The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-23

to trust the superior gripping power
of the bare fingers. The startled ear
heard frequently the jinglfng of loos-
ened ice beginning a downward
Journey OF which it would not do to
think. 1t would have been just as
well, perhaps. not to have known that
the. all-swaI flowing abyss, which I
rather felt than saw, was getting more
and more sQuarely beDeath as as,
.sloping toward the rigat-we slowly
crept upward-was the 4, 000-foot hor-
TOR, over whose El'iuk Michel Croz and
his doomed companions had vanished
from the living world. And when at
length we reached a place of compare
tive security 1t was not possible to
avoid a m0mentary reflection on the
fact that we must go down where we
had come upi If one were compelled
to do such a thing against his will it
would seem like the infection OF the
cruelest torture The Matterhorn can
teach more self-mastery in a day than
the ordinary mortal acquires in life
time. fortunately there was little
time for meditation. No sooner was
one breathless scramble finished than
another determined effort had to be
put forth: And still the far-ofT sum-
NIT rode the sky like cloud.
Soon after leaving the Shoulder we
began ito find. here and there, pieces of
rope about as large as a clothesline
dangling from the rocks above. They
were blackened by the weather, stiffen-
ed with ice and frayed by the switch
fngs of tempests, so that altogether
their appearance was llnilviting. I was
warned not to bear too strongly upon
them, but always to keep a. grip on
the rock and put most of the weight
there. In one or two instances small
chains took the place of ropes, and
these, though covered with rust, looked
safer; but / am inclined to think THAT
it would be better if they were all away.
The Peril of Falling Rocks.
One of the perd.s of the Matterhorn
comes from falling rocks. Starting
high aloft, they can find no stopping
place. Their first touch is like the crack
of a, gun; the second is an explosion!
In great parabolic curves they leap and
soar until they burst into shiyers. There
is nowhere so magnificent an object les
son IN the law of gravitation as that
presented by these falling stones of the
Matterhorn. Above the Shoulder we
came upon one of the most perilous To-
c3iities for falling rocks and hurried ov-
er it, yet none fell while we were there.
More thlans once, when completely out
Of breath with the unaccustomed exer-
tiops I had put forth, begged for
respite to recover my wind,
the guides would not allow "a pause,
saying that a shower of stones might
a5saii us at any instant There is no
question that they were right; yet, as
a. matter of fact, no stone fell near us
during THE entire ascent and the sub
sequent descent. Indeed, do not re-
member that among all the victims of
the Matterhorn single one has been
killed by failing rock. But a guide
once had his hayersack cut in two by
a. flying stone that just missed his
shoulder, and several climbers have
been injured by such missiles. Ordinar-
lily these projectiles, like great shells,
give abundant warning of their ap-
preach.
The arrival on the summit was as
an experience as any one
could wish for. We had got upon an
0ther spindling ridge as narrow as that
az the Shoulder, and pieces of its frost
work cornice fell at a touch and shot
downward in a manner that made zone
exceedingly careful of his footsteps. The
precipice under this ridge on the left
hand side was mot merely vertical, It
absolutely overhung, and the necessity
Of caution kept my attention fixed upon
the work in hand, so that before [ was
fully aware we were to the end 1 sud-
1enly heard Tangwalder shout, "The
5op"'
Eyes. monsieur, the top?' called out
Craven behind me.
1 took three steps-and another would
nave sent me whiting 5000 feet down
INTO Italy.
The Summit and a Look About.
Although the summit of the Matter
1orn gradually changes in shape, part
Y through disintegration of the schis-
ore rock. but mainly in consequence of
Tariations in the amount of snow rest
ng upon it, it has always been describ-
I'd by those who have seen it from time
20 time since Mr.. Whympers first visit
Is a narrow ledge between 800 and 400
'eet i'm length and in some places not
vide enough to stand upon. That was
rlao its appearance as L saw it. AT
he highest point a comb of rock pro
acted through the snow, and I knocked
,ff a piece and put it in my pocket.
The view ranged over the whole of
switzerland Except, of course, that