Mr. Kennedy started from Abricolla between 2 and 3 A.M. on July 18, 1862, and ascending the glacier that is mentioned in the opening paragraph, went towards the point marked 3912 mètres upon the map;(169) then turned to the left (that is, to the north), and completed the ascent by the southern ridge—that which overhangs the western side of the Schönbühl glacier. Mr. Kennedy described his expedition in a very interesting paper in the _Alpine Journal_. His account bore the impress of truth; yet unbelievers said that it was impossible to have told (in weather such as was experienced) whether the summit had actually been attained, and sometimes roundly asserted that the mountain, as the saying is, still remained virgin. I did not share these doubts, although they influenced me to make the ascent. I thought it might be possible to find an easier route than that taken by Mr. Kennedy, and that if we succeeded in discovering one we should be able at once to refute his traducers, and to vaunt our superior wisdom. Actuated by these elevated motives, I halted my little army at the foot of the glacier, and inquired, “Which is best for us to do?—to ascend the Dent Blanche, or to cross to Zermatt?” They answered, with befitting solemnity, “We think Dent Blanche is best.” From the chalets of Abricolla the south-west face of the Dent Blanche is regarded almost exactly in profile. From thence it is seen that the angle of the face scarcely exceeds thirty degrees, and after observing this I concluded that the face would, in all probability, give an easier path to the summit than the crest of the very jagged ridge which was followed by Mr. Kennedy. We zigzagged up the glacier along the foot of the face, and looked for a way on to it. We looked for some time in vain, for a mighty _bergschrund_ effectually prevented approach, and, like a fortress’ moat, protected the wall from assault. We went up and up, until, I suppose, we were not more than a thousand feet below the point marked 3912 mètres; then a bridge was discovered, and we dropped down on hands and knees to cross it. [Illustration: THE BERGSCHRUND ON THE DENT BLANCHE IN 1865] A bergschrund, it was said on p. 182, is a schrund, and something more than a schrund. A schrund is simply a big crevasse. A bergschrund is frequently, although not always, a big crevasse. The term is applied to the last of the crevasses that one finds, in ascending, before quitting the glacier, and taking to the rocks which bound it. It is the mountains’ schrund. Sometimes it is _very_ large, but early in the season (that is to say in the month of June or before) bergschrunds are usually snowed up, or well bridged over, and do not give much trouble. Later in the year, say in August, they are frequently very great hindrances, and occasionally are completely impassable.