206 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



of Mont Blanc, though it had been known and practised for two 

 centuries at Zermatt. On this occasion de Saussure was for 

 once roped in the proper way ; on several others the rope was 

 only uncoiled when one of the party was already in a crevasse. 

 On his return to Geneva de Saussure sent a full account of the 

 expedition to his sympathetic friend the Prince de Ligne. This 

 letter and the Prince's reply may still be read with pleasure : 



' September 26th, 1785. 



' Since your Excellency has shown your interest in attempts on 

 Mont Blanc, I promised you hi the last letter I had the honour to 

 write to you that I would send you news of that which I had planned. 



' Not to keep you in suspense, I will begin by telling you that its 

 success was not complete, but nevertheless I reached a higher level 

 than any observer before me had in the Alps, and I satisfied myself 

 that in a more favourable season, starting from a higher point, and 

 with the aid of a good head and stout limbs, the top of the mountain 

 might be gained. 



' You know, Monsieur, that Mont Blanc rises to about 2400 toises 

 above sea-level, and that at 1400 toises the region of eternal snow and 

 ice is reached. This thousand toises to surmount above the snow- 

 level had repulsed all who had attempted to climb to the summit of 

 the mountain. The brilliancy of the light, the oppression of the 

 air from which they described themselves to have suffered, and pos- 

 sibly moral causes, such as the weariness of a long march on steep 

 snowslopes and the dread of these immense solitudes, served to dis- 

 hearten them even in the absence of any real and actually insur- 

 mountable obstacles. 



' M. Bourrit, who has long been eager for the conquest of Mont 

 Blanc, learnt last year that two hunters in the pursuit of chamois had 

 climbed two-thirds of these thousand toises by rocky ridges, which, 

 though above the snow-level, are too steep to remain snow-covered. 

 He wanted to attempt this route, but, since he started from the foot 

 of the mountain, fatigue and cold stopped him at the base of the rocks, 

 while two of his guides climbed to their top, and reported that they 

 had encountered great dangers in the ascent, but had found an easier 

 route on their return, and that with more time and help they could 

 have reached the summit. 



' From the moment when this attempt led me to look on the thing 

 as possible I resolved to make another as soon as the season allowed 

 it. Unluckily, the snows accumulated during the hard winter of 

 1784-85, added to those which fell frequently during the cold and wet 



