Chapter III: Preface: ix

I. SOME TALES OF ALPINE GUIDES 1

II. TWO DAYS ON AN ICE-SLOPE 23

III. SOME AVALANCHE ADVENTURES 51

IV. A MONTH BENEATH AN AVALANCHE 65

V. A MONTH BENEATH AN AVALANCHE (_continued_) 81

VI. AN EXCITING CAUCASIAN ASCENT 99

VII. A MELANCHOLY QUEST 116

VIII. SOME NARROW ESCAPES AND FATAL ACCIDENTS 124

IX. A NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE DENT BLANCHE 152

X. ALONE ON THE DENT BLANCHE 167

XI. A STIRRING DAY ON THE ROSETTA 182

XII. THE ZINAL ROTHHORN TWICE IN ONE DAY 195

XIII. BENIGHTED ON A SNOW PEAK 208

XIV. THE STORY OF A BIG JUMP 222

XV. A PERILOUS FIRST ASCENT 235

XVI. THUNDERSTORMS IN THE ALPS 257

XVII. LANDSLIPS IN THE MOUNTAINS 275

XVIII. SOME TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES 291

XIX. FALLING STONES AND FALLING BODIES 310

GLOSSARY 327

INDEX 329

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The last bivouac of Messrs Donkin and Fox in the Caucasus _Frontispiece_

Christian Almer, Joseph Imboden, Jean Antoine Carrel, Alexander Burgener _To face page_ 3

The last steep bit near the top--At the end of a hot day--An instant's halt to choose the best way up a steep wall of rock--The ice-axes are stowed away in a crack, to be brought up by the last man " " 6

Auguste Gentinetta--Auguste Gentinetta on the way to the Matterhorn--The beginning of the climb up the Matterhorn--The spot where was the _bergschrund_ into which Mr Sloggett's party fell " " 8

Auguste Gentinetta on a mountain-top--The ice-cliffs over which Mr Sloggett's party would have fallen had they not been dashed into the _bergschrund_--The ruined chapel by the Schwarzsee--The last resting-place at Zermatt of some English climbers " " 11

On a snow ridge--A halt for lunch above the snow-line--Mrs Aubrey Le Blond " " 51

A cutting through an avalanche--The remains of an avalanche--An avalanche of stones--A mountain chapel " " 59

A mountain path--Peasants of the mountains--A village buried beneath an avalanche--Terraces planted to prevent avalanches " " 65

A typical Caucasian landscape " " 105

Melchior Anderegg, his son and grandchild " " 124

Crevasses and séracs--On the border of a crevasse--A snow bridge--Soft snow in the afternoon " " 133

The Bétemps Hut--Ski-ing--A fall on Skis--A great crevasse " " 137

The balloon "Stella" getting ready to start (p. 301)--A bivouac in the olden days--Boulder practice--The last rocks descending " " 148

Provisions for a mountain hotel--An outlook over rock and snow--Dent Blanche from Schwarzsee (winter)--Dent Blanche from Theodule Glacier (summer) " " 152

Hut on Col de Bértol--Ascending the Aiguilles Rouges--Summit of the Dent Blanche--Cornice on the Dent Blanche " " 156

Ambrose Supersax (p. 209)--View from the Rosetta " " 182

Climbing party leaving Zermatt--The Gandegg Hut--The Trift Hotel--Zinal Rothhorn from Trift Valley " " 195

Zinal Rothhorn--Top of a Chamonix Aiguille--A steep face of rock--"Leading strings" " " 202

A _bergschrund_--Homewards over the snow-slopes " " 230

The Ecrins--Clouds breaking over a ridge--Summit of the Jungfrau--Wind-blown snow " " 235

The Ecrins from the Glacier Blanc " " 247

Slab climbing--A rock ridge--On the Dent du Géant--The top at last " " 252

The second largest glacier in the Alps--On a ridge in the Oberland " " 259

Thirteen thousand feet above the sea--On the Furggen Grat--A "personally conducted" party on the Breithorn--Packing the knapsack " " 269

Monte Rosa from the Furggen Grat--The Matterhorn from the Wellenkuppe " " 272

A glacier lake--Amongst the séracs--Taking off the rope--Water at last! " " 297

The balloon "Stella" starting from Zermatt--A moment after " " 298

The Matterhorn from the Hörnli Ridge--The Matterhorn from the Furgg Glacier--Joseph Biner--The Matterhorn Hut " " 302

A hot day on a mountain-top--A summit near Saas--Luncheon _en route_ (winter)--Luncheon on a glacier pass (summer) " " 310

A tedious snow-slope--A sitting glissade--A glacier-capped summit--On the frontier " " 312

Unpleasant going--On the crest of an old moraine " " 317

An awkward bit of climbing--Guides at Zermatt--The Boval Hut--_Au revoir!_ " " 322

ADVENTURES ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD