436 The Hunting Grounds 



height, only stopping for a moment now and then to 

 refresh ourselves with a mouthful of brandy, until at 

 last we all of us began to feel more or less affected 

 with a difficulty in breathing, more particularly 

 Kuchuc, the Nubian, who was by far the most 

 powerful man amongst us. This feeling wore off 

 after a time, returning at intervals ; and the extreme 

 elasticity and pureness of the air prevented us from 

 then feeling the fatigue attendant on our continued 

 exertions. I myself, although often breathless from 

 floundering in the snow, did not at any time feel 

 exhausted: a few minutes' rest would recruit my 

 strength, and excitement kept me from flagging. 



The only interruption to the solemn silence that 

 reigned in that high altitude was the continual 

 rumbling and roaring of avalanches, from which at 

 times our route became extremely dangerous. Once 

 I thought it would be all up with us, as the entire 

 side of the mountain seemed to be giving way, and 

 an enormous mass, containing thousands of tons of 

 earth and rock, came tearing past us with a roar far 

 exceeding that of the artillery at Sevastopol, in- 

 creasing in velocity, and overwhelming everything in 

 its course. It was a moment pregnant with peril, 

 more especially as, immediately afterwards, huge 

 boulders of rock and debris broke away and came 

 spinning down the slope as if the invisible gigantic 

 fiends who are said to reside in these regions were 



