316 Ascent of the Jungfrau in 1841. 
We could not judge of the state of the névé in this direc- 
tion ; but all that we did see of it, led us to presume that the 
ascent would be very toilsome. The acclivities which ex- 
tended immediately before us, were at least as steep as those 
we had scaled. We rested for an instant on the col before 
encountering the last peak, which we expected to be the most 
difficult. Up to this time, every one was extremely vigor- 
ous, none feeling fatigue except M. de Pury. He had not 
taken care to provide himself with sufficiently strong shoes, 
so that his footing was not sure enough to attempt so hazard- 
ous an ascent. Perhaps, however, he would have succeeded, 
by a great effort, in reaching the summit along with us; but 
the guides were opposed to his making the trial, alleging 
that they could not run the risk of compromising the whole 
party for an individual. It was with great regret that we left 
him, intrusted to the care of J. Wehren, who conducted him 
safe and sound to the Repose. 
We estimated the height of the last peak at from 800 to 
1000 feet above the col, and we hoped to climb it in less 
than an hour, notwithstanding its extreme steepness. We 
soon found, however, that the ascent was more difficult than 
we had supposed : instead of snow, we every where encoun- 
tered nothing but compact ice, in which the guides were 
obliged to cut very deep steps to prevent us slipping; we, 
therefore, advanced very slowly. We continued ascending 
for an hour, without the summit coming sensibly nearer, when 
we were enveloped in a very dense mist, which scarcely allowed 
the hindermost of us to distinguish those at the head of the 
‘column. ‘This occurred at precisely the steepest part of the 
ascent. Mr Forbes, upon measuring it, found the acclivity to 
be 45°. The ice was so hard and tenacious, that, for a short © 
time, we could not accomplish more than fifteen steps in a 
quarter of an hour. The cold, besides, was very keenly felt, 
so much so that there was every reason to fear our feet would 
get frozen, in spite of the care we took to keep them as much 
in motion as possible, by assisting to enlarge and clear the 
steps of the stair. Seeing that our position, at this time, was 
really becoming critical, Agassiz asked Jacob if he still hoped 
to convey us to the summit. He replied, with his habitual 
