108 FIFTH PASS — EXTREME DANGER. 



divided into two separate ones by the mass of 

 snow which covered it, and which in many 

 places was hard and slippery : to have taken our 

 eyes off our footing when once on it would have 

 been certain destruction. The same ceremony of 

 unloading was again performed, and every man 

 took his station. I beg to observe, that the 

 peons first went over with their sticks, breaking 

 the snow, thus making the footing more secure 

 for ourselves and mules. Every man took his 

 station, and we crawled over as usual, on 

 our hands and knees : the mules then followed, 

 and the most distressing work began ; they got 

 frightened, stumbled, and slipped, and cut them- 

 selves with the hard snow, to that degree in 

 their efforts to plunge through it, that the whole 

 track was covered with blood. Several lost their 

 balance, and v^ent flying down the precipice, 

 till they were brought up with astonishing 

 dexterity by the lassoes. One poor animal came 

 rolling down, head over heels; neither his strug- 

 gles nor the lassoes could save him; he bounded 



