SNOW-BLIND ON MOUNT KENIA 253 



hundred feet. To the right, half a mile away, 

 was a round-topped mountain of snow of un- 

 known depth. In many places it had cracked 

 open, leaving great crevasses, which showed that 

 the snow was at least fifty feet deep. 



"From where I stood, on the snow ridge that 

 connected the snow mountain with the peak, 

 the drift sloped downward toward the north 

 end of the mountain half a mile; beyond this I 

 could not see. If I could get down it would be 

 a shorter way to camp than to retrace my steps, 

 so I decided to make the attempt. 



"I had gone about half-way when I discov- 

 ered that the snow-field terminated in an abrupt 

 wall several hundred feet high. On reaching 

 it I dared not go close enough to the edge to 

 make a more thorough investigation for fear 

 the snow cornice might break and precipitate 

 me to the bottom. 



"Where the snow met the bluff of the peak 

 there seemed to be a break through which one 

 might descend to the valley, so I walked over 

 to it and followed along the base of the cliff for 

 some distance. The drift became steeper and 

 steeper as I proceeded. I was within about 

 seventy -five feet of the wall when suddenly my 



