- I
Stanley intended to go no farther with us than he
thono'ht prudent; he however now decided on
proceeding, as did Mr. Benners, though complaining
bitterly of the cold. After refreshing ourselves
with some provisions we had brought with ns, and
leaving the guide to take care of the horses, as it
did not appear he had any experience of the snow
part of the mountain to be of use, we started, each
havino- coarse woollen stockings o 'O c? ver our shoes. At
first we found the snow rather too soft, but it soon
became hard enough to give us a firm footing;
but the ascent was steep, and there was no more
talking about the cold. Very wide rents in the
snow at last became frequent, and forced us to a
veiT zig-zag path; some we coidd get over by
means of our poles, but others were six, seven, and
more than eight feet broad, and letting a piece of
lava tied to a string fall into them, I found they
were fearfully deep : one was forty-two, and another
fifty feet deep. In the sectional sides of these we
could distinguish and count the layers of the snoAV
that had congealed in different years, to a certain
depth, reflecting vivid tints of blue and
green of various shades. Caldin and I led the van,
hut we could not boast of our pilotage, for we had
often to return a great way back to find a passing
place amongst the rents, and very narrow some of
these places Avere. When Avithin a quarter of a
mile of the summit, our sailor, being without a pole,
covdd, from the steepness and slipperiness of the
snoAV, proceed no farther, but all the rest of us,
with a gieat deal of labour, and certainly some
danger, reached a point within 500 feet of the
summit. Mr. Stanley and I, after some rest, ventured
on, creeping with our hands and feet ; but from the
very slippery state of the snow, joined with its
steepness, we were exposed in onr progress, notwithstanding
all the caution we could use, to the
hazai d of a fall into chasms AA’hich, had it happened,
would at once have put an end to all our measuring
schemes. We did gain ground, hoAA'ever,
and Avhen Ave thought we Avere Avithin a fcAv yards
of the highest point, one of the chasms stopped us,
Avhich it Avas impossible to turn or get over ; it was
where the ascent AA'as steepest. On our right it had
a bridge of snow across it of about a foot in thickness,
Avhether to try this or not Avas the question.
Mr. Stanley and I debated the matter. We had to
take counsel only of ^each other, for all the others
remained quiet where we left them. On one hand,
it was confoundedly provoking to be baffled when
so near the top of this famous mountain, Avhich
fcAV, if any one, had reached ; on the other hand,
the danger Ave should haA'e to encounter Avas most
imminent :— if the suoav across the chasm should
give Avay, or our feet slip, and so gather Avay in
falling from such a very steep and fearful slope as
that Ave stood on, we Avere gone for ever. We
could not look round ns Avithout shuddering : for a
fcAA' minutes Ave Avere in suspense, Avith our feet
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