In Mr Whymper’s ninth and successful attempt the united party consisted of Lord Francis Douglas, Mr Hudson, Mr Hadow—a friend of Mr Hudson’s—and the guides Michel Croz and the two Taugwalders, father and son. They started from Zermatt on July 13, 1865, and camped out above the Hörnli ridge. The weather was fine and with everything in their favour, next day, they climbed with ease the apparently inaccessible precipices, and reached the actual summit at 1.40 P.M. In the account of the expedition which Mr Whymper has given to the world, he graphically describes the wild delight which they all felt at a success so much beyond their hopes, and how for a full hour they sat drinking-in the sweets of victory before preparing to descend. It is almost needless to re-tell a story which we have previously related, and which is so well known as the terrible tragedy which took place during the descent—how Mr Hadow slipped, struck Croz from his steps, and dragged down Mr Hudson and Lord Francis Douglas; how the rope snapped midway between Lord Francis Douglas and old Taugwalder; and how Mr Whymper and the two Taugwalders watched, horrified, whilst their unfortunate companions slid rapidly downwards, spreading out their hands in a vain endeavour to save themselves, till they finally disappeared over the edge of the precipice, falling a distance of four thousand feet on to the glacier below! The bodies of Messrs Hudson, Hadow, and Croz were subsequently recovered, and now lie buried in the graveyard of the Zermatt village church; but of Lord Francis Douglas, nothing could be seen. Beyond a boot, a pair of gloves, and the torn and bloodstained sleeve of a coat, no trace of him has ever since been found. What became of his body is to this day a mystery. It is strange how the memory of this the most dramatic—if it may be so termed—of all the accidents which have ever happened in the Alps is still indelibly impressed on the minds of climbers, guides, and amateurs alike. It is the commonest thing to hear it discussed, and the theories put forward as to the cause of the rope giving way where it did are various and ingenious. Unfortunately for the reputation of old Taugwalder, the report of the official investigation held by the local authorities after the accident has never to this day been made public. As a consequence, old Taugwalder has suffered irretrievably from a report mischievously circulated by his fellow-villagers to the effect, that at the moment of the slip, he sacrificed his companions to save himself, by severing the rope! And in spite of Mr Whymper’s assertions that the thing was impossible, there are some who still persist in maintaining that he cut it. The suspicion under which he laboured so preyed upon his spirits that he quitted the scene, and for many years never returned to his native village. The younger Taugwalder became one of the leading guides of the valley.