204 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



than fifty feet high, along the lofty bank of the Nile, 

 which ran glittering in the moonbeams far, far below. 

 The camel, not content with its usual steady pace, 

 swayed to and fro like a ship in a beam sea, and 

 every moment a sudden descent into the cool waters 

 seemed more and more probable. It was truly a terrible 

 night, and never shall I forget that plum-pudding, or 

 rather the consequences of my Christmas dinner in 

 1884. It is sincerely to be hoped that the recipe of 

 that pudding is lost for ever ! " 



Not from choice would one spend Christmas alone 

 on a mountain with scarcely any provisions. Mr. Peter 

 Harper once had this experience in the New Zealand 

 Alps, and the account of the adventure, taken from' 

 the record of his travels, 1 shows how he made the 

 best of the situation. " On Christmas Eve 1 I took half 

 my impedimenta up to a small flat (2,803 feet) under 

 the saddle at the head of the river a journey of a 

 mile and a half, taking a good three hours and leaving 

 them in shelter, returned to camp that evening, where 

 I had some observations to make. 



Not particularly relishing the idea of spending 

 Christmas under a sixty-pound load and over bad 

 travelling, I decided not to begin festivities until my 

 shelter was rigged up on ' Christmas ' Flat. Leaving 

 Troyte River, therefore, at 5 a.rri., I reached that flat 

 at eight o'clock, and had the camp pitched two hours 

 later, and having brought up a small piece of suet 

 and a few raisins on purpose for Christmas, I made 

 a pudding, and had it boiling by noon. 



When everything was snug 1 shook hands with 

 myself, wished myself a ' happy Christmas,' and offered 

 1 See Bibliography, 39. 



