X INTRODUCTION. 



8ea, said he thought it probable that they would never be made at 

 the higher station.^ 



Darwin, who visited the Portillo Pass in the Chilian Andes, 

 although but slightly affected there (at 13-14,000 feet), said, ''cer- 

 tainly the exertion of walking was extreme, and the respiration 

 became deep and laborious. It is incomprehensible to me how 

 Humboldt and others were able to ascend to the elevation, of 

 19,000 feet/^' 



The Schlagintweits attained great heights in Asia, and made 

 some remarks that are more to the point than any others which I 

 am able to quote, although they do not go much into detail. In 

 the second volume of their Results of a Scientific Mission to India 

 and Higli Asia,^ p. 484, they say, ''As to the beneficial effect of 

 acclimatisation, we can speak from our own personal experience."' 

 [By this expression, I understand them to say that they became 

 somewhat habituated to low pressures.] But they add, in continu- 

 ation, "what might have been the consequence had we prolonged 

 our stay in these lofty regions it is impossible to say, the proba- 

 bility, however, being that a longer sojourn would have told severely 

 upon our health. "' This is said in connection with an attempt that 

 they made to ascend Ibi Gamin (Kamet), on Aug. 19, 1855, upon 

 which occasion they reached the height of 22,230 feet.* In a 

 Report by them which Avas published at Madras in 1855 (and 

 was reprinted at Calcutta) there is this further information : — 

 "At two o'clock at last it had become absolutely impossible to go 



J ''Quoique je ne perdisse pas un seul moment, je ne pus faire dans ces 4 heures 

 & demie toutes les experiences que j'ai frequemment achevees en moins de 3 heures 

 au bord de la mer," — Voijages dans les Alpes, vol. Iv, p. 148. 



" Je conservois I'esperance bien fondee d'achever, sur le Col-du-Geant, ce que je 

 n'avois pas fait, & que vraisemblablement I'on ne fera jamais sur le Mont-Blanc." — 

 Id. § 2023, p. 215. 



2 Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty^s Ships Adventure and 

 Beagle, vol. iii, p. 393. ^ London and Leipzig, 1862. 



* The height was deduced from observations of mercurial barometer, and it is the 

 greatest as yet attained upon the earth which has been determined by observations 

 on the spot. 



