208 



SCIENTIFIC ADVENTURE. 



fruits, and of its first fruits. For 

 it is a philosophy which never rests, 

 which has never attained, which is 

 never perfect. Its law is progress. 



A point which yesterday was in- 

 visible is its goal to-day, and will 

 be its starting-post to-morrow. 

 (Macaulay.) 



ASCENT OF THE JUNGFRATJ. 



In 1841, Professor Forbes, along 

 with M. Agassiz, and others, made 

 & successful ascent of the great 

 Swiss mountain, the Jungfrau, 

 whose summit is 13,720 feet above 

 the level of the sea. 



Of six travellers and seven guides 

 who formed the party, four of each 

 reached the top viz., of the former, 

 MM. Forbes, Agassiz, Desor, and 

 Duchatelies ; of the latter, Jacob 

 Leutvold (who ascended the Finster 

 Aarhorn), Johan Jannon, Melchior, 

 Baucholzer, and Andreas Aplanalp. 

 They left the Grimsel on the morn- 

 ing of the 27th of August, 1841, 

 ascended the whole height of the 

 Ober-Aar Glacier, and descended 

 the greater part of that of Viesch. 

 Crossing a col to the right, they 

 slept at the chalet of Aletsch, near 

 the lake of that name. This was 

 twelve hours' hard walking, the de- 

 scent of the glaciers being difficult 

 and fatiguing. Next day, the party 

 started at six A.M., having been un- 

 able sooner to procure a ladder, to 

 cross the crevasses ; they then tra- 

 versed the upper part of the glacier 

 of Aletsch in its whole extent for 

 four hours and a half, until the 

 ascent of the Jungfrau began. 



The party crossed with great 

 caution extensive and steep fields 

 of fresh snow, concealing crevasses, 

 till they came to one which opened 

 vertically, and behind which rose 

 an excessively steep wall of hard- 

 ened snow. Having crossed the 

 crevasses with the ladder, they as- 

 cended the snow without much dan- 

 ger, owing to its consistency. After 

 some similar walking they gained 



the col which separates the Aletsch 

 Glacier from the Rothal, on the 

 side of Lauterbrunnen, by which 

 the ascent has usually been at- 

 tempted. Thus, the travellers, al- 

 though now at a height of between 

 12,000 and 13,000 feet, had by far 

 the hardest and most perilous part 

 of the ascent to accomplish. The 

 whole upper part of the mountain 

 presented a steep, inclined surface 

 of what at first seemed snow, but 

 which soon appeared to be hard 

 ice. This slope was not less than 

 800 or 900 feet in perpendicular 

 height, and its surface (which Pro- 

 fessor Forbes measured several 

 times with a clinometer), in many 

 places rose at 45 degrees, and in few 

 much less ; and all Alpine travel- 

 lers know well what an inclined 

 surface of 45 degrees is to walk up. 

 Of course, every step taken was cut 

 with the hatchet, whilst the slope 

 terminated below, on both sides in 

 precipices some thousand feet high. 

 After very severe exertion, they 

 reached the top of this great moun- 

 tain at four P.M. The summit was 

 so small that but one person could 

 stand upon it at once, and that not 

 until the snow had been flattened. 

 The party returned as they came 

 up, step by step, and backwards, 

 and arrived at the chalet of Aletsch, 

 and by beautiful moonlight, at half- 

 past eleven at night. 



PROFESSOR FORBES IN THE ALPS. 



Strange incidents befell Professor 

 Forbes and his companions, in their 

 travels through the Alps of Savoy. 

 On one occasion, they got so near a 

 thunder-cloud, as to be highly elec- 

 trified by induction, with all the 



