A SCRAMBLE. 
249 
of congealed soup, no longer wanted by the returning 
party, were quickly collected for our own use in case 
of any emergencies we could not foresee; and after a 
kind adieu to our companions, we once more faced the 
mountain. We had no idea of the work cut out for 
us, or we also might then have gone back. 
We had arrived at the limit of vegetation, and 
began the laborious task of scrambling with uncertain 
foot-hold upon the bare mountain side amongst 
rough and crumbling shale and sharp fractured stone. 
Gradually the ascent became difficult-, as the slippery 
surface crumbled away beneath our weight, and went 
rushing down the mountain side. Now we came upon 
a glacier in the shade of the southern crests and 
shady nooks concealed from the direct rays of the sun 
by overhanging and steep rocks. The ice, though 
proverbially treacherous to walk upon, was a welcome 
change to us, after the loose shingle, so difficult to 
travel over. A mountain stream, having its origin far 
up in the mountain, came racing down; in some places 
it spread itself over the glacier, in others it went thun¬ 
dering down the mouths of yawning caverns in the ice, 
and these great pits looked far too terrible to venture 
near. My good friend Magnus, who owns a farm in 
the Shetlands, and has gained a reputation for his 
wonderful feats of cliff-climbing amongst his hardy 
