Alone in the Snoiu. 155 



leaving me no alternative but to finish my snow-liouse and 

 move in. A tunnel some four or five feet in length was excavated 

 in the snow, and a chamber about six feet long by four feet wide 

 and three feet high was made at right angles to the tunnel. In 

 this chamber I placed my blankets and other belongings, and, 

 hanging a rubber coat on an alpenstock at the entrance, found 

 myself well sheltered from the tempest. There I passed the 

 day and the night following. At night the darkness and silence 

 in my narrow tomb-like cell was oppressive ; not a sound broke 

 the stillness except the distant, muffled roar of an occasional 

 avalanche. I slept soundly, however, and in the morning was 

 awakened by the croaking of a raven on the snow immediately 

 above my head. The grotto was filled with a soft blue light, 

 but a pink radiance at the entrance told that the day had dawned 

 bright and clear. 



What a glorious sight awaited me ! The heavens were with- 

 out a cloud, and the sun shone with dazzling splendor on the 

 white peaks around. The broad unbroken snow-plain seemed 

 to burn with light reflected from millions of shining crystals. 

 The great mountain peaks Avere draped from base to summit in 

 the purest white, as yet unscarred by avalanches. On the steep 

 cliffs the snow hung in folds like drapery, tier above tier, while 

 the angular peaks above stood out like crystals against the sky. 

 St. Elias was one vast pyramid of alabaster. The winds were 

 still; not a sound broke the solitude; not an object moved. 

 Even the raven had gone, leaving me alone with the mountains. 



As the sun rose higher and higher and made its warmth felt, 

 the snow was loosened on the steep slopes and here and there 

 broke away. Gathering force as it fell, it rushed down in ava- 

 lanches that made the mountains tremble and awakened thun- 

 derous echoes. From a small beginning high up on the steep 

 slopes, the new snow would slip downward, silently at first, and 

 cascade over precipices hundreds of feet high, looking like a fall 

 of foaming water ; then came the roar, increasing in volume as 

 the flowing snow involved new fields in its path of destruction, 

 until the great mass became irresistible and ploughed its Avay 

 downward through clouds of snow-spray, which hung in the air 

 long after the snow had ceased to move and the roar of the ava- 

 lanche had ceased. All day long, until the shadow of evening 

 fell on the steep slopes, this mountain thunder continued. The 

 echoes of one avalanche scarcely died away before they were 



