The Glaciers of the Alps: Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are relatedTyndall, John
Science
The Glaciers of the Alps: Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are related
Tyndall, John
Alps -- Description and travel; Glaciers -- Alps
ice, and winding through the entanglement of crevasses until the spur of
the Riffelhorn was reached; this I climbed to its summit, and afterwards
crossed the green alp to our hotel.
[Sidenote: TEMPTATION. 1858.]
The foregoing good day's work was rewarded by a sound sleep at night.
The tourists were called in succession next morning, but after each call
I instantly subsided into deep slumber, and thus healthily spaced out
the interval of darkness. Day at length dawned and gradually brightened.
I looked at my watch and found it twenty minutes to six. My guide had
been lent to a party of gentlemen who had started at three o'clock for
the summit of Monte Rosa, and he had left with me a porter who undertook
to conduct me to one of the adjacent glaciers. But as I looked from my
window the unspeakable beauty of the morning filled me with a longing to
see the world from the top of Monte Rosa. I was in exceedingly good
condition--could I not reach the summit alone? Trained and indurated as
I had been, I felt that the thing was possible; at all events I could
try, without attempting anything which was not clearly within my power.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Now called, in the Federal map, the "Monte Rosa glacier." Goernerhorn
is an old local name for the central mass of Monte Rosa.--L. C. T.
[B] _See_ p. 138, footnote.
SECOND ASCENT OF MONTE ROSA, 1858.
(22.)
[Sidenote: A LIGHT SCRIP. 1858.]
Whether my exercise be mental or bodily, I am always most vigorous when
cool. During my student life in Germany, the friends who visited me
always complained of the low temperature of my room, and here among the
Alps it was no uncommon thing for me to wander over the glaciers from
morning till evening in my shirt-sleeves. My object now was to go as
light as possible, and hence I left my coat and neckcloth behind me,
trusting to the sun and my own motion to make good the calorific waste.
After breakfast I poured what remained of my tea into a small glass
bottle, an ordinary demi-bouteille, in fact; the waiter then provided me
with a ham sandwich, and, with my scrip thus frugally furnished, I
thought the heights of Monte Rosa might be won. I had neither brandy nor
wine, but I knew the immense amount of mechanical force represented by
four ounces of bread and ham, and I therefore feared no failure from
lack of nutriment. Indeed, I am inclined to think that both guides and
travellers often impair their vigour and render themselves cowardly and
apathetic by the incessant "refreshing" which they deem it necessary to
indulge in on such occasions.
[Sidenote: THE GUIDE EXPOSTULATES. 1858.]
[Sidenote: THE GUIDE HALTS. 1858.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account