two o'clock in the
morning
Yet those brave men did succeed . They reached the Grands Mulets in safety . Even the fearful shock which their nerves had sustained was not sufficient to overcome their coolness and courage . It would appear from the official account that they were threading their way down through those dangers from the closing in of twilight until two o'clock in the morning , or later , because the rescuing party from Chamonix reached the Grand Mulets about three in the morning and moved thence toward the scene of the disaster under the leadership of Sir George Young , `` who had only just arrived . '' After having been on his feet twenty-four hours , in the exhausting work of mountain-climbing , Sir George began the reascent at the head of the relief party of six guides , to recover the corpse of his brother . This was considered a new imprudence , as the number was too few for the service required . Another relief party presently arrived at the cabin on the Grands Mulets and quartered themselves there to await events .