84 SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGIST'S HAMMER. 



of the victim or the bottom. Hair and blood were seen 

 on the walls of the chasm, but the remains will only be 

 recovered at the end of a funeral march of forty years. 

 These accidents all transpired on the direct route. Let 

 us turn to the left, and make an ascent by the Corridor. 

 We cross the Grand Crevasse and scale the fearful slope 

 which borders the Grand Plateau on three sides. We are 

 in the Corridor. We have gained an elevation from which 

 we look over the Alps into the land of Italy. A stiff 

 breeze is drawn through this depression, which penetrates 

 to the moistened skin. Such a breeze, in this very spot, 

 was the occasion of the first lady victim in the history 

 of ascensions. It was on the 2d of August. 1870. Mrs. 

 Mark and Miss Wilkinson were on the way to the sum- 

 mit in company with Mr. Mark and a couple of guides. 

 Arriving in the Corridor, the strength of the ladies gave 

 way, and they resolved to remain with one guide while 

 Mr. Mark and the other proceeded to the summit. But 

 the frigid wind induced the ladies to seek a position a 

 little lower and more sheltered. Mrs. Mark was nearly 

 exhausted and leaned upon the arm of the guide. Sud- 

 denly both sank through the snow into a concealed 

 crevasse, of which no sign presented itself at the surface. 

 Miss Wilkinson's shrieks brought back Mr. Mark and 

 his guide. Nothing could be heard, and nothing seen, 

 except the hole in the snow perforated by the united 

 weight of two persons. The guide's politeness had cost 

 them both their lives. The next day Sylvain Couttet 

 was let down by a rope to the depth of 65 feet. Here 

 the walls of the crevasse were so much approximated 

 that he was unable to descend farther. By means of his 

 staff he ascertained that the fissure enlarged six feet be- 



