XI [ 



PEAKS AND PASSES 



Alpine ascents liave l»een done to death, and perhaps 

 this chapter will be generally skipped l)y readers who 

 may have struggled so far in my book. Yet I can- 

 not deprive myself of the pleasure of recalling just one 

 or two laborious but delightful days of struggle, which I 

 spent in the company of friends, no less enthusiastic than 

 myself, and in the capture — not of wild beasts — but of 

 virgin peaks and passes. 



There was a v\^onderful freemasonry among the wor- 

 shippers at those shrines, and it would be impossible to 

 exaggerate the devotion and enthusiasm of the votaries 

 during the " sixties." It was the decade following on the 

 formation of the Alpine Club. Within that period, nearly 

 every peak and passage of any importance was discussed 

 at home, minutely examined on the spot, attacked, and 

 finally conquered. At that time I was one of the worst 

 victims of this summer madness, and spent hours (ah, how 

 delightfully I) at the little Club room in eager controversies 

 with others like-minded with myself, while I wasted my 

 substance on every kind of printed or graphic j)ublication 



