154 
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
nail is good enough for most places where an explorer ought to go, but 
crampons may undoubtedly often enable their wearers to reach a point 
which would be unattainable to them by stepcutting, and much time is 
often saved by their use, if all the party are provided with them. They can 
be obtained of the Albion Iron and Wirework Co., Red Lion Street, E.C. 
The straps should be of hempwebbing, not leather, f inch wide. 
The special requisites for snow and ice expeditions are included in 
Mr. Whymper’s List. Mr. Whymper’s tent is probably the best pattern 
to use for high climbing. It is much improved by the addition of a fly, 
which adds little to the weight. Alpine sleeping-bags, snow spectacles, 
felt-covered water-bottles, self-cooking souptins, chocolate, warm covering 
for hands and feet, strongly nailed and easy boots, cloth gaiters, are among 
the chief requisites for high exploration. A complete list of outfit is given 
in a f Report on the Equipment of Mountaineers/ to be obtained from 
the Assistant Secretary of the Alpine Club (price 6d). Various preven¬ 
tives of sunblistering have been advised. Professor Mosso states that 
soot is the most efficacious application. Cold cream, zinc ointment and 
the like, prevent any bad degree of sunburn. Take plenty of spare snow 
spectacles for use by porters in crossing snow passes. Field-glasses are 
much appreciated as presents by most mountain people, and spare ones 
should be taken. 
Directions as to the observations, which may easily and profitably be 
made with regard to the present and past nature and extent of glacial 
action, the rate of movement of glaciers and the advance or retreat of 
their extremities, the snow-level, the extent and limit of forests and plants 
in mountain districts, and the relations of raDges to winds, rainfall, and 
climate, will be found in other sections. 
General information on many subjects, both scientific and practical, 
connected with mountaineering, is given in a compact form by the late 
Mr. John Ball in his Introduction to f The Alpine Guide * (new and 
revised edition by W. A. B. Coolidge, published, separately, in 1889 under 
the title of f Hints to Alpine Travellers 5 ), in the “Introductory Sections 55 
to Murray’s e Switzerland 5 (Edition 1892), and the Badminton Volume 
on Mountaineering (1900), edited by Mr. Clinton Dent. The last- 
mentioned book should be studied carefully by any traveller proposing 
to himself serious mountain exploration. He will find special chapters 
devoted to “ Mountaineering beyond the Alps. 55 
