Ch. II. SOUTH AMERICA. 217 



clouds, and heard the thunders roll tar beneath us ; 

 and whilst the lower parts were involved in tempests 

 of thunder and rain, we enjoyed a delightful serenity; 

 the wind was abated, the sky clear, and the enliven- 

 ing rays of the sun moderated the severity of the cold. 

 But our circumstances were v*ery different when the 

 clouds rose; their thickness rendered respiration dif- 

 ñcultj the snow and hail fell continually, and the 

 wind returned with all its violence j so that it was 

 impossible entirely to overcome the fears of being, 

 together with our hut, blown down the precipice on 

 ivho?e ed2;e it was built, or of being buried under it 

 by the daily accumulations of ice and snow. 



The wind was often so violent in these regions, that 

 its velocit)'' dazzled the sight; whilst our fears were 

 increased by the dreadful concussions of the precipice 

 by the fail of enormous fragments of rocks. These 

 crashes were the more alarming, as no other noises 

 are heard in these deserts. And, during the night, 

 our rest, which we so greatly wanted, was frequently 

 disturbed by such sudden sounds. When the weather 

 "ivas any thing fair with us, and the clouds gathered 

 about some of the other mountains which had a con- 

 nection with our observations, so that we could not 

 make all the use we desired of this interval of good 

 weather, we left our hut, to exercise ourselves, in order 

 to keep us warm. Sometimes we descended to some 

 small distance, and at others amused ourselves váth 

 rolling large fragments of rocks down the precipice; 

 and these many times required the joint strength of 

 us all, though we often saw the same performed by 

 the mere force of the wind. But we always took 

 care in our excursions not to go so far, but that on 

 the least appearance of the clouds gathering about Our 

 cottage, which often happened very suddenly, we 

 could regain our shelter. The door of our hut v/as 

 fastened with thongs of leatliCr, and on the inside not 

 fhe smallest crevice was left unstopped; besides which, 



it 



