Edward Whymper

“ The massive walls of the convent were a welcome sight as I waded through the snow-beds near the summit of the pass, and pleasant also was the courteous salutation of the brother who bade me enter. He wondered at the weight of my knapsack, and I at the hardness of their bread. The saying that the monks make the toast in the winter that they give to tourists in the following season is not founded on truth; the winter is their most busy time of the year. ”

“ Others besides tourists got into difficulties. A day or two afterwards, when on the way to my old station, near the Hornli, I met a stout curé who had essayed to cross the Theodule pass. His strength or his wind had failed, and he was being carried down, a helpless bundle and a ridiculous spectacle, on the back of a lanky guide, while the peasants stood by with folded hands, their reverence for the church almost overcome by their sense of the ludicrous.
I descended the valley, diverging from the path at Randa to mount the slopes of the Dom, [6] in order to see the Weisshorn face to face. ”

“ On the steep path over the Gemmi there were opportunities for observing the manners and customs of the Swiss mule. It is not perhaps in revenge for generations of ill-treatment that the mule grinds one's legs against fences and stone walls, and pretends to stumble in awkward places, particularly when coming round corners and on the brinks of precipices; but their evil habit of walking on the outside edges of paths (even in the most unguarded positions) is one that is distinctly the result of association with man. ”

“ I trudged up the Rhone valley, and turned aside at Visp to go up the Visp Thal, where one would expect to see greater traces of glacial action, if a glacier formerly filled it, as one is said to have done. [3]
I was bound for the valley of Saas, and my work took me high up the Alps on either side; far beyond limit of trees and the tracks of tourists. The view from the slopes of the Wiessmies, on the eastern side of the valley, 5000 or 6000 feet above the village of Saas, is perhaps the finest of its kind in the Alps. ”

“ The glacier was crossed without further trouble, but the Riffel, [5] which was then a very small building, was crammed with tourists, and could not take me in. As the way down was unknown to me, some of the people obligingly suggested getting a man at the chalets, otherwise the path would be certainly lost in the forest. On arriving at the chalets no man could be found, and the lights of Zermatt, shining through the trees, seemed to say, " Never mind a guide, but come along down; I'll show you the way;" so off I went through the forest, going straight towards them. ”

“ When they carry tourists they behave in a similar manner; and, no doubt, when the good time for mules arrives, and they no longer carry burdens, they will still continue, by natural selection, to do the same. This habit frequently gives rise to scenes; two mules meet; each wishes to pass on the outside, and neither will give way. ”

“ It was perhaps fortunate that they did so; for, during that night, blocks of rock fell at several places from the cliffs on to the road with such force that they made large holes in the macadam, which looked as if there had been explosions of gunpowder. ”

“ From the direction of the Dom—that is, immediately opposite, this Bies glacier [7] seems to descend nearly vertically ; it does not do so, although it is very steep. Its size is much less than formerly, and the lower portion, now divided into three tails, clings in a strange, weird-like manner to the cliffs, to which it seems scarcely possible that it can remain attached.
Unwillingly I parted from the sight of this glorious mountain, and went down to Visp. A party of English tourists had passed up the valley a short time before with a mule. ”

“ The transport of wood from the mountains into the valleys occupies most of the mules during a considerable portion of the year; the faggots into which the wood is made up project some distance on each side, and it is said that they walk intuitively to the outside of paths having rocks on the other side to avoid the collisions which would otherwise occur. ”

“ The difficulty lay chiefly in jumping from bad footing on to worse. The incident would not have occurred if the cliffs had been descended a little more to the east. ↑ The Riffel hotel (the starting-point for the ascent of Monte Rosa) , a deservedly popular inn, belonging to Monsieur Seiler, the proprietor of the hotels at Zermatt, is situate at a height of 3100 feet above that village (8400 above the sea) , and commands a superb panoramic view. ↑ The highest of the Mischabelhorner. ↑ Ball's Alpine Guide speaks of this incorrectly as the small Bies glacier. It is bout half-a-mile wide. ”