May io, 1900] 



NATURE 



39 



Uminary exploration, a camp was established at the head of 

 this valley, at a height of about I4,CKX) feet. " The lack of 

 pasturage," it is said, " made it impossible to take the mules any 

 farther," and thenceforward all transport had to effected by 

 men. 



Besides Mr. Fitz Gerald, the Expedition at this time consisted 

 of Messrs. Vines, de Trafford and Gosse ; Zurbriggen, the 

 brothers Joseph and Louis Poliinger, Lanti and Weibel. 

 Matthias Zurbriggen, who was born in Switzerland and lives in 

 Italy, is termed guide, and the rest of the men are called 

 porters ; although the two Pollingers and Lochmatter are 

 actually guides, and amongst the best of the younger ones of 

 the Zermatt district. Lanti, who is also called a porter, appears 

 to have been a miner. Mr. Lightbody, an engineer of the 

 Trans- Andine Railway, joined the party at a later date. 



On the first day (December 23), Fitz Gerald and Zurbriggen, 

 with four porters and twelve horses or mules, started from the 

 mouth of the Horcones Valley (8948 feet), and went to the 

 spot at its head that has been already mentioned, which 

 was about 14,000 feet above the sea ; and, leaving the animals 



difficulty I had in breathing, and partly on account of the 

 dreadful snoring of the men. They would begin breathing 

 heavily, and continue on in an ascending scale till they almost 

 choked. This would usually wake them up, and they were 

 quiet for ten minutes or so, till gradually the whole perform- 

 ance recommenced " (pp. 55-6). 



On the following day (December 25) they continued the 

 ascent ; and, although the distance that they mounted was small, 

 the eff"ects became more marked. Mr. Fitz Gerald says of him- 

 self and also of Zurbriggen : "We were feeling distinctly weak 

 about the knees, and were obliged to pause every dozen steps or 

 so to catch our breath, and frequently we sat down for about 

 ten minutes to recover " (p. 56). On the next night they en- 

 camped on the desired spot, which is said to have been 18,700 

 feet above the sea. During the day, Zurbriggen advanced 

 (according to his estimate, 2000 feet above the camp), and 

 returned "late in the evening, completely exhausted." On the 

 27th Mr. Fitz Gerald and the rest retreated to 12,000 feet in the 

 Horcones Valley, in doing which, it seems to me, they made a 



Fig. 2. — Saddle on which the 18,700 ft. camp was situated. 



there, some of the party pushed on, with the view of arriving at 

 a depression upon the ridge which leads from the summit 

 towards the north-west ; but when an altitude of 16,000 feet is 

 supposed to have been reached, a halt was called on account of 

 the lateness of the hour. "Being much fatigued, we decided 

 not to pitch our tent, but simply to crawl into our sleeping-bags. 

 \o one had the energy even to make for himself a smooth 

 lace. . . . During the night, one of my Swiss porters, a tall, 

 , iwerfuUy-built man, Lochmatter by name, fell ill. He 

 ■ utfered terribly from nausea and faintness." Next day they 

 ;irogressed upwards, but still did not reach the spot for which 

 ihey were aiming, and passed the night at some elevation that is 

 not mentioned. It was now Mr. Fitz Gerald's turn to feel the 

 effects of diminution in atmospheric pressure. 



"I had suffered acutely," he says, "during the afternoon 

 from nausea, and from inability to catch my breath, my throat 

 having become dry from continual breathing through my 

 tnouth. . . I was unable to sleep at all, partly because of the 



^'O. 1593. VOL. 62] 



mistake, and sacrificed some of the advantages which had been 

 gained by considerable labour. 



On December 30 they re-started, reached the 18,700 feet 

 camp at the end of the day, and left at 5.45 the next morning 

 with the view of reaching the summit. " At that time we little 

 knew what lay before us ; the summit looked so very near that 

 we even talked of five or six hours as a possible time in which to 

 reach it. We set out towards our peak over the loose, crumbling 

 rocks that covered the north-west face ; the steepness was too 

 great for a direct line of march, and we were obliged to twist 

 and zigzag." 



" I noticed Zurbriggen was going very fast ; I was obliged to 

 call to him several times, and ask him to wait for me, as I did 

 not wish to exhaust myself by pressing the pace so early. I 

 was surprised at his hurrying in this way, as it is generally 

 Zurbriggen who urges me to go slowly at first. However, I 

 soon discovered the reason for this ; he was suffering bitterly 

 from cold. Seeing that his face was very white, I asked him if 



