believe I must have adopted soon from mere prostration of
strength; and which, therefore, I do not lay in the least to the charge
of his indisposition. He was still light of limb, and courageous in
heart; only afflicted by the treachery of the stomach, and dizziness
produced by the rarity of the air; whereas, if I had been supported and
dragged (as perhaps I might have been) to the foot of the steep La Cote,
which is the last difficulty of the ascent, I do not believe I should
have had muscular pliancy left to raise a foot up a step of the long
staircase, which the guides are obliged to cut in the frozen snow. While
the guides were re-arranging matters for the descent, I took one
longing, lingering glance at the upward scenery, and perceived sublime
indications of those heights I was never to climb."

1851.--In the month of August, Albert Smith made an ascent, which was
rendered famous by the graphic account he gave of his adventures, during
a period of several years, at the Egyptian Hall, in London. He was
accompanied by three English gentlemen, and attended by no less than
fifteen guides, as well as a small army of porters, who were employed to
carry the provisions, wrappers, rugs, &c., as far as the Glacier des
Bossons.

The party started from Chamonix at half-past seven in the morning, and
reached the Grands Mulets at four in the afternoon. Shortly after
midnight they resumed their journey, and having traversed the Grand
Plateau they took the Corridor route, and arrived at their destination
at nine in the morning. During the latter part of the ascent, Albert
Smith seems to have been in a state bordering on delirium:

"With the perfect knowledge of where I was, and what I was about--even
with such caution as was required to place my feet on particular places
in the snow--I conjured up such a set of absurd and improbable phantoms
about me, that the most spirit-ridden intruder upon a Mayday festival on
the Hartz Mountains was never more beleaguered. I am not sufficiently
versed in the finer theories of the psychology of sleep, to know if such
a state might be; but I believe for the greater part of this bewildering
period I was fast asleep with my eyes open, and through them the
wandering brain received external impressions; in the same manner, as
upon awaking, the phantasms of our dreams are sometimes carried on, and
connected with objects about the chamber. It is very difficult to
explain the odd state in which I