PRINCE LU1GI AM A DEO OF $A VOY, 1897 95 



different colors changing at every instant, and with a character- 

 istic indigo blue very different from the coloring of the Italian 

 alps. These glaciers differ from those of the Alps in that the 

 stormy weather in Alaska is not dangerous and the thunder is not 

 heard mingled with the noises of the avalanches." 



On the morning of July 30 Prince TAiigileft the camp atthe head 

 of the Newton glacier, 8,958 feet above the sea, and camped that 

 night on a ridge 12,248 feet above the sea. " The atmosphere 

 is so clear that the far-away sea and all the peaks around * * * 

 can be seen. From St Elias and from the rocks of Newton con- 

 tinual avalanches of snow and ice and stone fall with a tremen- 

 dous noise. The sun-setting is beautiful. The sky is steel blue, 

 the rest of the horizon orange- red, and Augusta (Mt) looks like 

 a volcano in eruption," Dr Filippo observes, from which it may 

 be inferred what photographs Prof. Sella was able to make with 

 his two large cameras. Starting at midnight with perfectly clear 

 sky and climbing to a point 16,400 feet, they halted for break- 

 fast, and then continued the dizzying, exhausting climb, resting 

 every ten minutes to breathe. 



" One hundred and sixty feet from the top, Petigax, who is at 

 the head, stops to give way to the Prince, telling him, ' It is for 

 you to touch the top first, as you deserve it by your persever- 

 ance.' His Highness steps to the top of St Elias, and all the 

 others run, anxious and exhausted, to join him in the hurrah. 

 The victory is complete, and it is all Italian. All ten have 

 accomplished the purpose for which they left their own coun- 

 try. * * * It was 11.45 of the 31st of July, 'and the Italian 

 flag was waving, hanging to a post, while the little crowd stood 

 cheering Italy and the King.' 



" The temperature is — 12° centigrade. The'mercurial barom- 

 eter points to 385 mm. and, with the correction, shows an alti- 

 tude of 18,086 feet above the sea level, closely approximate to 

 that of 18,080 feet, calculated in 1891 by Russell with triangu- 

 lation." 



The descent was as perfect a military maneuver as the ascent, 

 the party making three of the previous camps in each day; the 

 food supplies were all in waiting at the chain of camps, and in 

 ten days they had retraced the route it had taken them thirty 

 days to ascend. The Prince had ordered the Aggie to meet 

 them between the 10th and 11th of August. On the evening of 

 the 10th they camped on the shore, embarked on the 11th, sailed 

 on the 12th, reached Sitka the 17th of August, fifty-seven daj^s 



