ed, "All right."

Moving cautiously along, we reached the brink of the nearly vertical
slope referred to in the ascent, and now that it was visible we wondered
how we had climbed it. Looking down it appeared quite perpendicular, and
its condition was so changed by the influence of the sun that going down
in the same free and easy way that we had climbed up was quite out of
the question. "Francois, cannot we get round that way?" "It is
impossible, sir." "Well, what is to be done?" "Oh! we shall manage very
well!" We were now untied, then each one in turn was fastened round the
chest with an end of the rope, the other being held by those above.
S---- went first and disappeared over the brink; my turn came next, and
holding the rope firmly, and kicking my feet into the soft neve, I
joined him below; then Francois followed, and lastly Jules, and a very
trying time it must have been for him, for he was obliged to descend by
his own unaided exertions. The rope being fastened round his waist, we
held the other end, carefully taking in the slack as he came down, so
that in the event of a fall we might prevent him from slipping into
eternity down the slope on which we stood. As he worked his way down by
kicking his feet into the partially-melted neve, and retaining his
vertical position by means of the ice-axe, he seemed like a fly on a
wall, and was more to be admired than envied; but to his credit he
descended the forty-five feet without a slip.

Pausing for a few minutes, we commenced the descent of les Montees in a
very matter-of-fact way, glissading being quite out of the question on
account of the soft condition of the snow, for the weather was now
excessively hot. Although we were going downhill, the work was trying
enough, and to make matters worse the flask was empty! However, the
Grands Mulets were in sight, and the thought of the "Cabane," and the
refreshment contained therein, encouraged us as we alternately buried
and extricated our legs in and out of the yielding snow. The
much-desired haven seemed so very near, that I remarked in a diffident
way, "Another quarter of an hour, Jules?" "Three quarters, sir."
Deceived again! How provokingly distinct it appeared through the pure
atmosphere, unpolluted with smoke, gas, and the many other impurities to
which we are subject in England. The remaining thousand feet or
thereabouts having been descended without any incident worth recording,
we entered the "Cabane" at two o'c