EXPLORATIONS AMONG THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 107 



spite of every effort, getting numb and dozy, he rallied to a new struggle, and thus 

 saved himself. 



Mr. Huntington, aroused by the arrival of Mr. Bracy, sallied out with a lantern in 

 search of us, but found his best exertions of little avail, the storm being so fierce and 

 thick that he could neither make himself seen nor heard beyond a few paces ; and they 

 were regarding us as probably lost, though preparing for another effort in our behalf, 

 when we arrived. 



This was perhaps the most perilous ascent of the winter, owing to the 

 storm and darkness, especially as Mr. Kimball had been wholly unaccus- 

 tomed to severe physical exertion. The ascent, under the greatest diffi- 

 culties, was that of April 5, by Messrs. Clough and Cheney. The wind 

 Mew over eighty miles an hour, while the temperature was nearly at 

 zero. They succeeded in reaching the summit on account of their supe- 

 rior powers of endurance. Most persons would have perished. An 

 ascent has since been made, however, by Mr. Huntington, late in Novem- 

 ber, 1873, under circumstances still more perilous. The temperature was 

 1 7 below zero, and the velocity of the wind 72 miles per hour. It should 

 be remembered that, at the same time with such severity of exposure 

 upon the mountain, the weather at the base may seem favorable for the 

 ascent. 



The expedition had an early experience of the furious storms peculiar 

 to mountain summits. Mr. Huntington writes : "There was a storm of 

 some severity the 24th of November, when I was alone on the mountain. 

 But the most severe storm, of all that we had, occurred on the 15 th of 

 December, and, as it was the first terrific storm since the house had been 

 built which we occupied, we did not feel that security that we should in 

 one that had stood the force of the storms in winters past. The other 

 houses are of stone ; ours of wood, and, besides, presented a much 

 greater surface to the wind than any building ever before erected on the 

 summit. Two of the party had never been on a mountain during 

 a winter storm, so they would be likely to describe it more vividly than 

 a person who had witnessed many," as appears in the following, by 

 H. A. Kimball : 



We have had probably as severe a tornado as will visit us during the winter. The 

 velocity of the wind was recorded at 7 p. m., and it was 92 miles per hour. After that 

 time it was not safe to venture out with the anemometer, unless we wanted to take an 



