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bad condition, and the water was rushing white with foam. Tomas tried it first, but as he was riding the mule that had been so nearly drowned before, he was obliged to turn back almost at once. The beast had lost its nerve, and was trembling again pitifully. Tomas said he thought there was a better place higher up, and accordingly we galloped up the river bank some distance, till at last we did indeed find a spot where the river was wider and shallower. It was not until the arriero and I had crossed and recrossed several times that I could induce Zurbriggen to face the passage. He wanted to sleep there, and wait till the night-frosts had reduced the flow of water, but we persuaded him to come, as of course with his injured shoulder and wet clothes such a night in the open would have been most dangerous. In spite of all our precautions his mule stumbled at the worst spot. This time, however, he was not greatly disconcerted, for he had made up his mind to be drowned, and was resigned to his fate. In the end, however, we got him over without mishap, and riding on we reached our base camp in about an hour and a half, having come down all the way from 19,000 feet since morning.

CHAPTER VII

THE ASCENT ACCOMPLISHED

URBRIGGEN'S injuries proved to be somewhat

ZUR

serious, and for the next few days we had to keep him quiet. There was nothing broken, but he had sustained a severe sprain, and he had also taken cold in it, which brought on rheumatic pains, so we were compelled to give up further attempts on Aconcagua for the time. I gave my whole attention, therefore, to the survey of the country around us. We had just begun a long serious of simultaneous readings with mercurial barometer and boiling-point thermometer, in conjunction with the Argentine Government's meteorological observatory at Mendoza. We hoped thus to settle accurately the height of Inca, and, making that our point of departure, to measure our mountain. At the same time we commenced a careful triangulation of the surrounding country during the day, while at night we carried on astronomical observations for latitude and longitude.

A theodolite needs for its operation two strands of spider's web, stretched crosswise behind the lens, upon which any exact point may be observed. Anything else, even the finest hair, would appear in the magnifier like a ship's cable. Lightbody sent me up a box of spider's web to replace those in our six-inch transit instrument. When I opened the package I thought they must have been broken, for I saw nothing. The Argentine spider, however, spins fine, and with the help of a magnifying-glass I did at last succeed in finding them. It took two days to adjust these webs in position, as the smallest current of air striking them during the operation would blow them into shreds. This trifling

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detail of surveying work may interest the non-technical reader, and the expert is begged to overlook it.

Gosse had now established himself in a separate tent full of unpleasant insects in bottles. He had rather an exciting chase one day after an eagle. I give the account in his own words :

"At 5 a.m. I got up, and by 6 a.m. was half-way up the mountain behind Inca. At a spot where I suspected that a pair of Chilian sea-eagles had a nest I hid myself and watched. After three-quarters of an hour of sitting perfectly still, there was a noise of screaming on the precipice below me. I crept down, guided by the sound, and presently discovered the nest. It was three feet in diameter, and built of sticks. In it were two young birds, almost fully fledged, and a third which was evidently newly hatched, for it had scarcely any feathers on it at all. It was impossible for me to reach the nest, but I dropped a large stone on the head of one of the big birds, which at the same time killed it, and knocked it out of the nest to a ledge, where I afterwards climbed down and secured it. I went back, and later in the day returned to the spot with a gun, but although I waited long in hiding, the old birds were too cunning to come within shot. I noticed that whenever I was near the nest, and the young birds made their peculiar crying noise of terror, the eagles would appear, but the moment the young were quiet the old birds would disappear. I made a long lasso of string, and dropping it carefully down the face of the cliff, I managed to catch one of the young birds round the neck, and to haul it up successfully. I was, however, not prepared for its strength. When I had it in my hands, it fought with such extraordinary violence with beak and claws that I saw that it would be impossible for me to carry it home. I therefore let it carefully down again into the nest, taking care to keep the string round its neck, and as I thought, securely tethering it to a root above. I hastened back to the camp for a sack, but when I returned, it had contrived to slip out of the noose, and was taking flying lessons from pinnacle to pinnacle far above my reach. For several days the old eagles hung

about the spot, until their family were all capable of flying, and then they disappeared. The young gentleman must, I think, have been taken to some very quiet seaside place on the Chilian coast, for his neck must have been extremely stiff, and his nervous system shattered with the adventures he had gone through."

As Zurbriggen was now gradually recovering, I decided to make another start for the summit, and on the morning of 9th January, a week after we had returned, sick and sorry, we set out to make a fresh attempt on Aconcagua. The weather was warmer and the days long, 24th December being the longest day of the year south of the Equator. We started late, as I wished to take it easily, my intention being to go only as far as our old camp under the forked peak. At about four in the afternoon we reached it, and made ourselves comfortable for the night. This was by far the most convenient camp we had in the Horcones Valley. We were well sheltered under a great overhanging boulder, while near at hand a clear spring gave us fresh and pure water, a thing difficult to find in these valleys, where so much of the water comes from strong mineral springs, and often produces dysentery. This time we had brought with us an ample supply of light pine kindling-wood, so that without trouble or delay we could have the luxury of a big fire, that burned up brightly in a few minutes.

Early next morning we started. I was anxious about Zurbriggen, who complained that his shoulder hurt him. badly during the night, but he insisted that he would be all right, and that he would not have us delayed on his account. Sleeping on the cold ground seemed to have started the old pain. At about ten we reached our 14,000 foot camp, and found Lanti and Pollinger waiting for us. During our absence they had, according to my instructions, made several journeys to our upper camp with wood, provisions, and blankets. It was therefore possible to look forward to many luxuries that had been absent on our previous attempts. We brought with us from Inca some fresh meat and eggs, also a bottle of port wine. These provisions, together with

AT OUR HIGH CAMP

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the kindling-wood I mentioned before, were soon made up into suitable loads for the men, and we started off for our upper camp at about II a.m. The day turned out unusually fine, the sun was hot, and there was no wind. We walked slowly and steadily at first, and by this means reached camp at 5 p.m., the journey being accomplished in five hours and a half. The men all seemed in excellent condition, and contented. They were not suffering from the altitude, and were laughing and joking with one another over their pipes until sunset. It is not until one has slept a night or two at this altitude that one begins to feel the weight of depression and hopelessness which I have described before. We all seemed so well that I thought it better not to make an attempt on the mountain next day, but to see what a few days of rest and good food would do for us at this altitude. My hope was that the system would accustom itself to the rarefied air, and if we could only breathe normally with the barometer at 15 inches, why not at 12, which is about what the summit should be? I now believe this to have been a mistake on my part; we should have pushed on at once. Every day spent at this height makes one the weaker. The cold, to begin with, is crushing: no matter how many rugs or wraps one has, it is impossible to get really warm. It cannot be the temperature that causes it, but the feeble circulation at this altitude.

Our fresh pine wood gave us a good fire this time, and we cooked a supper of hot soup, eggs, and fresh vegetables. With bread and butter, and port wine, this was not a bad bill of fare, when one considers the difficulties of transport. The meat came from Inca, the bread from the posada at Punta de las Vacas, the vegetables from Mendoza, while the fresh butter was sent all the way from Buenos Aires by rail. All these fresh articles had to be pushed quickly along from camp to camp, care being taken that they were not too long in the hot sun in the valleys. I mention these details of commissariat, for although they may seem trifling to the reader at home, they possess a certain significance for climbers.

We turned into our sleeping - bags after the sun went

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