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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZIN 



Thus we stood for nearly half an hour, 

 but there came no further opportunity to 



proceed. As we could sec nothing around 

 US, we were compelled to give it Up, and 

 after picking up a few of the rocks im- 

 mediately around us, which were ordi- 

 nary andesite, scrambled back to the rim. 



Here again we sat down and waited 

 for an hour, but as there was not the 

 slightest sign of a let-up we had to give 

 up and start back. The momentary 

 break that came while we were eating 

 was the only near-by view of the crater 

 we were to have. 



Climbing up a slope of boulder clay at 

 an angle of Co° is as nothing compared 

 to wriggling down again. There was 

 imminent danger of dislodging loose 

 boulders on our companions below, and 

 there were places where we simply had 

 to let go and fall off, trusting to luck not 

 to hit anything hard before we could 

 stop. 



When we reached the snow-fields again, 

 we soon saw that the cloud cap was much 

 thicker than when we had ascended, for 

 we had to descend many hundred feet 

 before we came out into clear day again. 



We had not turned back a minute too 

 soon. We needed no second hint. We 

 all knew that to have been caught in a 

 fog on that crevassed glacier, where we 

 could neither follow the route by which 

 we had come nor choose a new path that 

 would take us across in safety, might 

 mean disaster. 



A PERILOUS TRIP ACROSS ROTTEN SNOW- 

 BRIDGKS 



As we wormed our way in and out 

 around the crevasses, we got into an area 

 of snow-bridges at which Charlie, with 

 his long experience with glaciers, hesi- 

 tated. He kept protesting that he "didn't 

 like that ice," and we went forward with 

 great caution; but no better way was to 

 be found and the certain menace of the 

 thickening clouds compelled us to take 

 the lesser risks of rotten snow-bridges 

 and go ahead regardless of danger. 



All's well that ends well, however. At 

 length we passed the last crevasse and 

 finally reached the solid floor of the valley 

 again without accident. 



It w r as a long drag across to camp, but 

 we made it before half past eight, tired 



and disappointed, yet with the knowledge 

 that we had succeeded in a difficult ven- 

 ture, even if we had been denied the 

 fruits of our labors. And this, the loth 

 of August, had been the best opportunity 

 to climb Alt. Martin since the 25th of 

 July! 



the; destruction of baked mountain 



CAMP 



As we came across the valley on our 

 way back, the northeast wind freshened 

 in a way which I knew meant that the 

 "woolies" were to visit us that night. We 

 were too tired from our climb to care 

 much, however, for we knew we could 

 sleep through anything, and the tents had 

 been so shored up, as a result of previous 

 experience, that, like the skipper of the 

 Hesperus, we believed they "could weather 

 the stiff est gale that ever wind did blow." 



The frame of the grub tent had been 

 strengthened by a multiplicity of poles 

 and braces sunk deep in the ground until 

 it formed a veritable cage, inside which 

 parts of four tents had been patched to- 

 gether. Fully a thousand feet of rope 

 and cord had been used in lashing the 

 structure together. All the guys were 

 anchored to boulders as big as a man 

 could roll, deeply buried in the ground. 

 On every side except the front there were 

 at least two thicknesses of cloth to pro- 

 tect us from flying pumice. 



A heavy canvas tarpaulin had been 

 thrown over the second tent and buried in 

 the ground on the windward side to re- 

 duce the resistance to the wind and pre- 

 vent it from getting in under the eaves. 



After the first few warning blasts I 

 called to Yori, questioning whether we 

 had not best take measures to protect the 

 camp ; but he let out a whoop of de- 

 fiance — "Oh, let it blow ; we can stand it." 



I was too tired to get up and go out 

 looking for trouble, so I lay down again 

 to get the rest I so much wanted after 

 the hard climb of the day. If I had gone 

 out then, I could have saved the apparatus 

 tent, which was afterwards sorely needed. 

 But weariness is a great foe to will power, 

 and so I missed my chance. 



By the time it was fairly dark the 

 storm had increased to considerable pro- 

 portions. It came in great intermittent 

 gusts, with intervals of quiet between 



