AN ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN. 221 



SO that he could not see, and after a Httle he lapsed 

 into a half-unconscious state, in which he seemed 

 to realize only that he had fallen from the moun- 

 tain, that it was very cold, and that he must always 

 walk. And at times he would give up and lie down 

 in the snow, when we would use every argument in 

 our power to induce him to rise and go on again. 

 It took us four hours to reach the upper cabin, a 

 distance perhaps equal to two " squares " in a city 

 street. 



Had our wounded man been otherwise than light 

 of weight, strong of limb, and immensely resolute, 

 we might not have gotten down at all ; and a night 

 on the bare side of the mountain meant simply 

 freezing to death. It is hard enough for a well man 

 to go safely down the Matterhorn, far harder than 

 to go up ; but for a man blind and faint, it became 

 terrible. " C'est un homme fort et brave " ('* He is 

 a man brave and strong"), said John the Baptist. 

 If Gilbert had been as heavy as I, we should have 

 had a task indeed. I remember thinking at the 

 time that it was fortunate that I was n't hit. 



At one time I saw Gilbert slip, and with Victor, 

 who half led, half carried him, fall like a shot. 

 But John the Baptist was always " well placed " 

 and held them. At another time we heard a terri- 

 ble uproar, and three or four rods away we saw an 

 immense avalanche of stones coming down. This 

 was made of a dozen large rocks of the size of a 

 wagon, with hundreds of little ones yelping in the 

 rear. It was a grand sight ; but we were little in 

 the mood for it. " C'est une montagne terrible " 

 ('* It is a terrible mountain "), said John the Baptist. 



