The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-10-07
A Terrible Fifty minutes.

10 IItc sHOW anu SlicaerS. We had |
made several aseents, one of 14.aOO
feet. well remember the sensation /
felt when L first saw one Of tllos.. crew
ices which seam the surface of the gla-
eicrs. Holding firmly to my guides
hand leaned ever the yawning gulf,
and tried to gaze down into its terrible
depth. The two perpendicular walls
of ice appeared to meet some 800 feet
below, but believe it was only the eff
feet of perspective, the rent being prob
ably extended as far as the solid rock
:. y man who fllls there is certain
never to come out alive" said one of
my guides.
True replied the other but
know one who was rescued. A mar
row escape indeed it was che still lives
at Grtinewald. He is a cl,amois hum
ter; he was returning home, and in
descending the crevasse he fell. His
fall was broken by projecting blocks
of ice which yielded. however. be-
meath his weight Whcil he clung to
them. When he reached the bottom,
Il distance of sonte hundred feet, he
had leg and arim broken. Below the
earth and the ice. he fouHd a hollow
place into which t strd:ttn was running.
Crawling along. suffering terrible pain,
he followed tile course of the water,
and'in three hasrslIle was out of the
glacier = : ym i.a1 =.
Crevasses vary in breadth from two
to six feet at the mouth, but the sides
approach rapidly as they descend, SO
that IA man may find himselfjanm in
between the walls Il long time before
| he reaches the bottom, and then, if
ropes long and strong enough are at
hand, it is possible to save him from
| death. But generally the rope. is not
/ lns6 &1e tY.px vol 81,
of cold, or falls lower down into the
| creve5se during hours which elapso
while some OF the party have gone to
the nearest village to fetch longer
ropes. Thus an unfortunate Russian
nobleman perished in glacier near
| Zerlnatt some years ago.
/ We had assembled the Breyent /; we
now had only tAe Mer Gle Glace and the
,Jaldin to visit. We slept at the Mon
tanvert 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 guide.
1t was splendid morning and
augured well for ouE excursion.
For half an hour we followed a rough
path which skirted the Mer de Glace,
which displayed below Us a surface,
riven with crevasses and covered with
rocks and fragments. Our road ell
ded at the glacier, upon which we now
began to descend, and to traverse in zig
zags in the midst of numerous assures.
The Mer Gle Glace is not considered
dangerous, and it is quite the excep-
tion to take axes and ropes when cross
ing it. Alert and cheerful We hasten.
ed on without taking notice of OH
guide, who; some way behind, criee
out to rs several times to be caution.
and wait for him. We were obiiget
at last to halt before vast crev.ass,
which barred up our passage. L
opened with length of some sixty
yards and ended upon our left in ;
slope of ice, somewhat steep. but which
} | | thought could easily mount. Usins
the iron end of my alpenstock a
hatehet, began to cut holes in tin
ice, large enough to put my feet i'll
At this moment our guide rejoined us
He looked at the slope and ut the yawn
ing crevasse below it, and said i'll
grave tone - 1t is dangerous; let us z
round it,
With the aid of my alpenstock ha
already got half way up this icy hi
lock. and was now quite convinced tha
= it was too steep and slippery to b
crossed without an AK. The guide
warming confirmed my opinion.
was cautiously lowering my right les
seeking for the hole that had made i
the ice my foot passed it i felt thu
[ was sliding down there was nothin
rough to stop me, not the least projee
ton by which [ could hold myself ii
The deciivity became perpendicular
and fell into the gulf.
l heard the cry ofdespair my CON
panion and my guide. My own SCI
sation cannot be described. Twas gie
DIV and half stunned, sent backward
5 and forwards from one wall of ice
the other. | felt myself descending
a great depth, condemned to be dashe
to pieces, to die a horrible death. sue
denly something stopped me. | fe
' myself suspended. [ took breat
5, again, and could cry -out "A rope.
rope ~
BY Gods mercy. had fallen upon
narrow hedge of ice, which formed
sort of bridge across the creyasse. IN
= frail slIppOt,; rs far as | could judg
- was about fnar inches broad and eigh
/. cen thick. n. Ny head hung from or
side of it, my feet from the other.
instinctipe1y and immediately by VIII;
s means know not, raised myself III
right olIitiais projection, where the1
s was. a hQllQW just Large enough for II
to plant 9i5a foot. :,
above ME .'ks We never hoped to he:
your voicg again; trust IN God a,
take c6urage. The guide has run
Montanrert to seek men and ropes ); ]
will come back directly
\. If Ise1 IS long / replied, Il sha
not come mp alive
My position was terrible one
the thin ledge of ice was SO narro
that Icould not place both feet on
could only support myself on one lie
3. half resting against one of the ice wall
!. and pressing the other with my han
!. The ice was as smooth as mirror, al
! there was nothing to grasp. A strea
of ice water flowed down upon n
shoulders piercing me to the We
bones. Above my head saw &
long and narrow streak of the 81
ronnd which the mouth of the erevas
formed a. frame. The ice, which w
4 of the darkest blue color ercirclei]