Free Leading the Blind by Alan; Sillitoe Page B

little fairy spot, in a beautiful valley, where excellent accommodation may be had en pension; hot mineral baths for the sick, and delightful walks around this little paradise for the convalescent … One of the pleasures of this place is its solitude, amidst scenes so beautiful and wild, that it would be difficult to find it, without a guide.’
    This difficulty might have been a positive advantage on 11 July 1892 for, to quote from Edward Whymper’s guidebook to the area, ‘the whole of the central (and oldest) portion of these buildings, and the farther ends of the two wings, were erased by the sudden bursting of a sub-glacial reservoir … The flood first coursed down the valley, and at its mouth half obliterated the village of Bionnay. It then joined the Bon Nant Torrent, and did little further mischief until it was compressed between the walls of the Gorge of Crepin; from the lower extremity of which it issued with tremendous violence, and in a few minutes battered the Baths to ruin, and swept away and drowned the greater part of the visitors. Those who were in the building on the left escaped; but, with few exceptions, all who were in the central and in the farthest blocks perished. How many were lost is unknown. It is supposed that at the Baths alone the number exceeded one hundred and twenty.’
    Whymper’s guide, one of the most thorough, tells us in the introduction, under practical matters: ‘Soap. – There is a great opening for soap in Alpine regions, and at the present time it pays to carry a cake.’ As for those who travel light, meaning pedestrians, ‘… inkeepers look with suspicion upon travellers with little or no baggage, and are apt to thrust them into the very worst rooms’.
    Chamonix, while not in Switzerland, is dealt with in Murray because of its nearness to Mont Blanc. Out of several good inns he recommends the Hôtel de Londres et d’Angleterre, since this is ‘the oldest establishment, and has never forfeited the reputation of being one of the best held and appointed inns to be found in the Alps; where Victor Tairrez and his excellent wife are so practised in their acquaintance with, and their provision for, the wants of travellers, especially English, that more confort will be found there than in almost any other inn out of England’.
    As opposed to this solid praise Murray takes hotel guests to task, sternly reminding them that: ‘At Chamonix and elsewhere, the travellers’ books at the inns are great sources of amusement; often containing, in remarks of preceding travellers, useful information. A most disgraceful practice has too often prevailed, of removing leaves for the sake of autographs; it is difficult to imagine any act more unworthy, for this selfish gratification they destroy what would be pleasure to hundreds.’
    Whymper, a great Alpinist himself, discusses with the reader the advisability or otherwise of employing guides, concluding that: ‘Everyone must decide for himself. Some persons are competent to carry out all the excursions that are mentioned. A larger number, however, are not equal to this.’
    Baedeker says that the services of a guide are unnecessary in good weather on well-trodden routes, and that: ‘The traveller may engage the first urchin he meets to carry his bag or knapsack for a trifling gratuity.’ Guides were said to be indispensable, however, for expeditions among, ‘the higher mountains, especially on those which involve the passage of glaciers. Only novices undervalue their services and forget that snowstorms or mist may at any moment change security to danger. As a class, the Swiss guides will be found to be intelligent and respectable men, well versed in their duties, and acquainted with the people and resources of the country.’
    He tells us in his preface that: ‘The achievements of the English and Swiss Alpine Clubs have dimmed the memory of the pioneers of