New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-11

NETWORK TRIBUNE Ill
and little saddle gained in the desired ridge
/ Fly the saddle a rock mound. on which We
threw ourselves down &c. 700 feet above the sea.
and had first view OF the eliminating peaks
| Of lllimani rising Eat Of the great snow plateau
| whose existence W to this moment had Only
been matter Of inference. Now We beheld it. a
vast. unbroken. Undulatng expanse Four
snow white peaks besides the Pico del lndo
rose out of it, The two on the extreme rignt
and extreme left respectively were evidently
| higher than the others. but which OF these Two
was the eliminating point was uncertain. Inc
same uncertainty exists In all views OF lhhahI.
Our opinions were in favor Of the western
peak In point of difficulty there was little to
choose between them. All the great difficulties
OF the climb were already overcome
THE SUMMIT WON.
A few minutes were all we allowed ourselves
for rest before commencing the gentle descent
Of about four hundred feet down snow sIoPe
on to the great plateau. BY great Sood fortune
the snow still remained in excellent colui'oh'
We hardly sank into il at all over great areas
il was as hard as wood Now. OF course. we leit'
as all men must always feel, the erect Oh Gil
ninished atmospheric pressure we uiu 'o'
have headaches or any acute symptoms pu' We
were all greatly reduced in strength Hi.el
about three hours of slow. continuous pioddihs
the inclination ceased and we stood upon Hat
wide saddle which presently dropped away We
fore Us in the steep descent that taues lr
We threw ourselves down for a lew iloulei'o'
rested and ate. The altitude was Il, '"V leeu.
But we could not halt long, Tor 'ie Sui',,,n' S
was now too at hand. and only "iue anu
easy snow ridge separated us from H. 60
very slowly we wendell our way up IL, coilsVlpuo
Of little except the toll. and overwhelincu ny
fixed determination to get the worh h, "|'V cart
/ ended Twice | came to myself with sat-
ard found had been walking in my Steep 'ne
apparent summit gave way to ahotner, put ne
real one came in due season Monsieur :, iIo
Ia eloire" said Maqugnaz. as he steppeu aS.u ,
cts
II was I! 80 a. m. The altitude. as hedi'5 y, a. 300
can yet deduce it. is between --''oo anu
iee'' WHAT THE SCENE WAS LIKE
we remembered afterward that there was no
moment Of exlltation, no sense or tlui,pn. no
exclamation of JOY for any OF US III tne trive
victory We just sat down ana restru sea-
minutes later we felt as corlllortaplc DO " -
lovoI 60 long as we did rot move or at't"P' ~
do ANYTHING The cane Flagstaff we mao pro ' ho
ND in sections was planted in the snow anu ' ',t
little banner set waving. but alas. no oHv Du
ourselves could see il, for most or the iowc.
REGIONS were buried in the sea OF CLOUDS wa, VA
had infested them ever since dawn. me 'ie
time If a flagstaff erected in sho" Is Sno' o,
H,boush the view was not unclouded IT was
extraordinarily impressive. for we stood ou' II,
the clear air and the burning sunshihe; anu r a.,
around us were white CLOUDS aiiu Ii'n loo us
near peaks with their drapery Oh Drohuh oc
inc ont of cloud were magnificent. The sou,h-
ward continuation of the CordllIera I'M I'm, 10
lifted itself into view put oil Ma' N"ch - the
high western plateau was seen 'hroue" e'P' ~
is nebulouS covering.
THE DESCENT.
The descent which began about noon. was
easy enough till we came to the foot Ol the iCo
aal Inca and had to reasCend. There tnouSn'
my heart would burst 50 excessive was the toil,
Twelve short steps and halt-tWelVe more ana
another haIt-dcep breathing TO recover ,ht
mower of motion. 1t was drcadtul h"ur' put IT
anne 70 an end, and we could throw ourselves
down on the rock mound and take Dehlhu last
look at the conquered giant
we decided to continue the descent by new
route instead Of recrOsSing the dreadiuI race up
which we came. Right from our rect dropp'u d
very long slope likewise or ice thiiiS C"N'icu
nv good snow With the tenderest caution we
trod steps down this, plunsing at each stage an
axe deeply into the slope. and passing the rope
round it, one only moving at Time II
was one thousand feet down or more. Al me
foot was a wide crevasse. or "bergschrund,
which had to be eaped and then we were on
leveler snow covered with the debris or Ice
avalancheS We picked our way across them,
then in and out among crevasses ~ size
never saw nor even conceived TO be possible
The bridges over them were great hillsides in
themselves BY winding about we left TINS dIfn-
Guilty also behind. and in due course reJoined our
inward tracks. AT $50 p. IN. We were at camp.
and AT G o'clock I was fast asleep in the same
sack Of reindeer skin which has so often shell
tered me in Spitzbergen against Arctic cold
our return next day to Cambaya was facili-
Of mules sent out by the care and kindness Of
MI Cullen.
GUN FLINTS.
From Forest and Stream.