Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1871-03-15
TERRIBLE FIFTY MINUTES
FROM THE FRENCH.

In August, 1859, l arrived at Cha
mounix, with one of my friends. trav
eler like myself. For about five weeks
we had been exploring Switzerland, SC
that we had had plenty of time to &c
used to snow and glaciers. We had
made several accents, one of $4,000 fee
| well remember the sensation | fell
when / first saw one of those crevasse:
which seam the surface of the glaciers
Holding firmly by my guide'e hand,
leaned over that yawning gulf, and tried
to gaze down into its terrible depth
The two perpendicular walls of ice APP
peared to meet some 800 feet below, but
/ believe it was only the effect of per.
spective, the rent being, probably, pro
louged as far as the solid rock.
A man who falls in there is certain
never to come out alive, said one of my
guides.
True, replied the other; but !
knew one who was rescued. A narrow
escape, indeed, it was; he still lives at
GrindelwaId. He is a chamios hunter
he was returning home; in descending
the glacier, he made slip and fell into
a crevasse. His fall was broken BY pro.
jecting blocks of ice, which Yielded. how
ever. beneath his weight when he chung
to them. When be reached the bottom,
a distance of some hundred feet, he bad
a leg and an arm broken. Between the
earth and the ice he found a hollow
place, into which stream was running
crawling along. suffering terrible pain,
followed the course of tue water, and in
three hours be was out of the glacier.
Creyasses vary in breadth from two
TO six feet at the mouth, but the sides ap
proach rapidly as they descend, so that a
man may find himself damned in be-
tween two walls of ice long time be-
fore he reaches the bottom, and then if
ropes long and strong enough are at
hand, it is possible to save him f,om a
dreadful death. But generally the ropes
are not long enough. and the traveller
perishes of cold, or falls lower down into
the crevasse during the hours which
elapse. while some of the party have
gone TO the nearest village to fetch long
er ropes. Thus an unfortunate Russian
nobleman persisted in glacier near Ter
matt, some years ago.
We had assembled the Brevent, we now
had only the Mer de Glace and the Jar
din to visit. We slept at the Montanvert
in the solitary little inn at the foot of the
glacier. Next morning we were up at
dawn. Furnished with some provisions
and two bottles of wine, we started with
our guides. 1t was splendid morning
and augured we'll for our excursion. For
half an hour we followed a rough path
which skirted the Mer de Glace, which
| displayed before US its surface riven with
crevasses and covered with rocks and
fragments. Our road ended at the ola
cier, upon which we now began to des-
cend. and to traverse in zigzags 10 The
midst Of numerous assures. The Mer
de Gace is not considered dangerous,
and j; is quite the exception to take axes
and ropes when crossing it. Alert and
cheerful we FASTENED on without taking
notice of the guide, who, some way be.
hind, cried out to us several times to be
cautious and wait for him. We were
obliged at last to halt before large ere.
vase which barred up our passage. II
opened with length of some sixty yards,
and ended upon our left in slope of ice
somewhat steep, but which I thought !
could easily mount. Using the iron
spike of my alpenstock as a Ratchet, ]
began to cut holes in the ice. large en-.
ough to put my feet in. At this mo-
ment our guide rejoined us. He looked
at the slope and at the yawniDg crevasse
below it, and said in a grave tone, 1t is
dangerous; let US 60 round it.
With help of my alpenstock had al.
ready got half way up this icy hillock
and was now convinced that il was toe
steep and slippery to be crossed withou,
an axe. The guides warning confirmed
my opinion. resolved to retrace my
steps. l was cautiously lowering my
right leg seeking for the hole that | hac
made in the ice; my foot passed it;
was sliding down; there was nothing tc
stop me, not the least protection by which
could hold myself in. The declivity
became perpendicular, and | fell into th'
gulf.
heard the cry of despair of my com
panion and my guide. My own sensa
ton cannot be described. / was giddy
and half stunned, sent backwards anl
forwards from one wall of ice to the 9th
err; I felt myself descending to grea
depth, condemned to be dashed to piece
TO die by horrible death. Suddenl,
something stopped me, | felt mysel
suspended. l took breath again, ant
could cry ont = A rope!a roper
By Gods mercy | had fallen on mar
row ledge of ice. which formed sort o
bridge across the crevasse. This frai
support, as far as l could judge, We
about four inches broad and eighteel
thick. My head hung from one side Q
it, my feet from the other. Instinctivel
and immedia,ely,by what means ! kno,
not, raised myself up and stood up
right on this projection. where there wa