250 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBEBGEN. 
countrymen, men noted for deeds of daring when 
engaged in egg-collecting along the almost inaccessible 
cliffs that fringe their home, is not without some slight 
apprehension here. 
Still we are both resolved, and the air is cold 
up here, and the atmosphere is laden with frost, 
but we do not feel it; on the contrary, we are 
melting with the heat induced by our exertion in 
climbing. 
Far above us we see a tempting ridge projecting 
somewhat, and once there, we agree in thinking we 
have gained our object. To it we press on with all 
the zeal we can command. We press the stocks of our 
rifles into the shingle, and in this way make consider¬ 
able progress. Coming to an enormous boulder that 
stands on the very face of the mountain, and derives 
its slender support from some little heap of debris, 
and perhaps a slightly projecting rock, we stop a mo¬ 
ment to wonder at its evident insecurity. The winter 
frost, acting on the water collected in little pools and 
on the saturated soil, eats away what formerly was 
the support of these almost detached blocks, so that 
at last they seem to hang by a thread. It is too 
much for the boy-like feelings of Magnus. Out it 
must go, the prisoner must be set free; and he settles 
to work with a will. Soon the support is undermined. 
