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WITH CHRISTIAN ALMER IN THE OBERLAND.

WHEN the writer of this paper announced his intention of climbing the Finsteraarhorn, his friends one and all shook their heads. They pointed out to him the dangers of such a proceeding. They told him of avalanches and crevasses, of steep icy slopes and crumbling rock; they hinted at the probability of his being frost-bitten or lost in fog, of being blown away by wind or buried in snow. Some of the more sanguine, indeed, half believed that he might possibly be able to reach the top, but they were unanimous in saying that if he did so, he would speedily come down again, though whether by the way he went up or by a route to be discovered by himself seemed, according to them, more than doubtful. These prophecies of ill shook his confidence a little. But he was in Switzerland in August. Lucerne and Engelberg, and edelweiss-huntting and picnics, were but poor exchanges for the deer and grouse of Ross-shire and Sutherland; and so, after much doubt and questioning of friends, and many consultations of guide-books, he at length made up his mind to make, at any rate, an attempt on some of the great mountains.

As may be seen by its preface, there will be little in this paper which will interest skilful and crafty climbers, and they will certainly find nothing in it which will add to their knowledge. It is merely an account of a man's first visits to the regions of snow and ice, and of the impressions which these made upon him; and though its reading will be perhaps flat and unprofitable to the experienced, it may be of some small use to those who are as the writer was-quite

ignorant of what will be required of
them on the Alps, of the little dan-
gers and difficulties which have to
be overcome, and of the amount of
training and exertion which are
required to overcome them easily
and pleasantly. It is right to say
that he was used to hard and rough
work, could walk all day and all
night too, if it were necessary, and
fancied that he had a tolerably
steady head. But he knew noth-
ing of work on snow
or ice-had
never, indeed, been on а snow
mountain, with the single excep-
tion of the Titlis, in the Unter-
walden; and though he had a cer-
tain amount of confidence in him-
self, was by no means sure whe-
ther he would feel quite comfort-
able when creeping up a sharp
arête, or descending by slippery
steps a steep ice-slope with a couple
of thousand feet of precipice at the
bottom of it. He was exception-
ally fortunate in one respect,-he
was able to secure the services of
the great guide whose name stands
at the head of this paper, and it
was to Christian Almer that much
of the pleasure and all the success
of the expedition were due.

The weather was very bad that year, and made all people dependent on it very miserable. It rained and rained (and rain at Rosenlaui or Grindelwald meant snow on the higher ground), it blew and it thundered, and mist seemed to have asserted its right always to be present in greater or less quantities on every mountain. But at last there was a change-patches of sunshine began to be seen on the snow, and then on the faces of the guides. So one September morning we started, with Christian

Almer and Christian Roth, the latter the porter-a strong, willing, silent fellow, who carried his sometimes very heavy burden of food and wine and fuel without ever a murmur. We intended going by the Mönch Joch to the Egischhorn, climbing the Jungfrau on the way, and then the Finsteraarhorn, but the programme was afterwards considerably extended. The weather was changeable and fickle,-dense clouds hung all day on the Faulhorn, and the Wetterhorn's white peak was hid in something worse than mist; but the mountains in front were clear, and we went on although with somewhat doubting hearts. The lower glacier was crossed, the steep green slope on the Eiger climbed, and in the evening the little hut on the Bergli rock was reached, after a couple of hours on the snow -ground which gave to an ignor amus a good idea of some of the work before him. One or two of the slopes were steep, and some of the crevasses badly bridged and not easily crossed. And we may at once say that it was the crevasses and bergschrunds, and these alone, which gave us any trouble. We found that we did not mind iceslopes, that we rejoiced in arêtes, and that we contemplated with a certain amount of satisfaction the narrow ridge of snow which ran between two precipices. In such places we followed Almer readily, and without any feeling of nervousness or fear. But with the crevasses and the grim half-hidden bergschrunds it was sometimes different. Even when one of these latter lay in a long, open, naked line-a huge trench to be crossed by some slight and seemingly frail bridge of snow-we could manage it without much trouble. It was when the great chasm was nearly hid from view that certain qualms crossed our mind. It would run

along some steep mountain-side, opening here and there into black holes looking like gigantic graves. Then for a long distance it would be covered with snow, and its presence only be betrayed by the hollow-by the unnatural dip in the otherwise smooth surface of the névé. Again-perhaps just when the passage had to be made-it would show some of its evilness by cracks and blotches of darkness, some large, and some so small that a boot would almost cover them, but so deep that the trinkle of the snow in falling was heard against the side only (if the side was near), and not against the bottom. had a good deal to do with such places, especially in the last pass we made; and there, in addition to the real difficulties of the ground, the feeling of a small amount of insecurity was heightened, not only in ourselves, but also, perhaps, in the guides, by the almost certain knowledge that in one of the great chasms we crossed were lying the bodies of three men who, one Sunday a few weeks before, had begun a journey which they never finished.

We

The Bergli hut is a curious place to spend a night in. It lies in a niche of a mass of steep rock, thrown down, as it were, on the glacier between the Eiger and the Viescherhorner. There is only one place on place on this rock where there would be room for even such a small erection as it is, and there it is placed. Its door and its tiny window--the size of a sheet of paper-look out upon the Schreckhorn, seemingly quite close. Great mountains are all round it, the valley of Grindelwald is shut out from view by a spur of the Eiger, and its green is wanting to the view.

The sun, after hesitating long as to the course he should pursue, left the scene altogether, and then there was no colour to relieve the dull

surroundings. The rocks stood out black and cold from the snowcoloured ice; the sky, too, was white-a dull-greyish white-and soon the clouds lowered, and it began to snow. Great preparations went on inside for supper. At the foot of the raised platform or shelf which served as a bed, and which was very like that in a dog-kennel (indeed the place reminded one very much of an inferior kennel), was a small stove, and Almer officiated as cook with great grace and dignity. He had some congealed substance stuck at the bottom of a tin which looked as if it had once held some of Macdougall's sheepdip. This was soup; and really it was good, if one could have forgotten or had not seen the tin. Tea was made and chocolate, and many pipes were smoked. The evening was not promising-one red gleam of light touched for a moment the wild rocks of the Schreckhorn, and then the night began ominously with a fine gentle snow. Very early the men went to bed: we had but a poor time of it that night. Perhaps it was the novel feeling of being in the midst. of ice, on a little island as it were, 11,000 feet above the sea, which drove away sleep; or the thought that two short paces from the door would take one over a precipice on to the crevassed glacier below. We were anxious about the weather too, and about the great mountain which we hoped to climb.

The

snow soon ceased, the stars came out brightly, and when died away the little wind there had been, only one sound was left to break the night's stillness. There could be no rustle of leaves or grass at that great height, no hum of insects or call of birds, and the streams which by day trickled over the rocks fed by the melting snow, were now all fast bound by frost. But every now and then, at frequent though

uncertain intervals, masses of ice thundered down on to the glaciers below, sometimes far off towards the Eiger, and sometimes so near that one could almost hear the individual crash of each great fragment as it parted into thousands pieces at the bottom of the fall. There were other reasons why we did not sleep well, but it is perhaps not necessary to particularise them further than by saying that the small original inhabitants of the hut were very active. The straw which made our beds was damp and mouldy, and the snow had got in and wetted the floor and walls. But it seems ungracious to find fault with a place without whose friendly aid we could not have done what we intended without very much more discomfort and exposure than we experienced; and no one can use these shelters without feeling very grateful to the Swiss Alpine

Club for their erection. And it is right to say that the Bergli hut is an unfavourable example; for others -those on the Aletsch glacier and the Schreckhorn are instances-are, comparatively speaking, palaces. We tried hard to sleep, and then failing, read through the visitors' book of the establishment. Dr. Haller and his guides had spent a night in the hut before going up the Jungfrau. We followed their route throughout, hearing of them at the Egischhorn and at the Grimsel, from which latter place they only started to meet with death somewhere on the long slopes of the Lauteraarjoch.

We started at 4 A.M., and after climbing the steep rock of the Bergli, followed the tracks of some men who had tried the pass a few days before, but had been driven back by bad weather. The footprints led up to a wide bergschrund ; we could see them dimly continued on the other side, but in the middle there was a hiatus. The

snow-bridge on which they had crossed was gone, and a mere film of delicate white, which might have had strength enough to carry a rabbit or a fox, was all that was left. So a detour had to be made along the bergschrund towards the Eiger, to try and find another safer place; and failing that, a long and difficult route by its rocks would have been necessary, which would have taken much time, and have seriously interfered with the long hard day's work before us. There was a weird look about that bergschrund in the dim morning light: a few icicles, not many, fringed its upper tier, and then the pale smoky purple of its glossy walls ended in a deep transparent green, and in nothing else, for no eye could see the bottom. The new snow-bridge crossed this gulf at a high angle, and though it was probably safe enough, it was rather a relief to be well over it, for owing to the width of the chasm two of the party had to be on the bridge at the same time; and if this had gone, the third man would probably have been dragged out of his precarious footing. We had a good look into the dim mysterious depths of the crevasse, and then were glad to say good-bye to it. The little detour, though provoking at the time, had its compensation, for it enabled us to see, without constantly looking round, the great magnificence of the sunrise the herald of the splendid weather of the next few days. Long lines of colour showed themselves gradually in the east; gold faded into emerald, and emerald ran into deep starry violet. Soon every tint seemed to be be represented, and then the sun came up and showed himself proudly to the world. For a little while the mountains still remained white and cold, and the dark rocks stood out still unrelieved by shadow. The east side of the peak of the

Schreckhorn was lighted up, and this we could not see, but we had not long to wait. In a few moments the warm tint was on the Eiger, and in a few more on the Mönch; and then we ourselves, toiling painfully up the steep slope, saw its pale surface suddenly lit by a rose colour so intense that for the moment it almost made us blind. The light ran quickly from one peak to another, touching each with rosy fingers in its downward flight. It was not necessary then to be told which of the mountains round were the highest. The one that was highest felt the glow first. It soon faded away even from the lower glaciers, and the day fairly began.

There was no particular difficulty in the climb up the Jungfrau except in one place. Not very far from the top, a slope of snow lying at the highest possible angle is bottomed by a bergschrund, while its top forms the Roththalsattel or ridge which looks down into Lauterbrunnen. This slope has to be crossed nearly at a level, and if that was all it would merely require good step-cutting and care; but generally a cornice of ice and frozen snow overhangs it, varying in size according to the late state of the weather, sometimes a mere fringe

sometimes extending outwards for many feet. It was here that Dr. Haller's party met with their first check, and Inabnit, one of the guides, by a terrible fall, received a dreadful injury to his back which saved his life; for if he had not been disabled, he would have been with his employer and Rubi on the Lauteraarjoch. He was trying to make a way through this cornice with his axe, when a large piece of it came down and threw the whole party over; and while they escaped with little damage he was dreadfully injured-so much so, that on the way down to the Concordia hut.he often

piteously begged his companions to leave him to his fate. There is a note in pencil on the door there mentioning the accident. The cornice we had to pass was a sufficiently disagreeable-looking affair; the slope joined it in smooth unbroken line, and this place appeared perfectly impassable. But Almer never hesitated; he cut his way along it, and we followed, driving the axes in almost to the head, to get good hold, and doing this with difficulty for fear of disturbing the treacherous overhanging mass above. But at last we had to lie almost flat and wriggle under it, while bits of snow and long icicles skimmed quickly in a continuous stream into the yawning schrund below. Then there came a break in the fringe. Almer climbed through it and all danger was over. We toiled up the last long steep slope, and before ten stood on the top of the Jungfrau.

Of the view it is difficult to say anything from here, as from the Finsteraarhorn and Schreckhorn, and indeed from all the great heights we reached, we saw all that was to be seen. There was just a tiny fringe of haze round this fair horizon, but never a cloud in the sky. Though there was a sharp wind about halfway up, there was none on the summit, and we could enjoy the wonderful array of peaks in comfort. The descent to the Aletsch glacier was soon made; and then its long stretch of smooth surface followed, a somewhat monotonous journey, the only delays in which were caused by the partial disappearance into crevices of one or other of the party. We went into four, Almer into two, and Roth into one. On the upper part of the glacier the snow was so smooth and level that it was impossible often to see the slightest sign of a gap, and when any one sank in, it was without warning. The rope of course prevented danger; and

the only unpleasantness was the sudden feeling of collapse, and an occasional barking of shins on the sometimes sharp edge. The hotel on the Ægischhorn was reached in fifteen hours from the start. A pleasant day was spent there, and then we retraced our steps up the great glacier, and sleeping at the Concordia hut, the next day climbed the Finsteraarhorn. Here again we found not much difficulty, and here again our labours were rewarded with a most superb view. Every great mountain in Switzerland was in sight. Far away, but with his great bulk clearly defined against the bright sky, was Mont Blanc, with his aiguilles; and to the left, Monte Rosa, the Weisshorn, the splendid Matterhorn, and the long range which ended in distant Italy. Far away on the other side, too, could we see to the Jura and the Black Forest. The view on the south side is like that seen from the Egischhorn, with the increase of power which 4000 feet of additional elevation gives it; but from there you cannot, as from here, look north. The near prospect, too, looking down, is most grand: the near circle of mountains which stand round the Finsteraarhorn is a most stately one. There is the Jungfrau, no longer able to make the proud boast of "maiden,"-a mistress now-sometimes gentle, sometimes coy, and sometimes terribly stern. There is the Eiger, and the treacherous Mönch, whose long, seemingly easy slope is one of the more difficult of climbs; and there, too, the wild rocks of the great mountain we hoped soon to climb reared themselves up into the sky,-the "grimmest fiend of the Oberland," the "peak of terror" the Schreckhorn.

There was no wind on that most perfect day. At the height of over 14,000 feet the air was as warm and gentle as it had been at the

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