The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-04-05
Life on Ben Nevis.

found that very few even among the
natives of the district could give us any
clear idea of what weather and condi-
tons of life to expect during the winter.
Although the hill is besieged in summer
by an fnnumerable 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. Ii drifts aboutin binding squalls.
and piles itself up against every obstrrc-
ton. Our first experience Of this was
the blocking-up of our doorway. The
now formed bank ten feet high
against the wall of the house tefore
three feet had fallen on the open ground.
Cutting a 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
ng the door an ever-growing labor.
rnis difficulty, however, is now get over
by 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 staircase of boards, lying
OH steps Of snow, and have rooted the
whole owe with an archway OF blocks of
snow. This effectually keeps tho snow
away 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 archway 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,
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 jewellers in low latitudcs. We not
merely see the co'ors at sunrise and
sunset, but all along the sky round the
horizon glows with these strange hues,
which, whether due to volcanic debr $,
cosmlc du.t or other more ordinary
cause, strike the beholder with wonder.
This Is che side of the picture; but
should visitor climb 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 find everything swallowed up
in mist, the particles of which,
freezing as they touch him, will turn
him into o gray-bearded veteran before
his time and load his coat and hat with
a thick layer of ice and snow crystals.
But even such weather is not without
its compensat'ons. THE ice forming on
every exposed surface assumes the most
fantastic shapes. A thin rope, not so
thick as an ordinary clothes-line, will
grow in less than twenty-four hours to
massive cable six or seven inches In
diameter, while stretched copper wire
viii before the day is over break under
the weight Of ice deposited on it by the
mist and DRILLING snow. More than
once, after working outside, l have
come IN with my waterproof made
doubly damp-resisting by complete
outer glazing of ice. But the weather
that really tests the strength of the OBJ
servatory building and tries the mettle
of its inhabitants is when one of the
westerly gales ofour stormy coastco
sweeping up from the Atlantic, burying
the top of 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 so
thick sometimes is the drift and the
snow that it is 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 il, by repeated trials, he can
keep his lamp alightalong enough to let
him read the thermometers, ETC., and
struggle back to peace and quiet inside.
OF course any detailed account of the
OboOktUlAOuS AuhttC WOuiu uC Olb VI plb-6
here, but maysstate that no very low
temperature has been recorded as yet,
the lowest Icing sixteen degrees Fab.
renheit on December Is. The usual
temperature runs 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 a 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 il is difficult to see, unless
they live ON each other. But no doubt
there are many smaller animals eking
out precarious existence here that sup
ply them with food. They can get lit
tie or nothing from the observatory, for
all the food used here is o. course in the
form of preserved articles. the empty
tins and refuse of which are thrown over
the az, AGENT cliff, safely out of their way
and ours. The other day one of these
weasels, with the impudenoe natural to
its race. came and looked in at a win-