The ascent of Mont Pelvoux (including the disagreeables) was a very
delightful scramble. The mountain air did not act as an emetic; the sky
did not look black, instead of blue; nor did I feel tempted to throw
myself over precipices. I hastened to enlarge my experience, and went to
the Matterhorn. I was urged towards Mont Pelvoux by those mysterious
impulses which cause men to peer into the unknown. Not only was this
mountain reputed to be the highest in France, and on that account was
worthy of attention, but it was the dominating point of a most
picturesque district of the highest interest, which, to this day,
remains almost unexplored! The Matterhorn attracted me simply by its
grandeur. It was considered to be the most thoroughly inaccessible of
all mountains, even by those who ought to have known better. Stimulated
to make fresh exertions by one repulse after another, I returned, year
after year, as I had opportunity, more and more determined to find a way
up it, or to prove it to be really inaccessible