CHAP. V.

THE VA CORN HUE PASS.

100

the Dent d’Erin. The ascent ranks amongst the more difficultones which have been made in the Alps.*

On the 7th of August we crossed the Ya Cornere pass,f andhad a good look at the mountain named the Grand Tournaliu aswe descended the Yal de Chignana. This mountain was seen fromso many points, and was so much higher than any peak in itsimmediate neighbourhood, that it was bound to give a very fineview ; and (as the weather continued unfavourable for the Matter-horn) I arranged with Carrel to ascend it the next day, anddespatched him direct to the village of Val Tournanche to makethe necessary preparations, whilst I, with Meynet, made a shortcut to Breil, at the back of Mont Panquero, by a little passlocally known as the Col de Fenetre. I rejoined Carrel the same

* Ou p. 7 it its stated that there was not a pass from Prerayen to Breil in 1860,and this is correct. On July 8, 1868, my enterprising guide, Jean-Antoine Carrel,started from Breil at 2 a.m. with a well-known comrade—J. Baptiste Bich, of ValTournanche—to endeavour to make one. They went towards the glacier whichdescends from the Dent d’Eriu to the south-east, and, on arriving at its base, ascendedat lirst by some snow between it and tho dill's ou its south, aud afterwards took tothe dills themselves. [This glacier they called the glacier of Mont Albert, after thelocal name of tho i>eak which on Mr. Reilly’s map of the Valpellino is called ‘BesJumeauxJ On Mr. Reilly’s map the glacier is called ‘Glacier d’Erin.’] Theyascended tho rocks to a considerable height, and then struck across tho glacier,towards tho north, to a small ‘ rognon ’ (isolated patch of rocks) that is nearly in thecentre of tho glacier. They passed above this, and between it and the great seracs.Afterwards their route led them towards tho Dent d’Erin, and they arrived at thobase of its final peak by mounting a couloir (gully filled with snow), and the rocksat the head of tho glacier. They gained tho summit of their pass at 1 p.m., and,descending by tho glacier of Zardesau, arrived at Prerayen at 6.30 p.m.

As their route joins that taken by Messrs. Hall, Grove, and Macdonald, on theirascent of tho Dent d’Eriu in 1863, it is evident that that mountain can be ascendedfrom Breil. Carrel considers that the route taken by himself and his comrade Bichcan be improved upon ; ami, if so, it is possiblo that the ascent of tho Dent d’Eriueau be made from Breil in less time than from Prerayen. Breil is very much to bepreferred as a starting-point.

t See p. 8. The height of this pass, according to the late Canon Carrel, is10,335 feet. A portrait of this enthusiastic and worthy mountaineer is given uponp. 109.