face.  The wind is seldom a gale above, but the air will be comparatively quiet upon the face; and therefore there is no danger of a chance gush dashing the climber against the rocks.  A short stick is useful, but not necessary.  There are three cautions to be borne in mind. 1.  As you go down, test every stone carefully.  If the movement of the rope displaces any one of them, after you have been let down below it, it is nearly sure to fall upon your head, because you will be vertically beneath it.  Some climbers use a kind of helmet as a shield against these very dangerous accidents. 2.  Take care that the rope does not become jammed in a cleft, or you will be helplessly suspended in mid-air.  Keep the rope pretty tight when you are clambering about the ledges:  else, if you slip, the jerk may break the rope, or cause an overpowering strain upon the men who are holding it above.

Turf and solid rock are much the best substances for the rope to run over.  In the Faroes, they tar the ropes excessively; they are absolutely polished with tar.  Good ropes are highly valued.  In St. Kilda, leather ropes are used:  they last a lifetime, and are a dowry for a daughter.  A new rope spins terribly.

Leaping Poles.—­In France they practise a way of crossing a deep brook by the help of a rope passed round an overhanging branch of a tree growing by its side.  They take a run and swing themselves across, pendulum fashion.  It is the principle of the leaping-pole, reversed.

The art of climbing difficult places.—­Always face difficult places; if you slip, let your first effort be to turn upon your stomach, for in every other position you are helpless.  A mountaineer, when he meets with a formidable obstacle, does not hold on the rock by means of his feet and his hands only, but he clings to it like a caterpillar, with every part of his body that can come simultaneously into contact with its roughened surface.

Snow Mountains.—­Precautions.—­The real dangers of the high Alps may be reduced to three:—­1.  Yielding of snow-bridges over crevices. 2.  Slipping on slopes of ice. 3.  The fall of ice, or rocks, from above.  Absolute security from the first is obtainable by tying the party together at intervals to a rope.  If there be only two in company, they should be tied together at eight or ten paces apart.  Against the second danger, the rope is usually effective, though frightful accidents have occurred by the fall of one man, dragging along with him the whole chain of his companions.  Against the third danger there is no resource but circumspection.  Ice falls chiefly in the heat of the day; it is from limestone cliffs that the falling rocks are nearly always detached.  When climbing ice of the most moderate slope, nailed boots are an absolute necessity; and for steep slopes of ice, the ice-axe (described below) is equally essential.

Alpine Outfit consists of ropes, ice-axe or alpenstock (there must be at least one ice-axe in the party), nailed boots, coloured spectacles, veil or else a linen mask, muffettees, and gaiters.