Year: 1871

! H HOuAtA WIN u liIcutt, tistf S1-
! ~ er like myself. For about five
90 weeks we had been exploring
Switzerland, so that we had plenty
time to get used to snow and gla-
ciers. We had made several as
cents, one of 1000 feet. well re
member, the sensation 1 felt when
first saw one of those crevasses
which seam the surface Of the gla-
ciers. Holding firmly by the hand
Of my guide, leaned over that
yawning gulf and tried to gaze into
its terrible depth. The two per-
/ pendicular walls Of ice appeared to
meet some 500 feet below, but 1 be
Heve it was only the effect Of per
spective, the rent being probably
prolonged as far as the solid rock.


"a man who falls in there is GER
tain never to come out alive said
one ofmy guides.


''True," replied the other, ''but 1
know one who was rescued. A mar
row escape indeed it was; he still
lives at Grindenwald. He is a cha
mois hunter; he was returning
home; in descending the glacier he
made slip and fell into q creyasse.
His fall was broken by projecting
blocks Of ice, which yielded, howev-
er, beneath his weight when he
clung to them. When he reached
the bottom, a distance of some hun
dred feet, he had leg and an arm
broken. Between the earth and the
ice he found a hollow place into
which a stream was running; crawl
ing along, suffering terrible pain, he
followed the course of the water and
in three hours he was out Of the
glacier"


Crevasses vary in breadth from
two to six feet, at the mouth, but
the sides approach rapidly as they
descend, so that a man may find
himself jammed in between walls
of ice long time before he reaches
the bottom, and then if ropes long
enough and strong enough are at
hand, it's possible to save him from
a dreadful death. But generally
the ropes are not long enough, and
the traveller perishes of cold, or falls
lower down into the creyasse during
the hours which elapse while some
Of the party have gone to the near
est village to fetch longer ropes
Thus an unfortunate Russian noble
man perished in a glacier near Ter
matt some years ago.


We had ascended to Brevent; we
now had only Mer de Glace and the
Jardin to visit. We slept on the
Montanvert in the solitary little inn
at the foot of the glacier Next
morning we were up at dawn. Fur
nished with some provisions and
wine, we started with our guides.
1t was a splendid morning and au-
cured well for our excursion. For
half an hour we followed a rough
path which szirted the Mer dc
Glace, which displayed below us its
surface, riven with crevasses and
covered with rocks and fragments.
Our road ended at the glacier, upon
which we now began to descend,
and to traverse in zig-zags in the
midst of numerous assures. The
AIer de Glace is not considered dan
gcrous, and it is quite the exception
to take axes and ropes when cross
ing it.


Alert and cheerful, we hastened
on without taking notice of the
guide, who, some way behind, cried
out to us several times to be eau
tious and wait for him. We were
obliged at last to halt before a vast
crevasse with a length of 60 yards,
and ended upon our left in a slope
Office, somewhat steep, but which I
thought 1 could easily mount Us
ing the iron spike of my alpenstock
as a hatchet, I began to cut holes
in the ice large enough to put my
feet in. At this moment our guide
reioined us, He looked at the slope
and at the yawning crevasse below
it, and said in a grave tone, ut is
dangerous; let rs go round it."
/ With the help of my alpenstock l
had already got half way up this icy
hillock, and was now quite conyinc-
ed that it was too slippery to be
crossed without an AK. The guides
warning confirmed my opinion. l
resolved to retrace my steps. /
was cautiously lowering my right
| leg, seeking for the hole that 1 had
made in the ice; my foot passed it;
| I felt that was sliding down; there
was nothing to stop me, not the
least protection by which / could
hold myself in. The declivity be
came perpendicular, andI fell into
the gulf


heard the cry of despair of my
companion and guides. Ny own
sensation cannot be described. I
was giddy and half stunned, sent
backwards and forwards from one
wall of ice to the other; felt my
self descending to great depth,
condemned to be dashed to pieces,