TEN YEARS' ALPINE TRAVEL (1774-84) 171 



from the worthy monk of Disentis, Placidus a Spescha, who, as 

 has been pointed out, was, next to de Saussure,the most conspicuous 

 figure in the mountaineering annals of the eighteenth century, and 

 as a climber the first man of his time. Tardy justice has lately 

 been done by his fellow-countrymen to one of the most remark- 

 able among Alpine pioneers in a full and handsome biography. 1 



In 1792 Spescha was anxious to learn the result of de Saussure's 

 first visit to Monte Rosa, whether he had proved it to be higher 

 than Mont Blanc, and if he had written anything on the mountains 

 of the Orisons ? As far as we know, de Saussure never heard of 

 his rival's exploits. No mention of Spescha occurs in his works 

 or in any of his papers that have come to my notice. It is a pity 

 the two men never met ; for if the good monk had but scanty 

 scientific knowledge, he showed a very considerable talent for 

 orography, and his maps contrast favourably with those con- 

 structed for the Genevese savant. 



In the summer of 1776 Sir George Shuckburgh, then lately 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, proposed to de Saussure 

 to accompany him in an excursion to the Mole. Shuckburgh 

 was anxious to test previous measurements of the height of 

 Mont Blanc, and specially those of the Delucs, and had brought 

 from England for the purpose a number of the best instruments 

 available. He writes : ' Mr. de Saussure, a very ingenious gentle- 

 man of this place, and well skilled in various parts of natural 

 and experimental philosophy, gave me all the information neces- 

 sary, and obligingly promised to accompany me, as did also 

 Mr. Trembley.' 



The party set out from St. Jeoire, a town at the foot of the 

 Mole, with a large company of porters charged with their instru- 

 ments, but presently lost the way in a mist, even de Saussure, 

 who had been seven or eight times on the mountain, being at a loss. 

 Arrived on the summit, Shuckburgh describes his sensations thus : 



' I perceived myself elevated about 6000 feet in the atmosphere, 

 and standing, as it were, on a knife-edge, for such is the figure of the 

 ridge or top of this mountain ; length without breadth, or the least 

 appearance of a plain, as I had expected to find. Before me an im- 



1 See my article on Spescha (Alpine Journal, vol. x.) and the large volume 

 dealing with his life and activities published at Berne in 1913, Pater Placidus a 

 Spescha, sein Leben und seine Schriften. 



