In the Volaisen Klps. We Are Very Pround of Ourselvcs, Lbrtin and 1. Te

In the Volaisen klps. a We are very pround of ourselvcs, lbrtin and 1. Te have made our first course in the monntains. The party. There was Steve, a Cericidian who has, for nine years, spnt every possible7 week end in the hills. gis wife too. She has the summit of Mont Blanc to her credit and is particllïarly good or? rock. 130th wore badces of the Alpine clubs of France and Smitzerland. Miss Scott alsù knows t!:e mountains. But kfartin, like myself, knew only a few OP tiie funicular railweys (1 dsre not iiiention the little $ugar J foaf in desr County i?icklos, nliilr as for Katty Gollogher and the Three Bock.. ? Tquipment involved several expeditions to the sportk'shops. DJir boots weighed over a kilo each, with nails that pocked the parquet floors when 1 tried them for an occasional bour before the f st eful morning. Whipcord brehiches, a short windjacket and a knapsack crmed with food and clothing, Even a first &id outfit. A litre of lemonade in an aluminium flask; a small flask of whiskey for emergencies And of course the slpenstook with its too-new-looking elm 4fl shaftre, it had to receive its baptism. It was a souvenir from Chamonix, which 1 had scarcely hoped to use. As, however, we were going above 2000 metres, St-ve s,iid it might be bro~~ght.He, of course, had hi:: ovm scarred piolet wl~ileothers carried stout sticks witki stbibl poilita Te got to Martigny before 1C of!'clock. The suri was shining and the great hills on both sides of the Rhone Valley he1.d $rifts of clouds onl:: about their snor -covered peak- Do you rernernber passiny through it on your to the Graud ~t . Bernard Pess? Wa Then into a P.L.~. 'bus and up one of the mas* remarkable roads 1 had seen in Switzerland. Such gradients ~ndsilch curves, and such speed! 1 was not surprised thut the European hill- climbing championship for motor-bicycles mas held there annually. Rut thc driver and his autocar were well up to requiroments. A final swerve and the !bus reached the col de 2- la Forclaz. It was half-past eleven. Already the mountain air had begun its work. That sneaking ?ear of ice-alohes and ghastly precipices, not ~ntirely dissipated by Utevels assurances, and a verg lively anticipation of blisters, had vanished, X~foreover, there was a cal1 to bresd and beer and cheese - and a khole- hearted response. bladame showed ins some wonderful @ces of crystal. One was particularly good: two feet long and pcrhaps 9 inches high, covered witl, perfect specimens It had been found above the Trient Glacier by her son, Arnazingly 6Gtiful are these products of kkmsni earthts ancient fires. Then, we setv off on foot down a fuirly good road into the Valley of Trient, a descent of 800 feet. There is no railway and motor cars don't like tlie only road. In an Llour we mere iIt the village and after luncheon we moved off towards the head of the valley where we were to have our first rest . The Trierit glacier, with its "snoot" like a massive claw cut fantastically in green ine, lay in front of us. It cornes fsirlty low, aboi-it 1531 metres. (1f the weather had been unfavourablc for 44%8 (IfWv%.f: we wouid hrve fsaa gone to eee it at close qu.rters. 'rhere the woods began at the head of t?!e valley, a mule track was Pound, whicl, led toaards tlie Col de Balme, our objective. As we rested in the first ahadows of the trees by a rushine; torrent, we heard we heard th$ clink of stones bclom. A laden mule came up the narrow track. Flood and provisions for some .. a... cm man's chalet high up in thn suwner pastures. Sverything has to be carried up except mater and milk. That mule liked chocolnte. Hs and hio ancestgrs knepn that road. It was throughout the middl~ages the only route from the 3Ii~i~~-v?Iley to Chamonix, open only to mules and pedestrians, The 19th. Ceiitury saw a new horse-road made from Trient into Chatelard and tbience to Chamonix, to be folloaed 2Q years ago by tke marvellous S~iszrailmay builders. 1 tiiink there are thirty-six turns in that criss- cross mule-treck before it rmerges from th^ trees. It vas a steep ascent. Er blessed the sun for hiding his head whilta we toiled upwards nnder bur heavy packs. Kevertheless, I f8sr that lilartirils cherisl ed embonpoint suefercd some diminution. But, rnf were plad tc button our windjackets round Our throats, as we met the breeze coming down Lrori: the Col. Sne1terin.g behiiid some rocks, wr hsd anothcr little"srrabkfl and looked witil pride doi n trie valley from whic.1 we liad clirnbed. Idartiri discovered an echo from thc. cliff acrosR tii gulch and also a scerred and ill-formed crystal. (1 vainly csst about for a compnriion to the latter!) Over the way rose tl e Croix de Fer, and sure e~loughwe could nom see t:,e little iron cross on its peak. It loriked like t!ïe point of a lightning conductor, Çtcve said "We !t mil1 80 up there on Our Tay home. 1 lowed at the sheer cliffs and registered A secret but iron-cast deciçion that would vait on sonie prassy alp till he came down. T!e seerned to read my thoughts for he proceeded to assure us that a stroll on the quais of 6erleva was nothing to the approac!. to that ee- e's egrie. B'iartiri, 1 no-ticed, joined me in a cornmon siqh of relief. lis*.. ii~we roseto finish the las%houri:; work, we lieard t;e musical tinkling of scores of litile ùells, and round a ~lopeappcared a grazing flock - or is it herd- of ubout ?ourscore goats. Tlieir gusrdian wu3 cuttiny, 11erbs to be çold t O later,/the ciiemist für below. The clang of tl-.-heevy cow- bel1 could alvo be heard from distant slopes through the pure alpine air. Up the last shelving rise paat enow filled hnllowa and t'ie little !iotel qppeared at the very top of the pas$. Tt ia mithin two yards O? the French frontier. !Te looked eagcrly out, but only part of the ereat Mont Blanc range could be seen. Yet, it was wonderfully irnpressive, In cvery direction, .

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