Huntsville gazette., 1884-02-23
Life ON Ben Nevis.

w ucu luc mcucOTOlOglCdI OUscIFdtoly
was first started on Ben Nevis, we
found that very few even among the
natives of the district could give us any
clear idea of what weather and condl-
tions of life to expect during the winter.
Although the hill is besicged in summer
by an innumerable multitude OF tour
lists, when it assumed its wintry cover
ing of snow it was regarded as mac
cessible. A few daring spirits might be
found to brave its dangers and bring
tales of twenty, thirty, even fifty feet OF
snow on its crest or lying in the ravines
at the side But no reliable information
was forthcoming. Our experience up
to this time has been that no very great
depth of; snow lies Oh the top only
some six to ten feet-but that when
freshly fallen the strong winds preva-
lent here make it disagreeable neigh
Dor. 1t drifts about in binding squalls.
and piles itself up againstevery ohstrrc-
ton. Our first experience OF this was
the blocking-up Of our doorway. The
snow formed a bank ten feet high
against the wall OF the house- tefore
three feet hadfallen on the open ground.
Cutting passage through this drift
was easy. but unfortunately it filled up
again Just as easily, and the he ght of
the snow steadily increasing made clear
ing the door an ever-growlng' labor.
This difficulty, however, is now got over
bv the erection of building, probably
unique as far as the British isles are
concerned, though common in more
northern latitudes. From the door we
have made a staircase of boards, lying
on steps of snow, and have rooted the
whole over with an archwav of blocks OF
snow This effecttlaily keeps the snow
awav from the door, and any that may
accumulate at the mouth of the tunnel
is easily thrown out. just now the
level of the snow is nearly flush with
the roof of the observatory, and yet by
means of this arehway we can pop in
and out like rabbits in burrOw in any
weather.
The pleasures of life here depend on
the state of the weather. On fine days,
when the air is clear and the snow
sparkling in the brilliant sunshine, a
more delightful residence can not be
found in the whole country. Lately we
have had remarkable weather, and have
seen TO great perfection the sunrises and
sunsets which have been astonishing
the dwellers in low latftudes. We not
merely see the cO,ors at sunrise and
sunset, but all along the sky round the
horizon glOwS with these strange hucs,
which, whether due to volcanic debr s,
cosmlc dust or other more ordinary
cause, strike the3beholder with wonder.
This is one side of the picture; but
should a visltorclim the mountain in
the hope of seeing such sights the
chances are that, he will meet with the
more ordinary weather of the Ben. He
will. finds everything swallowed up
in mist, the particles of which,
freezing as they touch him, will turn
him into gray-bearded veteran before
his time and load his coat and hat with
thick layer of ice and snow crystals.
But even such weather is not without
its compensations. The ice forming on
every exposed surface assumes the most
fantastic shapes. A thin rope, not SO
thick ,as,aH ordinary clothes-line, viii
grow-i in less than twenty-four hours to
massive cable six or seven inches in
diameter, while stretched.copper wire
will before the day is over break under
the weight of ice deposited ON it by the
mist and drizzling snow. More than
once, after working outside, l have
come in with my waterproof made
doubly damp-resisting by a complete
outer glazing of ice. But the weather
that really.test the strength of the OBJ
servatorF building and-tries the mettle
of its inhabitants is when one of the
westerly gales ofour stormy coast comes
sweeping up from the Atlantic, burving
the topo Ben Nevis in mist and snow
and cutting off all communication with
the lower world. Then little can be
done out Of doors save when once in an
hour one of the observers makes dash
out into the storm to read the instru-
ments outside. The box containing
these-is only about twenty yards from
the mouth of the snow-porch, yet 50
thick sometimes is the drift and the
snow that tits quite invisible, and the
observer has-to find his way there and
back by following the guide-rope
stretched between them. At night he
is happy if, by repeated trials, he can
keep his lamp alight long enough to let
him read the thermometers, etc, and
struggle back to peace and quiet inside.
Of course any detailed account of the.
observations made would be out of place
here, but l may. state that no very low
temperature has been recorded as vet,
the lowest icing sixteen degrees Fab,
renheit<on December 16. The usual
temperaturesruns from twenty-five to
thirty degrees, with occasional inter-
ludes of thaw, when it rises above thir-
ty-two and everything drips. Whether
the barometric indications will be useful
for storm warnings can not be definitely
stated until the records here are com
pared with those of other stat Ons, but it
is evident from the unusual character
-of its readings that we are in reg on
where its changes, properly interpreted,
will give valuable results.
Animal life, though scarce, is not al
together absent. A colony of weasels
have established themselves in the outer
walls of the observatory. What they.
find to eat it is difficult 10 see. unless
they live on each other But no doubt
there are many smaller animals eking
out;a precarious existence here that sup
ply them with food. They can get lit