New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-07

than half of them away ana closed one Of the
hotels, The season is ut an end, cried many OF
them it VIII only stop raining to begin showing
and with the first snow that touches the valley
all mountaineering is at end. During those three
DAYS nobody stirred out OF doors; or at most ana
more than try a stroll up the next hillside On the
fourth morning CLEAN Of blue sky and glimpse
of the Matterhorn revived our hopes My English
friends were keen to essay the RiileL MI Seller
who knows rs well the guides what IS gong 10
happen and guesses right quite half the time, shook
his head but An Englishman who has made mp MS
mind about thing is not to be daunted by the
wagqing of the wisest Swiss skull, and so we
started
PRoMENADING THE ALPS.
The ascent of the Riel is an exploit inst about as
dangerous as the ascent Of BIook'yn Heights
Both may be made on horseback. but If you go on
your own legs the Rhel is certainly the more
fatguing being 5000 feet above the sea; ana the
view from the Rilel is perhaps finer than that from
Columbia-st.-it is at any rate, very different. The
ascent of the Corner Is only the prolongaon of the
RIflel to a point 1000 feet higher, and tins also
may be done and is constantly done, IN the saddle
and without a guide Now in Switzerland
a mountain up which you can ride hardly
passes tor a mountain ut all. It - merely p"iL5
of view like the Righi and the Alpine expert woald
laugh ut the notion of applying the word climb
inc IN a promenade of this sort whether you ride
Of walk So tar as an concerned shall nave no
exploits of any sort 10 describe / should Ike De-
yond all things to 60 No the Matterhorn. but am
Obliged to confess that my constitution has never
recovered from the shock experienced not long ago
on seeing myself announced Is a veteran cor
respondent In England, where a man OF torty-fye
Is lust beginning life still pass myself of As
| vouug fellow. but there are so many Americans IN
! Switzerland that dare not dieown thai tatai all
ective or attempt anything incon4i7i- nt with the
! iecbleness OF premature old age. few years
| hence. when your epthet is forgotten, l shall
| come back and Go what I want TO do
| Tp the Rihel however, | did think might ven
! turc: the more so rs no Americans We're about ana
! one of my English friends was the WIG or the
other and | could hardly he too old to follow
where young lady led. Seller flung an il-natured
qucston NJ us 10 we left his door wanting to know
what we expected 10 see at the top when we got
thereli to which we paid no attention. The group
of slouching guides In front Of the next hotel
! crinned as We marched by but they had had MOTIF
ing To do for three days. and were out Of temper
little boy who was Amusing himself among the
graves i'm te churchyari we had TO pass shouted
| something after us; which may have been de-
! mand for coppcrs another comment on the pros
meet before US but expressed I'D the patoi7 OF
the district which none Of Us understood Perhaps
il was as well we did not. The remarks OF ragged
LITTLE swiss bows are not likely to be instructive,
and are not always respectful. Regarding none Of
those Things. we went on. The CLEAN Of blue sky
! had lone since vanished. The glimpse OF the Mat
| torborn proved a glimpse only. lie ought to be IN
| full view most OF the way up but he was visible
if at ALL only to the eye Of faith, and ones ialth
had 10 be robust 10 believe IN his existence at an
The mist cane lower and lower down. IL met rs
han hal
thence to the top we walked in cloud, the TEN
,,,r, of Winch fell As we rose. There is a hotel
an the Riflcl which, with cOnsiderate forethought,
| has becn whitewashed. and is visible IN the
tbickest fog ut "a distance Of several feet. Al the
! end of two hours calculated we ought 20 be
near it, and bv help Of the path, which Is broad
one we sttared stra yht for the front door when
we reached without accident. The view from 10
reso,nlled nothing 80 much AS London IN November
| about dusk. Whether you shut your eyes OF opened
them. il was much the same. inside the MOTEL IL
was possible read large print with two candies
! trrneJ 70 Baedeker, whose jokes viii Uuse
lsu-hter IN the most depressing circumstances ana
with the help OF another candle, for his type Is not
rge learned HAT the panorama of the Ritfel sur
masses that of Murren on account OF the proximity
of immense fields OF snow and Of the pinnacles OF ice
on Mont Rose and the nelghbOrlng heights amld
which the traveller stands. 1t is always well 70
mt broad statements Of this kind 10 practical
test rang for the waiter and asked INN aoout
tb. uiuracles of ice. He answered II n con-
fused manner. AMI disappeared, but presently re-
turned and brought us a bowlful. The contents had
all the appearance OF being real; brought INTO con-
tact with a curious reddish liquid which the same
winter noured for as out Of a bottle. it melted.
Chemically the experiment was a success NArn IL
came 10 drinking the mixture. we preferred tie
a,fa la VIE
METEOROLOGY ON TIE MFFEL
rst +her came "a rust from the north which -mote
,o, the depth of cloud about us, and ruiied u as
. hrceze RIFLES the sea and broke it into waves
which not long alter rolled away from Ms and LETT
hare the great rock of the Corner, hitting it'
clumsv bulk 1000 feet above us Beyond and
Z above nothing was to be seen but mist. Yet hope
snranr once mere eternal in the human breast ah'
we started TO climb the Corner. At quarter OF
mile from the hotel We found and picked three DUG
gontians. live minutes later the ground was Whit
with snow. which III another half hour was thr"
inches deep o. moIe and an Alpine storm SURGE
G o,t roared alont the summit OF the kIitcl. Tn
% Corner had vanished as the first snow flake fell b.
= tbo time we had made our way back, not without
once going wrong. to the hotel the sno" was com
/ inc down not in flakes bat IN masses every trac
J of d noth was obterated. and Te hal To choos'
l. soiJ the ,veatherwise between descending az one
D. 70 Zermatt and spending the night on the Idiel.
y We elected to go down ing9nousY Suggestln
Il that the lower We got the less snow should W
u meet There was difficulty IN hndlng the pau
- nor except across one open htch III Aeephe IT, an
IA ,re had full leisure to watch the ways OF tempe
J.; - - mountain side As a rule we could see sever;
re foot before u.s. but what with the densenesS OF I'll
d descending snow and the force OF the "nd "nic
n drove 10 INTO our faces. our neteoIoIHt' -
. mons had no great value We tri'u l" 'nt'l> o''
As Iucs m great peril and told each other the mo-
II arn stories OF dealt ami disaster among me All
,e wbirh we could remember OF invent bu' lhe mo
. roai LANCER which beset Us was that OF SrItlh
vcry wet Even English shooting boots WI n W
III hold out long against snow SIN lss7 VII -" @
l...L.. mi. md by the tlIlL We ~