Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1864-11-02
AN ADVENTURE IN THE ALPS.


Professor Tyndall sends to the London
Times a narrative of a rather exciting ad-
venture in the A ps. On the Sd of July,
be ans, two friends, with q coup e of guides
Jenni and Walter, ascended the Piz Nor.
teratsch. The ascent was accomplished
safely, but not the descent which was
made along the Morteratsch glacier:
1--WE at length reached the point at
which it was necessary to quit our morn
ing's track, and Immediately afterwards
got upon some steep rocks, which were
rendered slippery here and there by the
water which trickled over them. 70 our
right was a broad coulOir, which was
once filled with snow, but this had been
melted and refrOzen, so as to expose q
s'oping wall of ice We were all tied to-
gether at this time in the following order:
,Jenni led, | came next, then my friend H,
an intrepid mountaineer, then his friend
L., and last of all the guide alter. After
descending the rocks for a time, Jenni
turned and asked me whether | thought it
better to adhere to them or to try the ice
slope to our right. pronounced IN favor
of the rocks, but he seemed to misunder-
stand me, md turned towards the couleir
He cut steps, reached the snow, and de-
scended careful Y along it, al following
him, apparently in good order.
After little time he stopped turned ,
and looked upwards at the last three men
He said something about keeping carefully
in the tracks, adding that q false step might
| detach an avalanche The word was
/ scarcely uttered when I heard the sound
| of fall behind me, then rush, and in
| the twinkling of an eye my two friends
! and their guide, all apparently entangled
,.-h1 I Il, ,i,-
/ planted myself to resist their shock, but in
/ an instant | was in their wake, for their
/ impetus was irresistible \ moment after
wards Jenni was whirled away, and thus
all five of US found ourselves riding down
wards with uncomfortable speed on the
! back of an avalanche, which a single slip
! had originated When thrown down by
| the jerk Of the rope, ! turned promptly on
my face and drove my baton through the
moving snow, seeking 70 anchor it in the
! ice underneath | had held it firmly thus
/ for a few seconds, when | came into coll
/ lission with some obstacle, and was rudely
/ tossed through the air, Jenni at the same
| time being shot down upon me- Both of
US here lost our batOns. We had, in fact,
| been carried over a crevasse. had hit its
lower edge, our great velocity causing US
+ to be pitched beyond it.
Il was quite bewildered for a moment.
but Immediately ri"hted myself and could
see those in front OF me half buried in the
snow, and ioltcd from side to side by the
( ruts among which they were passing
/ Suddenly | saw them tumblcd over by a
| lurch of the a alanche, and Immediately
| afterwards found myself initiating their
motion. This was caused by a second
J crevasse. Jenni knew Of its existence. and
plunged right into it-a brave and manful
/ act, but for the time unavailing He is
over thirteen stone in weight, and he
I thought by jumping into the chasm a strain
might be put upon the rope sufficient to
check the motion H. was. however. vio
/ lently ierked out of the fssure and almost
I squeezed to death by the pressure Of the
rope. 4 long slope was below us, which
! led directly downwards to q brow where
the glacier suddenly fe IN declivity OF
the ice At the base OF this dec ivity the
+ glacier was cut by series of profound
I chasms, and towards these we were now
rapidly borne The three foremost men
rose upon the forehead of the Avalanche
and were, at times, almost wholly immersed
/ in the snow; but the moving aver was
thinner behind. and Jenni rose ince~ sanity
and, with desperate energy, drove his feet
INTO the hrmer substance uilueTheatn--
His voice shouting, Halt Herr Jesus,
halt p was the only one heard during the
descent
"A kind of condensed memory, such as
that described by peap'e who have mar
rowlv escaped drowning. took possession
/ of me ana [ thought and reasoned with
perternatural clearness as | rushed along.
Oar start, moreorer, was too sudden and
the excitement too great to permit OF the
/ deveIopement of terror. The slope at one
place became less steep, the speed visibly
( slackened AT we thought we were coming
/ to rest; the avalanche, however, crossed
the brow which terminated this gentler
slope end regained its motion Here IL.
threw his arms around his friend, all hope
! fcr the time being extinguished, while |
grasped my belt and struggled for an in
stant to detach myself Finding this diff,
fcult resumed the pull upon the rope
Nv share in the work was, fear, inin-
itesimal. but Jenni's powerful strain made