494: OLD ALPINE JOTTINGS. 



slip occurred in the case of any one of us; had a slip 

 occurred I do not think the worst consequences could 

 have been avoided. I wish to stamp this slope of the 

 Matterhorn with the character that really belonged to 

 it when we descended it, and I do not hesitate to express 

 the belief that the giving way of any one of our party 

 would have carried the whole of us to ruin. Why, then, 

 it may be asked, employ the rope? The rope, I reply, 

 all its possible drawbacks under such circumstances 

 notwithstanding, is the safeguard of the climber. Not 

 to speak of the moral effect of its presence, an amount 

 of help upon a dangerous slope that might be measured 

 by the gravity of a few pounds is often of incalcul- 

 able importance; and thus, though the rope may be not 

 only useless but disastrous if the footing be clearly lost, 

 and the glissade fairly begun, it lessens immensely the 

 chance of this occurrence. 



With steady perseverance, difficulties upon a moun- 

 tain, as elsewhere, come to an end. We were finally 

 able to pass from the face of the pyramid to its rugged 

 edge, feeling with comfort that honest strength and fair 

 skill, which might have gone for little on the slope, 

 were here masters of the situation. 



Standing on the arete at the foot of a remarkable 

 cliff-gable seen from Zermatt, and permitting the vision 

 to range over the Matterhorn, its appearance from above 

 was exceedingly wild and impressive. Hardly two things 

 can be more different than the respective aspects of the 

 mountain from above and from below. Seen from the 

 Eiffel or from Zermatt it presents itself as a compact 

 pyramid, smooth and steep, and defiant of the weather- 

 ing air. From above it seems torn to pieces by the frosts 

 of ages, while its vast facettes are so foreshortened as to 

 stretch out into the distance like plains. But this under- 

 estimate of the steepness of the mountain is checked by 



