458 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



we botb crouched down among the rocks to await the relief to be given 

 by the next stroke, which, for anght we knew, might strike the instru- 

 ment which now stood alone on the summit. At this time it was pro- 

 ducing a terrible bumming, which, with the noises emitted by the 

 thousands of angular blocks of stone, and the sounds produced by our 

 hair, made such a din that we couhl scarcely think. The fast-increasing 

 electricity was suddenly discharged, as we had anticipated, by another 

 stroke^of lightning, which, luckily for us, struck a jioint some distance 

 away. The instant he felt the relief, Wilson made a sudden dash for the 

 instrument, on his hands and knees, seized the legs of the tripod, and 

 flinging the instrument over his shoulder dashed back. Although all 

 this occupied only a few seconds, the tension was so great tha,t he re- 

 ceived a strong electric shock, accompanied by a pain as if a sharp- 

 j)ointed instrument had pierced his shoulder, where the tripod came in 

 contact with it. In his haste he dropped the small brass cap which 

 protected the object-glass of the telescope 5 but, as the excitement and 

 danger had now grown so great, he did not trouble himself to go back 

 after it, and it still remains there in place of the monument we could 

 not build to testify to the strange experiences on this our station 12. 

 We started as fast as we could walk over the loose rock, down the 

 southeast side of the peak, but had scarcely got more than 30 feet from 

 the top when it was struck. We had only just missed it, and felt thank- 

 ful for our narrow escape. 



We could not follow down the ridge we came up, as, in the present 

 state of affairs, it was highly dangerous to cross any prominent point, 

 even though it should be much lower than the peak itself. Hail and 

 sleet began to fall freely, and as we descended to a lower level they 

 were exchanged for rain, with which we were well drenched, even before 

 reaching the mules.. 



We found Dr. Endlich waiting for us, having just returned from the 

 ascent of a lower point of the main peak, where he had experienced 

 similar phenomena to those already described, only differing from them 

 in degree. He said he had seen the lightning strike our peak, and at 

 first thought that we might have been caught, till finally he saw us 

 coming down the mountain. 



Our mules seemed glad to see us, not because they cared one straw 

 for us personally, but because our arrival was the signal for the return 

 to camp. Whether they had been pestered by the electricity, we could 

 not tell, but they were doubled up into the most compact shape that 

 mules are capable of assuming, ancl did not seem to appreciate at all the 

 romance connected with a cold rain-storm at a high altitude. 



Hastily putting on the saddles, we started down the mountain-side. 

 By this time the clouds enveloped us entirely, and rain fell almost with- 

 out intermission till long after we reached camp. 



On our way we loaded one of the mules with the meat of the sheep 

 killed on our way up, but as it was a very difUcult matter to tie the 

 whole animal securely across the saddle, it gave us a great deal of 

 trouble, as in going down steep places it would slip forward, and in 

 going through brush it would be pulled back. To go back the way we 

 came, was such a very difficult task that W^ilson concluded to take a 

 short cut for camp, though this involved the risk of coming to bluffs or 

 impassable slides. We had to lead our mules the whole way, which was 

 very steej), and composed of loose rock mixed in among the thin, straight 

 stems of the quaking-asp trees. Here and there we came to large 

 patches of loose debris without any trees, and were compelled to fall 



