510 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



watered b)" a little stream, on tlie 

 surface of which the ice and deep 

 snow were in many places suffi- 

 ciently strong to bear our weight. 

 We now lost sight of the road, 

 and proceeded over the snow in 

 an oblique direction across the 

 valley, in the hope of finding the 

 road again, but our attempt was 

 unsuccessful : we however dis- 

 covered a footpath, leading to the 

 summit of a hill, which was higher 

 than any we had hitherto crossed. 

 As the precipice was extremely 

 difficult to ascend, and we fre- 

 quently found it necessary to 

 stop to rest ourselves, we did not 

 reach the summit until day was 

 about to dawn. We then found 

 a convenient resting place, where 

 we resolved to halt for the day. 

 We crept in among the thickest 

 of the bushes, and for the sake of 

 a little warmth lay close to each 

 other, as the morning was ex- 

 tremely cold, and our clothing 

 was not calculated to protect us 

 from its influence. We did not, 

 however, lie in this place above 

 two hours, and we suffered so 

 severely from the cold, that to 

 sleep was quite impossible. 



When daylight was completely 

 set in, we arose to take a view of 

 the objects around us. We found 

 ourselves on a lofty eminence, 

 which was on every side sur- 

 rounded by mountains. Those 

 towards the south were somewhat 

 lower than the one on which we 

 stood, but those to the north 

 were, on the contrary, consider- 

 ably higher. Hills, forests and 

 enow were the only objects which 

 met our eyes; yet the prospect 

 was sublime. We observed that 

 the tops of all the hills were 

 enveloped in mist, and we con- 



sequently concluded that if we 

 kindled a fire among the bushes 

 it would not be perceptible from 

 any of the surrounding eminences; 

 we therefore resolved to try the 

 experiment, for the double pur- 

 pose of warming ourselves and 

 and boiling our kettle ; not indeed 

 to make tea, for we had none with 

 us, but to warm and render more 

 palatable our rice, which was by 

 this time dry and mouldy. We 

 likewise searched for wild herbs, 

 but in vain, for among these hills 

 winter still raged with the utmost 

 severity. We collected some dry 

 twigs, kindled a fire, and warmed 

 some snow-water, which we suck- 

 ed up with small bamboo reeds, 

 and eat the rice along with it. 



In the meantime some heavy 

 clouds arose behind the hills from 

 the east, and the wind began to 

 howl among the rocks. The 

 clouds spread in every direction, 

 and the wind blew with more and 

 more violence. A storm appeared 

 to be gathering. Persuaded that 

 we should now meet nobody 

 among the hills, and that our 

 pursuers therefore could not dis- 

 cover us, we resolved to proceed 

 without waiting for night. We 

 were, moreover, induced to adopt 

 this resolution on account of the 

 extreme cold, from which, not- 

 withstanding the fire, we suffered 

 most severely. 



We proceeded straight north- 

 wards, along the footpath which 

 had been traced on the ridges of 

 the mountains. This path, how- 

 ever, soon inclined to one side, 

 and at length turned completely 

 round ; we therefore abandoned 

 it, and pursued our course among 

 the thickets. The declivity of 

 the hill, which was covered with 



snow, 



