A LOFTY BIVOUAC. 361 



and a second, ftirtlier west, and nearer the head of the 

 valley. The porters had made a long ch'cuit in order to 

 avoid the steep bank we had just climbed, and were now 

 out of sig-lit. Moore was unwell, and had walked thus far 

 Avitli much difficulty ; Tucker, Fran9ois, and I therefore set 

 off to climb the ridge before us, in the hopes of finding a 

 suitable spot for a bivouac near its summit. The boulders 

 were very big, and, although there was no difficulty in 

 scrambling over them, it was long before we could find a 

 plot of ground six feet square which, by any stretch of 

 language, could be called level. When we at last succeeded, 

 we announced the fact by a shout to our friend below, and 

 hastened on to see what was above. The highest rocks 

 were soon passed, and a further climb of about fifty feet 

 brought us to the level of a great snowfield, surrounding 

 the final cone of Elbruz, which rose immediately before us, 

 resembling in shape an inverted tea-cup. The mountain 

 appeared to have two summits, of nearly equal height, 

 and both easy of access to anyone accustomed to Alpine 

 climbing. 



Thoroughly satisfied with our inspection, we returned 

 to the spot we had chosen for our tent, and set vigor- 

 ously to work to make the surface level. To effect 

 this we dug out, with our ice-axes, nearly a foot of 

 stony earth at the upper side, and spread it below — 

 increasing the breadth, which was insufficient, by breaking 

 off masses of rock on one side, and throwing them down on 

 the other. We then completed and filled up the interstices 

 of the natural wall of rock to windward, and, having finished 

 our labours, sat down very contentedly to admire our handi- 

 work, and await the long-delayed arrival of the rest of the 

 l^arty. At last our porters came up, and the tent was 

 pitched. The evening view from our eyrie — the height 

 of which was about 12,000 feet — was superb. Looking 



