Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1910-08-05
cred was 1t WITH cones and man. ,os1

cred was It with cones and sharp. leg1
peaks.
A strong breeze from the southeast
was blowing, which soon Increased to
a hurricane, sweeping over the rocks
covered with snow and the huge mass
es of Ice which took the forms Of Ice
bergs and hummocks, though on dry
land
On all sides nothing could be heard
! but the noise of cracking ice and fall
| ing avalanches
The travellers had to be very careful
in avoiding hills, and even In speaking
| aloud, for the slightest agitation IN
! the air might have caused a catastro'
| pie. In deed, the suddenness is the re-
culfar feature In arctic avalanches, dfs'
tinguishinS them from those OF Swift
zerland and Norway.
Often the dislodgement of block o.
ice is instantaneous, and not even
cannon ball or thunderbolt could be
more rapid in its descent. The loosen
ing. the fall and the crash happen al
most simultaneously.
Happily, however, no accident befell
any of the party, and three days after
wards they came to smooth, level
ground again.
On the Fourth of July there was
such an exceedingly dense fog that 1t
was very difficult to keep the straight
course for the north No misadven-
ture however. befel the party during
the darkness. except the loss Of Bells
snowshoes.
At Bells suggestion torches were
contrived, made of tow stepped in spir-
its Of wine and fastened on the end OF
a stick, and these served somewhat to
help them on, though they made but
small progress; for, on the 9Th, after
the fog had cleared off, the doctor took
their bearings, and found that they
had only been marching at the rate Of
eight miles a day.
Determined to make up for lost
time, they rose next morning very ear
ly and started off, Bell and Altamont
, as usual going ahead of the rest and
4 acting as scouts. Johnson and the 9th
: ers kept beside the sledge, and were
soon nearly two miles behind thu
guides; but the weather was SO DIR!
: and clear that all their movement
= could be distinctly observed.
: Storms blew up again and the ten
!, was pitched in ravine for shelter, a.
the sky was dark and threatening
= and violent north wind was blowing
= I'm afraid wei have bad night.
said Johnson.
= "a pretty noisy one, I expect" re
= piled the doctor, but not cold. w
II had better take every precaution, an
! fasten down our tent with good bi
stones"
/, You are right, Mr.. Clawbonny
- the hurricane swept away our tent,
don't know where we should find
:, again."
: The tent held fast, but sleep was i'm
y possible, for the tempest was led loos
and ragged with tremendous violenct
TT seems to me-" said the docto
during a brief lull in the deafenin
roar, "as If 1 could hear the sound {
io collisions between icebegs and ic
fields. If we were near the sea,
y could really believe there was a ger
eral break up in the ice"
~ 81 can't explain the noises any othC
way" said Johnson.
70 "Can we have reached the coast7"
~ wonder?" asked Hatteras.
o 1T Is not impossible" replied CLAW
bonny. Listen! Do you hear Thu
crash? That IL certainly the sound
icebergs falling. We cannot be vel
far from the ocean"
~ well, If it turns out to be so, shs
= push right on over the ice fields"
- ooh, they'll all be broken up aft
" such a storm as this We shall 81
what tomorrow brings; but all I CO
=. say is, If any poor fellows are wande
- ing about in night like this, I pi
them"
Ito be continued.l