ASCENT OP THE CUMBRE. 



145 



easily its mighty summits.* At ten we com- 

 menced ascending by angular cuts across the 

 mountain^ making some long and others shorty 

 according to its steepness. The snow was not 

 so hard as we expected^ which so far secured 

 us a surer footing ; but it was distressing to see 

 the poor peons sinking into it above their knees^, 

 the mountain silence broken only by their cries^ 

 which echoed them back again most mournfully. 

 The sun reflected so powerfully on the dazzling 

 white, and the wind blew so keenly down upon 

 us, that I began now to fear my sight would fail 

 me. My companion had crossed one winter 

 before, and after reaching the summit of the 

 Cumbre, was led down the opposite side quite 

 blind, and remained so for several days. Then, 

 he was only two days in the snow ; this was our 

 fourth; but, thank God, that awful calamity 

 was spared me. Our ascent increased to that 

 degree of steepness that in many places we were 

 obliged literally to crawl sideways on our hands 

 * See the representation. 



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