, 1873-10-26

dioular ico-whll, but 10 know how deceptive
Buch thinga are when lookod at In tho fnco, Oh.
pooially at auch distance, and trusted to bolng
ablo to cut our way up It. Wo rsitod till thoro
aud thon, oar]y one morning, tho throo. Of lia
started from our camp, laden with provisions for
soycral dnys, blankots,. and my procions
ba6sa Siooa in uns! little silk sass; In .tna tho
dy ropod. oi course, oyer sue miloa Of ,,nbroSen %
! eaow. OccaHlonally otle or other of In would
disappear down hidden croyaaao, Int tho 9TH
erB soon pulled him out. When night camo on
wo scoopod largo holo tho SNOW, and, wrapped
in our blankets, did not feel mich tho worse
for tho intense cold. For threo days wo wero OH
this ginnt anow s1opc, and, during this port Of
tho aacont, experienced loss difficulty than wo
had expected. But on tho fourth day We camo
tako to, the terrible erreto which wo Ind
observed previously with tho glaes. Without
exception, 1t was tho most torrinc place have
ever found myself on. For aoyon hours wo had
sneko sexako'o saa sop by atop sSnG that STu
noarly miloH In nhoer dopth, ynwnoa on our
tight, and On our loft was snow slope 30 steep
TINT single slip must Of necessity provo fatal.
fortunately, none Of. The party did slip aud at
arrete, and found ourselves on com
paratiyoly smooth plateau Of frozen snow. Wo
puahed On rapidly, till We calnc to m ico-waii;
taGtoS tnt nnrId os Tfay a 70 popsndea
1t-
ting our WY up It: Under tIa wo halol for
tic night though beginning to feel vory much
tho ehects or tho rare atmosphere and tho in.
tenhS sl COLI None Of us woro sblo to close mi
parat'1s roady for filling the balloon. il, coupio
Of honra oil was prepared and aB tho litto car
you'd only hold ono, volunteered to DO tho
,ss cSed to 10 Try tho H. ear vsS pHS Ts f.
out AZ asconded as soon nv 4. tho H.p'ts Ton of of
tho ice-s7all wau rcacfed, got out md fastened
tl1o ropo aoouroly to hugo block OF ico and tic
Stthers St without difficulty, pulled themselves up.
we lelt Tug roGo there to asniss our descont, and
small 1ovcl platoau, from tllo contro Of Which
rose como. This VIC could 500 1t glanco must
he tho, top. It was with great difficulty
TINT, VIC could brcatho, blt tho excite
Of ua together runhcd up to tlle como, and in
ano!hor moment frantic ahout-frantio though
weak and qunyoring-nnnouncod TINT we had at-
tanned to tho summit Of Mount Evcrost-that
NO stood on the highest spot in tho world. 1
ment-rnoro than ropaying tho long months Of
preparation, and toll, and woariness which we
had gone through. And aboyo all ca,lio tho
thought that now ut longth my honor waa so-
can ever riyaling tho foat Of to-day.
."Dut soon came other and noblor thourlte.
How wonderful It is to consider, 1 solioqufzel,
TINT this SNOW las nover bcon troddou by tho
Of yoars Which havo rolled oyor tho world sipco
the timo Of tho flood, haa tho ctornal Stiffness Of
tho monntain-top beon broken by auglt aave tie
bowling of tho blast.'
That's 2 worry fno idea Of yours about
the t1ood,' interrupted Jacls but, hangol
II oVcr know boforo that lilo Antodiluyiaus
used to so In for aoda-wator.'
As ho spoke, he held up soda-wator bottle
which ho had noticed sticking up through the
snow: feol sure TINT grow very palo as
snatched 1t from Ills hand aud drou out tho cork.
4 slip Of paper was inside, aud on it wore writton
tho following words:
~ ZGchariah Johnston, April, 1, 1884, Just
. We'll, Sir, mood hardly finish my Btory /
think haye gone far enough to shou that / !
have good reason to dislike bstting."