Category: Travel Writing
Beyond the comparatively small circle of climbers, very few travellers in Switzerland seem to have a clear idea to what class of man a good Alpine guide belongs. Many persons picture to themselves a typical guide as an individual whose garments are in as shocking a state of di...
Beyond the comparatively small circle of climbers, very few travellers in Switzerland seem to have a clear idea to what class of man a good Alpine guide belongs. Many persons pi...
2. CHAPTER II.Amongst the qualities required in a first-class guide, I am inclined to rank caution as the chief. Many other characteristics are also necessary, such as a strong will, enabling...
3. CHAPTER III.Though it is a platitude to say that all good guides are plucky, yet some are more noted for “dash” than others. The names which at once come to the minds of most persons in con...
4. CHAPTER IV.It has often been a matter for discussion whether the talent of path-finding, or, more often, of discovering a possible route when no semblance of a path exists, comes from inst...
5. CHAPTER V.Endurance is absolutely necessary in a guide undertaking first-class ascents. It is simply astounding how much fatigue a guide will go through without any symptom of giving in....
6. CHAPTER VI.Do you know, my readers, what an alp is? Perhaps the question seems trivial to you, and you feel inclined to reply indignantly, “Of course!” Well, perhaps you are right; but sti...
7. CHAPTER VII.Amongst the animals met with in the Alps, there is none so interesting to the traveller as the chamois. The reason for this is not far to seek, for the animal is sufficiently ra...
8. CHAPTER VIII.The _Alpine Journal_ for November 1868 concludes with these words, “If anybody thinks that Alpine science has been already too thoroughly drilled into the public mind, we would...
9. CHAPTER IX.I have sometimes heard unthinking persons remark that the snowfall of each winter must tend to increase the height of snow-peaks. This observation shows that such people entirel...
10. CHAPTER X.Those who during the summer of 1888 visited Switzerland had very unusual opportunities for studying both the appearance and the effect of avalanches. It is, indeed, rare to see...
11. CHAPTER XI.The general reader may perhaps find the following description somewhat dry; the climber may share his opinion. Having fairly warned both, and promising to make my account as sho...
12. CHAPTER XII.I am one of those eccentric persons who consider autumn better than summer for climbing. “One of those,” did I say? Perhaps it would be nearer the mark to say that I have often...
13. CHAPTER XIII.“Over the ground white snow, and in the air Silence. The stars, like lamps soon to expire, Gleam tremblingly; serene and heavenly fair, The eastern hanging crescent climbeth hig...