EETURN TO EARTH. 265 



the proverb, ' Misfortunes never come single,' and we could 

 only console ourselves with the obvious reflection that it 

 was impossible for us to go on losing a drinking-cup and 

 telescope every day. The snow in the upper part of the 

 gully was rather hard ; but by keeping close to the side, 

 and digging steps with our heels, we got along capitally, 

 and soon reached the corner, whence we saw a straight 

 unbroken trough leading down to the base of the clifPs, and 

 on to a snowfield which stretched down to green pastur- 

 ages. We felt, for the first time, that the fight was over, 

 and the victory won, in so far that we were secure of 

 sleeping below the forest level on the southern side of the 

 chain, of which there had been, up to this moment, con- 

 siderable doubt. We were as pleased at the prospect 

 of a bivouac on the turf, in the place of a night spent 

 in kicking our heels against frozen rocks, or, worse still, 

 in the bosom of a crevasse, as an Alpine traveller is at 

 Tuiexpectedly discovering a good hotel vvliere he only 

 looked for a poor chalet. We slid merrily down the 

 snow- gully, in the track of a gigantic snowball which 

 was now reposing at the bottom. Having observed from 

 above, that by traversing the slopes to the right, we 

 should, without the need of any further ascent, cross a 

 low ridge dividing two hollows, and enter the one most 

 likely to lead directly towards the valley, we heroically 

 withstood our disposition to go straight down to the 

 grass, and kept for some time at a level, at the cost of 

 half-an-hour's rather tiresome walking-. 



At last the head of the hollow, still covered with fast- 

 melting snow, was reached ; here, as in many other places, 

 the red colour of the surface attracted our notice. Where 

 the snow no longer lay, its meltings made the turf a 

 perfect playground for watercourses, through which we 

 splashed on, anxious to gain the forest before nightfall. 



