CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
AN ADVENTURE ON THE TOP OF MOUNT EVEREST.
Leaving the country at last--to the very great regret of theinhabitants, who found that every little service rendered to the whitestrangers was munificently rewarded by a present of beads, buttons,party-coloured cloth, or perhaps a small hand mirror--the travellersmade the best of their way to Bombay, at which place Mrs Scott and hernieces were anxious to be landed, and there they bade their fair guestsa reluctant adieu. Thence, starting under cover of night and rising toa height of about ten thousand feet above the ground surface, thetravellers made their way across the Indian peninsula in a north-easterly direction, travelling at a speed of about one hundred miles perhour, and arriving about eight o'clock the next morning at the foot ofMount Everest, the summit of which--towering into the sky to theenormous altitude of twenty-nine thousand feet above the sea-level, andbelieved to be the most lofty spot of earth on the surface of ourglobe--they intended attempting to reach.
Here, on a magnificent grassy plateau surrounded by trees, and with nota single sign of human life at hand, the _Flying Fish_ was brought toearth and temporarily secured whilst the party took breakfast.
"Now," said the professor as they rose from the breakfast-table, "inseeking to plant our feet upon the topmost peak of Mount Everest we areabout to enter upon a task of no ordinary difficulty and danger, and itis desirable that no avoidable risks should be run. The danger arisesfrom two causes--the excessive cold, and the highly rarefied state ofthe atmosphere at so enormous an elevation. The first can be guardedagainst by suitable clothing; the second can only be overcome by theassumption of our diving dresses. The latter, no doubt, seems to you astrange precaution; but it is a fact, that on the top of Mount Everestthe air is too thin to support life, at all events in comfort, and forany but the briefest possible time; so we must take up our air with us.Let us therefore go and make these necessary changes of costume beforewe attempt moving the ship from her present position."
Half an hour later, the party, accoutred in their diving armour--betweenwhich and their ordinary clothing they had interposed stout warm flanneloveralls--and armed with small ice-hatchets, mustered in the pilot-house; the ship was released from the ground, a vacuum created in herair-chambers, and upward she at once shot into the clear blue cloudlesssky. A few minutes only sufficed her to soar to the height of tenthousand feet, after which her progress upward, as indicated by thesteadily falling column of mercury in the tube of the barometer,gradually decreased in velocity. At the height of twenty-nine thousandfeet the mercury ceased to fall, or the ship ceased to rise, whichamounted to the same thing, and Mount Everest lay before them, its snowypeak glistening in the sun ten miles away, and its topmost pinnaclestill towering somewhere about five hundred feet above the line of theirhorizon.
"Well," said the professor, remarking upon their failure to attain agreater altitude, "I anticipated this; I was quite prepared to find thathere, where the sun is so much more nearly vertical than it is with usin England, we should meet with a more rarefied atmosphere. However, wecannot help it. We must do what we can; and if we fail to reach thesummit we shall simply be obliged to descend again, rid ourselvestemporarily of a few of our more weighty matters, and then renew theattempt. Perhaps we may be enabled to _force_ her up that remainingfive hundred feet by the power of her engines. Let us try."
The engines were sent ahead at full speed, and the _Flying Fish_ rushedtoward the glittering peak, the professor so adjusting the helm as togive the ship's bows a slight upward inclination. The experimentresulted in partial success, an additional elevation of some two hundredfeet being attained, but beyond that it was found impossible to go; eventhen it was necessary to keep the ship moving at full speed, and tomaintain the upward inclination of her bows, in order to preserve theslight additional height gained, her tendency being to sink immediatelyupon any relaxation of speed. It was resolved to be satisfied withthis, to effect a landing somewhere, and to attempt surmounting theremaining three hundred feet by climbing. A landing-place was nextsought for, and this was at length found on the northern side of themountain, on a sidelong slanting snow-bank, which seemed to haveaccumulated between two projecting crags. It was by no means adesirable spot on which to effect a landing, the area of the bank beingvery small, and the surface sloping most awkwardly; however, it was thebest place the travellers could find, and they were therefore obliged torest content with it; so the ship was headed toward it, and in anothersecond or two a harsh grating sound, accompanied by an upward surge,showed that she had taken the ground, or rather the snow-bank. Theengines were then stopped, and the grip-anchors brought into requisitionto secure her in her somewhat precarious berth.
"Well, here we are," exclaimed the baronet; "and the next thing, Isuppose, is to land and commence our climb without loss of time. What awild-looking spot it is, to be sure; if I were to stand looking at itlong I believe I should lose my nerve and shirk the task."
"Better not look at it any longer, then, until we can contemplate theprospect from the peak away up aloft there," remarked the practicalMildmay. "But," he continued, "I don't half like the idea of going outupon that sloping slippery surface of frozen snow that the ship hasgrounded upon; a single slip or false step and away one would go overthe edge, to bring up, perhaps, on a rock a thousand feet below. Ishall hook on the rope-ladder, and endeavour to make a start from yondernaked spur of rock."
The others also seemed to think this the wisest plan, and in a fewminutes they were making their way cautiously down the rope-ladder oneafter the other, the baronet, an experienced mountaineer, leading, andMildmay bringing up the rear.
The adventurers soon found that their task was likely to be a great dealmore difficult and hazardous than they had at all contemplated. Thesnow-bank upon which the _Flying Fish_ rested proved to be the only evenapproximately level spot at that elevation; the rocks rising almostsheer above them everywhere, with only an occasional crevice here andthere by way of foothold, and in many places the precipice was coatedwith treacherous frozen snow, sometimes tenacious enough to afford amomentary support, but more often crumbling away beneath the weight ofthe body. Slowly and steadily, however, they worked their way upward--now occupying perhaps five minutes to advance as many feet, and anonhitting upon a favourable spot where twenty or thirty feet might begained in a single minute. At length, after a toilsome and hazardousclimb of more than an hour's duration, the baronet found himselfclinging to a slender pinnacle of rock about seven feet high and fourfeet in diameter, upon the top of which he next moment triumphantlyseated himself. The colonel, the professor, and Mildmay speedilyfollowed, and there they sat, undoubtedly the first human beings who hadever reached the topmost pinnacle of Mount Everest.
Having accomplished the ascent, they now settled themselves down ascomfortably as they could upon their narrow perch to enjoy at leisurethe magnificent view spread out around them, a view such as no human eyehad ever before looked upon, and which even _they_ would probably neverhave another opportunity of beholding. The atmosphere, mostfortunately, was exceptionally clear and transparent, not a vestige ofcloud or vapour being anywhere visible; the view was thereforeunobstructed to the very verge of the horizon, which extended round themin a gigantic circle measuring _four hundred and eighteen miles indiameter_.
Northward of them stretched the vast plains of Thibet, the only objectworthy of notice being the river Sampoo, which, although sixty milesdistant, was distinctly seen as it issued from the purplish-grey haze ofthe extreme distance on their left, meandering along the plain beneathfor a visible distance of nearly two hundred miles before its coursebecame again lost in the haze on their right hand. Eight and left ofthem stretched the vast mountain chain of the Himalayas, their woodedslopes and countless peaks and cones presenting a bewildering yetcharming picture of variegated colour, sunlight and shadow, as theydwindled away on either hand until all suggestion of local colouring wasswallowed up and lost in an enchanting suc
cession of increasingly pureand delicate soft pearly greys, which merged and melted at last into thevague shapeless all-pervading purple-grey of the horizon. Glancingimmediately around and beneath them their blood curdled and their brainswhirled with the vertigo which seized them as they peered appalled andshrinkingly down upon the sharp crags, the sheer precipices, thesteeply-sloping snow-fields with their lower edges generally overhangingsome fathomless abyss, the great glaciers, the awful crevasses spannedhere and there by crumbling snow bridges--the effect of the scene beingheightened and intensified in its impressive grandeur by the deathlikesilence which prevailed, broken only by the occasional thunderous roarof an avalanche far below. The scene was absolutely fascinating in itsappalling sublimity; but it was a relief to turn the eye further afielduntil it rested to the eastward upon the grandly towering mass ofEverest's rival, snow-capped Kunchinjinga, which reared its giant crestaloft to a height of twenty-eight thousand five hundred feet above thesea-level, and which, though it was eighty-five miles away, appeared tobe almost within rifle-shot. And still more was it a relief to turn theeye in an opposite direction, and to allow it to rest upon theglittering summit of Dhawalagiri, which, at a distance of no less than_two hundred and forty miles_, gleamed faint and softly opalescent outof the western haze. And, lastly, to the southward of them they beheldthe fertile province of Nepaul, watered by countless tributaries to themighty Ganges; and, beyond it again, the still more fertile province ofOudh. The professor, totally forgetful of his exceedingly perilousposition, was enthusiastically expatiating, after his usual manner, uponthe marvellous extent and beauty of the prospect, and interrupting theflow of his eloquence at short intervals to assure his companions thata--to them--invisible object on the far horizon _must_ be the town ofPatna, when a terrific crackling crash just below them drew the eyes ofthe party in that direction, just in time for them to see the supposedprojecting crag--in reality an enormous mass of ice--which supported thesnow-bank on which the _Flying Fish_ rested, break off and go thunderingdown into the unfathomable depths below. The spectators clung to eachother in helpless nerveless terror at so appalling a spectacle as thefalling of this mass, weighing probably millions of tons; but the fullsignificance and import of the catastrophe did not present itself totheir dazed and bewildered senses until they beheld the _Flying Fish_,after following the falling mass for a couple of hundred feet, recoverherself and float jauntily in the air, _adrift_, at a distance of fullytwo thousand feet from the mountain side. Then, indeed, the full horrorof their position began to slowly dawn upon them, and they looked ateach other with eyes in which could be read a despair too deep and toocomplete to need or find expression in words. Their long search for alanding-place that morning had unconsciously impressed upon them a factwhich now--and not till now--took intelligible shape within theirbrains, and it was this: they could descend the mountain as far as thespot at which they had left the _Flying Fish, but no further_; beyondthat point further descent, with the means at their disposal, wasimpossible. Which meant, in plain language and few words, that, sooneror later, they would try to get down, and either be dashed to pieces inthe attempt or perish miserably of starvation upon the edge of someghastly impassable precipice.
It took but a moment for these ideas to shape themselves intelligibly,and then a general movement was made to commence the descent and thuscut short a state of suspense which would soon become unbearable.
But at this moment the colonel interposed with a word of caution.
"One moment," said he. "Before we start let each one of us clearlyunderstand that perfect coolness and presence of mind is imperativelynecessary if we would emerge from this strait alive. We _may_ perhapsfind a way down after all, but in order to do so we must have our witscompletely about us; let no man move, therefore, until he has fullyrecovered the control of his nerves; when all have done so we will makea start, and I will go last."
"And I first," exclaimed the baronet, "because, next to you, I believe Iam the most experienced mountaineer of the party."
The colonel's little speech produced a most beneficial effect upon thenerves of the whole party, his own included; and now, without furtherado, a general start was made, the baronet going first and directing andhelping the professor, who followed him; Mildmay going third, alsohelping von Schalckenberg, and being helped in his turn by Lethbridge,and the latter bringing up the rear.
The descent, owing to the perpendicular precipices over which they hadto pass, and the extremely dangerous character, generally, of the road,proved to be even more tedious and difficult than the ascent; and withinthe first quarter of an hour (during which they had accomplished onlyabout one hundred feet of perpendicular descent) every one of the partyhad experienced at least one narrow escape from certain death.
Steadily, however, they toiled on; foot by foot they crept down the faceof the icy precipice, and at length they reached a ledge nearly a footin width, upon which the entire party were enabled to pause for a minuteor two to rest and relieve their tired and quivering muscles.
When their feet were safely planted upon this ledge Mildmay spoke.
"I may now venture," he said, "to call your attention to a fact which Ifeared to mention before, lest it should upset the balance of yournerves and produce a catastrophe. It is this. The _Flying Fish_,floating undisturbed in this motionless air, is, in obedience to the lawof gravitation, slowly but steadily being drawn in toward the side ofthe mountain; and if--which God grant--it remains perfectly calm up herefor another quarter of an hour, she will be once more alongside, and wemay yet regain access to her. To do this, however, we must edge awaymore toward the eastern side of the mountain, where I fear we shallencounter even greater difficulties than we have yet met with. We canbut try, however, and I think the sooner we push on the better."
"Forward, then, at once," cried the baronet; "and take heed to yoursteps, my friends, for this ice is terribly smooth and slippery."
Once more was the journey resumed, the baronet availing himself of theledge, as far as it extended, to work his way round the shoulder of thehill in the required direction; and by the time they reached a pointwhere actual descent had again become necessary, they had once more comewithin sight of the ship, and had the satisfaction of seeing that shehad drawn sensibly nearer to the cliff.
"All right," exclaimed Sir Reginald cheerfully, "I see the spot we mustaim for--that pinnacle of bare rock yonder, and there is a tolerablyeasy road down to it, moreover."
Away they now went, their spirits at the very highest pitch ofexhilaration, and their nerves by so much the steadier, and such rapidprogress did they make that ten minutes later saw them clusteredtogether clinging to the rocky pinnacle before mentioned. And agruesome-enough looking spot it was--a sharp projecting point of rockoverhanging a sheer precipice some two hundred feet deep, with a narrowsnow-bank immediately beneath, and then another frightful abyss ofunknown depth beyond. And, to the right and left of it, an almostvertical face of bare rock coated with smooth, slippery, transparentice, any attempt to traverse which would be courting death in its mosthorrible form.
The _Flying Fish_ seemed to be drifting steadily in toward this pinnacleof rock, though at a depth of some twenty feet below it, and it wasresolved to pause there and allow events to develop somewhat beforeexerting themselves further.
Slowly, very slowly, the _Flying Fish_ drifted nearer and nearer in; thelittle party clustered upon the rock watching her with bated breath, andevery moment dreading that a faint air of wind might after all waft herbeyond their reach. But nothing of the sort occurred; in she steadilycame, until at last her starboard gangway was immediately underneath theparty.
"Now or never!" exclaimed Sir Reginald. "I am going to make a jump forher. We shall scarcely have a better chance; and breeze may at anymoment sweep round the face of the rock and carry her away from us.Lethbridge and Mildmay, let me steady myself by your shoulders whilst Istand on the extreme point of the rock. Stand firm, now; I am about tojump. Are you read
y? Then--one--_two_--THREE!"
The body of the baronet darted outward from the face of the rock,Mildmay and the colonel retaining their footing with the utmostdifficulty under the recoil from the outward impulse; and then the threemen left behind on the rock craned their necks over the precipice towatch the result.
The sight which met their eyes caused their hair to bristle and theirblood to curdle with horror. Sir Reginald had either miscalculated hisdistance, or his foot had slipped in the act of springing, for insteadof alighting upon the ship's deck, as he had intended, he had fallen onthe circular bilge of the vessel, from whence, after an unavailingstruggle to secure a footing, he slid off, and, with a piercing scream,went whirling downward until he alighted on the narrow snow-bank sometwo hundred feet below. His horror-stricken companions fully expectedto see him rebound and go plunging over the edge of the next precipice,but luckily the snow upon which he had fallen was so deep that his bodysank into it, and there he lay, motionless.
"Merciful Heaven, he is killed!" ejaculated the colonel with stammeringlips.
"Perhaps not," returned Mildmay; "at all events we will hope for thebest. Let me see if I can do better. _Quick_--out of the way--ah! Thewind after all! We are too late!"
And even as he spoke the bows of the _Flying Fish_ swung slowly round,and her hull was swept gently away from the face of the cliff by acapricious zephyr which just then came creeping along the mountain side.