Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1824-11-13

60 Forward till he had reached the o.
Their side. The rest of us followed
10 the steps he had thus cut. You
must put on resolution. there is no.
thing else for it. With the utmost
caution, your eye fixed steadily ON
the point where you are to tread. you
set forward foot by foot. without
stopping to draw your suppressed
breath. For more than half a mile
fmore than 8 English miles) we
went forward on the brink of a per,
feet abyss, in this manner; sometimes
passing masses Of snow not yet melt
ed, sometimes these huge frozen mir
rors which hung almost perpendicu
lar from the summit of the noun
tain to the gulf below, and over
which the axe only, by steps scarce
ly handbreadth, could form us
dangerous path. A slip, an uastea-
dy step. or giddiness itself, which al
ways threaten to overwhelm the un-
accustomed traveller, and in a mo-
ment the torrent becomes the grave
of your mangled rcase. Bat such
is your whole course through Vettie's
Giel, on path where it is not often
yea can set down beth feet beside each
other.
When overcome by the violence
of the exert,ons had to make, |
stopped moment. THIS rest, so far
from being refreshing to me. was full
of horror. 1t was better to go on,
however exhausted. In doing so,
your thoughts were SO occupied with
the place where you might find some
footing. that you had but little time
to observe the grimaces with which
death seemed every where TO cape a.
round you. But sit yourself down,
you cannot avoid seeing yourself Sit
ting on the brink of an abyss; above
you the high mountain ridge hanging
over your head, below the more
frightfm steep sinking perpendicular
ly from your feet; on the opposite
side Of the Giei, che widest torrents
tumbling down hundreds of fathoms;
whilst at the bottom, the river roar
ing and foaming, with a deafening
sound, rushed on with the rapidity of
an arrow; aud the road you had to
go, bent still far upon the sides of the
precipice which hung over it: in
short, you saw nothing bat Nature
in her terrors. involuntarily shut
my eyes: my heart beat; and, that I
might not be overpowered by these
sensations, | stood up to expose my
self to new dangers. | asked my
guides if any body had ever come to
mischief on this way. They recei-
lected only one person, who. with
knapsack Of birch bark on his back,
by false step, had tumbled ever
from about the very spot where we
were standing. From an irresis'i-
BILE apprehension thai might be the
second, rushed forward immediate.
ly from such place, but yet found
no safer way. n n n
81 had learned from the good wife
how they carry their children from
this place to church, was curious
to learn of her husband how they got
the dead carried from it to the church
yard. 1t is impossible that two peo-
pie could go beside one another in the
Giel; and | could not conceive that a
coffin could be placed on horseback.
He gave me the following ACCOUNT
The dead body, wrapped 10 linen, is
laid on a plank, in which are bored
holes at both ends. to which are fas-
tened handles of cord. To this plank
the bndy is dashed, and is thus car
ried by two men, one before and ano-
Their behind, through the Giel, till
they come to the farm. house of Selde,
where it is laid in coffin. and car
ried in the common way to the church
yard. Ii any one die In winter. at
time when the bottom of the GieI is
no' passable, or in the spring or bar.
vest, they endeavor to preserve the
body in u frozen state, which is sell
dom difficult, till it can be carried off
in the manner just mentioned. Still
more singular was the method which
the good man told me was employed
several years ago. to convey dead