152 
HINTS TO TftAVELLEE& 
secrets of the snow world. In order to do this, they must be at the pains 
to acquire at least the rudiments of the mountain craft which has been 
brought to perfection by three generations of Alpine peasants. Without 
these qualifications, even surveyors will find themselves obliged to leave 
large and, to the physical geographer and geologist, singularly interesting 
tracts of country ill-mapped and imperfectly explored, and they will run the 
risk of bringing away very erroneous and incomplete impressions of the 
phenomena of great mountain chains. The practised mountaineer is free 
both from the fears and the rashness of the less experienced traveller, or the 
native of the Himalayas, the Andes, or the Caucasus. He is not likely to be 
deterred from visiting a remote valley because ice and snow, and possibly 
steep and rocky ridges (held impassable by the native hunters), intervene 
between him and it; on the other hand, he will not start on such an 
enterprise without every appliance that may enable him to conquer the 
difficulties of the way; he will not walk across a neve without a rope; he 
will not be frightened into retreat by the first crevasse, or stopped by a 
hard-frozen slope. If possessed of such mountaineering qualities, he 
will command the confidence of the natives on whose assistance the results 
of his journey largely depend, and will be able to go in safety where 
others might not be able to go at all. 
Eopes and ice-axes, procurable at Hill’s, 4, Haymarket, are essential. It 
is still more essential that their proper use (up to the present time hardly 
known outside Europe) should be learnt. This may best be done in an 
Alpine tour, with an experienced glacier guide. Travellers without such 
experience had best keep to frequented passes, or below the snow-level. 
They will be most in danger when they perceive it least, and will imperil 
the lives of themselves and their companions. Icecraft, like seaman¬ 
ship, has to be learnt. A party of three is the smallest consistent with 
safety above the snow-line; and, whatever the number, the majority 
in any expedition of difficulty, should be experienced climbers. Such 
expeditions will best be made from a base where the heavier luggage and 
attendants are left. 
The best scheme for mountain exploration is one which neither limits 
the traveller to a single valley or district, nor carries him straight on 
from point to point, but allows for various short expeditions from a 
succession of centres, at which he can leave his camp and heavy 
luggage. 
