1903] SUDDEN DESCENT INTO GLACIER 207 



' For some reason the first thought that flashed into my 

 mind was that someone would break a limb if he attempted to 

 stop our mad career, and I shouted something to this effect, 

 but might as well have saved my breath. Then there came a 

 sort of vague wonder as to what would happen next, and in 

 the midst of this I was conscious that we had ceased to slide 

 smoothly, and were now bounding over a rougher incline, 

 sometimes leaving it for several yards at a time ; my thoughts 

 flew to broken limbs again, for I felt we could not stand much 

 of such bumping. At length we gave a huge leap into the 

 air, and yet we travelled with such velocity that I had not time 

 to think before we came down with tremendous force on a 

 gradual incline of rough, hard, w^ind-swept snow. Its irregu- 

 larities brought us to rest in a moment or two, and I staggered 

 to my feet in a dazed fashion, wondering what had happened. 



' Then to my joy I saw the others also struggling to their 

 legs, and in another moment I could thank heaven that no 

 limbs were broken. But we had by no means escaped scathe- 

 less ; our legs now show one black bruise from knee to thigh, 

 and Lashly was unfortunate enough to land once on his back, 

 which is bruised and very painful. At the time, as can be 

 imagined, we were all much shaken. I, as the lightest, 

 escaped the easiest, yet before the two men crawled painfully 

 to their feet their first question was to ask if I had been hurt. 



' As soon as I could pull myself together I looked round, 

 and now to my astonishment I saw that we were well on 

 towards the entrance of our own glacier ; ahead and on either 

 side of us appeared well-remembered landmarks, whilst behind, 

 in the rough broken ice-wall over which we had fallen, I now 

 recognised at once the most elevated ice cascade of our valley. 

 In the rude fashion which I have described we must have 

 descended some 300 feet ; above us the snow-drift was still 

 being driven along, but the wind had not yet reached our 

 present level, so that all around us the sky was bright and 

 clear and our eyes could roam from one familiar object to 

 another until far away to the eastward they rested on the smoke- 

 capped summit of Erebus. 



