"Croz! Croz!! come here!" "Where are they, Monsieur?" "There, don't you see them, down there?" "Ah ! the coquins, they are low down." "Croz, we must make those fellows hear us." We yelled until we were hoarse. The Italians seemed to regard us—we could not be certain. "Croz, we must make them hear us; they shall hear us I" I seized a block of rock and hurled it down, and called upon my companion, in the name of friendship, to do the same. We drove our sticks in, and prized away the crags, and soon a torrent of stones poured down the cliffs. There was no mistake about it this time. The Italians turned and fled.[1]
Still, I would that the leader of that party could have stood with us at that moment, for our victorious shouts conveyed to him the disappointment of the ambition of a lifetime. He was the man, of all those who attempted the ascent of the Matterhorn, who most deserved to be the first upon its summit. He was the first to doubt its inaccessibility, and he was the only man who persisted in believing that its ascent would be accomplished. It was the aim of his life to make the ascent from the side of Italy, for the honour of his native valley. For a time he had the game in his hands: he played it as he thought best; but he made a false move, and he lost it. Times have changed with Carrel. His supremacy is questioned in the Val Tournanche; new men have arisen; and he is no longer recognised as the chasseur above all others: but so long as he remains the man that he is to-day, it will not be easy to find his superior.
The others had arrived, so we went back to the northern end of the ridge. Croz now took the tent-pole,[2] and planted it in the highest snow. "Yes," we said, "there is the flag-staff, but where is the flag ?" " Here it is," he answered, pulling off his blouse and
- ↑ I have learnt since from J.-A. Carrel that they heard our first cries. They were then upon the south-west ridge, close to the 'Cravate,' and twelve hundred and fifty feet below us; or, as the crow flies, at a distance of about one-third of a mile.
- ↑ At our departure the men were confident that the ascent would be made, and took one of the poles out of the tent. I protested that it was tempting Providence; they took the pole, nevertheless.
