sting-places and began to thunder down the hill.
At first they moved slowly, throwing up the hard snow around them as the
prow of a ship throws foam. Then gathering momentum, they sprang into
the air with leaps such as those of shells ricocheting upon water, till
in the end, singing and hurtling, many of them rushed past and even over
us to vanish far beyond. Some indeed struck our little mountain with the
force of shot fired from the great guns of a battle-ship, and shattered
there, or if they fell upon its side, tore away tons of rock and passed
with them into the chasm like a meteor surrounded by its satellites.
Indeed, no bombardment devised and directed by man could have been half
so terrible or, had there been anything to destroy, half so destructive.

The scene was appalling in its unchained and resistless might evolved
suddenly from the completest calm. There in the lap of the quiet
mountains, looked down upon by the peaceful, tender sky, the powers
hidden in the breast of Nature were suddenly set free, and, companioned
by whirlwinds and all the terrifying majesty of sound, loosed upon the
heads of us two human atoms.

At the first rush of snow we had leapt back behind our protecting peak
and, lying at full length upon the ground, gripped it and clung there,
fearing lest the wind should whirl us to the abyss. Long ago our tent
had gone like a dead leaf in an autumn gale, and at times it seemed as
if we must follow.

The boulders hurtled over and past us; one of them, fell full upon the
little peak, shattering its crest and bursting into fragments, which
fled away, each singing its own wild song. We were not touched, but
when we looked behind us it was to see the yak, which had risen in its
terror, lying dead and headless. Then in our fear we lay still, waiting
for the end, and wondering dimly whether we should be buried in the
surging snow or swept away with the hill, or crushed by the flying
rocks, or lifted and lost in the hurricane.

How long did it last? We never knew. It may have been ten minutes or
two hours, for in such a scene time loses its proportion. Only we became
aware that the wind had fallen, while the noise of grinding snow and
hurtling boulders ceased. Very cautiously we gained our feet and looked.

In front of us was sheer mountain side, for a depth of over two miles,
the width of about a thousand yards, which had been covered with many
feet of snow, was now bare rock. Piled up against the