OLD ALPINE JOTTINGS. 481 



out to him the line of our descent, to which we had 

 been committed in order to avoid the falling stones of 

 the Tete du Lion. Bennen's warnings on the occasion 

 had been very emphatic, and I could understand their 

 wisdom now better than I did then. 



An admirable description of the difficulties of the 

 Matterhorn, up to a certain elevation, has been given 

 by Mr. Hawkins, in < Vacation Tourists for I860.' l At 

 that time, however, a temporary danger, sufficient to 

 quell for a while the enthusiasm even of our lion-hearted 

 guide, was added to the permanent ones. Fresh snow had 

 fallen two days before ; it had quite over sprinkled the 

 Matterhorn, converting the brown of its crags into an 

 iron-grey; this snow had been melted and re-frozen, 

 forming upon the rocks a coating of ice. Besides their 

 physical front, moreover, in 1860 the rocks presented a 

 psychical one, derived from the rumour of their savage 

 inaccessibility. The crags, the ice, and the character of 

 the mountain all conspired to stir the feelings. Much of 

 the wild mystery has now vanished, especially at those 

 points which in 1860 were places of virgin difficulty, 

 but down which ropes now hang to assist the climber. 

 The grandeur of the Matterhorn is, however, not to be 

 effaced. 



After some hours of steady climbing we halted upon 

 a platform beside the tattered remnant of one of my 

 tents, had a mouthful of food, and sunned ourselves for 

 an hour. We subsequently worked upwards, scaling the 

 crags and rounding the bases of those wild and wonder- 

 ful rock-towers into which the weather of ages has hewn 

 the southern arete of the Matterhorn. The work here 

 requires knowledge, but wit h a fair amount of skill it is 

 safe work. I can fancy nothing more fascinating to a 

 man given by nature and habit to such things, than a 



1 Macmillan and Co. 

 21 



