Chapter \'I. 



i-oek conies to the surface. Tlu- eastein and western ridges 

 seenieil to offer easy i-outes to tlie suiniiiit. 



Tliev remained less than half an hour on the peak. There 

 was no hope of the mists disappearing that day, and after 

 tinishini:,' the harometric and thermometric observations, and 

 enjoying the tirst enthusiasm of victory, tliey began to feel the 

 penetrating cold of the wind. There was an impressive sense of 

 .solitude in jjerching upon this narrcnv snowy ridge, with the 

 whole eartli cut otf from them by the mi.st. Glaciers, precipices 

 and ])eaks, valleys and plains, lakes and forests, were all veiled 

 l)y tlie dense layer of fog, interposed like a l)arrier between the 

 burning regions of Equatorial Africa and tlie eternal Alpine 

 snows. 



Tliev I'e-descended the ice wall, i-esumed their loads, and 

 returned to Alexandra Peak. By 2.20 p.m. they returned to 

 their tent. A i'^w liours later tliey were all four stricken 

 witli snow-l)lindness. They had been exposed during the whole 

 day to the dazzling whitene.ss of tlie fog, and unable to make 

 use of tlieir l)lack spectacles, witli which it was impossible to 

 see anvtinng at all. They spent the night and tlie following day 

 in the tent, bathing their swollen and weeping eyes with tea. 



( )n the following day, "iOtli of June, they were all much 

 better, so early in the morning tliey started from the tent in very 

 tine weatlier, and returned to Alexandra Peak liy the same path 

 wliich thev had taken two days befort^ The Duke arrived on 

 the top about 7. ■■:'>() a.m., and worked for a long time at measuring 

 the angles of the peaks and the .salient points of the chain. He 

 set out ayaiii at 9.0 a.m. Drifts of foy were now beginning to 

 invade the scene. They returned to the high glacier-plain 

 and set forth for the two fine rock and ice peaks which stood 

 at its southern extremity. 



