The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-04-19

; Fernand Clere early in The morning with
a guide. a mule and "a groom. 1 pushed
on to the old summit plateau of the noun
thin in spite 81 the ram and clouds, hopInl
for a near view Of that wonderful cone
Mule and groom were left at 4 convenient
: ?oirt. while the guide and l went o;-
Clouds aaI rain prevented my seeing vhat
! Went form fact. concealed everything
! at 4 distance OF 4 hundred yards. and ths
wind. blowing 4 gale. made my thiniy
clad guide SILVER will cold
After traversing the basin OF the Lac des
Fantasies and reaching the border OF the
4 great crater We turned back 10 gain some
sheltered spor and walt for the clouds to
clear away.
After tramping half an hour across the
| guiiles which serrate the sides OF the
mountain top We found ourselves at the toy
OF i rock precipics. and n mOmentary riff
in the clouds revealed 10 me the ridge lead
ing to Morne Rouge. ON the far side Of u
deep gorge.
The guide had lost his way. and we
were at least 4 mile out of our course in
TIE midst OF a dense fOs.
Struggling again to the summit / found
my footprints in the mud near the rim of
the crater and started the guide on the
wav.
Soon, however. We lost the trail on ac-
count Of the rain having oblitersted the
footprints. and We started Z~igzagging down
the slope. hoping to strike the right ridge
in time.
Again We We're too far to the south and
the second rift in the clouds for the day
showed Us to be near the precipices at the
head OF the Riviere Falaise-
NV poor negro. who had been very boast
fA in the morning. had by this time COM
pletely lost his head. but. at my earnest
s~olicitat ton in broker French. he made one
more attempt to get down.
At 5 o'clock. however. We discovered a
rockfaII Immediately below US and We saw
tain.
Finding a turn in the gully which would
AFFORD some protection from the keen wind.
detachIng the bose stones so that they
should not fall upon us during the night
and pIing cameras together under my col.
Letting bag for shelter. the guide ana L
s1uatted down under my old rain coat 10
spend "a best Ne might the long hours
OF the moonless night.
The last morsel Of food had been eaten
before { o'clock. our few remaining drops
Of rum were ~husbanded for the cold night.
We had no matches. and no wood 10 ourn II
we had the matches; our bed consisted OF
angular stones with sharp edges and cor
erS up.
Ny companion soon was asleep. but 1 was
slow in following his example. Remember
ing the saying. Politics makes strange
bedIelloWS- i InOuBnt HeOloSg COGA1 ~
likewise.
Occasional showers during the night ad-
ded 10 our discomfort. but We were for
turate in having only one Of sufficient
severity TO bring a cataract down our gully
and make US wonder for a time whether We
should have TO desert our camp.
WAITED FOR THE
CLOUDS TO LIFT.
Morning dawned at last. still in heavy
fog. and we waited until . o'clock for the
clouds to lift.
Then. there being no indication OF re-
lief in that way. / gave orders TO climb the
mountain once more and search for the box
which marked the end OF the right trail.
and which had eluded Us SO distressinEly
the day before.
To add to the distress Of my guide. 1 told
him that II We did not ind the Vive trail
before noon I was going to follow the edge
Of the crater westward and descend 10 ST.
Pierre and MOrne Rouge.
Along the edge OF the crater?' he de-
handed, and shook his head; he would re-
main on the mountain
After several long delays to warm up
the guide in the folds Of my rain coat We
attained the summit plateau again. found
the box and then quickly found the trail
down. IL having been made very plain by
NJ. and Nine. Lacroix. who had ascended
the mountain later than We on the pre-
ceding day.
Half way down we met a relief party on
the way up with food and drink, and then