56 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 



that we were tired, and longing to reach camp and get 

 some food. The place where we turned was, according 

 to the aneroid, 8,000 feet above the sea; we were there- 

 fore 2,500 feet higher than our tent down on the hill-side. 

 Going down in our old tracks was easier work, though 

 the return journey was somewhat monotonous. In many 

 places the slope was rapid, and not a few fine runs were 

 made. On approaching our camping-ground we had 

 the sharpest descent, and here, reluctant as we might be, 

 we found it wiser to put both our poles together and 

 form a strong brake. We came down smartly enough, 

 all the same. It was a grand and imposing sight we 

 had when we came out on the ridge under which — far 

 below — our tent stood. Surrounded on all sides by 

 huge crevasses and gaping chasms, it could not be said 

 that the site of our camp looked very inviting. The 

 wildness of the landscape seen from this point is not 

 to be described; chasm after chasm, crevasse after 

 ci'evasse, with great blocks of ice scattered promiscuously 

 about, gave one the impression that here Nature was too 

 powerful for us. Here no progress was to be thought of. 

 It was not without a certain satisfaction that we 

 stood there and contemplated the scene. The little dark 

 speck down there — our tent — in the midst of this chaos, 

 gave us a feeling of strength and power. We knew in 

 oiu* hearts tliat the ground would have to be ugly indeed 

 if we were not to manoeuvre our way across it and find 

 a place for that little home of ours. Crash upon crash^ 



