It was late in the day, and this part of the mountain, like the other, was steep and rugged.

I was on the top of the second peak by two o'clock, but got there with extreme difficulty; every twenty yards I had the cramp in the upper part of both thighs, so that I was afraid I should not have been able to have got down again.

It was also necessary to return by another road, as it was out of the question to pass over the saddle-back.

I was therefore obliged to give up the two higher peaks.

Their altitude was but little greater, and every purpose of geology had been answered; so that the attempt was not worth the hazard of any further exertion.