AN ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN. 241 
are the pierres gui roulent, — “ the’stones that roll,” 
. the dread of the mountaineer. Most high moun- 
tains are fashioned by the glaciers themselves ; but 
the glacier has no hold on the Matterhorn. Gla- 
ciers make white domes of mountains; frost makes 
black pinnacles and spires. 
The guides had now tied us together, and the 
value of the rope in mountaineering soon became 
very evident to us. In all difficult or dangerous ex- 
cursions in the high Alps, the persons making the 
excursion are tied together by ropes. Usually four 
or five are joined to one rope, the rope being tied 
around the waist of each. It is the duty of each 
one to see that the rope below him is kept drawn 
tight, so that if any person happens to stumble or 
slip, the aid of the others will keep him on his 
feet. In very difficult excursions, like the one here 
described, usually but one person moves at a time, 
the other three on the rope each holding his po- 
sition as well as possible until the fourth one has 
reached a position of safety. 
The way we went was in most cases like this. 
First John the Baptist would scramble up some 
ledge of rocks, clinging by fingers and toes to pro- 
jecting points, or reaching some higher crag by 
means of his ice-axe. When he found a suitable 
foothold he would shout to me, and I would crawl 
up to his position, while the next man would edge 
up to where I was, — and so on. When we came 
to a specially bad place, a mauvais pas, where the 
rocks were unusually loose and the hold precari- 
ous, I would shout up to him before following 
him, “Etes-vous bien placé?” (“Are you well 
16 
