Page:Whymper - Scrambles amongst the Alps.djvu/281

Rh into the engraver's hands its author undertook to revise it carefully. To this end he planned a number of expeditions to high points which up to that time had been regarded inaccessible, and it was upon some of these ascents he invited me to accompany him.

Before I pass on to these expeditions (which will be described very briefly, as I hope that Mr. Reilly himself will publish an account of his remarkable explorations), it will be convenient to devote a few paragraphs to the topography of the chain of Mont Blanc. At the present time the chain is divided betwixt France, Switzerland, and Italy. France has the lion's share, Switzerland the most fertile portion, and Italy the steepest side. It has acquired a reputation which is not extraordinary, but which is not wholly merited. It has neither the beauty of the Oberland, nor the sublimity of Dauphiné. But it attracts the vulgar by the possession of the highest summit in the Alps. If that is removed, the elevation of the chain is in nowise remarkable. In fact, excluding Mont Blanc itself, the mountains of which the chain is made up are less important than those of the Oberland and the central Pennine groups. The following table will afford a ready means of comparison.