SNOW-BLIND ON MOUNT KENIA 255 



and should I try to retrace my steps I might 

 start another slide and this time lose my life. 



"It was about four o'clock. In another hour 

 a crust would begin to form and by ten o'clock, 

 or half past at the latest, it would be hard 

 enough to bear my weight; and then, of course, 

 there would be no danger of snowslides. So, a 

 prisoner of the snow, I decided to remain there 

 until the elements should let me escape. 



"Holding tightly to the rocks, I began, gently 

 at first, to tramp the snow and in a few min- 

 utes had made a hard, comfortable footing. 

 Contrary to general belief, the African twilight 

 is quite as long as any twilight. Slowly the 

 shadows of the peaks, over which the sun was 

 sinking, lengthened and at last darkness fell. 



"One by one the stars came out between the 

 fleecy clouds. As the air grew chilly the clouds 

 descended and by eight o'clock enveloped me 

 in a mist that shrouded the * arctic' scenery for 

 half an hour. Finally, the mist disappeared and 

 I saw the clouds floating far below and a clear 

 sky above. 



"Now, for the first time, I began to have 

 trouble with my eyes. They ached, then they 

 burned, and in half an hour it seemed as though 



