, 1862-05-01
Down a Crevasse.

1859, with friend and companion, an English
man like myself We two had been about Eve
weeks in Switzerland, and in that time bad
d" done" everything considered necessary BY our
c0IGtrymen. We had acquired some experience
ii glacier work, having assembled the Alitsch
Horn, whose summit had been reached for the
flrst time by an Engshman, member Of the
Alpine Club, only two months before. We made
the ascent successfully, and were proud Of hav-
ing been the second exploring party to stand on
its lofty peak nearly fourteen thousand feet high.
On that occasion we passed two whole days on
the snow and glaciers.
remembered we'll the first glimpse had had
into one Of those terrible crevasses which inter
sect glaciers. Getting guide to hold my hand,
leaned over its yawning brink and gaEed care
fully into the fathomless abyss. The two per
Pendicnlar walls Of ice appeared TO- join together
about three hundred feet down; an appearance
resulting from the convexity Of the crevasse.
Usually, believe, the great split ends only
where the glacier touches the ground beneath.
"No one who falls into one Of these ever comes
out alive" said one Of our guides Yes, Said
another, "a man once escaped, and lives still at
the GrindelWald; he was Q chamois hunter, and
when coming home alone over the glacier, his
Ioot slipped, and be was precipitated into u ere.
vase. His fall was broken BY projecting lodges
and blocks Of ice; which, however, gave way
as be clung 10 them. After falling three hun
dred feet, he reached the bottom Of the glacier.
with leg and an arm broken. He found hol-
low space between the ground and the ice,
through which stream Of water ran. lnstinc-
lively he followed its course, despite the great
pain he endured, and after crawling along for
three hours found himself freed from the gla-
cier."
Ordinary crevasses are from three to eight
feet wide at the top, but the sides approach each
other rapidly, so that q man would be wedged in
between the two walls Of ice long before he could
reach the bottom. And then, unless there
should be ropes at hand, long enough and strong
enough, what an awful death! An unfortunate
Russian gentleman persisted thus in Q crevasse
only last year, half frozen, half squeezed to
death, the hSaI Of his body ever melting the ice,
he ever sinking deeper aud deeper Into his dread
ful grave. My companion and ! ascended the
Brevant, and as few climbing travellers leave
Chamuuny without whiting the Mer de Glace, and
the Jardn, we arranged u make that excursion.
To shorten our days work, we len Chamouny in
the evening and slept at AontAnvert, Q solitary
little mountain inn on the edge Of the Mer de
Glace.
We were up betimcs 10 the morning. We
| provided ourselves with some eRtables and wine,
and started with our guide whom We had brought
from Courmayeur. Il was o glorious morning,
aud promised well for our expedition. Our road,
for about half an hour, was along an uneven
path skirting the glacier, which lay below Us on
our left hand. The path then came To an end,
and the guide said we must now take to the
glacier. We descended OH il, and threaded our
way among the numerous crevasses.
The excursion to the Mer de Gace not being
looked upon as q regular glacier expedition, is
not made with the attendant precautions Of
axes or ropes We had neither. We we're in
ks s.sea 4 II.
quickly, indeed, that our guide, who had fallen
behind, cautioned US once or twice, and re-
Qucsted US TO allow him to take the lead. Just
then, our progress was arrested by wide ere
vase. Looking to the left, I perceived that it
terminated, some twenty feet from US, in q steep
slupe Of ice, which | thought l could easily
climb As the crevasse was about sixty yards
long, determined to try this slope rather than
90 round BY the other end.
Using my Alpenstock instead Of On axe, there
fore, began making fOothOles in the ice with Il.
The guide bad now come up with u.s. He looked
at the ice slope and the wide crevAsse, and said,
very seriously, II is dangerous let Us 60 round"
BY this time had, with the aid Of my Alpen-
stock, climbed about half way up the slope ]
bad already come to the conclusion that il was
much too steep to scale without an axe, and had
determined to rctrace my steps. So, when the
guide had spoken, carefully stretched back nv
right leg, feeling for the last hole ! had made
in the ice My foot went past the place, and !
felt that | was slipping. There was not the
least projection that could grasp. The slope
became perpendicular and fell head foremost
into the yawning crevasse below.
heard loud cry Of despair from my fellow
traveller aud the guide. My own sensations can.
not be described, or even distinctly separated
from the whirl and shock. felt that was be-
ing bumped from side to side between the two
walls Of ice that was falling . great depth
| that was being hurled to utter destruction-to
| q horrible death. Suddenly | felt that ! was
caught BY sOmething-that hung suspended.
was able to take breath and to call out iIr A
roleI" ..
By the most extraordinary chance my Gall had
been arrested by a little ledge Of ice which
spanned the crevasse like bridge. On this irail
structure, not more than two inches wide at the
top, and las well as | could judge about two
feet deep, had fallen, so that my head hung
down on Que side, my legs on the other. In.
stinctively aud Immediately, by means W ich ]
| cannot at all recall, | raised myself from this
dreadful position to q standing one on the ledge,
in which there was . little niche sufficiently
wide to admit one foot was now so fir col.
leCted that could hear my fellow traveller saving
irouI above, 1--WE never hoped to hear your
voice again. For Gods sake, take heartl The
Bulue Is running 70 MontanVert iOr men ana
ropes, aud will soon be back"
"lf he is not" answered, al shall never
come up alive"
My position was an awful one. The little
ledge was 50 narrow that could not get both
my feet upon it. was; in fact, supporting my
self on one leg, half leaning against one side Of
the crevasse aud pressing my hand against the
opposite side II was perfectly smooth, and
there was nothing to grasp. A stream Of water
poured over my shoulders, drrHching me to the
skin, and frorzing me with its icy cOldness
Overhead | could see the long narrow strip Of
blue sky, bounded by the mouth Of the creSasse.