The Express.
London, England, 1860-08-23 00:00:00

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FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE ALPS.

The mournful intelligence of a frightful accident
upon Mont Blanc, by which three of our countrymen have
lost their lives, is communicated by a correspondent of the

Times, who writes as follows from Cormayeur :
"On Wednesday, the 15th of August inst., three English
travellers—yin, Mr. J. M. Rochester and Mr. F. Vavassour,
both of Cardiff, and Mr. B. Fuller, of London, left the
Ifordanvert, near Chamouny, at 5 o'clock in the morning,
with the intention of crossing the Col du Giant for
Cormayeur, attended by three guide', of whom Frederic
Tairraz, the brother of the well-known Jean Tannin
who keeps the Hotel de Mont Blanc at Aorta, was the
chief ; a porter carrying their knapsacks. The weather
seemed favourable. Some time, however, before they
reached the summit a thick fog came on, accompanied by a
storm of hail and rain. The travellers were extremely
fatigued by the long ascent, rendered more difficult by a
recent fall of snow, into which they sank up to their knees.
This and the state of the weather caused the guides to
urge them to turn back. They, however, refused to
comply with this advice, alleging that they were too tired
to return, and preferred proceeding. At about 4 o'clock
in the afternoou they reached the summit. The tra-
vellers had been tied together by a new rope, of sufficient
strength, at interval. of 10 feet ; two guides held the ends
of the rope twisted round their hands, one yeeeedleg the
' party, the other following, while Tains/ walked with the
travellen, grasping the rope from time to time. In this
=toner they descended for • considerable distance without
any accident, the guides continually urging the travellers to
plant their heels firmly in the snow, and to walk as steadily
as they were able. About 6 o'clock they reached a place
where it is necessary to traverse a steep projecting ridge
by a muddy and slippery path, the descent of which
was, however, graduaL This path was then covered by
fresh and sloppy snow to the depth of about a foot. The
tired travellers were advancing on this path with unsteady
steps, when all at once, at the very angle of the ridge,
one of them slipped, fell, and dragged with him his two
companions, with the three 4uides, over a steep and long
slope of snow. The two guides at the end of the rope
made every effort in their power to arrest their progress,
but in vain, and seeing that they were all upon the point
of being launched over the precipice, they let go the
rope, forced their hands and feet into the snow, and
stopped themselves as by • miracle at the very verge
of an abyss, into which their unfortunate companions were
immediately plunged. They made their way to the foot of
the precipice, where they found three bodies in such a sad
condition as to leave no doubt of the fate of the fourth,
and then hastened down to Cormayeur, where they arrived
soon after 8 o'clock.
. . . .

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" The foregoing is the account given by M. Curie, the
Vaudois pas!rer of this place, and almost in lus own words.
The only point that seems to call for explanation is the fact
of the travellers being tied together by a rope, for which
there is no need on this aide of the Col ; but, as TILiMIS
was a most experienoed guide, we must believe that he
saw good reason for using it to this cam. The result was
most disastrous. The weather, no doubt, had been bad for
many days, and much snow had fallen ; but this did not
prevent other parties passing the Col iu safety by the very
Kama mute ; and on the morning of the day on which this
lamentable accident occurred a party of six (including two
ladies), of whom the M. Curie mentioned above was one,
ascended the Col from Cortnayeur and returned here un-
injured.
"On the following morning the judge of the district,
with other officials and a staff of guides, M. Curie (who has
been meet indefatigable in his exertions to investigate
every particular of this most melancholy occurrence), the
Itev..J. F. Day, acting chaplain to the English residents,
with several others, ascended the mountain for the purpose
of recovering the Lodiee and instituting a formal inquiry
into the circumstances. la the evening the remains were

brought cloys, Ilion of Ur Eyelash being deposited in the
Vaudois Chapel Yesterday they were interred in one
grave in the protestant cemetery, followed by all the
English in Cormayenr, to the number of 30, and a large
crowd of sympathising inhabitants, the Rev. J. F. Day
reading the burial service. The guide Trims was buried
iu the Roman catholic portion of the cemetery, as close as
possible to his unfortunate companions."