A FAMOUS FEMALE CLIMBER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1191, 26 September 1874, Page 21

A FAMOUS FEMALE CLIMBER.

Mdlie. d'Angeville was. famous long before the Alpine Club existed, as having made the ascent of twenty-five Swiss mountains. She was born in 1794, and was early seized with "climbing monomania," for which her vigorous health and strong will early prepared her. ' Her first attempt, leading her in the end to try the ascent oi Mont Blanc, was to the Mer de Glace and the Jardin. # After more than twelve hours' stiff walking, she returned without fatigue to Ohamouni. ' Looking up to the summit, then illuminated by the setting sun, and transported with admiration, she said : "I shall be there." A few months after her desire was fulfilled ; the Grand Plateau was reached 'without difficulty ; but the pulsation of the, heart, owing to the rarefied air, amounting, to 140 beats in a minute, rendered the Jatter ,part painful!; but once seated on her snowy throne,, she could enjoy the view, wrote several letters to her friends, and drank the health 1 of the newly-born prince, the son of the Duchess of Orleans. Passing over many other ascents she made, here is one of the latest :—: — At the age of sixty-nine, accompanied by a single guide, she climbed the Oldenborn- in ten hours from the Hotel dcs Diablerets. The night overtook them, and the guide declared he had lost his road. Mdlle.' d'Angeville decided to wait on the spot until the' break of day, so as to incur no risk ; but this the guide said would be tod dangerous on account of the cold. They separated, and he went" in search of the nearest chalet for a lantern ; in two hours-he returned, and then- the courageous' lady saw, not without emotion, that her resting-place was but a few

yards from a tremendous precipice. Happily, they soon descended into a place of safety. During her travels, she made a large collection of plants, minerals, autographs, and the portraits of those she met. She was an excellent mimic, and one of her amusements was to dress up in character and act a part. Thus, borrowing that of an old beggar, she started on the tramp ; the cottagers treated her liberally ; the curb's servant shut the door in her face ; but in the course of thi'ee hours she fcmnd how good a trade it was, having received between four and five francs.