CHAP. III. EXEMPLARY CONDUCT OF MB. PE BRING . 51 



his naked feet sticking out from underneath his blankets when 

 the temperature in the tent was much below the freezing-point. 



Strange to relate, Mr. Perring did not appear to be affected at 

 all. Except for him we should have fared badly. He kept the 

 fire going — no easy task, for the fire appeared to suffer from 

 the want of air just like ourselves, and required such incessant 

 blowing that I shall consider for the future a pair of bellows an 

 indispensable item in a mountaineer's equipment. Mr. Perring 

 behaved on this occasion in an exemplary manner. He melted 

 snow, and brought us drink, and attended to our wants in general, 

 and did not seem any worse at the second camp than at Guaranda. 

 Yet he was a rather debilitated man, and was distinctly less 

 robust than ourselves. He could scarcely walk on a flat road 

 without desiring to sit down, or traverse a hundred yards on a 

 mountain side without being obliged to rest. 



It is natural to enquire how can one account for this man of 

 enfeebled constitution being unaffected, when three others, who 

 were all more or less accustomed to high elevations (low press- 

 ures), were rendered, for a time, completely incapable ? It seems 

 possible to afford a tolerably adequate explanation, but it is better 

 to reserve all comments upon our experiences until the conclusion 

 of the journey, and to proceed now with the narrative. 



I was taken aback at this early admonition, for I expected 

 to have been able to sustain a lower pressure without being 

 adversely affected. Our symptoms did not differ in any material 

 point from those which have already been recorded by persons 

 deserving of credence, and, so far, the experience was not un- 

 expected ; but they appeared earlier than was anticipated, and, 

 when I got into a condition to think, I was greatly surprised at 

 the suddenness with which we were overtaken, and at the fact 

 that we succumbed nearly simultaneously. It is scarcely exag- 

 geration to say that in one hour we were all right, and that in 

 the next we were all wrong. Two out of the three had already 

 visited the place without being attacked. 



