Cha])tev 11. 



It would l)i> a waste of Axords to discuss the neeessitv i>t 

 taking" Alpine guides on an expedition of which chnihini;' 

 was to form the essential feature. Furthermore, as there 

 was every reason to expect that, in the conrse of the 



AT A r.AU.WAY STATIOX. 



exploration of a niomitain ranye whose sunnnits had lieen 

 estimated hv previt)vis travellers at heights varying from 

 16,000 to over 20,000 feet, prolonged sojourns above the snow- 

 limit would he necessary, the expedition had to he fm-nished 

 with the needful ecjuipment for glacier camps, more or less 

 on the lines followed in tlie ascent of ^It. St. Ellas in Alaska. 

 This involved the necessity of taking out European jiorters as 

 well as guides, for it was impossible to count upon the 

 services of the natives beyond tlie foot of tlie glaciers. 



The guides chosen for the expedition w^ere Joseph Petigax, 

 the intelligent and devoted companion of the Duke in the Alps, 

 in Alaska, and on the Polar Expedition, and Cesar ( )llier. 

 Both of these guides, as well as the porters, Joseph Brocherel 

 and Laurent Petigax, were from Courmayeur, in the Valley 



30 



