An Ascent of the Matter horn. 8i 



drop them in uncomfortable fashion about our heads. 

 Cockroft had the misfortune to receive a cut on the cheek. 

 Alpine crows also allowed themselves to be tossed about 

 by the wind in such fashion that we sometimes dodged 

 involuntarily, thinking rocks were coming down. The 

 climbing now became m^ore and more difficult as we 

 neared the shoulder. Most of the time we found our- 

 selves spread-eagled against the cliffs with seemingly 

 endless space under our feet. About halfway up, on a 

 narrow shelf, a brief halt was made in order to lighten 

 David's pack of provisions. A mixture of wine and tea 

 was found very refreshing, and a good part of the food 

 we had brought went to appease our appetites. In a few 

 minutes we were climbing again. I tried to use my 

 camera several times, but found that, even in the most 

 advantageous positions, I had to cling so closely to the 

 mountain-wall that no good photographs of the precipices 

 could be secured. Arrived at the shoulder, we divested our- 

 selves of all but the most necessary impedimenta, for now 

 came the tug of war. From this point the ascent is usually 

 made on the north side of the mountain. This remaining 

 stretch of seven hundred feet is the most nervous part of 

 the whole climb. The impression of perpendicularity one 

 gets of this portion of the mountain, when scanning its 

 precipices with a powerful glass from the Zermatt side, 

 is more than borne out by experience when one hangs by 

 the ends of one's fingers and toes over an abyss that yawns 

 between the climber's heels through nearly a mile of blue 

 space. In the more treacherous places ropes have been 

 swung from iron bars sunk into drill-holes. They serve 

 to give a little confidence to the timid, but must be used 

 with caution, because it is impossible to tell to what ex- 

 tent frost, lightning, and avalanches may have weakened 

 them. 



It should be observed that most persons who venture 



* The character of this precipice may be inferred from the fact that stones 

 drop more than 1,500 feet before they strike the side of the mountain, and 

 those which roll from above and bound out fall to an even greater depth 

 before they make their first contact. At the bottom they land as much as a 

 thousand feet beyond the base of the mountain. 



