T9I.1 'A FEW FEATHERS IN THK Bi'lD' 197 
On the yth wc trekked back to Alcove Cani]\ We 
lunclied below the ' MatterJiorn,' one of the most striking 
peaks in the Western Mountains. It appears to be 
composed of a cluster of dolerile piimacles surmounting 
a pyraiuid of granite. We took careful angles to ascertain 
its heiglit, whicli we estimated at 9000 feet. Great was 
my astonishment when we plotted our results in the hut to 
fuTd that our peak was a bare ^000 feet. In the absence of 
trees or houses or any standards for comparison it was 
absohitely impossible to estimate any height or distance 
in these icy regions, and we soon learnt to i^rofoundly 
nn'stiust our own guesses and lo openly disbelieve anyone 
else's ! 
The warmth of the last few days had ruined the Alcove 
as a camp site. We had much didiculty in hTuling another. 
But about 100 yards nortli in the next deep gully was a 
patch of moraine exactly like a heaj") of road-metal. We 
levelled this as well as we could, and slejit none the worse 
f(n* what P.O. Evans called ' a few featliers in tlie bed.' 1 
draw a veil over our performance at supper, tJie hrst hot 
meal for nearly a week ! 
Before we lelt tJiis region Debenliani climbed 2500 feet 
up the soutli slope and mapped a great wall of basic lava 
which clung like a black wart on the glaciated slunilder 
of the valley. On the opposite side, still higher, we 
could see a beautiful little crater of the same dark rock, 
wliich proved conclusively that the volcanic fires had 
illumined tlie glacier since ice had filled the trougli to 
the brim. 
Wc made good speed up the glacier and camped again 
