294 Ascent of the Jungfrau in 1841. 
Johannes Wehren, the inseparable friend of Jacob, and 
one of the most intelligent among all the guides of the Hos- 
pice, had been in our service upwards of amonth. He was, in 
some measure, Jacob’s lieutenant ; and when the latter was not 
at the hut, it was he who took charge of the cooking depart- 
ment. He had long pleased himself with the prospect of con- 
ducting us to the Jungfrau, for he and Jacob were the only indi- 
viduals who were in the secret of this expedition. But it hap- 
pened, the day before our departure, while descending with us to 
the Hospice, that he wasseized witha violent inflammation in the 
knee, which M. Vogt, in his medical capacity, considered very 
serious. In spite of the pain he was suffering, the poor fel- 
low still hoped that it would turn out nothing ; and it gave us 
the greatest pain to make him understand that he must no 
longer think of the Jungfrau. It has been seen that the bad 
weather compelled us to delay our departure for two days; 
during this time Wehren’s knee became much better, so 
much so, that on the evening before we set out, he came limp- 
ing to us to assure us that he could go, having no doubt that 
he would be quite well on the morrow. M. Agassiz, as may 
be well supposed, refused his consent, pointing out to him all 
the dangers to which he would be exposed. The unfortunate 
Weehren could object nothing to these reasons ; but the 
greatest sorrow was depicted on his countenance, and he re- 
tired to a corner of the apartment, where he continued sob- 
bing while his comrades were making preparations for depart- 
ing. Next day, having occasion to enter the servants’ apart- 
ment, I was much surprised to observe our man at breakfast 
with the other guides. As I expressed my surprise, he asked 
me if he was not, then, to be permitted to bid us adieu. I 
thanked him for his attention, and again recommended him 
to be careful of his knee; Agassiz did the same, and we set 
out. We had not proceeded for a quarter of an hour, when 
on suddenly turning round a rock, we saw him mingled with 
the other guides. Immediately every one called out to him, 
asking if he had really lost his senses. We still wished to 
persuade him to abandon an undertaking which we believed 
would be fatal to him ; but all the reply we could obtain was, 
that-he had reflected on the dangers he ran, and that he would 
