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ON THE SWISS ALPS—AT ALAGNA 193 
ing me to Alagna, to make the ascent of a 
new col. As it was untried ground such an 
invitation was not to be refused. The weather 
now began to improve, but my departure was' 
delayed for some days on account of the snow 
that had so lately fallen upon the mountains. 
On the 5th of September I set out, with a 
good porter, for Alagna, where the Messrs. 
Gugliermina expected me by dinner-time. . At 
three o’clock in the afternoon, we started in 
the direction of the Wandfluh Alp, to attempt 
the saddle between the Vincent-Pyramide and 
the Schwarzhorn in the Monte Rosa chain. 
As I had not yet studied our route on paper 
—my patrons wishing to keep our climb secret 
in case the expedition was unsuccessful—I 
went by myself, the next day, to reconnoitre 
the best way over the Piode glacier. After 
four hours’ exploring, I succeeded in making 
a plan for myself of the route to be followed, 
and returned to Wandfluh. 
The next day, at two in the morning, we 
set out and, having reached the southern spur 
of the Parrot-Spitze, traversed the Piode glacier 
between difficult séracs and made the base of 
the Punta Giordano. Hence, by following 
the course of the glacier, we finally arrived on 
the great plateau, at the bottom of the couloir 
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