224 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 



hard husk mattress, and an insufficient equipment 

 of comfortless quilts, as heavy and as warm as 

 though made of sheet-lead. With all these condi- 

 tions and worse as I have sometimes found them, 

 I have now only to lie still and think back to that 

 night on the Matterhorn, and the whole atmosphere 

 becomes fairly tropical. 



In the morning we rose early and went out to 

 look at the sunrise. The air was intensely clear. 

 The whole Matterhorn was white with new-fallen 

 snow and glistening with frost. Far below us the 

 clouds hung white and heavy over the valley of 

 Zermatt, their thick folds hiding all of the land- 

 scape which was not snow-covered, their upper out- 

 lines seemingly continuous with the white surface 

 of the great glaciers. Far beyond the valley of 

 Zermatt rose the giants of the Oberland. Nearer 

 to us were the Dent Blanche, the Weisshorn, the 

 Rothhorn, the three peaks of the Mischabel, and 

 to the right of these the AUalin, the Strahlhorn, 

 the Rympfischhorn, and a host of other '' horns," 

 named and unnamed, rose before us. To the east 

 was the long crescent of Monte Rosa, the Cima di 

 Jazzi, the Lyskamm, Zwillinge, and Breithorn, with 

 the great Corner glacier winding about their feet. 

 It was the sight of a life-time, which can never fade 

 from the memory. 



" With drifts of snow, fantastic wreath on wreath; 

 And peak on peak against the turquoise blue, 

 The Alps like towering campanili stand, 

 Wondrous with pinnacles of frozen rain, 

 Silvery, crystal, like the prism in hue. 

 Oh, tell me, love, if this be Switzerland, — 

 Or is it but the frostwork on the pane ? " — Aldrich. 



