56 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



to cross the crevice, which was not very broad but of 

 unknown depth, transversely. This saved him, but 

 the shock pulled me off my legs. Had he fallen, I 

 must have followed him since we were tied together 

 and the guide would have been dragged after me. 

 I was more startled by this little accident than by 

 any other occurrence during the journey. 



At length, after much anxiety, we came to the 

 moraine of the glacier, and I was not sorry to find 

 myself standing upon a block of hard granite, for I 

 honestly believe that our lives had not been worth 

 a penny's purchase ever since we left the Grands 

 Mulcts. "NVe had a long rest at the Pierre a 

 1'Echelle, where we deposited our ladder for the next 

 aspirants, and in the absence of everything else, were 

 content with a little water for refreshment. The cords 

 were now untied, and we went on as we pleased ; but 

 I ordered Jean Carrier to go ahead, and tell his pretty 

 sweetheart at the Pavilion des Pelerins that we should 

 make all the party drink her health there a promise 

 I had given a day or two previously and he started 

 off like a chamois. Jean Tairraz was sent forward to 

 bespeak some milk for us at the Chalet de la Para, 

 and then we took our time ; and once more upon 

 solid trustworthy ground, began the last descent. 

 Some mules were waiting at the Chalet, but the road 

 was so exceedingly steep and tortuous that I preferred 

 my own legs ; and by five o'clock we had come down 

 the pine-wood, and found ourselves at the little cabin, 



