234 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV. 



with a power that only the emergency of the case 

 could have given me, I struggled upwards again 

 towards my companion. How I managed to escape 

 I cannot tell, but in less time than it takes to write 

 the words I had retraced my steps several yards, 

 making use of my gun as a stick to keep myself 

 from sliding back again towards the edge of the 

 cliff. The shepherd was too much alarmed to 

 move, but stood for a moment speechless ; then 

 recollecting himself, he rushed forward to help me, 

 holding out his long gun for me to take hold of. 

 For my own part, I had no time to be afraid, and 

 in a few moments was on terra firnia, while a vast 

 mass of snow which I had set in motion rolled like 

 an avalanche over the precipice, carrying with it 

 the unfortunate ptarmigan. 



I cannot describe my sensations on seeing the 

 danger which I had so narrowly escaped : however, 

 no time was to be lost, and we descended the moun- 

 tain at a far quicker rate than we had gone up it. 

 The wind rose rapidly, moaning mournfully through 

 the passes of the mountain, and frequently carrying 

 with it dense showers of snow. The thickest of 

 these showers, however, fell above where we were, 

 and the wind still came from behind us, though 

 gradually veering round in a manner which plainly 

 showed us that it would be right ahead before we 



