CLIMBING ADVENTURES 175 



last, Bruce and Amar Sing were some way behind. 

 Harkbir had no climbing-irons, and to make matters 

 worse, the nails of his boots were quite rounded 

 and smooth. He is not at all to blame for what 

 happened. The ice-steps, small to start with, were 

 worn by use, and half melted off. The time came 

 when, as I expected, one gave way, and Harkbir went 

 flying forwards. I was holding the rope tight, and 

 was firm on my claws, and Zurbriggen had the rope 

 tight behind me. The slope was very steep, but we 

 easily held Harkbir. We were not descending straight 

 down the slope, but traversing it diagonally. As soon, 

 therefore, as Harkbir had fallen, he swung round with 

 the rope, like a weight on the end of a pendulum, and 

 came to rest spreadeagled against the icy face. Now 

 came the advantage of having a cool-headed and dis- 

 ciplined man to deal with. He did not lose his axe 

 or become flustered, but went quietly to work, and 

 after a time cut a hole for one foot and another for 

 the other ; then he got on his legs and returned to 

 the track, and we continued the descent. At the time 

 the whole incident seemed quite unexciting and 

 ordinary, but I have often shivered since to think of it. 

 The ice-slope below us where the slip happened was 

 fully 2,000 feet long." 



Mr. Edward A Fitzgerald, another famous climber, 

 in his book on climbing and exploration in the New 

 Zealand Alps, 1 describes how a falling piece of rock 

 nearly caused a fatal accident. " We had now to climb 

 about 300 feet of almost perpendicular cliff, apparently 

 in the very worst condition possible. The rocks were 

 peculiarly insecure, and we were obliged to move by 

 1 See Bibliography, 31. 



