Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1908).djvu/143

Rh called) is recognised as the best and merriest introduction to the Chamonix rock scrambles.

In 1892 I once again started for the mountain. This time we were without guides, for we had learnt the great truth that those who wish to really enjoy the pleasures of mountaineering, must roam the upper snows trusting exclusively to their own skill and knowledge. The necessity for this arises from many causes, and is to no small extent due to the marked change that has come over the professional mountaineer. The guide of the "Peaks, Passes and Glaciers" age was a friend and adviser; he led the party and entered fully into all the fun and jollity of the expedition; on the return to the little mountain inn, he was still, more or less, one of the party, and the evening pipe could only be enjoyed in his company. Happy amongst his own mountains and skilled in ferreting out all the slender resources of the village, he was an invaluable and most pleasant companion. But the advantage was not wholly on one side. Thrown constantly in contact with his employers he acquired from them those minor rules of conduct and politeness which are essential if guide and traveller are to develop mutual friendship and respect. Of these early pioneers, Melchior Anderegg and a few others still remain; but, amongst the younger men, there are none with whom one could associate on the old terms and with the old intimacy. The swarming of the tourist has brought with it the