AN ASCENT OF THE MATTERHORN. 245 
we could see nothing; the whole earth was repre- 
sented by the little summit-ridge, which was all 
that we could see of the Matterhorn. Once ina 
while a little eddy in the clouds on the south side 
of the mountain would give us a glimpse of Le 
Breuil and the valley of Tournanche two miles 
below us; and occasionally our nearest mountain 
neighbor, the Dent Blanche, disclosed her snow- 
crowned head. 
We did not stay long on the summit. It was 
not very warm, and we wished to give the others 
a chance. We wrote our names on a card, and 
placed it in an empty bottle which the mountain 
keeps as a register for visitors. Victor broke off 
with his ice-axe the uppermost point of the moun- 
tain, a piece of dark green hornblende. I put 
this in my pocket as a trophy, and we were ready 
to descend. 
In going downward, our motion was much like 
that of one of the caterpillars or “‘ measuring-worms ” 
which come upon the maple-trees in the spring. 
The strongest guide in each section was placed last 
in the series, so as to be “ well placed,” and to hold 
the others back in case any one should slip. This 
guide starts first in each series, and goes down to 
the niche of the next man below him. When he is 
again “well placed,” the next man advances, and 
in turn the third and the fourth,—the one stand- 
ing lowest moving where it is possible the length of 
one section of the connecting rope, after which the 
others again edge downward to him. The progress 
is of course very slow, and three fourths of the 
time each man is engaged in resting, with his 
