the day before and a 

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