PASSAGE OF THE ECHELLES BY M. BISSON, 1861. below than to the adventurers themselves. The reader may perhaps imagine-certainly we shall not attempt to describe-the intense interest with which Madame De Saussure and her two sisters watched the long caravan creeping up the mountain-side, and the satisfaction with which M. De Saussure remarked the flag which, in accordance with a previous agreement, was hoisted at Chamouni as a signal that his safe arrival had been observed by them.

Relieved of his first anxiety by this signal from his wife, his next thought was of science. But he found that the dangers and difficulties of Mont Blanc were not over when the ascent was finished. When he commenced to arrange his instruments, and take his observations, he was compelled at every moment to interrupt his work that he might give all his thoughts to the actual labor of breathing. The air was not above one-half its ordinary density. He must compensate for this want of density by redoubling the frequency of his respiration, which in turn accelerated the motion of the blood. His pulse, ordinarily 72, reached 100; that of his servant 112. In a word-and this is the universal experience of those who ascend Mont Blanc-he and all his companions were attacked with fever. Appetite they had none. This fact, discovered for the first time in these explorations, is now recognized by all the guides of the mountain. At a given point the party halt and eat a hearty meal; for from that point they will have no inclination for food till they return, and it consequently can do them little good. Even wine and brandy were distasteful. On the top of Mont Blanc nature enforces a prohibitory law. Water alone was palatable. And the difficulties of kindling or maintaining a fire to melt the ice were almost insurmountable. These difficulties were enhanced by the extreme rarefaction of the air. An apparatus, heated with a spirit-of-wine lamp, required half an hour to heat water to the boiling point; at the sea level the same object would have been accomplished in less than half the time. Four hours and a half were devoted to experiments; yet not so much was accomplished as might easily have been achieved in three hours under

ordinary circumstances. But the great enterprise had been effected. The "monarch of mountains" had been conquered. And up the path which M. De Saussure opened hundreds of travelers, in pursuit of science, art, pleasure, and gain, have followed. His return was accomplished without serious danger, and without any remarkable adventure.

It is a curious fact that the only sign of animal life he witnessed on the mountainpeak was two butterflies, which fluttered

across his path six hundred and fifty feet beneath the summit. They had probably been brought there involuntarily by some gust of wind from the plain.

If science is entitled to great credit for scaling Mont Blanc, art is no less so. For our pictures we are largely indebted to a French photographer-M. Bisson-who, in 1861, succeeded not only in ascending Mont Blanc, but in carrying his photographic apparatus with him to the very summit.

Besides the difficulties which we have described M. De Saussure as encountering, there are many more which the tourist may not always have to meet, but for which he must always be prepared. Tempests are always liable to gather without warning about the top of these gigantic peaks. To be lost in the ice and snow of these inaccessible heights-to know no path -to be blinded by the storm and frozen by the furious and icy wind-to dare neither to remain, for fear of perishing with exposure, nor to move, for the greater dread of being precipitated into some unfathomable crevasse-is indeed a horrible fate; and yet, probably, it is the dreadful character of such a calamity, always possible, never to be foretold, which clothes the ascent of the mountain with its peculiar and dreadful fascination.

If so, the fearful fate which, last September, overtook a party of tourists on the icy sides of this mountain will do nothing to deter audacious pleasure-seekers from following in their footsteps.

The morning was fair when the tourists set out. There were two Americans, Mr. Randall, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Dr. Beane, of Baltimore. The third was a Scotch clergyman by the name of M'Corkendale. Mr. Randall seems to have had some presentiment of his coming fate. He is said to have made his will before starting, and to have left some particular directions as to what should be done with certain of his effects in case he never returned. On the Grands Mulets a hut has been erected where tourists spend their first night.

Our party reached this spot in safety, and early the next morning resumed their journey.

The rest of their tragical story is involved in some uncertainty. A storm appears to have arisen suddenly on Tuesday morning. It is possible that while it was observed in the valley below, the travelers themselves may have been above and unconscious of it. Once they were observed on a point known as the Dromedary's Hump. They were seen to collect together and hold fast to each other; then the wreaths of snow raised by the furious winds veiled them. They were never seen alive again. Wednesday passed, and they did not return. The desponding believed that a furious gust of wind had precipitated them from the peak on which they were seen grouped, and dashed them upon the glacier below. The sanguine still entertained a hope that they had found a shelter from the storm in some of the icy caverns with which the mountain-sides abound. It was not until Thursday that an expedition was organized to go in search of them. The guides of the Chamouni Valley are bound together by ties as tender as those of brothers. Volunteers were called for; the only difficulty was in selecting from among them. All these guides are under one chief. He organized the party. No married men were allowed to enlist. Their departure was in silence. The only sound which disturbed it was the sobs of the wives and families of the missing guides. But the storm still continued. The relief party could make but little progress against it. The newly fallen snow choked the way. To prevent being blown into

VOL. XLII.-No. 252.-52

EXPLORING THE MOUNTAIN.

the crevasses they were obliged to group together and hold fast to their staves for support. To have continued their journey would have been certain death. After a climb of two hours and a half they were compelled to relinquish their purpose, and descend. It was not till ten days after the missing party had left the valley that any hope dawned of ever finding their bodies. During those ten days the mountain was constantly swept with glasses from the valley below. At length some black spots were discerned far up the mountain-side. Exploring parties were immediately organized. Some fifty persons joined in the search for the dead. Five bodies were found on the following day.

Among them were those of Mr. M'Corkendale, of Scotland, and Dr. Beane, of Baltimore. The latter was in a sitting posture, his head resting on his hands. On his body was found a diary which tells the story of their tragic death:

Tuesday, September 6.-I have made the ascension of Mont Blanc, with ten other persons-eight guides, Mr. M'Corkendale, and Mr. Randall. We reached the summit at half past two o'clock. Immediately after having quitted it I found myself enveloped in a whirlwind of snow at 15,000 feet English height. We have passed the night in a grotto dug in the snow-an uncomfortable asylum, and I have been ill all the night.

September 7- Morning. - Cold very intense. Much snow. It falls without cessation; the guides are uneasy.

September 7-Evening.-We have been on Mont Blanc for two days in a terrible snow-storm. We are lost. We are in a grotto, dug in the snow, at a height of 15,000 feet. I have no hope of descending. Perhaps some one will find this book, and will send it to you." (Then follow directions relative to his private affairs.) "We have no provisions. My feet are already frozen, and I am already exhausted. I have only strength to write these words. I die, believing in Jesus Christ, with the sweet thought of my family, my friendships, and all. I hope that we shall meet in heaven. Yours always,

The dangers with which those who attempt to ascend Mont Blanc are threatened, by unexpected storms, do not disappear when the storm ceases. The sun rarely shines more brightly, the skies are rarely more clear, or the day more seemingly auspicious, than on the occasion of the ever-memorable tragedy which overtook Dr. Hamel's party in 1821. Dr. Hamel was a scientific gentleman who traveled at the expense and in the interest of the Russian government to make certain inquiries into the physical conditions of the globe. On the 18th of August, having two weeks before made one unsuccessful attempt, he commenced for the second time the ascent of the mountain, accompanied by two English gentlemen and twelve guides. They reached the Grands Mulets without accident, where the party encamped for the night. As evening drew on the atmosphere grew stormy, rain began to fall, and it thundered heavily. The following day continued rainy, and the snow, which at first began to fall upon Mont Blanc, began to approach the region of the travelers' camp. At the close of the second night the guides, after consultation, unanimously counseled a return to the valley; but Dr. Hamel, already once disappointed, would not listen to their counsel. Three guides returned to secure a new stock of provisions. The rest remained. By eight o'clock the clouds cleared away, and Dr. Hamel insisted on starting instantly for the summit. The guides at first refused; one of them, oppressed by a presentiment of his coming fate, is said to have cast himself into the arms of a comrade, exclaiming, "I am a lost man! I shall perish on the mountain!" The