Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1865-03-01
AN ADVENTURE IN THE ALPS.

Times a narrative of rather exciting ad-
venture in the Alps On the Sd of July he
and two friends, with a couple of guides,
Jenni and Walter, ascended the Piz Morte-
ratch. The ascent was accomplishedsafely,
but not the descent, which was made along
the Morteratch glacier:
We at length reached the point at which
it was necessary to quit our morning s track,
and Immediately afterwards got upon some
steep rocks which were rendered slippery,
here and there, by the water which trickled
over them. To our right was broad cou-
lOir which was once filed with snow, but
this had been melted and e-frozen, so as to
expose sloping wall of ice. We were all
tied together at this time in the. following
manner: Jenni led / came next, theh my
friend III an intrepid mountaineer, then was
friend l., and, last of all, the guide Walter.
After descending the rock for a time, Jenni
turned and asked me whether [ thought 1t
better to adhere to them or try the ice slopes
to our right. ! pronounced in favor of the
rocks, but he seemed to misunderstood me,
and turned toward the couloir. He cut
steps, along it, all following him, apparently
in good order
After little while he stopped, turn ed
and looked upwards at the last three men.
He said something about keeping carefully
in the tracks, adding that false step might
detach, ,an avalanche The word was scarcely
uttered when | heard the sound of fall be-
hind me, then rush and in the twinkling
Of an eye my two friends and their guide,
all apparently entangled together, whirled
past me- | suddenly planted myself to re-
sist their shock; but in an instant [ was in
their wake, for their impetus was irreSista-
bic. A moment afterwards Jenni was .whirl-
ed away, and thus all five of US found our
selves riding dOwnwards with uncomfortable
speed on the back Of an avalanche which
single slip had originated. When thrown
down by a jerk Of the rope, | turned prompt
ly on my face and drove my baton through
the moving snow, seeking to anchor it la the
ice underneath / had held it firmly thus
for few seconds, when [ came into collision
with some obstacle, aud was rudely tossed
through the air, Jenni at the same time be-
ing shot down upon me. Both OF us here
lost our batons. We had, in fact, been car
ried over crevasse, had hit It's lower edge,
our great velocity causing us TO be pitched
beyond it.
| was quite bewildered for moment, but
Immediately righted myself, and could see
these in front of me half buried in the snow,
and jolted from side to side by the ruts a.
mong which they were passing. Suddenly
i saw them tumbled over by a iurch Of the
avalanche, and immediately afterwards
found myself initiating their motion. This
was caused by a second cTevasse. Jenm
knew OF its existance, and plunged right into
it-a brave and manful act, but for the
time unavaiiing He is over thirteen stone
IN weight, and he thought by jumping into
the chasm strain hi ght be put upon the
rope sufficient to CHECK the motion. He
was, however, violently jerked out of the
fssure, and almost squeezed to death by the
Al IL
fore US which led directly downwards to a
brow where the glacier suddenly fell in de-
clivity of ice. At the base of this declivity
the glacier was cut by series OF profound
chasms, and towards these we were now
rapidly borne. The three foremost men rode
upon the forehead of the avalanche, and
were at times almost wholly impressed in
snow: but the moving lava was thinner be-
hind, and Jenni necessarily and, with des-
perate energy, drove his feet into the firmer
substance underneath. His voice shouting,
Halt Heer Jesus, halt!' was the only
ore heard during the descent.
A kind of condensed memory, such as
that described by people who have narrowly
escaped drowning, took possession of me
and thought and reasoned with preternat
ural clearness as [ rushed along. Our start,
moreover, was too sudden and the excitement
too great to permit of the development OF
terror. The slope at one place became less
steep, the speed visibly slackened and we
thought we were coming to rest; the avail
anche, however, crossed the brow which
terminated this gentler slope and regained
its motion. Here III. threw his arms around
his friend, all hope for the time being eXtin-
guished, while | grasped my belt and strug
gled for an instant to detach myself Find
ing this difficult | resumed my pull upon
the rope. My share in the work was, | fear,
made itself felt at last Aided probably by
slight change Of inclination, he brought
the whole to rest within short distance of
the chasms over which, had we preserved
our speed, few seconds would have carried
us. None of us suffered serious damage.
He emerged from the snow with his fore
head bleeding, but the wound was superb
cial Jenni had piece of flesh removed
from his hand by collision against stone
The pressure of the rope had left black welts
on my arms, and we all experienced ting
ling sensation over the hands, like that pro-
duced by insipient frost bite which contin-
ued for several days [ found a portion of
my watch chain hanging round my neck,
another portion in my pocket-the watch it
self was gone.
On the 10th of August Professor Tyndall'f
made an expedition in quest of his watch,
which was found after a rather perllous
search 1t had remained eighteen days IN
the avalache, but the application OF Its key
at once restored it to life, and it has gone with
unvarying regularity ever since.
->>>---
The body of a Chinese merchant, who
II. oil nd on