318 LIFE IN THE ALPS. 



up men and means, to carry the patient to his hotel. 

 Perfect quiet would have soon set everything right, 

 but the premature motion of the limb was succeeded 

 by inflammation and other serious consequences. 



Slipping in perilous places is the most fruitful cause 

 of Alpine disaster. It is usual for climbers to rope 

 themselves together, and the English Alpine Club has 

 taken every pains to produce ropes of the soundest 

 material and the best workmanship. The rope is tied 

 around the waist, or is fastened to a belt clasping the 

 waist, of the climber. The rope is an indispensable 

 accompaniment of Alpine climbing, and no competent 

 mountaineer will recommend its abandonment. Pru- 

 dence, however, is necessary in the use of it. The 

 men tied together ought to be few in number. A party 

 of three or four, including the guide, or guides, is in 

 my opinion large enough. In a numerous party, there 

 is a temptation to distribute responsibility, each indi- 

 vidual tending to rely too much upon the others ; while, 

 in a small party, the mind of each man is more con- 

 centrated on the precautions necessary for safety. 

 Besides this, we have the terrible enhancement of the 

 calamity when the slipping of a single individual 

 carries a number of others to destruction. It was a slip 

 by whom we know not that caused the disaster on 

 the Matterhorn which so profoundly stirred the public 

 mind some years ago. On that occasion, one of the 

 foremost guides of the Alps, and one of the best gentle- 

 men climbers, lost their lives, in company with two 

 younger colleagues. 



The fearful disaster on the Jungfrau this year was, 

 doubtless, due to the same cause. Six strong climbers, 

 all natives, of Switzerland, succeeded, without guides, in 

 scaling the mountain from the northern side. From the 

 summit they attempted to descend the southern slope, 



