AN ASCENT OF THE MATTER HORN 2\J 



we could see nothing ; the whole earth was repre- 

 sented by the little summit-ridge, which was all 

 that we could see of the Matterhorn. Once in a 

 while a little eddy in the clouds on the south side 

 of the mountain would give us a glimpse of Le 

 Breuil and the valley of Tournanche two miles 

 below us ; and occasionally our nearest mountain 

 neighbor, the Dent Blanche, disclosed her snow- 

 crowned head. 



We did not stay long on the summit. It was 

 not very warip, and we wished to give the others 

 a chance. We wrote our names on a card, and 

 placed it in an empty bottle which the mountain 

 keeps as a register for visitors. Victor broke off 

 with his ice-axe the uppermost point of the moun- 

 tain, a piece of dark green hornblende. I put 

 this in my pocket as a trophy, and we were ready 

 to descend. 



In going downward, our motion was much like 

 that of one of the caterpillars or " measuring-worms " 

 which come upon the maple-trees in the spring. 

 The strongest guide in each section was placed last 

 in the series, so as to be " well placed," and to hold 

 the others back in case any one should slip. This 

 guide starts first in each series, and goes down to 

 the niche of the next man below him. When he is 

 again ** well placed," the next man advances, and 

 in turn the third and the fourth, — the one stand- 

 ing lowest moving where it is possible the length of 

 one section of the connecting rope, after which the 

 others again edge downward to him. The progress 

 is of course very slow, and three fourths of the 

 time each man is engaged in resting, with his 



