Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-05-20

A Channels Hunters Extraordinary Ad-
venture Mt the Great Zmutt Glacier.


chamois and the chamois hunter in
Switzerland. as every one who has
travelled among Alpine peaks and
glaciers knows" said one who has
been in Switzerland frequently, to a
New York Sun reporter ''but Antoine
Gimlich. middle-aged hunter al
though still agile and elastic. in mind
as well as body. Imagine, had in his
| repertoire OF "reminiscences of that
shy and surefooted antelope of the
| Alps moro to excite the interest and
strain the credulty OF the listener
than any other Swiss mountaineer
ever heard give himself liberty on the
| subject. Antoine was a dweller in
the Bernese Overland. but to hear
him tell it. he had hunted in and was
at homo in every part Of the Alps.
| his favorite narrative for it was
| the first one he always told when he
had listener was of thrilling adj
venture he had once at the head of
the great Zmutt Glacier. He had
been following a chamois for two days
among the perilous rocks and lev
slopes in that locality and at last dis
covered it on the apex OF high rock
that rose fifty feet above him. He
stood at the top OF a steep slope of
glacial debris. where tho footing was
insecure which terminated on the
brink OF chasm hundreds Of feet
deep. The instant he saw the cha
mois he fired. The animal tumbled
from the rock and fell at his feet. 1t
was not dead, and it struggled to
rise Antoine seized it by both hind
legs and in doing so lost his footing.
He fell forward. still holding the
chamois by the legs and instantly
both hunter and quarry were sliding
down the slope toward the awful
chasm.
Antoine made desperate efforts to
thrust his feet IN some crack or Gre.
vice in the debris to save himself from
the awful fate that yawned below him.
and even the poor chamois paved des-
perately with its forefeet to gain
foothold and stay the journey to death.
The efforts were vain. Antoine re-
tanned his hold on the chamois's legs
in the desperate hope that impels the
drowning to grasp at straws. AS they
neared the brink of the chasm the
chamois. in its struggle. had turned
upon its back. Antoine suddenly felt
the solid ground fall away beneath
him and he knew he had passed over
the precipice's edge But instead of
tumbliug on down into the abyss, he
found himself suspended from the
cliff hanging to the chamois's legs.
Antoine glanced upward. The curved
horns of the channels bad plunged full
length into n deep crevice near the
precipice's edge as hunter and ante
lope shot over it. The strong horns
withstood the shock of the sudden
cessation of motion. and there with
nothing but hundreds of feet OF cold
and unresisting space between him
and the rocks below. Antoine hung.
Antoine says that he at once uttered
a fervent prayer for being thus unex-
pectedly saved from the awful plunge,
but when he had time TO collect him.
self he was forced to change his mind.
He had nothing to be thankful for. he
thought for at the best he could not
see how the situation was anything
more than a reprieve. 1t was impos.
sible for him to draw himself back to
the slope by means of the channels;
the chances of his being discovered
and rescued were as one in thousand.
and even with that chance in his ia
vor discovery must como quickly, for
that his strength could long sustain
him suspended by the antelope's legs
in mid.air was not within human pos
sibility. But Antoine did not know
that on the trail of the chamois were
other hunters. 1t seemed an hour. d
Antoine says that he hung over that
waiting abyss. suffering untold torture
in mind and body. and he felt that his
strength could last but few minutes
more when he heard shout. and
then another He tried to answer the
shouts but only hoarse gasps came
pass. Then he heard tho sound OF
men making their way down the
slope. The sounds came nearer; then
voices. Presently the forms OF two
hunters filed the space within the
range OF his vision. on the edge of the
precipice above him. Words Of cheer
came from them. Antoine grasped
the antelope's legs firmly with all his
remaining strength. He felt himself
gradually rising toward the slope He
closed his eyes; his heart stood still;
he scarcely breathed. BY and by
strong hands seized him. He knew
no more until he found consciousness
in place Of safety. His rescuers
were with him and Of course no Ian
guage could toll them what was in his
heart.
Everybody knows Antoine in the
Berpese Oberland. never found any
one who knew the two hunters who
rescued him that day at the head Of
the great Zmutt Glacier.