The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-05-18


instant, into the fearful chnsIn in which
was suspended. At the depth to which
! had fallen, the crevasse was barely two
feet wide. bat downward il narrowed rap
idly and about two hundred feet below
me the sides appeared to join. ] brliev,
that il ] had fallen six inches on 9TH,
side Of the little ledge ! must inevitably
have been jammcd In head downward
where 10 ropes that could have beer
brought there could possibly have reached
inc.
had now been about twenty minute:
standing in this periIouS position, strain.
ing every nerve to prevent myself from
giving way, looking up at the blue sky
above me and the clear ice on all sides
but seldom daring to cast n glance into
the abyss below. Blood was trickling
over me from cut IN my cheek, and
felt that my right leg was becoming ex.
cccdingly painful from the strain upon it,
and LwaS afraid Of losing any balance if
tried to relieve myself by changing to the
other. ] felt that ! was becoming be-
numbcd by the intense cold Of the Ice
against which was leaning and IF the
stream Of water from under which burst
not move
] called to my fellow trnYclcr to know
II any one were in sight? There was no
answer. called again. No human he
ing seemed to be within hearing. A diz.
illness came over me, as the thought struck
me, i" lie has gone to look if any help is
coming, ana he cannot find his wav back
to the crevassc. There are hundreds Of
them. am lost"
Again ] had to strain every nerve to
keep myself from sinking; ! almost gave
up hope; | felt inclined to throw myself
down and have the agony over At that
miserable time. suddenly heard my friend
shouting from above. lie had gone to
look If he could discern the guide; and
when he turned round to retrace his steps
had been thunderstruck TO see the sur.
face Of the glacier intersectcd by innu.
merablc crcvasSes, all so similar in ap-
pcarnncc as to leave no landmark by which
70 know my living grave. Thank Heaven
lie had caught sight Of little knapsack
left at the mouth Of the crcvasse by the
guide. This had directed him back. |
called to him to look at his watch-fivc
minutes more were passed. The cold was
growing moro intense. 1t is no figure of
speech to say that felt the blood freezing
IN my veins ! called to him again to
know il any one were in sight. 1t was
thirty minutes since the guide had started,
but not soul was visible. II was most
unlikely that he could he back so soon,
for we ourselves had been three quarters
oi an hour in coming thus Ear.
felt that could hold out but a very
short time longer, and besides that, did
not know nt what moment the little ledge,
which was my only safety, might give
way und,r my weight. remembered
that had large clasp knife in my pock-
Ct, and | determined to try to rescue my
self with It's aid. called to my fellow
travclcrAbuvc that was going to attempt
it. lie inplorcd me not to tiy; but my
situation was Incoming So desperate that
| did try. lb' gan by making II little hole
IN the ice aS high up MS could reach,
large enough to admi; one hand. My next
cldeavor was to a deep footholc about two
feet above the ledge. succeeded in this,
and found that by placing my foot in it.
holding fast by the place ! had made for
my hand, and, at the same time, pressing
with my back against the opposite side OF
the crcvaSse with all my strength, was
able to raise myself and stand firmly in
my new position. Ingain let myself down
on the ledge, and commenced cutting an
other foothole, about two feet above the
l0gf IL carn,nA 10 ,,nc.tI,l,. eI,aN Ia,
this manner ! might escape from my icy
prison but, single slip or false step,
and knew ! must be prccipitated down
the crcvaSsc
was working diligently at the second
foothole, when heard n joyful shout from
above. They are in siSht-thrce men
with rOpcs-runninR as hard as they can"
! stcadird myself on my terrible mar
row and slippery footing, in order to be
able to seize and attach the rope when
thrown to me. saw the end of it dang
ling over my head. "Mcrciful God! II
will not reach me 1t is too short !" "We
have got another rope" wns answered
from above; and it was knottcd on and
lowered. ] caught the end and tied il
firmly round my waist. Grasping the
rope above with both hands, I gave the
word. The strain began, and felt that
| was safe. In another minute | was stand.
ing on the glacier. had been fifty min.
utes In the crevassc, during which time
had not lost consciousness for single in
slant.
When felt myself once more upon firm
footing, an oil pervading sense Of gratitude
for the wonderful escape | had, came over
me and made Inc faint, and should have
fallen il they had not held me up. This
was soon over, and We prepared to start
for MOntanvert. Before leaving | took a
last look at the crevasse, which had so
nearly been my sepulcher. saw that it
would have been utterly impossible to
climb out, as ! had been trying to do.-
The mouth was so wide that as ap.
preached 1t, | could have had no support
from behind; and without such support,
not even q cat could have scaled the per-
pendicular wall.
Our guide was in a terrible state, and
had the whole way to MOntanvert, but
could find no rope fit for the purpose in
the house, He was in despair, and start
ing of for Chamouny. when two mule.
teers met him. Their mules were laden
with wood fastened on with ropes he
begged hard for those ropes, telling the
men that young Englishman was being
frozen to death In crevasse. They threw
the wood from the backs Of the mules, and
came to my rescue with the guide bring
ing the ropes with them. Knotted to-
gether Gt seems there were three in al, }
they made up length about sixty feet
enough tO reach me.
With the assistance Of my deiverers, I
was able to walk slowly back to Montan.
vert, where | was Immediately put into n
comfortable bed, and where the injuries
had received, (Which were insignificant,
considering the depth had flllen,) were
carefully dressed. dreamed, with un.
speakablc dread, Of what had happened
when lying in the bed, and have dreamed
Of it in many beds since. believe thai
nothing would induce me to go among
ice and snow now without long and
| Al. n