BLOWN DOWN A RAVINE 



axe, slipped and glissaded with his load for about a 

 hundred feet, but his further downward career was 

 checked by a projecting ledge of snow, and he was soon 

 up again. On the third evening, March 7, the party 

 camped about 8750 ft. above sea-level, the temperature 

 at that time being 20° below zero Fahr. 



Between 9 and 10 p.m. that night a strong wind 

 sprang up, and when the men awoke the following 

 morning they found a fierce blizzard blowing from 

 the south-east. It increased in fury as the day wore 

 on, and swept with terrific force down the rocky ravine 

 where they were camped. The whirling snow was so 

 dense and the roaring wind so loud that, although 

 the two sections were only about ten yards apart, they 

 could neither see nor hear each other. Being without 

 tent-poles, the tents were just doubled over the top 

 ends of the sleeping-bags so as to protect the openings 

 from the drifting snow, but, in spite of this precaution, 

 a great deal of snow found its way into the bags. In 

 the afternoon Brocklehurst emerged from the three- 

 man sleeping-bag, and instantly a fierce gust whirled 

 away one of his wolfskin mits; he dashed after it, 

 and the force of the wind swept him some way down 

 the ravine. Adams, who had left the bag at the same 

 time as Brocklehurst, saw the latter vanish suddenly, 

 and in endeavoring to return to the bag to fetch 

 Marshall to assist in finding Brocklehurst he also 

 was blown down by the wind. Meanwhile, Marshall, 

 the only remaining occupant of the bag, had much 

 ado to keep himself from being blown, sleeping-bag 

 and all, down the ravine. Adams had just succeeded 

 in reaching the sleeping-bag on his hands and knees 

 when Brocklehurst appeared, also on his hands and 

 knees, having, by desperate efforts, pulled himself back 

 over the rocks. It was a close call, for he was all 



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