Pakk. — Nairative of an Ascent of Ruapehu. 329 



obtain a foothold, and, choosing the least of two dangers, we 

 spent an hour vainly trying to descend the rocky wall on the 

 northern side, by zigzagmg from ledge to ledge. In this fashion 

 we succeeded in reaching within 60 feet of the foot of the preci- 

 pice, but here our further progress was barred by a mass of 

 smooth, polished pitchstone porphyry that had withstood frost 

 and snow, and offered no ledges or projections by which to 

 descend. Again ascending to the summit of the peak, we sat 

 down to deliberate, and soon afterwards we found that the sun 

 had softened the snow on the south side, so that with extra 

 caution we were able to descend to the saddle. Once on the 

 saddle, we made rapid progress, but a sharp lookout had to be 

 kept for the numerous crevasses and fissures which, in places, 

 cut the ice into an intricate network, more especially where the 

 snow-fields were moderately flat. The saddle, being narrow, 

 was corniced on the north side, which was the steepest, and 

 care had to be taken not to walk too close to the edge. Having 

 passed the saddle, we began the ascent of the main peak. 



Being now able to ascend from the south side, from the 

 great snow-field previously mentioned, we made up for lost 

 time ; but it was not all " plain sailing." When not more than 

 250 feet from the summit we encountered a wall of ice about 

 20 feet high, which we failed to surmount, although repeated 

 attempts were made. 



Without wasting much time here we turned to the north- 

 east aspect of the mountain, and continued the ascent from that 

 direction. The sun had left that side some time, and the snow, 

 that an hour before was dripping under the sun's strong rays, 

 had now commenced to fi-eeze — not into a solid cohesive mass, 

 but into loose icy particles. In crossing this snow-field the 

 greatest care had to be taken not to start this layer of dry snow, 

 which continually showed signs of sliding on the smooth surface 

 of the hard ice below. 



Proceeding rapidly, but as lightly as possible, so as not to 

 start a snow-shp, we made for a high boss of volcanic agglo- 

 merate, near which we knew the snow would still be moist 

 enough to adhere to the ice. 



All went well till withm a few yards of the rocks, when, in 

 some way or other, Dunnage lost his footing and began to 

 slide down the snow-field at a terrific rate. His destruction 

 seemed inevitable, for he was rapidly approaching an immense 

 crevasse that traversed the whole field, and had particularly 

 attracted our attention a short time before. It was the 

 dangerous description of crevasse well known to alpine 

 tourists, which has one side higher than the other. In 

 this case the drop was on the low side, and was about 

 20 feet. The width of the crevasse at the top was about 

 15 feet, and both sides were corniced, and from its con- 



