ASCENT OF ORIZABA DIFFICULTIES. 



191 



and manufactured one in the camp. It was proposed to get up a 

 rivalry as to which flag should be planted first, but we came to the 

 conclusion at last, that should the summit be reached, the honor 

 should be equally shared. As night came on, we enjoyed a most 

 magnificent sight ; the clouds gathered round the foot of the moun- 

 tain so as to entirely obstruct our view, while the distant lightning 

 flash, darting from cloud to cloud, was visible far beneath our feet; 

 the sky overhead being bright and beautiful. We were encamped 

 at an elevation, according to the barometer, of 12,000 feet, about 

 double that of the highest peak of the White Mountains — while the 

 summit still raised its snow-white head above us to a height nearly 

 equal to that of Mount Washington above the sea, and seemed to 

 frown upon the pigmies who dared to attempt to scale its giddy, and, 

 as yet, unascended height. At daylight on the morning of the 10th 

 of May, we were again in motion ; many of the party had already 

 given out, so that there were but twenty-four persons to start on the 

 final journey. In a few minutes we were at the foot of the snow, 

 and taking the route over which there seemed to be the least of it, 

 passed for half or three-fourths of a mile over loose volcanic sand. 

 On measuring the slope of this, I found it to be 33°. It was by 

 far the most difficult portion of our ascent. ; — sinking up to our knees 

 in sand, we seemed to go back about as far as we stepped forward, 

 while the rarefied condition of the atmosphere made exertion painful 

 in the extreme ; indeed, during the whole of this day's ascent, it 

 was impossible to advance fifty paces without stopping to take 

 breath. When not exerting ourselves, we could breathe with com- 

 parative ease ; but the moment we moved, we were reminded of our 

 great elevation. I can only compare the sensation to that felt by a 

 person who, after running at the top of his speed, is ready to sink 

 down from sheer exhaustion. 



" At length, however, we reached firm rock, and it was quite a 

 relief to be able once more to climb with our hands and feet. But 

 we were yet far from the point at which we were aiming, and before 

 reaching it were to be many times sorely disappointed. A project- 

 ing crag, far above, would be hailed as the summit ; step after step 

 the weary body was dragged along, until at length it was reached ; 

 but, once there, it was found to be but the base of another still 

 higher ; — this, too, being overcome, another was discovered above. 

 Thus, time after time, were our expectations crushed, till hope 

 seemed almost to have forsaken us, and one after another dropped 

 behind in despair. But — ' advance ' — was our motto, and onward 

 we pushed, until at length the efforts of some of the party were 



