the fathomless chasms below.
Notwithstanding this, we went on and on, until it would have been as
dangerous to turn back as to go forward.

I was taking the lead, when, on turning an angle of a rock, I saw spread
out before me a valley so broad that my eye could scarcely reach the
opposite side. Flowing through it were numerous streams; a large lake,
many miles in extent, occupied its centre; while hills and forests
dotted it in all directions. But, as I looked below, I saw a precipice
of fearful depth, which it would be impossible to descend.

I had observed, as I came by, a steep slope leading upwards on our
right, thickly covered with snow. I thought, however, that it might
afford us a way by which, having ascended it, we could reach a part of
the mountain from whence to descend with less risk than from that on
which we now stood, so I shouted to my companions to take it. Sergeant
Custis heard me, and we mounted together, expecting that Manley would
follow.

I looked round to speak to him, when what was my horror to see him
gliding rapidly down, surrounded by a vast mass of crumbling snow,
towards the edge of the precipice which I have just mentioned! My heart
sank within me. To render him any assistance was impossible; in a few
minutes he would be dashed to pieces. I should have been horrified to
see any human being in so fearful a predicament; but he was my friend,
the first I had ever possessed. I thought, also, of the grief the news
of his death would cause my sweet sister Clarice. How should I be able
to tell her of it? These thoughts flashed across my mind.

Close to the very edge of the precipice, a mass of jagged rock stood
out. Already Manley had disappeared, and the snow went thundering down.
For a moment I felt inclined to let myself glide down also. Just then
I heard a voice; it was Manley shouting out to us not to attempt to come
to his rescue. When about to be hurled over the edge of the precipice,
he had clutched the jutting rock, and held on for his life, while the
snow went rushing by under his feet. He waited until it had ceased to
fall, and then, clutching the sides of the rock, by a powerful effort
slowly worked himself upward until at last he gained the firmer part of
the snow. Still, he several times cried out to us not to attempt to
join him, lest our united weight might again set the mass in motion.

"I have indeed been mercifully preserved," he said, when, having
rejoined