Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/333

Rh one to the other, for no person undertakes the ascent of Mont Blanc attended by less than six guides. One of these gentlemen may still be seen in the valley of Chamouni with green gauze before his eyes, owing to the severe injury which they received from the ascent of Mont Blanc. The skin of most people peels off after this visit to the summit, and they suffer more or less in health. Three ladies only, and all three unmarried, have hitherto accomplished this journey—Mlle. Paradis, Mlle. d'Angeville, a lively, energetic French woman, whom I saw in Geneva, and an English woman whose name has escaped my memory. The two latter ladies, when they had attained the highest summit, had themselves lifted upon the shoulders of their guides, that they might rise to a greater height than any of their predecessors.

Mlle. d'Angeville was, however, accompanied upon this journey by a skillful draughtsman, who took views and sketches by the way, so that her undertaking was not without its results for the benefit of others. I know, however, that I have no desire to become the fourth of these aspiring ladies.

Horace Benedict de Saussure has connected his name for all time with that of Mont Blanc, because he was the first scientific man who penetrated its mysteries. But he was not the first who ascended it; this was a peasant from the Vale of Chamouni of the name of Balmat. He it was who discovered the path to the summit; but not possessing scientific culture he could not make scientific observations. Without Balmat, however, perhaps De Saussure might not have been able to reach the summit of Mont Blanc.