Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/283

234 Charpoua glacier and across to the great south-western face of our peak. With a weakness which is not, perhaps, altogether unusual amongst mountaineers, I pointed out to my companions the various crags and gullies, ice slopes and slabs, by which Burgener and I had made our way to the summit thirteen years before.

A rush of cloud, bearing with it more than a suspicion of snow, hurried us from our seats, and we scrambled merrily along the ridge. As we advanced, however, a few jagged towers began to give us some trouble. Whilst turning one of these on the Talêfre side, we were surprised to see a broken bottle. Soon after we discovered the remains of a broken stick wedged into a cleft of the rocks, and made immovable by a mass of ice frozen round it. Its ancient appearance led us to suppose that it marked the limit of some early exploring party, and dated from the time when the Verte was still an unclimbed peak.

Almost immediately after this the work became more serious. I tried a turning movement on the left, and was soon brought to the opinion that if another way was available it would be desirable to use it. Whilst extricating myself from these difficulties, Collie led round to the right, and after a short struggle stormed the obstruction. A few yards further we were pulled up by a precipitous step, which could not be turned, and which defied all unaided efforts. Hastings,