OLD ALPINE JOTTINGS. 441 



rather into the fog which filled it, and the Wallis guide 

 came to the front. I knew the Viesch glacier well; it 

 is badly crevassed, and how Bennen meant to unravel its 

 difficulties without landmarks I knew not. I asked 

 him whether, if the fog continued, he could make his 

 way down the glacier. There was a pleasant timbre in 

 Bennen's voice, a light and depth in his smile due to 

 the blending together of conscious power and warm 

 affection. With this smile he turned round and said, 

 " Herr ! Ich bin hier zu Hause. Der Viescher Gletscher 

 ist meine Heimath." 



Downwards we went, striking the rocks of the 

 Eothhorn so as to avoid the riven ice. Suddenly we 

 passed from dense fog into clear air; we had crossed 

 " the cloud-plane," and found a transparent atmosphere 

 between it and the glacier. The dense covering above 

 us was sometimes torn asunder by the wind, which 

 whirled the detached cloud-tufts round the peaks. Con- 

 tending air-currents were thus revealed, and thunder, 

 which is the common associate, if not the product of 

 such contention, began to rattle among the crags. At 

 first the snow upon the glacier was sufficiently heavy 

 to bridge the crevasses, thus permitting of rapid mo- 

 tion; but by degrees the fissures opened, and at length 

 drove us to the rocks. These in their turn became im- 

 practicable. Dropping down a waterfall well known to 

 the climbers of this region, we came again upon the ice, 

 which was here cut by complex chasms. These we un- 

 ravelled as long as necessary, and finally escaped from 

 them to the mountain-side. The first big drops of the 

 thunder-shower were already falling when we reached an 

 overhanging crag which gave us shelter. We quitted 

 it too soon, beguiled by a treacherous gleam of blue, 

 and were thoroughly drenched before we reached the 

 ^Eggischhorn. 



