SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS. 397

I have not made myself either an advocate or an apologistfor mountaineering, nor do I now intend to usurp thefunctions of a moralist; but my task would have been illperformed if it had been concluded without one referenceto the more serious lessons of the mountaineer. We gloryin the physical regeneration which is the product of ourexertions; we exult over the grandeur of the scenes thatare brought before our eyes, the splendours of sunrise andsunset, and the beauties of hill, dale, lake, wood, andwaterfall; but we value more highly the development ofmanliness, and the evolution, under combat with difficulties,of those noble qualities of human nature—courage, patience,endurance, and fortitude.

Some hold these virtues in less estimation, and assignbase and contemptible motives to those who indulge in ourinnocent sport.

“ Be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.”

Others, again, who are not detractors, find mountain-eering, as a sport, to be wholly unintelligible. It is notgreatly to be wondered at—we are not all constituted alike.Mountaineering is a pursuit essentially adapted to theyoung or vigorous, and not to the old or feeble. To thelatter, toil may be no pleasure; and it is often said bysuch persons, “This man is making a toil of pleasure.”Toil he must who goes mountaineering; but out of thetoil comes strength (not merely muscular energy—morethan that), an awakening of all the faculties; and from thestrength arises pleasure. Then, again, it is often asked, intones which seem to imply that the answer must at leastbe doubtful, “But does it repay you?” Well, we cannotestimate our enjoyment as you measure your wine or weighyour lead ; it is real, nevertheless. If I could blot out everyreminiscence or erase every memory, still I should say thatmy scrambles amongst the Alps have repaid me, for theyhave given me two of the best things a man can possess—health and friends.

The recollections of past pleasures cannot be effaced.Even now as I write they crowd up before me. First comes