Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers ... Edited by J. Ball. Third edition

Preface

TO THE THIRD EDITION. The public favour which has rapidly exhausted two editions of this volume, enabled the Editor to intro duce a few needful corrections in the text and in the maps accompanying the Second Edition, and now permits him to make an announcement which will be received with pleasure by many travellers who are accustomed to resort to one of the chief head-quarters of Alpine life — the VaUey of Chamouni. The rules laid down for the guides at that place have long been" complained of, as interfering need lessly with the liberty of the strangers who visit Chamouni, and as calculated to discourage exertion and enterprise on the part of the guides themselves. These complaints had already been urged by scientific travellers, who found especial inconvenience in the restrictions by which they were prevented from freely making such arrangements as were mutually agreed A

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to VI upon between themselves and the guides whom they chose to select. Authorised by a general meeting of then body, the officers and the committee of the Alpine Club last year brought under the immediate notice of the Sardinian Minister, resident at the Court of London, his Excellency the Marquis d'Azeglio, the objections felt by travellers to the Chamouni regulations. At his kind suggestion, these objections were reduced to writing, and communicated to the com petent authorities at Turin. With a promptitude and liberality that deserve warm acknowledgment, these representations, proceeding from foreigners in private station and possessing no claim to official re cognition, received the immediate attention of the Sardinian Government, even at a time when matters of the gravest importance must have absorbed their attention.

After sufficient inquiry, the necessity for a change became apparent, and a new set of regula tions was prepared and put in force by a decree of the Prince Eegent, bearing date the 24th of May last. If the new rules do not altogether abolish the restrictions that previously fettered the freedom of contract between travellers and guides, they so far diminish their stringency that little, if any, practical inconvenience can be felt from them. Exception may indeed be taken to the high rate of pay prescribed by the tariff for the ascent of Mont Blanc, and the passage of the Col du Geant ; and it may be thought that each guide is fully competent to decide THE THIRD EDITION. VII for himself the rate of extra pay that is a reasonable remuneration for the labour and risk involved in all expeditions that exceed the ordinary average of a day's excursion in the Alps.

But where so much readiness to consider reasonable objections has already been shown, it woidd be ungracious to show dissatis faction, and it is but right to place confidence in the disposition of the authorities to make such further re forms as experience may hereafter prove to be required. A translation of such of the new regulations as are chiefly interesting to travellers, is added in the Appendix to the present edition. To meet the convenience of travellers, the maps accompanying this work, along with the table of heights contained in the Appendix, have been separately published. The season of 1859, which has scarcely closed as the present edition is going to press, has been marked by a number of successful ascents and the discovery of some new and interesting passes. The Bev. C. Hudson has at length effected the ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc from the Dome du Goute, by the ridge of the Bosse du Dromadaire.

In the neighbourhood of Monte Bosa, two passes, suggested by the Editor of this volume, have been recently accomplished by Messrs. W. and G. S. Mathews. Starting from the Eiffel at 2.50 a.m., they reached the plateau between Monte Bosa and the Lyskamm at 9.30 a.m., and arrived at St. Jean de A

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TO THE THIRD EDITION. VIII Gressonay at 4.15 p.m. The same party crossed from Zinal to Zermatt, by the head of the Zinal glacier and the glacier of Zmutt ; descending between the Pointe de Zinal and the Gabelhorn, by the Hochwang glacier and the ' Ebihorn. The Aletschhorn was as cended by Mr. Tuckett on the 18th of June last ; and the neighbouring peak of the Bietschhorn, as well as the Bympfischhorn, were successfully attacked by the Bev. Leslie Stephen. The last-named gentle man, together with Messrs. W. and G. S. Mathews, effected a difficult and dangerous passage from the Wengern Alp to the Æggischhorn : ascending by the Eiger glacier, they attained the ridge between the Eiger and the Mbnch, and from thence by the Trugberg glacier, they gained the Great Aletsch glacier and the Æggischhorn.

After an unsuccessful attempt by Mr. Tuckett, the remarkable peak of the Grivola was for the first time reached by three English travellers, but the particulars of the ascent have not yet been made known to the Editor. In accordance with a surmise previously expressed by him, an attempt to ascend the Weisshorn from the side of Zinal, made by the Messrs. Mathews on the 16th of August last, was unsuccessful. October 1859.

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TO THE FIRST EDITION. In presenting this volume to the Public, it seems proper to offer some explanation of the circum stances that have led to its production. The Euro pean Alps have long exerted a powerful attraction upon strangers from other lands ; our countrymen and countrywomen, in particular, have been accustomed to seek health and enjoyment in repeated visits to a region where, in matchless combination, the subhme scenery of snow-clad peak and glacier is associated with the softer beauty of lake and vaUey ; but for a long time the crowds of tourists who annually visited the Alps were content to follow in certain beaten tracks, each one copying with almost servile fidelity the route followed by his predecessor. It is true that the two districts which once monopolised the attention of foreign visitors present a combination of attractions that are not

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TO X surpassed elsewhere : Chamouni, and Cormayeur, Grindelwald. Lauterbrunnen, and the Grimsel, are spots that can never lose their charm for the lover of Nature ; and since, in addition to these, tourists have found then way to new head-quarters, such as Zermatt, Saas, Gressonay, Macugnaga, the Æggisch horn, Stachelberg, and Heihgenblut, it must be owned that no new routes which they can discover for themselves are likely to surpass those now known and accessible. Of late years, however, an increasing desire has been felt to explore the unknown and little frequented districts of the Alps. The writings of Professor J. D. Forbes, those of M. Agassiz and his companions, and of M. Gottlieb Studer, led many in whom the passion for Alpine scenery was blended with a love of adventure, and some scientific interest in the results of mountain-travel, to strike out new paths for themselves, and especially in the higher snow region, which had before been almost com pletely shunned by ordinary travellers.

Practice soon developed the powers of those who undertook such expeditions ; experience showed that the dan gers connected with them had been exaggerated, while at the same time it taught the precautions which are really requisite. The result has been to train up amongst the foreign visitors to the Alps, but especially amongst our own countrymen, many men as familiar with the peculiar difficulties and THE FIRST EDITION. XI risks of expeditions in the High Alps, and as com petent to overcome them, as most of the native guides. The powers thus acquired have been chiefly directed to accomplishing the ascent of the highest summits, or effecting passes across the less accessible portions of the Alpine chain ; and within the last five years the highest peak of Monte Bosa, the Dom, the Great Combin, the Alleleinhorn, the Wetterhorn proper, and several other peaks never before scaled, have been successfully attacked by travellers, most of whose names will be found among the contributors to this volume.

In the accidental intercourse of those who have been engaged in such expeditions, it has been per ceived that the community of taste and feeling amongst those who in the life of the High Alps have shared the same enjoyments, the same labours, and the same dangers, constitutes a bond of sympathy stronger than many of those by which men are drawn into association; and early in the year 1858, it was resolved to give scope for the extension of this mutual feeling amongst all who have explored high mountain regions, by the formation of the Alpine Club. It was thought that many of those who have been engaged in similar undertakings, would willingly avail themselves of occasional opportunities for meeting together, for communicating information as to past excurs_QO_9 and for planning

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TO new achievements ; and a hope was entertained that such an association might indirectly advance the general progress of knowledge, by directing the attention of men, not professedly followers of science, to particular points in which their assistance may contribute to valuable results. The expectations of the founders of the Club have not been disappointed ; it numbers at the present time nearly a hundred members, and it is hoped that the possession of a permanent place of meeting will materially further the objects which it has proposed to itself. The interest shown by the Public in narratives of excursions through the less frequented districts of the Alps contained in several recent publications, had naturally suggested to others the idea of re cording their adventures, either in separate volumes, or in the form of contributions to periodicals, when it was proposed that the facilities for combined action presented in the Alpine Club should be made use of to bring together, in a single volume, some of the materials likely to interest the general reader, which were available in the hands of several members of the Club.

It was thought to be no slight advantage, that in this mode of publication the effort of each author would be rather to condense than to extend his narrative, and it was hoped, at the same time, that the resources which could be made avail able for the present volume would secure a degree of excellence in the illustrations, — both plates and THE FIRST EDITION. XIII maps, — that could not easily be attained if several writers had separately given their productions to the Public. Each chapter, containing an account of some se parate exclusion, or of a single district, is signed by the author, who is responsible for the accuracy of his own statements, and in this respect it is hoped that not much scope has been left for unfavour able criticism ; but those who have had experience in the matter are aware that a traveller's notes are unavoidably incomplete, and that some occasional slip of memory in minute details must necessarily occur.

In the snow region of the Alps, again, changes are perpetuaUy occurring from one day, and even from one hour, to another ; and it is only those who are unacquainted with the ice-world that require to be told that they may find the condition of a glacier, or a snow-slope, very different from the description of preceding travellers. It will be observed that a few of the contributions do not strictly relate to the chain of the Alps. It was not intended by the founders of the Alpine Club to limit the scope of their association by any geographical boundary, neither do those of the members who have taken a part in the preparation of this volume wish to adopt any such restriction ; and if they should hereafter renew the present ex periment upon the public favour, they hope to extend, still farther than they have now been able

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TO to do, the range of their inroads upon the higher regions of great mountains, wherever on the earth they may be placed. The paper upon the Ancient Glaciers of Switzerland and Wales will, it may be hoped, be accepted as coming fairly within the title of the present work, and as interesting from its intrinsic importance, as well as from the scientific eminence of the writer. Although the plates and wood-cuts introduced into this volume have for the most part been taken from rough sketches made in the course of a long day's walk, they may be rehed upon as generally correct ; but as they represent objects quite out of the range of ordinary experience, it is impossible that the artists engaged upon them should be able (especially on so small a scale) to attain the degree of perfection and accuracy of effect that Mr. Coleman, who unites skill as an artist to the experience of a successful mountaineer, has been able to achieve in his " Scenes from the Snow-fields."

The maps have been in part taken from the best existing authorities, and especially from the Swiss Federal Map, still in course of publication, and from Studer's " Karte der Sudlichen Walhsthaler ; :' but in every one of them corrections have been intro duced, sometimes of considerable importance. The map of the Mont Blanc range may be considered altogether new, as large portions, quite incorrectly laid down in all preceding maps, have been drawn THE FIRST EDITION. XV afresh, with the great advantage of the accurate local knowledge of the well-known and respected Auguste Balmat, of Chamouni, now on a visit in this country Though slight errors may still be detected, the present map is confidently offered as very superior to any hitherto given to the Public. In the Appendix is added a Table of the heights of the chief mountains in the chain of the Alps, which, it is hoped, will be found more full and accurate than the Catalogues contained in preceding English works.

O The degree of success that may attend the present volume, and the extent and value of the new ma terials that may be accumulated in the course of fresh expeditions, will probably decide whether a new collection of Alpine adventures shall at some future time be presented to the Public. CONTENTS.

Chapter I

The Passage of the FenStre de Salena, from the Col de Balme to the Val Ferret, bt the Glacier du Tour, the Glacier de Trient, and the Glacier de Salena. By A. Wills, M.A 1 CHAP. II. A Dat among the Seracs of the Glacier du Geant. By J. Tyndall, F.R.S 39 CHAP. III. Notes of Excursions on the West Side of Mont Blanc, including the Col de Miage. By P. V. Hawkins, M.A 6S CHAP. IV. The Mountains of Bagnes, with the Ascents op the Velan, Combin, and Graffeneire, and the Passage of the Col du Mont P„ouge. By W. Mathews, Jun., M.A 76 CHAP. V. From Zermatt to the Val DAnniviees, bt the Trift Pass. By T. W. Hinchliff, M.A 120 CHAP. VI. Passage of the Schwarz Thor from Zeematt to Atas. By J. Ball, M.R.I.A., F.L.S 155 CHAP. VII. Ascent of one of the Mischabel -HOener, called the Dom. By the Rev. J. LI.

Davies, M.A 191 CHAP. VIII. Ascents of the Fletschhorn and Alleleinhorn. By E. L. Ames, M.A. 20; CONTENTS. XVIII CHAP. IX. Ascent of the Schreckhorn. By E. Anderson 284 CHAP. X. The Grimsel to Grindelwald.— Passage of the Strahleck. By J. Ball, M.R.I.A., F.L.S 255 CHAP. XI. Ascent of the Finster Aar Horn. By Rev. J. F. Hardy, B.D. . . .283 CHAP. XII. Excursion from the Æogisch-Horn to the Monch Sattel. or Col de la Jcngfuau. By E. H. Bunliury, M.A. ... ... 309 CHAP. XIII. The Wildstrubel and Oldenhorn. By T.W. Hinchliff, M.A. . . . 320 CHAP. XIV. A Night Adventure on the Bristenstock. By E. S. Kennedy, B.A. . 853 CHAP. XV. The Baths of Stachelberg and the Heights and Passes in the Vicinity. By R. W. E. Forster 371 CHAP. XVI. The Old Glaciers of Switzerland and Wales. By A. C Ra usay, F.R.S., and G.S 400 CHAP. XVII. Ascent of Ætna. By Rev. J. F. Hardy, B.D 475 CHAP. XVIII. Suggestions for Alpine Travellers. By J. Ball, M.R.I.A., F.L.S. . . 490