176 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



On every side the ice kept cracking and splitting, 

 as if it was heaved up by some internal movement, 

 causing continuous reports like volleys of musketry, 

 and at times we felt a strange tremulous movement 

 underfoot, somewhat resembling the shock of an 

 earthquake. In some places we found beds of 

 snow so honeycombed, that we sank into it waist- 

 deep, and here we had to feel our way ; but as we 

 got into higher regions, the snow appeared to have 

 become changed into ice. 



After several hours' journey, during which ex- 

 citement made us unconscious of fatigue, we came 

 to a longitudinal chasm, far exceeding in width 

 any we had hitherto met with, in which, at a great 

 depth below, was seen a rapid river rushing along 

 a channel of ice with a tremendous roar. From its 

 size, as well as the direction in w^hich it was flow- 

 ing, both my companions coincided with me in the 

 opinion that this was the Ganges, although about 

 nine miles from the Cow's Mouth, generally con- 

 sidered its source. 



The extreme length of the opening was seven 

 hundred and forty-two paces, and its width from 



