ASCENT OF MONT BLAXC. 51 



and collected together on the hard snow to discuss 

 them. We had some wine, and a cold fowl or two, 

 a small quantity of bread and cheese, some chocolate 

 in batom, and a bag of prunes, which latter proved 

 of great service in the ascent. One of these, rolled 

 about in the mouth, without being eaten, served to 

 dispel the dry ness of the throat and palate, otherwise 

 so distressing. 



The rarefaction of the air was nothing to what I 

 had anticipated. "We had heard legends, down at 

 Chamouni, of the impossibility of lighting pipes at 

 this height; but now all the guides were smoking most 

 comfortably. Our faces had an odd dark appearance, 

 the result of congestion, and almost approaching the 

 tint I had noticed in persons attacked by Asiatic 

 cholera ; but this was not accompanied by any sensa- 

 tion of fulness, or even inconvenience. The only thing 

 that distressed me was the entire loss of feeling in 

 my right hand, on which I had not been able to wear 

 one of the fur gloves, from the bad grasp it allowed 

 to my pole. Accordingly it was frost-bitten. The 

 guides evidently looked upon this as a more serious 

 matter than I did myself, and for five minutes I 

 underwent a series of rather severe operations of very 

 violent friction. After a while the numbness partially 

 went away ; but even as I now write, my little finger 

 is without sensation, and on the approach of cold it 

 becomes very painful However, all this was nothing: 

 we had succeeded, and were sitting all together, without 



