AN ALPINE INCIDENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 458, 3 November 1869, Page 3

AN ALPINE INCIDENT.

In Macmillan's Magazine, under the title of " Odds and Endß of Alpine Life," Professor Tyndall gives the following incident in his climbing experience: — The ice-cascade being itself impracticable, we scaled the rocks to the left of it, and were soon in the presence of the far-stretching snowfields from which the lower glacier derived nutriment. With a view to hidden crevasses, we here roped ourselves together. The sun was strong, its direct and reflecting blaze combining against U3. The scorching warmth experienced at times by cheeks, lips, and neck, indicated that in my case mischief was brewing; but the eyes being well protected by dark spectacles, I was comparatively indifferent to the prospective disfigurement of my face. Mr Sclater was sheltered by a veil, a mode of defence which the habit of going into places requiring the unimpeded eyesight had caused me lo neglect. There seems to be some specific quality in the sun's rays which produces the irritation of the skin experienced in the Alps. The solar heat may be compared, in point of quality, with that radiated from a furnace ; and the heat which the mountaineer experiences on Alpine snows is certainly less intense than that encountered by workmen in mauy of our technical operations. But the terrestrial heat appears to lack the quality which gives the sun's rays their power. The sun is incomparably richer in what are called chemical rays than are our ' fires, and to these chemical rays the irritation ] may be due. The keen air of the heights may also have something to do with it. As a remedy for sunburn I have tried glycerine, and found it a failure. The ordinary lipsalve of the druggists' shops is also worse than useless, but pure cold cream, for a supply of which I have had oa more than duo occasion to thank a friend, is an excellent ameliorative. < After considerable labour we reached the ridge— a very glorious one^ as regards the view — which forms the common boundary of the Rhone and Trif t gl&ciers. Before us and behind us for many a mile fell the dazzling neves, down to the points where the grey ice, emerging from its white cover- ; let, declared the junction of snowfield and glacier. We had plodded on for hours, soddened by the solar heat and parched with thirst. There was— " Water, water everywhere, But not a drop to drink." For, when placed in the mouth, the liquefaction of the ice was so slow, and the loss of heat from the surrounding tissues so painful, that sucking it was worse than total abstinence. In the midst of this solid water you might die of thirst. At some distance below ; the col, on the Rhone side, the musical trickle of the liquid made itself audible, and to the , rocks from which it fell we repaired, and refreshed ourselves. The day was far spent, the region was wild and lonely, when, beset by that feeling which has often caused me to wander singly in the Alps, I broke away from my companions, and went rapidly down the glacier. Our guide had previously informed me that before reaching the cascade of the Rhone the ice was to be forsaken, and the Grimsel, our destination, reached by skirting the base of the peak called Nagelis Gratli. After descending the ice for some time I struck the bounding rocks, and climbing the mountains obliquely, found myself among the crags which lie between the Grimsel pass and the Rhone glacier. It was an exceedingly desolate place, and I soon had reason to doubt the wisdom of being there alone. Still, difficulty rouses powers of which we should otherwise remain unconscious. The heat of the day had rendered me weary, but among these rocks the weariness vanished, and I became clear in mind and fresh in body through the necessity of escape before nightfall from this wilderness. I reached the watershed of the region. Here a tiny stream offered me its company, which I accepted. It received in its course various lateral tributaries, and at one place expanded into a blue lake bounded by banks of snow. The stream quitted this lake augmented in volume, and I kept along its side until, arching over

a brow of granite, it discharged itself down the glaciated rocks which rise above the Grimsel. In fact, this stream was the feeder of the Gritnsel lake. I halted on the brow for some time. The hospice was fairly in sight, but the precipices between me and it seemed desperately ugly. Nothing is more trying to the climber than those cliffs which have been polished by the ancient glaciers. Even at moderate inclinations, as may be learned from an experiment on the Hollenplatte, or some other of the polished rocks in Haslithal, they are not easy. I need hardly say that the inclination of the rocks flanking the Grimsel is the reverse of moderate. It is dangerously steep. How to get down these smooth and precipitous tablets was now a problem of the utmost interest to me ; for the day was too far gone, and I was too ignorant of the locality, to permit of time being spent in the search of an easier place of descent. Right or left of me I saw none. The continuity of the cliffs below me was occasionally broken by cracks and narrow ledges, with, scanty grass-tufts sptoutiag fvoni them here and there. The problem was to get down from crack to crack and from ledge to ledge. A salutary anger warms the mind when thus challenged, and, aided by this warmth, close scrutiny will dissolve difficulties which might otherwise seem insuperable. Bit by bit I found myself lower, closely examining at every pause the rocks below. The grass tufts helped me for a time, but at length a rock was reached on which no friendly' grass could grow. This slab was succeeded by others equally forbidden. A slip was not admissible here. I looked upwards, thinking of retreat, but the failing day urged mn on. From the middle of the smooth surface jutted a ledge of about fifteen inches long and about four inches deep. Once upon this ledge, I saw that I could work obliquely to the left-hand limit of the face of the rock, and reach the grass-tufts once more. Grasping the top of the rock, I let myself down as far as my stretched arms would permit, and then let go my hold. The boot-nails had next no power as a brake, the hands had still less, and I came upon the ledge with an energy that shocked me. A streak of grass beside the rock was next attained ; it terminated in a small, steep couloir, the portion of which within view was crossed by three transverse ledges. There was no hold on either side of it, but I thought that by friction the motion down the groove could be so regulated as to enable me to come to rest at each successive ledge. Once started, however, my motion was exceedingly rapid. I shot over the first ledge, an uncomfortable jolt marking my passage. Here I tried to clamp myself against the rock, but the second ledge was crossed like the first. The outlook now became alarming, and I made a desperate effort to stop the motion. Braces gave way, clothes were torn, wrists and hands were skinned and brnised, while hips and knees suffered variously. I however stopped myself, and here all serious difficulties ended. I was greatly heated, but a little lower down discovered a singular cave in the mountain-side, with water dripping from its roof into a clear well. The ice-cold liquid Boon restored me to a normal temperature. I felt quite fresh on entering the Grimsel inn, but a curious physiological effect manifested itself when I had occasion to speak. The power of the brain over the lips was so lowered that I could hardly make myself understood.