The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-03

! necessary to cross the whole southeast i face of the Pico del Indio, and so gair
 it's easier western ridge.
 | If thin layer of snow lying on this steep face of ice had been in perfect l condition. this traverse, which occupied over two hours. would have been most perilous, or even quite Impossible How slowly the distance that separated us from the western ridge seemed to di- minish l cannot describe. At last the
 face was crossed and Q little saddle
 gained in the desired ridge. By the sod
 dle was rock mound, on which we
 threw ourselves down. 20, 700 feet above
 the sea, and had our first view of the
 eliminating peaks of Illimani rising out
 of the great snow plateau, whose ex-
 istence up to this moment had only
 been matter of inference. Now we be- held it, a vast, unbroken, undulating
 eXpanse. Four snow white peaks be-
 sides the Pico del Indio rose out of it.
 The two on the extreme right and ex-
 treme left respectively were evidently
 higher than the others, but which of
 these two was the cuminating point
 was uncertain. The same uncertainty
 exists in all views of Illimani. Our opn-
 ions were in favor of the western peak.
 In point of difficulty there was little to
 choose between them. All the great diff
 faculties of the climb were already
 overcome.
 A few minutes were all we allowed
 ourselves for rest before commencing
 the gentle descent of about four hun
 dred feet down snow slope on to the
 great plateau. By great good fortune
 the snow still remained in excellent
 condition. We hardly sank into it at all
 Over great areas is was as hard as
 wood. Now, of course, we felt, as all
 men mast always feel, the effect of di-
 unfinished atmospheric pressure. We did not have headaches or any acute symp-
 toms, but we were all greatly reduced in strength. After about three hours of slow, continuous plodding the nelina- tion ceased and we stood upon a flat,
 wide saddle, which presently dropped away before us in the steep descent that faces La Paz. We threw ourselves down for a few moments, rested and ate. The altitude was 2l,760 feet.
 But we could not halt long, for the summit was now too near at hand, and only a wide and easy snow ridge sep arated us from it. Slowly, very slowly, we wended our way up it, conscious of little except the toll, and overwhelm- ed by a fixed determination to get the work done and ended. Twice I came to myself with a start, and found I had been walking in my sleep. One ap- parent summit gave way to another, but the real one came in due season.
 Monsieur. vous la glore," said Ma quignaz, as he stepped aside for me to stand first upon the highest point It was 11:30 a. m. The altitude, as nearly as I can yet deduce it, is between D. 300 and 22,200 feet.
 We remembered afterward that there was no moment of exaItation, no sense of triumph no exclamation of joy for any of us in the hour of victory. We just sat down and rested Five minutes later we felt as comfortable as at sea level, so long as we did not move or at tempt to do anything. The cane flag staff we had brought up in sections was planted in the snow, and the little banner set waving, but alas! no one but ourselves could see 1t, for most of the lower regions were buried in the sea of clouds that had infested them ever since dawn. The lifetime of flag staff erected in snow is short.
 Although the view was not unclouded, it was extraordinarily impressive, for we stood out in the clear air and the burning sunshine, and all around us were white clouds and peaks. The near peaks, with their drapery of brok- en ice rising out of cloud were mag nificent. The southward continuation of the Cordillera likewise lifted itself into view, but of Mampu and the northern range we saw nothing. Much of the high western plateau was seen through gaps in its nebuous covering.
 The descent, which began about noon, was easy enough till we came to the foot of the Pico del Inca and had to re- ascend. There l thought my heart would burst, so excessive was the toll Twelve short steps and halt-twelve more and another halt-deep breathing to recover the power of motion, It was l dreadful hour, but 1t came to an end and we could throw ourselves down on he rock mound and take behind last ook at the conquered giant
 We decided to continue the descent . ly new route instead of recroseing . he dreadful face up which we came Right from our feet dropped very ong slope, likewise of ice, thinlv cov- {, red by good snow. With the tendercst | ,aution we trod steps down this, plung- ng at each stage an axe deeply into he slope, and passing the rope round it. me man only moving at time. It was me thousand feet down or more. At the oot was wide crevasse, or "bergs- hrund," which had to be leaped. and hen we were on leveller snow, covered with the debris of ice avaanches. We picked our way across them, then in md out among crevasses of a size I lever saw nor even conceived to be possible. The bridges over them were .reat hillsides in themselves By wird- ng about we left this difficulty also be-
 ind, and in due course reioined our pward tracks. At 5:30 D. m. we were t camp, and at o'clock l was fast sleep in the same sack of reindeer skin which as so often sheltered me in against Arctic cold. Our eturn next day to Calmbaya was fla ilitated by the relays of Indians, and ower down of mules, sent out by the are and kindness of MT Guillen.-Sir Tartin's letter to the London Chroni- le. 'HIPPING POTATOES IN WINTER.
 Aroostock County is sending out po- nAc aF lac | .