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Rh were dressed tolerably smooth, a third was left rough, and the fourth was occupied by an inclined plane that led from the surface to the workers. Two men were always at work; one hewing with the pick, and the other throwing out with the shovel. The others rested, and relieved the workers about every fifteen minutes. For seven or eight feet down they got along rapidly, as the stuff could be thrown out; but after a time the progress became much slower, for the snow had to be carried out in baskets.

After 5 hours' exposure to the wind and drifting snow I was half frozen, and in a much worse state than the men, who kept themselves alive by their work. All our faces were massed with icicles. At length I beat a retreat, and descended to the tent with Biener. The mists were so dense that we dared not use either veils or spectacles, and I was snow-blind in consequence for two days afterwards. On the morning of the 4th my eyelids refused to open, and the light was painful even when they were closed. The men started off at 6.45, leaving me with my head tied up in a handkerchief, unable to eat or even to smoke! Biener came back at 4.30 and reported that the snow seemed to be getting softer rather than harder the farther they descended. On the 5th (Sunday) my condition was slightly improved, and on Monday morning I was able to make a start, and ascended to the Col to see what the labourers had done in my absence. They certainly had not overworked themselves; for while on the first day they had got down more than 9 feet in 5 hours, they had, during the time I had been away, only accomplished 4 feet more. They said that on Sunday night 3 feet of snow had drifted into the pit, and almost as much on Friday night. This, of course, had considerably added to the work. They were extremely anxious to get away; which was not surprising, as the wind was blowing ferociously from the north-west, and was tearing away sheets of snow from the summit of the pass. It was impossible to stand against it, and in a single hour we should have been all frozen if we had remained upon the surface. I told them (rather jesuitically) that they had only to reach glacier, and the work would be over at that spot. This consoled them, and they promised to work hard during our absence.

Biener and I passed the night of the 6th at Prerayen, and upon the 7th we went down the Valpelline to Biona upon other business. On the 8th we returned to the summit of the Col, and found all three men sitting on the nearest rocks smoking their pipes. They admitted that they had done nothing on that day, but excused themselves by saying that they had got down to glacier. I found that the wretches had only gone down another foot during our thirty-six hours' absence. My wrath, however, was somewhat appeased when I went down into the pit. They had struck a layer of ice of much greater thickness than any which had been previously met with. It extended all round the floor of the pit to a depth of 6¼ inches. The men went to work again, and soon reached another stratum of ice of formidable thickness; or, rather, three layers which were barely separated from each other. After this, the snow seemed to be no denser than it was above the great layer. I waited some time; but my eyes were still very weak, and could not be exposed for many minutes together, so at length Biener and I went down to Zermatt through a terrific thunderstorm and very heavy rain.