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ADVENTURES 
 ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS 
 
*s* 
 
A Terrific Storm in the Andes 
 
 Near the summit the storm redoubled in fury. The whole party dismounted, but 
 the clothes of several were blown to atoms, and a mule was forced right over the 
 precipice. 
 
ADVENTURES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 HIGH MOUNTAINS 
 
 ROMANTIC INCIDENTS &f PERILS 
 
 OF TRAVEL, SPORT, AND EXPLORATION 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD STEAD, B.A., F.R.Hist.S. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 ADVENTURES ON THE GREAT RIVERS," " WILL OP THE DALES. " 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 LONDON: SEELEY & CO. LIMITED 
 
 1908 
 
tf* 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE 
 
 It is a curious fact that until two or three generations ago 
 men did not see beauty in mountain scenery. To them 
 the mountains were always forbidding, full of terror, 
 awful, never alluring or fascinating. Towering peaks, 
 rugged glaciers, lofty precipices, dark ravines, stupendous 
 crags were things to shudder at and avoid. 
 
 It is sometimes said that the mountains have lost their 
 terrors, and certainly men seek them in our day from pure 
 love of them, undeterred by the dangers and difficulties 
 which must still be encountered by those who would scale 
 their heights, or penetrate into their recesses. The exploits 
 of Alpine climbers are wonderful for the enthusiasm and 
 the daring which they display ; and the achievements of 
 others who have braved the same perils in pursuit of 
 science or commerce show a not less adventurous spirit. 
 Of ventures on the high mountains, therefore, the records 
 of travel are full, and the avalanche, the steep and slippery 
 ice-slope, the storm, the exposure to extreme cold, to 
 fatigue, to hunger, to attacks from wild beasts or still 
 wilder men — these and a hundred other forms of danger 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 will still attract, and not deter, those in whose hearts the 
 spirit of adventure stirs. 
 
 The compiler desires to offer his grateful thanks to the 
 various authors and publishers who have kindly permitted 
 him to quote from their works. Full acknowledgment is 
 made in each case at the end of the chapter concerned. 
 
 « 
 
 Vill 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. NAPOLEON ON THE GREAT ST. BERNARD - 13 
 
 II. AMONG THE MOUNTAINS OF ABYSSINIA - - 26 
 
 III. ON THE WAY TO SRINAGAR - - - 39 
 
 IV. A SOJOURN IN SOCOTRA - - - - 50 
 V. A LADY'S ADVENTURES IN MEXICO - - 60 
 
 VI. ALBANIAN MOUNTAINEERS - - 72 
 VII. THE ROBBER REGION OF THE MEXICAN MOUN- 
 TAINS ------ 83 
 
 VIII. BIG GAME IN THE CASHAN MOUNTAINS - - 96 
 
 IX. WITH GALTON IN DAMARALAND - - - 108 
 
 X. THE WILD HILL TRIBES OF NORTH AFRICA - 120 
 
 XI. IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS - - - 132 
 
 XII. SPORT BEYOND THE SASKATCHEWAN - - 143 
 
 XIII. ADVENTURES IN THE HIMALAYAS - - 155 
 
 XIV. SYRIAN MOUNTAINS AND SYRIAN ROBBERS - 167 
 XV. A NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE BRISTENSTOCK - 178 
 
 XVI. PEAKS, GEYSERS, AND VOLCANOES - 190 
 
 XVII. WITH TYNDALL ON THE WEISSHORN - - 202 
 
 XVIII. CROSSING THE ANDES IN WINTER - - 213 
 
 XIX. IN KAFFIR LAND- .... 225 
 
 XX. A TRAGEDY ON THE MATTERHORN - - 237 
 
 XXI. SOLDIERING AND SPORT IN THE ROCKIES - 247 
 
 ix 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 xxii. redskins on the mountains of new mexico 260 
 
 xxiii. Vesuvius in 1872 - - - - 271 
 
 xxiv. on the mountains of tibet - - - 280 
 
 XXV. THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT TARAWERA - - 292 
 
 XXVI. AN ASCENT OF ACONCAGUA - - - 303 
 
 XXVII. THE ERUPTION OF MONT PELEE - - - 318 
 
frontispiece 
 
 to face p. 
 
 16' 
 
 )j 
 
 48 ^ 
 
 ?) 
 
 78' 
 
 ;j 
 
 90 - 
 
 5? 
 
 100' 
 
 33 
 
 150 
 
 33 
 
 164 / 
 
 33 
 
 174 y 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A TERRIFIC STORM IN THE ANDES (see p. 18) 
 
 NAPOLEON'S ARMY CROSSING THE ALPS 
 
 A NOVEL METHOD OF KILLING A BEAR 
 
 AWKWARD ALLIES - 
 
 CAUGHT IN A TRAP - 
 
 AN UNWELCOME INTRUDER - 
 
 A DANGEROUS MOMENT 
 
 A DANGEROUS JUMP FOR A HEAVY MAN 
 
 A DARING FEAT - - - 
 
 AN ORIGINAL WAY OF COOKING A MEAL - „ 196 
 
 CROSSING THE KNIFE-EDGE DURING THE 
 
 WEISSHORN ASCENT „ 206 
 
 A DANGEROUS RACE „ 232 • 
 
 ARRIVAL ON THE FIRST PEAK OF THE SUMMIT 
 
 OF MONT BLANC „ 238 
 
 A TRAGEDY OF THE MATTERHORN - - „ 242 
 
 AWKWARD AND UNEXPECTED OPPONENTS - „ 284 . 
 
 A TERRIBLE VOLCANIC EXPLOSION, MONT 
 
 PELEE --_--„ 322 - 
 
 XI 
 
ADVENTURES 
 ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 NAPOLEON ON THE GREAT ST. BERNARD 
 
 Napoleon prepares to invade Italy — Four Alpine passes — Main body 
 of forty thousand men to take the Pass of St. Bernard — Stores 
 and ammunition sent on in vast quantities — A start from 
 St. Pierre — Napoleon himself remains at Martigny — Heavy toil 
 up to St. Bernard Hospice — Dangerous work for the artillery — 
 Guns encased in split fir-trees — Refreshments at the hospice — 
 A hundred peasants to each gun — Peasants, exhausted, run away 
 — Mules give out — Soldiers harness themselves to their guns — 
 A night with the ordnance on the open snow field — The fort of 
 Bard in the valley below — A formidable obstacle — Unsuccessful 
 assaults — Messengers sent back to Bonaparte — He hastens over 
 the mountains to Bard — Precipitous track over Albaredo moun- 
 tain, above the fort, repaired and improved — Commander of 
 Bard refuses to surrender — Guns on the heights above — An 
 escalade attempted — Gunners uselessly sacrificed — Light-balls 
 used by the Austrians in the fort — A straw-covered road — 
 Success — March down the valley — Outlet from the Alps 
 defended by Austrians — The Chiusella stream — Austrians dis- 
 lodged — A stupendous enterprise ends with full and marvellous 
 success. 
 
 Amongst the many recorded adventures on great moun- 
 tains, few excel in thrilling interest those connected with 
 military exploits, whether those exploits be glorious and 
 
 13 
 
FOUR ALPINE PASSES 
 
 successful, like those of Hannibal in ancient, and those of 
 Wolfe in more modern times ; or whether they be such as 
 the melancholy and disastrous retreat from Cabul, in those 
 terrible early days of the year 1842. And perhaps no 
 story of them all is more marvellous than that of 
 Napoleon's passage of the Alps, when he led an army 
 across the highest mountains in our quarter of the globe 
 — a stupendous enterprise, perhaps unrivalled in the 
 history of the world. 
 
 It was in the May of 1800 that Bonaparte prepared to 
 lead his troops across this almost impassable barrier into 
 the plains of Italy, where, near Turin, lay encamped his 
 enemies, the Austrians. As every one knows, the vast 
 range of the Alps lies between France and Italy, with its 
 towering peaks, its ice and snow, its frightful passes, its 
 rocks and precipices, its avalanches, its thousand and one 
 dangers. The notion of leading a great body of men, 
 with all their stores, their food, their ammunition, their 
 horses — with the necessary guns, tents, pontoons, and 
 other implements, across the tremendous Alpine barrier 
 could enter the brain of none save a madman — or a 
 genius. 
 
 There were four passes available for the army, and of 
 these that of St. Gothard was reserved for troops coming 
 from Germany under General Moncey. There remained 
 three — the passes of the Simplon, the Great St. Bernard, 
 and Mont Cenis. None of these had roads over them, as in 
 our days. Napoleon chose for the main body of his army 
 the middle route — that over the Great St. Bernard Pass, 
 because the Simplon entailed a much longer march, and 
 that by Mont Cenis would have led the troops right into 
 
 14 
 
OPERATIONS ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 the jaws of the Austrian force before Turin. So through 
 this central pass was to travel a force numbering thirty- 
 five thousand infantry and artillery, and five thousand 
 cavalry, or forty thousand men in all. Smaller divisions 
 of four or five thousand were sent to occupy the other 
 passes, with orders to rejoin the main army in the plains 
 of Lombardy. If all went well, there would in the course 
 of a week or two be massed in Italy an army of no less 
 than sixty-five thousand men, while Napoleon would hold 
 all the passes of the Alps, so that, in case of defeat, he 
 would have several lines of retreat open to him. 
 
 Leaving untold the story of his earlier marches from 
 Lausanne to Villeneuve, at the head of the Lake of 
 Geneva, and thence to Martigny and St. Pierre, we may 
 pass on at once to the operations on the mountains them- 
 selves. "At St. Pierre the troops began to ascend by 
 paths, covered with snow and bordered by precipices, 
 scarcely more than two or three feet wide, exposed in 
 noonday heat to the fall of frightful avalanches.'' 1 In all 
 there were fully thirty miles of mountain to be traversed, 
 by passes with nothing like a road, ascending to heights 
 of many thousand feet. Over all this everything had to 
 be carried that was necessary for a numerous army and a 
 campaign on a vast scale. 
 
 The preliminary work was in itself enormous. Immense 
 stores of food for man and beast had to be sent on in 
 advance ; all the mules the country could supply had to 
 be brought up ; workmen in great gangs had to be 
 engaged. Further, guns had to be dismounted and sent 
 on separately on sledges with low wheels, the carriages 
 themselves being taken to pieces and placed on the backs 
 
 15 
 
NAPOLEON AT MARTIGNY 
 
 of mules. Ammunition had to be packed in boxes for 
 conveyance in the same manner, and so with various other 
 stores, A veritable army of workmen carried out all this 
 work on the northern side of the Alps, while a similar 
 body of craftsmen pushed on over the mountains to be 
 ready to put the guns together and to do similar work 
 when the worst of the defiles should have been passed. 
 Napoleon neglected nothing; even saddlers' shops were 
 fitted up at intervals, so that any repairs needed could be 
 done at once on the march. 
 
 The great General himself remained at Martigny to 
 see to the dispatch of the stores and the separate army 
 divisions, while General Lannes went on with a strong 
 advance-guard to receive the rest as they arrived. The 
 start was made on the 15th of May soon after one in the 
 morning, in order that good progress might be made 
 before the heat of the sun should bring down avalanches 
 of ice and snow upon the troops toiling through those 
 wild and dangerous gorges. The men were in the highest 
 spirits, though they were heavily laden, having to carry 
 their supply of biscuit for several days, as well as a stock 
 of cartridges. Up the toilsome ascents they climbed cheer- 
 fully, and with many a burst of song; they threaded the 
 wild ravines, they stepped cautiously but confidently along 
 the narrow ledges, they risked the falls of snow or rocks. 
 It was heavy work for the infantry, but for the cavalry it 
 was a far more serious affair. On an upward slope progress 
 was fairly safe, if slow, but on the descents the injn^had 
 to go in front and lead their horses. So narro^Rspften 
 were the ledges on which they walked, that if one of the 
 animals slipped, there was great danger of his dragging 
 
 16 
 
Napoleon's Army crossing the Alps 
 
AT THE ST. BERNARD HOSPICE 
 
 his master with him, down to the frightful depths beneath. 
 A few poor fellows perished in this way, but on the whole 
 no great number of such accidents occurred. 
 
 The first stage of the journey, up to the St. Bernard 
 Hospice, was completed in eight hours from the start. 
 There, by previous arrangement with the monks, the 
 soldiers experienced a pleasant surprise, provided for them 
 by the care and forethought of their Commander-in-Chief. 
 Tables had been spread in readiness, with huge supplies of 
 food and drink. Every man halted for a few minutes, and 
 received a ration of bread, cheese, and wine. Lannes and 
 his men then passed on in the best of humours down the 
 descent to St. Remy. There they encamped, to receive 
 the other divisions of the army as they came along. So 
 far everything had gone splendidly. 
 
 In similar fashion, each day saw the passing over of an 
 army division up to the hospice, every man receiving from 
 the monks his dole of bread, cheese, and wine, and down 
 to St. Remy. Of course, several days were spent on this 
 work, Bonaparte superintending the start from Martigny ; 
 and those who had successfully made the passage to 
 St. Remy were not idle. Every day vast quantities of 
 materiel were brought to the spot, and much unpacking, 
 much putting together, much rearranging had to be done. 
 The artillery gave by far the most trouble, and involved 
 most risk to the men. The gun-carriages, indeed, as has 
 been said before, were got over the pass without so much 
 difficulty, though the number of mules available fell far 
 short of what was required ; but in the case of the guns 
 themselves the trouble was great. They had, in the first 
 instance, been mounted on low-wheeled sledges ; but it 
 
 17 B 
 
CARRIAGE OF THE GUNS 
 
 was soon found that there were many parts of the route 
 where the sledges could not be used. 
 
 Then some one hit upon another plan. The trunk of 
 a fir-tree was split along its length, and the two halves 
 hollowed out ; between these the gun was tightly bound. 
 In this way it was possible to draw the pieces along the 
 ravines without injury. So long as they were ascending, 
 the men in charge of the cannon got on well enough ; but 
 each descent was attended with great risk. The pieces 
 could be kept on the track only by sheer strength of arm. 
 The danger of having the gun fall over the precipice, and 
 drag with it men and beasts, was often very great. To 
 make matters worse, both mules and muleteers became 
 exhausted after a few days of this heavy and dangerous 
 work. It was now necessary to try other means. The 
 peasantry of the district were offered a thousand francs for 
 every gun they safely conveyed over the pass, and hundreds 
 of men lent their help on these terms. Every gun required 
 a hundred men to drag it along, and two days to get it to 
 its destination — one day in making the ascent to the hospice, 
 the other in getting down to St. Remy. No farther proof 
 of the arduous and hazardous nature of the task is needed 
 than this, that the peasants at length struck work and dis- 
 appeared, though still larger offers of pay were made by the 
 French Generals. Officers went in search of the runaways, I 
 but in vain ; no gain would tempt the country-folk to 
 resume their task. 
 
 It requires no great effort of imagination to picture the U 
 scene. Men and beasts exhausted, no more to be had ; 
 heavy guns left stranded at all points of the route, often 
 amidst wastes of ice and snow. Yet without these guns it 
 
 18 
 
A LAMENTABLE CONDITION 
 
 was impossible for the army to venture down into the 
 plains below, for there lay the enemy in all his strength. 
 There was but one way out of the difficulty — to beg the 
 soldiers themselves to drag along the fallen cannon. Few 
 leaders could have called forth from his men such signal 
 devotion ; but the leader of the Frenchmen was Napoleon 
 Bonaparte. With such a General and such men nothing 
 was impossible. Harnessing themselves to the guns, in 
 gangs of a hundred, the soldiers dragged along their heavy 
 loads to the sound of inspiriting music, especially in the 
 more difficult places. As an additional incentive, the 
 money the peasants had refused to earn was promised to 
 the soldiers ; but they would have none of it, saying that 
 it was the duty of the troops to save their guns. With 
 what worship must the First Consul have been regarded 
 by his army ! It is said that certain of the soldiers, 
 finding themselves high up on the mountain when night 
 came on, chose to endure all the rigours of those ice-bound 
 elevations rather than desert their guns, even till morning. 
 There is a branch of the Po, called the Dora Baltea, 
 which rises high among the Alps, and along its course the 
 French troops passed presently on their way down to the 
 Italian plains. Much of the valley of the Dora Baltea is 
 but a cleft in the mountains, bounded on either hand 
 by towering heights, most of them quite inaccessible. In 
 one part of the valley a huge rock has at some time fallen 
 from the mountain above, almost blocking up the passage. 
 The river runs on one side of this rock and the road on the 
 other. For a short distance the road is lined with houses, 
 forming the town of Bard. The little place was dominated 
 by a fort, occupied by the Austrians, and, though not strong 
 
 19 B 2 
 
THE LEADER UNDAUNTED 
 
 in itself, it was splendidly situated for defensive operations. 
 To pass this fort on their way down into Piedmont was 
 soon seen by the French to be almost an impossibility. In 
 truth, several of the Generals pronounced the passage to 
 be quite impracticable. Here, then, was an unlooked-for 
 check : the French army had, with untold labour and risk, 
 passed over the lofty and savage mountains only to be 
 stopped by an insignificant fort like this ! It seemed all 
 too ridiculous at first sight ; but the more the problem 
 was confronted, the more insoluble did it appear. In vain 
 Lannes, never a man to be easily daunted, sent his com- 
 panies of grenadiers into the town ; the fort swept the 
 street with its fire. Other Generals were sent for, but all 
 agreed that the place was impregnable. At last it was 
 necessary to dispatch messengers to the Commander himself, 
 who had not yet crossed the pass. 
 
 The news that the farther progress of his army was 
 impossible, and that it was absolutely necessary to bring 
 back all his men and munitions over that tremendous j 
 range, was at first staggering to Bonaparte. But he had 
 not brought his army over one of the highest ranges in the 
 World to be stopped by a little hill fortress. 
 
 " They will take the fort by a bold dash,'" he ordered ; 
 " or if it is not taken, they will turn it.' 1 
 
 He further directed that if the artillery could not be I 
 got over, the troops should scale the heights above the \ 
 Rock of Bard, and proceed without the guns. The French, ( 
 he said, were both sufficiently brave and sufficiently 
 numerous to fall upon the Austrian artillery and supply , 
 themselves with guns. There spoke a military leader of' 
 the first rank. 
 
 20 
 
THOUGHTFULNESS OF NAPOLEON 
 
 Bonaparte studied his maps assiduously, and messengers 
 were sent flying about the country to the Generals in 
 command of the different divisions of his army. But he 
 did more : presently he was crossing the Alps himself. 
 The prevalent notion that he careered across the Alpine 
 snows on a fiery white charger has no warrant — in fact, the 
 Consul rode a mule. On the way he entered freely into 
 conversation with his humble mule-driver, drawing from 
 the man the story of his life. It is strange that the 
 famous military leader should have had room in his 
 thoughts for such matters at a time when he must have 
 been full of anxiety lest this expedition — one of the 
 greatest the world had ever seen — should come to utter 
 failure. It is worth recording, to the credit of a man in 
 whose character there was only too much that was blame- 
 worthy, that he provided for the poor mule-driver, giving 
 him a little farm, and thus enabling him to marry the girl 
 of his choice and settle down in the world. Nor did 
 Bonaparte forget to thank the monks of St. Bernard for 
 their attention to his army : he left with them a magnifi- 
 cent present. Then, descending the slopes to the south, 
 he followed the fashion of the mountaineers, and let him- 
 self slide over the snow. 
 
 In due time he was before the troublesome fort of Bard, 
 and he at once admitted that all he had been told by his 
 Generals was correct : that Bard was an obstacle hardly to 
 be passed. His mind was soon made up. First, he sent 
 over the precipices leading to the mountain of Albaredo, 
 which overshadows the valley, his infantry, cavalry, and 
 four-pounders. To enable this to be done, it was, of 
 course, necessary to make some sort of a road. An army 
 
 21 
 
UNSUCCESSFUL ASSAULTS 
 
 of fifteen hundred labourers was soon at work cutting the 
 road, removing obstacles, and bridging torrents. The 
 commander of the fort was much chagrined when he saw 
 the French passing up and out of his reach, while he 
 could do nothing whatever to stop them, and he sent word 
 to his superior that the enemy would to a certainty get 
 down into the plains of Piedmont. He added, however, 
 that he would wager his head they would arrive there 
 without a single gun. 
 
 Meantime Napoleon himself, down below in the valley, 
 set to work to take the fort, if it might be, or, if not, to 
 pass it somehow. He began by summoning the commander 
 of it to capitulate. But the Austrian officer was far too 
 sensible of the importance and advantage of his position, 
 and replied that he would yield to nothing but superior 
 force. A few of the artillery, who had scrambled up to 
 the heights above, opened fire upon the fort, but without 
 effect. Then Napoleon ordered an escalade of the outer 
 works of the fort, the only result of which was the loss of 
 a valuable officer and several brave grenadiers. The next 
 move of the French was to attempt to carry past the place 
 a piece of cannon under cover of the night, but the noise 
 attracted the attention of the Austrians within. They 
 threw up light-balls, which lit up the whole locality ; then, 
 directing their guns upon the adventurous Frenchmen, 
 they killed or wounded no fewer than seven out of the 
 thirteen soldiers in charge of the cannon. This sort of 
 thing was enough to daunt even the most valiant, and 
 another plan was tried. 
 
 " The street was covered with straw and stable dung, 
 and bands of tow were placed round the gun in such 
 
 22 
 
TRIUMPH OF THE FRENCH 
 
 a manner as to prevent the least clash of the mass of 
 metal upon the carriage. The horses were detached, 
 and bold artillerymen dragged them by main strength, 
 venturing to pass under the batteries of the fort along 
 the street of Bard. The plan perfectly succeeded. The 
 enemy, who occasionally fired by way of precaution, struck 
 some of the gunners ; but in no long time, in spite of the 
 fire, the heavy artillery was moved to the other side of the 
 defile, and this formidable difficulty, which had caused the 
 First Consul more anxiety than the passage of St. Bernard 
 itself, was thus overcome. The artillery horses had been 
 taken round by the Albaredo path." 
 
 Down the valley of the Dora Baltea, with its great 
 rocky sides, the French now marched triumphant. The 
 chief obstacle had been surmounted. And all this while 
 the other sections of the army had been traversing the 
 Alps, each by the pass assigned to it. A vast body of 
 troops was ready to pour down upon the plains of Italy, 
 there to concentrate against the Austrian forces. Lannes, 
 with the advance-guard, now determined to leave the 
 mountains and show himself openly in the plains below. 
 But before this could be done it was necessary that he 
 should dislodge the Austrian General in charge of the 
 outlet from the Alps. This officer, Haddick, had with 
 him a considerable force of infantry and cavalry, and he was 
 well posted near the bridge over the Chiusella, a tributary 
 of the Dora Baltea. 
 
 The bridge was strongly defended, and the French 
 found it impossible to take it by assault. Nothing 
 daunted, however, the troops dashed into the river itself, 
 and began to scramble up the opposite bank. Here they 
 
 23 
 
FIGHT AT THE CHIUSELLA BRIDGE 
 
 were met by the Austrian cavalry, under General Palfy. 
 A hard fight took place, but when Palfy fell dead from his 
 horse, his troops immediately fled. All the while other 
 Austrian troops kept up a deadly fire against Lannes and 
 his men. General Haddick presently came to the attack 
 with spirit, and for a time the issue was doubtful. Yet 
 the French infantry sustained the onset of the enemy's 
 cavalry with splendid firmness, and held their ground. 
 
 A final effort was made by the Austrians. A thousand 
 of their cavalry dashed with tremendous fury against the 
 French foot. Thrice they charged, and as often the shock 
 was sustained and the assault repulsed at the point of the 
 bayonet. The Austrian Commander, after gallant but 
 ineffectual efforts, was now compelled to give the order to 
 retreat, and the French army, after unexampled difficulties 
 and dangers amidst the wild, snow-bound fastnesses of the 
 Alps, was now free to pour forth from the mountain 
 valleys into the rich fields of Piedmont. 
 
 Thirteen days only had passed since the first troops had 
 set their faces towards the Alpine slopes at St. Pierre. 
 Now the stupendous enterprise planned by the First 
 Consul had been carried out with extraordinary success. 
 " An army of forty thousand men — infantry, cavalry, and 
 artillery — had passed by unbeaten paths over the highest 
 mountains in Europe, dragging its artillery by main 
 strength along the snow, or pushing it forward under the 
 murderous fire of a fort, almost close to the muzzles of its 
 guns. One division of five thousand men had descended 
 the Little St. Bernard ; another of four thousand had 
 passed over Mont Cenis; a detachment occupied the 
 Simplon; and lastly, a corps of fifteen thousand men, 
 
 24 
 
A STUPENDOUS UNDERTAKING 
 
 under General Moncey, was on the summit of the St. 
 Gothard. There were thus sixty thousand soldiers and 
 more about to enter Italy ; still, it is true, separated 
 from each other by considerable distances, but assured of 
 soon rallying round the principal mass of forty thousand, 
 who had come by Ivrea, in the centre of the semicircle of 
 the Alps." 
 
 And, it must not be forgotten, Bonaparte was in posses- 
 sion of all the mountain tracks that led back to his own 
 country, and was thus prepared for retreat should disaster 
 befall his troops. The extraordinary expedition across the 
 stupendous Alpine barrier had been no mere whim of a 
 proud conqueror, but the outcome of a well -reasoned 
 plan, conceived and carried out by a master of the military 
 art. 
 
 25 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 AMONG THE MOUNTAINS OF ABYSSINIA 
 
 James Bruce, one of the most noted of British travellers — He 
 reaches Abyssinia — Departs for the interior — Reaches the 
 mountains — A great storm — Wonderful rise of a river — Traces 
 of elephants seen in plenty — Inhabitants of the district live in 
 cages of hide — A troublesome growth of acacias— Tameness of 
 the antelopes — Mount Taranta and its difficulties — Getting the 
 instruments up the heights — Sleep in caves — Dixan, a mountain 
 stronghold — Slave-trading rife — Bruce joins a party of Moor^ 
 and becomes the leader of a caravan — An Abyssinian chief, and 
 his methods of horse-dealing — Dangers of the Shangalla country 
 — The ( ' steeples " of the Adowa Mountains — A wicked town — ■ 
 Natives cut steaks out of a live cow — A frightful mountain 
 track — Bruce reaches Gondar — The royal family down with the 
 small-pox — A saint vainly tries magic — Bruce forced to under- 
 take the sick cases — His lucky success — Installed as Court 
 physician — On most intimate terms with the King — Starts for 
 the source of the Nile — Is admitted to brotherhood with the 
 wild Gallas — Given a steed — " No man will touch you who sees 
 that horse "— Arrives at the mountains and village of Geesh — 
 Sees one of the springs of the Nile — His triumphant reflec- 
 tions. 
 
 Few British travellers have been more enterprising and 
 more active than the famous Scotch explorer, James 
 Bruce. His journeyings covered an immense extent and 
 variety of country, and many of his adventures and strange 
 experiences were so extraordinary that not a few of his 
 contemporaries were inclined to doubt his veracity. But 
 
 26 
 
BRUCE'S JOURNEY TO ABYSSINIA 
 
 there seems to be no reason for distrusting the general 
 accuracy of Bruce's stories. He travelled over most of 
 Europe, a part of Asia, and a good deal of Africa, — in Egypt, 
 in Algeria, in Nubia, in Abyssinia — playing many parts. 
 
 When Bruce first set foot in Abyssinia, now more than 
 a hundred and thirty years ago, exceedingly little was 
 known of the interior of that far-off land. But it was 
 among its mountains that the mysterious and historic 
 Nile was believed to have its rise, and one of the things to 
 which Bruce looked forward with almost feverish interest 
 was the possibility of penetrating to the long-hidden source 
 of that mighty river. 
 
 The traveller had been detained by a chief nearer the 
 coast, but at length he was suffered to depart for the 
 interior. For a short time his route lay over plains, but 
 when he reached the neighbourhood of the mountains he 
 found his way full of difficulties. The ground was rough, 
 steep, and stony, and he was obliged to march along the 
 bed of a mountain torrent. Then, striking off from the 
 stream, he made for a grassy hill, and there pitched his 
 tent for the night. His early experiences among the 
 Abyssinian mountains were sufficiently exciting. A violent 
 storm suddenly came on. The thunder and lightning 
 were terrific, the lightning very vivid and blue in tint, and 
 the thunder-peals tremendous. Up to the beginning of 
 the storm the bed of the torrent had been almost dry, 
 but in an incredibly short space of time it presented a 
 very different aspect. Bruce's own description is worth 
 quoting : 
 
 " The river scarcely ran at our passing it. All on a 
 sudden, however, we heard a noise on the mountains above 
 
 27 
 
TRACES OF ELEPHANTS 
 
 louder than the loudest thunder. Our guides upon this 
 flew to the baggage, and removed it to the top of the 
 green hill, which was no sooner done than we saw the 
 river coming down in a stream about the height of a man, 
 and the breadth of the whole bed it used to occupy. The 
 water was thickly tinged with red earth, and swelled a 
 little above its banks, but did not reach our station on the 
 hill." 
 
 Soon the traveller came upon plentiful evidences of the 
 existence of elephants in the district. Along the tracks 
 by which the animals had marched, many trees were 
 broken in the middle, or thrown down, while in places the 
 ground was strewn with the branches they had snapped off 
 and partly eaten. But none of the elephants were actually 
 met with thereabouts. The people of the locality dwelt 
 for the most part in mountain caverns and hollows, though 
 some of them lived in what might be called cages — construc- 
 tions made of wood and skins, and built to accommodate 
 two persons. The tribes, strange to say, were copper- 
 coloured rather than black or white. The travelling after 
 this district was left behind became still more difficult, 
 and even painful, for presently the explorer and his men 
 had to push their way through thick groves of acacias, and 
 the prickly branches of the trees tore the flesh and clothing 
 in a cruel manner. 
 
 A wild and desolate hill region followed, and the 
 travellers were glad to make a short stay at a station 
 called Tubbo, where the surroundings were much more 
 agreeable. Then on again, the mountains once more very 
 steep, much broken, and full of crags and precipices of a 
 dangerous character. But the ravines were lovely with 
 
 28 
 
MOUNT TARANTA 
 
 abundant foliage and splendid flowers, and delightful with 
 the song of birds. The amount of bird-life, in truth, 
 Bruce found astonishing. He specially noted that the 
 song of the skylark, among these Abyssinian fastnesses, 
 was exactly the same as in England. Game was plentiful, 
 especially antelopes and partridges. The antelopes were 
 evidently quite unused to the presence of man, for they 
 exhibited not the least fear on the approach of Bruce and 
 his following, merely standing aside to let them pass, and 
 gazing at them in wonder. 
 
 For some time the party had been advancing towards 
 Taranta, a lofty and conspicuous mountain, but when they 
 actually reached its base, the prospect was one that almost 
 forced them to turn back. " The difficulties which pre- 
 sented themselves were appalling. The road, if it deserved 
 the name, was of incredible steepness, and intersected 
 almost at every step by large hollows and gullies formed 
 by the torrents, by vast fragments of rock which, loosened 
 from the cliffs above by the rains, had rolled down the 
 chasm " through which the path of the travellers lay. 
 Bruce had with him certain valuable scientific instruments, 
 of which his telescope, his quadrant, and his timekeeper 
 were the principal. How to get these things safely to the 
 top of those well nigh inaccessible heights was a puzzle 
 indeed ; the servants of the expedition declared it to be 
 an impossibility. Those who carried the quadrant, indeed, 
 coolly proposed an easy way out of the difficulty — namely, 
 by dragging the instrument on the ground ! Bruce was 
 not a man to be stopped by difficulties, if a way out 
 of them was possible to human ingenuity and human 
 perseverance. So the explorer himself took charge of the 
 
 29 
 
A TOILSOME ASCENT 
 
 quadrant to carry, being assisted by a young Moor who had 
 j oined the party for a time. After extraordinary exertions, 
 during which their clothes were torn to pieces, and their 
 hands and knees cut in a shocking manner, the two men 
 succeeded in placing the quadrant in safety, far above the 
 stony parts of the mountain. Their companions were by 
 this time thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and set to 
 work on the burdens with a will, each man now striving 
 to surpass his fellows, and thus the rest of the instruments 
 and the baggage were quickly carried up the steeps. 
 
 But Mount Taranta was by no means yet done with ; in 
 truth, the men had made but half the ascent. They were 
 too tired to attempt more that day, however, and threw 
 themselves on the ground, too exhausted even to pitch 
 their tents. As it happened, this operation would have 
 been an impossible one, the ground being too rocky to 
 admit of driving in tent-pegs. When night fell, Bruce 
 and his companions went off to sleep in some caves in the 
 rocks which they observed near. As a matter of fact, 
 many of the Abyssinian mountains were found to abound 
 in caves. In the morning, when the upward journey was 
 resumed, the path proved steeper than ever, but it also 
 proved on the whole less rugged and toilsome. For two 
 days longer the travellers wandered among the heights and 
 valleys of the same mountain group. 
 
 A halt was then made at Dixan, the first considerable 
 settlement they had met with. It was built on the top of 
 a sugar-loaf hill, and was splendidly situated for defence. 
 On every side the ground fell away sharply to the valley, 
 which, like a trench, completely surrounded the hill on 
 which the town stood. The road up into the place wound 
 
 30 
 
BRUCE LEADER OF A CARAVAN 
 
 round the hill in spiral fashion. The explorer found the 
 people of Dixan a bad set ; in fact, they had among their 
 countrymen an unenviable reputation for wickedness, 
 " and appeared fully to deserve it P The main trading of 
 the place was in slaves, especially boys and girls, whom 
 they stole wherever they could lay hands on them. Most 
 of the poor wretches were bought up by Moorish travelling 
 merchants, and sent by them to Arabia or India. Bruce 
 was not sorry to see the last of Dixan. 
 
 By an altogether unexpected turn of fortune he now 
 found himself installed as chief of a large caravan. He 
 had been joined by a number of Moors, who possessed 
 twenty donkeys and a couple of bulls, all laden with mer- 
 chandise. The Moors were desirous of combining with so 
 strong a force as Bruce's for the additional security thus 
 afforded to them and their goods. A picturesque cere- 
 mony took place under a tree, at a spot where they had all 
 encamped for the night. The Moors solemnly elected 
 Bruce as the chief of the combined caravan, promising on 
 oath to stand by him to the end if danger should arise, 
 and to yield him implicit obedience in all lawful things. 
 Next day, as they travelled on, they saw, looking back at 
 Taranta, a terrible storm playing about the mountain, 
 whose lofty summit was covered with the blackest of 
 clouds, from which flashes of the most brilliant lightning 
 could be seen darting forth every moment. The travellers 
 were glad to have left behind so storm-stricken a spot. 
 
 That same day Bruce had an odd experience. Whilst 
 he and his following were resting from the noontide heat, 
 there descended from the heights above the chief of the 
 neighbourhood, attended by the raggedest of retinues. 
 
 31 
 
BRUCE PURCHASES A HORSE 
 
 He had with him several horses, to one of which the 
 Scotchman took a particular fancy. It was a handsome 
 black animal of the Dongola breed. So after the chief 
 had departed again to his palace on the hill, Bruce sent up 
 a man to bargain for the horse. The price, twelve pounds, 
 was agreed upon, and the chief promised to send down the 
 purchase. What was the buyer's disgust when he found 
 that the black horse had turned brown, that he had grown 
 old, that he had lost an eye ! He at once sent the brute 
 back again, and demanded his rightful property — a pro- 
 ceeding not without risk, probably, in so wild and lawless 
 a mountain district, and amidst the peoples subject to the 
 chieftain. However, after a great deal of disputing and 
 squabbling, the real charger was produced. It had been 
 miserably starved by its master, but under Bruce's care the 
 black horse became a faithful servant and friend, as the 
 traveller gratefully styles him. To this splendid animal 
 Mirza, as it was called, Bruce more than once owed his 
 life. 
 
 The caravan was now approaching the country of the 
 Shangalla, or, rather, a district much subject to incursions 
 by the dreaded Shangalla tribes. It was a country of 
 extraordinary fertility, the valleys well wooded and gay 
 with flowers. The wild-oats that covered a portion of 
 the route taken by our travellers were so tall that they 
 swallowed up man and horse together, in much the same 
 way as the jungle grass of India often does. This district 
 might have been a veritable paradise, but the peoples 
 were so often at war with each other, and the country so 
 liable to the inroads of enemies from without, that a good 
 portion of it was left uncultivated. The scanty crops 
 
 32 
 
THE MOUNTAINS OF ADOWA 
 
 that were grown were seldom got in without bloodshed, 
 the labourers having to work gun and sword in hand, so 
 to speak. Bruce judged it wise to instruct his men to 
 overhaul their arms thoroughly, and be prepared at any 
 time to defend themselves, in case the Shangalla robbers 
 should appear. Luckily for the caravan, it was suffered 
 to pass unmolested through the country. It is more than 
 probable that the combined party was considered too 
 formidable to be attacked. 
 
 By and by Bruce gained a glimpse of the mountains of 
 Adowa, towards which he had been travelling, and early 
 in December he arrived at the town of the same name. 
 The mountains hereabouts the explorer found to be un- 
 like any he had seen in other countries. " Their sides 
 were all perpendicular," he writes, "high, like steeples or 
 obelisks, and broken into a thousand different forms." 
 The town was of no great size, but it was strongly placed 
 and defended. It was so intersected by breadths of trees 
 and flowers, that at a little distance it seemed like an 
 extensive and beautiful park. Within its borders, how- 
 ever, wickedness and cruelty reigned supreme. The 
 palace of the chief, on a commanding height, looked like, 
 and was in reality, a huge prison. It contained within 
 its walls more than three hundred wretched prisoners in 
 irons, some of whom had been there for twenty years and 
 more, the object of the tyrant being to extort more and 
 more money from them. Bruce stayed ten days at this 
 mountain stronghold of Adowa, taking care to visit the 
 ruins of Axum, an ancient place in the neighbourhood, 
 which must once have been a splendid city, judging from 
 its wonderful remains. 
 
 33 c 
 
ABYSSINIAN CRUELTY 
 
 He was a witness, not long after leaving Adowa, to a 
 strange and a cruel spectacle. Three men by the wayside 
 were observed sitting astride a cow which they had thrown 
 to the ground. They made a deep incision in the animal's 
 hind quarters. Bruce, supposing they were about to 
 slaughter the cow, began to bargain for some of the flesh 
 for his party. To his astonishment, the fellows declared 
 they were not going to kill the animal. Then, to the 
 traveller's disgust, they proceeded to cut out of the living 
 beast two large steaks. Bruce did not see the actual 
 operation, for he had turned away a little, not wishing 
 to witness the slaughter of the animal. His companions 
 had all gone on ahead. When he came back to the spot, 
 there the steaks were. The wretches then pinned together 
 the portions of skin on the two sides of the incision, put 
 over the wound a plaster of clay, and coolly drove on the 
 poor brute as before. 
 
 After a vexatious detention in a miserable hill village, 
 whose chief seemed disposed to put an end to the journey 
 altogether, if not to the lives of the whole party, the 
 caravan proceeded in the direction of Mount Lamalmon, 
 one of the loftiest heights of the country. The path up 
 was arduous in the extreme. Its greatest breadth in any j 
 part was not more than two feet. Far over the heads of I 
 the travellers towered the cliffs and rocks ; below them the i 
 precipices dropped away almost sheer down into awful 
 abysses. It tried the strongest head to gaze into those j 
 fearful depths. Moreover, the path was much broken 
 up by torrents of water and by fallen rocks. Up such 
 a road as this it was impossible to take the baggage i 
 in bulk ; it had to be carried up piece by piece, and for 
 
 34 
 
SMALL-POX AT GONDAR 
 
 only short distances at a time. The labour was excessive, 
 and the danger to man and beast very great. The mules, 
 generally so sure-footed on steep declivities, kept their 
 footing only with much difficulty, even though they 
 passed up unburdened. The men had themselves to get 
 the baggage up as best they might, the mules being quite 
 useless for the purpose. As in the case of Mount Taranta, 
 Bruce had to take two days for the ascent, resting for the 
 night in the same fashion, exhausted, on the open flank 
 of the hill. 
 
 Gondar, the goal for which he had been making all the 
 while, was reached by Bruce in the middle of February. 
 He found a lodging at the house of one of his Moors, and 
 hoped for a period of rest and quiet, after the fatigues 
 and hardships of a long journey over the mountains. He 
 was not left long in peace, however, for as he was sitting 
 reading one evening shortly after his arrival in the town, 
 he was surprised and alarmed to receive a visit from a 
 party of armed men. The leader of the company declared 
 himself to be the Queen's chamberlain, and he went on to 
 say that Her Majesty, having heard of the stranger's great 
 skill as a physician, required him to repair to the palace, 
 where a young Prince was lying ill of the smallpox ! 
 Here was a strange part for the Scottish traveller to play. 
 But he went to the palace next morning, when, to his 
 intense relief, he learnt that the Prince had been put 
 under the care of a notable saint from Waldubba. This 
 man's treatment consisted in writing certain characters 
 with ink on a tin plate ; he then washed off the mystic 
 writing, and administered the liquid as a medicine. Most 
 unfortunately for the saintly physician, the sick Prince 
 
 35 C 2 
 
BRUCE AS COURT PHYSICIAN 
 
 died that same evening, as also did a Princess of the same 
 royal house. 
 
 Just as Bruce was congratulating himself on his lucky 
 escape from all blame in this matter, he was summoned in 
 haste to the palace again, and there he was installed, 
 willy-nilly, as head Court physician ! A dangerous post ; 
 a post still more dangerous to refuse. By this time many 
 members of the family were sick, and Bruce had a heavy 
 task. But he exerted himself to the utmost and tried all 
 his skill, and so fortunate was he in his treatment of 
 the patients, that they all recovered under his hands, save 
 one. His reputation was made ; he became a great man 
 at Court ; he lived on the most intimate terms with the 
 King himself, who appointed him Governor over one of his 
 provinces. 
 
 Bruce, as we have said, hoped to discover in Abyssinia the 
 long-sought source of the Nile, and he fully believed himself 
 to have succeeded, as not a few others believed with him, 
 for a time. Starting from Gondar, he was introduced by 
 Fasil, a rebel leader, to seven chieftains of the Gallas. 
 Ferocious savages and notorious thieves these fellows were, 
 but they gave him their protection ; in fact, they went 
 through the ceremony of admitting him a member of the 
 Galla peoples. Without some such help, it is more than 
 probable that the adventurous Scotchman would never 
 have travelled safe]y through the country of these fright- 
 fully cruel and savage tribes. The Gallas gave him a 
 horse saddled and bridled, with the words, "Take this 
 horse, but do not mount it yourself. Drive it before 
 you, saddled and bridled as it is ; no man of Meitsha will 
 touch you when he sees that horse." And so Bruce found it. 
 
 36 
 
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE 
 
 It was on the 3rd of November, 1770, that the intrepid 
 traveller came to a triple range of mountains, behind which 
 he was told was the source of the great Nile. He imagined 
 this range to be the Mountains of the Moon, in which he 
 was, of course, mistaken. However, ascending the heights, 
 he was strangely moved by seeing down below the infant 
 river. It was a mere streamlet, with hardly enough water 
 to turn a wheel. " I could not satiate myself with the 
 sight, ,, he writes delightedly, " revolving in my mind all 
 those classical prophecies that had given the Nile up to 
 perpetual obscurity and concealment ... By the pro- 
 tection of Providence and my own intrepidity, I had 
 gained a triumph over all that were powerful and all that 
 were learned since the remotest antiquity." 
 
 He was led into the village of Geesh, hard by, and was 
 there shown a sort of pool in the hill-side, with a piece of 
 green sod in the middle of the water. From a fount in 
 this tiny islet issued the beginnings of the mighty Nile. 
 Bruce was warned to pull off his shoes if he went to the 
 fountain itself, since the inhabitants of the land, though 
 they believed not in God, yet held the river to be a 
 divinity. 
 
 "Half undressed as I was, by the loss of my sash, and 
 throwing off my shoes, I ran down the hill and came to 
 the island of green turf, which was in form of an altar, 
 apparently the work of art, and I stood in rapture over 
 the principal fountain which rises in the middle of it." 
 
 He goes on to say : " It is easier to guess than to 
 describe the situation of my mind at that moment, stand- 
 ing in that spot which had baffled the genius, industry, and 
 inquiry of both ancients and moderns for the course of near 
 
 37 
 
TRIUMPHANT REFLECTIONS 
 
 three thousand years. Kings had attempted this discovery 
 at the head of armies, and each expedition was distinguished 
 from the last only by the difference of the numbers that 
 had perished, and agreed alone in the disappointment 
 which had uniformly, and without exception, followed 
 them all. . . . Though a private Briton, I triumphed 
 here, in my own mind, over Kings and their armies." 
 
 Bruce was mistaken in thinking that the branch whose 
 birth he witnessed was the main stream of the Nile, and 
 was also in error in believing himself to be the first 
 European to look upon the sight ; yet we may well pardon 
 the exultation of a gallant and successful explorer. 
 
 38 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ON THE WAY TO SRINAGAR 
 
 Mr. Daniell, a noted artist, travels in India, three-quarters of a 
 century a^o, in company of a clergyman friend — Through the 
 mountains on the way to Srinagar — The Coaduwar Ghaut — Bad 
 tidings from other travellers met — Mountains on fire — The 
 conflagration extinguished hy a deluge — A huge rhinoceros on 
 the path — The artist coolly sketches the beast — An escort 
 arrives from the Rajah of Srinagar — A land swarming with 
 dangerous beasts— Trouble with the Rajah's men — The effect of 
 a sound thrashing — The mountain torrents and their dangers — 
 A man whirled off by one — Palanquins with jointed poles — At 
 the bottom of an awful defile — The stars in broad daylight — A 
 memorable and terrifying thunderstorm — A portmanteau 
 dropped into an abyss — Its plucky rescue at the risk of a man's 
 life — A frail rope-bridge and its terrors — An elk shot — A 
 shooting-party — A bear suddenly appears — Its hostility — 
 " Don't fire !" — A novel plan carried out by the natives — 
 Bear enticed into a tree, then shot into space, as if from a 
 catapult — The tiger country at length reached — One of the 
 brutes reported to be about — A tiger-trap — A fall into the 
 pit — Royal rage of the baifled beast — Desperate attempts 
 to escape — Fearful yells — Seven bullets required to give the 
 tiger his quietus. 
 
 It is now almost exactly three-quarters of a century since 
 Mr. William Daniell, a noted artist in his day and a 
 Royal Academician, went on his travels to India. He 
 was accompanied by Mr. Caunter, a clergyman, and the 
 two friends spared no pains to see the great Eastern 
 
 39 
 
TRAVELLING IN INDIA 
 
 peninsula thoroughly. They visited many a notable city, 
 but did not neglect the wilder parts of the country. 
 They traversed interminable plains, and threaded awful 
 mountain passes and gorges ; now they were ferried across 
 the wide waters of lordly rivers, and now they were risking 
 their lives in the passage of some frightful mountain 
 torrent. 
 
 Not the least interesting of their experiences were those 
 that accompanied a journey to Srinagar, far away among 
 the remotest fastnesses of the stupendous mountains of the 
 north. No reader needs to be told that so far back as the 
 early part of the nineteenth century India was not so 
 well provided as it is to-day with magnificent high roads, 
 fine bridges, wayside inns, and other resting-places for 
 adventurous travellers. Moreover, the wilder parts of the 
 country were often very unsafe, except for a numerous and 
 well-armed company. 
 
 As our travellers entered the Coaduwar Ghaut, and thus 
 the mountains proper, they received from men they met 
 a dismal report as to the difficulties of the mountain 
 district before them, and they were especially discouraged 
 by the news that the snow had already begun to fall. 
 Plucking up their courage, nevertheless, Mr. Daniell and 
 Mr. Caunter kept on their way. They had scarcely 
 cleared the first narrow glen when they were surprised and 
 alarmed to see apparently the whole range of mountains 
 before them in a blaze. " The fire swept up their sides to 
 the extent of several miles, undulating like the agitated 
 waves of the ocean when reddened by the slanting beams 
 of the setting sun. It was like an ignited sea, exhibiting 
 an effect at once new and fearful." 
 
 40 
 
SKETCHING A RHINOCEROS 
 
 The travellers could hardly be said to be in any real 
 danger, situated, as they were, at the bottom of a deep 
 ravine, along which tumbled a brawling torrent. They 
 learnt that these mountain fires are often caused by the 
 swaying of the tall and dry bamboos, the violent and long- 
 continued friction at last kindling a flame. The con- 
 flagration was extinguished as suddenly as it had begun, 
 a mighty deluge of rain coming on, and drowning the 
 flames with its floods. 
 
 An adventure of a different sort soon came their way. 
 They were in a country filled with all kinds of game, and 
 sheltering not a few dangerous animals. Mr. Daniell and 
 his friend had just turned the corner of a precipitous hill, 
 when suddenly they found themselves in the presence of a 
 huge rhinoceros, the brute being separated from them 
 only by the narrow torrent, though it was on a somewhat 
 higher ledge than that on which the men were standing. 
 To the hunter pure and simple this would have been a 
 godsend. And so it was to the artist. Not less plucky 
 than the hunter, he clambered up to the animal's level, and 
 proceeded coolly to sketch the beast. Strange to say, the 
 rhinoceros stood still, showing no signs of either anger or 
 fear. In short, Mr. Daniell finished his sketch with com- 
 posure, notwithstanding the risks he ran. Then, unwilling 
 to rouse to fury an animal their guns could not damage, they 
 fired a shot only with the view of frightening the brute away. 
 To their great relief, the rhinoceros did depart, but only 
 with the utmost deliberation. 
 
 A halt had to be made in the defiles till permission 
 could be obtained from the Rajah of Srinagar to proceed 
 to his capital. The Prince, in reply to the messengers 
 
 41 
 
A TROUBLESOME ESCORT 
 
 sent by the Englishmen, not only granted the required 
 permit, but also sent an escort to protect the party on 
 the most- arduous and hazardous portion of the way. 
 Presently, passing a village with a small detachment 
 of troops, they were fairly in the Rajah's territory. This 
 pass, or ghaut, the Englishmen learnt, had to be entirely 
 abandoned by the soldiery in the rainy season, the defiles 
 being then infested by an immense multitude of savage 
 beasts which took shelter there — tigers, leopards, bears, 
 hyenas, and other beasts of prey. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that the attendants and 
 bearers had been sent by the Rajah himself, our travellers 
 soon found they were likely to have some trouble with the 
 fellows. They were a lazy lot, and refused to carry the 
 burdens assigned to them. Before long the majority of 
 them deserted, and left the Englishmen to do as best 
 they could. The situation was a serious one, and the 
 travellers had to supply the places of the deserters without 
 delay. With immense difficulty they succeeded in gather- 
 ing a few of the country fellows, but what was their 
 chagrin when these also showed signs of defection ! There- 
 upon the Englishmen administered a sound thrashing to 
 the worst of the offenders — a strong measure, and one they 
 were most reluctant to adopt. Strange to say, it had the 
 desired effect, and they were no more troubled by the 
 laziness of their followers, though it was necessary to keep 
 a constant and vigilant watch over them. 
 
 The character of the country through which the party 
 passed was such as to baffle description. As they say, " to 
 look down some of the gaping gulfs which arrested our 
 gaze as we passed them required no ordinary steadiness of 
 
 42 
 
DANGERS OF MOUNTAIN TORRENTS 
 
 brain ; and the road by which we had to' descend was 
 frequently so steep that we were obliged to cling to the 
 jagged projections of rock, or to the few stunted shrubs 
 that appeared here and there in our path. . . . Impedi- 
 ments began to multiply upon us.'" Their worst trouble was 
 with the nullahs, or mountain torrents, which they often 
 had to cross. The difficulty of crossing some of these 
 was only equalled by the danger. The least slip would 
 have meant great peril, and probably death, for such is 
 the force of the torrent, and so many are the cascades and 
 falls in its course, that a man would be swirled over 
 rock after rock before any attempt could be made to save 
 him, if, indeed, it were possible to save him at all. 
 
 In one spot, where the roar of the streams was deafen- 
 ing, and the reverberations amongst the rock-faces abso- 
 lutely stunning, one of the party was whirled from his 
 feet in mid-stream. For a few moments there was 
 excitement and to spare. The man was carried down at 
 a furious rate, and it seemed as if nothing could save 
 him. As it happened, fortunately, farther down the 
 torrent a tree had fallen across the waters. The drown- 
 ing man had the presence of mind to clutch a branch 
 of this, and to hang on for dear life, till he could be 
 rescued. 
 
 The travellers pursued their journey for the most part 
 " in silence and weariness."" Each of them was carried in 
 a palanquin, as a rule ; but so wild and dangerous was 
 a good deal of the country, that they dared not make use 
 of the vehicles. In many and many a place the narrow- 
 ness of the ledge on which they were progressing, and the 
 abruptness of the turns to be made, rendered it impossible 
 
 43 
 
STARS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT 
 
 to use poles of the ordinary kind for the palanquins. In 
 those mountain districts jointed poles took their place, 
 making it possible to turn sharp corners ; but it may well 
 be imagined that our Englishmen were not very willing to 
 trust themselves to their bearers in such spots. 
 
 So far the weather had been favourable, but the 
 inevitable storm was at hand. The cavalcade, if such the 
 travelling party could be called when there were no horses, 
 had reached the most forbidding part of the whole moun- 
 tain area. They found themselves at the bottom of a 
 ravine shaped like a funnel, to the depths of which the sun 
 never penetrated. There was at the best but a dismal 
 twilight down there ; so dark was it, in fact, that as they 
 looked up from the profound depths of the gorge they 
 could see the stars in the sky, though it was the middle of 
 the afternoon. The sky seemed to be " one uniform tint 
 of the deepest purple, while the brilliancy with which the 
 stars emitted their vivid fires altogether baffles description. 
 Nothing could exceed the splendour of the scene." 
 
 The brightness of the day above became now suddenly 
 overcast, and almost without the least warning the storm 
 was upon them. The darkness at the bottom of their awful 
 defile became in a moment or two intense. Then the rains 
 began to descend, and the travellers and their servants 
 were fain to take shelter under a huge projecting rock 
 which they found hard by. The lightning was appalling 
 in its frequency and its intensity. From the spot where 
 the men stood could be seen many tall, needle-like peaks 
 above, " which seemed to plunge their tall spires into the 
 skies, and absolutely to prop the firmament." These peaks 
 at every flash were lighted up in a way that would have 
 
 44 
 
A PLUCKY RESCUE 
 
 been grand had it not been also terrifying. As for the 
 thunder, it resounded from rock to rock, and from flank to 
 flank, till it became, as it were, one continuous and 
 tremendous crash. When there did come a second or two 
 of silence it was so intense as to be absolutely painful. 
 The storm did not last many minutes, and did no damage 
 to the travellers, luckily, but it made on them an impres- 
 sion that would neyer be effaced. The tempest ceased as 
 suddenly as it had begun, and in a few moments after the 
 skies were bright again. 
 
 Continuing their journey, the party found themselves on 
 a narrow shelf ; above, the mountain towered to an enor- 
 mous height ; below, the precipice fell away sheer into the 
 depths below. At this point one of the porters dropped a 
 bag or small portmanteau, which, of course, fell into the 
 gulf. The Englishmen looked upon their property as lost 
 for ever, but to their astonishment, and indeed dismay, the 
 man announced his determination to fetch the lost article 
 again. " A stout cord, composed of hair, was passed 
 round the limb of a tree that projected over the precipice. 
 The end was firmly tied to a thick bamboo, about fifteen 
 inches long, upon which the man placed his feet, and, 
 grasping the rope in both hands, was slowly lowered into 
 the void. As the face of the precipice sloped gradually 
 inward, he was not within reach of it during the whole of 
 his descent. When about fifty yards below the summit, 
 he was swayed in an alarming degree by the wind, which, 
 pouring down the chasm and not finding a ready vent, was 
 forced back again in strong eddies that seemed at times to 
 whirl him round with dangerous velocity. He, however, 
 still maintained his hold until he appeared but a speck, 
 
 45 
 
A FRAIL ROPE-BRIDGE 
 
 when, the cord slackening, it was clear he had reached his 
 destination. After a short time, upon a signal being 
 given from below by a sudden jerk of the cord, the men 
 above began to haul up their companion, who, from the 
 additional weight, had evidently recovered his burden. 
 They pulled him up much more expeditiously than they 
 had let him down, and he soon reappeared uninjured, with 
 the portmanteau upon his shoulders.'" 
 
 That afternoon the travellers came upon the first of 
 the rope-bridges so common in the mountain districts of 
 Northern India. They gazed with alarm upon the frail 
 apparatus, but there was no help for it, and they resigned 
 themselves to the inevitable. The ropes — there were two 
 — were made of twisted creepers, and were an inch and a 
 half in diameter. A sort of hoop spanned these ropes, and 
 on the lower rim of this the adventurous traveller seated 
 himself; then, holding a rope in either hand, he proceeded 
 to pull himself across. To the hill men the business 
 seemed easy enough, and not in the least terrifying, 
 but the case was different with the Englishmen. To be 
 thus suspended on such a crazy apparatus, a hundred feet 
 above a boiling torrent, the whole machine vibrating 
 violently in the strong wind the while, tried the nerves of 
 both. Fortunately the passage was made by all the party 
 in safety, and the terrors of it were at once forgotten in 
 the excitements of the chase. The last man had scarce 
 crossed, when an elk, or moose-deer, was started, and a 
 helter-skelter after it at once took place. Finally the elk 
 was shot, and proved to be a very fine animal. 
 
 Sport of a more exciting character presently appeared. 
 Mr. Daniell went off with his gun into a side ravine, 
 
 46 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR 
 
 in search of jungle-fowl, the birds being fairly abundant in 
 the place, but exceedingly shy. There were with him two 
 of the hill men, and after a very stiff and risky climb, they 
 had just gained the top of a precipice, when a bear was 
 observed hastening towards them. It was evident the 
 brute was bent on mischief, and Mr. Daniell was about to 
 fire, regretting, however, that his gun was loaded only with 
 large shot. At this moment one of the natives intervened, 
 and begged the master to leave the bear to him, and he 
 would attack it unarmed. The Englishman was astounded, 
 but seeing the coolness and confidence of the hillmen, 
 agreed to let them try their skill, holding his weapon 
 ready, should it after all be needed. 
 
 Almost on the very edge of the precipice grew a tree, 
 whose branches stretched over the abyss, and seemed to 
 be very pliant but very strong. Without a moment's 
 hesitation the hillman approached the bear, and, exciting 
 it, drew its attention from the Englishman to himself. In 
 a rage the bear made after the man, who thereupon climbed 
 with astonishing agility into the tree, the bear as nimbly 
 following. The fellow now selected one of the longest of 
 the upper branches, and attaching to the end of it a strong 
 cord, threw the other end down to his companion below. 
 The branch was speedily pulled down with all the man's 
 force, till it projected far over the edge of the precipice. 
 
 The chief operator now crept cautiously along the 
 branch as far as he dared, the bear following. Then, 
 seizing the rope, the fellow slid like a monkey to the 
 ground. The bear, thus unexpectedly deprived of its 
 victim, attempted to turn, in order to retrace its steps. 
 No sooner, however, had it relaxed its grasp of the bough 
 
 47 
 
THE TIGER COUNTRY REACHED 
 
 for this purpose, than the hillman suddenly cut the cord, 
 which had been securely tied to the stump of a tree, and 
 the depressed branch instantly gained its original position 
 with an irresistible momentum. The suddenness and 
 vigour of the recoil shook the bear from its hold, launch- 
 ing it, like the fragment of a rock from a catapult, into 
 the empty air. Uttering a stifled yell, it was hurled over 
 the precipice, and, falling with a dull crash upon the 
 rocks beneath, no doubt soon became a prey to the 
 vultures and jackals. The address with which the bold 
 highlander accomplished this dangerous exploit was as 
 astonishing as it was novel. 
 
 It was not till after the visit to Srinagar had ended, 
 and the travellers had got almost clear of the mountains 
 again, that they saw anything of the tiger, the most 
 dreaded of all the wild beasts of India. The chief of the 
 district, who showed himself most friendly and hospitable, 
 promised his guests an exhibition of tiger-trapping as 
 performed in the locality. As it happened, one of these 
 animals had been discovered in a wood not far away 
 within the last few hours. So the Englishmen stayed to 
 watch the operations, in which, as the course of events 
 showed, there was little risk to the spectator. 
 
 A large hole was dug in the ground, with sides sloping 
 inwards, to a depth of twelve feet, the area of the hole at 
 the surface being about a couple of yards square. The 
 pit was now concealed by a slight framework of bamboo, 
 on which a quantity of grass was strewn. At the approach 
 of evening a goat was tethered on the top of the pit, the 
 covering being strong enough to support its weight, 
 but nothing heavier. Everything being now ready, the 
 
 48 
 
A NOVEL METHOD OF KILLING A BEAR 
 
 One of the hill men attracted the bear's attention to himself, then swarmed out on the 
 branch of a tree, to which a cord had been attached. The bear followed, the man promptly 
 slipped back to safety on the rope, which was then pulled so as to make the branch a strong 
 spring. When the rope was cut the bear was shot into space. 
 
 
A TIGER-TRAP 
 
 watchers concealed themselves behind a few trees to await 
 the result. The night was unusually dark. 
 
 It was not till towards morning that their wishes were 
 gratified. " We observed the beautiful beast rush from its 
 lurking-place, and, when within about five yards of the 
 devoted goat, spring upon it with a yell so ferocious that 
 I trembled where I stood, though removed from all chance 
 of danger. The platform instantly gave way with a crash, 
 and the tiger and goat both fell into the hollow beneath. 
 As soon as the former found itself a prisoner, it howled 
 with rage, lashed its sides with its tail, erected the fur 
 upon its back, and exhibited fearful demonstrations of 
 fury. It made the most desperate efforts to escape, 
 springing up the sides of the shaft, and occasionally cling- 
 ing to the very edge. The earth, however, was so soft 
 that there was no hold for its claws, so that it always fell 
 back ; but upon reaching the ground and finding its efforts 
 at release invariably foiled, its fury redoubled. Its yells 
 were dreadful. The goat was quite dead, but remained un- 
 touched by its destroyer, which at length lay upon its belly 
 almost exhausted with its exertions. At this moment our 
 host advanced and fired at the dreaded captive as it lay 
 panting and powerless. The ball took effect, but not 
 mortally. The sudden pang only roused the tiger to renewed 
 exertions, in order to retaliate upon its assailant, who 
 deliberately loaded and fired until the excited beast was 
 destroyed. " So tenacious was it of life, that it received 
 seven balls in different parts of its body before it finally 
 succumbed. 
 
 49 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A SOJOURN IN SOCOTRA 
 
 The island of Socotra — Mr. Wellsted, an English scientist and 
 explorer — A very mountainous country — Almost impassable 
 rocks — Camel slips — A hind-foot in a crack — Huge fall of 
 mountain — Extraordinary storms — Into a cave for shelter — A 
 night of tempest — Lost camels — Inconceivable fury of the 
 blasts — Natives puzzled with the strangers — The men hostile — 
 Terror at sight of a Nubian — Attack by four Bedouins with 
 clubs — Impudent and intrusive Arabs — An Englishman^ house 
 is his castle — Ali kicked out by John Sunday — Natives afraid 
 of scientific instruments — The sextant "is of the devil >' ! — 
 Thirty plunderers appear — "What is to prevent us from taking 
 what we want ?" — " Only this " — Two bullet-holes — Cave- 
 dwellers — " Teeming with vermin " — No wild beasts in Socotra 
 — An adventure with a snake — A refractory and disloyal guide 
 — "We shall see in the morning" — Ali attacks Sunday with a 
 club — Retaliation — The Englishman to the rescue — Arab swords 
 flourished over his head — A narrow escape — The Cadi and Ali 
 — Hostile Arabs biding their time for revenge — The English- 
 man and Sunday in danger — Magnificent spot amongst the 
 granite mountains — Buried alive. 
 
 Few are the travellers who have visited the island of 
 Socotra — off the East African cape Guardafui — or per- 
 haps it would be more correct to say, who have written 
 at any length on their experiences there. But we have 
 an interesting account by Mr. Wellsted, a Fellow of the 
 Royal Society, and a traveller of some note in his day, 
 
 50 
 
ALMOST IMPASSABLE ROCKS 
 
 now more than sixty years ago. In the course of his 
 Eastern wanderings, Mr. Wellsted paid a visit of some 
 duration to this mountainous island. For Socotra is very 
 mountainous ; indeed, few territories of the size can boast 
 a more rugged surface, and many of its heights are singu- 
 larly arduous and precipitous, and thus difficult to 
 traverse. 
 
 His first inland excursion brought him heavy work, 
 from the very shore, to which in parts the mountains 
 extend. His camels found the smooth limestone rocks 
 hardly passable at all. As for the men, they preferred 
 to trust to their own hands and knees, crawling on all 
 fours past the most dangerous place. They then turned 
 to watch the progress of the camels, which had been left 
 to their own devices. Three of the animals crossed in 
 safety, but the fourth was less lucky. At the worst part 
 of the passage he slipped, and began sliding down the 
 steep rock. It was a moment of suspense for the owner, 
 and it was with relief that he observed the animal put his 
 hind foot into a crack and stop his headlong progress. It 
 was a clever manoeuvre on the part of the camel. A few 
 feet more, and the beast would have rolled over the preci- 
 pice and been dashed to pieces. Many and many a similar 
 dangerous spot did the explorer come across in the heart 
 of the mountains. 
 
 A little later on, he was witness to a strange spectacle 
 at the place just mentioned. He had hardly passed the 
 spot when his attention was arrested by a low, rumbling 
 sound behind him. Instantly turning, he beheld, to his 
 great astonishment, a huge mass separate itself from the 
 main body of the hill. "Its first course was but slow, 
 
 51 D 2 
 
EXTRAORDINARY STORMS 
 
 though down a slope. Its velocity, however, quickly in- 
 creased, a short projection caught the base, and over 
 toppled the whole hill — for so I may, from its magnitude, 
 term it. The crashing which immediately succeeded was 
 terrific ; but a cloud of dust arose, and I could no longer 
 trace its headlong career. The effects, however, were 
 apparent enough as soon as the dust cleared away, and a 
 shock, like that of an earthquake, announced that the 
 main body had reached the sea." 
 
 The storms the traveller had to encounter on the moun- 
 tain heights were frequent and of tremendous severity, and 
 one was not long before it overtook him. He had, luckily, 
 time to run for shelter to a cavern in the mountain- side, 
 from which he watched the extraordinary war of the 
 elements. The gale increased to a hurricane ; the lightning 
 flashed among the glens ; the thunder rolled among the 
 peaks ; the waters descended in the torrent-beds as if they 
 would sweep all before them. Fortunately dry wood was 
 found in the cave, and soon a fire was kindled and a 
 capital stew was cooked. The rocky floor of the cavern 
 made but a hard bed, yet there was at any rate shelter 
 from the pitiless storm without, and there the traveller 
 and his men spent the night. In the morning it was 
 found that the servants, in their hurry to escape from 
 the tempest, had neglected to tether the camels. A whole 
 day was occupied in wandering up and down the mountains 
 in search of the missing animals. 
 
 The force of the winds on the heights was at times 
 terrific, and often exposed the mountaineers to no little 
 danger. Mr. Wellsted writes : " The fury of these blasts 
 was almost inconceivable. Pent up by the hills on either 
 
 52 
 
HOSTILITY OF NATIVES 
 
 hand, they roared through the valleys with a strength 
 which threatened to carry all before them ; even our camels 
 were occasionally compelled to turn or lie down. Branches 
 of trees, sand, pebbles, and even birds were swept along by 
 the current. Water was hurled past in sheets, and we 
 heard from the Bedouins*- that their cattle, by similar 
 storms, were frequently driven over the precipices." The 
 explorer found that the native Socotrans were always very 
 terrified when there was forked lightning, nor did their 
 frequent experience of it serve to lessen their fears. 
 
 The natives of the interior were at first greatly puzzled, 
 and no little alarmed, by the advent of the Englishman 
 and his companions ; more than that, the men were dis- 
 posed to be decidedly hostile. His Nubian servant, who 
 was dressed in European fashion, particularly frightened 
 the women ; they took him to be some infernal sprite. On 
 one occasion, having ascended to an elevation of over two 
 thousand feet, the traveller was seated sketching, his at- 
 tendants having strolled to a distance. Suddenly three or 
 four Bedouins made their appearance, armed with thick 
 clubs. They had been watching him for some time, and 
 were now in a quarrelsome mood. The situation was not 
 a pleasant one, and Wellsted was obliged to have recourse 
 to various little artifices to keep them quiet. It was with 
 no little relief that he saw his servants return. 
 
 The Arabs were always more assuming and more arrogant 
 than the native Socotra folk, and the Englishman was 
 much annoyed by their habit of walking into his tent 
 whenever they had a mind. No hints or even remon- 
 strances were sufficient to keep them out. "It is the 
 custom of our country ," they would retort ; to which 
 
 53 
 
INTRUSIVE ARABS 
 
 Wellsted replied : " But such is not ours ;" and he closed 
 the entrance of the tent. There was one fellow, Ali by 
 name, who would not be said nay. He presently attempted 
 to enter by force. The master thought it was time to 
 interfere, so he directed his servant — John Sunday, the 
 Nubian — to kick the intruder out, which Sunday did 
 with great gusto, and Ali was pitched headlong from 
 the apartment, much as one might have kicked out 
 a cat. 
 
 The explorer was apprehensive lest he might suffer losses 
 from the thieving habits of the natives. He was, however, 
 somewhat reassured when he saw how terrified the men all 
 were by his scientific instruments. Nothing would induce 
 one of them to touch the sextant, and as for the telescope, 
 when it was put unexpectedly in the hands of another 
 fellow, it was instantly thrown to the ground with loud 
 cries of horror — " It is of the devil !" But it was evident 
 the minds of the natives were often thinking of possible 
 plunder, and when one day some thirty of them came 
 to the tent, Wellsted determined to read them a lesson. 
 After whispering together for a considerable time, the 
 savages asked coolly what was to prevent them from taking 
 whatever they wanted of his goods. " Nothing more than 
 this, , ' > was the quiet reply as he took up his double-barrelled 
 rifle. He levelled the gun at a tree a dozen yards off, and 
 one after the other the bullets passed clean through the 
 trunk, as good luck would have it. " Away scampered 
 the whole party ; they probed the orifices with their 
 fingers, looked at each other in mute astonishment, and 
 then quietly slunk away.'" They could not understand 
 the suddenness of the result, nor how the powder was 
 
 54 
 
CAVE-DWELLERS 
 
 lighted. But the lesson was enough, and the gang went 
 empty away. 
 
 Mr. Wellsted was surprised to find to what an extent 
 the islanders used caves for dwellings. These caverns were 
 to be found at various elevations and nearly all over the 
 mountain districts. He climbed up to one of the largest, 
 and found it, spacious as it was, crowded not only with 
 human beings, but with sheep and goats. Not content 
 with their tame flocks, the cave-dwellers caught wild goats, 
 using for this purpose nets of special construction, the 
 making of which fell to the lot of the old women of the 
 community. Amongst the irregularities of the rough and 
 blackened roofs roosted a vast number of pigeons and other 
 wild birds. Still more numerous, by a good deal, the 
 traveller tells us, were the insects of various sorts. One and 
 all these abodes were " teeming with an almost incredible 
 quantity of vermin." A curious proof of this was pre- 
 sently seen. As the strangers were resting in the shade 
 near the cave, a woman driving a flock of sheep passed 
 near. With her were two boys, who had their mouths 
 and nostrils covered with square pieces of cloth. On 
 inquiry it was found that the cloth was intended as a pro- 
 tection from a certain noisome insect, which, in the human 
 subject, produced, severe inflammations. Wellsted's ser- 
 vants could never be persuaded to remain inside one of 
 these native rock-dwellings; whatever the weather, they 
 preferred to stay outside. 
 
 It is a curious fact, as the explorer remarks, that the 
 island of Socotra is entirely without those dangerous wild 
 beasts which so abound in the adjacent and not far distant 
 regions of the African continent and Arabia. He had, 
 
 55 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A SNAKE 
 
 consequently, no lions or elephants or hyenas to fear, nor 
 the rhinoceros or hippopotamus. But there were snakes 
 in Socotra, and the traveller had a narrow escape in one 
 instance. He and his men had climbed up a rugged glen, 
 very steep-sided and narrow, often pulling themselves up 
 by means of the bushes or the roots of trees. After about 
 a couple of hours of this hard work, the Englishman was 
 about to seize hold of what he took to be another bit of 
 root, when Sunday, quick as lightning, snatched his hand 
 away. It was a snake, as was seen a moment later, when 
 the reptile lifted its head to strike. It was probably 
 heavy after a big feed, or the traveller would, to a cer- 
 tainty, have been bitten. This particular snake the natives 
 called a, Java. It is most deadly, and the victim of its 
 bite never survives more than a few hours. Wellsted had 
 in the course of his much wandering been often enough 
 in the way of snakes, but this was his narrowest escape. 
 
 He had a good deal of trouble with one of the guides 
 he had brought to the island with him. This Hamed, an 
 Arab, was found out in continual acts of fraud and dis- 
 honesty towards his employer. What was of almost more 
 serious consequence was, that the fellow was trying to 
 embroil him and his attendants with the natives. At 
 length, even the good-natured Englishman's forbearance 
 gave way, and he discharged the man. Hamed began to 
 be insolent, and intimated his intention of remaining 
 whether the master liked it or not. This was too much 
 for his employer. " We shall see," he cried, " in the 
 morning. If I then find you here I will break your 
 bones l" When the morning came, there was nothing to 
 be seen of Hamed. 
 
 56 
 
RETALIATION 
 
 The discomfited Ali had not forgotten Sunday and his 
 performances, and was waiting for a chance of retaliating 
 on him. One day, a woman screamed to Wellsted : 
 " Why, they are murdering your servant !" Out rushed 
 the master, and found Ali and Sunday on the ground, 
 engaged in a desperate grapple, the Nubian on the top, 
 however, and holding the other fast by the throat. Other 
 Arabs had run up, and would have cut Sunday to pieces if 
 left to their own devices. Wellsted sprang in and sepa- 
 rated the two combatants, and directed Sunday to follow 
 him. The Arabs hemmed in master and man ; they 
 flourished their swords over their heads in frantic fashion ; 
 they abused and insulted the two strangers. Things had 
 reached a dangerous pass, and there is no doubt that if 
 the Arab mob had had anybody to assume the position of 
 leader, there would soon have been an end of the English- 
 man and Sunday. 
 
 The Nubian explained to his master that, while he had 
 been quietly gathering vegetables, the Arab had come up 
 stealthily behind him, and had struck him violently on the 
 head with a club. Thus attacked, Sunday had closed with 
 his antagonist, and a severe struggle had taken place. As 
 it happened, however, the black had learnt to use his fists in 
 the English fashion, and, as his master whimsically puts it, 
 " thanks to his Nubian birth for the thickness of his skull, 
 and his English education for the use of his fists, 1 ' Sunday 
 would no doubt soon have come off conqueror. But by 
 this time the Cadi had been sent for, and Ali and his 
 friends swore that his wounds were very serious, whereas 
 they were in reality but slight, and what Ali had got he 
 richly deserved. Then a number of the Arabs came to 
 
 57 
 
MASTER AND MAN IN DANGER 
 
 Wellsted with loud complaints that a Mussulman had been 
 struck by a Christian slave. The Englishman's back was 
 now up, and he gave them a bit of his mind. " None in 
 the employ of the English are slaves, but servants, whom, 
 so long as they serve us with fidelity, we consider ourselves 
 bound to protect with our lives, and any further attempt 
 to molest Sunday I shall consider as addressed to myself." 
 
 The traveller says that if anybody is inclined to smile 
 at the lofty tone he assumed on this occasion, it will be 
 because that person does not understand the conditions in 
 which the explorer was placed, and, moreover, does not 
 know the character of the peoples with whom that explorer 
 had to deal. A confident assumption of superiority and 
 authority, so long as it is tempered with judgment, is 
 " one of the best qualities which a traveller can possess." 
 The incident ended, apparently, but it was soon clearly 
 seen that the Arabs were only biding their time, and master 
 and man were compelled henceforth to go out together, 
 and well armed, so as to prevent an open attack. The 
 friendly Socotrans began to be alarmed at the state of 
 things, and told the Englishman they would be glad, for 
 his own sake, when the ship took him away from the 
 island. He determined, therefore, to quit the place as 
 soon as he had completed the surveys he desired to 
 make. 
 
 Socotra yields to no part of the East in wildness and 
 romantic grandeur. One spot particularly pleased the 
 traveller. " In the evening we pitched our tent in the 
 centre of an enormous hollow in the mountains, not less 
 than three miles in diameter. At but a few yards distance 
 a beautiful stream murmured its gentle course ; not a 
 
 58 
 
BURIAL IN SOCOTRA 
 
 breath of wind could reach us, and the wild and plaintive 
 notes of the wood-pigeon alone broke the silence and soli- 
 tude of the scene. Grey, steep, and towering, the granite 
 spires rose to an elevation of five thousand feet, and the 
 geologist would have derived great interest from witnessing 
 fragments of the lower formation, either borne up between 
 two peaks, or curiously wrapped like a mantle round 
 others. The junction also between the limestone and the 
 granite was beautifully exposed to view, appearing as if a 
 huge mass in a state of fusion had subsided over the lower, 
 which, in spires, reared themselves beneath.*" 
 
 Many of the Socotran caves had once been used as 
 burial-places, but in later times a less wise practice had 
 come into vogue with respect to the disposal of the dead. 
 One day Wellsted noted an Arab leaving a certain spot. 
 Then, to his great surprise, the traveller found an old man 
 lying there in a little hollow that had been scooped out of 
 the sand. Over the prostrate body was a piece of old and 
 tattered cloth, while by his side were a few fragments of 
 food. The old man was all but dead. Then Wellsted 
 learnt that when the aged became unable to work, it was 
 the custom of the island thus to expose them. Food was 
 brought them, however, so long as they were able to eat 
 it, and, when death came, a few handfuls of sand were 
 thrown over the corpse, and that was all the burial it 
 received. Practically no distinction was made between the 
 dying and the dead ! 
 
 59 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A LADY^S ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Mexico one of the mountainous countries — Madame Calderon de la 
 Barca, a charming lady writer — Travels for two years in 
 Mexico — Execrable roads — Spirited animals — Severity and 
 frequency of the thunderstorms — A carriage in a swollen 
 mountain torrent — A fearful moment — Country infested with 
 desperate robbers — A grinning skull — ( ' The horses climbed up 
 one crag and slid down another " — A zorillo hunt — Apparently 
 bullet-proof — A wolf at the ladies' side — The hot springs ot 
 Cuincho — The ladies lost — Escort of cavalry appears — Bivouac 
 in an outhouse — Mosquitoes — An active night among the 
 robbers — The leader of the gang caught — A disagreeable 
 addition to a travelling party — A typical brigand chief — His 
 look scares Madame — Another night in a barn — Nest of scor- 
 pions discovered in the morning ! — The famous volcano Jorullo 
 — Its first eruption in 1759 — Another visit to the hot springs — 
 Lost in the darkness once more — ' ' Three hundred demons " 
 in an Indian settlement — A late hour for ladies exposed to 
 mountain perils and mountain brigands. 
 
 One of the mountainous countries of the world is certainly 
 Mexico. Turn in almost any direction you will, there you 
 have, either close at hand or not so very far away, at least 
 considerable hills, and generally veritable mountains. The 
 great backbone of North America, the Rocky Mountains, 
 runs from one end of the country to the other, a succession 
 of lofty peaks, frowning precipices, wild torrents, with 
 more than one volcano of name and fame. An extended 
 
 60 
 
MEXICAN STORMS 
 
 tour, or a series of tours, in Mexico, therefore, especially 
 sixty or eighty years ago, could not fail to bring to the 
 tourist many curious and some exciting adventures, even 
 though that tourist happened to be of the sex that is 
 commonly supposed to be less adventurous. 
 
 Madame Calderon de la Barca, a lady of note in her 
 day, and a friend of Prescott, the famous historian of 
 Mexico, went to that country in the year 1839, and made 
 a considerable sojourn there. Though most of her time 
 was spent in the capital amongst the fashionables and 
 notables of Mexico, yet on several occasions she joined in 
 extensive expeditions into the heart of the country, more 
 especially amongst the mountain districts. The travelling 
 was not always easy. Often, indeed, the roads were 
 execrable, while sometimes the accommodation to be had 
 was of the poorest kind. The animals available for riding 
 were not always desirable mounts ; they were, in truth, 
 very often but half-broken horses and mules. Thus we 
 read of a beautiful animal she rode, dashing away with 
 her among the hills, and it was only by her own coolness 
 that she kept her seat and saved herself from serious 
 injury. Some of the other ladies of the cavalcade fared 
 not much better, the mules they rode crushing their feet 
 against the trees or throwing their riders over their heads 
 in a fit of obstinacy. 
 
 To be caught in a thunderstorm was a very common 
 experience, and a thunderstorm is no laughing matter in 
 Mexico. As Madame de la Barca says : " When it rains 
 here the windows of heaven seem opened, and the clouds 
 pour down water in floods ; the lightning, also, appears to 
 me particularly vivid, and many more accidents occur 
 
 61 
 
A FEARFUL MOMENT 
 
 from it here than in the north. We were drenched in 
 five minutes, and in this plight resumed our seats in our 
 carriage and set off for Guasco, a village where we were to 
 pass the night, in a pelting storm. In an hour or two 
 the horses were wading up to their knees in water." In 
 such a state did the travellers reach the village, only to 
 find that there was no public accommodation or shelter 
 whatever to be had. 
 
 They were traversing magnificent mountain districts 
 in a visit to some of the mines, and in fine weather the 
 trip was delightful. But over and over again the thunder- 
 storms came on. It was perilous travelling when the 
 lightning flashed among the trees, and the wind howled 
 furiously ; when the way lay along the edge of frightful 
 precipices, down steep and rocky declivities, across raging 
 mountain torrents. But for the skill and carefulness 
 shown by the drivers, the danger would have been still 
 greater. It was the day following such a storm when the 
 party left Tepenacasco for another stage of their journey. 
 The torrents were swollen in a very dangerous fashion, 
 and there were many stories of animals, vehicles, and the 
 men with them being swept away to their destruction. 
 Suddenly the storm came up again, and the day became 
 quite dark. In this state of things the carriage stuck fast 
 in a rushing stream, and was instantly filled with water. 
 " It was a moment of mortal fear such as I shall never 
 forget. The shrieks of the drivers to encourage the 
 horses, the loud cries of Ave Maria! the uncertainty as to 
 whether our heavy carriage could be dragged across, the 
 horses struggling and splashing in the boiling torrent, and 
 the horrible fate that awaited us should one of them fall 
 
 62 
 
TRACES OF ROBBERS 
 
 or falter ! The Senora and I shut our eyes and held each 
 other's hands, and certainly no one breathed till we were 
 safe on the other side. We were then told that we had 
 crossed within a few feet of a precipice over which a coach 
 had been dashed into fifty pieces during one of these 
 swells, and, of course, every one killed, and that if, instead 
 of horses, we had travelled with mules we must have been 
 
 lost." 
 
 Many parts of the mountains were infested with robbers, 
 often desperate and reckless fellows. The severest punish- 
 ment was dealt out to such of these gentry as were caught, 
 but the warnings were little heeded by the rest. In the 
 defiles beyond the city of Toluca, Madame Barca's party 
 travelled with no little trepidation, for at any moment 
 they might be attacked. An object of horror which they 
 passed in one gloomy glen did not help to reassure them. 
 Nailed to a pine-tree was a blackened and grinning skull. 
 It was that of a celebrated robber who had for forty years 
 been the terror of those mountain solitudes. Caught at 
 last, he had been executed, and then fastened to the very 
 tree under which he had committed his last murder. Yet, 
 only just before this visit of Madame to the spot, some 
 unfortunate wayfarers had been plundered, exactly beneath 
 the ghastly skull. Madame was fated to see more than 
 she liked of the robber gang before long. 
 
 A few leagues beyond the defile of the grinning skull 
 the country became difficult, even more than any they had 
 before passed through. It was one succession of deep 
 ravines. The horses climbed up one crag and slid down 
 another. At the bottom of each defile brawled a rushing 
 torrent, the crossing of which sometimes involved danger. 
 
 63 
 
DESOLATE COUNTRY 
 
 Not a bite for man or beast was to be had. There were 
 no trees and no grass ; even Nebuchadnezzar, Madame 
 whimsically says, would have found himself at a nonplus. 
 Not a village was met with, not even a solitary house. 
 The mules were weary, and could only be kept going by 
 the wild choruses the drivers joined in perpetually. If 
 they inquired of a chance passer-by they encountered, the 
 men were always told that the village was " behind the 
 next hill." 
 
 As there were gentlemen accompanying this cross- 
 country expedition, it may well be supposed that they 
 were now and then on the look-out for a little sport. A 
 zorillo, or rnouffetes, as the naturalist Buffon calls the 
 animal, crossing the path of the party one cold morning, 
 put all the men on the qui vive. The zorillo somewhat 
 resembles a brown and white fox, with an enormous tail 
 sticking up into the air like a flag ; his smell is dreadful, 
 the lady tells us. Pell-mell after the beast rushed the 
 men, some on foot, others on horseback ; some carrying guns 
 or pistols, some with little in the way of weapons save sharp 
 knives. The zorillo led the hunters a rare chase, uphill, 
 downhill, over torrent, doubling, winding, feigning death 
 occasionally. But the brute appeared to have a charmed 
 life ; it seemed bullet-proof. At last it was wounded in 
 the paw, and stopped as if done for. The pursuers, in 
 high glee, rushed forward to seize their prey, sure of 
 getting it ; but, to their mortification, the animal slipped 
 them among the long grass, above which his tail showed 
 conspicuously, as if in mockery, and he was lost in the 
 fog. 
 
 While the men plied their sport, the ladies had their 
 
 64 
 
THE HOT SPRINGS OF CUINCHO 
 
 excitement, as they stood at some distance. An immense 
 wolf loomed out of the mist, and trotted close up to the 
 ladies. Needless to say, they set up a loud scream, with 
 one accord calling on the gentlemen for help. The cry 
 was too much for the wolf, luckily, for he went off with a 
 rush. 
 
 A visit to the hot springs of Cuincho, amidst wild and 
 striking scenery, brought an adventure of a different kind. 
 The ladies were left to enjoy their bath, the mules to be 
 brought for them at a later hour. The bath proved 
 delicious, the water being at almost exactly the same 
 temperature as the body. The bathers were very loth 
 to come out of the spring, but as they had nine leagues to 
 travel before nightfall, to the town of Pascuaro, they were 
 compelled at last to do so. To their surprise the mules 
 had not arrived, and to while away the time of waiting the 
 ladies strolled among the hills in the neighbourhood. 
 It began to grow dusk ; the ladies were both alarmed and 
 hungry, but still no sign of the mules. Just as it became 
 dark, however, there arrived an escort of twenty-three 
 lancers, with a Captain at their head ; they had been sent 
 by the Governor, to accompany the travellers on the 
 remainder of their journey. It was too late to travel any 
 more that day, in a trackless and mountainous country, 
 and the best had to be made of the situation. The 
 Captain and others of the men caught a tough old hen and 
 put it into a pot to boil for the ladies. Then a little clean 
 straw on the floor of an outhouse furnished a bed for the 
 high-born dames. The cold, the mosquitoes, and other 
 animals, prevented anything like sound sleeping, however. 
 They were very eager to kick off the straw in the early 
 
 65 E 
 
UNPLEASANT COMPANY 
 
 morning, and get on their way again, escorted by the 
 lancers. On the road they learnt strange things from the 
 peasantry. That night, it appeared, had been a most 
 active one with the robbers. Two mules had been carried 
 off with their cargoes, the drivers being left tied to trees ; 
 in another case a woman had been robbed, and bound hand 
 and foot. The ladies began to have many misgivings as to 
 the fate of their own mules and their drivers. Presently 
 they came up with the missing party, who, having lost 
 themselves on the previous evening, had stayed for the 
 night at a little settlement in a valley. It was abundantly 
 clear that they had only just missed falling into the hands 
 of the robbers. 
 
 The united party, still under the protection of the 
 lancers, received an awkward and a disagreeable addition to 
 their numbers, at Pascuaro, namely, a couple of notorious 
 mountain robbers, who, fast bound, were given into the 
 custody of the lancers to be taken to Uruapa, for execution. 
 One of these was Morales, whose lawless and ferocious deeds 
 had long been the terror of the country. This fellow's last 
 crime had been so horribly atrocious that even the Indians, 
 who all along had refrained from betraying him, had 
 grown disgusted. They had suddenly seized Morales and 
 one of his men, and had carried them to the authorities at 
 Pascuaro. A speedy trial had resulted in the death 
 sentence for the two, and now a favourable oppor- 
 tunity of sending them on to the place of execution, 
 Uruapa, had come. So Madame de la Barca and her com- 
 panions had to put up with unpleasant company for a 
 time. 
 
 The robber leader was a typical brigand chief. Says 
 
 66 
 
A TYPICAL BRIGAND CHIEF 
 
 the lady, " he was equal to any of Salvator's brigands, in his 
 wild and striking figure and countenance. He wore a 
 dark-coloured blanket, and a black hat, the broad leaf of 
 which was slouched over his face, which was the colour of 
 death, while his eyes seemed to belong to a tiger or other 
 beast of prey !" For years this fellow had been the captain 
 of a band of nearly a hundred mountain robbers, the 
 terror not only of all travellers and villagers in the district, 
 but also even of the camps of Indians themselves. The 
 amount of plunder taken by this gang reached a prodigious 
 figure altogether, whilst the most horrible crimes of other 
 kinds had been committed, the barbarities often being too 
 shocking to relate. It was this lawless band that Madame 
 and her friends had providentially escaped, through the 
 accident which had detained them for the night at the hot 
 springs. Now the rascals had lost their leader for ever. 
 No wonder the lady says she never saw such a picture of 
 fierce misery as Morales. His companion was a miserable 
 tattered wretch, his face livid with fear. 
 
 Across the wildest of wild countries the cavalcade made 
 its way, through dark woods, down almost perpendicular 
 precipices, over dashing river and swollen torrent, along 
 mountain flank, and down into deep ravine. Madame de 
 la Barca could not take her eyes from the wretches whom 
 every step brought nearer the place of execution. The 
 two were chained together by the leg, and marched on 
 foot, under the guard of five of the soldiers told off for the 
 purpose. More than once she caught the eye of Morales, 
 and she knew that, even in that desperate situation, he was 
 ever watching for some opportunity of making at least a 
 mad dash for liberty. Once, indeed, she suddenly saw his 
 
 67 E 2 
 
NIGHT IN A BARN 
 
 face assume such a look, his eye " glaring with such a 
 frightful expression that, forgetful of his chains, I whipped 
 up my horse, in the greatest consternation, over stones and 
 rocks.'" The place and the look in the eye of the brigand 
 were in perfect unison. The whole scene was "horribly 
 beautiful." The defile was deep and dark, with a pro- 
 digious amount of vegetation, which, however, with all its 
 profusion, was unable wholly to conceal the fearful crags 
 and precipices met with in every direction. 
 
 It was found impossible to reach Uruapa that day, and 
 a halt for the night had to be made at a wretched Indian 
 settlement on the way. Nothing better than an old barn 
 offered itself as a shelter for the ladies. It was not exactly 
 a pleasant lodging, for the barn was built of rough logs, 
 with innumerable chinks and holes by which the keen 
 mountain air could enter. Outside was a drove of pigs, 
 who were constantly thrusting their snouts through the 
 interstices between the logs, keeping up a loud if not 
 harmonious grunting and squeaking the while. In this 
 miserable hole the ladies had to dispose themselves to 
 sleep as best they might. The soldiers made a fire outside, 
 but quite near the barn, and sat round it. Madame could 
 not help peeping through the cracks at the face of the 
 robber, Morales, who, with his companion in chains, sat 
 with the soldiers. The countenances of the two haunted 
 the lady through the night. But that was not all. In 
 addition to the grunting of the pigs, the singing of the j 
 mosquitoes presently began, while the piercing blasts blew 
 in at every chink. The party were up betimes, it needs 
 not to say. What was their horror when they found 
 under what conditions they had slept! Abo ve their heads, 
 
 68 
 
THE VOLCANO JORULLO 
 
 in a crack between the logs of the barn, a whole nest of 
 scorpions was discovered, their tails twisted together ! 
 "Imagine the condition of the unfortunate slumberer," 
 cries Madame, " on whose devoted head they had descended 
 en masse C 
 
 A magnificent view of the volcano Jorullo was obtained 
 from many of the points of vantage along the route pur- 
 sued, and our travellers were eager to pay a visit to that 
 romantic and notorious peak. But the road was described 
 as being impracticable, and, moreover, as being without 
 shade, so that the journey thither would be insupportably 
 hot, and the ladies were compelled to abandon all hope of 
 reaching the spot. They learnt a good deal of the volcano, 
 however, which as yet was less than a century old. Its 
 birth took place in the year 1759, being heralded by 
 earthquakes for three months previously. Then, suddenly, 
 the ground heaved, and " a terrible eruption burst forth, 
 which filled all the inhabitants with astonishment and 
 terror, and which Humboldt considers one of the most 
 extraordinary physical revolutions that ever took place on 
 the surface of the globe. Flames issued from the earth for 
 a space of more than a square league. Masses of burning 
 rock were thrown to an immense height, and through a 
 thick cloud of ashes, illuminated by the volcanic fire, the 
 whitened crust of the earth was seen gradually swelling up. 
 The ashes even covered the roofs of the houses at forty-eight 
 leagues distance, and the rivers of San Andres and Cui- 
 tumba sank into the burning masses. The flames were seen 
 at Pascuaro ; and from the hills of Agua-Zarca was beheld 
 the birth of this volcanic mountain, the burning offspring 
 of an earthquake, which, bursting from the bosom of the 
 
 69 
 
LOST IN THE DARKNESS 
 
 earth, changed the whole face of the country for a con- 
 siderable distance round."" 
 
 On their way back to Mexico the ladies could not resist 
 the temptation to bathe once more in the hot springs of 
 Cuincho, taking care this time to retain their mounts and 
 servants in the neighbourhood. Yet even now they had 
 some small adventures. They stayed in the water so late 
 that it was dark before they could reach Morelia, for which 
 place they were bound. The fear of meeting robbers was 
 less than it had been while Morales still remained Captain 
 of the brigands. But " the horses, being unable to see, 
 took enormous leaps over every streamlet and ditch, so 
 that we seemed to be riding a steeplechase in the dark. 
 Our gowns caught upon the thorny bushes, and our 
 journey might have been traced by the tatters we left 
 behind us. At length we rode the wrong way, up a stony 
 hill, which led us to a wretched little village of about 
 thirty huts, each hut having ten dogs on an average, ac- 
 cording to the laudable custom of the Indians. Out they 
 all rushed simultaneously, yelping like three hundred 
 demons, biting the horses' feet, and springing round us. 
 Between this canine concert, the kicking of the horses, the 
 roar of a waterfall close beside us, the shouting of the 
 people telling us to come back, and the pitch darkness, I 
 thought we should all have gone distracted. We did, 
 however, make our way out from among the dogs, re- 
 descended the stony hill, the horses leaping over various 
 streamlets that crossed their path, turned into the right 
 road, and entered the gates of Morelia, without further 
 adventure, between nine and ten o'clock." A late hour 
 for ladies to be out amongst wild mountains, and at the 
 
 70 
 
LOST IN THE DARKNESS 
 
 mercy of the robbers that might be left, for the escort of 
 soldiers was not now at hand. But Madame de la Barca 
 was not only a charming writer — that is seen in a moment 
 from a peep into her letters — she was also a plucky and 
 adventurous lady. 
 
 71 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 ALBANIAN MOUNTAINEERS 
 
 Western side of Turkish peninsula not well known — Mr. E. 
 Spencer, an English traveller — The denies of the Drin — A 
 world split into shivers — Dangerous bridges and blindfolded 
 horses — The guide Stefa — A mountain inn — Crowded with 
 armed rebels — Angry scowls — A judicious present — "His 
 Serene Highness the Ingleski Bey " — Peace and friendship — 
 A break-neck ride — An appalling hurricane — Berat, on the 
 summit of a rock — In the company of a troop of Albanian 
 insurgents — A terribly difficult country — Berat in a panic — 
 Preparing to withstand the attack of the rebels — Spencer on 
 the road to Avlona — A miserable night above a wild torrent — 
 All the mountain passes seized by the rebels — Terrified flight 
 of officials and citizens from Avlona — Approach of rebels — 
 Soldiers prepare to defend a little hamlet — Two rusty cannon 
 — Spencer in a hayloft, to watch the fight — A useless parley — 
 Cannon brought to bear — One bursts, the other will not ignite 
 — All up with the soldiers — They chum with the rebels — 
 Departure of the whole to Avlona — The risks of the " Ladder" 
 — A bad snake bite — The Englishman as surgeon — Fording the 
 Scharkos — Spencer pulled off his horse by a frightened Jew — 
 Four men in the boiling torrent — Gallant rescue of a Bey by 
 Spencer — The use of a lock of long hair — An attack by water- 
 fowl — An extraordinary adventure. 
 
 The western side of the Turkish peninsula is a district of 
 mountain and stream, of towering precipices intersected 
 by fertile valleys, inhabited by picturesque and often law- 
 less and turbulent peoples. In this country, chiefly in the 
 
 72 
 
AN UNEXPLORED DISTRICT 
 
 classic Albania, wandered Mr. E. Spencer between the 
 years 1845 and 1850, meeting with many adventures, such 
 as would be sure to befall so enterprising and daring a 
 traveller in such a land. Even in our own day, the district 
 is not well known to the rest of Europe, but in those 
 earlier Victorian times the collections of small states and 
 their half-wild folk were almost as great a mystery to the 
 majority of civilized people as the interior of Africa itself. 
 There were no roads, and the country was an uncom- 
 promisingly difficult one to traverse ; there were few 
 guardians of the law ; and there were brigands in plenty. 
 
 Mr. Spencer left the defile of the Drin, in the course of 
 his cross-country journeyings, and began to ascend the 
 opposing mountain. The ascent was very steep, and the 
 only way up was through a cleft in the rocks, a torrent 
 running down it in the rainy seasons. It was ticklish work 
 to steady the horses in their progress up this rocky trough. 
 Grand oaks overhung the track, but, in the absence of 
 roads, the timber was useless to the inhabitants of the 
 country. The mountains were broken up in an extra- 
 ordinary way by deep clefts and wild gorges, as if an 
 earthquake had split the world into shivers. Often, 
 indeed generally, the only way of crossing was by frail 
 wooden bridges, from the planks of which the eye looked 
 down in alarm on an " abyss beneath frightful to behold. 
 To cross one of these, without any railing or support, 
 required no little nerve ; yet, if we could divest ourselves 
 of the fear, so natural to man, knowing that the slightest 
 false step hurls him to destruction," there is, in reality, no 
 more danger to be dreaded than if the bridge crossed a 
 mere rivulet. The traveller, however, goes on to tell us 
 
 73 
 
A MOUNTAIN INN 
 
 that not one of his horses would cross such a bridge 
 unless he were first blindfolded, and then led across by a 
 man he knew well. 
 
 The guide, Stefa by name, had a great dread of spend- 
 ing the night out on the open mountain-side, ever fearful 
 lest they should fall a prey to bear or wolf, or, worse still, 
 bandit, all of which prowled about those rugged mountain 
 lands. The Englishman, on his part, knowing only too 
 well the numbers and the pertinacity of the insect tribes 
 in the Turkish inns, preferred to bivouac under the 
 open canopy of heaven. Sometimes they fared worse by 
 going into the haunts of men than if they had camped in 
 some lonely gorge. One of the mountain hans, or inns, 
 they found crowded by men armed at all points, under the 
 command of their rebel chief, Julika. A single look was 
 sufficient for Stefa, and, indeed, the angry scowls of the 
 insurgents were enough to frighten a stouter heart. The 
 guide's "ghastly features and trembling limbs " proved 
 how great was his terror in the presence of those wild 
 mountaineers. His master hastened to put all his valu- 
 ables into the hands of the innkeeper for safe custody, 
 realizing the situation at once. He then sent the shiver- 
 ing Stefa to the rebel crowd with a handsome present of 
 first-rate tobacco and right pungent snuff. Stefa pre- 
 sented these with many a respectful salute, and stated 
 that they came from his master, " His Serene Highness 
 the Ingleski Bey." This manoeuvre at once brought the 
 Englishman into the good graces of Julika and his men, 
 and the rebel chief himself hobnobbed with the stranger 
 for the rest of the evening. On parting, Spencer gave his 
 new friend a pair of pistols, and Julika responded by 
 
 74 
 
AN APPALLING HURRICANE 
 
 presenting him with a beautifully- worked poniard. It 
 was not only as a weapon of defence that this latter had 
 its value. " Preserve this as a talisman," the rebel chief 
 enjoined him, for the sight of the poniard would ensure 
 peace and protection at the hands of any of Julika's hardy 
 adherents — a numerous band, and widely scattered among 
 the mountains. The Englishman had come well out of 
 what had seemed at first a fatal trap. 
 
 One day, after " a break-neck ride of some hours up a 
 pathway carried along the precipitous sides of a mountain 
 some thousand feet high," in the midst of the grandest 
 scenery, the setting of the sun was accompanied by the 
 outburst of the most violent storm the traveller had ever 
 seen, which frightened even the experienced dwellers among 
 the Albanian mountains. The suddenness of it was 
 astonishing and startling. In a moment or two it grew 
 intensely dark ; the wind howled through the trees, and 
 then burst into a perfect tornado. Forked lightning 
 " flashed above, now around, and again beneath us, light- 
 ing up an unfathomable abyss, succeeded by peals of 
 thunder reverberating from rock to rock, and from moun- 
 tain to mountain, with a deafening crash, as if Nature, in 
 convulsive cataclysms, was sinking into chaos, while the 
 rain poured down as if from a waterspout." With great 
 difficulty, and no little danger, the travellers struggled on 
 for a space, the terrific gusts almost sweeping man and 
 beast down the awful precipices below, till at length they 
 were lucky enough to find shelter under a big overhanging 
 rock, where they sat out the hurricane with what patience 
 they could. 
 
 When our traveller was approaching Berat, a place 
 
 75 
 
BERAT 
 
 of importance, standing picturesquely on trie top of a huge 
 rock, and always in command of a Turkish officer of rank, 
 the disturbed state of the country so distressed and 
 alarmed Stefa, that he refused to go on, unless in the 
 company of another body of wayfarers. As luck would 
 have it, up galloped a well-mounted party of Albanian 
 insurgents, and with these the Englishman and his servants 
 went for some distance. These fellows turned aside near 
 the town and left Spencer to enter the place with his men. 
 A curious sight met the stranger's eyes. The Governor, 
 in preparation for a strong attack that he had heard 
 the rebels were about to make on Berat, had ordered the 
 citizens to bring all their valuables up from the lower 
 town to the citadel. Men and women were struggling 
 to pull huge trunks up the perpendicular cliffs of rock by 
 the aid of ropes, the women vainly attempting to keep 
 their yashmaks over their faces the while. Fat and lazy 
 citizens were tugging at big burdens, for want of a 
 sufficient supply of porters. Up in the citadel itself there 
 was a large and motley crowd, camping out in any avail- 
 able spot, their goods around them. The fear patent in 
 every countenance was ludicrous to the Englishman, but the 
 situation was alarming enough for the townsmen. The 
 Governor had had his score of cannon planted so as to 
 command the passes leading to the town, but also so as to 
 be unseen by any who approached. Stefa was frightened 
 almost out of his senses. 
 
 As it fell out, the Governor was sending two hundred 
 men to occupy the road leading to Avlona, and with these 
 Spencer and his following travelled on. The way lay 
 through the defiles of Mount Scrapari, and there the 
 
 76 
 
ON THE ROAD TO AVLONA 
 
 Englishman looked about him with no little apprehension. 
 Had the rebels appeared then, the Governor's troops 
 might have been annihilated in a few minutes. Spencer 
 began to wish himself in other company. The night was 
 miserably spent at a wretched mountain inn overhanging a 
 wild torrent. In the morning the reports ran that Julika 
 had secured every mountain pass in the district ; that he 
 was on his way with a very large following to seize 
 Avlona ; and that he might be expected at any moment. 
 Stefa, now more than ever alarmed, insisted on taking 
 himself and his horses back to Berat. The Englishman, 
 not to be thwarted in his wishes to go on to Avlona, 
 sprang suddenly upon his steed and galloped off in the 
 direction of that town. The unfortunate guide, tortured 
 between the fear of losing his animal and his almost 
 greater dread of the rebels, was constrained to follow his 
 master. The ride to Avlona, enlivened by Stefa's wild 
 cries and bitter reproaches, came to an unexpected end, 
 however. 
 
 " After riding for about half an hour, we met a cavalcade 
 of horsemen, accompanied by a troop of the kavaas 
 (police), galloping furiously, as if followed by a host of 
 demons. We afterwards learnt that this was the Governor 
 and the principal officers of Avlona, who, on the first 
 intimation of danger, had left the town to its own resources, 
 and made their escape to Berat. They were speedily 
 followed by another cavalcade of the citizens, who, with 
 doleful countenances, assured us that Avlona was already 
 in possession of the insurgents."" There was nothing for it 
 but to go back to the wretched inn and the troops, which 
 Spencer did with a very bad grace. 
 
 77 
 
DEFENCE OF BERAT 
 
 After this events marched rapidly. The rebels were 
 seen to be approaching, and the soldiers planted their two 
 rusty cannon, and disposed themselves to defend the spot. 
 Our Englishman, a non-combatant, was yet determined to 
 see all he could. He mounted into a hayloft, removed a tile 
 or two, and had the whole view in front of and below him. 
 A laughable scene followed—Spencer found even the most 
 dangerous situation laughable — the rebels without, who 
 mustered in strong force on the shelving sides of the 
 mountain, were not to be drawn within reach of the guns, 
 and the defenders inside dared not sally out upon the 
 enemy. A few ineffective shots were fired on both sides, 
 and thus the day wore on. It was plain the rebels were 
 only waiting till darkness to cross the torrent and fall on 
 the camp, and the panic-stricken defenders saw this, and 
 sent men to parley with the foe. Nothing came of the 
 conference, and the commander of the troops prepared to 
 take decisive measures, dragging out his two rusty cannon. 
 
 "These dreadful implements of war were quickly har- 
 nessed, and, with lighted matches, the tacticoes (soldiers) 
 commenced their march, when lo ! a party of well-mounted 
 cavaliers, who seemed to rise out of the hills, bore down 
 upon them with a horrible yell. The cannon were brought 
 to bear upon them, but, alas ! one burst and the other 
 would not ignite ! All was now over with the tacticoes^ 
 and, to save their lives, they fraternized with the rebels, 
 allowing their officers to be made prisoners. The victorious 
 party, with shouts of triumph, firing of guns, and brandish- 
 ing of weapons, now poured into the village, where they 
 remained a short time refreshing themselves, and then, 
 reinforced by two hundred muskets and ammunition, 
 
 78 
 
Awkward Allies 
 
 One of the cannon refused to ignite and another exploded, leaving the soldiers 
 at the mercy of the enemy. 
 
ASCENT OF THE LADDER 
 
 continued their march to Avlona." Mr. Spencer in his 
 hayloft, and Stefa, probably well hidden somewhere else, 
 were thus suddenly relieved from all fears of a violent 
 death, which had seemed to await them in the earlier part 
 of the day. The Englishman, for all his light-heartedness, 
 was very thankful, and confessed that he had had a narrow 
 escape. 
 
 At a later stage of his travels the " Ingleski Bey " was 
 in the neighbourhood of Mount Ergenik, where a certain 
 terrible ascent was well called by the natives the Scela, or 
 ladder. It was a frightful place, especially at one spot 
 where a sudden bend gave a sight of the river roaring far, 
 far below. A jutting crag a little farther on seemed to 
 put an end to the passage altogether, but, by edging 
 cautiously along a narrow ledge which they found, the party 
 managed to round the obstruction. Their troubles were 
 not yet over, for a huge mountain mass next appeared, 
 right in front, seeming to preclude all further progress. 
 But a narrow cleft was spied in the rocks, wet and slippery 
 with the spray from a racing little torrent, and up this 
 the horses had to struggle. Fortunately, no slip occurred, 
 or it would have been certain death for both animal and 
 rider. 
 
 Travellers in out-of-the-way places have often to act as 
 surgeons, and Mr. Spencer was no exception. Camping 
 one evening in some ruins, which they found in a wild 
 spot, no inn being available, the men neglected to make a 
 fire — a mistake in such a place. One of them, a Jew, 
 spreading his carpet on the ground, was badly poisoned by 
 a snake, such as are often found about old ruined buildings. 
 The wound was evidently a very dangerous one, and the 
 
 79 
 
A BAD SNAKE-BITE 
 
 Jew's case seemed desperate. But the Englishman was 
 fortunate enough to have attended lectures by the great 
 surgeon, Sir Astley Cooper, and at once applied his know- 
 ledge. Bandaging the damaged finger tight above the 
 wound to prevent the poison from being carried by the 
 blood into the system, he anointed it with sweet oil, 
 dosing the patient at the same time with the spirit known 
 as raki. A plaster of salt and gunpowder completed the 
 cure, to the intense delight of everybody. 
 
 But this Jew would seem to have been a most unlucky 
 person. It was necessary to ford the Scharkos, a rapid 
 and dangerous torrent, full of holes and rocks. In order 
 to keep their legs from getting wet, the men all crossed 
 them on their saddles, while the horses struggled over. 
 As ill-luck would have it, the Jew was perched high, 
 having a good deal of merchandise beneath him ; conse- 
 quently, when the passage was in progress, he swayed 
 about a good deal. At last, full in mid-stream, he sud- 
 denly clutched the Englishman to keep himself from 
 falling. In a moment both the men were thrown headlong 
 into the turbulent stream, the Jew yelling lustily. The 
 noise and the splash startled two of the other horses, and 
 in an instant their riders, also, were struggling in the 
 water. One of these, Hadji, was carried off his feet and 
 borne rapidly down the torrent. He was only saved by 
 the gallantry of a fellow-servant, Pietro by name. The 
 other unfortunate was a Bey, and he was so heavily 
 encumbered with his load of weapons — gun, sabre, pistols, 
 and the like — that he was in bad case. 
 
 The Englishman, after coming to the surface, gazed 
 eagerly around to see how his brethren fared. He grasped 
 
 80 
 
FORDING THE SCHARKOS 
 
 the situation at once. Telling the Jew to hang on to his 
 horse's tail and he would be dragged in safety to the other 
 bank, he went to the help of the Bey. " Lo !" he says, 
 "all I beheld was a long lock of hair floating on the 
 surface of the water. This revealed to me the danger of 
 the unfortunate Bey, who had fallen into a hole and was 
 struggling for life. To seize his hair and roll it tightly 
 round my arm was the work of an instant, and thus, 
 drawing him after me, I had the satisfaction of conveying 
 my half-drowned companion to dry land." Many jokes 
 did the Englishman make on the usefulness of the lock of 
 long hair which the Prophet had enjoined all his faithful 
 to wear. But as for the Jew, the rest of the party would 
 not have him at any price. They regarded him as the 
 cause of all their mishaps, and refused point-blank to 
 travel further with him. So Ben Isaac had to go on his 
 way alone. 
 
 A very singular adventure befell Spencer and his man at 
 another place. There was a vast hollow among the 
 mountains, which was filled with a huge bog. The bog 
 was tenanted by incredible numbers of aquatic birds of 
 every kind. The report of the gun fired at one of these 
 birds brought about a tremendous commotion among the 
 feathered occupants of the marsh. The sound of the gun 
 reverberated far and wide among the mountains, and 
 instantly the air was darkened by dense clouds of birds. 
 Then, strange to relate, great masses of these bore down 
 upon the intruders with the utmost determination and 
 anger. The din was deafening, and, seeing the hostile 
 intent of the birds, Hadji, the servant, became terribly 
 alarmed. He thought his last hour had come, and, 
 
 81 F 
 
ATTACK BY WATERFOWL 
 
 muttering a hasty prayer, with a doleful " Amaan ! 
 amaan !" he threw himself under his horse's belly for pro- 
 tection against the attacks of the winged thousands. Mr. 
 Spencer took a more practical view of the situation and 
 fired again, dispersing the enemy. But only for a few 
 moments. With the keenest zest the birds returned 
 again and again to the attack, till at last, as the traveller 
 whimsically says, "I had expended as much powder as 
 would have sufficed to storm a Turkish garrison."" But 
 the fowls were strangely persistent, and never left the men 
 a minute's peace till they had seen them fairly off the 
 premises. 
 
 Spencer notes two good things that came out of this 
 strange attack : First, the tremendous flapping of wings 
 removed all the steamy heat from the valley, making the 
 air deliciously cool ; and next, the expenditure of gun- 
 powder resulted in such a stench that it drove away 
 entirely the hordes of mosquitoes which had before made 
 the place intolerable. Hadji's profound thankfulness 
 caused his master much amusement. It is quite possible, 
 however, that the two men, had they been without 
 weapons of any kind, might have fared badly among such 
 myriads of winged enemies, some of them of great size and 
 undoubted courage. 
 
 82 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE ROBBER REGION OF THE MEXICAN MOUNTAINS 
 
 A typical scene in the mountains of Mexico — Mr. Bayard Taylor, 
 an American traveller — Curious and disconcerting experiences 
 — " They are demons !"— Hostility of El Chucho, the dog- 
 Hordes of hungry insects — Approaching the " robber region 
 — Many warnings to the traveller — All unheeded — The two 
 Indians on the lonely mountain track — Offer to carry the 
 traveller's blankets — Suspicions aroused — A fresh cap on the 
 pistol — The hint is enough — The little town of Magdalena 
 among the hills — ' ' Don't you want a guide ?" — A lonely ravine 
 — Suddenly covered by a double-barrelled musket — Horse and 
 man led down into the thickets — Stripped, searched, plundered 
 — i( How is it you have no more money with you ?" — All taken 
 save horse and papers — A struggle with bonds — ' ( The India- 
 rubber man " — Three robbers on a gibbet — A ghastly spectacle 
 — A military station met with — A policy of masterly inactivity 
 — Cold and exposure at high elevations — A raging toothache — 
 Horse quite knocked up — Arrival in another den of thieves — 
 A kindly padre — Safe in the capital at last. 
 
 " I climbed up to the grand Barranca, a tremendous chasm, 
 dividing two sections of the tableland. Two thousand feet 
 below, at the level of the Tierra Caliente, lay a strip of 
 Eden-like richness and beauty ; but the mountains which 
 walled it in on both sides were dark, sterile, and savage. 
 Those opposite to me rose as far above the level of the 
 ledge on which I stood as their bases sank below it. Their 
 appearance was indescribably grand . . . the road descend- 
 
 83 F 2 
 
CURIOUS EXPERIENCES 
 
 ing to Plan de Barranca, a little village at the bottom of 
 the chasm, is built with great labour along the very verge 
 of giddy precipices, or notched under the eaves of crags 
 which threaten to topple down upon it. The ascent of 
 the opposite steep is effected by a stony trail, barely large 
 enough for two mules to pass, up the side of a wide crevice 
 in the mountain- wall. Finally, the path appears to fail ; 
 the precipice falls sheer on one side ; the bare crag rises 
 on the other." 
 
 Such is the description given by Mr. Bayard Taylor, 
 the famous American traveller and writer, of a particular 
 spot, typical of many others, among the Mexican moun- 
 tains, a district traversed by him in the year 1849, when 
 Mexico was for the most part a lawless country, and most 
 insecure for travellers, especially those who ventured to 
 penetrate to its remoter localities. 
 
 Many were the curious experiences, and many the 
 dangers he met with in so wild a land and amongst so 
 lawless and reckless a population. It was in the days 
 when not a few Mexican mines were yielding good supplies 
 of silver ore, though in our own days many a one of those 
 mines is represented, as the phrase goes, by "a big hole 
 and a dead mule.'" Scores, nay hundreds, of idle scamps 
 lived mainly on their plunderings ; the government was 
 hopelessly incapable. Dirt, insect pests, inhospitality, 
 fatigue, exposure, hunger, danger — all had to be endured 
 by Mr. Taylor. Yet he nowhere exaggerates or unduly 
 heightens things in his descriptions ; rather is he disposed 
 to make light of the dangers and discomforts by his 
 humorous way of telling his story. A few of his ex- 
 periences among the mountains are worth recounting. 
 
 84 
 
HOSTILITY OF A DOG 
 
 On one occasion he was staying for the night at a rude 
 hut. When bedtime came, a boy fetched from the loft a 
 sort of woven cane frame. This was placed under the 
 portico, and the traveller, tumbling himself upon it, was 
 sound asleep in a couple of minutes. During the night he 
 was suddenly aroused by a " scream like that of a hundred 
 fieuds. The frame on which I lay was rocked to and fro, 
 and came near overturning. I sprang up in alarm, finding 
 my bed in the midst of a black, moving mass, from which 
 came the horrid sound. It proved to be a legion of hogs, 
 who had scented out a few grains of corn in a basket 
 which had held my horse's feed, and was placed under the 
 bed. The door of the hut opened, and the hostess ap- 
 peared with a lamp. At sight of her, the beasts gave a 
 hasty grunt, cleared the wall at one bound, and disap- 
 peared. ' They are demons P shrieked the woman. 1 ' Mr. 
 Taylor was disposed to think he would get another visit 
 from the pigs before morning, but they did not molest his 
 sleeping-place again. 
 
 On another occasion^ when he was passing the night at 
 a highland ranching station, one of the dogs took such a 
 violent dislike to him that it was necessary to put the 
 stranger to sleep on the top of a frail erection used for 
 drying fruit. There, a dozen feet above the ground, he was 
 safe enough from the attacks of the animal ; but all night 
 long, at the slightest movement on the part of the traveller, 
 El Chucho, as the dog was called, would set up a vile yell, 
 the rest of the dog tribe howling in concert. At yet 
 another place the people were most kind ; " but," says the 
 traveller, " all the fleas in the village, who had been with- 
 out sustenance for two days, pounced in upon me in 
 
 85 
 
THE "ROBBER REGION" 
 
 swarms. Added to this, every exposed part of the body 
 was attacked by legions of mosquitoes, so that, with such 
 enemies without and within, I never passed a more terrible 
 night." 
 
 But such experiences, though annoying and tiresome 
 enough at the time, were, after all, only incidents to laugh 
 at. Soon, however, there were more serious things to be 
 encountered. Taylor was, in fact, approaching the " robber 
 region," as the district was designated by the Mexicans. 
 Over and over again people expressed the utmost astonish- 
 ment that he should dream of going all alone across to 
 Vera Cruz. The Americans he met were especially loud 
 and instant in their warnings. The Mexicans, they 
 declared, were robbers to a man; a strangers life was 
 rarely safe among the mountains ; and the hatred of the 
 natives towards the Americans caused all strangers from 
 the States to be subjected to continual insults, if nothing 
 worse. But Mr. Taylor nevertheless went on his way in 
 the best of spirits, determined to believe nothing of all 
 this till he saw for himself. 
 
 He had not long to wait ; presently he got a foretaste 
 of what was to come later. He was pushing on one even- 
 ing, his horse becoming more weary at every step, and as 
 yet not a sign of a habitation to be discerned. Then two 
 Indians, mounted on small horses, came down from the 
 heights by a crooked path, and rode just in front of him 
 for a considerable distance. 
 
 a Are you not afraid to travel alone ?" one of the fellows 
 presently asked. 
 
 "What should I be afraid of?" returned the American 
 coolly. 
 
 86 
 
SUSPICIONS AROUSED 
 
 " Why, the robbers." 
 
 " Robbers ! I should like to see them." 
 
 " Rather too bold," muttered the Indian. 
 
 The two then began to pity the tired horse, and next 
 praised the traveller's blankets. One of these blankets 
 they were soon trying to beg, and that failing, to buy. 
 At last, as a new plan, they offered to carry the blankets 
 behind their own saddles. All in vain ; the American 
 would not trust his property out of his own hands. The 
 Indians trotted on, but at the next bend in the path 
 Taylor found the fellows waiting for him. This kind of 
 thing happening two or three times, the traveller's sus- 
 picions became aroused. So he calmly took his pistol out 
 of his pocket, put on a fresh cap, and held himself in 
 readiness for whatever might arrive. His coolness, doubt- 
 less, saved him ; the rascals were certainly watching him 
 through the trees, for suddenly they started off at full 
 gallop, and were seen no more. 
 
 But Taylor was soon to have an experience of a much 
 more serious kind, unfortunately for him. His horse, on 
 reaching the brink of the grand Barranca, spoken of in 
 the first paragraph of this narrative, had had enough of 
 it among the hard hills and thin air of those lofty regions, 
 and a halt was made for the night at an inn at Mochitilte, 
 an immense building, standing up among the gaunt hills 
 like a big fortress. It was a wretched place at which to 
 stop, being bare, dismal, and comfortless. The wind was 
 more than chilly, and Mr. Taylor was glad to cover himself 
 with his horse's blanket. 
 
 He slept soundly enough, and was off again by the time 
 the sun showed himself above the horizon. The way led 
 
 87 
 
"DON'T YOU WANT A GUIDE?'' 
 
 up, and ever up, for league after league, till he had 
 reached a great height, and had got himself entangled 
 amongst the wild, bare mountains. Then he dropped 
 down to the little town of Magdalena, lying at the foot of 
 a glen, and there breakfasted. "Don't you want a guide?" 
 asked the landlord of the inn as the traveller prepared to 
 start again. " The road is full of robbers."" And the 
 man went on to explain that every traveller took a guard 
 as far as Tequila, paying each man of his escort a dollar. 
 The proposal did not commend itself to Mr. Taylor, who 
 made answer that he was not afraid of robbers, and, not- 
 withstanding the host's warning that he would certainly 
 be robbed if he started alone, the American set off. 
 
 Soon after leaving the town he met a company of a 
 hundred soldiers, who were in charge of some fifty mules 
 laden with precious ore from the mines. He was not 
 sorry to see them, judging that the presence of so strong 
 a force of soldiery in the district would frighten off the 
 robbers. He needed all the confidence this thought gave 
 him, for soon the road entered a narrow pass, with any 
 number of twists and turns. There, at the bottom of a 
 dry watercourse, nearly twenty feet deep, the traveller 
 plodded on for three leagues. In this very ravine, his 
 friend, Lieutenant Beale, had been chased by robbers only 
 the year before. Not a soul was encountered now. 
 
 A startling change of scene next presented itself. Sud- 
 denly the pass came to an end, and there, far below him, 
 lay the town of Tequila. Just beyond the place rose the 
 "stupendous bulk of a black volcanic peak." Down an 
 almost impossible rock-wall his animal stumbled to the 
 town. The locality had an evil reputation, and so little 
 
 88 
 
A LOCALITY OF ILL REPUTE 
 
 did the traveller trust the folk that he stood by till his 
 animal had eaten his feed of corn, to keep off pilferers. 
 After dark he hardly ventured to stir out of doors. He 
 slept scarcely at all, being almost devoured by the fleas. 
 
 A singular occurrence next morning set him pondering. 
 It was at a miserable little hill settlement, at no very 
 great distance along the track. He gave the woman of 
 the house a Mexican dollar to pay for some light refresh- 
 ment he had had. The woman took the coin to the shop 
 to change, but presently brought it back, saying it was a 
 bad one. A second coin was similarly reported on. When 
 the same tale was told of a third dollar, Taylor lost all 
 patience, and refused to produce another. As he passed 
 the shop on his way out of the hamlet, a little group of 
 dirty and disreputable-looking fellows, who were drinking, 
 offered him wine, which he declined, whereupon one of the 
 rascals shouted after him, " It is the last time. 1 ' It was 
 not till later that Taylor came to see the meaning of all 
 this : the people of the place were desirous of finding out 
 whether the traveller were a rich man or no. 
 
 Before noon he found himself in a dreary and lonely 
 spot on the spur of a volcano. Here he dropped into a 
 rugged defile, with a deep ravine or gorge on the right. 
 He could not help thinking what a place this would be for 
 robber operations, and that he had better load his pistol. 
 " Scarcely had the thought passed through my mind " — to 
 quote the traveller's own words^-"when a little bush 
 beside the road seemed to rise up. I turned suddenly, 
 and, in a breath, the two barrels of a musket were before 
 me, so near and surely aimed, that I could almost see the 
 bullets at the bottom. The weapon was held by a ferocious 
 
 89 
 
ATTACKED AND CAPTURED 
 
 native, dressed in a pink calico shirt and white pantaloons. 
 On the other side of me stood a second, covering me with 
 another double-barrelled musket, and a little in the rear 
 appeared a third. I had walked, like an unsuspecting 
 mouse, into the very teeth of the trap laid for me.'" 
 
 So suddenly and so quietly had all this taken place that 
 the traveller for a moment or two sat still in his saddle, 
 hardly taking in the situation, in spite of the hissed com- 
 mand of the first robber: " Down with your pistol !" The 
 summons was repeated, this time more fiercely, and the 
 two muzzles were brought nearer to his breast. By this 
 time Taylor was fully alive to what was meant, and he at 
 once threw down his pistol, and got off his horse. The 
 fellows, keeping their victim well covered the while, picked 
 up the fallen weapon, and commanded the owner to bring 
 his beast along. Down into the gorge they led the way, 
 for about a quarter of a mile, and away from the regular 
 track. Here they halted, in a copse of bushes and tall 
 grass, perfectly screened from observation from the moun- 
 tain road. One of the fellows lay in ambush above, to 
 keep watch over the path. 
 
 All the rest now levelled their guns, and a more timid 
 man than Mr. Taylor might have been excused if he had 
 thought his last hour had come. But the American had 
 confidence that he would somehow come out of his diffi- 
 culties alive. His main feeling was one of shame and 
 disgust that he had allowed himself thus to be trapped. 
 However, he began to strip at the command of the gang, 
 throwing off his coat and vest with the words, " Take what 
 you want, but don't detain me long" The leader of the 
 robbers, the fellow in the pink shirt, eagerly snatched up 
 
 90 
 
Caught in a Trap 
 
 A ferocious native rose up suddenly and aimed his musket straight at me. In a moment 
 two others did the same ; so, at their hissed command, I was compelled to throw down my 
 pistol. ' 
 
A STRUGGLE WITH BONDS 
 
 the coat, and began to examine the pockets. The look on 
 the man's face was a study when he found that the purse 
 in one of the pockets contained but a very few dollars, and 
 Taylor smiled inwardly, as the phrase goes. 
 
 " How is it you have no more money with you ?" the 
 scoundrel asked angrily. 
 
 " I don't own any more,'" was the traveller's reply. 
 
 At Taylor's earnest request the papers were left him, 
 the leader saying they were worth nothing to them. 
 
 All this time the unfortunate wayfarer had been made 
 to lie face downwards ; but now, taking the hunting-knife 
 they found upon him, the robbers held it above his head, 
 and threatened to strike if he moved. His hands were in 
 a moment tightly bound together behind his back. The 
 fellows were evidently experienced hands at their trade. 
 His blanket was spread on the ground, and into it the 
 robbers proceeded to put everything at their leisure. A 
 miscellaneous assortment of goods was soon piled up — 
 money, thermometer, papers, card-case, drawing-pencils, 
 oranges, cigars, a bag of ammunition, and even a piece of 
 soap, an article the Mexican cut-throats had probably 
 never used in their lives ! They left the owner his papers, 
 as has been said, and one cigar to console him after they 
 had departed. 
 
 Their examination continued, and certainly might be 
 described as thorough. They took off his boots and stock- 
 ings, and searched carefully every article he possessed. 
 There remained only the horse, and the robber leader asked 
 sarcastically whether they should take that also. But 
 Taylor plucked up courage and energetically demanded 
 that they should leave him his beast, without which he 
 
 91 
 
ESCAPE 
 
 could not proceed on his way. Making no reply, the 
 fellows walked away, leaving the animal behind. The 
 leader, however, turned back after a few yards, and, throw- 
 ing down an orange and a small cake or two, remarked : 
 
 " Perhaps you may get hungry before night." 
 
 " How am I to eat it without hands ?" indignantly asked 
 Taylor. 
 
 But the robber departed with the pleasant remark : 
 
 "We have more to carry than we had before we met 
 you. Adieu P 
 
 Here was the traveller, in a lonely thicket at the bottom 
 of a deep ravine, far from the usual mountain track, that 
 track itself for the most part an unfrequented one amongst 
 the wild mountains. He had lost his all, his papers and 
 his horse excepted. He was tightly bound ; but he was a 
 man of resource and courage. As soon as his assailants 
 had got out of sight, he began to attempt to free himself. 
 Long he pulled, and tugged in vain, for he was tied with 
 many knots, and the knots were tight. All the while he 
 had an odd fancy that his horse was laughing at him. 
 How he freed himself at length he thus describes : 
 
 " After tugging a long time, I made a twist which the 
 India-rubber Man might have envied, and, to the great 
 danger of my spine, succeeded in forcing my body through 
 my arms. Then, loosening the knots with my teeth, in 
 half an hour I was free again. As I rode off I saw the 
 robbers at some distance, on the other side of the ravine."" 
 
 Taylor rode rapidly on — as rapidly, that is, as the 
 rugged nature of the mountain-track would allow. At 
 the end of about three miles he came upon a startling 
 spectacle. There stood by the wayside a rough gibbet, 
 
 92 
 
A GHASTLY SPECTACLE 
 
 on which hung in chains the half-decayed bodies of three 
 robbers. The clothing was dropping in tatters, and the 
 bones protruded from the bodies. Over their heads was 
 an inscription in large letters : " Thus the law punishes 
 the robber and the assassin." It was a ghastly sight, and 
 one that might have tried the nerves of even the boldest 
 of travellers, under the circumstances. Around were 
 several grave-mounds. Later on Mr. Taylor learnt the 
 history of these graves and the gibbet. Some eighteen 
 months before, there had been a camp of soldiers and 
 traders on the spot. They had been attacked by a large 
 body of robbers, and a tremendous fight had taken place. 
 Eleven of the traders had been killed in the affray. This 
 seems to have been too much even for the Mexican 
 authorities of those days, and a hunt was made, with the 
 result that three of the scoundrels were caught, and 
 received the reward of their deeds on the very spot where 
 their victims had been buried. Mr. Taylor could not but 
 rejoice that some of the rascals at least had met with their 
 deserts. 
 
 A league or two farther on the wanderer came upon a 
 military station — La Venta. There were plenty of soldiers 
 about. In one place there were thirty or forty together, 
 rolling about lazily or playing idle games in the shade. 
 Taylor promptly reported his adventures in the mountains 
 to the commanding officer, and furnished such close de- 
 scriptions of some of the robbers as would serve easily to 
 identify them. Naturally, the American imagined that 
 immediate steps would be taken to hunt for and bring to 
 justice the rascally gang ; he did not know the Mexican 
 ways thoroughly as yet. The officer merely shrugged his 
 
 93 
 
SUFFERING AND EXHAUSTION 
 
 shoulders, and neither said nor did anything by way of 
 response. The traveller rode on disgusted. As he 
 remarks : " A proper distribution of half the soldiers who 
 lay idle in this guard-house would have sufficed to make 
 the road perfectly secure/' 
 
 The traveller hurried on, full of indignation. His 
 horse was showing signs of fatigue, but higher and higher 
 he mounted, till the air became very cold and a keen wind 
 swept the mountain track. The robbers had left him little 
 of his clothing, and both man and beast were in pitiable 
 case. Taylor was distracted with a raging toothache, and 
 his horse staggered along, exhausted by fifty miles of toil- 
 some mountain-road that day. Nevertheless, it was neces- 
 sary to push on to some settlement that night, and the 
 master had to urge on his unfortunate beast with a thick 
 stick. When at last the poor brute stumbled into the 
 town of Guadalajara, he was so spent that another mile 
 would probably have finished him altogether. 
 
 Everybody whom Taylor met in the town stared at him 
 and his horse in astonishment. They were evidently sur- 
 prised beyond measure that a solitary traveller should 
 venture to cross their mountains. Much talk under the 
 breath went on among the folks. At last, a good old padre 
 came near and whispered in the traveller's ear : " Begone ! 
 What business have you to stop and listen to us ? Guada- 
 lajara is full of robbers. You must be careful how you 
 wander about after night. Do you know where to go ?" 
 Finding that the traveller was a complete stranger to the 
 place, the kindly old man directed him to a house where 
 the people were honest. They were more than honest, 
 and they sympathized greatly with the unfortunate 
 
SAFE AT LAST 
 
 wanderer, but marvelled that his life had been spared. 
 Taylor passed a night of suffering from toothache and fleas, 
 but, at any rate, he was safe. His troubles were almost 
 over, and before many more days had passed he was in 
 the Mexican capital. 
 
 95 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 BIG GAME IN THE CASHAN MOUNTAINS 
 
 A bit of splendid scenery — The Cashan Mountains in Southern 
 Africa — Captain Cornwallis Harris, a keen sportsman — He and 
 his men meet a band of Matabele warriors on the mountains — 
 Savages insolent and hostile — A critical time — The Matabele 
 and the Hottentot— "He found his tongue" — Other bands of 
 savages met — Harris shoots a water-buck — Piet stumbles over 
 a lion — Lions prowling around the camp all night — Lingap 
 and his master — Three lionesses asleep — An infuriated rhino- 
 ceros — "1 threw my cap at him" — A spotted hyena killed — 
 More water-buck — Two miles barefooted over sharp flints — A 
 white rhinoceros rushes the camp — ec A perfect panorama of 
 game " — A buffalo charges on three legs — A splendid specimen 
 — Hottentots gorged with flesh — A disgusting spectacle — The 
 buffalo and the captain — A near thing — A tremendous fire — 
 Whole district in danger — A lucky deluge — Every spark ex- 
 tinguished — More hurricanes — Camp flooded — An elephant's 
 footmark — A herd of elephants — A dam shot — A whole valley 
 full of elephants — A sublime and soul-stirring picture — 
 Manoeuvring — A parade of elephants pass the Captain — Leader 
 shot — A scene of indescribable confusion — Three other herds — 
 A whole troop crashes through the camp. 
 
 "Here the scenery was beautiful. Three cascades fell 
 brawling over descents of several feet within a quarter of 
 a mile of each other, flanked by stately timber trees of 
 splendid growth and graceful foliage, which, leaning their 
 venerable forms over the limpid stream, were reflected on 
 its glassy bosom. Huge isolated masses of rocks reared 
 
 96 
 
A KEEN SPORTSMAN 
 
 their stupendous heads at intervals, as though cast there 
 by some giant hand in sportive derision of the current 
 which foamed and bubbled round them. Upon the tops 
 of these, cormorants were sunning themselves in hundreds, 
 while scaly alligators were basking on the lower tiers, 
 amid flowering bushes and evergreens. 1 '' 
 
 Such was the kind of country to which Captain Corn- 
 wallis Harris went in the year 1852. The gallant officer 
 was no mean naturalist, but probably he would have 
 called himself a sportsman merely. He was approaching 
 the Cashan Mountains, which were destined to furnish 
 him with enough excitements and dangers to last an 
 ordinary man a lifetime. His keenness after game was 
 extraordinary, and was surpassed only by his coolness 
 at critical moments, and his utter disregard of risks and 
 dangers. 
 
 He and his men were at the foot of the Cashan heights, 
 and were proceeding towards a rift or pass in the moun- 
 tains, when suddenly there appeared a band of Matabele 
 warriors, numbering several hundreds altogether. Now, 
 these Matabele had just been engaged in plundering and 
 murdering certain white men, so that when the host 
 closed round the traveller's waggons in hostile fashion 
 there was cause for no little alarm. The manners and 
 the speech of the savages were alike insolent, as they 
 fiercely ordered the drivers to stop, a number of men 
 standing in front to bar the passage. The Hottentot 
 servants of the Englishman were frightened almost out 
 of their wits ; and when a number of wounded Matabele 
 warriors were presently borne past on their shields, one 
 of the Hottentots fainted right off. The situation soon 
 
 97 G 
 
HOSTILE MATABELE WARRIORS 
 
 became critical. None of the waggon party knew a word 
 of the Matabele tongue except one gigantic fellow, Andries 
 by name, and he, for some reason, made no attempt to 
 help his master out of the difficulty. Every moment the 
 crowd of savages pressed closer around, and some of them 
 climbed into the waggons, where they turned over and 
 examined every article. What was about to follow it was 
 not hard to foresee. But suddenly there was a turn of 
 fortune. One of the Matabele, a huge, brawny fellow, 
 sprang upon Andries, who in his terror managed to 
 stammer out a few words, to the effect that the English- 
 man and his companions had just had the honour of being 
 entertained by the King Moselekatse. Marvellous was the 
 change in the attitude of the Matabele at the mention of 
 the name of their King. In a moment they ceased their 
 hostile demonstrations, and even became suppliants, begging 
 humbly for tobacco and beads. 
 
 This was not the only band of savages met that day. 
 Parties great and small made their appearance from time 
 to time, till before night the total must have reached six 
 or seven thousand. Presumably the word had been passed 
 round the tribes that the travellers were under the pro- 
 tection of their King, for none of them disturbed the 
 hunter and his men. A camp was made on the mountain 
 near a streamlet, and the Hottentot servants began to 
 fence it in, according to custom. While this was going 
 on, the Captain went out with his gun, and was lucky 
 enough to shoot a water-buck, a rare and splendid ante- 
 lope ; he believed himself to be the only Englishman who 
 had ever shot one of the species. It may be added, by 
 way of parenthesis, that he managed to bring down two 
 
 98 
 
LINGAP AND HIS MASTER 
 
 more the next day. The noise of the report disturbed a 
 lion and a lioness which happened to be close by, but the 
 pair slunk into the jungle. On his return to the camp, 
 he found that one of his men, Piet, had also been out to 
 try his luck, and he had actually stumbled over a lion. 
 It was evident that these beasts were particularly plentiful 
 in the neighbourhood, and the leader gave orders that the 
 fence should be strengthened. It was a lucky thing that 
 this precaution was taken, for all night long lions were 
 prowling about outside making efforts to get at the 
 cattle. 
 
 One of the best of the Captain's followers was Lingap, 
 a good warrior with assegai and shield, and a good sports- 
 man to boot. The master and he had an exciting time 
 of it on the Cashan slopes the following day. The two 
 men were looking down upon the skeleton of an elephant 
 lying not far below, when Lingap suddenly pointed with 
 his assegai to a bush, and whispered, " Tao !" (lions). 
 And there, in truth, were three lionesses, all asleep. 
 Lingap hid behind his shield, while Harris fired into the 
 middle of the group, immediately afterwards springing 
 behind a tree. Instantly the three animals leapt to their 
 feet, and with angry roars dashed into the bushes. The 
 men scampered in the opposite direction, not unnaturally. 
 A few minutes later several shots were heard not far off, 
 and then " an infuriated rhinoceros, streaming with blood, 
 rushed over the brow of the eminence that we were 
 ascending, and was within pistol-shot before we were 
 aware of his approach. No bush presenting itself behind 
 which to hide, I threw my cap at him, and Lingap, 
 striking his buckler and shouting with stentorian lungs, 
 
 99 G 2 
 
BIG GAME PLENTIFUL 
 
 the enraged beast turned off. I saluted him from both 
 barrels, and he was immediately afterwards overturned 
 by a running fire from the Hottentots, every one of 
 whom, I now saw, had left the waggons at the mercy of 
 the oxen." 
 
 Skirting the mountains in search of grass for the cattle, 
 the hunters found the big game more plentiful even than 
 before. The night was hideous with the horrid moaning 
 sound of the hyena, the dismal yelling of the jackal, and 
 the roaring of the lion. However, at early dawn Harris 
 was astir, and managed to get a little revenge on his 
 disturbers, bringing down a spotted hyena. He was 
 presently following hard after a water-buck, when the sole 
 of one of his boots came off. Nothing daunted, and 
 heedless of thorn and rock, he dashed along barefoot for 
 more than two miles, the ground thickly strewn with sharp 
 flints. He secured his buck, and then made for the 
 waggons, which were moving on towards their next 
 stopping- place. Just before he overtook the waggons an 
 immense white rhinoceros, roused from his snooze, dashed 
 furiously at the first of the vehicles, crashing noisily 
 through bushes and reeds, and snorting loudly. The 
 oxen were half mad with fear, but a volley from the 
 drivers saluted the aggressor, and he turned away into the 
 scrub. He was promptly followed and dispatched. 
 
 But Captain Harris had long been wanting to reach the 
 vast elephant grounds, and he made all the advance 
 he could each day. At last the desired territory was at 
 hand, and eagerly he pushed on ahead, taking with him 
 Piet, and leaving the Hottentots to bring up the rear. 
 A fine roan antelope rose before the hunters, but they 
 
 100 
 
An Unwelcome Intruder 
 
 An infuriated rhinoceros, streaming with blood, rushed towards the waggons 
 

 > 
 
 t 
 
 f 
 
THE BUFFALO AND THE CAPTAIN 
 
 refrained from firing. A pair of white rhinoceroses next 
 appeared on the mountain slope directly in their way. 
 These brutes they had a good deal of difficulty in getting 
 rid of. They did not wish to make any noise as yet. 
 But the procession of wild animals was by no means at an 
 end. Presently a herd of wild swine, with whip-like tails 
 erect, came trooping along, and they were followed by two 
 buffaloes. " It was a perfect panorama of game," the 
 Captain exclaims, and difficult he found it to keep his 
 followers from firing. The thing was bound to come 
 sooner or later, and it did. Suddenly a loud report rang 
 out from some of the Hottentots behind, and instantly 
 there was confusion in the covert. A whole herd of 
 buffaloes appeared, and dashed helter-skelter past. Harris 
 could no longer contain himself, but fired, wounding one 
 of the buffaloes in the hind-leg. The hunter immediately 
 mounted his horse, but not too soon, for the buffalo 
 charged on three legs. Two or three times did the 
 wounded beast return to the attack, and Harris had an 
 exciting time of it. At last he managed with a well 
 aimed bullet to bring down his quarry. The buffalo was a 
 splendid specimen, standing sixteen and a half hands at 
 the shoulder, while " his ponderous horns measured four 
 feet from tip to tip, and like a mass of rock, over- 
 shadowing his small, sinister grey eyes, imparted to his 
 countenance the most cunning, gloomy, and vindictive 
 expression. " 
 
 Leaving his Hottentots to gorge themselves on the 
 flesh — always a disgusting spectacle, the Captain tells us — 
 he mounted to the top of the hill, from which point of 
 vantage the view far and near was of the most striking 
 
 101 
 
A TREMENDOUS FIRE 
 
 and extensive character. He marked a big herd of 
 buffaloes quietly chewing the cud under some trees. His 
 first shot brought down one, but the loud report, rever- 
 berating among the mountains, alarmed the whole herd. 
 Fifty of them, panic-stricken, and crushing everything 
 underfoot in their mad stampede, made straight for the 
 hunter, and he was within an ace of being trampled to 
 death. It was the narrowest escape. His waggons had 
 been moving on, but, seeing by the smoke where his men 
 had pitched the camp for the night, he bent his steps 
 towards the spot. A spectacle to create loathing and 
 disgust it was that met his eyes. His followers were 
 absolutely intoxicated with the gorging of much flesh, and 
 perfectly incapable of any sensible action or behaviour, 
 while the ground around, and the bushes, looked like 
 nothing but a filthy slaughter-pit. 
 
 Nor was this all that angered their master. In their 
 senseless folly the Hottentots had set fire to the surround- 
 ing grass and bush, and already the blaze had become 
 alarming. For hours before he went to bed Captain 
 Harris sat on the heights watching the progress of the 
 flames below — a splendid spectacle — as the fire rushed 
 along, devouring everything on its course. But he began 
 to fear for his prospects of game if that enormous confla- 
 gration should spread over the whole district, a thing it 
 appeared likely enough to do. There was only one hope : 
 a storm was coming up rapidly. The night was dark I 
 and gusty. Presently thunder sounded among the 
 mountains, vivid forked lightning was seen, and a few 
 preliminary drops of rain fell. Meanwhile "a strong 
 south-east wind, setting towards the hills, was driving the 
 
 102 
 
CAMP FLOODED 
 
 devouring element with a loud crackling noise up the steep 
 grassy sides in long red lines, which, extending for miles, 
 swept along the heights with devastating fury, brilliantly 
 illuminating the landscape and threatening to denude the 
 whole country of its vegetation. Suddenly the storm 
 burst over the scene. The wind immediately hushed ; a 
 death-like stillness succeeded to the crackling of the 
 flames. Every spark of the conflagration was extinguished 
 in an instant by the deluge that descended, and the 
 Egyptian-like darkness of the night was unbroken even 
 by a solitary star." 
 
 Next afternoon, the camp, having moved on a few miles, 
 was pitched under the shelter of an overhanging hill-side, 
 another hurricane having been observed approaching. 
 Hardly was the camp arranged, when " a stream of liquid 
 fire ran along the ground ; and a deafening thunder-clap, 
 exploding close above us, was instantly followed by a 
 torrent of rain.'" The rain came down in continuous 
 streams, and soon horses and oxen were knee-deep in water. 
 The men in the baggage waggons, which leaked, passed a 
 bad night ; luckily for him, the Captain's own waggon- 
 cover was water-tight. But sleep was out of the question for 
 master as well as man. " The earth actually threatened to 
 give way under us ;" and so vivid and blinding was the 
 lightning, that he was glad to cover up his eyes with his 
 pillow. The results were seen when daylight came : the 
 torrents were swollen and impassable, and the only path 
 onwards, an exceedingly narrow pass in the mountain-side, 
 was full of surging water. 
 
 Leaving the floods below, Harris took with him some of 
 his men, and ascended the heights in search of elephants. 
 
 103 
 
AN ELEPHANT'S TRACK 
 
 Long had he been wanting to reach their feeding-grounds. 
 He gained the highest peak, and gazed around. Not far 
 away he came across the mark of an elephant's foot ; it 
 was of enormous size. Eagerly he measured the impression, 
 and then made his calculation, " twice the circumference of 
 the foot always giving the height of the animal at the 
 shoulder." He found that this particular beast must 
 boast a height of twelve feet, which the hunter believed 
 to be the maximum for an African elephant. A tramp 
 of eight miles along the crest of the mountain was 
 required, however, before a sight of the herd could be 
 seen. There, for the first time in his life, the English- 
 man saw the elephant in his own home. " With intense 
 and indescribable interest " the men looked down at 
 the sight, while the gigantic Andries, with straining 
 eyes and quivering lips, stammered out, "Dar stand de 
 olifant r 
 
 The men now went round to drive, with much rattling 
 of shields, the elephants towards the master. All uncon- 
 scious of the presence of an enemy, the animals slowly 
 walked in Harris's direction, and soon a report made the 
 hills resound. The first of the herd fell, and the rest of 
 the elephants — they were all females — fled up the mountain 
 slope at an incredible speed. Mounting their horses, 
 the hunters made for the wounded dam. She was furious, 
 and in spite of the sharp rough stones that cut her feet, 
 she made for the aggressors. She was received at each 
 charge she made with a volley, and at length the poor 
 brute fell dead, causing the very ground to shake with the 
 thud. 
 
 The Captain had now time to gaze about him a little 
 
 104 
 
VALLEY FULL OF ELEPHANTS 
 
 more. He found himself, to his surprise, looking into a 
 second valley, whose existence he had not previously noted. 
 The sight that met his eye was one to beggar description, 
 to use a common phrase. " The whole face of the land- 
 scape was actually covered with wild elephants. There 
 could not have been fewer than three hundred within the 
 scope of our vision. Every height and green knoll was 
 dotted over with groups of them, whilst the bottom of the 
 glen exhibited a dense and sable living mass — their colossal 
 forms being at one moment partially concealed by the trees, 
 which they were disfiguring with giant strength ; and at 
 others seen majestically emerging into the open glades, 
 bearing in their trunks the branches of trees, with which 
 they indolently protected themselves from the flies. The 
 background was filled by a limited peep of the blue moun- 
 tain-range, which here assumed a remarkably precipitous 
 character, and completed a picture at once soul-stirring 
 and sublime." 
 
 What was to be done in the presence of all this marvel- 
 lous abundance of majestic game ? Harris was very anxious 
 to see whether there were any males amongst the enormous 
 herd, and he sent Andries to manoeuvre amongst the beasts. 
 The man contrived so that a large number of the elephants 
 filed slowly in front of the master, who had placed himself 
 in a position of advantage on a little ledge above. All 
 that paraded proved to be females or calves. Harris could 
 have killed any one of them had he been so disposed, but 
 he was waiting for the males. Things were precipitated 
 before long, however, by the firing of a gun by some 
 blundering native in the vicinity. Instantly the whole 
 concourse of animals was on the move. Hardly had the 
 
 105 
 
A SCENE OF CONFUSION 
 
 men time to get themselves behind the trees before a score 
 of elephants with their young ones were upon them, filling 
 the air with their loud trumpetings. With the utmost 
 deliberation Harris steadied his rifle against the tree, and 
 dropped the leading elephant instantly. In a moment the 
 other animals rushed upon their assailants, and the men 
 had a risky time of it, dodging behind trees, flying pell- 
 mell over the rough stones, and ever and anon running 
 right up to some group of the infuriated beasts. The 
 scene of confusion that was witnessed, the hunter in his 
 fearless way, calls amusing, but it was about as dangerous 
 a position as could well be imagined. However, after 
 some time of this hurly-burly, all the animals got clear 
 away, except the dam that had been shot. To it Harris 
 and his man once more made their way, and put the 
 creature out of its misery. 
 
 The two men now made tracks for the camp — that is to 
 say, they began the search for it, being quite ignorant as 
 to its whereabouts. In the course of their wanderings 
 they encountered no fewer than three other groups of 
 elephants, one of them obstructing their line of route. 
 They chased the herd for a mile over the roughest and 
 sharpest of stones. " Much has been said," writes the 
 Captain, " of the attachment of elephants to their young, 
 but neither on this nor on any subsequent occasion did we 
 perceive them evince the smallest concern for their safety. 
 On the contrary, they left them to shift for themselves."" 
 The natives assegaied one calf that was left behind in the 
 flight. The last of the three herds was not encountered 
 till the hunters were near their waggons. On being dis- 
 turbed, the whole troop rushed down below, and crashed 
 
 106 
 
A FATIGUING DAY'S WORK 
 
 right through the camp, " causing indescribable consterna- 
 tion amongst cattle and followers. But, fortunately, no 
 accident occurred, and after the fatiguing day's work 
 we had undergone, we were not sorry to find ourselves 
 at home." 
 
 107 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 WITH GALTON IN DAMARALAND 
 
 Where is Damaraland? — Mr. Francis Galton, scientist, explorer, 
 sportsman — Lands at Walfisch Bay — Proceeds towards the 
 mountain region — Damara villages and Damara folk — A 
 covetous crew — Tactless Gabriel — The rhinoceros-hide whip on 
 the chief's legs — Startling result — Mount Erongo — Galton 
 feverish — A hill " built by Cyclopean architects " — Risky paths 
 — The hut of a Damara chief — Hand-to-hand combat with a 
 lion — Lion balked of his supper — Waggons and <e sticking- 
 points " — A bit of clever wall-building — The Hottentot re- 
 bellion — Galton beards the rebel chief in his stronghold — A 
 plenipotentiary in hunting costume — Want of water — Native 
 disappears with the iron pot — 111 with too much water-drinking 
 — A novel water-vessel — " Tastes very doggy " — A fine collec- 
 tion of mountains in sight — The black fellow and the adder — 
 Galton and the green snake — A hasty jump — Horrible water to 
 drink — The terrible thorn-bush — Progress stopped by it alto- 
 gether — Strayed oxen and their recovery — Damara cattle- 
 stealers — The black chief in his severity — Men assegaied — The 
 white chief more merciful — A sound flogging. 
 
 Damaraland, which lies inland to the north-east of Walfisch 
 Bay, on the west coast of Africa, is a country of mountain 
 and plain, of scrub and rough ground, and of streams that 
 often do not run, but are mere dry river-beds. Some of 
 its heights are lofty, reaching an elevation of at least six 
 thousand feet, though many of them are only about half 
 that height above sea-level. It was to this land, then 
 
 108 
 
DAMARA VILLAGES AND FOLK 
 
 almost unknown to the civilized world, that Mr. Francis 
 Galton, the eminent scientist and explorer, made his way 
 in the year 1851 . 
 
 Working eastwards from the coast, he bent his course in 
 a more northerly direction, towards the mountain regions 
 of Damara. He had with him two or three other 
 Europeans, including Mr. Andersson, a Swede, and a 
 servant named Hans Larsen, besides a varied following of 
 natives of one kind or another, oxen and waggons. Start- 
 ing from the valley of the River Swakop, he found the road 
 very stony and very bad, but the party presently reached 
 an upland Damara village, the inhabitants of which 
 evidently had doubts about receiving the strangers. How- 
 ever, after a good deal of explanation Galton and his men 
 were allowed to rest, and were supplied with some milk. 
 Midday saw the travellers among a second lot of Damara 
 folk, and they found that the headman of the village 
 always took charge of the explorer's cattle for the time 
 being, not much to the owner's liking. Nor did he feel 
 altogether easy in the midst of throngs of armed savages, 
 many of whom were ill-looking scoundrels. "They always 
 crowded round us," he says, " and hemmed us in, and then 
 tried to hustle us away from our bags and baggage. 
 They have an impudent way of handling and laying hold 
 of everything they covet, and of begging in an authoritative 
 tone, laughing among themselves. It is very difficult to 
 keep them off, and the least show of temper would be 
 very hazardous among such a set of people." Yet the 
 explorer admired the build of the Damaras, and calls them 
 a fine-looking lot of fellows. 
 
 Quite early in his exploration of the highlands, Mr. 
 
 109 
 
TACTLESS GABRIEL 
 
 Galton and his party were in a position of very serious 
 danger. One of the servants of the expedition, a lad 
 named Gabriel, was of a very passionate disposition, and 
 utterly reckless. His master was greatly afraid lest 
 Gabriel should involve the party in a squabble with the 
 natives by his quarrelsomeness and his entire want of 
 tact. " If fighting had once commenced, 11 says Mr. Galton, 
 " we should have been as full of assegais as St. Sebastian 
 ever was full of arrows, and our guns would have availed 
 but little. 11 The Damara fellows were crowding round 
 and doing their best to tease the strangers, and with so 
 much inflammable material about, it would have been a 
 marvel if no blaze had broken out. Gabriel it was, of 
 course, who struck the spark. One of the native dogs 
 began to gnaw a leather bag, and Gabriel flew after him 
 with his rhinoceros -hide whip. The brute retreated to his 
 master, the Damara chief. Gabriel followed, and struck 
 out savagely with his whip, missing the dog, and giving a 
 tremendous slash across the chief's legs! "Another instant 
 and Gabriel was prostrate, while the chief, like a wild 
 beast, glared over him ; the muscle of every Damara was 
 on the stretch. Every man had his assegai. My gun lay 
 by my side, but I had sense enough not to clutch at it. 11 
 Galton^ splendid self-command had its effect at length, 
 and the black chief allowed Gabriel to get up, taking 
 away from him his whip, however, as a punishment. Even 
 that he gave up before the strangers left, so well did 
 Galton manage to soothe the angry passions of the man. 
 But the scene might have had a different and a terrible 
 ending. 
 
 The mountain Erongo was just above them, the escarp- 
 
 110 
 
RISKY PATHS 
 
 ment of which ran on for a length of fifteen miles ; the 
 height Mr. Galton roughly calculated to be something 
 under three thousand feet. The top was more or less flat, 
 but there was a sort of rent in the middle, as if the moun- 
 tain had been partly split in two. Towards this depression 
 the leader and one or two of his men prepared to climb, 
 the rest remaining at the foot of the mountain with the 
 oxen and waggons. Next morning Galton sent some 
 natives on in advance to announce the arrival of strangers 
 to the people there — it was a wide table-land — and to ask 
 for guides. He himself was in a state of incipient fever, 
 and lay down all the morning under the grateful shadow 
 of an overhanging rock. In Damara generally there is 
 a sad want of shade. He found the mountain to be com- 
 posed of enormous white rocks, " often hundreds of feet 
 without a fissure — the hill seemed built by some Cyclopean 
 architect.'" A good deal of the time the men had to 
 climb without their shoes to prevent slipping. " When we 
 travelled along the side that sloped towards the fissures it 
 was very nervous work, for my feet would not grasp the 
 rock, and if I had tumbled I should have explored much 
 more of the mountain than I desired. The measurement 
 of these slabs is not in feet, but in hundreds of feet." 
 The climb was worth the trouble, however. There were 
 fine views from the top, and the air was deliciously cool to 
 the explorer's throbbing head. He would much have 
 liked to make the place his summer quarters. 
 
 He visited the hut of the local chief while on Erongo. 
 It was a very superior sort of residence for those parts, and 
 had even some furniture, a stuffed ottoman being con- 
 spicuous in one of the rooms. The chief was quite a 
 
 111 
 
COMBAT WITH A LION 
 
 gentleman, and very affable. But he would not sell the 
 stranger any cattle, and to obtain some had been one 
 object Mr. Galton had in view when he climbed the 
 heights. Further, the black chief declared that he was 
 unable to furnish any guides, his men being afraid to 
 venture far away. Moreover, he was not the sole lord of 
 the mountain, but shared his power with two or three 
 other chiefs. He had a very pretty daughter, who was 
 also a thorough coquette, and wore a shell dangling from 
 her front hair; this she could throw over either eye at 
 her choice, the performance being very dexterous and 
 very effective. 
 
 When the Englishman reached the foot of Erongo 
 again, he found that there had been lively times during 
 his absence. First, Mr. Andersson had had an exciting 
 brush with a lion. He had been on one side of a bush 
 and the animal on the other — rather too close a proximity. 
 Before the beast could come to closer quarters, its growls 
 were silenced by a well-aimed bullet from the Swede. 
 This might be styled almost a hand-to-hand encounter. 
 When night had closed in, a still more striking scene had 
 been witnessed. On the opposite side of the stream by 
 which they were camping, a lion was observed to attack 
 and kill a giraffe. At once the whole community turned 
 out, every man carrying a fire-brand. Without hesitation 
 the natives ran straight up to the dead giraffe, frightening 
 off the king of beasts. Then, by the light of torches, for 
 it was pitch dark, the fellows coolly cut up the flesh. All 
 the time the lion kept prowling around, baffled and noisy ; 
 but, though he kept close at hand, he dared not attack 
 those who were robbing him of his supper. 
 
 112 
 
WAGGONS AND STICKING-POINTS 
 
 Mr. Galton's experience of travelling with the bulky 
 and cumbrous ox-waggons was not at all a happy one, 
 and he never liked the business, from the first day he had 
 of it to the last. The progress with them was slow and 
 hampering ; the oxen were often very troublesome ; there 
 was no proper road ; the country was rough in the extreme, 
 especially now the travellers were entirely in the mountain 
 regions, with lofty peaks showing on every side about 
 them. Sometimes the waggons stuck in the numerous 
 rifts and trenches, and it required hours of labour to 
 extricate them from their position. On one occasion 
 " the sticking-point was a deep sand-pitch, of about six 
 feet high, out of the river-bed. The oxen drew the waggon 
 till its fore- wheels reached the top of the pitch, and there 
 it stuck. We tried everything, but the pull was entirely 
 beyond their power; indeed, they were far too wild to 
 exert themselves together. It really seemed as though we 
 should remain fixed there till the oxen had been thoroughly 
 broken by other means, or till the river swept us away." 
 And it was not till Mr. Galton had carried out an ingenious 
 but laborious plan that the waggon was hoisted out of the 
 hollow. He first pinned the front wheels in their position 
 near the top of the pitch, so as to prevent back-slipping ; 
 then, levering up one of the hind-wheels with a pole, he 
 placed a big flat stone beneath. The other hind- wheel 
 was treated in like fashion, and then a second stone was 
 placed under each. Thus the process went on, till at last 
 a regular wall had been built beneath the two back wheels, 
 and they had been elevated to the level of the fore- wheels. 
 A vigorous pull now set the waggon on its way again; 
 but its position, tottering on the top of those slab walls, 
 
 113 H 
 
THE HOTTENTOT REBELLION 
 
 must have been precarious, to say the least of it, and it 
 was a marvel that no catastrophe occurred. 
 
 It was at the time of the Hottentot rebellion under 
 Jonker, whose fastness was not far away, that Mr. Galton 
 was travelling in Damaraland, and he had been asked by 
 the Cape Government to act as a sort of informal com- 
 missioner. He was to endeavour to see the rebel leader, 
 and administer to him a severe rebuke, pointing out the 
 enormity of his misconduct, and the extreme displeasure 
 with which it was regarded by the authorities. It was a 
 ticklish appointment, but the unpaid commissioner pre- 
 pared to do his duty. He donned his red hunting-coat, 
 his jack -boots, his cords, and his hunting- cap. Thus 
 arrayed, and mounted on his spirited ox, Ceylon, he made 
 an imposing figure. The way to Eikhams, where Jonker's 
 stronghold was, lay over very uneven ground, and the j ourney 
 involved the climbing of a lofty mountain. Hans knew 
 the place, however, and was able to point out Jonker's 
 hut when Eikhams was reached. There was great excite- 
 ment among the commissioner's followers as the journey 
 neared its end, and even Ceylon caught the infection, and 
 began to sniff the air like a war-horse. Just before the 
 place was reached, there came an obstacle in the shape of a 
 little torrent. if It was rather deep, and four feet wide ; 
 but I was in hunting costume, and I am sure Ceylon knew 
 it, for he shook his head, and took it uncommonly well. 
 In fact, oxen, if you give them time, are not at all bad 
 leapers. The others followed in style." Ceylon trotted 
 straight to Jonker's hut, and there stopped short, his 
 head and horns blocking the entire doorway. The ap- 
 parition of the Englishman in his gaudy hunting dress — ■ 
 
 1U 
 
WANT OF WATER 
 
 the like of which assuredly no man of those regions had 
 ever seen before — produced an immense effect, not only 
 upon the whole settlement, but upon the rebel chief 
 himself. As Galton, glaring down upon him from the 
 height of his saddle, rated the man in grand and telling 
 style, Jonker dared not once look him in the face. The 
 commissioner went on to insist on an immediate stop 
 being put to the state of rebellion, on a full apology to 
 the proper quarter, and on justice being done to the 
 Damaras, whom Jonker had treated so badly. All this in 
 the very heart of the rebel stronghold, to the very face of 
 the chief himself, and surrounded by the armed and law- 
 less rebel following ! 
 
 Much hardship was often caused by the want of water. 
 On one occasion the expedition was in sore straits, 
 having had nothing to drink for a considerable time. 
 They had with them, indeed, no vessel capable of holding 
 liquids, except an iron pot. The Damara servants were 
 quite spent, and one of the natives, who carried the iron 
 pot, dropped exhausted by the wayside, while one or two 
 more fell farther on. At night the rest, who had travelled 
 on, came to a supply of water, and in their delight drank 
 and drank till they were ill. " I continued resolving to 
 drink no more," writes the explorer, " and then rewarded 
 my resolution with one more mouthful. One cannot help 
 drinking ; the water seems to have no effect in quenching 
 the thirst." They waited for a day in order to see if any 
 of those who had fallen tired by the way would make their 
 appearance, but nothing was seen of them. When the 
 waggons moved on, it was very desirable to carry a little 
 water, for it was doubtful if any more would be reached 
 
 115 H 2 
 
NOVEL WATER- VESSEL 
 
 that day. But the difficulty was to find anything capable 
 of holding water ; even the iron pot was lost to them. In 
 his extremity Mr. Galton bethought him of a useless dog 
 he had, and the animal was killed and skinned. The skin, 
 sewn up, made a water- vessel of a sort, but, as the master 
 tells us, the contents tasted very doggy ! Strange to say, 
 the death of the poor cur was speedily avenged, for that 
 very night a pack of wild dogs came upon the camp and 
 killed every sheep the expedition possessed ! To crown all, 
 the only two goats belonging to the party had strayed 
 away in the night, and were lost. Nevertheless, the 
 journey had to be resumed ; but when a halt was made for 
 the next night, to the astonishment of everybody the 
 missing native turned up, the iron pot still on his head ; 
 what was more, he drove before him the two lost goats, 
 which he had met with on his way. The black brought 
 his master " a whacking big stick," as a matter of course, 
 with which to beat him for having strayed away from the 
 rest of the party ! 
 
 Other mountains were visited on the march, such as 
 Eshuameno. while still more peaks were seen around. 
 u In front rose the two magnificent cones of Omatako, 
 each appearing as perfect as Teneriffe. To the far left 
 were many broken mountains, some of which must look 
 down upon Erongo. More northerly lay the long escarp- 
 ment of another Ghou Damup mountain, Koniati ; and to 
 the westward of north a very distant blue hill was seen, 
 which had to be passed on our way to Omanbonde." It 
 was near this place that one of the servants began to 
 make a fire under a bush ; when he suddenly started up in 
 dire alarm and made off at full speed. He had noted a 
 
 116 
 
GALTON AND THE SNAKE 
 
 puff-adder in the bush. It was here, too, that the 
 travellers saw the first herd of wild animals, over a 
 hundred hartebeest being observed in one place, and four 
 hundred gnus not far away. Another bit of excitement 
 was caused by the appearance of an animal that Andersson 
 thought to be a puma. Of this animal the natives often 
 spoke. They described it as being a good deal like a lion, 
 but smaller. It was said to be very shy, and seldom seen 
 by anybody. Mr. Galton thinks it might have been a 
 young lion. 
 
 Another mountain, Omuvercoom, brought the travellers 
 fresh experiences and excitements, and new dangers, of 
 course. The oxen were left below with some of the 
 Damaras, while the leader and the rest of his followers 
 proceeded to climb to the summit. Some parts of the 
 hill Mr. Galton declares to have been the most rugged 
 he ever climbed. " I was utterly blown, and had just 
 mounted up on a kind of natural step, when, while I was 
 balancing myself, I found that I had put my foot on the 
 tail of a great dark green snake, who was up in an instant, 
 with his head as high as my chest, and confronting me. 
 I had, though used up with my run, just sense and quick- 
 ness enough left to leap over the side of the rock, and came 
 with a great tumble among the bushes. The snake, too, 
 came over after me, I can hardly suppose in chase, because 
 he did not follow me when we were at the bottom together; 
 but I ran after him a long way, for I was not hurt, throw- 
 ing stones at the reptile. A Damara, who was some way 
 behind, was carrying my gun, and I had not even a stick." 
 
 Two of the greatest plagues to the explorer were the 
 want of water, of which something has already been said, 
 
 117 
 
THE TERRIBLE THORN-BUSH 
 
 and the prevalence of the terrible thorn-bush. Of the 
 water, the explorer says it would be a waste of time to 
 enlarge on some of the horrible stuff they had now and 
 then to drink. A shallow pond of only a few yards 
 in diameter may have had wild animals by the score 
 splashing about in the water for hours, and rolling to their 
 hearts' content. The stuff looked, and in fact was, 
 exactly like farmyard drainage. Yet this was all the 
 luckless men had at times to depend upon. Then the 
 thorn-trees : they grew worse and worse as the expedition 
 proceeded, and at last threatened to put a stop to all 
 further progress. Not an ox would face the thorns. 
 Indeed, a single bush terrified them almost out of their 
 wits, and the animals plunged and tossed, and threw their 
 harness into confusion. The whip was quite useless, and, 
 in fact, it made matters worse. So mad and vicious were 
 the oxen that their drivers dared not approach them. As 
 for the men themselves, their clothes and hands were badly 
 torn. One day the caravan laboured among these horrible 
 bushes from eleven in the morning till dark. When the 
 stop was made for the night not a blade of grass could be 
 found for the poor beasts, and when morning came most 
 of them had disappeared, not unnaturally. The blacks 
 went off helter-skelter after the missing oxen, not even 
 stopping to snatch a bite of breakfast before they started. 
 While the men were absent the master made a little 
 exploration of the country around, and found, to his great 
 delight, that only two or three miles away there was a 
 beautiful running stream, with plenty of grass about. 
 Fortunately, the cattle were overtaken at no very great 
 distance and brought back. 
 
 118 
 
DAMARA CATTLE-STEALERS 
 
 One of the Daraara chiefs, Kahikene by name, was more 
 friendly than the rest, and an incident occurred in which 
 he showed his disposition to behave well towards the 
 Englishman. Some of the waggon-oxen were missing one 
 morning, and on their spoors being followed, it was soon 
 seen that they had been driven away by Damara men. 
 Galton at once went to complain to Kahikene, and the 
 chief promised to see to the matter immediately. Accord- 
 ingly, he sent a gang of his men after the thieves. A day 
 or two elapsed, but at length the searchers returned, 
 bringing three out of the four cattle, the fourth, the lead- 
 ing ox of the team, as it happened, having been killed. 
 They also brought in six of the thieves. These culprits 
 Kahikene proposed to hang in a row on the projecting 
 branch of a tree. The Englishman protested that the 
 punishment was more than they deserved, and pleaded for 
 the lives of the fellows. To this appeal the black replied 
 that though Mr. Galton might forgive them the theft, 
 yet their chief must punish as he thought fit their dis- 
 obedience to himself, and he sent the men away in 
 custody. Four of them, Mr. Galton learnt later on, were 
 assegaied ; the other two escaped, but one of them was 
 caught again and brought to the explorer. The white 
 chief, more merciful than his black brother, contented 
 himself with giving the thief a sound flogging. 
 
 [From "Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa," 
 by Francis Galton, F.R.S. Ward, Lock and Co. By kind 
 permission of Mr. Francis Galton. ] 
 
 119 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE WILD HILL TRIBES OF NORTH AFRICA 
 
 The Gerdebah range-Mr. Hamilton, an English traveller in North 
 Africa-A wild and difficult country-His wanderings among 
 the highlands-" Les Vesuves "-Arrival, in pitchy darkness, 
 at Siwah— A wearisome cross-examination— Summoned to a 
 meeting of sheikhs-A hostile crowd outside-Ordered to leave 
 the place-A plucky refusal-The Mufti-AtUck by night on 
 the Englishman's tents-A hairbreadth escape-He sends a 
 servant to the sheikh Yusuf-Attack recommenced-Hamilton 
 slips away from his tent under cover of darkness-Refuge m 
 Yusuf 's house-A small cottage opposite assigned to him-A 
 mob of wild fanatics from the outlying hills appears-Attack on 
 empty tents-Letters to Viceroy and British Consul secretly 
 dispatched-Hamilton a prisoner-Repeated shots into the 
 prison-house-Threats and insults-Yusuf summoned for har- 
 bouring a Christian-A violent attack on the prison-Yusui 
 now shares imprisonment-His protestations and adjurations- 
 Desperate situation for the two men-A furious gale from the 
 south alarms the hillmen-They depart suddenly to Arab 
 fastnesses-Some amelioration of prisoners' lot-Arrival ot 
 cavalry from the Viceroy— A complete and ludicrous turning 
 of the tables. 
 Most people are aware that the African continent for 
 the main part has high ground running near to, and more 
 or less parallel with, the coast. This is true even of those 
 shores which are washed by the Mediterranean. As a 
 matter of fact, the elevations are not usually very great. 
 Still, there are ranges of hills which figure on the maps as 
 
 120 
 
A WILD COUNTRY 
 
 M mountains." Such is the line of Gerdoba (or Gerdebah) 
 Mountains, on the borders of Tripoli and Egypt. This 
 is what an aforetime traveller in the district says of 
 them : " These hills ultimately reach a considerable height. 
 Journeying over such ground is singularly fatiguing. . . . 
 They rise on one side in long gentle swells and fall 
 suddenly on the other, forming an angle vertically of 
 about seventy degrees, while eight or ten feet on this, one 
 would say, the lee side, are perfectly perpendicular." 
 
 It was in this country that a British traveller, Mr. 
 Hamilton, spent some time more than fifty years ago. 
 He was endeavouring to visit various spots of historic or 
 antiquarian interest, and a difficult matter he sometimes 
 found it, among those remote and semi -barbarous hill 
 tribes. He was riding one evening in a bare and lonely 
 valley, night coming on, and he himself at some distance 
 from the rest of the caravan. A few words from his 
 description of the locality will help to realize the sort of 
 scene before him. " A ridge of round-backed sandhills 
 forms the separation between the Little Gerdebah and 
 the immense range of low dark hills and table-lands which 
 here presents itself. A line of sandstone rocks, with nearly 
 perpendicular sides, bounds the line of road, sometimes 
 closing upon it, sometimes leaving a wide plain on either 
 side. In the basins thus formed rocks rise frequently in 
 the form of low truncated cones, generally in two steps, 
 one rising from the other, so like diminutive craters, that 
 in referring to this day's journey my servant always calls 
 them g Les Vesuves.' " 
 
 Twenty-six hours did it take to cross this range of 
 highlands, and in the mornings and evenings the cold was 
 
 121 
 
ARRIVAL AT SIWAH 
 
 considerable ; even in the midday sunshine the thermometer 
 was more than once found to indicate only forty-five degrees. 
 Passing over Mr. Hamilton's explorations of various ruins, 
 often fantastic in shape, of ancient temples and the like, 
 we may follow him to the hill-oasis of Siwah. It was 
 pitch dark, and it was only with difficulty his guide could 
 make out the road. Soon, however, the traveller found 
 his horse clambering up what seemed to be the face of a 
 precipice; five minutes later he was riding among walls. 
 The settlement had been reached, and presently he stood 
 before the house of a sheikh. The official proved friendly, 
 and courteously offered to assist the stranger in any way 
 he could. He put Mr. Hamilton through a long and 
 wearisome cross-examination, but in the end made arrange- 
 ments for him to pitch his tents on a plain to the south of 
 the town. On the left rose some limestone rocks, with a 
 castle, formerly occupied by a garrison. The town itself 
 stood on a big conical rock, the houses completely covering 
 it, while to the west were other cliffs, with many caverns. 
 These rocks were in places lofty. 
 
 But troubles began almost at once. The stranger was 
 summoned to the house of the sheikh Yusuf, and was 
 received in a room open to the street. A great crowd 
 was assembled outside, while seated on the floor round the 
 room were several stupid-looking old men, whom Hamilton 
 found to be the sheikhs of the place. Yusuf began a long 
 speech, the gist of which was that the town council and 
 the men of Siwah generally would not permit the presence 
 of a Christian among them. Yusuf tried to soften the 
 force of his announcement by calling the authorities 
 fools. 
 
 122 
 
THE MUFTI 
 
 " They have no sense, no sense !" he shouted again and 
 again. 
 
 " They must learn sense, or buy it," was the stranger's 
 plucky reply. 
 
 And Mr. Hamilton went on to state that he was an 
 Englishman, that he was inoffensive, that he was armed 
 with a passport from a Sovereign whom even the Sultan 
 Abdul Mejid himself would respect. He ended by throw- 
 ing upon the sheikhs the responsibility of whatever might 
 come as the result of their hostility and inhospitality. 
 
 The Englishman at this point thought it wise to send 
 for his revolvers, which he had left in his tent. Then, 
 mounting his horse, he began to ride away through the 
 crowd. At that moment the Mufti came up, and, at 
 Yusufs earnest request, Hamilton stayed to describe to 
 that great functionary the object of his visit to the 
 country. The Mufti attempted to explain away the 
 hostility of the townsmen, but was unable to deny that it 
 existed, and to a serious degree. At this juncture one of 
 the fellows in the street, who had from the first been most 
 insolent, began to cry that the Christian should not be 
 allowed to defile with his cursed presence the air of their 
 blessed country, and that the best thing the stranger could 
 do was to get himself out of the territory with all speed. 
 The man went on to say that, not so long before, four 
 hawajahs from Alexandria had come, and that they had 
 been fired on and turned out of the place. 
 
 "I'm not a hawajah," the Englishman boldly replied, 
 " and I do not mean to run away." 
 
 For three hours Hamilton stood his ground, but at last 
 retired to his tents, his negro cook in mortal terror, since 
 
 123 
 
HAMILTON'S TENT ATTACKED 
 
 he had heard the townsmen declare that they were coming 
 to attack the camp in the night. The master himself 
 laughed at the servant's fears, and ate his dinner tranquilly 
 enough. He had settled down comfortably to his pipe, 
 when suddenly three shots were fired in quick succession, 
 the bullets piercing the canvas of the tent and passing just 
 over his head with a shrill whistle. Hamilton took very 
 little notice of even a demonstration of this sort, thinking 
 it was only meant as a rough joke to frighten him. He 
 made a note of the incident and the time in his pocket- 
 book, and then went to peer out of the door of his tent. 
 The night was of pitchy blackness, and apparently all was 
 quiet and still. The barking of a dog presently, however, 
 told him that there were people about, all unseen though 
 they might be. He now thought it best to send a servant 
 into the town to tell Yusuf what had occurred. 
 
 Directly the man had left the firing began again. Says 
 the traveller : " I now began to think the affair more serious 
 than I had supposed. I heard one gun hang fire close to 
 my tent, and, turning, saw its muzzle pressed against the 
 wall of the tent on the shadow of my head ; I therefore 
 had all the lights put out, and went cautiously out to get 
 a view of my assailants. The night was so black that this 
 was impossible, but it also favoured my evasion. After 
 counting eleven volleys, which gave me grounds to suspect 
 that there was a numerous body of men in the date-trees 
 to the right, I, with my servant, went up to the sheikh 
 Yusuf 's house, abandoning the tents to their fate. Moving 
 cautiously across the plain, which separated us from the 
 town, and climbing the steep street which led to the house, 
 we could still see the fire of the enemy's guns, and the more 
 
 124 
 
REFUGE IN YUSUF'S HOUSE 
 
 frequent flashes in the pan, to which we probably owed our 
 escape. 11 
 
 He met on the way the messenger he had sent to Yusuf 1 s, 
 and the man reported that he had been unable to arouse the 
 sheikh ; and, in fact, it required some vigorous blows with 
 the butt-end of a gun to awake the sleepy elder. Hamilton 
 related what had happened, and added that he was going to 
 stay till the morning. Yusuf at once sent off some of his 
 fellows to protect the camp. These men found that the tents 
 had not been actually entered, but that they were full of 
 bullet-holes. One shot had passed immediately over the spot 
 where the Englishmen had been reclining ; had he been in a 
 less recumbent position, he would doubtless have lost his life. 
 
 Morning came at length, and then Yusuf assigned to 
 the stranger a small house of three rooms, opposite to his 
 own. One of the apartments was built out on the flat 
 roof, and occupied a part of it, so that there was a sort of 
 small terrace in front of the room. On this elevated spot 
 Hamilton stood, to take in the view, when he caught 
 sight of a large body of men on the plain below. There 
 were, apparently, several hundreds in the company, and 
 they marched with flags and camels to the tents. It soon 
 appeared that the entire population of an outlying hill 
 settlement had come forth against the Christian dog, 
 bringing their beasts to carry off the plunder. 
 
 The procedure of these rascals was curious. They found 
 the tents closed, but believing that the Englishman and 
 his servant were within, they dared not for a long time 
 venture near. The fact was, marvellous descriptions of 
 the wonderful weapons the stranger carried had been 
 circulated about the town, and all stood in mighty dread 
 
 125 
 
DIRE STRAITS 
 
 of his puissance. It was not till some time after that 
 one of the bolder spirits dared to open the door and peep 
 into the tent supposed to be tenanted by the master. 
 Meanwhile Yusuf had been in conference with his brother 
 sheikhs, to whom he had represented that they would be 
 required to replace tenfold any goods the Englishman 
 might lose by plunder in their town. The result was that 
 some of the authorities went down to the spot, and after 
 some hours succeeded in dispersing the mob. Hamilton 
 rode over to see the condition of the camp. He found 
 everything in the utmost confusion ; but nothing had 
 been taken away. 
 
 By this time Mr. Hamilton saw that it was high time for 
 him to get himself away from so hostile a people, if it were 
 possible. He intended to go to the Viceroy of Egypt, 
 and beg for an escort of cavalry with which to return. 
 This was a plan more easily conceived than carried out. 
 He found it impossible to procure camels for the journey. 
 He then proposed to hire donkeys as substitutes, but 
 Yusuf declared that without camels it was impossible to 
 proceed across the intervening deserts. Even when, after 
 a weary waiting, the stranger managed to procure three 
 camels, the Mufti warned him against leaving the town, 
 saying that he would undoubtedly be waylaid and 
 murdered within an hour or two of his quitting the place. 
 
 In these dire straits Hamilton tried another plan. He 
 wrote a letter to Her Britannic Majesty's Consul- General 
 at Cairo, requesting his interference and aid. It was 
 with much trouble that he persuaded Yusuf to lend a 
 messenger to take the letter, and the sheikh quickly 
 repented of it. Luckily the man had by that time got 
 
 126 
 
HAMILTON A PRISONER 
 
 well on his way in the direction of Cairo. The commotion 
 among the authorities of the place when they learnt of the 
 dispatch of the missive was very great. They were 
 feverishly anxious to know what the Englishman had said 
 to the Consul. It was not till the messenger had got 
 too far to be fetched back that Hamilton gave them any 
 information on the point. 
 
 The luckless traveller was now a close prisoner, confined 
 to the little cabin opposite Yusufs house, and there he 
 remained for some weeks. The time did not hang too heavily 
 on his hands, he says, for there were excitements not a few. 
 One evening four shots, fired at intervals into his house, 
 kept him sufficiently on the alert. Another day a great 
 mob assembled in arms and announced their intention of 
 exterminating the Christian, and so ending the matter. 
 The danger was somehow averted, and then a deputation 
 of the elders came to suggest that Hamilton should go 
 away in peace, looking over all that had taken place, and 
 carrying no complaint to the Pacha. To this the prisoner 
 made answer that his letter must be already in Cairo, and 
 that consequently all talk about not complaining to the 
 Pacha was useless. Then Yusuf was summoned before the 
 magistrates to answer the charge of harbouring a Christian 
 — a grave offence. Next the townsmen attempted to 
 assassinate Yusuf, setting cut-throats in the dark, narrow 
 lanes to slay him as he passed through. The unfortunate 
 Mussulman was thoroughly scared, and not unnaturally, 
 for his father had been done to death in a similar way. 
 
 Things presently assumed an even more serious aspect. 
 A fresh attack on a large scale was planned in the town, 
 and this came to the ears of Yusuf. It was clear that 
 
 127 
 
YUSUF IN DANGER 
 
 immediate and vigorous action must be taken for the 
 defence of himself and his guest. His plan was this : 
 entering several of the largest houses in the neighbourhood 
 of his own and of Hamilton's prison-house, he garrisoned 
 them with armed men. Then, with ten companions, he 
 went over and posted himself in the cottage occupied by 
 the stranger, who was fortunately well supplied with arms, 
 and seems to have been quite ready to use them in case of 
 necessity. But before long he begged that the garrisons 
 might be withdrawn from the neighbouring houses, because 
 if the attack from the mob should become furious, there 
 would be a danger of hitting friend as well as foe. 
 Luckily, the threatening demonstration ended in nothing 
 worse than wild yells. The end came, in fact, in an 
 unlooked-for way, for the principal men of the place, think- 
 ing no doubt of the penalty they might have to pay should 
 the Pacha interfere on behalf of the traveller, gathered 
 together a force and drove off the savage hillmen, who 
 were the most active and hostile among the furious crowd. 
 The two bodies met at the foot of the rock, and peace was 
 restored without any bloodshed. From that night a 
 regular patrol of the town was kept up by the elders. 
 
 Yusuf himself was now practically a prisoner, just 
 as much as his guest, and accordingly the two men 
 remained in the same house together. Not many evenings 
 after, the Christian and his Mussulman friend were on the 
 roof of their dwelling. A great rock overlooked the 
 spot, and on this some persons in the street below, 
 happening to look up, perceived four men with guns creep- 
 ing along. The prisoners had their backs at that moment 
 turned to the place where the would-be murderers stood, 
 
 128 
 
THREATS AND INSULTS 
 
 and saw nothing of the danger till a huge hubbub arose. 
 People from below dashed up the rock with frantic cries. 
 Of the four men two were taken ; the others made good 
 their escape. The defence the fellows made was absurd — 
 namely, that they were crow-shooting — but it was accepted 
 by the authorities. It should be explained that the gall 
 of the crow was reckoned a sovereign remedy for sore 
 eyes. 
 
 It would be tedious to recount a tithe of the annoyances, 
 the insults, the threats, the attacks, from which the 
 prisoners suffered. For Yusuf had by this time lost all 
 influence with his fellow-townsmen, and was kept in con- 
 finement with the stranger Christian. Even the little 
 children down in the street yelled up ribaldry and insult. 
 Twenty days went by, and still no sign of a reply from 
 either the British Consul or the Viceroy, to whom also 
 Hamilton had managed to send off a letter. Matters did 
 not look promising, to say the least of it. 
 
 Yusuf himself spared no effort to convince his brother 
 elders who visited him that they would all have to pay 
 dearly for their conduct towards this Christian. All his 
 representations, his protestations, his abjurations, were 
 thrown away. No one would listen to him. Then, by the 
 strangest and most unexpected of chances, the elements 
 effected in a few hours what Yusuf had laboured for three 
 weeks to bring about. One day a violent hot wind from 
 the south sprang up, and raged furiously for the greater 
 part of a week. This was regarded by the people of the 
 country as an " unfailing signal of some coming calamity ." 
 Accordingly, the ringleaders in the anti-Christian tumults, 
 scared and conscience-stricken, to the number of a hundred 
 
 129 I 
 
HAMILTON'S LOT AMELIORATED 
 
 and forty, left for the Arab encampments away in the 
 mountains. 
 
 In this curious way it came about tha.t Hamilton's lot was 
 made both easier and safer. It was droll to see the way in 
 which the different sheikhs tried to curry favour in his eyes. 
 One by one they would come to him in secret, each protest- 
 ing that he was entirely innocent of any participation in 
 the late attacks ; that, in truth, he was the only innocent 
 man in the town. Then each ended by begging that the 
 stranger would be careful to notify as much to the Consul 
 and to His Highness the Viceroy. 
 
 It was exactly six weeks after his captivity had begun 
 that the Englishman was finally set free. One evening 
 some fellows ran into the house, crying, "Baksheesh for 
 good news !" They had witnessed the arrival of a couple 
 of officers, the outriders of a troop of cavalry sent by the 
 Viceroy of Egypt. These two officers proved to be 
 tremendous swaggerers, and gave themselves magnificent 
 airs, after the fashion of Easterns in authority. They pro- 
 ceeded to make huge demands for man and beast on the 
 town, but what they actually got was about a fourth of 
 what they had asked. At Hamilton's wish the requisitions 
 were made only on the hostile part of the people. Never 
 was seen a more complete turning of tables. Hamilton 
 now became a veritable autocrat in the town, giving what 
 orders and dictating what terms he would. His friend 
 Yusuf, and his kindly countenance and assistance all 
 through those unhappy weeks, he did not forget. But he 
 demanded the arrest of several of the sheikhs, of the Cadi, 
 and of the Imaum of one of the mosques. These prisoners 
 he desired to have carried to Cairo, there to answer to the 
 
 130 
 
ALL ENDS WELL 
 
 Viceroy himself. A good word from the late prisoner 
 saved the Mufti from being taken off also. Hamilton made 
 all his demands in writing, and the officer in command of 
 the cavalry seemed to be mortally afraid of anything 
 produced by pen and ink. 
 
 Thus all ended well for the traveller, but it might 
 easily have been otherwise. His life had been in the 
 greatest danger all the time of his six weeks' imprison- 
 ment, and from no persons more than from the outlying 
 highland tribes of the Gerdebah range who had flocked 
 into the little town. 
 
 131 I 2 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS 
 
 The Atlas Mountains not well known — An English clergyman 
 travels among them — The Monkey Brook — A road that tries the 
 nerves — A lion lately seen — The Mount of Lions — A hunt after 
 a huge beast — A hoy up a tree and a lion below — A lion scare 
 with a ludicrous ending — A tall story of a lion and a soldier — 
 The native dogs and the dangling legs of the English rider — 
 A camel foal and its fun — Robbers plentiful — The French 
 Government and the brigands— A sulky crew — An aneroid and 
 a covetous Arab — A Frenchman murdered by a Morocco robber 
 — Swift justice — Without shelter for the night on the moun- 
 tains — A pack of ferocious dogs — A bivouac in an Arab stable — 
 Hungry and thirsty — An uncomfortable prospect for the night 
 — An enormous wild boar — A carriage and six — Steeplechases 
 across the rough wastes — Two terrific bumps — Jugglers and 
 magicians — Licking a red-hot shovel — Eating a prickly-pear 
 leaf— Disagreeable tricks — The Englishman's want of faith. 
 
 The Atlas range of mountains, however famous, is yet but 
 little known to the civilized world. Most of us are aware 
 that there are really two Atlas ranges, called the Great 
 and the Little Atlas Mountains, although, except in one 
 part, the summits of the Great Atlas are by no means so 
 high as those of the Little Atlas. It is this latter chain 
 of mountains that is best known to Europeans, because it 
 is nearer the coast, and nearer the French colonial city 
 of Algiers, so much visited nowadays. The mountains 
 
 132 
 
A CLERGYMAN'S TRAVELS 
 
 throw out great buttresses, as it were, to the very 
 coast. 
 
 In the year 1857 an English clergyman, Mr. Blakesley, 
 had a good round amongst these Atlas ranges, both the 
 Great and the Little, though more especially the latter. 
 Up and down the country, and in and out in every direc- 
 tion, he travelled, often in districts where there were 
 either no roads at all, or very indifferent ones. Of serious 
 dangers, perhaps, there were few, but there was one gorge 
 known as the Monkey Brook, on account of the number 
 of monkeys found there, that Mr. Blakesley traversed with 
 considerable alarm. The carriage road runs on a narrow 
 shelf on the cliff wall, and there is no parapet. A sudden 
 swerve on the part of the horses, or an awkward stumble, 
 would precipitate vehicle and occupants into the fearful 
 chasms below. The traveller found it trying to the nerves 
 to sit still in such a place. Moreover, to make matters 
 worse, the rock is very soft, and the heavy rains cut big 
 grooves into the surface of the road, much as a schoolboy 
 might carve notches on the edge of his desk. The 
 authorities take great care to fill up these ugly gaps with 
 lumps of stone as soon as possible, but when Mr. Blakesley 
 passed along this road it had been raining heavily all the 
 night before, and the road -menders had not yet got 
 through the work of repairing. The carriage crossed 
 several of the broken gaps with a lurch. Had an accident 
 occurred, the wayfarer tells us, the world at large would 
 never have heard a word of it. 
 
 " Down would go horses, carriage, and traveller into 
 the bed of the Chiffa, far away from any European habita- 
 tion. In the course of the day some Arab shepherds 
 
 133 
 
LIONS 
 
 would perhaps light upon the wreck, when, in their quiet, 
 impassive way, they would collect the fragments of harness 
 and ironwork with the remark, 'God is merciful,' and 
 leave the mutilated corpses to be devoured by the jackals." 
 
 But there were other dangers to be apprehended among 
 those remote mountain districts. The Englishman was 
 not long in observing that most wayfarers there carried a 
 gun. They were not sportsmen, but took the weapons 
 as a protection against wild beasts. In one place he and 
 other passengers were alarmed by the report that a lion 
 had been recently seen, and had devoured two cows 
 belonging to a native farm. The ladies travelling were 
 terribly frightened, but the district was passed without 
 a sight of the prowling lion. All they saw was the 
 skeleton of a slaughtered ox, the bones of which had no 
 doubt been picked clean by the jackals, of which there 
 were many everywhere, after the king of beasts had made 
 his own repast. The panther seemed to be even more 
 dreaded by the Arabs than the lion. 
 
 There is one hill which rejoices in the name of the 
 Mount of Lions, though, oddly enough, a lion is seldom 
 seen there. In other places there were rather too many. 
 At Jemappes, in the province of Constantine, a very fine 
 lion, in the full light of day, attacked a herd of cattle and 
 killed two cows. This was just before Mr. Blakesley 
 arrived. The whole population turned out to hunt the 
 depredator, and in less than an hour the brute was killed. 
 He was found to weigh close upon five hundredweight. 
 The flesh was all eaten, and its taste was said to resemble 
 that of beef. Another lion made his appearance in a 
 corn-field which was watched over by an Arab boy of 
 
 134 
 
A SCARE 
 
 fifteen. The lad carried a gun, mainly to shoot the wild 
 swine which abounded in the neighbourhood. The lion 
 was probably after the same sort of work as the boy, the 
 slaughter of the pigs. Be that as it may, the youngster 
 climbed into a tree, taking his gun with him, and when 
 the lion came and roared at him underneath, he let fly in 
 the coolest manner. Fortunately for the lad, the bullet 
 went in at the beast's mouth, and probably into the brain, 
 for next morning the lion was found dead not far away. 
 
 Sometimes the lion scares ended in a different fashion. 
 Mr. Blakesley was travelling in a sort of carrier's cart, 
 with two or three country-folk as fellow-passengers. On 
 the hill-side, where there was a thick wood, a large animal 
 suddenly appeared standing in the middle of the road. 
 
 " It is a lion P exclaimed one. 
 
 "No, it is a dog,'" replied a second. 
 
 " It is a young lion P cried a third passenger. 
 
 The Englishman was naturally in a state of perturba- 
 tion ; the natives, on the other hand, discussed the matter 
 as calmly as if the subject had been the weather or the 
 crops. The stranger hardly knew whether to be delighted 
 or disappointed, when the brute ahead proved to be a 
 very big mastiff. 
 
 One of the passengers seized the occasion to tell a lion 
 story, which is too extraordinary to be missed. A couple 
 of French soldiers set off, but not together, to travel 
 between two settlements. The first man was drunk, and, 
 after managing to lose his sword somehow, he fell down 
 by the wayside and dropped into a profound sleep. His 
 mate, quite sober, picked up the lost sword as he followed, 
 and at last came upon the sleeping man, who was lying 
 
 135 
 
VICIOUS DOGS 
 
 close to what appeared to be part of a tree-trunk covered 
 with browned grass. But when he gave the sleeper a 
 kick to arouse him, what was his horror to find that he 
 had kicked, not his mate, but a huge lion which was 
 crouching by his side ! The aggressor made off, of course, 
 at his best pace, and the lion did not attempt to follow 
 the man who had so rudely disturbed his slumbers, but 
 immediately stretched himself by the other fellow's side 
 again. When the half -intoxicated man awoke, it was to 
 find himself with a strange bedfellow, and when he rose 
 and walked away, the lion got up too, and accompanied 
 him for several miles through the forest showing no sign 
 of ferocity. At the edge of the forest the lion turned off 
 and went his own way, no doubt to the relief of the man ! 
 No little trouble was caused to our traveller and his 
 attendants sometimes by the viciousness of the native 
 dogs and by the sulkiness of the upland farmers, who 
 seldom made any attempt to restrain them. At one 
 place, where the dogs made a most savage onset upon 
 him, he had to get a supply of stones to throw at them, 
 as he had no suitable or effective whip. His legs were in 
 far more danger than those of his Arab servants, who 
 always rode, not with legs dangling down, but tucked up 
 on the saddle. It was all the traveller could do to keep 
 himself from being severely bitten, his hanging legs proving 
 an irresistible temptation to the dogs. Hardly had the 
 party got clear of these brutes, when they were bothered 
 by an animal of quite a different kind. A young camel 
 foal darted away from its herd, and came up to the mule 
 Mr. Blakesley was riding, evidently bent on fun. The 
 mule did not relish the fun, however, but began to kick 
 
 136 
 
ROBBERS PLENTIFUL 
 
 and plunge violently. The rider shouted, threw stones, 
 and did all he knew to drive off the little camel. All in 
 vain; the animal enjoyed the joke, playing about till it 
 was tired. The muleteers were obliged to jump to the 
 ground and seize the bridle of the kicking mule. It was 
 all they could do to prevent the animal from breaking 
 away, and dashing both itself and its rider to pieces. 
 Luckily the troublesome foal ran off at last, and the 
 mule quieted down. 
 
 In a country which had not long been under settled and 
 civilized rule, and whose conformation, moreover, was so 
 favourable to brigandage, the roads were anything but 
 safe. The French Government kept up a more or less 
 active inspection of the chief highways, and Mr. Blakesley 
 soon found out that he was in luck when he was able to 
 spend the night at or near one of the military outposts. 
 In some parts the Government had a system of paying the 
 tribes to keep watch over the post-houses where travellers 
 and their animals were in the habit of passing the night. 
 Some of these subsidized natives, however, gave more 
 trouble to the authorities than all the robbers on whom 
 they were paid to keep an eye. When our traveller came 
 across a gang of these fellows, he found them sulky and 
 hostile to a degree. They glared at him with horrid 
 scowls, and would neither return his salutations nor accept 
 his offers of tobacco. There was one young man, however, 
 who was particularly attracted by the sight of an aneroid 
 barometer. He got up to look at it, and it was evident 
 that he was sorely tempted to draw the yataghan he 
 carried and cut down the possessor of the instrument. 
 Fortunately, the Englishman was accompanied by French 
 
 137 
 
SWIFT JUSTICE 
 
 soldiers, for the man who coveted the aneroid was the most 
 villainous-looking fellow he had ever seen. 
 
 An incident that took place while he was at a military 
 station near the Morocco border showed the rigour of the 
 French officers in repressing crime. A Lieutenant brought 
 in word that a Frenchman had been cruelly murdered, not 
 far away, by a Morocco robber. The Commandant asked 
 on which side of the frontier the murder was, and on being 
 told that the fellow was on French ground, he remarked 
 that the execution would take place that evening. There 
 was no extradition treaty between France and Morocco, 
 and it was the custom to make short work of every 
 Morocco robber caught on the French side of the frontier. 
 The trial of the criminal was short, and his shrift shorter. 
 It was a rough-and-ready way of administering justice, but 
 no doubt the necessities of the case demanded it. Mr. 
 Blakesley observed that whenever any party of travellers 
 in that district was seen by the military authorities, a 
 soldier was always sent out to keep an eye on them till 
 they were out of danger. 
 
 Occasionally the Englishman found himself without 
 shelter for the night, an awkward predicament in a 
 country where the men were almost as wild as the animals 
 that prowled around. Once, after a march of thirteen 
 hours, he reached a rest-house late at night, and found it 
 closed and uninhabited, so far as could be seen. Unable 
 to get into the place in any way, he moved off in search of 
 other shelter, when presently he was attacked by a pack of 
 ferocious dogs. He beat a retreat, and was settling upon 
 a spot in which to bivouac, his mules being quite unable 
 to go a mile farther, when to his surprise a door in the 
 
 138 
 
A NIGHT WITHOUT SHELTER 
 
 building was opened, and a man invited him in. It proved 
 to be a stable with a sort of courtyard in the middle. 
 Here the belated traveller made himself a fire of artichoke 
 stalks, and squatted down on a mat beside it. But he was 
 half dead with thirst, and famishing besides. He could 
 not make the man understand his needs for a long time, 
 and he was in despair. At last the fellow went off, and 
 presently reappeared bringing a bowl of milk, a godsend. 
 Somewhat relieved, the Englishman proceeded to make 
 himself comfortable for the night, but he determined 
 to keep a night-light burning, for fear of evil designs on 
 the part of the Arab, of whose character, of course, he 
 knew nothing. Just as he was dropping off to sleep, 
 another Arab arrived, and informed the traveller that he 
 had been sent to act as guide, and that he would return in 
 the morning to conduct him on his way. Now reassured, 
 Mr. Blakesley and his muleteers set their minds at ease 
 and slept soundly. Thus a night which had begun un- 
 promisingly ended satisfactorily. But his anxiety had 
 been natural enough, for the muleteers confessed that they 
 were utterly ignorant of their whereabouts, and of the 
 nature of the country and the character of the people. 
 
 In one place his party disturbed a wild-boar feeding in 
 a cultivated field. He was an enormous animal — "the 
 largest I ever saw, far bigger than the wild-boars of 
 Germany. 1 ' The brute did not show fight, as the lion 
 usually does when disturbed, but made off with all 
 speed into the thicket close at hand, and was lost. On 
 another occasion, when traversing the vilest of vile roads 
 on the hills near Tlemcen, at a height of some two 
 thousand feet, his coachman — it was a coach-and-six in 
 
 139 
 
A MAD STEEPLE-CHASE 
 
 which the Englishman was travelling — suddenly left the 
 ruts of the beaten track and dashed at full speed into 
 the wastes alongside. Crashing through shrubs, lurching 
 over various inequalities or loose obstacles, floundering 
 through quagmires, the carriage sped on its way. It was 
 a marvel how woodwork, wheels, and springs held together, 
 over miles of such country. At length appeared in front 
 a deep ditch, quite a yard wide, masked by a pile of 
 stones. To the traveller's astonishment and alarm, the 
 leading postboy set his animals straight at the double 
 obstruction. The two leaders cleared heap and ditch, 
 and the remaining four horses followed in fine style. 
 The coach gave at each obstacle such a lurch as the 
 traveller had never before felt. The marvel was that 
 "the machine did not seem to suffer, neither was the 
 luggage scattered to the four winds, nor the coachman shot 
 into infinite space." The occupant of the carriage, how- 
 ever, received additions to the many bruises he had 
 sustained in the course of that mad steeplechase. He 
 supposed this style of charioteering in French Africa to 
 have been induced by the habit of driving guns about in 
 mad headlong fashion. 
 
 He was fortunate enough to see a good deal of the per- 
 formances of the native jugglers and magicians, a class of 
 men very common in Algiers at that date, more especially 
 in the remoter and less civilized districts. One remarkable 
 series of performances particularly interested him. 
 
 The proceedings began by six or seven fellows taking 
 their seats around a charcoal fire. From time to time 
 the chief performer threw a handful of some substance into 
 the fire, causing a puff of smoke. A sort of tambourine 
 
 140 
 
JUGGLERS AND MAGICIANS 
 
 was beaten with the knuckles the while. At length a 
 young man of the party rose from the ground, threw down 
 his instrument, and then bending over the fire, proceeded 
 to sway his body violently backward and forward. In 
 time he became as if possessed, and danced frantically 
 about, giving vent to hideous howls. The performance 
 now began. First a red-hot shovel was held to the 
 young man, and this he took with another yell and placed 
 on his arms. Then he began to lick the implement 
 with his tongue, and seemed to enjoy the taste of the 
 burning metal. A leaf from a prickly-pear was next 
 thrown to him, and this he picked up with his mouth from 
 the ground, and ate a portion of it. 
 
 Other tricks followed which the English spectator 
 found disagreeable, if not disgusting. The juggler 
 apparently pulled his eye entirely out of its socket, a 
 feat which the natives evidently thought a masterpiece, 
 for a special collection was made on behalf of the man. 
 After this the fellow proceeded to thrust an iron rod into 
 his body, bringing the point out at the other side, and 
 feigning all the while to be suffering the most exquisite 
 torture. The stranger watched these performances narrowly, 
 and in both cases perceived how the trick was done, 
 though he was far too wise to say anything on the point, 
 amidst a crowd of ardent believers. But he noted that on 
 the occasion of another exhibition of a similar kind, a 
 little later on, the moment he put his head inside the 
 place the performer stopped. The black looks of the 
 audience, and the one eye half closed — the sure sign of 
 anger amongst the Arabs — convinced him that it would be 
 better for his own safety to beat an immediate retreat. 
 
 m 
 
WANT OF FAITH 
 
 At another place he was promised a show by a man who, 
 in a fit of possession, would eat serpents and scorpions alive ; 
 but this performance the Englishman was fated to miss, 
 the magician being temporarily absent from home. It 
 was perhaps as well, for the stranger's evident want of 
 faith irritated the Morocco Arabs among whom he was 
 staying, and they are the most savage and unscrupulous of 
 their race. 
 
 142 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 SPORT BEYOND THE SASKATCHEWAN 
 
 Sportsmen, and the mountains of the Canadian Dominion — The Earl 
 of Southesk, explorer and naturalist — Magnificent scenery — An 
 Indian baby ill — An informal doctor — Mountain sheep — A clean 
 miss — Rolling boulders down the mountain-side — More sheep — 
 Wonderful feats with an old flint rifle — A " dead" sheep suddenly 
 bolts — The dog and the porcupine — Search for grizzlies — How to 
 manage a grizzly bear — The puma and its dangerous character — 
 A puma up a tree — A very dangerous slope — Critical position of 
 the nobleman — Hunt after a ram — Firing from a very risky 
 spot — The dead body of the ram drops upon the dog — Another 
 grizzly scare — A dangerous climb — " On either side was a tre- 
 mendous precipice " — Thoroughly beaten — A climb after a for- 
 gotten rifle — The Earl belated — A miserable and dangerous 
 walk home through the woods — Travelling becomes harder — 
 A stiff ascent covered with big rocks — Horses dragged up a 
 precipice with ropes — A fall amongst the kettles and pots — 
 Tent falls upon its sleeping occupant — The terrors of the pine- 
 woods — Nothing like leather — The Earl christens a mountain 
 and cairn after himself. 
 
 How many sportsmen have been attracted by the boundless 
 breadths of prairie and forest, by the wealth of river and 
 of mountain peak, included within the vast area of the 
 Canadian Dominion, it would be hard to say. And not 
 only sportsmen pure and simple, but the geographer, the 
 naturalist, the searcher after excitement and adventure — 
 all have been drawn Westward. Amongst the band was 
 
 143 
 
MAGNIFICENT SCENERY 
 
 the Earl of Southesk, who, in the years 1859 and 1860, 
 roamed over much of the upper portions of the great 
 North American continent. The noble traveller was 
 explorer, naturalist, and geographer primarily, but his 
 taste for outdoor life and the necessity of providing suffi- 
 cient food on his journeys made him an accomplished 
 sportsman, too. 
 
 We may join him at that part of his tour when he was 
 close upon the stupendous range of the Rockies. With 
 wonder and with awe he gazed on the marvels around him, 
 and again and again he breaks out into expressions of 
 delight. 
 
 " We continued our march up the river amidst scenery 
 of surpassing magnificence. . . . On the right there is a 
 far higher wall of rock, which is broken by a succession of 
 glorious peaks, while lower precipitous spurs, divided by 
 deep rocky glens, run outwards to the river. . . . The 
 strata whirl in such curious fashion that far-spreading 
 spaces look like vast stores of petrified trees upheaved in 
 the ruin of a dismantled world." 
 
 The explorer had met with many curious adventures on 
 his long journey across the continent, but his entrance 
 upon the mountain districts brought him one of a different 
 kind. One of the Indian babies was taken seriously ill. 
 The mother was crying bitterly, the father also weeping. 
 They begged the Earl to take up the case of the child, and 
 relieve its sufferings. He hesitated, and not unnaturally, 
 for if the child should die on his hands, its death would to 
 a certainty be charged to him— a very undesirable thing 
 anywhere and at any time, but ten times more so in his 
 situation. Yet he was evidently expected to do something ; 
 
 144 
 
AN INFORMAL DOCTOR 
 
 and, besides, his own kindness of heart prompted him to 
 help the miserable family if possible. His resolution was 
 taken, be the consequences what they might. He ordered 
 the baby to be wrapped in many blankets, for it had been 
 almost naked hitherto ; he had the futile bit of fire made 
 into a good rousing blaze ; and he caused his men to make 
 some hot tea. " I then directed the mother to hold her 
 baby close to the fire, and pour tea down its throat, as 
 much as it could be made to swallow. With perfect con- 
 fidence in my skill, she took a spoon and began the feeding 
 process, which so greatly disgusted the child that it 
 struggled and screamed, and rejected the tea, till, between 
 its own efforts and the heat of the blazing logs, a little 
 moisture began to appear. Telling them to keep the 
 baby warm, as they valued its life, I left them and returned 
 to my tent, and next morning had the happiness of hear- 
 ing that the treatment had been a complete success."" 
 
 The leader had always on his mind the problem of feed- 
 ing his followers, and consequently, when he found himself 
 in a district abounding in wild sheep, the opportunity was 
 not to be lost. But it was a risky business at times, get- 
 ting at those sheep. His very first attempt led him along 
 a mountain-side, on tracks that he would have thought 
 nothing but a goat could follow. A sheep was observed high 
 up on the crags, and a stiff climb it was to get up to the 
 spot. The latter part of the distance had to be done on 
 hands and knees, over sharp rocks that cut like a knife. 
 With all his efforts the sportsman could gain no point 
 nearer than a hundred and twenty yards away. He risked 
 his shot, and had the mortification to make a clean miss of 
 it. He and his men were bent on having fun of some 
 
 145 K 
 
FEATS WITH AN OLD RIFLE 
 
 kind, however, on their elevated perch, and nothing 
 better presented itself than rolling big stones down the 
 steep. Down went the boulders, crashing into the groves 
 of fir-trees far below, and snapping off the younger among 
 them like twigs. This amusement was a huge delight to 
 all the men, of whatever age, belonging to the Earl's 
 party. 
 
 Fortunately for the larder, the hunt after the mountain 
 sheep was not always so unprofitable. Not long after, the 
 Earl shot a ram and an old ewe, also wounding another 
 sheep, which one of his servants at once finished with his 
 old flint rifle — " a most extraordinary little implement, so 
 short and small, so bound up and mended with leather 
 and brass-headed tacks, and altogether so worn and 
 weather-beaten, as to look like some curious antique toy. 1 ' 
 Antoine, with his old-fashioned gun, and his master, with 
 a more modern and effective weapon, next dashed down to 
 the bottom of a deep ravine where more sheep were espied. 
 The Earl arrived so blown that he missed with both 
 barrels. He had time to reload, the animals being con- 
 fused, and soon two or three dropped to his gun, Antoine 
 also bringing down a couple. The two men then began 
 to skin the carcasses, when, just as they were about to lay 
 hands on the first of the sheep they had shot, to 
 their stupefaction the beast suddenly sprang up and dis- 
 appeared up the mountain-side at lightning speed. Others 
 of the exploring party had had a run of luck also, and the 
 day's stalk produced a heavy bag altogether. 
 
 One of the dogs had a curious experience about this 
 time. He had scented a porcupine, and had followed and 
 seized it ; but he got more than he bargained for, for his 
 
 146 
 
FACTS ABOUT GRIZZLIES 
 
 mouth was stuck through with quills, and he presented a 
 funny and an unhappy spectacle. Some of the quills 
 were so firmly fixed in the dog's cheeks that they 
 could hardly be drawn out again. According to the 
 accounts of the hunters, the porcupine has its quills 
 very loosely inserted in its body, so that the slightest 
 touch will bring them out, if, indeed, the animal cannot shed 
 them at will. The Indians have to be very careful to rid 
 their dogs of the quills they have got stuck into their 
 mouths during encounters with the porcupine, or the dog 
 dies. 
 
 Lord Southesk was longing to come across a grizzly bear. 
 At length a man of his company saw one in a valley 
 whither he had gone after rams, and he reported the 
 circumstance as soon as he reached the camp. The bear 
 and the hunter had looked at each other, but neither had 
 cared to show fight, and they had parted company. The 
 master was at first disposed to blame his servant, but a 
 little reflection showed him that even a man with a double- 
 barrelled gun would be unwise to attack a huge grizzly, if 
 he were alone and at a distance from all help, in case of 
 mishaps. An animal like the grizzly bear, so savage, so 
 strong, and so hard to kill, had better be left alone, unless 
 the hunter has well-armed supporters near. Respecting 
 the habits of the grizzly, the Earl learnt some curious facts 
 from his men. It appeared that when a bear spied a 
 man he would make a halt at a distance of about a 
 hundred yards away, rear himself on his haunches, and 
 give a look around. After this he would either at once 
 decamp, or make straight for the man. In the latter case 
 Bruin would stop again at thirty yards' distance, stand 
 
 H7 K 2 
 
CHARACTER OF THE PUMA 
 
 upright, and reconnoitre as before. A final stand was 
 made at ten yards 1 distance before the brute flung himself 
 upon the man. Now was the hunters time, if only he had 
 the wisdom and the nerve to stand so long and await the 
 chance. At this last uprising, at such close quarters, the 
 grizzly must be met by a well-aimed bullet, or the man's 
 doom was sealed. Woe betide the hunter if his first 
 ball did not carry instantaneous death with it. 
 
 A more savage and dangerous beast than even the bear 
 was said to be found in places among the Rockies — the puma. 
 He can climb a tall tree with the agility and quickness of 
 a cat — a feat the grizzly is unable to imitate. More- 
 over, the puma is the slyest of beasts, and hunts its prey in 
 the night as well as during the hours of daylight. It will 
 mark out a little party of men, and will follow them 
 secretly but closely for days, always on the look-out in 
 case one of the number should separate himself from his 
 mates. " When all is dark and silent the insidious puma 
 glides in, and the sleeper knows but short awakening when 
 its fangs are buried in his throat.'" If, on the other hand, 
 the man kills the puma, he has a treat in store, the flesh 
 being esteemed a great delicacy. The Earl was not lucky 
 enough to come across one of the creatures ; not even the 
 track of one was perceived. But two of his men had, not 
 long before, while attached to another exploring party, 
 perceived a puma up a tree. They had at once fired at it, 
 not stopping, however, to see the effect of the shots, but 
 bolting away at full speed. " They never felt inclined to 
 go back to claim their trophy, which they most shrewdly 
 suspected might have claimed them, for while the death of 
 the enemy was doubtful, its indignation, if alive, was not." 
 
 148 
 
 ? 
 
A CRITICAL POSITION 
 
 The climbs after game of one sort or another, mainly 
 sheep and goats, brought constant excitement to the 
 hunters. The risks they ran, always considerable, were 
 sometimes frightful. The Earl himself had more than 
 one such. He was following a wounded sheep along a 
 hill-side, when he suddenly found himself in a dangerous 
 position. The steep slope was loose, consisting of pebbles 
 and small fragments of rock. The stuff gave way at 
 every step the hunter took, and of course carried him 
 along with it. Down he was travelling, almost helpless to 
 arrest his course. Below him were depths of the most 
 frightful character. A little more of this slipping, and he 
 would be hurled into the abyss. Even to stand still was 
 death, for the loose shingle would have soon borne him 
 over the edge of the precipice beneath. His dog, whining 
 in terror, stood its ground with the utmost difficulty, 
 showering down into its masters face stones and sand in 
 its efforts. The situation was critical indeed. But the 
 love of life was strong, and the Earl made renewed and 
 most desperate struggles, placing his rifle along the ground 
 wherever there was the least firm projection to support it. 
 Dragging himself inch by inch, but almost without hope 
 of ever escaping, the Earl at last gained solid ground, to 
 his intense relief — and with a lively sense of gratitude to 
 Providence, he tells us. 
 
 Meanwhile the ram he was after had placed himself in a 
 position awkward to reach. But the hunter went after 
 him, choosing what appeared to be the safest path, and 
 gained a little ledge of sloping grass. Above him, on the 
 top of a rock-face about thirty feet in height, stood the 
 animal ; below the sportsman dropped away a perpendicular 
 
 149 
 
HUNT AFTER A RAM 
 
 precipice of awful depth — down to the very roots of the 
 mountain itself, in fact. Here he took aim, the ram 
 exactly above him. He missed, and the animal moved 
 away for a moment. Then returning to his former 
 position, the ram gazed down at his aggressor. The 
 second ball brought the poor brute flying from the cliff's 
 edge into empty air. It fell with a crash on the little 
 grassy ledge, almost crushing the dog. The master had 
 dodged the falling body. In his death struggles the ram 
 would have been over the precipice and lost for ever, had 
 not the hunter seized him by the hind -leg and held on till 
 all was over. Even when the animal was dead his body 
 would not rest on the steep slope, but had to be propped 
 up with stones till it could be fetched away by the 
 servants. 
 
 There was another report of a grizzly in the neighbour- 
 hood, and the Earl went off to search for the animal. Up 
 hill and down dale the men wandered, but all in vain ; he 
 was once more doomed to disappointment. He deter- 
 mined, however, to climb to the highest part of the range 
 within sight, in order that he might get a view of what 
 was beyond, and gain some information as to the general 
 plan of mountain and valley in the neighbourhood. It 
 was a particularly toilsome climb, the many rock walls 
 jutting out from the ridge causing endless trouble. There 
 was much snow on the higher portions of the crest. By 
 dint of great exertion the Earl got himself close to the 
 foot of the main cliff, not far from the top of the mountain. 
 There, to his vexation, he was brought to an abrupt stop 
 by a most difficult bit of rock. It was of no great height, 
 but it stood j ust in the way, where the sharp ridge was at 
 
 150 
 
 
A Dangerous Moment 
 
 Standing on the sloping little grassy ledge, Lord Southesk shot at the rani exactly 
 above him, and hit it. It came tumbling over, and the hunter bad to dodge the flying 
 mass, and later to seize it so as to prevent its falling over the precipice. 
 

THOROUGHLY BEATEN 
 
 its narrowest. On either side was a tremendous precipice 
 covered with layers of ice. Twice he tried to scramble up 
 this formidable obstacle, but it was quite impassable. He 
 stood to consider whether he could in any way work round 
 the rock, but he wisely decided to leave it alone ; at the 
 best it would be exceedingly difficult, and in case he 
 should have the smallest slip, his destruction was certain ; 
 moreover, there was an even worse place farther on. He 
 had to own himself beaten, and scramble down again. He 
 was intensely disappointed not to have gained the summit 
 and a view of what was beyond, but there was no help 
 for it. 
 
 He had not yet done with this mountain-flank ; when 
 half-way down, he discovered that he had left his rifle up 
 above. A second long and fatiguing climb, on the top of 
 his former exertions, was no light matter, but it had to be 
 done. The result of it all was that night came on before 
 the climber had reached the bottom again. He was at 
 least four or five miles from the camp ; he was alone ; 
 there was no track ; the darkness was deep ; he was dog- 
 tired. It was a disagreeable prospect that was before him, 
 to say the least of it. Through dark, sombre woods he 
 plunged on, over cliff and torrent, scrambling or tumbling 
 over fallen trunks, and forcing his way in places through 
 a thick undergrowth of scrub. Besides, he was in the 
 very haunt of the grizzly, and he might at any moment 
 find himself confronted by one of these formidable brutes. 
 And even though the moon presently arose, the darkness 
 in the dense spruce-thickets would have given him a poor 
 chance of using his gun effectively against a bear, had one 
 come his way. He fired off his rifle repeatedly, to attract 
 
 151 
 
TRAVELLING BECOMES HARDER 
 
 the attention of his companions at the camp, but the 
 sound echoed and re-echoed among the mountains in such 
 a way that it could be no guide to anybody. Dead-beaten, 
 the sportsman dragged himself along, till, a mile from 
 home, he was delighted to fall in with a little search-party, 
 who had become alarmed at his absence. To mount a 
 horse and ride the remainder of the distance was a luxury 
 indeed. 
 
 The travelling became harder as the mountains grew 
 wilder. At one place it was only by some very clever 
 manoeuvring that a way forward was found at all. It was 
 in this wise. First came an exceedingly steep slope, 
 of itself formidable enough. But this particular steep 
 was thickly strewn with great boulders, on an average of 
 the size of a cart, the explorer informs us, and near one 
 another. Between the blocks were deep holes — of course, 
 except in the few instances where smaller stuff rolling 
 down the mountain had filled up the hollow spaces. How 
 the servants of the expedition got the horses up this ugly 
 bank the Earl could not tell ; he was himself at a distance 
 at the time, shooting ptarmigan. But a worse bit of 
 going now presented itself: " at the summit was a nearly 
 perpendicular wall of hard-frozen snow, about twenty feet 
 high. Steps were cut, and the horses dragged up with 
 ropes. They ascended without accident, except Blond, 
 who slipped on a sheet of ice just as he got to the top, 
 and fell to the bottom, crushing our pots and kettles, but 
 damaging himself very little, as his packs saved him. 
 Rowland positively refused to go up, so he was taken a 
 long way round, and the men carried his packs up the icy 
 stair. ... It was an almost incredible feat, though 
 
 152 
 
A TREMENDOUS GALE 
 
 perhaps less really wonderful than the previous ascent of 
 the hill among the separated blocks of stone." 
 
 Of storms the travellers had their full share — wind, 
 rain, snow, thunder, and lightning. On one occasion 
 a tremendous gale sprang up from the north-west, and 
 bore down upon them with incredible fury. The camp 
 happened to be in a very exposed situation, being high up 
 and without shelter of any sort. The Earl's tent was 
 under a severe strain all the time, and at length the centre- 
 pole snapped, and the whole thing fell down upon the 
 body of the sleeper. It was useless to attempt to set up 
 the tent again in such a hurricane, and he was " doomed 
 to pass a most uncomfortable night, feeling much as if 
 beneath a gigantic fan, as the canvas flapped to and fro, 
 and drove eddies of air through every covering I could 
 devise." 
 
 A very tiresome thing to contend with on the march 
 was the presence of fallen, splintered, or broken trees. 
 The devastating storms often laid a considerable portion 
 of a wood more or less prostrate. The horses were, as a 
 consequence, kept constantly jumping, the obstacles being 
 too large to be stepped over. Then, while the larger trees 
 often tear the animals, the smaller ones, pointing in every 
 direction, run full tilt at both man and beast, and the 
 rider's legs, as well as the horse's chest, come in for hard 
 usage, the broken branches piercing like spears. The 
 Earl, luckily for himself, had a suit of stout leather, and 
 he found that nothing but leather was an effective defence 
 against the lance-like attacks directed upon his person. 
 Even then his head was sometimes " artistically aimed at," 
 and his beaver cap was sent spinning, if, indeed, the rider 
 
 153 
 
A WELL-DESERVED HONOUR 
 
 were not jerked bodily off his beast, like an unhorsed 
 knight of old. 
 
 The Earl ascended a peak amongst the Rockies that had 
 never before been visited by a white man. He and his 
 companions built there a big cairn of stones. The peak, 
 my lord, with pardonable pride, ventured to christen after 
 his own name, and so Southesk Mount and Southesk Cairn 
 figure on the maps. He well deserved the modest honour 
 he did himself. 
 
 [From <e Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains/' by the late 
 Earl of Southesk. Edmonston and Douglas, Edinburgh. By kind 
 permission of the Earl of Southesk.] 
 
 154 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ADVENTURES IN THE HIMALAYAS 
 
 Dr. W. H. Russell, the famous Times correspondent— In India 
 after the Mutiny — Joins an expedition into the mountains — 
 The start from Simla — A marvellous country — A fearful road 
 — A wooden bridge with the pins taken out — Minaul-shooting 
 How to get up the steeps — A terrific descent — " Approaching 
 the antipodes " — A festival in honour of a local idol — A pitiful 
 spectacle — Camping out on a mountain ledge — Extraordinary 
 storm — Capture of runaway mutineers — A comet causes the 
 natives intense alarm — Severe rebuke to a Rajah — A fruitless 
 bear-hunt — Leopard and musk-deer — A Himalaya hunter's life 
 a dangerous one — Lord William Hay and the snake — Awful 
 precipices to be skirted by the sportsmen — Another bear-hunt 
 — This time in a wood full of deadly snakes — Babies sleeping 
 under waterfalls — Russell's visit to a Rajah — Balancing on the 
 back of a fidgety elephant — A desperate leap — Alights on the 
 Prince's toes — An affable potentate — Something like a present ! 
 
 Dr. William Howard Russell, the war-correspondent of 
 the Times newspaper, whose graphic accounts of the 
 Crimean and Indian Mutiny campaigns made his name 
 famous, was a remarkable man in many ways, not less 
 gallant and enterprising than the very best of the brave 
 soldiers whose deeds he narrated. Towards the close of 
 the Mutiny he joined a number of officers in an expedition 
 among the Himalayas, and he has described in his vivid 
 way his adventures in that marvellous region. 
 
 155 
 
START FROM SIMLA 
 
 The expedition started from Simla, away among the 
 highlands of North-Western India, and a number of dis- 
 tinguished military men took part in it, the leader being 
 Lord William Hay. There was administrative work to be 
 done, and the political side was not wanting, for it was 
 proposed to visit certain Rajahs on the way, especially the 
 Rajah of Bussahir; but the officers hoped also to enjoy a 
 little rest and sport after arduous military duties. 
 
 The party travelled from Simla by the wonderful road 
 which leads towards the Himalayas and Thibet. At 
 intervals of about a day's journey there were rest-houses, 
 usually styled bungalows, erected by the British Govern- 
 ment for the use of travellers. This road Russell calls one 
 of the most splendid works in the world, and he says that, 
 in the course of time, when the railways shall have made 
 the district more accessible, he will be much surprised " if 
 English tourists do not wander forth through the grand 
 passes of the Himalayas, which dwarf the Alps to nothing- 
 ness, which abound in game, and are full of novelty and 
 fresh views of life.'" It was a relief indeed, he tells us, to 
 get away from Simla, " to wind along this charming road, 
 screened by the shadows of the pines, and to gaze, as I 
 rode, on the ever-varying landscape right away to the 
 distant mountains, where the darkening undulations show 
 the course of the Sutlej, thousands of feet below." 
 
 At Tioge Lord William Hay was occupied for some 
 time in settling boundary disputes, and dispatching similar 
 business among the hill-folk, and the rest of the officers 
 went on in advance of him. They rode ponies, and got 
 along well enough for a time. Then the road became so 
 dangerous that they had to dismount, "as a false step 
 
 156 
 
A FEARFUL ROAD 
 
 would have been the certain cause of a projection of many 
 hundred feet into gaping ravines, filled with jagged cliffs 
 and distorted strata." The road was a strange piece 
 of work, here tunnelling through shoulders of the moun- 
 tain, and there carried over or alongside sheer precipices 
 by means of stout beams of wood fastened into the rocks. 
 At one spot the party ran a frightful risk, as it afterwards 
 appeared. They had just crossed a platform or bridge, 
 hanging over a tremendous precipice, when it was dis- 
 covered that many of the iron pins holding the bridge 
 together had disappeared. They had been taken out by 
 the natives of the locality for the sake of the iron ! 
 
 The officers had a notable day among the game at an 
 elevation of between eight and nine thousand feet. A 
 number of them scrambled up the hill-sides, taking with 
 them a hundred and fifty coolies as beaters, whilst others 
 remained below, at various points in the dells, to bag such 
 birds as came that way. It was an animated and a noisy 
 scene, the movements of the sportsmen and the yells of 
 the beaters echoing among the mountains, giving life to 
 the spectacle. The bird found in greatest numbers was 
 the minaul, and so rapid were its movements, that the 
 men might as well have tried to shoot a flash of lightning, 
 Russell tells us, as to hit a minaul. These birds had a 
 singular knack of dropping like plummets down to the 
 bottom of the valleys, whence, when all was quiet once 
 more, they would run up the hill to the top again at great 
 speed. A brace or two fell to the guns, and Dr. Russell 
 himself went far down into the ravines below and picked 
 up a few of the birds. But so steep were the slopes, that, 
 in ascending again, he was glad of the help of a couple of 
 
 157 
 
A TERRIFIC DESCENT 
 
 coolies, who took each an arm, and hoisted him up in fine 
 style. This kind of thing was considered quite permissible 
 in the Himalayas, and the natives were remarkably sure- 
 footed — far more so than even the Alpine guides. What 
 was more, they seemed never to suffer from shortness of 
 breath, no matter what the elevation of the mountain, or 
 what the steepness of the ascent. 
 
 Russell confesses that the descent in one place, down to 
 a mountain lodge of the Rajah's, scared him — at any rate at 
 the start, his feelings when called upon to take the down- 
 ward path being, as he supposed, something like those of 
 a young sparrow when required for the first time to take 
 a drop from the giddy heights of the water-spout down to 
 the street below. But he had his native helpers, and he 
 had his alpenstock. " And thus, with an able-bodied 
 aborigen holding on by my tunic-tails behind, and Khoom 
 Dass and his nephew acting as a locomotive stair-steps 
 below, I parachuted down, down, and ever down — knee- 
 deep in flowers, thigh-deep in rich clover, underwood, grass, 
 and corn, here forced up a stile, there dropped down a 
 little cataract, till it seemed to me that I was approaching 
 the antipodes. Khoom Dass had no perceptible difficulty 
 with his respiratory apparatus, and descended like a snow- 
 ball ; and I am afraid that several times I should not have 
 been displeased if he had slightly sprained his ankle, or had 
 fallen on his respectable Roman nose." 
 
 When Dr. Russell and his friends " parachuted " down 
 that alarming slope, they were bound on a curious errand, 
 no less than that of witnessing a great festival that was to 
 be held in honour of a local god. The visitors were not 
 yet at the spot, however, for the idol stood on the top of a 
 
 158 
 
A PITIFUL SPECTACLE 
 
 steep-sided and cone-shaped hill that rose from the middle 
 of the valley. It required all Khoom Dass's sprightly 
 activity to get the weighty war-correspondent up to the 
 rendezvous. When the Englishmen arrived at the place 
 they were received with great acclamations by the big 
 crowd of worshippers, and they were given a place of dis- 
 tinguished honour — a seat on the Rajah's carpet. The 
 image itself was a frightfully hideous thing, with seven 
 heads of metal, arranged in the form of a lozenge. Enor- 
 mous lengths of hair hung down all round, and concealed 
 the lower parts of the idol, as well as the men who bore it 
 about the assembly. When the thing was brought before 
 the Rajah himself, that great ruler bowed, to satisfy his 
 people who stood around, but he had much difficulty, 
 Russell thought, in keeping his countenance through the 
 ceremony. 
 
 It happened sometimes that the party did not manage 
 to reach the next bungalow on the road, and they had to 
 spend the night on the mountain-side or in some sheltered 
 valley. On one occasion no level spot on which to pitch 
 the tents could be discerned nearer than a little plateau 
 that could be seen a long way above the road. So decep- 
 tive are the distances among such stupendous ranges, that 
 it took an hour's hard climbing to reach that little bit 
 of level. It was a grand position, the peaks towering up 
 into the sky on all sides. The argus pheasant was to be 
 found in plenty, and some of the more enthusiastic of the 
 sportsmen, fascinated by the view, declared that they 
 would take a cold dinner with them, climb to the top of 
 the overhanging peak, and there sleep, so as to be ready 
 for pheasant-shooting in the early Jmorning. The war- 
 
 159 
 
AN EXTRAORDINARY STORM 
 
 correspondent smiled quietly to himself as he witnessed 
 the start, and all the evening the men kept dropping in, 
 one after another, utterly exhausted, and remarking that 
 they would defer till the morning their visit to the summit. 
 It was as well so, for presently there arose a tremendous 
 storm. " The blinding flashes lighted up the closed tent, 
 inside which we sat as though it were in the focus of an 
 electric light. Rolls of thunder clashed along the hill-side, 
 so that we imagined the rocks were tumbling down upon 
 our heads, and the rain fell with a heavy leaden thud for 
 hours together, till the little spring swelled into a torrent, 
 and dashed away with a great roar into the stream in the 
 valley below us." 
 
 Other matters than sport occupied the attention of the 
 Englishmen, however, and especially of their chief. There 
 was a sensation one morning when five or six hill men 
 brought into the camp two sepoys — runaway mutineers, it 
 was said. They were big, well-built fellows, and carried 
 themselves in a way that immediately proclaimed the 
 soldier. They were placed before Lord William for 
 examination, and told lies glibly. They first pretended 
 to be fakirs from Cashmere, but Khoom Dass, after a little 
 cross-questioning, proved that they knew nothing of the 
 beliefs and duties of a fakir. One of the prisoners 
 admitted that he had been a servant in the 46th Regi- 
 ment of Native Infantry, and at last that it was just 
 possible he might once have been a sepoy in that notorious 
 band. What part exactly these fellows had played in the 
 Mutiny and its awful accompaniments could not be dis- 
 covered at that time and place, and they were sent away 
 to Simla for further examination. 
 
 160 
 
ALARMED BY A COMET 
 
 Terrible alarm was caused one night among the natives 
 attached to the expedition by the rise above the black 
 outline of the mountain forest of a " bright and wonderful 
 star, which, as it ascended, displayed a tail of a faint rose- 
 coloured hue streaming after it. The natives assembled 
 in great consternation, and gazed upon it with awe and 
 horror, for with them to have the ' Doomwallah ' is an 
 omen of most evil import, perplexing nations with the 
 fear of change. It was some moments ere we made out it 
 was a comet, and for hours we watched its fierv seam 
 across the calm blue heavens." So easily are the peoples 
 of that far-off hill-country alarmed by any unusual natural 
 phenomenon. 
 
 The members of the expedition had several times seen 
 the Rajah of Bussahir, and had had many curious experi- 
 ences of him and his people. But at length there came a 
 day which banished the potentate from the British pres- 
 ence. The Rajah paid a visit to Lord William, and got 
 himself into serious trouble by coming in a state of help- 
 less intoxication ; he had, in fact, been up all night, drink- 
 ing hard at brandy and champagne. Lord William 
 administered a severe rebuke, and sent the Prince away in 
 disgrace. 
 
 This strange and unpleasant duty did not prevent the 
 officers from going out to hunt in the afternoon, more 
 especially as word had been brought into the camp that 
 the traces of a bear had been seen in the neighbourhood. 
 A big show of beating was made, and the search was close ; 
 at one time the shikaree, or huntsman, declared that the 
 beast could not be more than twenty yards away. It was 
 all to no purpose ; the bush was so thick that all traces of 
 
 161 L 
 
DANGERS OF HUNTING 
 
 the bear were lost. But there was found the carcass of a 
 musk-deer, which had been killed by a leopard and partly 
 devoured. A search was made by the natives for the 
 musk-bag, and it appeared that the leopard always throws 
 away that portion of the musk-deer, probably because its 
 presence gives an unpleasant flavour to the whole of the 
 flesh. Some of these deer were heard crashing through 
 the scrub, but there were no dogs present to assist in the 
 tracking, and the animals escaped. 
 
 The life of the hunter in the Himalayas is full of 
 dangers, especially in the case of the native mountain-folk, 
 many of whom devote all their days to this occupation. 
 It is not only the risks from bears and other wild animals 
 they have to fear, but they are liable to be caught in 
 snowstorms and lost, or overwhelmed by avalanches of 
 snow or by falling rocks, to say nothing of the precipices 
 and the frequency with which bad falls are met with. An 
 injured man may lie in agony for days in some remote 
 spot till death mercifully intervenes, and for long after- 
 wards his bleached skeleton may remain a ghastly spectacle 
 to future adventurers. There is also the risk of snake- 
 bites. One day, as the beaters were pursuing their duties 
 with their usual din, suddenly they began a wild yell of 
 ft Maro ! maro !" jumping violently up and down the while. 
 Lord William Hay began to jump likewise, much to 
 Russell's mystification, who, though but a few yards 
 behind, could not see what the chief was about. All the 
 same, the war- correspondent showed remarkable agility in 
 skipping out of the way also. Lord William banged the 
 bush heavily with a thick stick, and at length cried glee- 
 fully, " I have killed him P It was a snake he had been 
 
 162 
 
AWFUL PRECIPICES 
 
 attacking, and the natives declared it to be one of the 
 deadliest serpents of the district, and that a man once 
 bitten by it had but a few minutes to live. 
 
 Russell breaks out into unstinted admiration of the 
 views to be obtained from all the commanding points on 
 their route. This was the case at a place near the source 
 of the Ghirree, from which was to be had one of the most 
 glorious prospects in the world. But it was an awful 
 place also — so much so, indeed, that " it was enough to 
 make even a man of strong nerves shudder at portions of 
 the path, which is carried with infinite art by most trying 
 curves of mountain and precipice right along the top of 
 this abyss.' 1 These precipices were in some places two 
 thousand or three thousand feet in sheer depth, the moun- 
 tain seeming as if rent bodily in two. Here the hunting- 
 party were met by a whole mob of natives from the sur- 
 rounding settlements. The fellows were in a state of 
 great excitement, saying that a couple of bears had dis- 
 appeared into the thick wood lining the bottom of the 
 valley. They begged the assistance of the gentlemen, a 
 request complied with at once and with delight, as it is 
 hardly necessary to say. Into the forest jungle the whole 
 party, hunters and villagers, plunged. They crashed 
 about vigorously for an hour or two, the natives keeping 
 up an indescribable din all the while. At length all 
 farther progress was stopped by the density of the under- 
 growth. The bears had evidently given their enemies the 
 slip, and the sportsmen retired from the wood, feeling that 
 they had rather been made fools of. Their further feel- 
 ings may be imagined when they were informed by the 
 natives that this wood was one of the most dangerous 
 
 163 L 2 
 
BABIES UNDER WATERFALLS 
 
 places to be found, for it was thickly infested by terribly 
 deadly snakes. One species was a sort of boa, which was 
 asserted to be forty or fifty feet long, with a body as thick 
 as the trunk of a fair-sized pine. This tall story was not 
 at all credited by the British sportsmen, but they had no 
 difficulty in believing that the other and smaller kind of 
 serpent — the same as that killed by Lord William not 
 long before — was plentiful enough. As it happened, no 
 member of the party had been injured in the scramble 
 amongst the bushes. 
 
 A curious custom was found to prevail in one locality. 
 A Thakoor of the district had a little boy, to whom Russell 
 had taken a great fancy, giving him a pocket-knife. This 
 man, visiting the tents one evening, excused himself for 
 not having brought his son by saying that the child was 
 asleep under the waterfall ! A little inquiry revealed the 
 fact that the women, whenever they wanted a child to go 
 to sleep, took him to a spot on the mountain-side where 
 stood ready for use a number of miniature waterfalls. A 
 place had been chosen where water gushed forth from the 
 rock, and there a shed had been built, down into which 
 the water was led by means of reeds or other tubes. The 
 children were laid on the ground beneath these spouts, so 
 that a trickle of water descended continuously on the face. 
 61 The child closes its eyes and mouth, and falls into a pro- 
 found, sweet, and healthful sleep, which endures so long as 
 it is left under the waterspout !* And the correspondent 
 declares that though he had seen dozens of children so 
 sleeping, yet he had never heard of any ill-effects resulting 
 from this strange treatment. 
 
 Russell had some amusing experiences on the occasion 
 
 164 
 
A Dangerous Jump for a heavy Man 
 
 The day was frightfully hot and the elephants fidgety, so Russell had carefully to watch tor 
 a favourable moment to jump from one howdah to the other. 
 

VISIT TO A RAJAH 
 
 of a sort of state visit to another of the highland Rajahs. 
 He accompanied Mr. Melville, a Deputy-Commissioner, 
 and seems to have been mistaken by the Rajah for that 
 great official. At any rate, the war-correspondent was 
 invited to ascend to the potentate's howdah, on the back 
 of an enormous elephant. This was how it had to be 
 done : Russell had first to mount a ladder to the top of 
 another elephant standing by, and then to step across the 
 space between the two animals. The day was frightfully 
 hot ; the elephants were fidgety ; the war-correspondent 
 was heavy, and not exactly nimble, being slightly lame 
 just then ; the chasm was of uncertain and varying 
 breadth, and full fifteen feet deep ! How Mr. Melville 
 must have chuckled to see his friend balancing himself 
 anxiously as he stood on the back of the unsteady beast, 
 watching for a chance of jumping across in safety ! 
 
 " There sat His Highness the Rajah, and here stood 
 his lowness the correspondent, afraid, by reason of his 
 lameness, to make a leap ; and the bulging sides of the 
 two elephants kept their howdahs as far apart as the 
 main-chains of two line-of-battle ships would separate 
 their hammock-nettings. I could not make an explana- 
 tory speech to the Rajah, who sat smiling with extended 
 hand, the finger-tips some good six feet away ; and thus 
 I stood, supremely foolish, and very uncertain what to do, 
 till a sudden lurch, a push from behind, a desperate 
 resolution all combined, and with a desperate, ponderous 
 flop, full thirteen stone and ten pounds, I dropped on the 
 Rajah's feet, and took my seat at his side. Dear, good 
 man! Kings have long and unfeeling arms, but I 
 presume their toes are as sensitive as those of most mortal 
 
 165 
 
AN AFFABLE POTENTATE 
 
 men. The Rajah never winced, and yet I am nearly 
 certain I alighted, or preponderated, upon his feet ; and I 
 am perfectly certain his feet were quite naked, with the 
 exception of some rings of precious metal set round His 
 Highnesses most favoured pedal digits. 1 " 
 
 However, the Rajah was exceedingly affable, and the 
 two had a long conversation together, Mr. Melville act- 
 ing as interpreter. Before the interview ended, valuable 
 presents were brought by the attendants and offered to 
 the visitors. Russell was pressed to take a magnificent 
 set of precious stones, the value of which, he was after- 
 wards informed, was not less than thirty thousand pounds ! 
 He bowed and declined the dazzling offer. He was wise, 
 for etiquette would have required him to make a present 
 of equal value in return ! 
 
 166 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 SYRIAN MOUNTAINS AND SYRIAN ROBBERS 
 
 A famous book of travels — Mr. Warburton, tbe author of "The 
 Crescent and the Cross " — His Eastern tour — Starts over the 
 Mountains of Lebanon — A well-armed couple — A wonderful 
 country — " Torn mountains and black precipices " — Panthers, 
 wild boars, hyenas — A hyena shot — Alone in a robbers 5 den at 
 night — A masterful assumption of authority — A difficult moun- 
 tain-path — Ascent of the ( ' Hill of Hermon " — Half dead with 
 thirst — " A precious little rivulet " — Milking the wild goats — 
 Gazelle -stalking — A night on the bare mountain-side — The 
 wild " hill-country of Judea " — Warburton's dragoman miss- 
 ing — The peasant and the gun — A fruitless search — Bishop's 
 men join in it — A cut-throat village — ' ' None who enter come 
 out again !" — Warburton dashes into the place — A surly recep- 
 tion — Exit barred — A group of dark figures at the gate — 
 " Stand clear !" — Flashing steel — A wonderful escape — Servant 
 found — A mountain ride to Beyrout — Englishman pushes on 
 ahead — A terrible track in the dark — Four mounted scouts in 
 the pass — A collection of Arab smuggler-tents at one in the 
 morning — Picturesque scene — But a terribly dangerous position 
 — Three squinting ruffians — A friendly Syrian — "I shot past 
 the smugglers." 
 
 Mr. Eliot Warburton, the author of "The Crescent 
 and the Cross,"" lived before the days of cheap excursions 
 and personally-conducted tourist parties; but, though 
 travel was more difficult in his time, he saw a good deal 
 more than the majority of our present-day holiday 
 tourists manage to do with their superior advantages, 
 
 167 
 
AN EASTERN TOUR 
 
 and he described his journeyings in a delightful style 
 which made his book famous. 
 
 From Gibraltar he sailed to Egypt, ascended the Nile 
 to Nubia, came back again, and voyaged to Syria and 
 Palestine, and, on his homeward way, contrived to see 
 Cyprus, Constantinople, and Greece. Not the least in- 
 teresting part of his long round was that which covered 
 the mountains of Lebanon and the Syrian uplands 
 generally, and the " hill-country of Judea." We may 
 take up his narrative at Beyrout, from which he intended 
 to travel over the Mountains of Lebanon, to see Damascus 
 and the ruins of Baalbec, and to visit the sacred scenes of 
 the Holy Land. 
 
 His retinue consisted of a servant and a muleteer, both 
 armed in magnificent fashion. The muleteer wore a big 
 belt, in which were stuck almost an armoury of daggers 
 and pistols, while the rest of his dress, "a pair of 
 petticoat-trousers, red slippers, a faded jacket," together 
 with a red cap wrapped round with a Damascus shawl, 
 was certainly picturesque and very much in keeping 
 with his profession and the wild Syrian mountains. 
 The servant was more of a dandy, yet he too presented 
 a formidable appearance, carrying a pair of pistols in the 
 pommel of his saddle, a sabre by his side, and his master's 
 gun slung across his shoulder. For many weeks did the 
 traveller tread the mountains with only these two honest 
 fellows for company and help in time of need. His horse, 
 a beautiful Arab steed, was to him as a dear friend. The 
 state of the country will be understood from the fact that 
 every traveller whom he met on the way was fully armed. 
 
 The following description of the scenery of the Lebanon 
 
 168 
 
SCENERY OF LEBANON 
 
 will stand for many spots besides the neighbourhood of 
 the village of Beteddeen, respecting which it is written : 
 " We broke away over the mountains at a gallop where it 
 seemed too steep to walk. We had sent on our servants 
 early, and soon lost our way ; but still we pushed on, 
 though it was a wild country to ride a steeple — or, 
 rather, a mosque — chase in. We came at last upon a 
 beautiful little village, clinging to the side of a precipice, 
 with cascades gushing through its streets and over- 
 arching some of them. . . . Our way henceforth for 
 some hours lay through scenery perhaps unparalleled in 
 beauty. All the picturesque and imposing, all the 
 awful yet winning effect, that hill and vale and water 
 can produce are here. Torn mountains, black precipices, 
 thundering torrents, yawning rifts, soft, sunny glades, 
 pale green vineyards, wide-spreading forests, flat-roofed 
 cottages, sparkling rills, terraced cultivation, and a 
 brilliant sky over all, leave nothing for the painter's, or 
 even the poet's, eye to desire.'" 
 
 Of dangerous wild animals our traveller saw very few. 
 On Mount Carmel, he was told, there were panthers, and 
 wild boars, and hyenas. The goatherds of the district 
 have always to go armed during the day, and have to fold 
 their flocks at night within stone-wall fences. Mr. War- 
 burton managed to shoot one hyena before he left the 
 district, but it escaped with its wounds among the cliffs. 
 
 It was the men from whom the dangers of the journey, 
 if any, might be expected to come. The wandering Arabs 
 were a wild, lawless, and vindictive set as a rule. Even 
 the Turkish soldiers, who might have been expected to be 
 under discipline, were often awkward fellows to meet with. 
 
 169 
 
AN ENGLISHMAN'S COOLNESS 
 
 On one occasion Mr. Warburton had ridden on ahead of 
 his servants when a storm came on. He ran for shelter to 
 some ruined buildings, that looked the very thing for a 
 robbers' den. He was not very greatly pleased to find 
 two armed Arabs in possession of the ruins. The place 
 and the men were alike ugly and forbidding, but it was 
 too late to turn away. And Mr. Warburton was not in 
 the least the sort of man to show the white feather. His 
 plan of action was soon formed. With an air of authority 
 he flung the rein to one of the fellows, and ordered him to 
 lead the horse up and down to cool. The other man was 
 directed to make a fire at once, while the Englishman him- 
 self, in the most off-hand way possible, sat down, lighted 
 his pipe, and watched his orders carried out. Strange to 
 say, the Arabs at once obeyed, after glancing at one 
 another for a moment, and by the time the traveller's 
 servants arrived there was a good fire blazing, and the 
 horse was cool. Had the stranger showed any timidity, or 
 had his tone been less masterful, there is little doubt that 
 the Arabs would have plundered him, if, indeed, he had 
 escaped a worse fate. 
 
 In many parts of the mountain country the ascents and 
 descents were difficult and even dangerous, yet the servants 
 of the Englishman would take them at a gallop, wherever 
 it was at all possible. Coming down the side of Lebanon 
 on one occasion towards a stronghold of the Druses, he 
 found the way very long, very toilsome, and very dan- 
 gerous. It was such a path as he describes elsewhere, 
 where nothing but a lizard or a mountaineer might have 
 been expected to venture. Glad were horse and man when 
 at last they reached the valley and a deliciously cool 
 
 170 
 
THE HILL OF HERMON 
 
 streamlet. Again, near the village called Ainete the 
 horses could scarcely keep their feet at all on the sides of 
 the naked mountain, and the beasts went on hurriedly 
 and yet fearfully, evidently dreading a catastrophe, and 
 yet desirous of getting away as fast as possible from so 
 unsafe a spot. 
 
 Warburton made an ascent of the loftiest and most 
 famous of the Syrian peaks, Djebel-es-Sheikh, the Chief 
 of the Mountains, or, as it is called in the Scriptures, the 
 Hill of Hermon. He tells us that though he had ascended 
 most of the usual mountains, this was by far the most 
 difficult of all. He and his companions left their horses 
 in the village nearest the summit, but it required six hours 
 of the severest climbing after that to reach the top, so 
 long and laborious was the ascent. The party were half 
 dead with thirst, but not a drop of water could be found 
 on all the route. Then, when the summit was reached 
 where the snow was lying, every man rushed to the first 
 patch. They could not satisfy their thirst till their guide 
 showed them how to proceed. Breaking off masses of the 
 frozen snow he held them in the sun, and at length " a 
 precious little rivulet trickled down into our parched 
 mouths." In the traveller's opinion the world does not 
 possess a more magnificent view than that which he beheld 
 from the crown of the Hill of Hermon. 
 
 The descent from the mountain and the course among 
 the hills towards Damascus brought a fresh incident or 
 two. Thirst again attacking the party, and no water 
 being in sight, it struck them that if they could catch 
 some of the mountain goats, they might obtain milk. A 
 hard and exciting chase after the animals it was before 
 
 171 
 
DRAGOMAN MISSING 
 
 one was caught, but when it was milked, on the snow, the 
 draughts were refreshing indeed. Lower down the party 
 tried to stalk some gazelles, but were unsuccessful. It was 
 late when they got down from the mountain, but the 
 Englishman declined the invitation to stop for the night 
 at the village, fearing the fleas there more than the wild 
 beasts without or the robbers roaming the hills. Yet the 
 way was solitary ; it was rough and rugged ; it was known 
 to be haunted by freebooters. The traveller and his men 
 plodded on till it was pitch dark, however, and they were 
 then compelled to lie down on the bare ground, just where 
 they were, and tie their horses to their feet. The muleteer 
 took the precaution to remove the bells from the necks of 
 the animals, lest the sound might attract the prowling 
 robbers. In this uncomfortable fashion they passed the 
 night on the mountain-side. 
 
 An adventure of a different kind awaited the traveller in 
 the mountain-country of Judea, not far from the ancient 
 and hallowed village of Bethlehem. He was riding quietly 
 along when he suddenly noticed that his servant, or 
 dragoman, was missing. He had heard a shot, but took 
 very little notice, such sounds being only too common in a 
 country where everybody bore arms. Going back into the 
 valley to look for the man, he met a fellow with a musket 
 over his shoulder. This weapon he did not hesitate to 
 seize and hold while he questioned the countryman. The 
 peasant said that he too had heard a shot, and had seen a 
 man galloping hard away ; he opened the pan of his own 
 gun to show that it, at any rate, had not been recently 
 fired. Up one hill after another did Warburton climb, 
 shouting the name Nicola with all his might, till it was 
 
 172 
 
A FRUITLESS SEARCH 
 
 dark. Making his way to Bethlehem, he went in search of 
 the English Bishop, to beg the assistance of his men in the 
 search. He found the kindly Bishop conducting service 
 in the church, but the good man at once placed his groom 
 and janissary at Warburton's disposal. 
 
 Now, among the hills, near the place where the missing 
 servant had last been seen, was a village with a very bad 
 reputation. It was surrounded with a wall, and strangers 
 were hardly ever permitted to enter there ; if they did 
 enter, they never came out again. When, therefore, 
 Mr. Warburton announced to his men, and to a number of 
 Bethlehemites who had volunteered their services, his 
 intention of going into the village to look for the missing 
 servant, they regarded him with amazement. But he was 
 mounted on a splendid horse, and without hesitation he 
 dashed on ahead down the mountain-side, and was soon 
 flying at full speed through the village street, the hoofs 
 sending out showers of sparks as they struck the road of 
 solid rock. He found only a few sulky groups, every man 
 armed with a formidable knife. In answer to his inquiries, 
 they replied in a surly fashion that no horseman had for 
 many a day entered their town. On this Warburton 
 made for the opposite gate, down a very steep street. This 
 is his own vivid account of his escape from that den of 
 thieves and cut-throats. 
 
 " I could see a group of dark figures standing under the 
 archway, and the two nearest of the party had crossed their 
 spears to arrest my passage. I could not have stopped if 
 I would ; neither the custom of the country nor the circum- 
 stances of the case required much ceremony ; so, shouting 
 to them to ' stand clear, 1 I gave spurs to my eager steed, 
 
 173 
 
THE SERVANT'S TALE 
 
 and burst through them as if I was ' switching a rasper.' 
 The thin spears gave way like twigs ; the mob rebounded 
 to the right and to the left against the wall. They were all 
 armed, and mine was not the only steel that gleamed as 
 a fellow rushed forward to seize my bridle. The next 
 moment my mare chested him, and sent him spinning and 
 tangled in his long blue gown, while I shot forth into the 
 open moonlight, and, turning round a pile of ruins, was in 
 a moment hidden from their view." 
 
 The plucky Englishman made the best of his way to 
 Bethlehem again, feeling it useless to continue the search 
 in the darkness of the night. He had a scare on his 
 return journey, meeting a party of armed men. They 
 proved to be friends, citizens who had come out to inform 
 him that the dragoman had been found. When the 
 Bethlehem men learnt that the traveller had actually been 
 into that "den of robbers," and had come out again, 
 they scarcely credited the story. The servant was 
 found at the convent, and this was his tale : he had gone 
 back to the Pool of Siloam to fetch his rosary, which he 
 had left there, when an Arab had fired upon him from 
 behind a rock. The bullet had grazed his skin and had 
 torn away part of his collar. Terrified, he had galloped 
 off, in his perturbation missing the road, however, and 
 never stopping till he reached the gate of Jerusalem. To 
 his dismay, he found it closed, and the guards refused him 
 admittance; there was nothing for it, therefore, but to 
 ride back to Bethlehem. On the way he had been met by 
 the Bishop's servants. 
 
 To the very end of his stay in Syria and Palestine, 
 Mr. Warburton met with dangers by the way. He was 
 
 174 
 
A Daring Feat 
 
 Mounted on a splendid horse, to which he gave spur, Warburton burst through the 
 gateway of a village from which no strangers were ever known to come out, if they 
 were foolhardy enough to enter. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
DANGERS BY THE WAY 
 
 riding along the mountains towards Beyrout, at which 
 place he intended to take his passage on board a home- 
 ward-bound ship. He pushed on ahead, having business 
 to get through in the port before the vessel sailed on the 
 morrow. His muleteer in vain begged him not to 
 adventure himself thus rashly by going alone, saying that 
 the district was not only the haunt of robbers, but a 
 hiding-place for smuggled goods. It was a wild and 
 rugged country, moreover, and the very place for lawless 
 deeds. The Englishman attributed all this to a super- 
 abundant Eastern imagination, but he was not long in 
 discovering that his servant had spoken the truth for once ! 
 
 Riding along a very steep and slippery path, he 
 descended somewhat, and, passing through a cemetery, 
 observed lights twinkling at intervals along the hill. He 
 noted that as he approached each one of these lights in 
 turn, it was immediately put out, but only to reappear as 
 soon as he was past. He took it that they were signals to 
 smugglers away on the shore. He now took care to wrap 
 something round the cap he was wearing, the red tarboosh 
 of a Turkish soldier, knowing that the owner of such a 
 thing would infallibly get a bullet through his head before 
 long. As he approached a pass in the rocks four mounted 
 scouts suddenly dashed out upon him, and, reining up 
 close to him, demanded who he was and whither he was 
 bound. "An Englishman travelling to Beyrout,"" he 
 answered, and, after a moment's consultation, the fellows 
 allowed him to proceed, rather to his surprise. 
 
 About a mile farther on Warburton came upon a number 
 of tents. It was one o'clock in the morning, the dead 
 hour of night. To escape from so many men as were 
 
 175 
 
A CRITICAL POSITION 
 
 gathered here was practically impossible. Putting his 
 usual bold face on the matter, he rode unhesitatingly up to 
 the largest of the tents and dismounted, desiring one of 
 the Arabs to lead his horse about a little ; then, asking 
 for a light for his pipe, he placidly stretched himself out 
 on the tent carpet. The scene was a most picturesque one, 
 he tells us : high mountains frowning all around, the 
 smugglers standing at the door of the tent, all with pistols 
 and yataghans, the dew upon their shaggy beards, a 
 glorious moon shining over all. But how critical was the 
 stranger's position there, at dead of night, high on those 
 lonely mountains, and at the mercy of men of violence 
 who would stick at nothing ! No wonder he says of the 
 picture that it was one "on which I gazed earnestly as 
 it might be for the last time. I knew that if they robbed, 
 they would also murder me, as the silence of those 6 who 
 tell no tales' was important to them; and yet I lay 
 smoking my pipe with as much calmness, if not indifference, 
 as ever I did under the shelter of the English flag.' 1 Thus 
 to assume a coolness he perhaps did not by any means feel 
 was no doubt the traveller's only chance. 
 
 Presently three ruffians of most forbidding aspect, and 
 all squinting frightfully, approached nearer and glowered 
 long and closely at the stranger, inquiring at length what 
 had brought him there at that time of night. In answer 
 to the question, he gave the same account of himself as 
 before: he was an Englishman, and his servants were 
 following him, a reply evidently disbelieved by the fellows. 
 At that moment there came a surprise : a young Syrian 
 made his appearance, and, speaking in French, informed 
 Warburton in most kindly terms that he was in the 
 
 176 
 
FAREWELL TO SYRIAN MOUNTAINS 
 
 greatest possible danger, but that he would advise him to 
 stay where he was till the morning. The Englishman 
 thanked the young fellow, but replied that it was his 
 intention to proceed at once on his journey. 
 
 "I persisted in departing, and mounted my horse 
 deliberately ; as I gathered up my reins, the three Arabs 
 placed themselves in my way, and one attempted to catch 
 my bridle ; I well knew then that my only chance of 
 escape lay in resolution ; so, saying to my assailant, ' If you 
 move, you die V the moonlight glimmered on the barrel of 
 the pistol, the Syrian spoke a few hurried words whose 
 meaning I could not catch, and the next moment I was 
 past the smugglers, and out of their sight round a project- 
 ing rock." Mr. Warburton had still a weary distance to 
 travel that night, and knew nothing whatever of the 
 arduous country through which his path lay, but he had 
 escaped with his life, and next day saw him take his last 
 leave of Beyrout and the Syrian mountains. 
 
 177 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE BRISTENSTOCK 
 
 Spending the night on a great mountain under more favourable 
 and under less favourable conditions — Mr. Kennedy and Mr. 
 Hardy determine to attempt the Bristenstock, an unconquered 
 Alp — A good start — Much time spent on early stages — Glacier, 
 moraine, ridge — Repeated disappointments — Disposed to turn 
 back — The summit spied — A long ( ' twenty minutes " — Stopped 
 by a huge perpendicular precipice — No possible way down — A 
 heart-breaking return to the top — Daylight ebbing out fast — 
 Darkness comes on at five hundred feet from the summit — A 
 dismal prospect— A bed on a narrow rock-shelf — A frugal 
 supper and little sleep — Start half-frozen next morning — 
 Wisdom not yet learnt — A new route — Another frightful preci- 
 pice — Ridge after ridge attempted — A painful search for the 
 original ridge — The grass slopes and safety at last — The search 
 party met — The English reputation for pluck kept up — A 
 lugubrious story — Enlightenment. 
 
 One of the most trying experiences of the mountaineer is 
 that of having to pass the long, cold hours of darkness, 
 when night has come upon him unprepared, far away from 
 human assistance or even human ken, high up on some 
 lonely, storm-swept, and dangerous mountain-flank. To 
 bivouac at a lofty elevation is, of course, no new thing to 
 the experienced climber. Frequently a long and difficult 
 ascent necessitates a start the evening before, when the 
 long hours of night must perforce be spent on the moun- 
 
 178 
 
NIGHT ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 tain itself, at some spot agreed upon. But on such occa- 
 sions the conditions are usually on the whole favourable. 
 There may be a hut, which, however rude, is at any rate 
 better than no shelter at all. Often a tent is carried up ; 
 at the worst, the spot has probably some defence against 
 the winds and possible storms. The bivouacking party is 
 generally fairly numerous ; food and drink there are in 
 plenty; not seldom a fire can be made. But it is quite 
 otherwise when, as often happens, night overtakes belated 
 climbers who are still far up the mountain; who have 
 little or no food, and perhaps but a scanty supply of 
 clothing with them ; who, possibly, can find nothing but 
 the merest cornice whereon to rest through the night- 
 watches. In such cases the dangers of the situation are 
 generally great, and often appalling. A thrilling ex- 
 perience of this kind befell Messrs. Kennedy and Hardy, 
 two well-known English Alpine climbers, in the year 
 1857. 
 
 They were staying at Amsteg, on the St. Gothard 
 road, in the Reuss Valley, and they took it into their 
 heads to ascend the Bristenstock, a peak in the neighbour- 
 hood which was said to be of only moderate height — some- 
 thing over ten thousand feet, in fact — and it was thought 
 that the summit might be reached in six hours from the 
 hotel. Guides were, of course, pressed upon them, but 
 they both laughed the notion to scorn, quite confident 
 in their own power to find their way to the top of the 
 Bristenstock and back unassisted. As the landlord after- 
 wards admitted, none of the guides had ever been to the 
 top ; and, indeed, it was said that only one man had ever 
 ascended the mountain, and he had lost his life in the 
 
 179 M 2 
 
A GOOD START 
 
 descent ! An ominous story, but the Englishmen were 
 not to be deterred by any sinister forebodings or ugly 
 tales. 
 
 The couple made an early start next morning, at five 
 o'clock, leaving orders for a good dinner to be prepared 
 for them at six in the evening. They were " in light 
 marching order," as Mr. Kennedy puts it, having neither 
 waistcoat nor necktie, and carrying with them only one 
 lump of bread and a single bottle of wine. They meant 
 to enjoy their dinner thoroughly on their return ! It was 
 a grand morning, and the ascent was at first easy, while 
 the country was beautiful. Chatting and admiring the 
 splendid views which every fresh turn opened out to them, 
 they made their way at a good speed, among Alpine roses 
 and rhododendrons. The bay of Uri and the St. Gothard 
 road lay far beneath, while from the valley below the sound 
 of church bells floated up to the happy climbers. Every- 
 thing promised a delightful and successful day. 
 
 So fascinated were the two, indeed, that they were dis- 
 posed to linger too long over this early stage of their work. 
 But at length rousing themselves to the realities of the 
 situation, they put on more speed. Avoiding the glacier 
 which filled the great hollow on the north side of the 
 mountain, they crossed the moraine, and then began to 
 mount the rock -ridge bounding the glacier. The going 
 was hard, the stones being loose and the slope steep. For 
 hour after hour they plodded on manfully, gaining one 
 after another the minor peaks which were ever appearing 
 above their heads. At each of these little summits they 
 hoped they should see the final crown of the Bristenstock, 
 but as often they were doomed to disappointment. 
 
 180 
 
THE SUMMIT SPIED 
 
 Naturally enough, they began to get a little anxious ; 
 for it was now past three o'clock in the afternoon, and the 
 topmost peak was apparently as far off as ever. "It is 
 getting late, Hardy," said his companion ; " it would be 
 better to give it up and return, for we have many an hour's 
 work behind us." But just then the other gained a glimpse 
 of the summit, and cried that in twenty minutes they 
 would have achieved their end. To leave the task after 
 such preliminary labours was absurd, he declared. So 
 Mr. Kennedy let himself be persuaded, and the two pushed 
 on. The twenty minutes was found to be a bad guess, 
 and it was almost four o'clock when the adventurous pair 
 stood on the highest point of the mountain. Regardless in 
 their joy of the flight of time, they sat down to eat and 
 drink, and enjoy the prospect and the intoxication of 
 success. Hardy was about to throw away a small piece of 
 bread that was left of their provisions, when the more 
 thoughtful Kennedy admonished him to put it in his 
 pocket. 
 
 It was twenty minutes after four when they began the 
 descent ; there was certainly no time to be lost. Accord- 
 ingly, Hardy was inclined to forsake the ridge by which 
 they had safely, if laboriously, ascended, and take to what 
 seemed a far easier way, down a gully. " It's rather fool- 
 hardy to try a new route at this time of day," objected 
 his companion. To which Hardy replied : a Don't make 
 bad puns on my name ; there's no time for that." In the 
 end they chose the new route. Whether they were " bold 
 and self-reliant," or " rash and self-conceited," Mr. Ken- 
 nedy declares they have never since been quite able to 
 determine. 
 
 181 
 
HEAVY WORK 
 
 However, down the northern face of the mountain they 
 began to pick their way. For half an hour they got on 
 rapidly enough, but presently came a long spell of hard, 
 almost sheer, climbing down. Only one of the men could 
 advance at a time, in a general way, so arduous was the 
 descent. One held the poles while the other got himself 
 down the ledge. Now and then came places where it 
 seemed impossible to descend at all. Nevertheless, Hardy 
 talked cheerfully of the supper they would have at the 
 end of their toilsome day ; he had long since given up all 
 hope of sitting down to that six o'clock dinner at the 
 hotel. For two hours this heavy work lasted, and we can 
 well believe Mr. Kennedy when he states that during the 
 whole of the time their "energies, both mental and bodily, 
 were taxed to the uttermost." 
 
 Suddenly they found themselves peering over the top of 
 a perpendicular precipice hundreds — nay, thousands — of 
 feet in height. At the foot of it was a glacier, which, as 
 usual, was separated from the rock by a bergschrund. 
 " From the spot where we were standing, 1 '' to quote Mr. 
 Kennedy again, " the wall of rock appeared to go sheer 
 down to the ice ; there was no mode of descent that we 
 could possibly discover, and on neither hand could we 
 discern foothold even for a chamois. I saw that there was 
 nothing to be done where we were, and that it was impos- 
 sible to remain much longer clinging to the slippery ledges 
 of these precipitous rocks." In short, it was absolutely 
 necessary to return to the very top of the mountain, and 
 make a fresh start on their old path. 
 
 A heart-breaking prospect, and at first Mr. Hardy 
 expostulated vehemently. It was impossible, he said, to 
 
 182 
 
A HEART-BREAKING RETURN 
 
 reascend many of the rocks down which they had climbed 
 with such difficulty. A return to the summit meant, too, 
 that hope must be given up of supper and bed in the 
 hotel. Mr. Kennedy remarked that if they got down the 
 mountain at all that night it " would be in a way that 
 would leave us no further occasion for these luxuries." 
 Go back, therefore, they must, at whatever cost, and Mr. 
 Hardy soon realized the wisdom of his friend's representa- 
 tions. 
 
 The position was an unenviable one, to say the least. 
 Here they were, darkness coming on apace, suspended 
 over a frightful precipice, and their only way out of the 
 pass into which they had got themselves was to climb, 
 climb, till their weary limbs should bring them to the very 
 top of the mountain again. A couple of minutes, how- 
 ever, ended their deliberations, and then they set off with 
 a will, climbing faster than they had done before all the 
 day. But the difficult places were many. Often one man 
 had to cling with all his might to a tiny ledge while his 
 companion climbed up to his shoulders, and so to the next 
 shelf, whence he was able to help to pull up the first. It 
 was dangerous and most exhausting toil. 
 
 In order to save time they struck off a hundred feet or 
 so short of the actual summit, and crossed to their line of 
 first ascent. By this time the sun had set, and their chief 
 anxiety was to push on while yet any daylight remained 
 and get down as far as possible. They were by this time 
 well aware, of course, that they would have to spend the 
 night on the mountain. To get down out of the cold as 
 far as they could was then the one thing to aim at. Yet, 
 strange to relate, after all their experience, they once 
 
 183 
 
DARKNESS COMES ON 
 
 more deserted the old and certain path, the path by 
 which they had mounted, deeming the ridge neither expe- 
 ditious nor enough sheltered from the blasts. This time 
 it was the west face of the mountain they selected, over- 
 looking the St. Gothard road far away below. 
 
 At five hundred feet from the summit — the elevation 
 still nearly ten thousand feet above sea-level, be it remem- 
 bered — the light failed, and it was necessarily the end of 
 their day's travel. Here the benighted pair must spend 
 the long, dark, cold hours, with no fire to warm them and 
 no food to speak of to put into their stomachs. Not even 
 a rug or a greatcoat had they to protect them from the 
 severity of the weather and the keenness of the frost. 
 The situation was a deplorable one. It might become far 
 worse than that. 
 
 The two were minded to stop here rather than attempt 
 to grope a few feet farther down, by the discovery of a 
 tiny ledge jutting from the rock slope, perhaps the only 
 ledge to be met with on the whole face of the mountain. 
 The shelf was but eight feet long and four and a half 
 wide. From the edge the cliff fell almost sheer down to 
 the valley beneath. On the danger side they built a wall 
 of stones, half a yard high, both to prevent a roll over- 
 board in their sleep and to afford some little protection 
 from the wind. On the flat of the shelf they made as soft 
 a bed as they could with smooth stones, placing bigger 
 specimens for their heads. The piece of bread they had 
 left was small enough in all conscience, yet they divided it 
 into two portions, reserving one for breakfast in the morn- 
 ing. Water was to be had near, and the men turned 
 in for the night. 
 
 184 
 
A DANGEROUS SLEEPING-PLACE 
 
 " We were obliged to use the greatest care in this 
 operation. First one made himself comfortable, then the 
 other cautiously placed himself alongside and endeavoured 
 to do likewise. Although we agreed that, in order to 
 avoid the risk of falling over, we would not both sleep 
 with our backs to the precipice, yet ever and anon as we 
 leaned a little against our fragile wall of stones one or two 
 of them would become displaced and go bounding away 
 into the valley some thousands of feet below. Thus we 
 reposed, locked in each others arms like the babes in the 
 wood, whom the robins covered with leaves, only in the 
 present instance there were no babes and no wood, and no 
 robins and no leaves." 
 
 Long they lay awake, as may well be supposed. Yet 
 they were not inclined to talk much. In truth, each was 
 disposed to reflection rather than to conversation. Never, 
 Mr. Kennedy says, had either of them before felt so 
 immediately under the protection of a Higher Power as 
 they did on that lofty mountain-side. They fully realized 
 how dangerous their position might become should storm 
 or fog come on. They were aware that their very lives 
 depended on their preserving coolness, self-possession, and 
 determined pluck. But never once did they lapse into 
 despair. 
 
 The cold increased. Presently it grew intense, and the 
 two were all but frozen stiff. Often they had to get up 
 on their feet, as carefully as they could, to stamp a little 
 warmth into them, and to swing their arms about their 
 chests, as cabmen do in frosty weather. On more than 
 one occasion in his life Mr. Hardy had suffered from 
 rheumatic fever, and he had been warned against exposing 
 
 185 
 
HALF-FROZEN 
 
 himself too much to the keen night air. It may here be 
 mentioned that, strange as it may seem, that night on the 
 Bristenstock apparently effected a complete cure for him. 
 After that he was more robust than he had ever been 
 before ! 
 
 But the longest and most uncomfortable night passes, 
 and so did this. It needs little imagination to see the 
 Englishmen rising with alacrity from their cold, stony 
 bed. But so frozen were they both that it would have 
 been mere madness on their part to start at once, benumbed 
 as were their limbs. It required twenty minutes of violent 
 stamping and slapping to get any warmth and feeling 
 into their feet and hands. They ate the last morsel of 
 bread before they got under way, though they had not 
 the slightest appetite, a thing not to be wondered at. 
 Drink they could get none, the little rill being frozen up. 
 
 Now, as Mr. Kennedy says, " one might have supposed 
 that the lesson of yesterday would have sufficed, and that 
 we should have taken care to follow the ridge by which 
 we had ascended. Not so, however. Instead of returning 
 to the track which we knew, half wilfully, half carelessly, 
 we suffered ourselves to be tempted by apparently easy 
 places, and thus to leave the ridge at every step further 
 and further to the right.'" They had to pay the full 
 penalty of their rash unwisdom. They found the work of 
 descending laborious and trying to a degree. They were, 
 of course, much exhausted, and they could get no water 
 till six o'clock, and suffered terribly from thirst. 
 
 The wearisome hours passed, and the men began to 
 congratulate themselves that they were nearing the grass 
 slopes, and that easy ground was at hand, Alas ! the 
 
 186 
 
FRIGHTFUL PRECIPICES 
 
 ridge on which they were ended suddenly in sheer preci- 
 pices. They stopped short at the very brink, and gazed 
 down at the River Reuss, a good five thousand feet 
 below. 
 
 The travellers here explain that the Bristenstock is 
 made up of thirty or forty main ridges, running up 
 towards the top, of which ridges not more than three or 
 four, perhaps, are practicable. They skirted the mountain 
 till they reached another of these ridges, and attempted to 
 get down by it. In no long time they were stopped by 
 more precipices. They found a running rill, however, and 
 obtained a much-needed drink. A third, and yet a 
 fourth, of these main ridges was tried, but always fruit- 
 lessly. Thus the morning was consumed, and noon 
 arrived, the travellers apparently in as great a difficulty 
 as ever. 
 
 Mr. Hardy now made a wise suggestion — namely, that 
 they should keep on round the mountain till they reached 
 the ridge by which they had mounted the day before. 
 With joy they perceived, after hard toil, their original 
 track. They found it excellent going after the ground 
 they had had to traverse, yet it was at best but a goat- 
 track, and so steep and risky that the men dared not take 
 their eyes from their work to gaze around. At last, 
 about half-past two in the afternoon, they stood on the 
 first of the grass slopes, to their utter relief and 
 thankfulness. 
 
 Up to that moment they had not been conscious of 
 hunger and fatigue, but now that the worst of the 
 descent, and most, if not all, of the danger was over, they 
 became painfully aware of their physical condition. They 
 
 187 
 
USELESS GUIDES 
 
 were still five or six thousand feet above sea-level, and 
 weary hours from their hotel. Push on they niust, how- 
 ever great their weariness. On their way down they spied 
 some chalets in the distance, and joyfully made for them, 
 in the hope of getting bread and milk. They found not a 
 soul there. 
 
 Meanwhile, there was no small stir at Amsteg as to 
 what had become of the adventurous and rash Englishmen, 
 and at length a little party of their friends set out to look 
 for them. Guides were engaged to accompany the search 
 party, though, as has been already explained, none of the 
 guides knew any more of the mountain than did the 
 strangers. And, as a matter of fact, the guides on this 
 occasion were found to be quite useless. Whenever they 
 came to a dangerous bit of the mountain they drew back in 
 terror. 
 
 One of the first to spy the lost mountaineers was an 
 English lad, who yelled out in delight, " Oh, is that you, 
 Mr. Kennedy ? I am so glad P The meeting between 
 the lost ones and their friends was warm, we may be sure, 
 and a sort of triumphal procession was formed to the 
 hotel. The boy was specially anxious that the reputation 
 of his countrymen for pluck should be kept up, and, 
 accordingly, Messrs. Hardy and Kennedy did their best to 
 maintain their character in this respect. The hotel was 
 reached at five o'clock, or six-and-thirty hours from the 
 start the previous day. Fortunately neither suffered any 
 serious effects afterwards from the long toil and the 
 exposure to cold, hunger, and danger. 
 
 It is worth recording that the most strange and 
 exaggerated rumours respecting this ascent got abroad, 
 
 188 
 
A LUGUBRIOUS STORY 
 
 and soon spread far and wide in the Alpine districts. 
 A week later, for instance, Mr. Hardy himself and his 
 friend Mr. Ellis were at dinner at the hotel on the distant 
 Faulhorn, when an old gentleman began to tell of the 
 marvellous adventures of a couple of Englishmen on the 
 Bristenstock. The two unfortunates had perished miser- 
 ably, he said, while attempting their unheard-of feat. 
 "In fact, 1 ' the old fellow declared, "according to my 
 informant, nothing was found of their mangled corpses 
 except some small particles of blood-stained clothing. r> 
 " That I can well understand,"" thereupon put in Mr. 
 Hardy, "for I am one of those unfortunates, and I 
 remember that in many parts of the climb I was obliged 
 to sit down and allow myself to slide over the rocks, so 
 that I afterwards found myself minus a portion of my 
 nether integument, and these, no doubt, are the patches 
 of raiment the discovery of which you relate." 
 
 189 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 PEAKS, GEYSERS, AND VOLCANOES 
 
 A trip to Iceland not so common fifty years ago — Commander Forbes 
 starts on one in 1860 — A jolting vehicle — A marvellous jumble 
 of things — A start for the top of Snaefells Yokul — The guides 
 and. their families in tears — The snow-line reached — Also the fog 
 — At an angle of forty-five degrees — A heavy snowstorm — Ropes 
 used — Ugly crevasses — Guides strike work — A halt for lunch — 
 Another climb — Fog worse than ever — A descent necessary — The 
 ponies lost — " Like a bear round his pole " — On the way to the 
 Great Geyser — Yawning fissures and abysses — A tent rigged up 
 near the Geyser — Supper and a final pipe — A scramble to wind- 
 ward just in time — A grand display — The ff Strokr" follows 
 suit at four in the morning — Forbes determines to cook the 
 dinner in the (c Strokr " — A flannel shirt and a breast of mutton 
 — f ' My shirt in mid-air, arms extended " — ' ' Done to a turn " — A 
 narrow escape from Davy Jones —Up Hecla — A crawl into the 
 cold crater of 1846 — Layers of ice at the bottom — Descent into 
 the active crater — No hole at the bottom — Steam from various 
 parts of the sides — Forbes lights his pipe from the hot ground — 
 On the edge of the crater — A risky crawl — Skaptar Yokul and 
 its terrible work — A too rapid descent. 
 
 A visit to Iceland, once thought to be quite beyond the 
 reach of the ordinary traveller, is in these days a common 
 enough thing. Not so did Commander Forbes esteem it, 
 however, when, in the year 1860, he made his way thither ; 
 for it had been the dream of his life to explore that land 
 of volcano and geyser. His earlier experiences in the 
 
 190 
 
UNDESIRABLE LODGINGS 
 
 island included nothing more exciting than a few hunting 
 and fishing expeditions, when his dogs managed to worry 
 the farmers' 1 sheep, and the driver of his vehicle contrived to 
 jolt off his gun -case and to smash his salmon-rod. Some of 
 the country farms at which he found a lodging, though owned 
 by the most hospitable of hosts, were not exactly such as 
 even an unfastidious man would desire. The evening meal 
 was not seldom being cooked by " a crone who is not at all 
 calculated to increase one's appetite by her appearance.'" 
 There was a marvellous jumble of things in the dwellings : 
 "old clothes and spinning-jennies, fishing-nets and cradles 
 (in one a litter of kittens, in another the hope of the 
 family), strings of wet stockings, and dogs at every step. 
 Happily they bark, but do not bite. Coupled with this a 
 darkness thoroughly Egyptian, and an atmosphere which 
 might be cut with a knife, and you have the ground floor." 
 Of the upstairs, or sleeping-floor, entered by a ladder and 
 a little hatchway, the less said the better. 
 
 Amongst the important things which the gallant Com- 
 mander wanted to see in Iceland, quite in the front rank 
 stood the mountain Snaefells Yokul, the geysers, and 
 "Strokr," with the volcano Hecla, and its once more 
 terrible brother Skaptar Yokul. The ascent of Snaefells 
 Yokul was to begin the series. The weather had been as 
 bad as it well could be for a fortnight, but the traveller 
 determined to make the attempt, in spite of it. Guides 
 in the proper sense there were none, for nobody knew any- 
 thing more than himself of the parts above the snow-line. 
 He managed to get a couple of peasants to go with him, 
 however. The villagers evidently looked upon the expedi- 
 tion as equivalent to committing suicide, and many were 
 
 191 
 
FOG AND SNOW 
 
 the tears shed, and many the mournful good-byes, when 
 the moment came for the start. 
 
 The ascent was very steep for the first two thousand 
 feet, and the way lay through heaps of ashes and pumice- 
 stone, over most of which ground the little ponies bravely 
 carried their riders. As yet there was no lava, but the ground 
 was without a scrap of vegetation. Then, after stumb- 
 ling amongst volcanic accumulations for two or three 
 miles, the three reached the snow-line. With the snow 
 was encountered also the fog, which threatened to become 
 tiresome. From this point the ponies were of no use, and 
 they were tied head to tail, in such a fashion that they 
 could not get far away, and the men went on without 
 them, first putting on their spiked shoes. The climbers 
 were chilled and stiff after their three hours' ride. Now 
 and then the fog lifted enough to show them the next 
 shoulder of the mountain, but never a glimpse could they 
 catch of the three cones which constitute the summit of 
 Snaefells Yokul. On they plodded, up an icy slope at an 
 angle of forty-five degrees, and took it as a sign of good 
 luck when they found a rusty horseshoe. This was probably 
 a relic of a former ascent, made fifty years before, by 
 Mackenzie. 
 
 With the fog driving thicker than ever along the 
 mountain-sides, the men pushed on, having no guide 
 except the upward slope, for the Englishman's pockei>- 
 compass was temporarily bewitched, as he says, and did 
 nothing but spin round and round in an extraordinary 
 way. Luckily the ice was free from crevasses, but as they 
 could not see a yard before them, the Commander thought 
 it best to rope, Alpine fashion, a new thing for the Ice- 
 
 192 
 
GUIDES STRIKE WORK 
 
 landers. The steepness increased, and the murmurings of 
 the peasants also. Forbes had frequently to cheer them 
 on, and to give them brandy and snuff to keep them going. 
 After passing one or two ugly crevasses, the Icelanders 
 declared they would go no farther. By this time it was 
 snowing hard, almost blinding the three. So the leader 
 deemed it best to stop for lunch, hoping for an improve- 
 ment in the weather by the time the meal was over. 
 
 Alas ! the weather did not improve ; and yet, as the cold 
 was unbearable, it was necessary to be on the move again. 
 With difficulty the leader persuaded his men to mount a 
 little higher. He had been careful to make them keep 
 their feet well embedded in snow all the lunch-time — a very 
 necessary precaution, if frost-bites were to be avoided. 
 Soon the three were wandering blindly in a labyrinth of 
 snowdrifts and yawning crevasses, and the adventure 
 began to grow exciting, to say the least of it, for where they 
 were they did not know in the least. The disappointment 
 to Forbes was great and galling, but it had to be faced. 
 It was useless to persevere in the attempt to reach one of 
 the cones of the summit, and they must set their faces 
 downwards. His decision to that effect sent the Ice- 
 landers into ecstasies of joy. 
 
 Rapidly, and almost recklessly, the three men began to 
 slide down the snow-slopes. Their track of the morning 
 was long since effaced by the falling snow, while the dense- 
 ness of the fog was such that it would not have been easy 
 to trace the marks had they remained. But Forbes took 
 care of his men, continuing the roping. Quite lost among 
 the hillocks and hummocks of ashes, of lava, of snow, they 
 nevertheless rattled on anywhere, so long as it was in a 
 
 193 N 
 
THE GEYSER DISTRICT 
 
 downward direction. When at last they got clear of the 
 snow — and the fog with it — they found themselves three 
 miles to the westward of the point where they had left 
 their ponies. But the sun was bright and pleasant, and 
 after a good time spent in the search, the poor beasts were 
 found huddled together, and almost buried in the snow 
 that had fallen upon them. The descent to the village 
 and their reception there were the most cheerful imaginable. 
 Commander Forbes, however, was mightily chagrined by 
 his failure, and for days afterwards he prowled about the 
 foot of the mountain like a bear round his pole. But it 
 was of no use ; the weather would not mend, and he had 
 to take his departure from the locality. 
 
 Then began his journey towards the Geyser district, and 
 a very rough journey it proved. One pitch-dark night it 
 was necessary to get a guide to see them safely past the 
 "winding fissures and abysses which yawned in every 
 direction." The fissures, he says, were " as numerous and 
 very similar to the cracks in the rind of an overripe 
 melon, only that they are from twenty to fifty feet deep, 
 until the surface of the water is reached, which again, 
 from its azure hue, may be of any depth." Not a thing was 
 visible, and it was only by trusting blindly to the little 
 Iceland ponies that it was possible to come in safety out of 
 such a maze of difficulties. 
 
 Fording many an icy cold river, struggling across broad 
 marshes, toiling over mountain shoulders, crossing lava- 
 fields, our traveller at length, rounding a corner of a hill, 
 came in sight of the steam of the Great Geyser. He left 
 his ponies at a farm about a quarter of a mile away. But 
 he had no intention of spending the night there himself; 
 
NEAR THE GREAT GEYSER 
 
 he wanted to be nearer the scene of action. A couple of 
 tents had been left here by a generous-hearted Frenchman 
 for the benefit of future travellers to the spot, and one of 
 these Forbes ordered to be carried along to the Geyser. 
 Then he himself stumbled over the rough ground to the 
 place. The water was bubbling in the funnel, and clouds 
 of steam were coming off and being driven before the 
 wind, and from every orifice little jets of hot water escaped, 
 while around, "a slough of blue mud was bubbling and 
 simmering, in the neighbourhood of which one was soon 
 ankle-deep in hot clay. Passing the 6 Strokr,' in violent 
 paroxysms, I crossed the grass-plat which curiously inter- 
 venes, and, ascending its regularly formed cone, stood on 
 the edge of the Great Geyser, full to the brim, bubbling 
 and seething in its centre, and heralding an approaching 
 eruption by repeated subterranean detonations, which 
 vibrated, not only through its immediate framework, but 
 the surrounding soil." 
 
 Near this the Englishman set up his tent, putting 
 plenty of dry hay on the floor. It was pitched in such a 
 position that the water and steam would be carried away 
 from it in case of an eruption, but he was not at all easy 
 about it. The farmer declared the Geyser would behave 
 well, and they went in to supper, after which the Com- 
 mander was left for the night. He had just lit his last 
 pipe before dropping off to sleep, when suddenly "the 
 earth yearned under me to a wild detonating chorus from 
 below. I scrambled out just in time to be enveloped 
 in volumes of steam, and to hear the trickle of the waters 
 which overflowed their limits, and had scarcely groped my 
 way to windward of the basin, when in one frantic effort 
 
 195 N 2 
 
A GRAND DISPLAY 
 
 it belched forth its boiling bowels in a massive column 
 about sixty feet in height, and, radiating at its climax, 
 showered bouquets of water and vapour in every direction.*" 
 Then, as if exhausted, the waters sank to rest, and the 
 watcher followed their example. 
 
 The Great Geyser made two or three more little de- 
 monstrations during the night, but they proved false 
 alarms. About four in the morning, however, the 
 " Strokr," lying a hundred yards or so away, had its turn. 
 It had no cone, the orifice being level with the ground, so 
 that a short-sighted man might almost have walked into 
 it before he was aware. For thirty-seven minutes did the 
 " Strokr " keep up its ornamental display, the forms the 
 water assumed being much more graceful, if less lofty, 
 than those of the Great Geyser. 
 
 Now, the " Strokr "' is of an irritable nature, and can 
 easily be tormented into angry convulsions. Forbes de- 
 termined to take advantage of this propensity in a novel 
 way. He invited the parson and the squire to his tent, 
 had brandy and coffee sent in, and then promised his 
 friends a hot dinner. He took his spare clean flannel 
 shirt, and in it he placed a breast of mutton, while a 
 brace of ptarmigan were also tied up, one in each sleeve. 
 His next step was to gather a goodish pile of turf and 
 place it close to the mouth of the funnel. He estimated 
 for a forty-minute dose of turf, he tells us. When all 
 was ready, he kicked in his pile, and then flung his shirt 
 and its contents after the turf. While the cooking was 
 going on down below, the coffee was kept warm by the 
 geyser, and the friends took a little brandy together, 
 Northern fashion. 
 
 196 
 
An original way of Cooking a Meal 
 
 Captain Forbes promised his friends a hot dinner. He wrapped a breast of mutton and 
 a brace of ptarmigan in a clean shirt, throwing first some turf, then the bundle into the 
 funnel of the geyser, and more turf on the top of them. Forty-seven minutes later an 
 eruption took place, and the meal was shot up cooked to a turn. 
 
i 
 
DONE TO A TURN 
 
 The forty minutes passed, but no sign of an eruption, 
 and the cook grew anxious about his mutton. He began 
 to get ready another pile of turf to administer. But it 
 was not needed ; only seven minutes after time the dinner- 
 bell sounded — to wit, the geyser began to be noisy. 
 Then " came a tremendous eruption, and, surrounded with 
 steam and turf-clods, I beheld my shirt in mid-air, arms 
 extended, like a headless and tailless trunk. It fell life- 
 less by the brink. But we were not to dine yet ; so well 
 corked had been the steam-pipe below that it let out with 
 more than usual viciousness, and forbade dishing up under 
 pain of scalding. After about a quarter of an hour in a 
 temporary lull, I recovered my garment, and turned out 
 my dinner on the grass before my grave guests. 1 '' The 
 mutton was done to a turn ; the ptarmigan overcooked ; 
 the shirt not a penny the worse, save that the dye had run. 
 
 On his way to Hecla, up which he meant to go, if 
 possible, Forbes had to cross the Thiorsa, the longest and 
 biggest river in the island — as long as the Thames, in fact. 
 The ferryman had to be fetched from a hayfield ; then the 
 best of three crazy boats was chosen, and the men got 
 into it. The ponies were to swim behind, if they could 
 be induced to do so. Forbes had with him a farmer and 
 a guide, and hard work it was to persuade their beasts to 
 take the water. They had fairly to be pulled in, and 
 then towed behind. It took the guide all his time to bail 
 out the water, so badly did the craft leak. And there 
 was another danger ahead : not far away the river leapt 
 down a cataract, and the boat was coming perilously near. 
 However, the men managed to ground it on the further 
 shore just in time to prevent men and beasts from going 
 
 197 
 
UP HECLA 
 
 over. A pleasant gallop of nearly twenty miles, and the 
 fording of another river, brought the party fairly to the 
 foot of the famous volcano, where the night was spent. 
 
 Next morning in good time the traveller was on his 
 way up Hecla, accompanied by a farmer of the neighbour- 
 hood as guide. As in the case of Snaefells Yokul, the 
 trusty Iceland ponies carried the men to the snow-line ; 
 as before, too, the animals were left, tied head to tail, to 
 await their master's return. There was a little mist cling- 
 ing about the upper parts of the mountain, but otherwise 
 the day was fine. After an hour or two of hard climbing 
 up a very steep face, the two men reached an old cone, 
 now not in action, or, rather, they reached a sort of vent- 
 hole in the side of it. Along this dark tunnel they made 
 their way, till at length the light appeared, and they 
 emerged into the crater. To the Englishman's surprise, 
 there was not the slightest trace of heat about this disused 
 cone of 1846, and, indeed, the bottom of the crater was 
 covered with a considerable thickness of ice. The cup 
 was a hundred and fifty feet deep, and its sides were far 
 too steep to be climbed, so the two men had perforce to 
 make their way back through the same dark hole. 
 
 Commander Forbes was not going to be satisfied without 
 a peep into an active crater, so he and his companion 
 continued their steep upward scramble. At noon they 
 had gained the summit of that one of the three cones 
 which was in working order, and standing on the brink of 
 the crater, they looked down into a hollow nearly circular 
 and about half a mile in circumference, the depth being 
 apparently between two and three hundred feet. From 
 various parts of the sides of this vast hole little clouds 
 
 198 
 
DESCENT INTO THE CRATER 
 
 of steam were ascending. There was some snow lying 
 unmelted in one or two parts, but the main portion was 
 bare and black. 
 
 The Englishman, under the guidance of the farmer, 
 descended cautiously into this forbidding hollow. So 
 much the shape of a funnel was the crater, that at the 
 bottom it came almost to a point. There was no hole 
 down into the bowels of the earth, as, perhaps, the visitor 
 had expected ; on the contrary, and much to his wonder- 
 ment, there was a deposit of dried mud there, with a 
 thickness of ice on the top of it. Yet a glance around 
 showed many smoking portions along the steep sides of 
 the cup. At one such place, about half-way down, and 
 amongst incrustations of sulphur, Forbes began to dig 
 away the crust. He soon found the ground hot enough 
 to light a fusee, and, later on, his pipe. He sat down — in 
 a somewhat cooler place, of course — and, gazing around, 
 began to think that after all it was not in the least a 
 fearful thing to sit in the very crater of one of the chief 
 European volcanoes. 
 
 But when he reflected that for nine centuries this same 
 crater had, time after time, belched forth its fires with 
 terrible destruction ; that at the last eruption but one — -in 
 the year 1766 — it had hurled "its red-hot stones to an 
 almost fabulous distance, and powdered the southern and 
 central districts with sand, some of which had almost 
 reached the Faroes" — when he called all this to mind, he 
 was disposed to feel much more respect for the mountain. 
 As for the farmer, he shook his head ; he had lost not 
 only property, but ancestors, in eruptions from that very 
 spot where they were sitting. 
 
 199 
 
A RISKY CRAWL 
 
 Now creeping with difficulty up the rough, steep sides, 
 they came out once more upon the edge of the crater, and 
 crawled along it to the northern side of the summit. 
 Their position on this narrow ledge was anything but a 
 safe one. On the one hand, the ground sloped pre- 
 cipitously down to the bottom of the crater they had just 
 left; on the other, for at least a thousand feet, the 
 mountain - side dropped almost sheer. Moreover, the 
 footing was loose and rickety, and only fit for a chamois, 
 Forbes tells us. And when their feet displaced any of 
 the loose stuff on which they were treading, it darted off 
 on its downward way at a terrific rate. They saw the 
 other two cones not far away, but no other crater on 
 Hecla. The eastern face of the mountain to which they 
 proceeded was truly awful, for three thousand feet it was 
 wellnigh perpendicular. 
 
 The view from the top of the famous volcano was 
 magnificent. Peak after peak could they see ; vast ice- 
 fields stretched over whole districts ; other volcano cones 
 stood out here and there ; his old friend, the Great Geyser, 
 showed himself in spotless white. But there was one peak 
 on which the stranger's eye rested in fascination — namely, 
 the terrible Skaptar Yokul, which had wrought the fright- 
 ful destruction remembered by Icelanders then living. 
 
 It was in the year 1783 that this fearful eruption of 
 Skaptar Yokul took place, and it was one of the most 
 dreadful catastrophes of the kind in modern times. " In 
 one gigantic effort it destroyed twenty villages, over nine 
 thousand human beings, and about one hundred and fifty 
 thousand sheep, cattle, and horses, partly by the depreda- 
 tions of the lava and noxious vapours, and in part by 
 
 200 
 
A TOO RAPID DESCENT 
 
 famine, caused by showers of ashes and the desertion of the 
 coasts by the fish.'''' 
 
 The descent to the ponies came near to having a tragic 
 ending. Forbes began to descend en glissade, and the 
 farmer, not to be outdone, attempted the same feat. 
 Alas! he wore moccasins, and thus had no grip on the 
 soft snow. " He was soon making headlong tracks for the 
 lava-field beneath, whilst I with bated breath quivered for 
 the result, and I was inexpressibly relieved when he brought 
 up in a snowdrift a few yards from total destruction.'' 1 
 
 201 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WITH TYNDALL ON THE WEISSHORN 
 
 Alpine ascents belong to recent times only — Professor Tyndall 
 determines to try the hitherto unconquered and queenly 
 Weisshorn — The start with two guides — The effect of a draught 
 of milk — The bivouac on the mountain — An early morning 
 start — Difficulties — The two rock towers — A fearful cleft — 
 A risky crossing on a snow-covered rock-wall — Avalanches of 
 stones — The peak apparently no nearer — Renewed efforts — 
 Despair — The climbers take heart again — At last the summit 
 within reach — The mountain conquered — An improvised flag — 
 The descent begun — The men stupefied with fatigue — The rock- 
 wall again — Fearful slopes — A difficult precipice — A second 
 precipice — An extraordinary fall of stones — A third precipice — ■ 
 "Where a chamois can ascend a man may descend " — Safe down 
 at last. 
 
 A couple of hundred years back the great mountains were 
 objects of dread and horror, terrible and fatal monsters to 
 be avoided. Did fate compel our forefathers to traverse 
 the wild gorge, or to struggle over the lofty storm -swept 
 pass, their sole thought was how they should best and 
 soonest get themselves safely away from such dread spots. 
 The notion of ascending a mighty Alpine peak for pleasure 
 had scarce entered the heart of man two or three genera- 
 tions ago. Even forty or fifty years since many of the 
 proud summits had never been trodden by the foot of man 
 — the Weisshorn, the Aiguille du Dru, the marvellous 
 
 202 
 
PIONEER MOUNTAIN-CLIMBERS 
 
 Matterhorn. Now there is not a giant snow-capped peak 
 among them all which has not been scaled by daring 
 mountaineers. 
 
 In these achievements no mean part has been played by 
 our British countrymen. More than one of the most 
 inaccessible and dangerous of the Alps have been first 
 reached by hardy mountaineers from these Britannic 
 islands — a Whymper, a Tyndall, a Conway. And there 
 are man}' more whose names are worthy to stand with 
 these. 
 
 It was in the year 1861 that there came to Professor 
 Tyndall the ambition of ascending the beautiful Weiss- 
 horn, "an object scarcely less grand, conveying, it maybe, 
 even a deeper impression of majesty and might, than the 
 Matterhorn itself — the Weisshorn, perhaps the most 
 splendid object in the Alps." 
 
 Many had been the attempts to master this grand 
 mountain, " by brave and competent men," too, but it had 
 never been scaled, and the difficulties in the way of a 
 successful ascent were said to be enormous, if not insur- 
 mountable. It was not that the Weisshorn is the highest 
 of the Alpine peaks ; it is a thousand feet lower than the 
 kingly Mont Blanc. But then, as Tyndall says, " height 
 is but one element in the difficulty of a niountain. r> 
 
 The professor started from Randa, taking with him two 
 guides — Benen, one of the most competent and trust- 
 worthy of his class, and Wenger. It was an hour after 
 midday, and the party proposed to spend the night on a 
 ledge of rock that had been selected for their bivouac. 
 Tyndall had been not at all well the previous evening, and 
 he was in but indifferent condition for an expedition so 
 
 203 
 
BIVOUAC ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 arduous. Luckily, on the way up the lower slopes he was 
 able to obtain from a chalet copious draughts of fresh 
 milk to quench the burning thirst from which he suffered. 
 The effect was as satisfactory as it was astonishing, and 
 the climber went on his way another man, ready for any 
 work that might come to him. 
 
 A couple of hours later the resting-place for the night 
 was reached. A ledge jutted out from the rock-face, and 
 it was beneath this the men camped. It was a grand 
 vantage-ground, commanding a full and magnificent view 
 of peak after peak. Their goal for the morrow, the 
 summit of the lovely Weisshorn itself, was not to be seen 
 from that exact spot, but Tyndall and Benen managed 
 before retiring to rest, to get a view of the peak from 
 another standpoint, not far away from the camp. And to 
 tell the truth, this sight of the mountain-top] rather dis- 
 mayed them, so remote and so inaccessible did it appear. 
 However, after a supper of toasted cheese and coffee the 
 men turned in, Tyndall wriggling himself into the two 
 sacks he had had made from rugs. But not to sleep, for 
 hardly once did the professor lose consciousness of what 
 was passing around. The "unspeakably grand" sunset 
 was succeeded by a magnificent display of stars. Then 
 the air grew cold, too cold to admit of sleep — at any rate, 
 for the Englishman. In truth he was presently chilled to 
 the bone, and had much ado to endure till Benen gave the 
 signal to rise. 
 
 By half-past three the party had had early morning 
 coffee and were on their way again. Crossing the white, 
 cold drifts and a stretch of tangled glacier, they reached a 
 couloir, which was full of hard-frozen snow. This they 
 
 204 
 
DIFFICULTIES 
 
 had after a time to leave, to take to the rocks. Then 
 came a saddle of snow, and after that still higher rocks, 
 where they had two hours of severe climbing, " the bend- 
 ing, twisting, reaching, and drawing-up, calling upon all 
 the muscles of the frame. " From their ridge they could 
 spy a couple of men far below. Many climbers at Randa 
 had been desirous of accompanying the Englishman, but 
 he had judged it better to go without them. The men 
 below were no doubt two of the disappointed ones. 
 
 But greater difficulties were at hand. At one point, 
 standing on a sort of rocky tower, they found themselves 
 facing a similar tower, and between the two a deep, yawn- 
 ing gap. It seemed as if all farther progress was now out 
 of the question. But Benen was equal to the occasion. 
 Coiling the rope round his waist, he managed to scramble 
 to the bottom of the great cleft — a wonderful performance. 
 Where one man had gone others might follow, and in due 
 time both Tyndall and Wenger also stood at the bottom. 
 Then came the task of scaling the opposing rock-tower, 
 and a most difficult and exhausting, if not a dangerous, 
 piece of work it was found to be. Once up, the men took 
 to the arete, or a sloping corner ridge of the mountain. A 
 long pull on this at length brought them to a place risky 
 indeed. 
 
 The arete had gradually become narrower and narrower, 
 till now it had shrunk to the breadth of a mere wall. The 
 top of this wall was hidden by a covering of snow. 
 Imagine the position. For fully twenty yards this snow- 
 covered ledge ran on, till it reached the next rocks. The 
 precipices on either hand were almost sheer, and ran down 
 to frightful depths. It seemed mere madness to stand on 
 
 205 
 
A RISKY CROSSING 
 
 the knife-edge of snow, which would surely give way in 
 a moment and hurl the adventurer to the abyss below. 
 Tyndall had no notion that any human being would trust 
 himself on such a place. But he was soon undeceived, for, 
 to his astonishment, Benen, first trying the snow with his 
 foot, calmly began to walk across. " Even after the pressure 
 of his feet the space he had to stand on did not exceed a 
 handbreath. I followed him, exactly as a boy walking 
 along a horizontal pole, with toes turned outwards. 
 Right and left the precipices were appalling ; but the 
 sense of power on such occasions is exceedingly sweet. We 
 reached the opposite rock, and here a smile rippled over 
 Benen's countenance as he turned towards me. He knew 
 that he had done a daring thing.'" 
 
 And now a danger of a new kind had to be faced. The 
 rocks on the ridge were much shattered and very loose. It 
 required extreme care to avoid setting some of them 
 rolling down the steep. The thing was not to be avoided, 
 in fact, and great masses of rock were from time to time 
 dislodged. These in their flight downwards set in motion 
 others, till at length numbers of them were hissing and 
 booming with ever-increasing speed down the mountain- 
 side, to rest only when they had reached the vast snow- 
 fields, thousands of feet below. The risk to those follow- 
 ing, if the first climber set going in their direction any of 
 the loose rocks he met with, was naturally very great. 
 However, with care and success the men toiled on, though 
 the heat was so intolerable as to cause profusest perspiration. 
 
 On their way up the mountain they were for the most 
 part unable to see the summit, but now and then they 
 caught a glimpse of it from some coign of vantage. Such 
 
 206 
 
Crossing the knife edge during the Weisshorn ascent 
 
 The foothold was like the top of an immensely high wall. The mountaineers had to 
 walk about twenty yards with almost sheer precipices on either hand. 
 
THE PEAK FAR DISTANT 
 
 an occasion came after they had been three hours on the 
 arete, — that is, five hours from the morning start. It 
 seemed not so far distant, and both guides and employer 
 were in good heart at the sight. Never were appearances 
 more deceptive. Three more hours of heavy work on the 
 arete brought another glimpse of the crown. The moun- 
 taineers were taken aback ; the top appeared not a whit 
 nearer. With keen dismay they gazed on the far-off peak. 
 Benen^s face declared his thoughts, while Wenger's 
 condition had become so unsatisfactory that the others 
 proposed to leave him behind while they went on without 
 him. But of this the plucky fellow would not hear, and, 
 indeed, none of the men had the least thought of giving in, 
 at any rate for the present. 
 
 On the three went again, therefore, plodding wearily 
 towards another pinnacle ahead, from which they judged 
 they would be able to see the summit once more. With 
 what eagerness mingled with anxiety did they, after long 
 and severe toil, gain the spot ! Alas ! the summit now 
 appeared " hopelessly distant." Even Benen gave way for 
 the moment to despair. 
 
 " Dear sir," he cried, " the peak is still far away up 
 there !" 
 
 At this point Tyndall thought it well to intimate that 
 he was ready to abandon the attempt and return to Randa. 
 This he did lest Benen, in his anxiety to please his 
 employer, should be led to go on imprudently. However, 
 Benen took food, and a good drink of wine, feeling 
 wonderfully better at once. He took another look at 
 the far-away peak ; hope returned to him, and he cried 
 firmly : 
 
 207 
 
SUMMIT WITHIN REACH 
 
 " Sir, we must win it !" 
 
 Tyndall was delighted, feeling how like this was to the 
 British spirit which does not know when it is beaten. 
 Such thoughts, he declares, helped to lift him over the rocks. 
 
 Then at it again with a will, the course directed towards 
 another eminence in the distance, from which it was 
 believed that yet once more a view would be gained of the 
 top. The toilers had their reward. When once the height 
 had been scaled, " above us, but clearly within reach, a 
 silvery pyramid projected itself against the blue sky. I was 
 assured by my companions that it was the highest point 
 before I ventured to stake my faith upon the assertion. I 
 feared that it also might take rank with the illusions which 
 had so often beset our ascent, and shrunk from the conse- 
 quent moral shock." 
 
 The guides were right, as happily it proved. Wearied, 
 but in good heart, the three crept up the long knife-edge 
 of pure, white snow that terminated in a little point. The 
 point was gained ; an eager look around followed ; there 
 was no part of the mountain now above them. Their feet 
 stood on the very summit of the queenly and hitherto 
 unconquered Weisshorn ! It was a glorious moment, and 
 the guides relieved their excited feelings by mad shouts and 
 yells, again and again repeated. Far below, on a crag, the 
 other two men from Randa could be seen, and shouts of 
 triumph were sent down to them. 
 
 Tyndall and his men had no flag, so a makeshift in the 
 shape of an axe -handle with a red pocket-handkerchief 
 attached was fixed in the snow, and it was seen from the 
 RifFel Hotel, some days later, by the professor himself and 
 his friend Mr. Francis Galton. 
 
 208 
 
THE DESCENT 
 
 But it is one thing to get up such a mountain as the 
 Weisshorn ; it is often quite another, and sometimes even 
 a more difficult, thing to get down again, and so the three 
 men found it. They had been climbing continuously for 
 ten hours since their early morning turn-out of camp ; 
 they were weary and stiff to a degree. Yet the day was 
 advancing rapidly, and it behoved them to make all speed 
 down. Their success at first acted like a stimulant to 
 them ; they descended merrily, and fancied they would 
 do the return journey both quickly and easily — a huge 
 mistake, as was subsequently proved. 
 
 With stiffened muscles they plodded along, however, 
 almost in a state of numbness, if not of stupefaction. 
 The roar of the stones which they began to loosen in their 
 descent, at length awoke them from their half-conscious 
 state. Then came the narrow band of snow on the top of 
 the wall-like ridge, and this was safely crossed, dangerous 
 as the crossing was in their present condition. A 
 long spell on the mountain-slope followed. Here step- 
 cutting had to be resorted to, though Benen had scarce 
 strength left to swing his axe. The slopes were fear- 
 fully steep ; they seemed of interminable length ; many 
 of them ended in sheer precipices down which a fall 
 would be fatal. "Take care not to slip," the leading 
 guide admonished his companions, as indeed well he might. 
 Oddly enough, Tyndall seems to have greatly under- 
 estimated the danger of a slip, imagining that he would 
 be able to recover himself before he shot over the fatal 
 precipice below. But Benen's emphatic "No; it would 
 be utterly impossible !" showed the Englishman how mis- 
 taken his belief was. It is certain that had any man 
 
 209 o 
 
DANGEROUS FEATS 
 
 slipped in such a place it would have cost him his 
 life. 
 
 An extraordinary variety of difficulties and dangerous 
 feats succeeded for the mountaineering party. At one 
 time they had to drop cautiously from ledge to ledge 
 crossing their path. At another spot Benen, hanging by 
 his hands to the rocks, body in air, felt with his feet for 
 some projection on which he might put his weight, and 
 presently dropped with extreme caution on to a ledge so 
 narrow that the slightest extra movement would have 
 thrown him off, and so to the abysses below. A wet 
 couloir followed; this they were obliged to abandon. 
 Another and drier couloir was tried, but this, too, they 
 found it advisable to get out of with all speed. They 
 were only just in time, for down came clattering a deadly 
 avalanche of stones along the very trough they had left. 
 
 Wenger was now sent to lead, because of his long legs, 
 which were likely to set the pace better. But the way 
 became ever more difficult, and at length the party were 
 brought up by what seemed an impossible precipice. It 
 appeared to run like a huge wall all round the mountain, 
 so far as could be seen. It was only after a long detour 
 that a risky, but still a possible, descent was found. In 
 no long time a second, and this time an overhanging, 
 precipice stopped all farther progress. In vain did the 
 men cast their eyes around for a way of escape; it seemed 
 certain they would have to reascend some portion of the 
 mountain-flank. But how in their exhausted and almost 
 demoralized condition ? 
 
 Whilst the mountaineers were standing here dis- 
 heartened, if not despairing, they were witnesses of a very 
 
 210 
 
GREAT FALL OF STONES 
 
 extraordinary spectacle, which, Tyndall says, was one of 
 the most remarkable things he had ever set eyes upon. 
 He describes it in his own graphic way : 
 
 " Whilst we stood pondering here, a deep and confused 
 roar attracted our attention. From a point near the 
 summit of the Weisshorn a rock had been discharged; 
 it plunged down a dry couloir, raising a cloud of dust at 
 each bump against the mountain. A hundred similar 
 ones were immediately in motion, while the spaces between 
 the larger masses were filled by an innumerable flight of 
 smaller stones. Each of them shakes its quantum of dust 
 in the air, until finally the avalanche is enveloped in a 
 vast cloud. The clatter of this devil's cavalry was stun- 
 ning. Black masses of rock emerged here and there from 
 the cloud, and sped through the air like flying fiends. 
 Their motion was not one of translation merely, but they 
 whizzed and vibrated in their flight as if urged by wings. 
 The clang of echoes resounded from side to side, from the 
 Schallenberg to the Weisshorn and back, until finally the 
 whole troop came to rest, after many a deep-sounding 
 thud in the snow, at the bottom of the mountain." And 
 the professor emphatically warns all future climbers of 
 the Weisshorn to avoid that side of the mountain, except 
 on one of the aretes. "At any moment," he declares, 
 " the mountain-side may be raked by a fire as deadly as 
 that of cannon." 
 
 But the three men were still on the top of the fearsome 
 precipice; the day was far spent; how to descend with 
 their lives they knew not. Yet, after coasting along for a 
 distance, they came on a spot where the sheer cliff bevels 
 off into a steep slope. Down this dangerous incline runs 
 
 211 2 
 
SAFE DOWN AT LAST 
 
 a crack wide enough to admit a man's fingers. Mad as 
 the plan seems to an ordinary person, the three begin to 
 let themselves cautiously and slowly down, inserting the 
 fingers in the crack and carefully lowering the body. 
 The victory is won, and the three then hurry on over 
 glacier, rock, incline, trusting they have done with 
 precipices. 
 
 But no; a third and still more formidable rock-wall 
 appears. To Tyndall himself the place seems hopeless. 
 Farther he and his men cannot get, that is certain. Then, 
 to his extreme surprise, his guides lead the way confidently 
 along the crest till they come to a clay ridge running 
 from the top steeply down. The clay streak — for it is no 
 more — presently comes to an end, and the rest of the 
 descent has to be made as best may be. The guides do 
 not hesitate ; the rocks are rough, and the scramble down 
 is desperate. In an ordinary way such a course would 
 have been pronounced stark madness, but men in sore 
 straits do not stick at trifles. And, as a matter of fact, 
 the guides had the day before seen a chamois mount at 
 the very spot where they were descending. Where the 
 chamois could get up, they argued, a man might get 
 down. And so it proves. In due time the adventurous 
 three stand safe at the bottom of the terrible cliff, ex- 
 hausted but triumphant. The proud Weisshorn, one 
 might almost say, had been twice conquered that day. 
 
 212 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CROSSING THE ANDES IN WINTER 
 
 The Andes second in size only to the Himalayas — Major Rickard, an 
 Irish engineer — Starts to cross from Chili to Buenos Ayres — 
 The western slopes of the Andes reached just as winter is coming 
 on — A stiff pull up — The dog in leather shoes — Hundreds of 
 condors — One shot — A big struggle with the wounded bird — 
 A storm of snow and thunder — A terrific wind — Mule refuses to 
 face it — A destructive blast — Mule takes fright and gallops off — 
 Major alone on the ridge, and lost — Burrows in the snow to 
 escape blast — Gives up all hope — Track again espied — Compan- 
 ions come up — Colour-blindness a serious matter — Summit of 
 Cumbre Pass, the worst part, reached — Storm rages with 
 redoubled fury — " Dismount, dismount !" — Mule blown over 
 the precipice — A bottle of port — Eight leagues yet to nearest 
 hut — A puma by the Major's side — The hut, a miserable affair — 
 The effect of a uniform — Wretched night — Negro insensible 
 from the cold — Men bring in a still worse case — The engineer 
 as doctor — A shot at a llama at a thousand yards — Two drunken 
 horsemen and their threats — A rifle brought to the " present " — 
 A hasty retreat — Threats to return — The dangerous laderos 
 along the road — a drove of cattle and a very strait path — 
 A narrow escape for the Major. 
 
 No reader needs to be told that the vast Andes range 
 is second only to the mighty Himalayas among the 
 stupendous mountain chains on the surface of our globe. 
 To the enormous height of twenty-five thousand feet do 
 the loftiest of the Andine summits tower above sea-level. 
 
 213 
 
MAJOR RICKARD 
 
 In the matter of length, the line of the Andes entirely 
 puts the Himalayas into the shade. The crossing of this 
 great range is at all times a long, heavy work ; in bad 
 weather it is attended with constant dangers, and some- 
 times with risks that are appalling. This was the 
 experience of Major Rickard, an Irish mining engineer, 
 who more than forty years ago held an important position 
 under the Argentine Government. He left Valparaiso, on 
 the Pacific, to traverse the entire breadth of the continent, 
 the journey necessitating, of course, the passage over the 
 Andes. 
 
 It was just at the beginning of winter — that is, about 
 the end of April, when he reached the mountains, but 
 he hoped to get over the range before the really bad 
 weather set in. We shall see what his actual experience 
 was. 
 
 The hour of two on a dark morning saw Major Rickard 
 and his companions on their way up the earlier slopes. 
 He was warmly clad, as he needed to be. His dog, too, 
 he had shod in leather shoes, as a protection against 
 stones and snow. A stiff pull up, to a height of seven or 
 eight thousand feet, brought them into wild and magni- 
 ficent scenery, and also beyond the limit of vegetation. 
 After a halt for their breakfast of cold meat and bread, 
 and the coldest of cold water from a torrent, they entered 
 upon a narrow road, not more than two feet wide, along 
 the steep face of a cliff. Along this risky path they toiled 
 without any mishap to the top of a ridge. The view on 
 all sides was truly marvellous ; but the point to which the 
 eyes of the travellers were particularly directed was the 
 Cumbre Pass, the chief pass of that region, by which they 
 
 214 
 
HUNDREDS OF CONDORS 
 
 were to make the passage of the Andes ; it could be 
 discerned, though the distance was still great. 
 
 A sight nearer at hand also interested the Major ; some 
 hundreds of condors were soaring above his head, waiting 
 to come back to the carcass of a mule from which the 
 arrival of the men had for the moment scared them. 
 Running for his rifle, the engineer took aim at one of the 
 largest, which had alighted on a ledge two hundred yards 
 away. There was a loud, re-echoing bang, and then the 
 whole flock of condors fled terror-stricken — all but one, 
 which dropped almost at the sportsman's feet. The dog 
 was not disposed to tackle so formidable a fellow, for the 
 bird was violent to a degree. Rickard himself dared not 
 approach his victim, and he was just about to solve the 
 difficulty by putting a second bullet into the struggling 
 condor, when one of his men deftly brought his lasso and 
 hunting-knife to bear. From tip to tip of his wings the 
 bird measured eight feet seven inches. 
 
 There was now a sudden and most unwelcome change 
 in the weather ; everything prognosticated a storm of the 
 utmost violence, and the travellers thought it wise to get 
 over the Cumbre Pass if possible. Snow began to fall, 
 then it fell faster and faster ; a howling wind arose, while the 
 air grew dark and resounded with the roll of heavy thunder- 
 peals. The Major was somewhat ahead of his men, but he 
 hurried on, his dog accompanying him. Soon he could 
 scarcely see for ten yards in front of him, and he thought 
 it best to trust to his mule, which was stumbling along 
 knee-deep in snow. Upwards the animal climbed, foot by 
 foot, the storm increasing in intensity each moment. 
 Rickard did fairly well for some distance, sheltered by a 
 
 215 
 
ALONE, AND LOST ! 
 
 projecting rock ; but when he came to the end of the rock 
 and the top of the minor ridge he was climbing, the wind 
 in all its fury caught man and beast. For an instant the 
 mule stood it, and then attempted to turn back. Down 
 on her knees she fell in the endeavour, and the rider was 
 compelled to dismount. 
 
 He determined to await the arrival of the rest of his 
 party ; but what a place to wait in, and alone ! Every- 
 thing was covered thick with blinding and dazzling snow ; 
 moreover, the mule turned round two or three times, and 
 before many minutes were over, the man had not the 
 slightest notion where the track was, or in which direction 
 his route lay. He took out his pocket-compass, and laid 
 it flat on his hand, to try to find his bearings. " I was 
 looking most anxiously at the needle, when another 
 terrific gust of wind, stronger than the first, and charged 
 with sand and snow, came down upon me, carrying away 
 my compass, my hat, and my poncho, tearing my overcoat 
 right up the back, and leaving me in tatters. My mule 
 took fright, also, and went off at full speed down the side 
 of the mountain, regardless of road or track." 
 
 The solitary traveller was obliged to throw himself down 
 and burrow into the snow, in order to gain a shelter from 
 the all-mastering hurricane which threatened to throw 
 him over the precipice. The dog howled piteously, and 
 crouched in the snow close to his master. Thus the pair 
 remained till the storm somewhat abated. Then, to his 
 great joy, the Major spied the track not more than ten 
 yards away, and, crawling on hands and knees thither, he 
 found better shelter behind a ledge of rock. At last he 
 was able to proceed, but whither? There was but one 
 
 216 
 
A CRITICAL POSITION 
 
 answer to such a question : he must try at all cost to find 
 his companions. Down, therefore, he plunged, deep in 
 the snowdrifts at every step, and with difficulty making 
 out the mule-track at all. He had the satisfaction to see 
 them coming along at last, for he was lost, bewildered, and 
 almost dead with the cold. His friends were delighted 
 to meet with him again ; having quite given him up for 
 lost. 
 
 "I can assure the reader," writes Major Rickard, "that 
 when I even now call to mind — and I can do so vividly — 
 my critical position on that eventful day, alone, on the 
 highest range of the Andes, twelve thousand feet above the 
 sea, lost and hopeless, with the probability of never again 
 seeing the face of man — for one whole night passed there 
 would have been sufficient to accomplish such an end, and 
 even during the short time I did spend there I was almost 
 frozen to death — then the probability of tumbling head- 
 long over a precipice into the yawning gulf beneath in 
 trying to find my way, for the snow was so deep and the 
 day so dark that I could not distinguish a safe from an 
 unsafe path — I say, when I think of these things now, it 
 almost makes me tremble." 
 
 Another hat and another poncho it was easy enough to 
 get out of his portmanteau, but the traveller had unfortu- 
 nately lost also his blue goggles in the late blasts, and 
 soon he began to find his eyes affected with snow-blindness. 
 Later on the matter became serious ; he was unable to 
 distinguish colours. He astonished his men by declaring 
 that his black dog had turned green — with the intense cold, 
 as he presumed. But when he found that the snow 
 appeared yellow, and that scarlet assumed the hue of dirty 
 
 217 
 
THE STORM RAGES 
 
 purple, his guide advised him to ride as much as possible 
 with closed eyes, or he would lose his sight altogether. As 
 a matter of fact, the Major never did entirely recover from 
 the effects of that winter journey over the mountains. 
 
 In spite of all dangers and troubles, however, the little 
 party at length neared the summit of the Cumbre, the 
 severity of the storm having for a while abated a trifle. 
 But just before the crest was reached the tempest swept 
 down upon them with a force far beyond anything they 
 had before experienced. The signal for the renewal of 
 hostilities was a sudden and tremendous peal of thunder 
 exactly over the heads of the travellers, the crash loud as if 
 all the rocks around had been rent to pieces at one blow. 
 " We were now approaching the summit, and the storm, 
 like a giant refreshed by slumber, arose with redoubled 
 fury and strength, and bore down upon us with all its 
 might. ' Dismount ! dismount V shouted the arriero and 
 his men simultaneously, and in a moment we were on the 
 ground with our backs to the storm. . . . The arriero 
 and men, being more exposed and higher up, were left with 
 their clothes in ribands; but this was not the worst. 
 One of the loaded mules was blown over the precipice, and 
 went rolling down the rocky steep, until we lost sight of 
 her in the profound abyss beneath. Some of my principal 
 scientific instruments went with her, and were, of course, 
 lost to me for ever." 
 
 Not a moment did the party stop on the summit of the 
 pass, "awfully grand though it was," but sought some 
 sort of shelter where they might partake of a little 
 refreshment. So, cowering behind a rock, they drank a 
 bottle of good port wine, the reviving effects of which 
 
 218 
 
 
A MISERABLE SHELTER 
 
 were incalculable. The Major certainly was in need of 
 something to bring back life to him. His nose and ears 
 were utterly without feeling, and his arriero had to rub 
 them briskly with snow to restore the circulation. They 
 had still eight leagues to go before the first hut would be 
 reached — eight leagues of that terrible pass, and in the 
 midst of a winter storm ! It took them from noon till 
 eight in the evening to cover the distance. The mules had 
 to be allowed to stumble as they could down the rugged 
 path, and the men struggled after them as best they 
 might, up to their middles, in snow. On the way the 
 engineer was startled by the sudden apparition of a puma, 
 which darted close past him as he was walking at some 
 distance from his companions. The incident was discon- 
 certing, to say the least of it, to a solitary and defenceless 
 man, for he was too benumbed to pull a trigger. 
 
 At length, far ahead, was seen a fire ; it was by the hut, 
 and when they arrived there, they found two men cowering 
 under a rock, a fire burning beside them. As for the hut 
 itself, it was about as miserable a shelter as could be 
 imagined. The only way into it was by a sort of door 
 or loophole high up in the framework. There was no 
 ladder by which this might be reached, and the Major had 
 to scramble up as he might. When he dropped down into 
 the pitch-dark interior, he stumbled over a prostrate man. 
 He struck a light and found that there were already four 
 fellows tenanting this little shelter. Where the new- 
 comers were to put themselves it was not easy to see. 
 Moreover, there were plenty of vent-holes in the place, 
 through every one of which the wind and the snow came 
 driving furiously. The very limited floor-space, moreover, 
 
 219 
 
EFFECT OF A UNIFORM 
 
 was encumbered by a litter of baggage, clothes, saddles, 
 and the like. 
 
 But Major Rickard was not the man to be thrust on 
 one side. He immediately removed the cover from his 
 cap, and showed the gold band upon it. It was a uniform 
 cap, and denoted his rank as a high Government official. 
 The sight of this had the desired effect on the fellows 
 occupying the floor, and it only needed an authoritative 
 word from the great man to make them rearrange them- 
 selves in a smaller space. The servants now brought in 
 their master's bed and rigged it up in a corner, and made 
 a small charcoal fire in the middle of the floor. Then, 
 after a cup of hot tea, the engineer turned in, tortured 
 by a nervous headache. How long he slept he did not 
 know, but when he was awakened by an uneasy movement 
 on the part of his dog, he sat up and gazed around in 
 stupid amazement. 
 
 " The candle was still burning in the opposite corner, 
 and threw a dim, lurid glare over the interior of the 
 hut. ... I was obliged to drop again immediately, being 
 almost stifled and suffocated with the most intolerable 
 stench I ever recollect having experienced; even the 
 ' seventeen distinct smells ' of Rio Janeiro in the Brazils 
 were nothing in comparison. The atmosphere from about 
 two feet from the floor upwards was a thick cloud of steam, 
 ascending and curling, slowly finding an exit by the door- 
 way. On the floor were piled a heap of human forms 
 lying in every position, all apparently sound asleep, and 
 ignorant of, or indifferent to, the pernicious atmosphere 
 they were inhaling."" 
 
 The Major was informed by his men, later on, that a 
 
 220 
 
NEGRO INSENSIBLE FROM COLD 
 
 fresh party of travellers had arrived during the night, and 
 that no fewer than eighteen persons had slept within the 
 narrow limits of that wretched hut ! 
 
 The effect of the cold and exposure at such an elevation 
 was serious indeed, so far as some of the travellers were 
 concerned. A black servant of the Major's was found in 
 the morning apparently stiff and lifeless. The negro was 
 made to swallow some hot tea, after which he revived a 
 little, but was unable even to move from his place, much 
 less to continue the journey. A worse case presently 
 engaged the attention of the rest. Four men arrived at 
 the hut, carrying what seemed to be the dead body 
 of a comrade. They said he had shown no signs of life 
 whatever since they had discovered him crouched and 
 insensible beneath a rock. The Major had the poor 
 fellow placed on a mattress in the hut, and then applied 
 stimulants and friction. Before he started on his own 
 way again, about noon, the kindly Irishman had the 
 pleasure of seeing the sufferer come round considerably. 
 
 When the party got off, one of them, the negro, had to 
 be wrapped in blankets and carried to his mule, where he 
 sat almost without the power of keeping his seat. All 
 day they trudged on, deep in snow, till at length they 
 reached another hut, to gain which they had to cross a 
 stream and clamber up a steep bank. Luckily this second 
 hut was empty, and a good deal more cleanly, so that after 
 some hot tea the men turned in for a far better night. 
 In the morning preparations were made for an early start, 
 when an incident diverted everybody's attention for the 
 moment. Rickard was standing outside the hut, when 
 with a whiz four huanacos, a species of llama, flew by. 
 
 221 
 
A SHOT AT A LLAMA 
 
 Instantly he sprang towards the door to fetch his rifle, but 
 stumbled, and before he could recover himself and get 
 hold of his gun, the animals were a long way off. The 
 sportsman elevated the sight to six hundred yards, and 
 fired. He wasted his ammunition, for the llamas were 
 probably three or four hundred yards farther away than 
 he had reckoned upon. Seeing them rest a moment on 
 the top of a rock, however, he put up the sight for a 
 thousand yards and once more took aim, though the 
 animals were barely visible. Whether he hit one of them 
 or not he could not be certain, but, looking through his 
 field-glass, he saw one of them leap into the air and then 
 all four fly off like the wind. 
 
 They had an adventure of another sort at a later stage 
 of the crossing, when the worst of the mountains had been 
 passed. A loud shouting and hallooing was heard in the 
 valley, and two gauchos on horseback galloped furiously 
 up, and demanded wine, swearing terribly the while. The 
 fellows were half-drunk already, and the Major replied 
 that he had no wine. The rascals scouted the notion that 
 a party of the kind could be crossing the Andes without 
 taking stimulants of some sort. But the engineer was not 
 the man to be trifled with. Seizing his rifle, he shouted to 
 them that if they did not " clear out " immediately, he 
 would put a bullet through at least one of their skulls. 
 His own men were in alarm, saying that the gauchos were 
 terrible fellows with the knife, and would think nothing 
 of cutting his throat. " But was an Irishman," he writes, 
 " with an Enfield rifle in his hand and a revolver in his 
 belt, to be cowed by such ' spalpeens '? Not a bit of it ; 
 so I reiterated the threat, accompanying it by bringing the 
 
 222 
 
DANGERS OF THE "LADEROS" 
 
 rifle to the ' present.' This had the desired effect, and the 
 ruffians set off at full speed, yelling out most fearful oaths 
 and threats to return with others and take vengeance upon 
 us. They did not, however, carry out their threats, and we 
 slept sound and unmolested till morning." 
 
 The track, even when most of the snow had been left 
 behind, was often of the most rugged and difficult kind ; 
 in many places it was fearfully steep ; moreover, it was 
 often barely wide enough to admit of a mule and its 
 load passing along. Often the riders had to dismount, 
 especially in traversing the bad and dangerous spots called 
 laderos, where the road runs on the top of perpendicular 
 precipices overhanging the River Colorado. At one of 
 these critical points they met a large drove of cattle, 
 which were being taken over the mountains into Chili. 
 The engineer and his party had to return for a long 
 distance before the cattle could pass. Now and then, too, 
 the wind blew with great violence, and at times drove the 
 sand in their faces with such force that they were unable 
 to stand it, and had to wrap their heads in their mantles, 
 and let the mules stumble along as they would or could. 
 A long stretch of spiny thorn-scrub was to be traversed 
 in one locality. Altogether, the road over the Andes 
 was a hard road to travel, and the following incident was 
 but one instance of the Major's many escapes : 
 
 " At 4 a.m. we started, and commenced groping our way 
 in the dark, still descending the dangerous and precipitous 
 path. I recollect one part of this road, which, for the 
 first time during the journey (except in the Cumbre), really 
 startled me. It was still dark, and the route led us into 
 a deep gorge, or more properly an immense fissure in the 
 
 223 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE 
 
 mountain, the rocks on either side rising perpendicularly 
 to a considerable height. By the sound of my mule's feet 
 I knew there was water beneath, which in some places was 
 frozen, and consequently slippery. In passing through 
 one of these spots my mule came down and I with her, 
 straight over her head, and, had I not held on to the reins 
 with all my might, I don't know where I might have 
 ' brought up,' as the place was a mass of ice, and inclined 
 downwards at an angle of sixty degrees at least. I regained 
 my feet with difficulty, and determined to descend the 
 remainder of the pass on foot.'" 
 
 224 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 IN KAFFIR LAND 
 
 Mr. Baldwin, an English hunter — Hoisting a waggon up a stiff hill 
 — Out of control on the downward slope — A leap into a thorn- 
 tree — A bad spill — Foreloper injured — Mr. Baldwin as surgeon 
 — A rhinoceros, and no rifle handy — A plucky youngster — 
 Full tilt downhill — At bay — Almost impaled — Cold on the 
 mountain heights — Three lions watch fire-making operations — 
 Master's shots useless — Man comes to rescue — Lioness biting 
 savagely at the twigs — A harrisbuck lost in the ravine— Twenty- 
 two of the same breed next day — A foot fast in the stirrup — 
 Elephant - hunting excessively hard work — Wounded bull 
 elephant in chase — Thin boots and a steep slippery hill-side — 
 Elephant in grim earnest — A critical moment — Beast careering 
 helplessly downhill — A still closer shave — A race between 
 elephant and horse — Bit and bridle thrown awry by a swerve — 
 A brush past — Cannoning with trees — Breakneck chase down 
 the slope — Just in time — A night visit by a lioness — Shots 
 from the top of a hut — A leap through the air — Head over 
 heels — Darkey knocked off waggon by the recoil of his gun — 
 A cold and irritating vigil — Lion despatched by drivers — The 
 Englishman arrested as a spy — Released, but robbed of most 
 of his ammunition — A lion hunt — Five-and-twenty Masara men 
 with assegais — All the warriors in full flight — Baldwin sticks 
 to his game — An exciting time— Lion on three legs — Loud 
 praises by the Masaras. 
 
 The long and terrible Boer War, coupled with the pre- 
 | ceding Zulu troubles, have made us acquainted with details 
 | of South African geography of which many of us were 
 
 225 p 
 
HUNTING IN SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 previously very ignorant. Now, Vaal and Limpopo, 
 Stormberg and Drachenfels, are names almost as familiar 
 as that of the fatal height of Spion Kop. 
 
 Among those far-off mountains, across those rivers, 
 and athwart those long stretches of veldt and bush and 
 karroo went many a sportsman forty or fifty years ago. 
 Among them was one whose restless longings for excite- 
 ment and discovery and sport led him into the lands of 
 the Kaffir, the Zulu, the Boer, the Hottentot. Mr. Bald- 
 win, in truth, was a hunter by nature, and many were the 
 strange adventures he met with in South Africa, and many 
 the difficulties he had to face in his wanderings on the 
 mountains there. The guidance of his waggon team up 
 the steep ascents and down the precipitous descents was no 
 easy matter. 
 
 One day, by dint of much trouble and some flogging, 
 the lumbering vehicle had been hoisted to the top of a 
 stiff incline. As it happened, the downward slope began 
 at once, and the driver at the head of the team neglected 
 to give the usual warning. Before Mr. Baldwin could 
 realize what had happened, he found oxen and waggon 
 tearing down the steep mountain-side at a terrific rate. 
 That in the course of another moment or two there would 
 come destruction he could see at a glance. To sit still 
 meant serious injury, and possibly death; to jump off 
 appeared only one degree less fatal. But he had no time 
 to weigh the pros and cons in his mind. Seeing a rough 
 thorn-tree close at hand, the hunter threw himself violently 
 upon it, and alighted in the very thick of its foliage and ( 
 spines ! He tumbled to earth with no damage to his j 
 person, but with a shirt torn to ribbons. * 
 
 226 
 
BALDWIN AS SURGEON 
 
 " I had just got clear of my not too comfortable bed, 1 ' 
 he goes on to tell, " when I heard the waggon come to a 
 sudden halt. I ran forward, and beheld ten of the oxen 
 round a tree, and one of the Kaffirs wringing his hands 
 and dancing in a frantic manner, roaring out i Mammo 
 mammi, mammi mammoT over the foreloper, who was on 
 the ground, covered with blood and looking as wild as a 
 hawk. What had happened to him I have never yet been 
 able to understand. On closer examination I found that 
 the poor fellow's skull was split on the left side, and it 
 appeared as if the waggon had gone over his right arm. 
 . . . The Kaffirs looked on in awe, but when they saw me 
 take out needle, thread, thimble, etc., to sew up his head, 
 they raised a fearful outcry, in which the wounded man 
 joined. I was therefore obliged to desist from this opera- 
 tion, and content myself with binding up his head as 
 tightly as I could." He was forced to leave the injured 
 driver behind, and proceed with the help of his one other 
 man only, an awkward predicament to be in, seeing the 
 number of cattle to be tended, and the nature of the 
 ground over which they were making their way to the 
 Umgowie Mountains. 
 
 On a later occasion, while the hunter was ascending a 
 hill he suddenly found himself facing an old rhinoceros 
 cow which was coming down. Baldwin called frantically 
 to the boy behind, who was carrying his rifle. The 
 youngster did not like the situation, and hesitated for a 
 moment whether to obey the order or to take to his heels, 
 leaving the master to his fate. The boy had pluck in 
 him, however, and, approaching, threw the gun - case 
 towards him, and then darted up a tree with all the 
 
 227 p 2 
 
A PERILOUS ENCOUNTER 
 
 quickness of a squirrel. The sportsman kept one eye on 
 the rhinoceros while he saw to the opening of the gun- 
 case with the other. Just as the brute was charging him 
 full tilt, he lodged a bullet in its breast, with the effect of 
 turning the animal's course, and it disappeared among the 
 scrub. The hunter climbed to the top of the hill, and 
 had just reached the ridge when he found himself in the 
 presence of two rhinoceroses. He shot at one, and evidently 
 wounded it, but both animals made off. The dogs, how- 
 ever, managed to turn one of them, and, without more 
 ado, it came charging down upon Baldwin at top speed. 
 It was touch and go : another second, and the man would 
 have been impaled on the horn of the furious rhinoceros. 
 Baldwin's steadiness of aim was of the utmost value to 
 him here. Keeping a cool head, he dropped the beast 
 just in the nick of time. The second rhinoceros was found 
 at no great distance, and on examination proved to be the 
 one Baldwin had shot lower down the hill. 
 
 The Englishman presently found himself traversing a 
 country of mountains, on the higher elevations of which 
 the cold was very trying, although the heavy work of 
 cutting the way through the dense bush was warm enough. 
 He was on ahead of his party, and managed to light a 
 fire, using for his purpose a cap, a couple of stones, a bit 
 of rag, and some gunpowder. While these operations 
 were proceeding three lions came and looked on. This 
 was too much for a man of keen sporting instincts, and at 
 once he set off, followed by Swartz, the only servant he 
 had with him at the time. Singling out one of the 
 animals, a lioness, they managed to detach her from the 
 rest, and went after her in hot chase. A long shot missed 
 
 228 
 
PURSUING HARRISBUCKS 
 
 her, and the lioness came to a halt suddenly, and stood at 
 bay among the scrub, five-and-twenty yards away. A 
 second shot was of no avail : the sportsman's arms were 
 tired with their recent heavy labour, and he was unable to 
 take a steady aim. It was well for him that he had with 
 him his man Swartz, who lost no time in using his own 
 gun. The lioness sprang high into the air, and began 
 biting savagely at the twigs and branches, a sign she had 
 been hit. All this gave the master time to reload, and 
 without hesitation he walked close up to the raging beast 
 and put her out of her misery. 
 
 The two men found themselves on the top of a very 
 precipitous mountain flank, and as they were making their 
 way with difficulty down it they set up a harrisbuck. 
 They would have eagerly given chase had it been possible, 
 but the buck shot down into the depths of the ravine with 
 astonishing rapidity, and disappeared from view. When 
 the hunters, with more deliberate and uncertain feet, had 
 gained the foot of the steep slope and the bottom of the 
 bush-covered valley, the animal was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 They had a similar disappointment another day when 
 they came across a whole herd of the same breed. Mr. 
 Baldwin counted twenty-two feeding together in a long, 
 narrow, steep-sided valley, and the animals, on being dis- 
 turbed, with one consent set off thundering down the 
 pass. The hunter was mounted, and went in pursuit. 
 With his usual adroitness he succeeded in detaching one 
 fine old bull from the rest, and, by a bit of manoeuvring, 
 got within gunshot. At the very moment when he should 
 have fired, his boot became fast in the stirrup, pulling him 
 a little to one side. The shot missed its mark, and the 
 
 229 
 
A CRITICAL MOMENT 
 
 buck darted off again. The rider was obliged to stop to 
 extricate his boot, and thus lost a moment or two. The 
 next minute the horse all but jumped into a nest full of 
 ostrich eggs, and for a second time Baldwin missed his 
 chance of securing a harrisbuck. But he shot many a one 
 before he had done. 
 
 Of all the arduous exertion involved in this hunting 
 among the hills and veldts, and across the rivers and 
 karroos, Mr. Baldwin gives it as his opinion that 
 elephant-stalking is the hardest work to which any man 
 could put himself. That it was also dangerous work does 
 not need explaining. Some of his adventures led him into 
 the most imminent peril. He was hunting on foot on one 
 occasion in the Entumi Bush, and had wounded a huge 
 bull-elephant. The animal gave instant and hot chase. 
 The hunter made straight up the steep hill, in the hope 
 that he would be able to climb more rapidly than the 
 unwieldy bull. But he had on only some very thin veldt 
 boots, without soles, and his progress he found to be very 
 slow indeed. In truth, he slipped back two-thirds of every 
 upward stride he took, and stumbled frightfully, often 
 falling to the ground. The elephant kept on his way 
 in grim earnest, and the situation was fast becoming 
 desperate for the hunter, now himself being so keenly 
 hunted. " Seeing no disposition on my pursuer's part to 
 give up the chase, I changed my tactics, got above a tree, 
 on which I leaned a couple of seconds, to recover my wind 
 partly — a very critical moment, as the brute was not more 
 than four of his own lengths from me — jumped then some 
 ten yards at right angles, and turned down the hill at 
 full speed, the monster screaming and trumpeting in full 
 
 230 
 
A VERY CLOSE SHAVE 
 
 career after me at a tremendous pace. He must have 
 been over me in a few strides more, when I sprang to the 
 right, and down he went in his mad career, crashing and 
 carrying all before him, utterly unable to stop if he wished, 
 as the hill was very steep, and he was under full sail — a 
 tremendous relief to my mind, as it was my last resort." 
 Mr. Baldwin was quite content to let the elephant continue 
 his downhill course, without attempting to follow him up. 
 The hunter resolved that for the future he would always 
 take care to have a good horse at hand, if it were in any 
 way possible. 
 
 He had a still closer shave with another elephant, 
 which came suddenly charging down upon him at great 
 speed. It was again on a steep mountain-side, but this 
 time he was mounted. His horse, however, happened to 
 be a new one, and he knew not how the beast was likely 
 to behave. To his horror the steed stood stock still, and 
 there was only just time to fire somewhat wildly. The 
 bullet would seem to have whistled rather too close to the 
 horse's ear, for the animal swerved violently, almost 
 unseating the rider, throwing both reins on one side of 
 his head, and jerking the bit out of his mouth. Instantly 
 the hunter was rendered helpless, and all he could do was 
 to stick his spurs desperately into the sides of his horse. 
 Oddly enough, the steed made straight for the charging 
 and trumpeting bull, and Baldwin thought all was up 
 with him. Horse and elephant brushed close past each 
 other as they met, and the rider had to throw himself 
 entirely on the off-side of his beast to avoid being crushed 
 between the two. Another second and the immediate 
 danger was passed, the elephant being now behind. But 
 
 231 
 
JUST IN TIME 
 
 at that moment the horse came in contact with three 
 trees, one of which all but dragged off the rider, hurting 
 his shoulder considerably. It was a fortunate thing for 
 him that he managed to keep his grip of his gun, though 
 how he retained it is a marvel, seeing that he held it only 
 by the trigger-guard, and with one finger. 
 
 Along the hill flank the horse now tore, jumping 
 bushes like a buck, crashing through the thick under- 
 wood, and in his haste over the broken and cumbered 
 ground almost falling on his nose times out of count. 
 For a little while the elephant kept on in pursuit, 
 but, finding himself distanced, turned at last a different 
 way. Now was Baldwin's time. He quickly put his 
 bridle to rights, and then went in chase of his late 
 pursuer. After the brute downhill the hunter flew like 
 the wind, disregarding the dangers of more than one kind 
 that beset his path. Ten long shots were fired at the 
 retreating animal before he was brought to a stand. The 
 hunter was so exhausted that he was scarce able to move 
 a hand, and it was only with enormous difficulty he could 
 finish off the struggling elephant, to do which three more 
 shots were required. The man sank to the ground 
 almost in a swoon. He could not have put another cap 
 on the nipple, he tells us. 
 
 Many of Baldwin's adventures with lions were not a 
 little exciting — some of them too much so, indeed. One 
 dark night he and his men in camp were awakened by the 
 bellowings of an ox, mingled with the roarings of lions. 
 Baldwin sprang up, seized the heavy double-barrelled gun 
 lying between his legs, and dashed outside. He found 
 one of his black fellows on the roof of a rough hut they 
 
 232 
 
A Dangerous Race 
 
 Baldwin had fired at the elephant, but unfortunately he missed as his horse swerved, 
 jerking the bit out of its mouth. He was now helpless, but dug his spurs into his horse, 
 which made for the elephant. They almost collided, and after a most exciting race the 
 horse outdistanced its pursuer. 
 

 
ADVENTURES WITH LIONS 
 
 had made. Jumping up beside his man, he fired at a 
 dark-looking object that could be dimly seen a few yards 
 away. Two or three shots he sent in that direction, but 
 no effect appeared to have been produced. Suddenly the 
 lion sprang full at him, its head striking him in the chest 
 with such violence that he flew head over heels from the 
 top of the hut down into the bush. Picking himself up 
 in all haste, Baldwin scrambled through the fence, and 
 sprang up on to the waggon, the black following with no 
 less celerity. There on the top of the vehicle stood the 
 little band of men, unable to do anything. The lion had 
 it all its own way now, and the hunters in the darkness 
 could only listen helplessly while the brute seized a goat 
 and began to make its supper. One of the men presently 
 made a demonstration, but with results that were hardly 
 encouraging. He was standing with some difficulty on 
 the top of the waggon when he drew trigger against the 
 lion, and the recoil sent him spinning to the ground. As 
 luck would have it, he alighted head foremost on the top 
 of the very hut from which he had so lately sprung. 
 This, happily for him, broke his fall ; but the master 
 found it a ridiculous sight altogether, especially when the 
 black fellow hurriedly clambered up into the vehicle 
 again. To the chagrin of the little party — there were 
 five blacks besides the master — they were compelled to 
 stay out the rest of the cold night on the waggon, with 
 hardly any clothes to cover them. It was not till day- 
 light began to appear that the beast sheered off, and left 
 the men at liberty to come down from their uncomfort- 
 able fastness. Baldwin went at once into his tent to 
 have his interrupted sleep out, but a couple of the drivers 
 
 233 
 
A LION HUNT 
 
 were not disposed to let the enemy off so easily. They 
 gave chase, and in no long time brought down the 
 aggressor. It proved to be a lioness. Proudly the men 
 reported their success, but they were not altogether so 
 pleased when an examination of the dead body brought 
 to light the bullet from the master's big double-barrelled 
 gun. 
 
 Crossing the Vaal from the Orange Free State into the 
 Transvaal Republic, Baldwin was taken prisoner as a spy, 
 was charged with selling powder to the Kaffirs, and was 
 threatened with hanging. The greater part of his stock 
 of ammunition was taken from him, but in the end he 
 was allowed to go on his way. He was, of course, soon in 
 the thick of the hunting again, encountering every sort of 
 game or dangerous animal South Africa possessed. His 
 final adventure among the lions nearly cost him his life. 
 It was towards the close of a tiring day, when he had 
 been engaged for many hours in cutting through the 
 thick bush that covered every part of the hill-sides. But 
 he sprang on his horse — also pretty much exhausted — as 
 soon as he heard the roar of a lion close at hand. He 
 had with him five-and-twenty Masara men, all armed 
 with assegais. As he galloped off Baldwin spied a 
 bleached skull lying on the ground, and for the life of 
 him he could not help regarding it as a bad omen, and 
 fancied that his own skull was destined before long to lie 
 in similar fashion. But, throwing off the melancholy 
 that attacked him, he took a shot at the lion from a 
 distance of sixty or seventy yards. He could see the 
 animal drop suddenly to earth as he fired, and naturally 
 supposed the bullet had reached its mark. Remounting 
 
 234 
 
AN EXCITING FINISH 
 
 his horse, Baldwin rode up nearer, when, with a frightful 
 roar, the creature sprang up, and in a trice was upon him. 
 The rider had only just time to spur his horse violently 
 on one side, causing it to swerve instantly, before the 
 body of the savage brute was bounding through the air. 
 The lion brushed past, in truth, so closely that his flank 
 all but knocked the man off his beast altogether. It was 
 only by clinging for dear life to the stirrup-strap that he 
 kept his seat. 
 
 The horse, carried on ahead by his speed and the steep 
 slope on which he was, careered along at a rapid rate, and 
 it was not till after some seconds that the rider could pull 
 him up. Meanwhile the five-and-twenty Masara men 
 were all speeding away as fast as their legs could carry 
 them, leaving the Englishman to shift for himself as best 
 he might. Nothing daunted, Baldwin followed hard 
 after the lion, and with a good shot at a hundred and 
 fifty yards broke one of his hind-legs. The beast kept on 
 his way, nevertheless, running on three legs. But the 
 horse gradually caught up with the wounded animal, and 
 the rider was able to get in a second shot. This broke 
 the spine, and with a third bullet the hunter gave its 
 quietus to the brute that had so nearly finished him. 
 The Masara fellows now came running back, and began 
 loudly to shout the praises of the master. One of the 
 blacks, a born orator evidently, began a most graphic 
 description of the whole incident, though not a word of 
 the speech was understood by the subject of it. 
 
 " I wish my powers of description,'" writes Mr. Baldwin, 
 pardonably enough, " equalled those of a Masara. I think 
 I never enjoyed a greater treat than to hear one of them 
 
 235 
 
A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION 
 
 describe this adventure. I did not understand a word he 
 said, but his gestures and attitudes were splendid ; his eyes 
 flashed fire, he broke out into a streaming perspiration, 
 and mimicked the lion so perfectly as to make me feel 
 quite cold. It would be impossible to surpass his imitation 
 of the horse galloping, with myself spurring him, and all 
 the other incidents of the chase. I had the satisfaction of 
 seeing that I held the very first place in his estimation." 
 
 236 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 A TRAGEDY ON THE MATTERHOItN 
 
 The Matterhorn long the terror of mountaineers — Many early 
 attacks — A distinguished band — Mr. Whymper and Lord 
 Francis Douglas — Joined by two other Englishmen — First 
 night's camp at an elevation of eleven thousand feet — An early 
 start on the morrow — The peak in full view — Exciting race for 
 the top — A dead heat — An Italian party on the mountain 
 beaten — A flag improvised — The descent begun — The order in 
 which the men were roped — The utmost care taken — Mr. Hadow 
 slips — The leading guide knocked off his feet — The rope parts 
 — Four men slide away, three left clinging to the rocks — Over 
 the precipice — A terrible drop of four thousand feet — The sur- 
 vivors paralyzed— A move made at last — An appalling appari- 
 tion against the sky — "A fearful and wonderful sight " — The 
 night passed on a bare and tiny rock- shelf — Back at Zermatt — 
 Consternation and grief there — A search party perceive the 
 bodies away down on the glacier — An unsuccessful Sunday 
 search — Ultimate recovery of three of the bodies — A victory, 
 but a terrible one ! 
 
 None of the other great mountain-peaks of Europe had, 
 till quite recently, so sinister a reputation as Mont Cervin, 
 or, as it is more usually called in this country, the Matter- 
 horn. From time immemorial men had gazed on its 
 mighty towering precipices with awe and with terror. 
 From many points of view its huge rock-walls appeared to 
 be frightfully precipitous, wellnigh perpendicular. The 
 mountain, it could be seen, was often swept by terrible 
 
 237 
 
THE MATTERHOKNT 
 
 storms ; the avalanches of snow, ice, or stones were on the 
 most awful scale. To the simple peasants of the country 
 around, the summit of the Matterhorn was the abode of 
 evil spirits of the most malignant kind, howling demons 
 not to be faced willingly by anything human. That such 
 a monster as this could be conquered by mortals had 
 never entered the mind of man. Thus things continued 
 till a generation or so ago. 
 
 Then came the Alpine Club, and a host of climbers 
 from various lands. Peak after peak was assailed and 
 vanquished, even of those that had aforetime been deemed 
 utterly and for ever inaccessible. Yet there remained the 
 Matterhorn, unconquered and, in the belief of most men, 
 even the hardiest of the professional guides, unconquerable. 
 But bolder spirits arose and asked themselves whether the 
 proud Alpine monster, too, might not be trodden under 
 foot by man. Tentative attacks began to be made upon 
 him from all points and by climbers of all nationalities — 
 Switzers, French, British, Italians. So many were these 
 earlier attempts to scale the Matterhorn, indeed, that a 
 full account of them would fill volumes, and, in fact, there 
 has sprung up a whole literature, as it were, on the subject 
 of the Matterhorn ascents. We need only mention two 
 or three of our own countrymen, whose names are honour- 
 ably and conspicuously connected with those bold, if non- 
 victorious, conflicts with the giant mountain. Occupying 
 a front place in the band is the distinguished scientist 
 Professor Tyndall, and not less famous as climbers were 
 Messrs. Kennedy, Hawkins, Hudson, and Whymper. 
 
 In the summer of 1865 Mr. Whymper, who had been 
 very active for some time in the operations against the 
 
 238 
 
., 
 
 Stereo copyright Underwood &• JJ. London &■ Xe7u York 
 
 Arrival on the first peak of the summit of Mont Blanc 
 
A DISTINGUISHED BAND 
 
 Matterhorn, determined on yet another attempt. By this 
 time what may be called the race for the summit of this 
 dangerous but strangely fascinating peak had become very 
 keen. Professor Tyndall was a very doughty rival, and 
 certain Italian climbers were equally bent on gaining the 
 honours that awaited those who should win in the contest. 
 At Zermatt Whymper fell in with Lord Francis Douglas, 
 who was himself desirous of trying the mountain. Hardly 
 had these two gentlemen agreed to go together, when in 
 walked another notable English climber — Mr. Hudson, a 
 clergyman — and with him a friend, Mr. Hadow. As these 
 latter were also about to attempt an ascent, the two parties 
 agreed to join their forces. A start was made next morn- 
 ing in fine weather. The leading guide chosen was Michael 
 Croz, a first-rate man, and with him were two Taugwalders, 
 father and son. 
 
 Passing over the earlier stages of their climb, we find 
 them at midday at an elevation of some eleven thousand 
 feet, and at the base of the huge pillar of the peak itself. 
 Here the tent was pitched, the party intending to do no 
 more work that day. Nevertheless, Croz and the younger 
 of the Taugwalders went on a little, to see what was likely 
 to come next day. They were absent some hours, but at 
 length returned in high glee, to report that there was, 
 marvellous to relate, little or no difficulty before them. A 
 merry evening was spent on their lofty perch ; everybody 
 was confident, and, consequently, in the best of spirits. 
 
 Almost before it was daylight on the morrow the party 
 were ready for the start again. Soon, turning a corner, 
 they could see, towering far above them, the whole of the 
 vast slope to the top, a height of three thousand feet. At 
 
 239 
 
A RACE FOR THE SUMMIT 
 
 first the going was comparatively easy, but in places step- 
 cutting had to be resorted to, and great caution was neces- 
 sary. On the men sped, till at length, doubling a nasty 
 corner, they saw before them their actual goal. The rocks 
 from that point were covered with snow, and the ascent 
 was safe and easy. 
 
 A feverish excitement now seized on the mountaineers. 
 The race for the top grew breathless. The truth was that 
 another band of climbers — Italians — was on the mountains, 
 having started from Breuil. What if these fellows should 
 have gained the day, wresting the laurels of victory from 
 the intrepid Englishmen ! Such a thought was not to be 
 endured. Says Mr. Whymper : " We were tormented 
 with anxiety lest they should arrive at the top before us. 
 All the way up we talked of them, and many false alarms 
 of ' Men on the summit V had been raised. The higher we 
 rose, the more intense became the excitement. What if 
 we should be beaten at the last moment ?" 
 
 Mr. Whymper and the guide Croz dashed away from 
 their companions, and reached the highest point exactly 
 together. The race thus ended in a dead heat. The 
 Matterhorn giant had been vanquished ; his head was 
 beneath the feet of his conquerors. No wonder the air 
 rang with frantic shouts of delight and triumph. 
 
 But what of the Italians ? Was it possible they also 
 had reached the summit and had descended again? A 
 hasty search over the whole of the limited area revealed to 
 Mr. Whymper and his friends the fact that the snow was 
 still untrodden. The victory to the Englishmen and their 
 guides was complete. Peeping over the colossal cliff they 
 could just see the Italians like specks many hundreds 
 
 240 
 
THE ITALIAN PARTY BEATEN 
 
 of feet below. Hurrah! The victors shouted with all 
 their might down to their honourable but less fortunate 
 rivals. Failing, as it seemed, to make them hear, they 
 began to lever off loose stones from the edge. Such a 
 shower bumping madly down effectually attracted the 
 attention of the Italians, who, probably sick at heart, 
 turned and fled. 
 
 It is worth recording, as an illustration of Mr. Whymper's 
 magnanimity of heart, that one of his uppermost feelings 
 in the hour of his triumph was a regret that Carrel could 
 not stand by him at that moment. Carrel was the leading 
 guide to the Italian party, and the ambition of his life had 
 been to be the first to scale the Matterhorn, and from his 
 own valley. Now he had the mortification of seeing dashed 
 to pieces the hope of a whole lifetime. 
 
 We need not dwell on the prospect from the top of the 
 Matterhorn. The day, fortunately, was splendidly clear, 
 and the views all around were marvellous. Mountains a 
 full hundred miles distant, or even more, seemed almost 
 close at hand ; peerless among them rose the king of 
 mountains, Mont Blanc. The guides had insisted on 
 carrying up one of the tent-poles, so confident had they 
 been of success ; this, bearing Croz's blouse, was fixed on 
 the topmost point, and though it was but a small object, 
 it was seen from below. Oddly enough, the folks at 
 Breuil took it to mean that it was their party who had 
 proved victorious, and great was the rejoicing — till next 
 day, when the truth came out. 
 
 It was high time for the seven good men to think of 
 dropping down again to lower elevations. They were 
 elated, naturally, and full of confidence. Yet they were 
 
 241 Q 
 
THE DESCENT BEGUN 
 
 well aware that the descent required extreme caution. In 
 places the risk would be very great. Accordingly, some 
 care was taken as to the order in which they should be 
 roped. It is necessary, in view of the terrible sequel, to 
 note what that order was. Croz led the descent, as it was 
 fitting he should. Hadow came next, and after him 
 Hudson, himself almost equal to any guide. Lord Francis 
 Douglas followed ; then, in succession, old Peter Taug- 
 walder, Mr. Whymper, and young Peter. Mr. Whymper 
 made the suggestion that a cord should be fastened to the 
 rocks at the worst part of the descent, to serve as an extra 
 protection, but somehow it was not acted upon. 
 
 The greatest care possible was taken in the more difficult 
 spots. Only one man moved at a time, the rest holding 
 the rope taut meanwhile. Croz now and then turned 
 round to help Mr. Hadow, who was the least experienced 
 of the party, the guide assisting him to plant his feet 
 firmly in the steps, laying aside for the moment his own 
 axe in order thus to be of service. It was precisely at one 
 of those moments that the fatal slip occurred, resulting in 
 so terrible a catastrophe that it is even yet not to be thought 
 of without a shudder. Probably no one clearly saw what 
 did exactly happen. But we shall not go far wrong, 
 perhaps, if we accept Mr. Whymper's own account : 
 
 " Croz was in the act of turning round to go down a step 
 or two himself ; at this moment Mr. Hadow slipped, fell 
 against him, and knocked him over. I heard one startled 
 exclamation from Croz, then saw him and Mr. Hadow 
 flying downwards; in another moment Hudson was dragged 
 from his steps, and Lord Francis Douglas immediately 
 after him. All this was the work of a moment. Imme- 
 
 242 
 
A Tragedy of the Matterhorn 
 
 " Hadow slipped, knocked against the guide Croz, and they both fell over. In 
 another moment Hudson was dragged from his steps, then Lord Francis. The rope 
 broke between Lord Francis and Taugwalder. So perished our comrades." 
 

 i 
 
 
 ! 
 
A TERRIBLE DROP 
 
 diately we heard Croz's exclamation, old Peter and I 
 planted ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit ; the 
 rope was taut between us, and the jerk came on us both as 
 one man. We held ; but the rope broke midway between 
 Taugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few 
 seconds we saw our unfortunate companions sliding down- 
 wards on their backs, and spreading out their hands, 
 endeavouring to save themselves. They passed from our 
 sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from 
 precipice to precipice on to the Matterhorngletscher 
 below, a distance of nearly four thousand feet in height. 
 From the moment the rope broke it was impossible to help 
 them. So perished our comrades P 
 
 Who can picture the position and think the thoughts of 
 the three horror-stricken survivors ? Not a single step did 
 they move for a full half-hour. The guides were absolutely 
 paralysed, and though Mr. Whymper himself seems to 
 have kept more free from panic, yet the condition of his 
 trembling comrades was such that he, too, began to fear for 
 his life. So demoralized were the Taugwalders, father and 
 son, indeed, that anything might have happened to the 
 trio. It must be remembered that all the while the 
 Englishman was tied between the two, and could get 
 neither up nor down. For a time young Peter would not 
 attempt to move an inch ; he did nothing but sob, " We 
 are lost! we are lost!" At last the old man recovered 
 himself a little and moved from his seat, whereupon the 
 son also came down, and the three scrambled together 
 into a safer place. 
 
 And now Mr. Whymper began to examine the rope 
 where it had parted. To his horror he found that it was 
 
 243 Q 2 
 
THE SURVIVORS PARALYSED 
 
 the weakest of the three ropes they had with them, and 
 should never have been used at all. It had, in fact, been 
 brought only in case an emergency might arise. On whom 
 the blame rests for using that defective rope has never to 
 this day been satisfactorily cleared up. Whatever be the 
 truth, the result was terrible indeed. Often has the 
 Matterhorn been climbed since that day, but it will be 
 long before the memory of that first ascent passes from the 
 minds of the dwellers in those Alpine regions. 
 
 The three men surviving had still to get themselves 
 down in safety, if that were possible, and for long it 
 seemed doubtful whether in the end there would be left a 
 single survivor of the seven to tell the tale. But fortu- 
 nately we have Mr. Whymper , s own account, in all its 
 directness and clearness : 
 
 " For more than two hours afterwards I thought almost i 
 every moment that the next would be my last ; for the j c ! 
 Taugwalders, utterly unnerved, were not only incapable of 
 giving assistance, but were in such a state that a slip 
 might have been expected from them at any moment. ... 
 The men were sometimes afraid to proceed, and several 
 times old Peter turned with ashy face and faltering limbs, 
 and said with terrible emphasis, 6 I cannot P " 
 
 To ensure safety as far as it was possible, Mr. Whymper 
 fastened ropes to the rocks in the worst places, cutting | 
 them as they descended. The ends, still tied to the rocks, 
 remained for some years, and the Englishman himself saw 
 one of them in 1873, or eight years after the disaster. 
 
 A most extraordinary part of the story yet remains to 
 be told. By six in the evening the three men had reached 
 a part of the mountain where no farther danger was to be 
 
 244 
 
AN APPALLING APPARITION 
 
 apprehended. They had, of course, tried again and again 
 to get a glimpse of their unfortunate companions, but 
 without success. Weary, distraught, utterly cast down, 
 silent, they prepared to finish the last and safe part of the 
 descent — " When lo ! a mighty arch appeared, rising above 
 the Lyskamm, high into the air! Pale, colourless, and 
 noiseless, but perfectly sharp and defined, except where it 
 was lost in the clouds, this unearthly apparition seemed 
 like a vision from another world; and, almost appalled, 
 we watched with amazement the gradual development of 
 two vast crosses, one on either side. If the Taugwalders 
 had not been the first to perceive it, I should have doubted 
 my senses. 1 ' 
 
 The guides at once believed that this strange apparition 
 was something unearthly, and that it had a close con- 
 nection with the accident. Under the circumstances many 
 another person, however little inclined to be superstitious, 
 would have been disposed to do the same. Mr. Whymper 
 stopped short of that, yet he too was puzzled, if not exactly 
 alarmed. He began to think that possibly the crosses 
 might have some relation to their own bodies, but he soon 
 perceived that the figures were unaffected by a change of 
 position on the part of the men. "The spectral forms 
 remained motionless. It was a fearful and wonderful 
 sight ; unique in my experience and impressive beyond 
 description, coming at such a moment." 
 
 Darkness came on, the three still far from the foot of 
 the mountain and from their hotel. They found a tiny 
 slab sticking out of the rocks, and on this as sole resting- 
 place they passed the* night, saying scarce a word to each 
 other. At early dawn they went on, and at length reached 
 
 245 
 
THREE BODIES RECOVERED 
 
 the hotel at Zermatt, Mr. Whymper greeting Mr. Seiler, 
 the host, with the words, " The Taugwalders and I have 
 returned.'" No more, but it was enough, and the poor 
 man burst into tears. A search-party at once set out, and 
 that same evening perceived the bodies of some of the 
 dead on the snow. It was impossible to recover them that 
 night, however, and the efforts had to cease till daylight. 
 On the Sunday morning, as it was found that none of the 
 Roman Catholic guides would set out on the search till 
 after they had been to early Mass, no time was lost in 
 getting together a party of searchers, several Englishmen 
 volunteering, as well as one or two of the other guides. 
 Their efforts to recover the bodies were not successful, and 
 it was plain that a larger and better-equipped force would 
 be needed for the purpose. The matter threatened to 
 become a public scandal, owing to the supineness of the 
 authorities. Then the commune took action at last, and 
 three of the bodies were brought down from the mountain 
 and buried. They were found without their boots, strange 
 to say. The body of Lord Francis Douglas was not with 
 the rest, and could not be found. It is probable that it had 
 been caught by some projecting ledge of the precipice, and 
 there remained. 
 
 The Matterhorn had indeed been conquered, but at 
 what a cost ! 
 
 [From "The Ascent of the Matterhorn/^ by E. Whymper. 
 John Murray. By kind permission from Mr. E. Whymper and 
 Mr. J. Murray.] 
 
 246 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 SOLDIERING AND SPORT IN THE ROCKIES 
 
 Sport in the Rockies forty years ago — Captain Trench Townshend 
 reaches the mountains — Hospitably entertained by American 
 officers — A cold place — Adventure with a buffalo — Lynch law 
 and its work at Laramie — A march of thirty-five miles farther 
 into the mountains — Game very shy — Another trek — A rough 
 country for travelling in — Corduroy roads — Pulling up — 
 Tracks of wild beasts in plenty — Camping at lofty alti- 
 tudes — A good look-out for Redskin war-parties necessary — 
 Narrow escape of two soldiers from the knives of the Indians 
 — Grand scenery — An antelope-trap — Five animals killed — An 
 odd character met with — A big and wasteful slaughter of deer 
 — Resentment of Indians — A notable hunting day — A herd of 
 more than one hundred and sixty elk — A detour to windward — 
 Crawling on all fours — Too late — A chase — Rest — Magnificent 
 elk spied — A good shot — Night coming on — Camp twenty-five 
 miles away — A late start for home — Difficulties by the way — 
 Bad falls — Man and horse in a salt swamp — Darkness comes on 
 — The brink of a precipice — A stop just in time — Grass fired to 
 light up passage over mountain torrent — Hours of hard and 
 risky travelling — Camp-fires seen in the distance — Safe home ! 
 — Lucky escape — Seven rancheros scalped. 
 
 Forty years ago the big-game hunter in the Rockies was 
 not able to pursue his sport with the ease and comparative 
 safety he now enjoys. The journey to the spot was not so 
 comfortably made then, the Union Pacific Railway being 
 at that time not completed. To make matters worse, the 
 
 247 
 
CAPTAIN TRENCH TOWNSHEND 
 
 United States were at war with the Indians; "and the 
 possibility of falling in with a hostile tribe of Sioux or 
 Arapahoes was a prospect which even a strong and well- 
 armed party of hunters could not contemplate without 
 considerable uneasiness. " 
 
 It was just at this time that an English officer, Captain 
 Trench Townshend, of the 2nd Life Guards, having 
 obtained leave of absence from his military duties, crossed 
 the Atlantic to try his rifle amongst the buffaloes and 
 other game in the Far West. Luckily for him, he carried 
 letters of introduction to certain American officers who 
 were then with their regiments on duty amidst the haunts 
 of the hostile Indian tribes. Through the hospitality 
 shown him by his brothers of the American army. Captain 
 Townshend was enabled not only to enjoy his sport among 
 the mountains in much greater security, but was also given 
 excellent opportunities of seeing camp-life in those remote 
 military stations. 
 
 He found it hard at first to realize that he was actually 
 passing over a part of the vast Rocky Mountain system, so 
 gradual was the ascent from the east, and so imperceptible 
 to the eye. Yet when he had arrived at Fort Saunders he 
 was seven thousand three hundred feet above sea-level, and 
 far above the vast rolling prairies he had crossed in mid- 
 continent. On the way, however, he had seen herds of 
 antelopes scampering away, and wolves feeding on the 
 putrid carcasses of buffaloes lying in the ravines. He was 
 therefore delighted when the General commanding at the 
 fort promised him sport in the best part of the Rockies 
 before long. For a time this proved to be impossible, bad 
 weather coming on. It was late in the autumn, and the 
 
 248 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A BUFFALO 
 
 elevation was great, so it was not to be wondered at, 
 when the thermometer indicated fifteen degrees of frost, 
 and a great storm of wind and snow fell upon the moun- 
 tains all around. The comfort of a hut and a good fire 
 was undeniable. 
 
 The Englishman had had a little experience of buffalo- 
 stalking already, before the rough weather on the mountains 
 set in. He had been with a small party of hunters when 
 eight buffaloes were descried on a hill a couple of miles off. 
 Each man made for the animal nearest him, galloping 
 helter-skelter across the intervening hollow, Townshend's 
 intended victim leading him over the roughest ground he 
 could pick out, apparently. For three miles the chase 
 went on, before the hunter could get a chance of a shot, 
 and when he did, the buffalo was only wounded in the 
 hind quarters. The animal sped on, but the horseman 
 now gained upon him, and presently, in a ravine, they 
 came abreast, the buffalo on the higher ground. Townshend 
 was about to give him a finishing shot, when, in a moment, 
 the animal stopped, lowered his head, and charged furiously. 
 So unexpected was this attack, that the Captain had 
 hardly time to dig his spurs into his horse and fire, before 
 the shock came. The horse in his fright had stood stock 
 still. "In a moment the bull was on us, catching me 
 with his head and horns just under the knee-joint of the 
 left leg, and tossing me on to the ground several yards off. 
 He then passed clean under my horse's hind quarters, 
 hoisting them up with his back as he passed, but not 
 injuring the terrified animal, which he pursued for a few 
 yards, fortunately not noticing me as I lay upon the 
 ground.'" Fortunately, also, help was at hand, and the 
 
 249 
 
LYNCH LAW 
 
 injured officer was carried off the field, the buffalo escap- 
 ing. Such was the Captain's introduction to sport in the 
 West. 
 
 The visitor saw something of the lawlessness of the 
 district, and of the methods adopted by the "Vigilance 
 Committee w to keep evil-doers in check. At Laramie, a 
 mountain settlement not far away from the fort, he noted 
 the bodies of no fewer than six horse-thieves hanging from 
 the timbers of a partly-built house, while four more were 
 dangling from the telegraph poles. Underneath was a 
 notice to the effect that the Committee was prepared to 
 deal in like manner with all other scoundrels of the same 
 sort. A rough business, this lynch law, the Captain 
 thought, yet many of the stories he heard of the brutalities 
 practised by these lawless ruffians were horrible indeed. 
 
 At length better weather arrived, and a company of 
 officers started from Fort Saunders for the mountains, 
 there to enjoy such sport as might offer. The day was 
 bright, but intensely cold, and the mountains were every- 
 where deep in snow. A march of five-and-thirty miles was 
 that day's work, and then the camp was pitched by a 
 stream in a sheltered hollow. Plenty of antelopes had 
 been seen on the march, but they were very shy, and the 
 total bag for the day was only two of these animals. The 
 cold at night was severe, water inside the tents being 
 frozen into solid lumps. 
 
 The party of hunters now made another trek into a 
 more promising district. The difficulties of the route 
 were many and great, the track being a mere Indian trail, 
 and not at all wide enough to accommodate waggons. 
 Moreover, the way led through a dense forest and over the 
 
 250 
 
ROUGH TRAVELLING 
 
 elevated dividing ridge of the Rockies, and the labour 
 involved was both heavy and tiresome. The growth of 
 trees was so thick, and the number of fallen trunks so 
 great, that a huge amount of timber had to be removed 
 before a wheeled vehicle could pass along at all. In places 
 were swamps, to cross which it was necessary to build a 
 corduroy road — that is, a road made by placing transversely 
 and close together the trunks of trees. Without such a 
 contrivance horses and mules would have sunk to their 
 middles in the swamps. Over the whole of the ground lay 
 two feet of snow. For a couple of miles the party had to 
 cut their way through this troublesome forest, till at last 
 they came out at the summit of the pass, twelve thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea. Both men and horses 
 suffered greatly from the rarity of the atmosphere at this 
 lofty elevation, their exertions causing them to gasp for 
 breath. At the summit the snow showed the tracks of 
 several varieties of wild beast — bears, panthers, wolves, 
 and others. The grizzly was becoming scarce, the hunters 
 were told, but the traces of one of these brutes were 
 distinctly seen on the top of the pass. 
 
 The day's work was not yet over; descending the 
 other slope, they found it in parts so steep that the 
 waggons were in constant danger of being thrown over and 
 smashed. At length, after a hard day's toil, and a march 
 of twenty miles, the soldiers pitched their tents, long after 
 dark, at the extremity of what is called the North Park ; a 
 strange misnomer, as not a tree was found in it. Captain 
 Townshend had on the way spied a number of antelopes 
 and deer pawing at a little frozen lake in a hollow. A 
 shot from the edge of the cliff above brought down a fine 
 
 251 
 
CAMPING ON THE HEIGHTS 
 
 buck antelope, and scattered the rest of the herd in hot 
 haste. 
 
 The camp was pitched under five splendid pine-trees, 
 the last of their kind seen for a time. The thick branches 
 had kept the snow from the ground beneath, and the wood 
 lying around furnished an ample supply of fuel for the 
 glorious fires that were kept going. Thus even this lofty 
 perch made no bad camping-ground. But there was 
 another matter that required consideration ; the district 
 was known to be infested with Indians. Sentries had 
 therefore to be posted all round, and a good look-out kept, 
 lest the party should be surprised by a band of Redskins. 
 In truth, two of the company present had been not long 
 before assailed by a gang of ten mounted Indians. The 
 two were hunting, and busily engaged in stalking a herd of 
 antelopes, when, without a moment's warning, there rang 
 out on the air the dreaded war-whoop, "Ough, ough, 
 ough !" The soldiers drew up behind a rock, as Captain 
 Townshend puts it, "the cavalry on the right hand, the 
 infantry on the left — one of them was mounted, the other 
 on foot. r> Time after time the Indians attempted to 
 dislodge the gallant couple, but without success, and the 
 Redskins had at last to sheer off, leaving their plucky foes 
 alive to tell the tale. 
 
 While the men were resting for a day, after the heavy 
 labours of yesterday, the American General and the English 
 Captain set out to see what they could bring in for the pot. 
 The sight of the towering Rockies all around was splendid. 
 Says Townshend: "The magnificent range of mountains 
 which surround the Park are unequalled in Europe for 
 extent and heigh t," though, he adds, " they are surpassed 
 
 252 
 
AN ANTELOPE-TRAP 
 
 by the Alps in grand and striking scenery." Over moun- 
 tain spurs, the General and the Captain pursued their 
 course, and down into many a deep ravine, where every 
 two or three hundred yards immense beaver-dams were 
 found blocking the streams. Game in plenty was seen, 
 but the animals were far too shy, and the men had to 
 return to camp almost empty-handed, to learn that those 
 of their comrades who had been out had had a like 
 experience. 
 
 On the 2nd of November tents were struck, and a move 
 was made for the other side of the Park, where the River 
 Platte has its rise. While the men went round with the 
 waggons, the officers for the most part took a shorter cut, 
 dropping down into a deep valley. On the banks of the 
 stream at the bottom they came across a large herd of 
 antelopes feeding. At once the hunters spread themselves 
 out, keeping as much as possible under cover, till they had 
 made a line round the herd. There were but two ways 
 of escape open to the animals ; they must either swim the 
 river or break through the line of guns. The latter was 
 what they chose, and they dashed past, within ten yards of 
 some of the men. Five fell, and the welcome addition to 
 the larder was duly hoisted on to the waggons when they 
 came along. The difficulty of getting across the river was 
 serious, however, the stream being both wide and deep. 
 Presently, in a gorge with very steep sides, the party 
 came upon one of those strange characters often found in 
 the hunting-grounds — a wild-looking fellow, dressed in the 
 queerest and shabbiest garb. He was calmly drinking 
 whisky, while beside him grazed his tough little mustang. 
 Two companions of his, he said, had gone over to Fort 
 
 253 
 
WASTEFUL SLAUGHTER OF DEER 
 
 Steel with the skins and furs they had gathered, the party 
 having had a run of luck. The solitary hunter was relieved 
 when the soldiers assured him that they had seen no Red- 
 skins in his neighbourhood. 
 
 In one part the gorge of the Platte was found to be so 
 narrow that there was no room even for a beast-track, the 
 mountains on either hand rising almost sheer from the 
 water's edge. The hunters were obliged to proceed along 
 the bed of the stream, which was not deep, though rapid. 
 The scenery was very grand. Whenever the mountain- 
 flank receded a little and left a margin of strand by the 
 river-side, there were plenty of traces of elk and mountain 
 sheep. Running away from the main canon was a side-cleft. 
 It was in this place, not so long before, that a curious and, 
 in some ways, a regrettable thing had happened. A band 
 of hunters had managed to drive into this smaller canon 
 a herd of seven-and-twenty elk. The animals were in a 
 trap, there being no outlet at the upper end. The conse- 
 quence was that twenty-six out of the twenty -seven 
 animals fell to the guns, the remaining elk making a dash 
 through the line of his enemies, and getting clear away. 
 The hour was late and the camp far distant; the men 
 therefore left the carcasses for the night. When they came 
 back next day to fetch up this notable supply of meat, 
 they were surprised and vexed to find that the flesh was 
 already putrid. The whole of the bodies had to be left 
 lying where they were, to rot or be destroyed by wild 
 beasts. We can imagine the Indians who passed that way 
 cursing the greediness of the white man, for the Redskin 
 believes that all the animals of the country have been sent 
 by the Great Spirit solely for the use of himself and his 
 
 254 
 
 
A LARGE HERD OF ELK 
 
 family. The savage has this to be said on his side — that 
 without such supplies he and his must inevitably perish. 
 
 In due time the military sportsmen came into the Elk 
 Mountain neighbourhood, the best hunting district of all, 
 and here they made a considerable stay. All the members 
 of the expedition had good sport, but we must follow the 
 fortunes of the Englishman more especially. "We had 
 just arrived on the brink of a deep canon," he says, in his 
 account of one of the most remarkable of his experiences, 
 " when we saw on the opposite bank a sight which made 
 our hearts leap. It was no less than a herd, or band, as it 
 is called, of over a hundred and sixty elk, we counted up to 
 that number quietly grazing or lying down. For some 
 minutes they did not notice us; but first one and then 
 another old stag got up and looked uneasily in our direction. 
 They must have got wind of us, for soon the whole herd 
 were on the move, walking off in Indian file, and dis- 
 appeared into a wooded glen in the mountain.'" 
 
 Nothing could have better pleased the hunters, for they 
 could not have got near to the animals in the open. A 
 long detour was made by the party, with the view of 
 getting to the other side of the elk, and then every man 
 dropped down among the bushes, and crawled cautiously 
 on all fours, gradually approching the glen. A vain labour, 
 as it presently appeared, for to the astonishment of the 
 men, the whole herd of elk was spied on the top of a peak, 
 above and behind them. How the animals had got there 
 was a mystery, but there they were, and staring down as if 
 in wonderment at the strange behaviour of the enemy. 
 Then they took to flight, and the hunters sprang upon 
 their horses and made after them, the object being to turn 
 
 255 
 
A GOOD SHOT 
 
 the herd, if possible, before it reached a certain deep 
 ravine farther on. But they were too late, most of the 
 elk had got across before anything could be done to stop 
 them. The space between the men and the nearest elk 
 was fully five hundred yards, but a volley was fired into 
 the herd nevertheless. Only one animal was hit, a hind- 
 leg being broken by the bullet. On this some of the 
 hunting party went off after the herd, pursuing at full 
 speed, till hunters and hunted were swallowed up by the 
 dense forest. Captain Townshend, with others, had had 
 enough of it, and dismounted, to seek a shelter from the 
 cutting wind and to deplore their bad luck, as they drank 
 their whisky mixed with snow. 
 
 The respite from labour, however, was not of long 
 duration. The Englishman, chancing to look up, spied a 
 magnificent head and horns among the branches a couple 
 of hundred yards away. The elk was evidently staring 
 intently at the party, but as the wind carried the scent 
 away from the animal, he was not unduly alarmed. To 
 seize his gun and fire was the work of an instant for 
 Townshend, and the poor brute paid the penalty of his 
 curiosity. The antlers proved to be the finest the English- 
 man had ever seen, and he longed to take the head with 
 him. But that was impossible under the circumstances in 
 which the sportsmen were placed. 
 
 It was high time, in truth, to think of something besides 
 sport. The day was waning rapidly, and the distance 
 back to the camp was no less than five-and- twenty miles. 
 It was late even now for a start, but half their party had 
 gone off after the herd of elk. To return without their 
 comrades was not to be thought of, to search for them in 
 
 256 
 
DIFFICULTIES 
 
 that great and dense forest would be ridiculous. It was 
 near sunset before the stragglers all returned, and the 
 united party could set off homewards. The predicament 
 was without doubt an awkward one. Here were they all, 
 between twenty and thirty miles from camp; the inter- 
 vening ground was of the most difficult and trying 
 description, the horses were weary, the track was only a 
 very indistinct trail at the best ; moreover, the time was 
 winter, and winter high up among the Rockies ; last, but 
 not least, the district was known to be haunted by Indians. 
 There were but two alternatives, both sufficiently dis- 
 agreeable : the hunters might endeavour to get back to 
 the camp in spite of the distance, or they might spend the 
 night on the mountain flank, amidst snow and ice, with- 
 out tents or wraps, and exposed to possible attacks from 
 the Redskins. This latter alternative was not to be 
 thought of so long as anything at all better in the way of 
 choice was left to them. 
 
 The horsemen accordingly plunged into the gloomy 
 forest, through which lay the way to the summit of the 
 pass. The fallen timber was a sore trouble, and it was 
 found very difficult to keep the jaded horses going. 
 Moreover, the trees stood very thick, and the branches 
 made havoc of both hands and clothes. Falls were 
 plentiful, some of them nasty ones. One man was thrown 
 from his mount with force against the trunk of a tree. 
 In another case the animal got into a salt swamp, and was 
 up to its head in it before it could be pulled up. The 
 rider was only just in time to drag the poor brute from 
 its dangerous predicament before it was too late. At last 
 ascent and forest ended together, and from the top of the 
 
 257 R 
 
RISKY TRAVELLING 
 
 pass easier going appeared in the shape of descending 
 grass slopes. 
 
 By this time it was quite dark, and the rest of the 
 journey promised to be attended with no little risk, if, 
 indeed, it could be continued at all. Presently, by great 
 good-fortune, the horsemen pulled up just in time to avoid 
 destruction. They found themselves on the very brink of 
 a perpendicular precipice, at the foot of which they could 
 hear the rush of a stream. In some way the party 
 managed to scramble by a steep game-track to the bottom 
 of the ravine, but it was only to find themselves con- 
 fronted by the difficulty of crossing the river, no easy 
 thing when the darkness prevented them from seeing 
 where the passage was most practicable. A halt had 
 to be called to discuss the point, when someone threw 
 out the bright idea of firing the grass. This was 
 done, and, aided by the wind, the blaze soon lit up the 
 whole neighbourhood. The creek was then successfully 
 crossed. 
 
 Hour after hour the party plodded doggedly on, game 
 to the end, notwithstanding weariness of body and mind. 
 At last they had their reward. In the distance were seen 
 the big fires which their friends at the camp had made for 
 their guidance. Soon, also, they could hear the shots fired 
 there to attract their attention. 
 
 They had been fourteen hours on horseback. The first 
 bit of news they heard from their comrades at home was 
 one that must have made the hunters rejoice more than 
 ever that they had reached camp in safety. A party of 
 Indians, it appeared, had surprised seven rancheros who 
 were feeding their cattle on the mountain slopes, and all 
 
 258 
 
SEVEN RANCHEROS SCALPED 
 
 the poor fellows had been scalped. The rancheros had 
 had but one revolver amongst them. As for the Indians, 
 they had gone off, it was reported, to upset the train on 
 the Union Pacific ! 
 
 [From cs Ten Thousand Miles of Travel, Sport, and Adventure," 
 by F. French Townshend. Hurst and Blackett, 1869. By kind 
 permission from Colonel Townshend and Messrs. Hurst and 
 Blackett.] 
 
 259 R 2 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 REDSKINS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF NEW MEXICO 
 
 Mr. Bell, a Cambridge man, attaches himself to a surveying expe- 
 dition for the Kansas Pacific Railway — A difficult business and 
 dangerous, as the Indian country had to be traversed — A 
 military escort — Trinidad, to the north of the Raton Mountains 
 — A rough place — Lynch law — Man hanged near Bell's bed- 
 room window — The photography mule and its burdens — Fran- 
 cisco, the prince of Mexican guides, joins the party— Surveyors 
 run straight into an Indian settlement — Hasty flight of the Red- 
 skins — A parley— Things begin to look suspicious — Reinforce- 
 ments sent for — Timely arrival of cavalry — Indians foiled in 
 their plundering raid — Difficulties of the map-makers — Moun- 
 tain blasts — Flies and grasshoppers — Dust — The mule and the 
 tent-ropes — Folks around inveterate horse-stealers — Seven 
 horses taken — Mr. BelPs mare Kitty alone recovered — The 
 Apache Pass by moonlight — It frightens the ladies — The Red - 
 skins very numerous and very hostile — The chief had sworn to 
 kill six hundred whites — Camp at Fort Bowie — Two Indians 
 found raiding surveyors' cattle — Carrol, a young officer, and 
 the mail-carrier follow the thieves on horseback — Infantry join 
 in pursuit — Nothing seen of the Indians — Cavalry go off in 
 search of Carrol and the mail-carrier — Night closes in — Bodies 
 of the two missing men found — Naked, scalped, mutilated — 
 Funeral service in the mountain graveyard — " Killed by the 
 Apaches." 
 
 In the year 1867 Mr. W. A. Bell, a Cambridge man and 
 a doctor, wanting something in the way of excitement, 
 attached himself to a large surveying party sent out by 
 
 260 
 
A DIFFICULT BUSINESS 
 
 the Kansas Pacific Railway Company. He was late in his 
 application, and there was no post left but the humble 
 one of photographer. This he accepted, and made haste to 
 learn the art of photography, of which he knew nothing. 
 Later on he trusted to make himself of use in other 
 ways to the expedition. The business of the surveyors 
 would be neither a light one nor without its dangers, for 
 the very strongholds of the wild and hostile Indians 
 would have to be penetrated, while the vast mountain 
 ranges that would have to be traversed would bring other 
 risks of their own. So likely were the Indians to harass 
 the expedition, as a matter of fact, that the United 
 States Government made provision for the protection of 
 the surveyors, assigning them a certain military force. 
 
 In the course of the ensuing operations Mr. Bell found 
 himself, with a sergeant and two men, at Trinidad, to the 
 north of the Raton Mountains, in New Mexico. It was 
 the roughest place imaginable, the ranchers and other 
 settlers being their own police, magistrates, and execu- 
 tioners, executing swift and stern justice on all offenders 
 against the moral code accepted in the district. Horse- 
 stealing and cattle-lifting were punished by death. What 
 the penalty was for murder was less clear — it depended, 
 indeed, on various circumstances. Mr. Bell had an un- 
 pleasant opportunity of witnessing the methods of the 
 Trinidad folk. In a drinking saloon he noticed a wiry 
 young fellow who was taking liquor with a friend. There 
 was nothing to show that a tragedy was impending. 
 Presently the man went out, and at once the company as 
 a body departed also, and the Englishman was left alone. 
 A motley gang it was that had sallied forth into the night, 
 
 261 
 
LYNCH LAW 
 
 every man armed with bowie-knife and revolver. Later 
 on, when the stranger went to bed, he found a dead body 
 swinging from a tree within a few yards of his window ! 
 It was that of the wiry young fellow who had left the 
 saloon an hour or two ago. It appeared that the man had 
 robbed and murdered his mate near this place a year 
 before, and had ventured back to the spot, trusting to his 
 disguise. He had, however, been recognized by the 
 townsmen, who had quietly laid their plans for punishing 
 him. The fellow had been lynched, of course, and the 
 wretch, it seemed, had died impenitent and graceless. 
 
 The Raton Mountains were found to be intersected by 
 four passes, varying from six to eight thousand feet in 
 height. The sandstone was often disintegrated, and loose 
 sand made the progress of the surveyors tiresome. In one 
 spot the mule carrying the photographic outfit was again 
 and again in such difficulties that the burden had to be 
 taken off, and the animal dug out. It took four hours to 
 do a distance of two miles — a wearisome job for Mr. Bell 
 and a companion he had with him. 
 
 At this place there joined the party a Mexican guide, a 
 man of seventy years, but exceedingly active and alert. 
 He was the very prince of guides, and what he did not 
 know of the western districts was not worth knowing, as 
 the saying runs. This man accompanied Bell and two or 
 three military officers, with a small escort of cavalry, on 
 the march to Trinchera Pass, the party advancing some 
 distance ahead of the main surveying force. After pro- 
 ceeding three miles two or three parties of men were 
 observed approaching, and soon they were seen to be 
 Indians. Before long the advance party ran straight into 
 
 262 
 
AN INDIAN SETTLEMENT 
 
 an Indian settlement. All the Redskins were perceived 
 galloping off at full speed, the ground behind them 
 strewn with the various litter of a camp, which in their 
 hasty flight the braves had thrown away. But at the end 
 of a mile the runaways reined up and watched the new- 
 comers closely. The surveyors were puzzled to under- 
 stand the reason for the flight of the Indians, the men 
 appearing to be of the Ute tribe, which was at peace with 
 the American Government. However, Francisco, the 
 Mexican guide, and a sergeant were sent out to invite the 
 Redskins to a parley. 
 
 The natives in like manner sent out two of their 
 number to meet Francisco and his companion, but it was 
 observed that the rest of the Indians kept very close 
 behind their couple. The delegates shook hands, and the 
 parley began. At length, as the sergeant and the guide 
 did not return, one of the officers went forward to see 
 what was happening. He returned with much concern in 
 his countenance, reporting that there was something 
 wrong. The Indians professed to be the friends of the 
 white men, but did not give any clear account of them- 
 selves or of their intentions. They requested permission 
 to take away their things, and this was allowed, the 
 Americans being far outnumbered. Nevertheless a bold 
 front was shown by the little band of surveyors, and they 
 took stock of the troop of Redskins, most of whom were 
 dressed in gaudy and barbaric fashion. Thus for some 
 time the two parties stood, mutually afraid of one 
 another. It was noted that when the Indians proceeded 
 to pick up their traps, they were never all dismounted at 
 once ; on the contrary, they were most careful to keep 
 
 263 
 
INDIANS FOILED 
 
 the majority in the saddle. They seemed very much at 
 their ease, and made no sign of going off. 
 
 The officers had taken the precaution to send back for 
 reinforcements. It was just at the critical moment that a 
 body of cavalry were seen dashing up the hill. Instantly 
 every Redskin was off like the wind. The General was 
 averse to the use of force, if it could be avoided. Had he 
 then known what he afterwards knew, he would have 
 attempted to stop the wily gentry. A Captain and his 
 men chased the fugitives for some miles, firing after them 
 to warn them that the country did not relish their 
 presence. It now appeared that the Indians were Arapa- 
 hoes, and that their object was the raiding of the district, 
 and it was clear that but for the timely arrival of the 
 cavalry all the upper valleys of the River Purgatoire 
 would have been plundered. 
 
 The difficulties in the way of the surveyors were many 
 and of every possible kind. Even the making of plans 
 and maps was beset with troubles and trials. Mr. Bell 
 gives an amusing account of these vexations. " Alas ! 
 sometimes, after hours of toil, a gust of wind would come, 
 upset the ink or paint-box, rip up the nearly-finished 
 map from off the impromptu table, and oblige the 
 unfortunate map-makers to begin all their work afresh. 
 In some places flies or grasshoppers would insist on 
 helping the draughtsmen. Some would spot the canvas 
 here, there, and everywhere ; while others, not content 
 with this, would first jump into the Indian ink and then 
 draw maps of their own wherever they chanced to alight. 
 At other times clouds of dust would cover everything ; nor 
 could any amount of pegging down keep the tent free 
 
 264 
 
HORSE-STEALING 
 
 from it. If I mistake not, Mr. Trap, our topographer, 
 can tell how a frightened mule got entangled in the ropes 
 and pulled the tent down over one of his best maps when 
 almost completed." No wonder the surveyors congratu- 
 lated themselves when a map passed with success through 
 all these hostile attacks. 
 
 In certain districts the men of science had much work 
 to prevent their property, especially their horses, from 
 being stolen. The country swarmed with horse thieves, 
 and depredations were of the commonest occurrence, 
 animals being run away with from their very pickets. 
 The thieves almost invariably escaped to the mountain 
 fastnesses, and it was rarely that the culprits were caught 
 or the stolen animals recovered. Presently it was the 
 photographer's turn, and one day a favourite mare, Kitty, 
 was carried off. No reward, no protests to the authorities, 
 could bring back the mare, and Mr. Bell had to resign 
 himself to his loss. A fortnight later, while a section of 
 the surveying body was at work some fifty miles away, a 
 mare came up whinnying, as if with pleasure at seeing old 
 friends again. The animal turned out to be the lost 
 Kitty. Her owner was lucky, for seven other horses had 
 been stolen the same week as his own, and not one of 
 them was ever recovered. 
 
 Occasionally, to avoid the intense heat of the day, the 
 men would travel by moonlight, often through some wild, 
 grand pass. This was the case with the Apache Pass, 
 which was traversed by the light of the full moon. These 
 mountains, the Burro Mountains, were infested with 
 Indians, and the ladies of the surveying party — there were 
 some — were not a little nervous on the occasion, especially 
 
 265 
 
REDSKINS NUMEROUS AND HOSTILE 
 
 when they passed under some towering crag or through a 
 narrow defile. The cavalry rode on in advance, the 
 waggons and the general body coming on behind. To 
 keep the ladies cheerful, the men sang songs with all their 
 might, making the mountain hollows resound again. 
 "Now and then the horses'* hoofs would ring out and 
 rattle over a bed of rocks ; or the moon, obscured behind 
 the mountain, would suddenly throw a flood of light over 
 the white waggons and glistening rifles of our party." 
 
 The Americans were fortunate enough to get through 
 without any hostile demonstration on the part of the 
 Indians, but they would have felt less easy in their minds, 
 possibly, had they then known how matters stood with 
 the Redskins of the district. It appeared, as was presently 
 learnt, that some time before an American officer had 
 dealt heavily with the Indians, hanging six of them on 
 the summit of a hill in sight of the tribe. The chief in 
 his rage had sworn that for every one of his lost braves 
 he would take the life of a hundred whites. And since 
 that time the savages had made a point of slaying all they 
 could come near — men, women, or children. This was the 
 position of affairs when the surveying camp was pitched at 
 Fort Bowie, on the top of a hill. 
 
 Bell was strolling after luncheon among the mountains 
 in search of good subjects when, looking back towards the 
 camp, he perceived the place in commotion. The men of 
 the garrison were hurrying towards the cattle, and a few 
 shots were heard. The cause soon appeared. The mail- 
 carrier to Tucson had returned to report that a couple of 
 Indians had stolen out upon the cattle in the valley not 
 far away. Postman and savages had fired at each other, 
 
 266 
 
PURSUIT 
 
 and then the former had made his way back to the camp 
 to raise the alarm. The two Indians were seen once or 
 twice in the open, but the men belonging to the garrison 
 were all wearied with the long march, and were no match 
 for the splendid steeds of the Redskins. There was but 
 one horse in a fresh condition, a beautiful chestnut belong- 
 ing to the Lieutenant. This was immediately saddled, and 
 on its back sprang one of the youngest officers, Carrol by 
 name, a fine lad, but in his teens still. " I watched him 
 spring with one bound from the ground into his saddle, 
 wave his hand merrily to us, and then dash down the 
 steep, winding road which led from the fort to the pass 
 below." The infantry, guided by the mounted mail- 
 carrier, had already started after the Indians. 
 
 Presently Lieutenant Lawson, " the gamest little fellow 
 I ever met," taking six of the jaded cavalry horses and 
 their riders, went off, too, quite unable to control himself 
 longer. The merest chance of a brush with the Indians 
 was to him irresistible. Time went on, and the infantry 
 began to return by twos and threes. Later came Lieu- 
 tenant Lawson and his cavalry, reporting that they had 
 hunted the neighbouring mountains over, but had seen 
 nothing of any savages whatever. To the surprise and 
 concern of their comrades, neither Carrol nor the postman 
 had returned, and nothing was known of them ; all the 
 rest of the garrison were at home. Some of the men had 
 heard distant firing, which came from the direction the 
 Redskins had taken. Things had indeed assumed a very 
 doubtful aspect. 
 
 " We saddled our horses without a moment's delay, and, 
 with sickening forebodings in our hearts, started across 
 
 267 
 
SEARCH FOR MISSING MEN 
 
 the mountains to the western plain. We scrambled up 
 the base of Helen's Dome, which was so steep as almost to 
 baffle our horses, well trained as they were to all sorts of 
 bad places ; then, after skirting the side for some distance, 
 we crossed a ravine to another mountain-slope, down which 
 we plunged, over large blocks of limestone and marble, 
 leading our horses by the bridles, and clambering through 
 them as best we could. Every moment was precious, for 
 the sun had almost set." 
 
 The men were only nine, all told, and they spread 
 themselves out to look for the trail. A diligent search 
 was made, every blade of grass being examined. At last 
 the cry of " Pony tracks !" was raised, and then a man 
 shouted : " This way they lead P The tracks were no 
 longer confined to two : there were fully a dozen. It was 
 clear that Carrol and the postman had followed too far — 
 that they had, in fact, been drawn into an ambuscade and 
 surprised. Most of the hoof-marks on the ground were 
 those of unshod horses, but there were two animals 
 amongst the lot that were evidently shod, and they were 
 no doubt those from the camp. The pursuers were now 
 more eager than ever to hurry on, and yet it was im- 
 possible to make any very rapid progress, it being difficult 
 to keep the trail in view in the fading daylight. Within 
 half an hour it would be quite dark, and then all 
 search must end for the day. So the men pressed on 
 anxiously. 
 
 Three miles farther they rode, and then it became only 
 too clear what had happened. A much-trampled spot 
 was passed, where there were blood-stains. Here the 
 unlucky fellows had made their stand, no doubt attempting 
 
 268 
 
MUTILATED BODIES FOUND 
 
 to cut their way through the enemy. At no great distance 
 on ahead the pursuers learnt the fate of their comrade 
 and the mail-carrier. The dead body of the latter was 
 found on the ground, " scalped, naked, and mutilated in 
 the setting sun.'" Even one side of the unfortunate man's 
 whiskers had been scalped, leaving the corpse a terrible 
 sight. 
 
 Not a moment did the soldier surveyors stop by the 
 dead postman, but hurried on at full speed, following the 
 pony tracks. The sun set, and it was only by the red 
 glare reflected from the mountains that the search was 
 continued. Darker and darker it grew, and the men 
 began to abandon all hope of ever finding the corpse of 
 poor Carrol. 
 
 Yet the thought that the luckless young officer might 
 be even then undergoing horrible tortures at the hands of 
 his captors, might be roasted over a slow fire, while his 
 enemies danced in exultation around, was enough to keep 
 the soldiers at the task. If only they could recover the 
 dead body of their comrade they would be satisfied, or, at 
 any rate, much more satisfied. At last some object was 
 seen to move in the grass half a mile away. Galloping 
 towards it, the soldiers found it to be Carrol's dog, which 
 was faithfully guarding the lifeless body of his master. 
 There lay the gallant lad, stiff and naked. The body was 
 picked up, and the party rode sadly back in search of the 
 other corpse. The two were carried to the camp. " The 
 wolves were already gathering round the spot, and the 
 night winds were blowing up cold and chill." The night 
 before the surveying party had shouted merry songs in 
 another pass not far away, and under that same brilliant 
 
 269 
 
FUNERAL SERVICE 
 
 moon ; now here were they, in a neighbouring pass, slowly 
 marching in mournful silence, the bearers of the naked and 
 mutilated bodies of their friends. 
 
 The two poor fellows were buried next day in the little 
 graveyard among the mountains, the doctor reading the 
 Burial Service. In that cemetery every grave, with one 
 exception, bore the legend, "Killed by the Apaches.'" 
 " Two more scalps were thus added to the long strings of 
 those which already hung from the belts of the Chiricahui 
 braves," helping to make up the ghastly total of six 
 hundred which the chief had vowed to sacrifice. 
 
 [From " New Tracks in North America/' by W. A. Bell, M.A., 
 M.B. Cantab. Chapman and Hall, 1870. By kind permission of 
 Messrs. Chapman and Hall.] 
 
 270 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 VESUVIUS IN 1872 
 
 Vesuvius, a volcano well studied — Professor Palmieri and his 
 observatory — The cone of Vesuvius — Activity of the mountain 
 in 1871 — A rift in the rim of the crater— In April a new cone 
 formed— Earth tremors— The climax, April 26, 1872— The 
 crater like a vast fire — Lava streams — Increase in the violence 
 of the eruption — A terrible ' ' Black Friday "■ — San Sebastiano 
 partly destroyed by lava — Palmieri and his plucky devotion — 
 i( Between two torrents of liquid fire" — A vast table-like 
 column of smoke and steam — An awful but magnificent spec- 
 tacle — Terror of surrounding populations — Huge blocks of lava 
 and stone hurled forth— Violent explosions — Showers of sand 
 and ashes — Tremendous displays of thunder and lightning — 
 The roar of the mountain — People abandoning the vicinity in 
 thousands— Exaggerated accounts of the fatalities — Devotion 
 of the King of Italy — Foolhardy sight-seers — Palmieri's warn- 
 ings — A party ascend to the Atria — Sudden rent in the cone — 
 Smoke, lava, hot projectiles — Visitors overwhelmed — Soldiers 
 placed to keep back the reckless — Thieves at work — Soldiers 
 compelled to hide from showers of ashes and scoriae — The 
 mountain "sweats fire " — Rain begins to descend — Great floods 
 afterwards — The beginning of the end — Eruption less violent 
 on the 29th — By May 1 eruption practically over. 
 
 Of all the great volcanic mountains of the earth, Vesuvius 
 is the one which has been most thoroughly studied, and 
 whose various eruptions have been most fully described — 
 this for reasons that are too obvious to need stating here. 
 
 271 
 
PROFESSOR PALMIERI 
 
 From the terrible historic outburst which destroyed the 
 cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, in a.d. 79, to the latest 
 eruption of our own days, accounts more or less complete 
 have, as a rule, been published by competent observers. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of the Vesuvian outbursts 
 of modern times took place in the year 1872, and the story 
 of it was told by a very able observer and devoted man of 
 science, Professor Palmieri, of the adjoining city of Naples. 
 Some time before there had been erected high up on the 
 mountain, at an elevation of more than two thousand feet 
 above the sea, an observatory, from which the volcano 
 might be watched and studied. Here the Professor was 
 stationed, ever on the watch, and helped in his observations 
 by various scientific instruments. 
 
 The summit cone of Vesuvius rises from the remains of 
 an older crater. It is very steep in slope, and the loose 
 cinders and scoriae, of which it is in great measure formed, 
 yield under the foot, making the ascent to the top rather 
 heavy work. The crater, when once it is reached, is found to 
 be nearly oval in shape, and about one thousand one hundred 
 yards across. The ridge on which the Royal Observatory 
 stands is probably the remains of a portion of a former 
 cone, now destroyed. The present summit cone rears its 
 crest to a height of more than four thousand feet above 
 the sea. 
 
 The activity of the mountain began to show itself nearly 
 a year before, when the crater threw out a quantity of red- 
 hot stones and ashes. On January 13, 1872, a rift was torn 
 in the rim of the crater, and lava nWed forth. A fresh 
 cone then began to rise, and this increased in size for two 
 or three months, sending out smoke and projectiles all the 
 
 272 
 
SIGNS OF DISTURBANCE 
 
 time, while the main or old crater was also active, accom- 
 panying its discharges by many loud reports. By April 
 the new cone had filled the old crater, and had overtopped 
 it to some extent. Lava in plenty had flowed over the 
 rim and down the sides of the cone into the ancient crater, 
 usually known as the Atria. The lava stream had, in 
 fact, travelled still lower, and one branch of it ran in the 
 direction of the observatory. Later on, the ridge on 
 which this building stood had a hot lava stream on either 
 side of it, which kept the temperature at a most un- 
 comfortable height, as will be seen. 
 
 The surrounding country was disturbed by frequent 
 earth tremors, some of them being veritable earthquakes, 
 which shook all the vicinity. Rumbling noises were heard 
 beneath the earth, and wells, springs, and runlets of water 
 dried up. At the time of the March full moon, just a 
 month before the great eruption, the north-west side of 
 the cone opened and let out a vast stream of lava. 
 
 On the 24th of April, at the season of the next full 
 moon, the great eruption broke out furiously. The crater 
 was reported to be like a vast fire, and the lava to be 
 descending from the great fissure in the cone. The hollow 
 of the crater was full to overflowing with the molten 
 matter, which poured over the rim. Violent explosions 
 succeeded each other rapidly, and smoke and ashes were 
 hurled high into the air. The violence of the eruption 
 increased during the following day, and the culmination 
 came on the 26th, a memorable " Black Friday " for the 
 inhabitants of Naples and its neighbourhood. The rift in 
 the side of the mountain was forced open still wider, and 
 soon a vast stream of lava, more than half a mile wide, 
 
 273 s 
 
PANIC-STRICKEN INHABITANTS 
 
 was making its way down the slopes and over parts of the 
 surrounding country. There appear to have been two 
 main streams, one running generally in the direction of 
 Naples, which destroyed a large part of the town of San 
 Sebastiano ; a second stream made for Torre del Greco 
 and Torre del? Annunziata, two beautiful towns standing 
 near the shore of the Bay of Naples. 
 
 The inhabitants of San Sebastiano were panic-stricken, 
 and those who could took to flight. The destitution and 
 distress were so severe that on the following Sunday the 
 King, Victor Emmanuel, himself spent the day in ad- 
 ministering relief and taking all possible precautionary 
 measures. The terror spread to the other two towns just 
 named, where were populations of over twenty thousand 
 and thirty thousand respectively. More and more widely 
 spread the panic, and soon numbers of the Neapolitans 
 were leaving their city for Rome and other distant places. 
 The lava meanwhile had reached a point within two or 
 three miles of the sea itself. So vast was the quantity of 
 the boiling lava, and so many and so unaccountable were 
 the vagaries of the streams, that no man knew whither it 
 might not advance. No place within miles of the moun- 
 tain seemed safe from destruction by the rivers of mud 
 and lava. 
 
 Meanwhile, Professor Palmieri was up in his observa- 
 tory, in the very thick of the danger. Not once during 
 the whole time of the eruption did the scientist desert his 
 post. As already told, two streams of lava ran beneath 
 him, one on either side. The heat was almost insupport- 
 able: the glass of the observatory was cracked, and the 
 building scorched. The people around were astonished at 
 
 274 
 
A MAGNIFICENT SIGHT 
 
 his temerity, and many were the fears expressed that he 
 would in the end fall a victim to his devotion. Nothing 
 braver than Palmieri's retention of his post up on his 
 little hill, surrounded by such dangers, has been seen in 
 our days. 
 
 But it was not only the lava streams that terrified the 
 neighbourhood. A vast table-like column of smoke and 
 steam rose from the top of the mountain, reaching to a 
 height of four miles, or five times that of the cone itself. 
 By night this presented a marvellous and terrible sight, 
 appearing at frequent intervals as if it were a prodigious 
 column or sheet of fire. Explosions of the most violent 
 character were heard, and the earth trembled beneath the 
 feet, even at a great distance from Vesuvius itself. Huge 
 blocks of lava or stone, riven from the very heart of the 
 mountain, were hurled into the air at enormous speeds. 
 Most of these huge fiery projectiles appear to have fallen 
 back into the crater itself or on to its edge, showing that 
 they had been shot up perpendicularly. 
 
 Quite otherwise was it with the smaller stones, the sand, 
 the dust, and the ashes, which were projected into the air 
 in such prodigious quantities. These were driven by the 
 wind to great distances. For miles around the mountain 
 the air was rendered dark by the vast clouds of dust and 
 ashes ; this was especially the case on the 28th, after the 
 lava streams and the fiery projectiles had more or less ceased. 
 Even in Naples, five miles distant, they fell in quantities, 
 and the finer dust was carried still farther afield — even to 
 Palermo, in Sicily, roughly two hundred miles away as the 
 crow flies. 
 
 Another remarkable thing to be observed was the 
 
 275 s 2 
 
ELECTRICAL EXCITATION 
 
 thunder and lightning that came on after the eruption 
 had been in progress for some time. Violent electrical 
 disturbance is often the result of volcanic activity on the 
 grander scale. Professor Judd tells us that "every volcano 
 in violent eruption is a very efficient hydro - electric 
 machine, and the up-rushing column is in a condition of 
 intense electrical excitation. This result is probably 
 aided by the friction of the solid particles as they are 
 propelled upwards and fall back into the crater. 1 ' So it 
 was with Vesuvius in 1872. The electrical commotions 
 were on the grandest scale, and thousands of people 
 witnessed the effect of the almost continuous and most 
 vivid flashes of lightning. The whole of the vast column 
 of smoke and steam was lighted up with intensest bril- 
 liance ; but the thunder, violent as it was, was almost lost 
 amid the roar of the mountain, as the enormous volumes 
 of steam were blown from the crater with titanic force 
 into the air. 
 
 It may well be imagined what terror all this would 
 bring to the inhabitants of the districts around. As has 
 already been told, more than one considerable village had 
 been partly destroyed. Others, such as Portici and 
 Resina, were threatened, and the people were abandoning 
 the places. Naples itself, though at a good distance from 
 the volcano, was stirred into something like a panic. At 
 the very outset the inhabitants had been so alarmed by 
 the roar of the mountain, by the tremendous discharges, 
 and by the tremblings of the earth, that they were unable 
 to sleep, and hundreds wandered about the streets all 
 night. The wildest reports were spread abroad. One 
 account said that thirty persons had been buried under 
 
 276 
 
THE KING'S DEVOTION 
 
 the burning lava. Another story magnified the disasters, 
 and placed the number of dead at sixty ; while a third 
 report, widely received, stated that the fatalities mounted 
 up to a total of two hundred. It was said that certain 
 English were among the victims. In fine, the wildest and 
 most exaggerated accounts were spread abroad and 
 credited. They were even telegraphed to all the great 
 capitals. Of the devotion of the King of Italy during 
 this terrible time some mention has been made ; in truth, 
 the Italian authorities were incessant and most active in 
 their efforts to relieve distress, and to ensure, as far as 
 might be, the safety of the people. It was a pitiful sight 
 to see the terror of many of the country folk. Women 
 were abroad weeping passionately, and imploring God to 
 have mercy. 
 
 But if many were abandoning themselves to panic and 
 despair, others were more strongly moved by curiosity. 
 Crowds thronged the foot of the mountain, and, in spite 
 of the manifest dangers attending the ascent, insisted on 
 getting as near to the awful theatre of operations as they 
 could, notwithstanding the warnings of the better informed. 
 At last the inevitable happened. A party, consisting 
 mainly of medical students, made for the great rent in the 
 side of the cone, from which the stream of lava welled forth. 
 The visitors were in charge of guides who knew nothing 
 of the dangers awaiting them. Palmieri warned the 
 party of the terrible risk they ran, but his words were not 
 heeded. The men had got up as far as the Atria when, 
 without a moment's warning, the cone of the mountain 
 split on that side, and at the same time two more craters 
 were formed on the top. From the rent the lava flowed, 
 
 277 
 
FOOLHARDY NIGHT-SEERS 
 
 and from the new outlets above smoke poured forth in 
 vast quantities, and hot stones were hurled into the air 
 with tremendous force. 
 
 The visitors were caught as in a trap. Dense smoke 
 enveloped them, darkening the air around. The burning 
 stones fell among them, and the lava threatened to over- 
 whelm them. A more terrible situation cannot be 
 imagined than that in which the foolhardy spectators 
 found themselves. Several were overwhelmed and lost, 
 while others were terribly injured before they could escape 
 to a place of comparative safety. The sufferers were 
 about twenty in number, of whom eight were killed out- 
 right. This was on the 26th of April, the day when the 
 eruption began to reach its greatest violence. 
 
 The authorities now placed soldiers to keep too 
 venturesome folk away from the mountain, a measure that 
 doubtless saved many lives ; for, notwithstanding all that 
 had happened, there were crowds still ready to rush into 
 danger. The soldiers had yet another duty — that of 
 putting a stop to the operations of the thieves. Even at 
 such a time of terror as this, the thief was abroad and 
 busy among the deserted houses and the panic-stricken 
 people. 
 
 All through the three days— the 26th, 27th, 28th— the 
 volcano continued to do its worst. In many places the 
 showers of cinders and scoriae were such that no one could 
 stand against them. Near Cercola the soldiers had to flee 
 and hide themselves from this disastrous rain. The number 
 of fissures in the mountain side increased, and each poured 
 forth its fiery streams. In the words of Professor Palmieri, 
 Vesuvius " sweated fire." Then there followed rain of a 
 
 278 
 
END OF THE ERUPTION 
 
 different kind, as is always the case in eruptions of this 
 magnitude. The enormous volumes of steam that ascended 
 saturated the air, and raindrops began to descend. Later 
 on the downfall became excessive, and a strange sequel to 
 the eruption of Vesuvius was the flooding of the lands 
 around, causing much destruction of property and crops. 
 
 Up to midnight on the 28th the outburst continued 
 with almost unabated force ; then the mountain began 
 to show signs of exhaustion, and Professor Palmieri 
 prophesied that the end was approaching. He was right. 
 On the 29th the violence of the eruption had lessened 
 considerably : the lava flowed but feebly, the detonations 
 grew less noisy, the showers of ashes almost disappeared. 
 At Naples, even on the 28th, there was a blue sky over- 
 head, and the people began to regain confidence. By the 
 1st of May the outburst was practically at an end. 
 
 Thus ended one of the greatest eruptions of Vesuvius in 
 modern times. Far more violent were those at Krakatoa 
 a few years later, and at Mont Pelee, in Martinique, quite 
 recently, but of no eruption have we such complete 
 accounts. In its main features the various phases of the 
 outburst bear a singular likeness to those of the Mont 
 Pelee eruption, which is described in the last chapter of 
 this volume. Happily, the destruction of life in the 
 former was insignificant in comparison with that which 
 occurred in the West Indian island. 
 
 279 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 ON THE MOUNTAINS OF TIBET 
 
 Tibet always a mysterious country — Difficulties physical and political 
 — Mr Andrew Wilson, a Scotch traveller — He determines to 
 attempt to pass the border of Tibet — The Kung-ma Pass, sixteen 
 thousand feet high — Camp half-way up — A country " grand and 
 savage beyond description" — View of a sheer descent of 
 thirteen thousand feet— The rarefied air — Bleeding at the nose 
 — A servant loses his mental balance for a time — The rays of 
 the sun will destroy the skin of a European in five minutes — 
 A deserted Tartar guard-house at the summit — The descent to 
 Shipki — A very trying experience — No level ground for a tent 
 in Shipki — Wilson's coolies and the Shipki women at logger- 
 heads — A comical scene — Determined opposition to the 
 strangers — <c Angels in big boots "■ — A hopeless task — The men of 
 the district hostile — They report that no strangers are to be 
 allowed to pass the village into the country — A friendly lama 
 — Wilson's servants refuse to proceed — Shipki folk unfriendly 
 and insolent — In danger of starving — Reasoning all in vain — 
 Dangers in store beyond Shipki — Tartar soldiers — Robbers — 
 The frightful cruelties practised by the Tibetans — The ' ( com- 
 mander " of a non-existent fort — Wilson finds it quite impossible 
 to go on — Change of plan — Good story of an officer and a rope- 
 bridge — A start for Cashmere — The jhula bridges — Description 
 of their construction and of their dangers — A risky crossing — 
 Chota Khan and the stout lady — Happily all safe across the 
 Sutlej. 
 
 The country of Tibet has long been, and still remains, one 
 of the most mysterious, because least visited, of all the 
 
 280 
 
MR. ANDREW WILSON 
 
 territories of our globe. And everybody knows what are 
 the difficulties in the path of the traveller who wishes to 
 explore that out-of-the-way land. They are not wholly 
 physical difficulties that beset the explorer, though these 
 are serious enough to deter all but the boldest and the 
 most robust. The political difficulties in the way of the 
 adventurous traveller are even more trying and formidable 
 — the intense objection of the Tibetans and their rulers to 
 admit within their borders any strangers, especially Euro- 
 peans. What troubles the two sets of difficulties together 
 may cause the explorer the experiences of Mr. Andrew 
 Wilson, as far back as the year 1875, serve to show. They are 
 recorded in his delightful volume, " The Abode of Snow." 
 It had been Mr. Wilson's intention at first to confine 
 himself wholly to the borders of Tibet, but the distant 
 sight of the forbidden land was too much for him, and he 
 determined to make an attempt to pass the frontiers into 
 the country itself. He approached the stupendous 
 Himalayas by the usual road from Simla, and then stopped 
 to consider what route he should take next. He desired to 
 get to Shipki, the first town, or considerable village, 
 within the borders of Chinese Tibet, and he found that 
 there are two tracks thither. One leads over the lofty 
 Kung-ma Pass, no less than sixteen thousand feet above 
 the sea ; the other up the gorge of the Sutlej, and along the 
 face of the frightful cliffs on the farther side, a route never 
 to be thought of if the other is at all open. Up the 
 sixteen thousand feet of the Kung-ma, then, Wilson 
 prepared to toil. It was a formidable undertaking, even 
 though the pass was to be attacked from a height of ten 
 thousand feet, for the traveller was in only indifferent 
 
 281 
 
THE KUNG-MA PASS 
 
 health. However, procuring yaks at Khalb, he and his 
 servants set off. 
 
 They camped for the first night half-way up to the 
 summit, at a place which afforded not only a bit of level 
 ground for the tent, a most important matter in that 
 country, but also plenty of brushwood for the fire. It was 
 a fine, clear evening, and the views from their elevated 
 camp were, needless to say, marvellous, and more, they 
 were " savage and grand beyond description." Before 
 them stood the mountain " in all its terrific majesty. 1,1 
 On every hand the sight was sublime — almost appalling. 
 " But the surprising scene before us was on the left bank 
 of the Spiti River, and on the right of the Sutlej, or that 
 opposite to which we were. A mountain rose almost sheer 
 up from the Sutlej, or from nine thousand feet to the 
 height of twenty-two thousand one hundred and eighty- 
 three feet, in gigantic walls, towers, and aiguilles of cream- 
 coloured granite and quartz, which had all the appearance of 
 marble. At various places a stone might have rolled from 
 the summit of it down into the river, a descent of over 
 thirteen thousand feet." Its appearance our traveller 
 likens to that of Milan Cathedral magnified many millions 
 of times. 
 
 The effect of the rarefied air on the party, as next day 
 they toiled up to still higher elevations than that of 
 Namgea, where they had spent the night, was soon 
 apparent, especially on Chota Khan, an Afghan servant 
 with Wilson. At almost every step the man had to pause, 
 and when he and one or two more of the party began to 
 bleed at the nose he became bewildered. At one place 
 was to be seen a glacier hanging above them near the top 
 
 282 
 
THE RAYS OF THE SUN 
 
 of the pass, and here Chota Khan sat down, quite un- 
 nerved, crying and lamenting, and cursing his fate. He 
 recovered his balance later on, however, and became 
 the gayest of the party. That was after he had passed 
 the summit and found himself going downhill again. 
 
 Although a start was made as early as four in the 
 morning, it took nearly ten hours to surmount the pass and 
 reach the village of Shipki. All day they suffered terribly 
 from the rays of the sun, or rather from the reflected rays 
 from the rocks, though the air itself was comparatively 
 cool and fresh. " So powerful are the rays of the sun in 
 summer that exposure to them/or even to a good reflec- 
 tion of them, will destroy the skin of the hands or face of 
 a European in five minutes or less."" No wonder the 
 traveller records that they were all a little ill after crossing 
 this pass ! It was not so much the rarefied air, or even 
 the exertion of climbing ; it was rather the heat and glare 
 from the rocks, and the tremendous steepness of the 
 descent from the summit to Shipki. As he rested a while 
 on the top, and gazed on the awful spectacle of grandeur 
 all around, the traveller, in his semi-convalescent state, could 
 almost imagine he had passed away altogether from this 
 lower earth, " and had alighted upon a more glorious world." 
 
 From the summit, on the way to the village, there 
 appeared no spot of ground suitable for camping, except 
 one which offered neither wood nor water, so the cavalcade 
 kept on. They had passed, near the summit, an old 
 Tartar guard-house, the spot being the Chinese frontier. 
 The place was deserted, to the joy of the party, and there 
 would now be nothing to stop them on the threshold of 
 the forbidden country till they reached Shipki itself. 
 
 283 
 
DESCENT TO SHIPKI 
 
 But what a descent was that six thousand feet from the 
 crest to the village! There is no descent in Scotland, 
 Wilson declares, thinking of his native country, to compare 
 with it in its utter wearisomeness ; while even " Caledonia 
 stern and wild " can in no way show the wild sterility of 
 those Tartar mountain masses. The constant and long- 
 continued bumping of the yak on which he rode most of 
 the way almost threw the master back into his fever, and 
 he had to be carried by his servants a part of the distance. 
 Chota Khan and a fellow-servant or two had been sent on 
 in advance to Shipki, to set up the little mountain tents 
 in readiness for the arrival of the rest of the party. What 
 the rest actually found when they came in sight of the 
 village must now be told. It must first be explained that 
 Shipki has not naturally a yard of level ground, except, as 
 an Irishman might put it, the roofs of the houses. There 
 were, however, a few fields in terraces near the houses, the 
 making of these terraces having involved great labour on 
 the part of the inhabitants. 
 
 An amusing sight presented itself when Wilson rode 
 down towards the village, and saw what was going on. " A 
 band of handsome and very powerful young Tartar women 
 — clad in red or black tunics, loose trousers, and immense 
 cloth boots, into which a child of five years old might 
 easily have been stuffed — had constituted themselves the 
 guardians of these terraced fields, and whenever Chota 
 Khan or any of his companions attempted to enter, they 
 not only placed their bulky persons in the way, but even 
 showed determined fight. Woman to man, I believe these 
 guardian angels could have given our people a sound 
 thrashing."" Mr. Wilson utilized this experience later on 
 
 284 
 
j - E^gT*^ ^ 
 
 Awkward and unexpected Opponents 
 
 A group of handsome and very powerful young Tartar women showed fight, and would not 
 allow Wilson's men to occupy the terrace. 
 
I 
 
DETERMINED OPPOSITION 
 
 to sharpen up his servants ; he had only to remark that 
 one Shipki woman was a match for any two of his men to 
 stir up the the laggards effectually. For the present " the 
 angels in big boots " had it all their own way, and the 
 luckless Chota Khan and his fellows were quite funable to 
 pitch their tents. A companion of Wilson's, a Mr. 
 Pagell, who could speak Tibetan well, tried to reason with 
 the women, but in vain. 
 
 However amusing the scene, the thing had its more 
 serious side. It was necessary to camp somewhere, after 
 the many hours of heavy toil. There was no place in Shipki 
 or its immediate neighbourhood where a tent could be 
 placed save in these terraced enclosures, and these the 
 women refused to have occupied in that way. They 
 admitted that there was no other ground available in the 
 village, but referred the travellers to a little patch they 
 had passed half-way down, and ordered them to return 
 thither — a cool suggestion, the carrying out of which would 
 have meant a climb back of three thousand feet at the 
 least ! Mr. Wilson himself tried all his blandishments on 
 the bellicose women, but it was useless. They would not 
 budge an inch. All the while the men of Shipki remained 
 in the village itself, watching with keen eye the progress 
 of events, and it was not hard to see that the least resist- 
 ance by force would have brought down upon the travellers 
 the whole fighting force of the place. That some or all of 
 the party would then have been murdered there can be no 
 room for doubt. 
 
 Wilson at length began to get irritated, and he might 
 have said or done something to precipitate a catastrophe 
 had there not fortunately come up a lama who was known 
 
 285 
 

 A FRIENDLY LAMA 
 
 to Mr. Pagell. The lama took the part of the strangers, 
 and soon settled matters by giving them a small field of 
 his own in which to pitch their tents. Even yet it seemed 
 as if there would not be peace, for the young Tartar men f 
 grumbled, and appeared disposed to oppose the entry of 
 the traveller's party into the lama's field. The strangers 
 were luckily too quick for the fellows, and, making a dash 
 for the place, took possession in triumph. 
 
 The difficulties were only just beginning. Wilson's 
 intention was to spend but one night at Shipki, and then 
 pass on into the heart of the country ; but the next day 
 found him still in the village, and the day after that. a 
 The coolies and yakmen he had brought with him refused 
 to go a mile farther. They had done their duty, they f 
 insisted, in bringing him as far as Shipki, and that at 
 great inconvenience to themselves, it being the harvest 
 season. They declared that to go on farther meant serious 
 risk to the whole party, for the Tartars were certain, sooner 
 or later, to fall upon them. No offers of increased pay 
 could induce the servants to change their minds. 
 
 Far worse to deal with were the Tartar folk of Shipki 
 and district. They laughed to scorn the notion of pro- 
 ceeding farther into Tibet. They said they were under 
 the strictest orders to prevent all Europeans from penetrat- 
 ing into the country, and more especially Englishmen. 
 They declared that it was the deliberate policy of the l 
 British to seize upon their lands whenever they could, as 
 had been done in the case of India ; that, no matter how 
 peaceably in appearance the British entered a strange 
 country, in the end the result was always their seizure of 
 it. When Wilson referred to the Treaty of Tientsin, 
 
 286 
 
CRUELTY OF TIBETANS 
 
 which gave British subjects the right to travel in China, 
 the Tartars declared that Tibet was not China proper, but 
 only loosely bound to that country. In short, the Shipki 
 men were impracticable. 
 
 But they went on to declare, also, that it was not 
 only because of orders from Lassa that they stopped 
 the strangers ; it would cost them their heads at least 
 if they went contrary to the wishes of the bulk of their 
 countrymen. Even death was not the worst in store 
 for them if they admitted foreigners through their town. 
 Mr. Wilson afterwards learnt of the extraordinary and 
 inconceivably horrible tortures practised by the Tibetans 
 on those who had offended them. Nothing could be more 
 terrible, in fact. When, therefore, the Skipki men 
 declared they might as well be killed opposing the 
 entrance of the strangers as for letting them pass, there 
 was reason in their contention. They went on, however, 
 to declare that they could not be injured by the un- 
 believing Europeans, because the Tibetans had the only 
 true religion, and that would preserve them from hurt in 
 combat with infidel strangers ! 
 
 The inhabitants of the place were not only impractic- 
 able, but also uncivil. Not a thing would they sell to the 
 travellers, who, on their part, seemed not unlikely to 
 starve in the midst of plenty. Even when, after a while, 
 they expressed a willingness to bargain, it soon appeared 
 that they meant nothing more than to annoy their 
 visitors. After selling a sheep for five rupees, the Shipki 
 folk raised the price to six, then to seven, nearly thrice 
 its value on the spot. It was clear they were making 
 game of the strangers. Wilson complained to one of the 
 
 287 
 
DANGERS AGAIN 
 
 rulers of the place, and that individual referred him to 
 another functionary, and he to a third official, and so 
 the thing went on. But in truth it was impossible to get 
 anybody to admit that he was an official at all. In the 
 end the traveller was always referred to the " commander 
 up in the fort " as a final authority. Strange to say, 
 Wilson was unable to find any fort at all, or to come 
 across the commander. There was then said to be a 
 fort eight marches farther on, but no one would undertake 
 to forward a letter to the commandant of the place. 
 
 Here, then, were the European travellers and their men 
 effectually stopped at the very frontier of Tibet, as so 
 many others have been. Wilson had some thoughts of 
 going back to get more yaks and men, and then of return- 
 ing to attempt to rush Shipki by night. But the season 
 was getting late ; moreover, his time was growing shorter 
 every day, and he greatly desired to visit Cashmere. But 
 that was not all. He managed to gain some information 
 as to what was to be expected beyond Shipki, should he 
 manage to pass it ; and the accounts were not encouraging, 
 to say the least of it. Not far on the other side of the 
 town there was a bridge over the Sutlej, guarded by Tartar 
 troops. These men would have to be faced, seeing that 
 there was no way of crossing that great river but by the 
 main road. Further, just beyond the bridge came a 
 district of robbers, as one of Wilson's attendants well 
 knew, having many scars on his head, which he had 
 received on a former occasion at the hands of these 
 robbers. It was most likely that the European's head 
 would presently adorn the tent-pole of some Tartar 
 robber-chief, if he persisted in his attempts to push into 
 
 288 
 
ON A ROPE BRIDGE 
 
 the interior of the country. The wily and vindictive 
 Tibetans, moreover, had methods that, like those of the 
 heathen Chinee, were " peculiar." Often a man would 
 pretend to be reconciled to his enemy, and would invite 
 him to dinner as a sign that all was peace between them. 
 When his enemy had well dined and was off his guard, 
 the treacherous host would fall upon him and murder him 
 in cold blood. 
 
 As to the bridge, the traveller heard a story that is too 
 good not to be repeated, though it was not one calculated 
 to afford any comfort to a man who might find himself in 
 a similar position to that of the hero of the tale. At this 
 bridge beyond Shipki, not so long before, an officer 
 managed to give the guard the slip in the night, and 
 sped on, congratulating himself on his piece of cleverness. 
 Presently he was overtaken by a number of soldiers from 
 the guard-house, and they politely informed him that, 
 since he had got across, they would accompany him on his 
 journey into the country to protect him from the robbers. 
 All went well for a time. At last the party came to a 
 large river, the crossing of which was effected by a rope 
 bridge. Some of the soldiers had themselves pulled over, 
 in order to show the stranger that the bridge was quite 
 safe. Then the officer started. Into the middle he came, 
 and then — the Tartars ceased to pull, and the man was 
 left suspended over the middle of the river ! The soldiers 
 sat down and smoked their pipes with the utmost calm- 
 ness, while the poor stranger hung in his breezy and 
 uncomfortable position, slowly freezing. In vain he 
 stormed and raved, cursed and entreated by turns : the 
 Tartars would neither pull nor allow him to pull himself. 
 
 289 T 
 
START FOR CASHMERE 
 
 la short, they kept him there till it was dark and he was 
 nearly frozen to death. He was compelled to capitulate, 
 and was released at length on his promise to return to the 
 boundary and make no farther attempt to enter Tibet at 
 any point. 
 
 The upshot of all these considerations was that 
 Mr. Wilson was compelled to give up his proposed 
 journey into the heart of Tibet, and set his face toward 
 Cashmere, working more or less along the boundary. It 
 was likely to prove a heavy journey, involving, as it did, a 
 course along the line of the Himalayas, and not across it, 
 the route lying for the most part at an elevation of some 
 twelve thousand feet. He made his start from Lio 
 Porgyul, not so far from Shipki, crossing the Sutlej near 
 Lio by the first of the jhula bridges, of which he was 
 afterwards to see so many. This kind of bridge is con- 
 structed of twigs, mainly birch, twisted together. " Two 
 thick ropes of these twigs, about the size of a man's thigh, 
 or a little larger, are stretched across the river at a 
 distance of about six to four feet from each other, and a 
 similar rope runs between them, three or four feet lower, 
 being connected with the upper ropes by more slender 
 vertical ropes, also usually of birch twigs twisted together, 
 but sometimes of grass, and occurring at an interval of 
 about five feet from each other." 
 
 It needs no stretch of the imagination to fancy the 
 scenes that must be witnessed at these jhula bridges. 
 Mr. Wilson found it no easy task to cross the first. He 
 had to stoop painfully where the rope sagged most ; then 
 in the middle he had to step over a wooden cross-bar, 
 placed there to keep the ropes in place; and he found 
 
 290 
 
SAFE ACROSS THE SUTLEJ 
 
 very soon that the lower rope, on which the feet had to 
 rest, was in a bad state of repair. To drop from this frail 
 and swinging structure would have been fatal, as in nearly 
 every case the Himalaya river gorges are very deep and 
 steep. He stepped out boldly, nevertheless, in spite of his 
 invalid condition, and, after an agitating time of it, sway- 
 ing through the air, reached the other bank in safety. 
 Chota Khan, a heavy man, was in a terrible state of 
 trepidation, almost sticking fast at the cross-bar. One 
 of the ladies of the party — a buxom dame — afforded the 
 rest much amusement, for Chota Khan ran to help her, 
 thus doubling the risk. It was Wilson's first jhula 
 bridge, and thankful he was to see every one and every- 
 thing over safely. 
 
 [From "The Abode of Snow." By Andrew Wilson. By kind 
 permission of Messrs. Blackwood and Sons.] 
 
 291 T 2 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT TARAWERA 
 
 The lake district of New Zealand— The beautiful " White " and 
 u Pink " terraces — Mount Tarawera — Thought to be extinct — 
 Mr. Hazard, the Wairoa schoolmaster — The mother's birthday 
 — Sudden outburst of the mountain in the night — ' ( You need 
 not be frightened " — Showers of ashes and stones on the roof — 
 A last family hymn — Pathetic scene — Roof burst in by mud — 
 Eldest daughter saved by devotion of a native woman — Scraping 
 mud away from the face to give air — Mother rescued with dead 
 babe in her arms — Father and four children amongst the 
 dead — Mr. Bainbridge, an English visitor, in a dangerous 
 position — Maori woman runs to warn him — Woman swallowed 
 up before his eyes — Immense showers of hot ashes— Mr. 
 Bainbridge himself buried beneath — Outburst heard at Auck- 
 land, one hundred miles distant — Newspapers, a few days later, 
 tell of the extent of the disaster — The beautiful terraces gone — 
 Lake Rotomahana now a nest of craters and geysers — A 
 hundred people reported dead — A wide area of fertile country 
 destroyed — The mountains covered with white powdery dust — 
 Animals, domestic and wild, dying of thirst — Venturesome 
 exploring parties — Huge piece blown out of the side of Tara- 
 wera — Column of steam twelve thousand feet high — Stories of 
 losses and of hairbreadth escapes — Two female native guides 
 dead — Mr. Vogan's pluck — Extraordinary story of Tuhuto, a 
 native soothsayer — His warnings to the neighbours — Buried for 
 four days beneath the mud — Rescued alive by Mr. Vogan and 
 his party. 
 
 " The district around Lake Taupo," says Professor Bonney 
 in his book on " Volcanoes," "is studded with cinder cones 
 
 292 
 
WHITE AND PINK TERRACES 
 
 and lava-flows, and between this sheet of water and the 
 Bay of Plenty are the volcano of Tarawera and the hot 
 springs of Rotomahana. The terraces of siliceous sinter 
 formed by the latter were one of the wonders of New Zealand 
 till 1886. On the 10th of June in that year the volcano, 
 a flat- topped cone rising about a thousand feet above the 
 lake of the same name, and supposed to be extinct, 
 suddenly broke out, throwing up quantities of pumice 
 mingled with steam to a height of nearly four miles. The 
 whole country round, including these beautiful terraces, 
 was buried beneath the fallen debris." 
 
 The terraces lay at either end of the Rotomahana Lake. 
 One of them was of dazzling white, the other was of a pink 
 colour ; to them were consequently given the names 
 " White Terrace " and " Pink Terrace." The beauty of 
 these was in some ways unsurpassed in the world. It was 
 a remarkable spot in a remarkable area, for the whole lake 
 district of New Zealand North Island — a district measur- 
 ing a hundred miles by thirty or so — was grand in 
 the extreme, as, indeed, the greater part of it remains 
 still. 
 
 The nearest settlement to Tarawera and Rotomahana 
 was Wairoa, a place possessing a school, a hotel, and some 
 rough lodgings, for the place was much visited by tourists 
 and holiday-makers from the large towns. The mountain 
 was in no way feared by the population around, for no 
 volcanic eruption had as yet taken place in New" Zealand 
 since its settlement by Europeans. More than this, the 
 Maoris asserted that for five hundred years the mountain 
 had been perfectly quiet, and their tribal traditions ran 
 back a long way. Earthquakes there had been, some not 
 
 293 
 
SUDDEN OUTBURST OF TARAWERA 
 
 so long before, but volcanic eruptions were unknown in the 
 island. 
 
 One of the first to feel the effects of the Tarawera out- 
 burst was the house of Mr. Hazard, the Wairoa school- 
 master, who, with his wife and family, was just retiring to 
 rest when the disturbance began. It was a little later 
 than usual when they all went to their rooms, it being the 
 mother's birthday. The two eldest girls were nearly un- 
 dressed when the earth tremors began. Soon the noise 
 grew louder, and the two became frightened. They ran 
 to the parents' room in alarm, and the father seems to have 
 kept his nerve well. 
 
 " You need not be frightened," he assured his daughters, 
 in the quietest of tones. 
 
 But the girls ran back and dressed with all speed. By 
 this time the noise had become terrible, and the eruption 
 of the mountain had begun in earnest. Showers of ashes 
 fell upon the roof and all around. The family assembled 
 and sang a hymn, the father and the children singing, the 
 mother taking the harmonium. It was a pathetic scene, 
 for the family was never to be united again in this world. 
 
 The stones bombarded the roof incessantly, and in no 
 long time it was partly broken in. Still the schoolmaster 
 and his family remained under shelter for a time — where, 
 indeed, could they go ? But half an hour later an 
 enormous mud-shower fell, and this completed the destruc- 
 tion of the school-house. In a moment parents and 
 children were overwhelmed, but made desperate efforts to 
 escape. The two eldest daughters kept more or less 
 together, seeking to free themselves from the frightful 
 mud torrent that now surged down irresistibly upon 
 
 294 
 
BRAVERY OF A NATIVE WOMAN 
 
 them. One of the girls managed to get clear; not so 
 fortunate was her sister : she was buried in the mud, and 
 but for timely assistance nobly rendered by a Maori woman 
 she would have been lost. This devoted creature frantic- 
 ally tore away with her hands the mud that was smother- 
 ing the unhappy sufferer. Regardless of her own danger, 
 she kept the girl's face clear, and succeeded in saving her 
 from suffocation. 
 
 Meanwhile father, mother, and the four other children 
 were all overwhelmed by the mud and the tremendous 
 showers of ashes. The neighbours who could rushed to 
 their help, and a gallant attempt was made to find and 
 extricate them. In no long time Mrs. Hazard was found, 
 and with great difficulty saved. Her injuries were terrible, 
 and in her arms she clasped her dead baby. The school- 
 master and four of the youngest children were also dis- 
 covered, but too late, for they were quite dead. 
 
 All this time the volcanic activity went on upon an 
 enormous scale. Showers of fine dust, white in colour for 
 the most part, flew generally in the opposite direction to 
 that taken by the mud- stream — carried by the wind, 
 doubtless. This dust was deposited over a wide area, and 
 formed a strange spectacle later on, when approach to the 
 spot became possible. The flood of boiling water ejected 
 from the craters — for by this time there were several — was 
 truly prodigious ; of its effects a word may be said 
 presently. As for the mud, the speed at which it 
 travelled and the vastness of its volume were incredible. 
 The whole district had long been noted for its hot springs, 
 and it was said that if a stick were thrust into the earth at 
 almost any point steam would come up out of the hole. 
 
 295 
 
MR. BAINBMDGE A VICTIM 
 
 This was before the eruption, so that it is not hard to 
 guess where the enormous quantities of mud came from. 
 
 Other houses in Wairoa, besides that of the unfortunate 
 schoolmaster, were overwhelmed by the all-devouring sea 
 of mud that welled around. One of these, belonging to a 
 Maori guide, was saved from destruction by the fact that 
 its roof was so steep. The mud-showers that fell on it did 
 not rest there, but dropped to the ground. Thus, as the 
 pile accumulated, the weight was borne chiefly by the 
 earth and not by the roof. It has been mentioned that 
 Wairoa also possessed a hotel. This building was one of 
 those destroyed, and an English tourist who was staying 
 there, a Mr. Bainbridge, met with a strange death. He 
 was keenly interested in the outburst when it began, and 
 went out to see the sight. He made his way to a little 
 hill in the neighbourhood to view the eruption of the 
 mountain, which was well seen from that point. He 
 seems to have been quite oblivious of the danger. Not 
 so a poor Maori woman. Seeing the man walking right 
 into a death-trap, as she believed, the devoted woman 
 made after him along the road to give him warning, and 
 found him standing calmly watching the volcano. At 
 that moment the ground opened beneath the poor woman's 
 feet with not the smallest warning. With a piercing 
 shriek and with arms helplessly uplifted, the poor creature 
 disappeared. At the same instant the hot ashes began to 
 rain down upon the spot, and the Englishman, now 
 realizing the terrible position in which he stood, took to 
 flight. He was too late, and his body was subsequently 
 found near the ruined hotel. 
 
 The city of Auckland is not far short of a hundred 
 
 296 
 
ALARM AT AUCKLAND 
 
 miles from Tarawera, but the noise of the eruption 
 reached to that distance. It was about two in the morn- 
 ing when the sounds began to be heard. The people of 
 Auckland at first took them to be the signal guns of some 
 ship in distress out at sea, but in the direction of the lake 
 district flashes of fire were seen rising into the air. From 
 a hill near the town still more was seen. Besides the fire, 
 what appeared to be small pebbles were observed to be 
 hurled aloft. It was afterwards found that these sup- 
 posed pebbles were really stones of enormous size that had 
 been thrown up with such violence. All the time in the 
 city the windows rattled in their frames, and it was 
 evident to the citizens that a catastrophe of the most 
 tremendous kind was in progress. It was hoped that no 
 destruction would come thereby to the magnificent Pink 
 and White Terraces. Many of the citizens, full of curiosity, 
 prepared to set off for the scenes of ruin and probably 
 death. 
 
 A few days later one of the New Zealand papers con- 
 tained an account of the first visit of a correspondent to 
 the fatal district. For miles before the actual spot was 
 reached progress was impeded by the thick white dust 
 which covered the ground everywhere. The sides of the 
 mountains had apparently first been cleared of every scrap 
 of vegetation by the floods of boiling water that had raced 
 over them. After the flow of this had ceased the showers 
 of dust had begun. When the correspondent had gained 
 a point from which he could look down on the awful 
 scene, it was a terrible sight that met his eyes. The 
 beautiful lake Rotomahana was gone, and in its place were 
 a whole collection of new craters, each one still venting its 
 
 297 
 
THE TERRACES DESTROYED 
 
 showers of ashes, stones, and smoke. From the heights 
 above, all the new orifices could be seen hard at work — a 
 strange and weird spectacle. As for the terraces, they 
 were clean gone. The Pink Terrace had been overwhelmed 
 and smothered in mud. The White Terrace could not be 
 seen for the dense smoke and steam about it, but it was 
 evident it, too, had been destroyed. One of the loveliest 
 things this planet could show, the wonder and pride of 
 New Zealand, had been wiped out of existence. 
 
 Something like a rough estimate of the number of 
 persons who had perished was by this time possible. Most 
 of them belonged to the native Maori population, as might 
 have been expected. The number of whites who had lost 
 their lives did not exceed about half a dozen, so far as 
 could be ascertained. Of the natives, nearly a hundred 
 had been sacrificed. That the destruction of life was not 
 far greater was due to the scanty population of the dis- 
 trict, but it was easy to see that those who had perished 
 had had no chance whatever of escaping. The outburst 
 was so sudden and so overwhelming in its character that it 
 was impossible for many of those on the spot to get clear 
 away. 
 
 The destruction of property and lands was on a much 
 greater scale. A paragraph from the Lyttleton Times may 
 be quoted : 
 
 " The ruin by mud . . . embraces the whole strip of 
 country between the shore of Lake Rotorua nearest to 
 Tarawera and as far as Taheke at the one end, and about 
 two miles beyond the Wairoa road at the other end. All 
 the Bush within this area has been stripped of foliage, and 
 may die ; but the undergrowth will probably break into 
 
 298 
 
A SCENE OF DESOLATION 
 
 leaf again, and become as luxuriant as ever. The loss 
 from the destruction of the terraces — if, as we cannot but 
 fear, they are gone — is simply incalculable. A marvel 
 which was without parallel on the earth has been swept 
 away, and even if ever replaced by the same agencies work- 
 ing in siliceous strata (and this is improbable), a long 
 geological period would be necessary for their reproduc- 
 tion. The eruptions now in progress are attended by 
 frequent earthquakes. Three were felt while we were in 
 camp, and two during the four hours spent on the dust- 
 hills around Rotomahana. One was of such violence that 
 the swaying of the hill we were standing on was visible to 
 the eye.'" 
 
 Farther afield, too, the spectacle was a melancholy one. 
 The roads and tracks had in many cases been quite 
 blotted out by the rain of white dust as fine as flour. 
 Lovely hill -slopes, till now green with foliage or with 
 bright emerald ferns, were mere expanses of dust or of 
 mud, too ugly to contemplate. Crops had been utterly 
 destroyed, and acres upon acres of fertile field and garden 
 had been rendered desert by the all-devouring mud. And 
 it was not only the vegetable kingdom that had suffered : 
 all the ponds and streams and springs had dried up or 
 been overwhelmed, and the animals were likely to die in 
 their thousands for want of water. The creatures of Bush 
 and mountain-side were in a terrible plight. The wild 
 pigs were "running about with hair torn off their backs 
 by the pelting of volcanic mud. 1 '' Some horses were 
 observed on a ledge of rock a thousand feet high ; they had 
 scrambled up and fallen there in their endeavours to find 
 water, and they were quite unable to get up or down again. 
 
 299 
 
AN EXPLORING PARTY 
 
 We may follow an exploring party that made its way 
 to the Tarawera locality soon after the catastrophe. 
 " Leaving the trap at the Rotokaha bridge, we placed 
 our tents and heavy luggage on the back of a horse, and 
 our guide proceeded to guess his way along the hill-side. 
 This was ticklish work, as the track was completely 
 obliterated with mud. The hill descends abruptly to the 
 lake, so that a slip would have sent the horse and its 
 burden headlong into the lake, a hundred feet below. . . . 
 Here tents were pitched, a roaring fire was lit, and we 
 made ourselves as comfortable as possible. The night 
 passed with no further excitement than three slight 
 earthquake shocks and the disturbing sounds of distant 
 concussions, like the rattling of musketry, and the roar of 
 the escaping steam. To discern whence these wild noises 
 proceeded was to be our mission on the morrow, and 
 having breakfasted, we set out on our uncertain and ad- 
 venturous expedition. At every step our boots went 
 ankle deep, and sometimes we sank to the knee. Four 
 new craters, similar in character to the one first noticed, 
 had broken into eruption. The largest of these volcanoes 
 displayed great energy ; its side was torn out, and from 
 several points of activity within the crater explosions 
 occurred every few minutes, driving stones high into the 
 air. Heavy masses of steam and black smoke directed 
 the way unmistakably to the high hill overlooking 
 Rotomahana, and pushing forward, we soon surmounted 
 the last peak, and stood looking down upon the most 
 extraordinary spectacle imagination can conceive." The 
 whole extent of the lake was filled with belching craters 
 or steaming geysers. The lake, if it had not disappeared 
 
 300 
 
DR. HECTOR'S FIGURES 
 
 altogether, had become merely a series of boiling caldrons. 
 Dr. Hector, the Government Surveyor, who presently 
 visited the scene, is more explicit, and gives certain 
 remarkable figures. He says that the huge portion blown 
 out of the side of Tarawera measured fully two thousand 
 feet in length by five hundred feet in average width, 
 whilst the depth of this appalling chasm varied between 
 two hundred and five hundred feet. There was no lava, 
 but the discharges of mud, stones, steam, ashes, and dust 
 were enormous, and continued for days. The pillar of 
 steam that crowned the mountain he estimates as being 
 twelve thousand feet high. This portentous column could 
 be clearly seen at a distance of a hundred and fifty miles 
 from the hills in Taranaki. 
 
 Many were the stories of hairbreadth escapes, of pitiful 
 losses, of notable heroisms that were told by the survivors. 
 Amongst the natives killed were two female Maori guides 
 to the locality and its wonders. They were known as 
 Kate and Sophie, and are mentioned by the distinguished 
 historian Froude in his "Oceana." The only other 
 English family to suffer death by the eruption, besides 
 the Hazards and Mr. Bainbridge, already spoken of, lived 
 on the other side of the mountain, at Mount Edgecumbe. 
 
 One of the earliest and pluckiest of the outsiders who 
 came to the rescue was Mr. Vogan, the newspaper repre- 
 sentative, whose words have been quoted above. With 
 him went Messrs. Douglas and Robertson. An attempt 
 was made to penetrate into the very heart of the area, 
 where most human beings had been overwhelmed. The 
 difficulties and dangers became too great for the rest of 
 the party, but Mr. Vogan continued on his way. He was 
 
 301 
 
BURIED ALIVE 
 
 one of those who helped to find and dig out a man whose 
 story was extraordinary, a Maori named Tuhuto, who 
 professed to be a wise man, or soothsayer. A little while 
 before the outbreak of the eruption this man had 
 quarrelled with his neighbours, and had made a prediction 
 that the mountain was about to burst forth into fire, and 
 that the people of the district would be destroyed. What 
 the neighbours must have thought w T hen the eruption did 
 begin it is not hard to guess. Anyhow, Tuhuto, though 
 a necromancer, was unable to save himself from the fate 
 of which he had warned others, and he was one of those 
 buried under the mud torrents and showers. At the end 
 of four days Mr. Vogan and other rescuers came upon his 
 cabin, and there, buried beneath its ruins, was the sooth- 
 sayer himself. He was alive still, wonderful to relate. 
 His escape, after all he had gone through and after so 
 long an entombment, was the most marvellous of all those 
 recorded in connection with the disastrous outburst of 
 Tarawera. 
 
 302 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 AN ASCENT OF ACONCAGUA 
 
 Sir Martin Conway, a distinguished mountaineer, goes to attack 
 Aconcagua in the Andes — The Baths of Inca — The Horcones 
 Valley — Base camp made there — Reconnoitring hy the two 
 Swiss guides — Start in the morning — Easy zigzag path at 
 first — The glare of the sun — Violent headaches — Tents pitched 
 on a shelf — Miserable afternoon — Start again at six next 
 morning — A porter ill — Left behind — Loose stuff and a toilsome 
 climb — Supposed camp of Fitzgerald reached — Bivouac for the 
 night — The guide Pellissier ill — Whooping-cough for all — A 
 grand sunset — A very early start next day — Climbing with a 
 lantern — Cold intense — A view of the summit rocks in the 
 distance — Hours of terrible toil — Breathing now excessively 
 difficult — Twenty-one thousand feet — Pellissier forced to return 
 — Master and the other guide, Maquignaz, go on alone — A little 
 food in a gully — A gallant push on — " Argentina at our feet V 
 — Still another ridge — A knife-edge — A drop of two miles on 
 one side — The victory gained — Twenty-three thousand one 
 hundred feet — Hasty gaze around — Then the descent — The 
 screes looser than ever — Tent reached — Pellissier in a most 
 serious state — Descent at once continued — Sick porter picked 
 up — Baggage pitched headlong down a gully — Base camp 
 reached at last — Food and a cordial from the Baths — A night in 
 a warm tent — Mules arrive — Start for the Baths of Inca — A big 
 gale raging on the top of the mountain — Only just in time — 
 Exciting crossing of a torrent — A second stream crossed by a 
 snow arch — Back at the Baths, after an absence of five and a 
 half days — Surprise of everybody — Congratulations — Ultimate 
 recovery of Pellissier. 
 
 Few equals, and no superior, in mountaineering has our 
 generation seen to Sir Martin Conway, the well-known 
 
 303 
 
A DISTINGUISHED MOUNTAINEER 
 
 Slade Professor of Fine Art in the University of Cambridge. 
 This veteran climber has attacked most of the big mountain 
 ranges of the globe — Alps, Himalayas, Karakorams, Andes 
 — to say nothing of his exploits in Spitzbergen and other 
 districts. Not least among his notable achievements stands 
 that of ascending Aconcagua, the well-known Andean peak 
 rearing itself to the stupendous height of more than 
 twenty-three thousand feet. His adventures on the occa- 
 sion, and the brilliant triumph with which they were 
 accompanied, make a story of no ordinary interest. 
 
 The mountain in question is best approached by the 
 Horcones Valley, a wide defile running at right angles 
 to the main pass over the Andes. He was fortunate 
 enough to find an excellent base, or headquarters, for his 
 operations at the Baths of Inca, an establishment kept by 
 an enterprising British gentleman, Dr. Cotton. To this 
 place Sir Martin made his way, accompanied by two 
 famous Swiss guides, Maquignaz and Pellissier. These 
 worthy fellows were getting stale, however, and very 
 homesick, while the explorer himself was fresh and most 
 eager for the attack on the barely conquered peak. 
 While Sir Martin surveyed the enormous mountain mass 
 from below, and endeavoured to gain some notion of 
 its architecture, his men made an ascent to the camp 
 of Mr. Fitzgerald, who had made a gallant attack at an 
 earlier date, and whose guide had actually reached the 
 summit. The guides returned with the news that they 
 had found the spot, that it was situated at an elevation 
 of sixteen thousand feet, and that the way to it was easy. 
 The main difficulty would be found to be the rarefied air 
 they would have to breathe for a considerable time. They 
 
 304 
 
EARLY MORNING START 
 
 all watched the superb sunset that followed, eagerly 
 anticipating the morrow's start. " The red of sunset, 11 
 Sir Martin finely says, " beautifies every mountain, but 
 when it falls on cliffs of a rich individual tint, such as the 
 Dolomites, or the beautiful limestone peaks of central 
 Spitzbergen, or these volcanic crags, the glow that pours 
 from them can be suggested by no pigment in the world. 
 It is like the live core of a volcano." 
 
 At half-past six on the morning of December 5, 1898, 
 the party of five made their actual start from the base 
 camp. Besides the Swiss guides there were two porters, 
 one of them, named Anacleto, a most active and enthu- 
 siastic fellow. The sun was still hidden behind the 
 mountains, and the climbers were glad to keep up a 
 good pace in the chill air. For a time the way was 
 quite easy, up a zigzag path, and the party made good 
 headway, only halting for a time to indulge in a sacrifice 
 of tobacco to the God of Day, whose beams now began 
 to show themselves. Then on, up a hard snow slope, 
 where a little step-cutting had to be done. But though 
 the ascent was thus far easy enough, the climbers soon 
 began to suffer from the terrible glare of the scorching 
 sun. The sun, indeed, presently proved too much for 
 them : every man suffered from violent headache ; and 
 when, about noon, a halt was made on a little platform 
 that had been reached, the labour of setting up the 
 three tents was troublesome to a degree, and tried the 
 temper of everybody except Anacleto. The second porter 
 was already done up, and broke down altogether. 
 
 Into their tents the men crept for shelter from the 
 terrible sun, but in vain : the canvas brought no relief, 
 
 305 U 
 
VARYING TEMPERATURE 
 
 and a miserable afternoon was spent, Sir Martin himself 
 able to do nothing save watch the clouds in silent 
 wretchedness. The view from the spot was surpassingly 
 grand, but no one had an eye for it ; they were far too 
 prostrate for that. At last, after what seemed a day 
 of interminable length, the sun fell behind the mountains, 
 the air became cool again, and the throbbing heads were 
 relieved. Happy, the climbers came out of their tents, 
 till, after a short half-hour, the cold drove them in again. 
 A supper of soup and biscuits and chocolate preluded the 
 creeping into the fur bags for the night. 
 
 After a cool but not distressing night, Sir Martin 
 was aroused at six and given a bowl of hot soup. The 
 temperature was at that hour fourteen degrees Fahrenheit ; 
 it had not been below six degrees all the night. Unluckily, 
 the second porter was by this time too ill to proceed, and 
 he had to be left behind with one of the tents. A start 
 was made at seven, cold blasts blowing. As the party 
 was now one man short, each of the remainder had a 
 bigger share of the burdens to carry. Food for three days 
 was taken, together with the sleeping-bags, the oil-stove, 
 and other things. The climb was heavy from the outset 
 — up a slope of loose stones. Every five minutes it was 
 absolutely necessary to stop to draw breath. The giving 
 way of the footsteps was an even more trying thing, 
 bringing temporary giddiness to the head at each slip. 
 The Professor believes that at high levels nothing more 
 toilsome can be met with by a climber than such slopes 
 of screes as those of Aconcagua. The upward progress 
 on that occasion was, he declares, " absolute floundering." 
 With the slipping back, each man was called upon to do 
 
 306 
 
A TOILSOME CLIMB 
 
 the equivalent of fifteen hundred feet for every thousand 
 feet of height he climbed. Anacleto was by far the best 
 man at the work, being in capital condition and accus- 
 tomed to these screes. 
 
 How long this slope of loose stuff went on the party 
 hardly knew : it seemed almost interminable ; and when 
 another rock shelf was reached, at the head of a deep 
 gully, the situation did not improve. From that point 
 right away up to the base of the very summit peak the 
 slope of loose debris could be seen running on. Up still 
 higher the four mounted, and at length they came to a 
 place they took to be that used by Fitzgerald for a camp- 
 ing-ground on his ascent. The stones seemed as if they 
 had been arranged by human hands, and an old rag was 
 seen caught in a chink. The party accordingly pitched 
 their tents. Anacleto was given permission to return to 
 the man in the lower tent, there to await the coming of 
 the others from the mountain-top next day. The lively 
 fellow, instead of at once descending, began in his 
 exuberance of spirits to climb still higher. Presently 
 he returned, telling his comrades that he had found 
 Fitzgerald's camp not far away. But the tents were 
 pitched, and Sir Martin would not move. Pellissier, more- 
 over, was suffering from some unusual form of mountain 
 sickness. So the party decided to stay where they were, 
 at an elevation of about eighteen thousand five hundred 
 feet. 
 
 A cold wind kept the air cool, and the sun was not 
 so injurious as on the previous day, and, moreover, the 
 glare was warded off by rigging the sleeping-bags over- 
 head. But the whooping-cough, from which all had 
 
 307 u 2 
 
THE PACIFIC IN VIEW 
 
 been suffering, grew worse, from the necessity of breathing 
 through the mouth : the nostrils could not admit enough 
 air for them at such an elevation. During the afternoon 
 there was a little fall of snow and some thunder, but the 
 evening proved magnificent. Away in the west a wide 
 stretch of the Pacific was clearly visible. Sir Martin 
 looked for the reflection of the light from its surface, but 
 there was none, strange to say. For three days the 
 climbers had the Pacific in view, but not once was its 
 surface anything but the hue of lead. Only along the 
 horizon line was there any colour, and there ran, as it 
 were, a band of fire, " as if a forest were in flames along 
 the margin of the world. 1 ' But at sunset the thermometer 
 registered fourteen degrees of frost, and the mountaineers 
 were glad to creep into their sleeping-bags — the more so 
 as it was their intention to be up and off again at the 
 early hour of two in the morning. 
 
 The actual start next day was made at half-past three, 
 and, as it fell out, it is to the fact that the start was thus 
 early that Pellissier owed his life. The great question 
 was that of keeping the feet warm. No ordinary foot- 
 gear can keep out the cold at that elevation. Sir Martin 
 himself had on three or four pairs of thick stockings, his 
 boots built specially to accommodate them. The tem- 
 perature was five degrees at the start, but it fell per- 
 ceptibly as higher ground was reached. For an hour or 
 more the way was picked out by the aid of a lantern. By 
 daylight the climbers came in sight of the foot of the 
 final gullies. The Professor estimated that those rocks 
 would be reached in an hour, but he said three hours to 
 his men. When three hours of hard work had passed, 
 
 308 
 
DIFFICULT RESPIRATION 
 
 however, the rocks seemed no nearer. The toil the men 
 underwent along this slope it would be impossible to 
 exaggerate ; " only once did a small patch of snow give 
 momentary relief. ,1 It had become quite clear, moreover, 
 that Pellissier was unable to continue. He suffered from 
 indigestion and internal pains. Yet the worthy fellow 
 was game ; nothing would induce him to go back. But 
 he got more and more behind, and many a halt had to be 
 made till he came up. 
 
 All the three men suffered from the difficulty of breath- 
 ing, and after every slip they had to lie panting on the 
 ground for a space, as wounded men might do. It was 
 hard to keep the lungs satisfied at all with the thin air. 
 It was impossible to let the arms rest against the sides 
 even, as it was necessary to allow the chest full room for 
 expansion. The pain suffered in the hands was fearful, 
 every finger shooting like violent toothache. Yet the 
 Englishman had on gloves that had been found quite 
 warm enough " for the coldest weather of the long Arctic 
 night " ; but at an elevation of over twenty-one thousand 
 feet, the height to which the climbers had now attained, 
 the gloves seemed absolutely useless. It was, of course, 
 not the fault of the gloves themselves, but the impaired 
 circulation of the wearers. 
 
 The sunrise was a grand sight, although, as the climbers 
 stood in the shade of the mountain, they did not see the 
 view to the east ; but, far out on the ocean, they could 
 discern the shadow of Aconcagua's summit. As the sun 
 rose in the heavens the dark line receded across the ocean, 
 touched the land, traversed the intervening country, 
 hastened up the Horcones Valley, till it reached the 
 
 309 
 
GUIDE FORCED TO RETURN 
 
 gazers. " Then, as we raised our eyes to the crags aloft, 
 lo ! the blinding fires of the Sun God himself burning 
 upon the crest and bringing to us the fulness of day !" 
 
 It was seven o'clock when Pellissier with a sad heart 
 declared that he could go no further ; so his comrade 
 Maquignaz took his burden, and the sick man began his 
 lonely descent, on his way back to the tent below. Little 
 did Sir Martin realize the danger really awaiting the 
 guide, and he felt quite sure that Pellissier was capable 
 of making the descent unaided. Of ordinary mountain 
 perils there are indeed none on Aconcagua : not once was 
 it necessary to be roped; it was simply a question of 
 strength and endurance. Sir Martin had climbed, in 
 1892, the Pioneer Peak of the Karakorams, almost as 
 high, but there the task was very different from that 
 entailed by Aconcagua. 
 
 Of the five men who had started the climb, therefore, 
 but two now remained, the Englishman and the Swiss 
 guide Maquignaz. Keeping pretty near together, the 
 couple trudged on, in silence as a rule, except when they 
 said a word of sympathy to each other. It seemed as if 
 the foot of the final rocks would never be reached. " We 
 shall never get there," Maquignaz was at last forced to cry 
 — "never, never, never !" To this Sir Martin replied with 
 words of encouragement. An hour or two passed, and 
 more than one gully was ascended. The debris became at 
 length so loose, the feet sinking as if into sand, that the 
 men had to get upon the rock itself. Presently came 
 another gully, in the side of which was a sort of little 
 cave, and here a halt was made and some food was eaten. 
 From this spot the Professor took a photograph, but 
 
 310 
 
A GALLANT PUSH ON 
 
 afterwards spoiled his negative by making a second ex- 
 posure on the same film — a proof, he says, of the confused 
 state of his head at that elevation. 
 
 The cold had by this time become fearful, while the 
 difficulty of breathing was a continual agony. It was 
 only by the extremest toil that each additional inch was 
 gained. Happily, however, the final ridge of the moun- 
 tain was at hand, and the men were heartened to continue 
 their tremendous struggle. So, leaving everything on the 
 ground, except the little camera, they pushed on. " At 
 last I heard a shout, looked up, and saw Maquignaz a yard 
 or two above my head, standing on the crest of the bed of 
 snow that crowned the arete. In a moment I was beside 
 him, and Argentina lay at our feet !" 
 
 The victory was practically won, but there was still a 
 last bit to be done before the adventurous pair could say 
 they had stood on the very highest point of Aconcagua. 
 A long fine edge reached out for more than a mile to the 
 final summit. It ascended not more than sixty feet or so 
 in the distance, but to make progress along it was no easy 
 matter and not very safe. On the one side the ridge fell 
 away sharply for three hundred feet, while on the other 
 there was a continuous slope of two miles to the glacier 
 far, far below ! The pair attached themselves to the rope, 
 as a justifiable precaution, though not from absolute 
 necessity, and proceeded to balance themselves as best 
 they could on the narrow knife-edge, a stiff wind blowing 
 all the time. A little step-cutting was required, but 
 fortunately not much, seeing that the elevation was one 
 of over twenty-three thousand feet. One or two little 
 humps came in the course of the walk, but at last the firm 
 
 311 
 
VICTORY 
 
 rock was reached, and then a hundred yards or so of 
 scramble over debris placed them on the topmost point , 
 of the mountain. It was a splendid achievement, the 
 result of sheer pluck and endurance, and the men well 
 deserved their triumph. 
 
 In spite of the excessive cold, the Professor took several 
 photographs, spoiling two or three, however, in his forget- 
 fulness and numbness of the senses ; then, as it was evident 
 the increasing wind would soon make the ridge im- 
 practicable, the two set off on their long descent. The 
 view from the summit had been more or less restricted, 
 on account of the clouds in the air. " So, after just one 
 more sweeping gaze around the vast panorama, I turned 
 and made haste to retrace our steps."' 1 
 
 The ridge was crossed safely, the gully reached where 
 they had left their food and one or two articles, and the 
 pair soon found themselves on the loose screes once more. 
 Looser than ever seemed the stones; not only did the 
 feet plunge deep at every step, but often set moving a 
 whole patch of the scree. Sir Martin had never seen 
 screes in such an unstable condition. The men began to 
 be afraid at length that they would start an avalanche 
 of the loose stuff, and become engulfed in it. It was a 
 relief to see the tents down below, though as yet they 
 looked mere specks. But through the glass the two could 
 make out Pellissier. He was moving about, and so they 
 took it he was well, and was preparing soup for their 
 return. 
 
 At the end of two hours and forty minutes from the 
 top, the successful pair reached the tents, shouting their 
 good luck to the sick guide. " I am glad you got up," 
 
 312 
 
SERIOUS STATE OF GUIDE 
 
 returned Pellissier. " I wish I had been with you ; it's a 
 bitter disappointment to come so far and then have to 
 turn back." But Sir Martin soon found, to his great 
 grief, that things had not gone well with the man. His 
 feet were very badly frost-bitten. When Pellissier had 
 reached the tent and had pulled off his boots and stock- 
 ings, he had been horrified to find that both his feet were 
 black from the instep to the toes. That he would lose 
 all his toes the poor fellow had never doubted, a calamity 
 to any man, and absolute ruin to a poor man whose living 
 depended on his power to climb mountains. For five 
 I mortal hours Pellissier had rubbed hard at his toes with 
 snow, only pausing to take breath. Gradually life had 
 begun to return to the frost-bitten limbs, and the pain 
 was awful. Then Anacleto had come, and had rubbed 
 for another hour, while the injured man attended to the 
 soup-making. The worst had been got over, perhaps, 
 but there were still three toes on each foot black, and it 
 was doubtful whether they would ever recover. It was a 
 bad case at the best. 
 
 The condition of things called for an immediate return 
 to the hotel and medical aid, and the leader determined 
 not to stay the night at the camp, for by morning it 
 would be impossible for Pellissier to get on his boots at 
 all ; so the hot soup was eaten, and a start made at once. 
 In forty minutes the four had reached the lower tent, 
 where the second porter was found fast asleep. He was 
 roused, given his share of things to carry, and taken along 
 with the least possible delay. The whooping-coughs of 
 the party made the way quite noisy, but the headaches 
 grew more tolerable at every step downwards. Down one 
 
 313 
 
BASE CAMP REACHED 
 
 gully bundles of baggage were shot unceremoniously. < 
 The lively Anacleto made his master sit on the roll of 
 sleeping-bags; then, attaching a cord to the roll and to 
 his belt, set off at full speed down the snow slope. Of 
 course the rider was often pitched off, and when this ■ 
 occurred and the snow drifted into his neck and up his f 
 sleeves, the porter's delight knew no bounds. 
 
 It was six o'clock in the evening, or less than six hours 
 since the two had left the summit, when the base camp 
 was reached. They had descended ten thousand feet in 
 the six hours. Pellissier was at once put to bed. To the j> 
 delight of the party, a servant arrived with a mule, bring- 
 ing a load of provisions, and, better than all, a bottle of 
 cordial from Dr. Cotton. The drink was shared equally, ! ! 
 and nothing could have come in more usefully, for the f 
 mixture exactly suited the complaint from which every 
 man was suffering. A cheerful night was spent in the 
 big comfortable tent, which was warm, though at the 
 very considerable elevation of thirteen thousand feet f 
 above sea-level. Even Pellissier, in spite of his sufferings f 
 and apprehensions, was in good spirits. | J 
 
 It was in the full glare of the sunshine that the party j 
 awoke next morning, but a glance up at the mountain | : 
 showed that there had come a great change in the f 
 weather. A tremendous gale was seen to be in full blast 
 on the top of Aconcagua. The summit rocks "looked 
 like the teeth of an enormous comb carding a gigantic 
 fleece of wool." Had the mountaineers been still up there, 
 their fate would have been sealed, and they congratulated 
 themselves that they had come down in time. As it 
 proved, the next twelve days were all stormy. Had the 
 
 314 
 
DESCENT CONTINUED 
 
 Professor not been able to seize the opportunity when he 
 did, he would have missed the ascent of Aconcagua 
 altogether — at least, for that year — the time at his dis- 
 posal having run out. Says he: "Such good luck at a 
 critical moment makes amends for a pile of photographic 
 misfortunes." 
 
 By noon the mules arrived, the tents were packed up, 
 and a departure was made. For a long distance the 
 animals floundered through the soft stuff of the moraines ; 
 now and then they had to be unloaded and dug out. 
 Seen from the opposite point of view from that on the 
 ascent, the landscapes assumed quite different aspects. 
 With his instructed eye Sir Martin saw splendours almost 
 everywhere. The view of the neighbouring Almacenes 
 peak particularly impressed him. " Supported by bold 
 buttresses, finely grouped, and crowned above with its 
 glorious cliff, striped in countless beds of many colours, 
 it rises beyond the dark moraine chaos at its foot — a 
 splendid subject for a painter.' 1 At last the grass slopes 
 were gained, and there Anacleto wanted to pitch the 
 camp for the night. He declared the torrent would be so 
 swollen that it would be impossible to cross it. But the 
 Englishman was very desirous of pressing on, and he rode 
 ahead with Anacleto to look at the stream. 
 
 The man was not far wrong : the torrent was in full roar, 
 and the crossing would not be easy. However, the men and 
 their mules plunged in. It was a touch-and-go affair, but 
 luckily the first couple got across all right. When the 
 others came up, a lasso was thrown over and held tightly 
 as an assistance. The first man got over safely, but the 
 next two were swept off. It required the united strength 
 
 315 
 
BACK AT THE BATHS 
 
 of the three to prevent their companions from being 
 carried away to destruction. Sir Martin declares that he 
 never had a more exciting experience. So far well ; but l f 
 there was another torrent yet to be managed. To the 
 delight of the party, there was a natural arch of snow 
 bridging the rushing stream, and by this they crossed, 
 even Pellissier preferring to dismount and walk to risking 
 the ford. The animals were driven across safely. From 
 that spot to the Baths of Inca was an easy ride, and 
 everybody was in high spirits. There was, it is true, a 
 good deal of doubt as to the ultimate fate of the injured 
 guide. He could not now wear boots at all, but sat 
 on his mule, his feet wrapped in rags tied on with 
 string. 
 
 " I am sorry to see you back so soon," were the first 
 words of Dr. Cotton, as he greeted the return of the 
 travellers, " but I suppose you concluded that the weather 
 was broken." 
 
 To this Sir Martin Conway answered cheerfully : 
 
 "Not at all. We have come back because we have 
 accomplished the ascent." 
 
 The good doctor could scarce believe his ears. The 
 party had been away from his house for only five days and 
 a half, and it seemed incredible that they should have 
 really been to the very top of the stupendous mountain. 
 
 Of course, the news soon flew through the hotel, and 
 many were the congratulations the mountaineering party 
 received. Telegrams were sent to Valparaiso, and many 
 messages of further congratulation came in -later on. 
 
 " The evening that followed was a happy one ; not till 
 the small hours did we retire to rest." 
 
 316 
 
RECOVERY OF PELLISSIER 
 
 Every reader will rejoice to learn that the gallant but 
 unfortunate Pellissier, after a tedious time of it, in the end 
 made a complete recovery, hardly less to his employer's 
 delight than to his own. 
 
 * [From {t Aconcagua and Tierra del Fuego," by Sir Martin 
 Conway. Cassell and Co., 1902. The compiler desires to offer his 
 grateful thanks to the author and the publishers for their kind 
 permission accorded.] 
 
 317 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE ERUPTION OF MONT PELEE 
 
 A startling telegram— West Indian town of St. Pierre totally 
 destroyed by a volcanic eruption — Martinique and its history — 
 Mont Pel£e its highest peak — The mountains all volcanic, hut 
 supposed to be now extinct — The town of St. Pierre, five miles 
 away — Further news of eruption — A sugar factory destroyed — 
 The French captain and his report — "A rain of fire" — St. 
 Pierre overwhelmed by mud, hot ashes, lava — Destruction 
 of vessels in the harbour — Volcano on neighbouring island of 
 St. Vincent follows suit — Thirty survivors from Martinique 
 taken off by the Suchet— Terrible experiences of the Boddam 
 steamship — Full story of the catastrophe gradually learnt — 
 First, a stream of boiling mud from the crater — In three 
 minutes travels five miles to the sea — A big wave — Frightful 
 avalanche of fire upon St Pierre — Its awful suddenness — No 
 time for escape — Storm of thunder and lightning next day — 
 Mud, steam, ashes, lava — Fissures opened everywhere — Large 
 new crater formed near the sea — Alarm at Fort de France, the 
 capital — St. Vincent now in most violent eruption — Seven 
 different craters seen in Martinique — Five thousand homeless 
 and terror-stricken people up-country — Relief measures — The 
 town at last entered — Hardly a bit of woven fabric left in the place 
 — Houses nearly all fallen — Looters caught — Islanders disposed 
 to lynch them — Mont Pel£e now less active — Two men go to 
 mountain to explore a fortnight after — A difficult and dangerous 
 business — Crater three hundred yards across — Peak above 
 crumbling and ready to fall into abyss— Showers of ashes, 
 stones, sulphur — A hasty retreat — Narrow escape of one of the 
 explorers — Parallel between St. Pierre in 1902 and Pompeii in 
 1879. 
 
 The newspapers of May 9, 1902, contained a telegram 
 from the West Indies, stating that the town of St. Pierre, 
 
 318 
 
MARTINIQUE 
 
 in the island of Martinique, had been destroyed by a 
 volcanic eruption. A sufficiently startling announcement 
 from the first it was, but it was not till later on that the 
 appalling magnitude of the catastrophe was realized by the 
 world at large. 
 
 Martinique was one of the earliest settled of the French 
 West Indian possessions, and towns and villages were 
 beginning to spring up as far back as the seventeenth 
 century. The area of the island is nearly three hundred 
 square miles; its extreme length is about ninety miles, 
 with an average breadth of twenty miles. The whole 
 island is more or less filled with mountain masses, many of 
 the hills bold and some rugged in character. From the 
 very shore the ground begins to rise into miniature 
 heights, and farther back these increase in elevation, till 
 at last the mountains culminate in the peak of Mont 
 Pelee, the loftiest of the range, which runs up to a height 
 of between four and five thousand feet above the sea. The 
 Pi tons of Carbet are about four thousand feet high. 
 These mountains are all of volcanic character, but there 
 had been no eruption of any of them within historic 
 memory save a small one to be mentioned presently. 
 
 The largest and the chief commercially of the Mar- 
 tinique towns was St. Pierre, though it was not the official 
 capital. In 1902 it contained twenty thousand inhabi- 
 tants, or, including the picturesque and populous suburbs, 
 thirty-six thousand. It possessed a harbour, and there 
 was a good deal of trade done at the port. The country 
 around is delightful for the most part, and the vicinity 
 was dotted with residences, which on their terraces pre- 
 sented a pretty sight from the sea. 
 
 319 
 
ERUPTION OF MONT PELEE 
 
 The people of St. Pierre were in no way disturbed by t 
 the near neighbourhood of Mont Pelee, and they laughed 
 at the notion of any danger coming from the peak. It 
 was an extinct volcano, they said. And so the folks of 
 the quaint, pleasure-loving little city were quite easy in 
 their minds, so far as their volcano went. What a terrible 
 awakening they were to receive they little guessed. 
 
 A startling message from the Governor of Martinique 
 to Paris followed quickly on the heels of the first telegram. 
 He announced that the eruption of Mont Pele'e still con- 
 tinued, and had already done great damage. An enormous 
 stream of boiling mud had rapidly made its way towards 
 the city, and had overwhelmed a large sugar factory. 
 Three-and-twenty people were missing. Eruptions were 
 going on in other parts of the West Indies, and the area 
 affected was a wide one. After that message there was 
 silence for a short time. 
 
 The next news of any importance and definiteness came 
 from Captain le Bris, of the French cruiser Suchet, and he 
 reported that he had been in the neighbourhood of the har- 
 bour of St. Pierre, that the town had been engulfed by a 
 torrent of mud, and had been overwhelmed by a " rain of 
 fire." The captain had brought away thirty survivors whom 
 he found ; the remainder of the inhabitants were believed to 
 have perished. The atmosphere was black with dust, and it 
 was impossible to see anything of the place. A terrible 
 scene had been witnessed in the harbour. Many, if not 
 all, of the vessels there had been overwhelmed by the fire. 
 The Roraima steamer had been burnt ; an explosion had 
 followed, and every soul on board had perished. The 
 Roddam, another vessel, had fared almost as badly, having 
 
 320 
 
FURTHER NEWS OF ERUPTION 
 
 lost seventeen men of its crew. Thus alarming were the 
 early reports from the ill-fated neighbourhood of Mont 
 Pelee. 
 
 When the history of the Martinique volcano came to be 
 inquired into, it appeared that up to the year 1851 the 
 islanders had believed it to be extinct, though the whole 
 district was well known to be volcanic, and many earth- 
 quakes had occurred from time to time. In the year 1848, 
 for instance, no fewer than two hundred shocks were felt 
 in the island in the course of a single twelvemonth. In 
 the year 1851, however, a slight eruption took place from 
 the Mont Pelee crater, but the incident was regarded as 
 one of little importance, and, indeed, as the last nicker of 
 a dying volcano. After that the people of Martinique 
 ceased to be in the least apprehensive about it. 
 
 The world was still more amazed when a volcano on the 
 neighbouring island of St. Vincent, which had shown signs 
 of uneasiness for several days, suddenly broke out into 
 violent convulsions, in sympathy, the scientific people 
 said, with Mont Pelee. A British steamer, the Ocean 
 Traveller, reported that it had been impossible to make 
 a landing on St. Vincent on account of the tremendous 
 £ain of sand that darkened the air for miles around. 
 Terror began to spread to the other West Indian islands. 
 
 The escape of the Roddam from the harbour of St. 
 Pierre has been mentioned. This vessel reached the 
 island of St. Lucia after a miraculous escape, but so 
 damaged that it hardly bore any likeness to its former 
 self. The captain was badly burnt, the injuries covering 
 almost his whole body. With him was the shipping 
 agent, who almost alone of those on board had escaped 
 
 321 x 
 
SURVIVORS' TALE OF TERROR 
 
 injury. The captain supplied further information as to 
 the appalling visitation on St. Pierre. "He saw a tre- 
 mendous cloud of smoke, glowing with live cinders, 
 rushing with terrific rapidity over the town and port. 
 The former in an instant was completely enveloped in 
 a sheet of flame, which rained fire on board the steamer. 
 The agent had just time to climb on board when his boat 
 disappeared. Several men of the Roddarrfs crew were i 
 quickly scorched to death. By almost superhuman efforts 
 the cable was slipped, and, steam being still up, the vessel 
 backed out from the shore, and arrived at St. Lucia in 
 nine hours. Ten of the RoddarrCs crew were lying dead, 
 having been burnt out of all human semblance, among 
 the black ashes which covered the deck to a depth of six ! 
 inches. Two more subsequently died. The burning 
 cinders continued to fall on the ship for six miles after 
 she was under way." 
 
 Fuller reports from the captain of the French cruiser 
 Suchet next came to hand. The few survivors, too, began 
 to tell the tale of terror. Reduced to something like a 
 connected story, the account ran pretty much as follows : 
 The mountain had burst into eruption with extraordinary 
 suddenness. A huge stream of boiling mud had rushed 
 over the lip of the crater and down into the valley below. 
 In a moment this was running as a wide river, some three 
 hundred yards broad, travelling with inconceivable rapidity 
 towards the sea, five miles away. In its mad course the 
 boiling mud overwhelmed a sugar factory, and one hundred 
 and fifty persons perished instantly. In three minutes all 
 was over. In that short space of time the mud had worked 
 its destruction on a part of the town, and had reached the 
 
 322 
 
Stereo copyright Underwood & U. London &■ Xew York 
 
 A Terrible Volcanic Explosion, Mont Pelee 
 
DESTRUCTION OF VESSELS 
 
 sea. On striking the waves it drove back the waters for a 
 hundred yards, and the huge returning wave swamped the 
 lower portion of the shore side of St. Pierre. 
 
 But this was far from being all. The mountain ex- 
 ploded with deafening detonations, like the sound of a 
 battery of great guns. Then glowing ashes, dust, and 
 sand shot forth with prodigious force, and travelled in 
 all directions. This frightful pall of ashes and fire fell 
 upon the doomed town in a few minutes, coming, indeed, 
 with a suddenness that left not the least opportunity of 
 escape. A vast sea of glowing ashes poured down on the 
 place like a monstrous cataract of fire, while clouds of 
 steam thickened the air. Eighteen vessels in the harbour 
 sank in a moment, and others were damaged, as we have 
 seen. What actually took place in the town itself be- 
 neath that terrific rain of fire none could say, for not 
 a soul escaped of those who were in the thick of it. A 
 man of the Suchefs crew, however, ventured ashore a 
 little way, groping about as best he could. He reported 
 that the streets were paved with dead ; that every body 
 was quite naked ; that most of the houses had fallen ; 
 and that he saw not one person alive. 
 
 On the following day there was a storm of thunder 
 and lightning of the most terrific character, the mountain 
 still pouring forth its mud, its steam, its lava, and ashes 
 the while. Then at night there was a wonderful display 
 of the aurora borealis. Shocks of earthquake were felt 
 in many places in Martinique and the surrounding area. 
 Fissures opened everywhere, each pouring out its volumes 
 of steam and smoke. One of the largest of these fissures 
 was formed quite close to the sea, at a distance of fully 
 
 323 x 2 
 
ST. VINCENT IN ERUPTION 
 
 five miles from the mountain itself and its crater. The 
 combination of eruption, storm, and earthquake was an 
 appalling one, the like of which, happily, does not often 
 visit our planet. 
 
 Meanwhile the inhabitants of Fort de France, the 
 official capital of Martinique, were becoming seriously 
 alarmed, although it was at a considerable distance from 
 the burning mountain. There, too, the sky grew dark, 
 the sea receded to a distance of sixty to ninety feet, for 
 a quarter of an hour there fell on the town a hail of 
 stones as large as walnuts, and fissures kept opening in 
 the ground every moment. The neighbouring island of 
 St. Vincent was suffering even more terribly from its own 
 volcano. " The mountain had been in eruption for nine 
 consecutive mornings ; the thunder and lightning were so 
 terrible that soon the din increased to a continuous roar. 
 Vast columns of smoke rose over the mountain, becoming 
 denser and denser. Scoria-like hail, changing later into 
 a fine dust, fell upon all the estates in the vicinity of the 
 mountain, destroying a vast amount of property. ,, As 
 in Martinique, so in St. Vincent, earthquakes accom- 
 panied the eruptions, and crevasses opened in various 
 places. 
 
 The great fissure near the sea in Martinique presently 
 became a veritable crater, belching out smoke, steam, and 
 ashes. Though no one had been able as yet to explore 
 the country, no fewer than seven different craters could 
 now be seen in different parts. Great streams of lava 
 made their way across the face of the land and to the 
 sea, reducing the whole area over which they travelled to 
 
 324 
 
RELIEF MEASURES 
 
 a desolation. All this time the outlying country was full 
 of affrighted folk who had escaped destruction. Few of 
 these were from St. Pierre itself, for scarcely a soul sur- 
 vived there. The fugitives were mostly people from the 
 country villages and the outlying hamlets and farms. It 
 was calculated that there were some five thousand alto- 
 gether. Many of them made for Fort de France to seek 
 shelter and food. 
 
 Of course, relief measures were taken by the authorities 
 of the neighbouring districts. The French Government 
 promptly voted a large sum of money, and subscriptions 
 flowed in from nearly every civilized country, the United 
 States and Great Britain taking, perhaps, the leading part 
 in the good work. As the town of St. Pierre became 
 accessible, it was visited by large numbers of people, and 
 an organized system of operations was set on foot. It was 
 found to be impossible to bury the bodies, and it was 
 decided to cremate all those found in the streets. The 
 full tale of destruction was made clear as the work 
 proceeded. Almost every particle of textile material in 
 the place was found burnt to a cinder. In the hospital 
 the iron bedsteads were twisted out of shape, showing the 
 intensity of the heat. The buildings were in nearly every 
 case thrown down, or seriously damaged. A vigilance 
 committee was organized to protect the property in the 
 town, for even at such a time several looters were carrying 
 on their disgusting operations. More than one man was 
 found prowling among the heaps of the dead, his pockets 
 stuffed full of gold. A gang of these wretches was seized 
 and carried to Fort de France. So great was the public 
 
 325 
 
EXPLORING MONT PELEE 
 
 indignation there, that the authorities had a good deal 
 of trouble to prevent the citizens from lynching the 
 marauders on the spot. Within a week or two such 
 progress was made in clearing the city, that here and 
 there rebuilding operations were commenced. Mont Pelee 
 was still smoking, but it was believed that it had spent 
 its fury. 
 
 The first person to attempt a visit to the mountain 
 itself was M. Clerc, a member of the Colonial Legislature. 
 With him went M. Chancele, chief engineer of the sugar 
 works, which had been one of the first things in the island 
 to be overwhelmed. It was the 23rd of May when 
 this plucky pair set off on their round of exploration, 
 about a fortnight after the worst period of the eruptions. 
 Gradually the two men approached the foot of the 
 mountain, and, in spite of difficulties and dangers, they 
 managed to reach a height of nearly four thousand feet. 
 From their position they were able to get a good view 
 of the principal crater, and it appeared to be three or 
 four hundred yards across. The hole was not on the 
 summit of the mountain, but some little way down 
 the side. Overhanging the crater was the peak itself, 
 which would, of course, have afforded a still better view ; 
 but it had been so undermined and eaten away, that 
 it seemed likely at any moment to crumble into dust and 
 fall into the abyss below. 
 
 The heat was still intense, and every drop of water 
 had disappeared from the district. A large pond which 
 had been there was found to be completely dried up. 
 The air seemed to be full of electricity; indeed, the 
 
 326 
 
A HASTY RETREAT 
 
 electric commotions were everywhere and almost un- 
 ceasing. Stones and ashes fell constantly, and large pieces 
 of sulphur were mixed with the stones. Nothing could 
 well be more appalling than the aspect of the country 
 around. The former state of the mountain and its 
 surroundings had been sufficiently indicated by its name 
 — pelee, or " peeled,'" for Mont Pelee means the " bare 
 mountain." More than ever did the volcanic peak now 
 deserve its appellation. Far and wide was naught but 
 a scene of desolation. 
 
 As the explorers were looking on, the crater suddenly 
 began to be more active, and showers of stones and hot 
 ashes were shot up into the air. It was necessary to 
 beat a retreat at once, leaving all specimens and every- 
 thing that they had gathered behind. Their flight was 
 both difficult and dangerous, and they might well have 
 paid the penalty of their curiosity, as did Pliny of old, 
 on the occasion of the memorable eruption of Vesuvius 
 in the first century of our era. The rain of ashes was 
 blinding, and it was only by the greatest good fortune 
 that the two men got away safe from the mountain. 
 Even when they supposed themselves out of danger a 
 great stone fell close to M. Chancele, and he narrowly 
 escaped being crushed under it. The fate of St. Pierre 
 in the year 1902 resembled in many ways that of Pompeii 
 in a.d. 79, when it was overwhelmed by the disastrous 
 eruption of Vesuvius. Both cities were mainly destroyed by 
 hot ashes. In both cases the suddenness of the catastrophe 
 prevented the escape of the inhabitants. It is worth 
 noting, too, that the story of Mont Pelee bears a remark- 
 
 327 
 
ST. PIERRE LIKE POMPEII 
 
 able resemblance to that of Vesuvius in 1872, as those 
 readers who have perused Chapter XXIII. of this volume 
 will hardly have failed to observe. The main features 
 of the outburst were similar, both in their nature and 
 in the order of their occurrence. 
 
 THE END 
 
 7 2 I . I 
 
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