Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-04-15

II
most unbearable to the eyes. The surface
of the snow begins to melt also when the
sun comes out, and is thus made slippery
and insecure.
For three hours we plodded on without
incident, every step taking us higher and
higher into the region of eternal snow.
PlOvis, one Of the young engineers, now
began to complain of prickling sensation
in his lungs and PAIN in his head. We
examined the barometer and found that
we were 10000 feet above the sea. Day
light began to break in the east, but we
could not see the world. 1t was complete
ly cut off by banks of clouds which rolled
and tumbled beneath us like the surges Of
a shoreless sea. We were on an island in
the air. The ascent now became sleeper;
the air was thin and cold, and the guides
began to cut notches in the ice to secure
our footsteps. All of a sudden there was
a cry at the lower end of the line, and
turning, we saw that Plovis had fallen in
a dead swoon. We gave him little bran
dv and he soon revived, but was too weak
to proceed. A guide was detailed to con-
duct him back to the camp below. Eight,
nine, ten o'clock came, and the column
was still moving laboriously upward. TIE
sun had now come out clear and strong,
and the mists had disappeared from be-
meath us, revealing magnificent prospect
We were following ledge of rocks
which protruded through the ice like
the dOrsal fin of shark. As the sun
rose higher a stone would occasionally
detach itself and roll down the mountain.
Presently | noticed commotion among
the guides in front OF me, and the sharp,
startling cry of "piedra' (arock) rang out
through the thin air. My heart stopped
beating as | looked up and saw an I'M
mense bowlder come tearing down the
icy slope directly toward US. mo Sc
muevan porque son muertos," lido not
move or you are dead mem cried the guide
out Of his lips when the rock dashed past
US and was gone, If every man had stay
ed fast in his tracks no harm would have
been done; but one Of the inexperienced
men, to whom | have already referred,
sprang aside as the rock came near him.
and, losing his fOothold, he rolled rapidly
down the mountain in the path of the fly
| ing bowlder. He made frantic efforts to
stop himself, and finally brought up with
great violence against ledge of rocks a
lquNrtcr Of mile below. We thought it
celt lin that hc was killed. and dispatched
a man to ascertain his fat lie found the
poor fellow badly bruised, but not dead.
His left arm was broken and his clothing
was nearly torn off. As it was, however,
he could walk, and, with the assistance of
a guide whom we sent back with him, he
reached the camp, where Plovis, who is
something Of doctor, set his arm and
made him as comfortable as possible.
A consultation was now held as to
whether or not we should proceed. The
guides SAID that the snow was unusually
heavy, and they had never known the as
cent to be more difficult, but they thought
we could make the summit by three o'clock
If we had no further accidents. 1t was a
serious question with Vigil, one of the
two remaining engineers, as his lungs
were affected, and we urged him to 60
back, He bled profusely at the nose, and
coughed in startling manner. He would
not listen to the proposition, however,
unless it was decided that the whole party
should return. As majority seemed dis
inclined to abandon the project, it was
finally decided to 90 on. One of the
guides began to complain about this time
Of his head, and pain in the chest. He
had lost his goggles about an hour before,
and we supposed the trouble was due to
the reflection which, when the eyes are
unprotected, causes violent headache
and corresponding sickness at the stom-
ach. 1t proved, however, as will be seen
further on. that the matter was much
more serious. At twelve o'clock the high
est point seemed but a stones throw from
our position. The guides told us it would
take three hours, however, to cross the
intervening field Of ice. 1t seemed in
incredible, but it proved true. The last
three hundred yards are almost perpen
dicular. 1t is solid wall of ice, A mis-.
step would dash one into eternity. A
foothold would be made by the guide in
front with an Ak, and one by one we would
step into his tracks ami balance ourselves
on one foot until another niche for the
weary toe presented itself. This last
grand effort calls out all the adventurer's
reserve force. 1t is called the 'arrepenti-
miento" by the natives (the place Of re-
pentance) and more appropriate
name could not have been Sc.
lected. The climber is exhausted
before he reaches it. This is the reason so
few persons have ever arrived at the sum
nit of the mountain. They cannot scale
the last three hundred yards. How we
did 1t cannot tell; but we didit. 1t was
three o'clock in the afternoon when the
last ledse was reached; and, completely
exhausted, we threw ourselves down on
bare rock at the crater's edge. We must
have lain thus an hour when one of the
guides came back from az exploring trip
around the crater from which they were &C.
customed to extract sulphur, and where we
had thought to spend the night, and re-
ported that it was covered with snow. 1t
was bad news, to us, for 1t meant that we
must spend the night on the bleak peak
exposed to a wind which was already cut
ting to the bone, and threatening to blow
us over the precipice. To go down was i'm
possible in our exhausted state, so we set
about making ourselves as comfortable as
possible. touched Morphy's arm and
pointed across q great valley Of space to
the lonely summit Of Popocotapetl, where
we had stood when the ascention OF ORR
zaba was first suggested "Ahl but 1t
was possible to keep warm there, he said,
"and one need not kill himself to get up. "
This we found to be the case. While
the crater Of Popocatapetal is full. OF heat,
and smoke, and steam, that of 0rizaba is
cold and silent as the tomb. There must
be some heat, however, otherwise its
crater would gil up with ice. We found
a patch Of sand a few yards square,
where little stream issued-suffcient
to melt the snow away-and here
we prepared to spend the night
more horrible night. About six O'Clock
/. the Indian boy, whom | referred to as
being affected on the way up, began to
lccmplaip Of an ezcruciating pain in the