Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/205

164 only looked easy when seen from the Col du Géant, but had actually been climbed by parties seeking to make the ascent. So far then as this point, where the southern and western ridges join, an assured route was open to us. From thence it would, apparently, be easy to go down the southern ridge towards a remarkable rock tower, capped with a great stone which looked much like a three-cornered hat. Whether it would be possible to descend the face at any point on to the snow patch was not quite so certain, but the rocks looked distinctly more favourable than those below the snow patch, and there was, in addition, very much greater choice of route. The only objection to this line was the détour it involved, and the great extent of more or less difficult rock it would be necessary to traverse. It was, however, pointed out, that our main object was not an ascent, but a training walk, and it would, in consequence, be an advantage rather than otherwise to have a sufficient extent of rock on which to develop our muscles and burn out, what Professor Tyndall refers to, as the "effete matters" which English life lodges in the muscles. We were quite unable to resist the strength of these arguments, and decided in favour of the south-western face, the descent from the southern ridge to the snow patch, and the re-ascent to the eastern ridge.

Our next proceeding was to prospect for suitable holes to crawl into should the weather turn bad,