STEEP TRAILS 



to present as little surface as possible to the 

 wind, and to let the drift pass over us. The 

 mealy snow sifted into the folds of our clothing 

 and in many places reached the skin. We were 

 glad at first to see the snow packing about us, 

 hoping it would deaden the force of the wind; 

 but it soon froze into a stiff, crusty heap as the 

 temperature fell, rather augmenting our novel 

 misery. 



When the heat became unendurable, on 

 some spot where steam was escaping through 

 the sludge, we tried to stop it with snow and 

 mud, or shifted a little at a time by shoving 

 with our heels; for to stand in blank exposure 

 to the fearful wind in our frozen-and-broiled 

 condition seemed certain death. The acrid 

 incrustations sublimed from the escaping gases 

 frequently gave way, opening new vents to 

 scald us; and, fearing that if at any tune the 

 wind should fall, carbonic acid, which often 

 formed a considerable portion of the gaseous 

 exhalations of volcanoes, might collect in suffi- 

 cient quantities to cause sleep and death, I 

 warned Jerome against forgetting himself for 

 a single moment, even should his sufferings ad- 

 mit of such a thing. 



Accordingly, when during the long, dreary 

 watches of the night we roused from a state of 

 half-consciousness, we called each other by 



76 



