On the "Roof of the World " 171 



steep, but we could get along by kicking steps 

 in it with our heels. Gul Sher was some seventy 

 yards below me, when a gust of wind took my 

 hat off and it went bounding towards him. I 

 shouted to him to stop it, and just as I did so 

 an avalanche shot out of a gully which joined 

 ours just below where I was. The snow broke 

 away from just in front of me, leaving the rock 

 black, bare, and glistening like the side of a 

 house, and the whole went rushing down on Gul 

 Sher. He had just reached my hat when he 

 heard the avalanche, and made a desperate effort 

 to get out of its course, but it was on him before 

 he could move a yard towards safety, and he 

 was immediately engulfed and lost to sight. 



The roar of the avalanche died away, and all 

 was silence. I shouted, but there was no answer. 

 The whole thing was the occurrence of a few 

 seconds. It is impossible to describe the feelings 

 which came over me of horror of my responsi- 

 bility in having indirectly been the cause of the 

 catastrophe, and of personal loss, for there seemed 

 little chance of Gul Sher being now alive, while 

 even the recovery of his dead body was unlikely. 

 I worked my way down with very trembling 

 knees. Arrived near the bottom, I saw the 

 avalanche had spread out into a sort of fan on 

 the plain, and on looking with my glasses I saw 



