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[1862
upon it with the sickness of disappointed hope.The summit was within almost a stone’s throw of us,and the thought of retreat was hitter in the extreme.Bennen excitedly pointed out a track which hethought practicable. He spoke of danger, of diffi-culty, never of impossibility; but this was theground taken by the other three men.
As on other occasions, my guide sought to fix onme the responsibility of return, but with the usualresult. ‘ Where you go I will follow, be it up ordown.’ It took him half an hour to make up hismind. But he was finally forced to accept defeat.What could he do ? The other men had yieldedutterly, and our occupation was clearly gone. Hack-ing a length of six feet from one of the sides ofour ladder, we planted it on the spot where westopped. It was firmly fixed, and, protected asit is from lightning by the adjacent peak, it willprobably stand there when those who planted itthink no more of the Matterhorn .
How this wondrous mountain has been formedwill be the subject of subsequent enquiry. It isnot a spurt of molten matter ejected from thenucleus of the earth ; from base to summit there is-no truly igneous rock. It has no doubt been up-raised by subterranean forces, but that it has beenlifted as an isolated mass is not conceivable. Itmust have formed part of a mighty boss or swelling,