d--and, falling suddenly, had communicated his
misfortune to me through the agency of the rope. The alpenstock was
jerked violently out of his hand, and went glissading down the snow for
a distance of a hundred yards at least. It stopped, however, in a place
that fortunately was accessible.

The snow was now no longer in the same condition as in the early
morning, the heat, though temperate, being sufficient to soften the
crust, and render walking very laborious; and as we reached the top of
the incline, where the expedition nearly came to an abrupt termination,
and down which we had expected to glissade, we found the snow so soft
that we sank in it to the knee and occasionally to the waist.
Floundering along, and with an occasional grumble at a style of work
for which we had not bargained, we slowly and gradually descended this
unlucky slope, till its foot was reached. Parched and weary we went on,
keeping a sharp look out for the wine we had left in the snow. "There it
is!" "No! that belongs to the foreigners." "Then ours can't be far off;"
and sure enough it was found in the same place where we had left it. Our
stock of drinkables was now exhausted.

Nearing the Petit Plateau we were enabled to examine the much-feared
avalanches, which were almost invisible during the ascent. In appearance
they were not unlike chalk cliffs, cracked here and there as though the
foundation had yielded. On the whole, these huge blocks looked safe
enough, with the exception of one some thirty feet in height which was
hanging over, ripe for a fall at any moment. Under the very shadow of
this threatening mass of consolidated snow we were bound to pass, and,
eyeing it with suspicion, we increased our pace to the utmost possible
speed, when, as luck would have it, S---- sank into a mixture of ice and
snow just as we were immediately underneath. Francois turned back, and
tugged away; Jules went forward to assist, but their united efforts
proving of no avail they resorted to their ice-axes, and finally
succeeded in quarrying out the imprisoned limb. This was probably the
most hair-breadth escape during the whole expedition. With feelings of
relief we walked on in silence, and crossed the same uninviting ridges,
high walls of ice, with crevasses on the right hand and on the left; as
it was softer than on our way up, there was a feeling of suspicion that
the material might give way at any moment. However, it held good, and
once again we exclaim