268 EXPEDITION TO THE TYROL. 



dered how it could bear the storms of the mountain height. 

 Its petals had a curious crumpled appearance, and their 

 soft, pink hue was almost transparent. Spiegle called 

 the plant the " Gemsenkraut," or chamois herb. 



Pushing on to the upper end of the valley, we found 

 that the cliffs and screes sharp, slaty, angular piles of 

 stone looked uglier and steeper the nearer we ap- 

 proached. After crossing still ascending several beds 

 of screes, we came to the edge of the first snowfield 

 one steep sheet of white ice, with a fall of some hundred 

 feet at its lower edge. Here Spiegle, to our joy, " not 

 loud but deep," discovered the fresh hoof-prints of the 

 chamois, and in the excitement, of the moment, we 

 forgot the danger of the snow-field. We got along 

 steadily, with many slips, but no slides, always sticking 

 our staves in the frozen snow, the moment we felt our 

 heels slipping down. At length we grasped the rough 

 rock which bounded the further side of the field, and, for 

 the moment, our anxiety was relieved. 



On the summit of the ridge, we were able to crouch and 

 look through a crack in the rock, into the next valley. 

 But alas ! for hunter hopes, no sign of a living thing ap- 

 peared among the barreness and desolation. Our chance 

 of chamois was completely annihilated for the day. The 

 descent into the valley was attended with innumerable 

 perils, and may be characterized as a succession of slides 



