Edward Whymper

“ To attain results which might be of a more or less conclusive character, it appeared to me that it would be necessary to eliminate the complications arising from fatigue, privations, cold, and insufficiency or unsuitability of food; that the persons concerned should have been previously accustomed to mountain work; that the heights to be dealt with ought to be in excess of those at which it had been generally admitted serious inconveniences had occurred ”

“ It is, however, a certain fact that all individuals are not equally affected by diminished pressure, and that instances have occurred at such heights as 14–15,000 feet in which some persons have suffered whilst others have escaped, though the latter have not been exempt upon mounting to greater altitudes. But whilst this must be admitted; and also the probability that the effects of fatigue have often been wrongly interpreted; and, further, that personal frailties are frequently manifested upon mountain ascents, or at great elevations, there is a large residuum which cannot be explained away ”

“ The apparent discordance is explicable without having recourse to local influences, which could not be deemed sufficient to account for the effects in general, even if they might be entertained in particular instances. Whilst the assumed causes are local, the observed effects are world-wide; and no cause would be adequate to account for the effects except one operating in every clime and at all times. ”

“ But as there was no certainty that this could be done, and a possibility, at least, that the results of the investigations might be of a negative character, various other objects were kept in view; principal amongst them being the determination of the altitudes and of the relative positions of the chief mountains of Ecuador, the comparison of boiling-point observations and of aneroids against the mercurial barometer, and collecting in Botany and Zoology at great heights. I concerned myself neither with commerce or politics, nor with the natives and their curious ways ”

“ It is now my duty to acknowledge in the most prominent manner the invaluable services which were rendered throughout the journey by the cousins Carrel. Travellers are not always fortunate in their assistants, and, occasionally, even fall out with them. ”

“ Allegations of the latter class may be set aside for the present, for the evidence is overwhelming that, from 14,000 feet above the level of the sea and upwards, serious inconveniences have occurred; that prostration (amounting in the more extreme eases to incapacitation) has been experienced; and that, in a few instances, perhaps, even death has resulted through some cause which operates at great elevations. ”

“ It has been afforded, independently, by multitudes of persons of diverse conditions—by cultured men of science down to illiterate peasants, the latter of whom cannot have heard of experiences beyond their own ”

“ Starting from the level of the sea, the height attained in each case was about 19,000 feet, without injurious effects being felt. I am not aware that any one, upon the earth, has ever experienced a natural difference of pressure of fourteen and a half inches in less than four or five days.
↑ G. Masson, Paris, 1878. This work has received the highest honours in France. The experiments made by M. Bert upon himself at low pressures, although extremely interesting, left off sooner than could have been desired. ”