7Afs STONRY

succeeded 1 reaching what 1s now known as “T'he Corridor)’ when they \hp- ned and shot down an ice slope for about 1 NSoo feet. Thwo of them were but little mjured by this fearful fall, but the third was killed. The accrdent wias witnessed from Chamonix

the telescopes, which we al- ways dirccted towards the mountain when an ascent 1s beime made, and a rescue party was at once organiscd, and et olf, succeeded more- covering the body, but not without run- ning erave risks, and at once time another catas- trophe scemed rmminent.

A terribly sad cvent was that ol the October, 18060, A Captam Ark- wright, accom- panicd by his mother and two sisters, visited Chamonix at the beginning of October of that vear. The weather was exeep- tionally fine, and the captain expressed a desire to ascend the mountam. The pre- parations were made, and very carlv i the morning of the 12th he started with his sister, who was to remain at the Grands Mulets sketching. T'he chiet guide was Sylhvain Couttet 5 the second, a man named Simond ; and, m addition, there were two porters. The party reached the cabane of the Mulets without adventure. Aftera short rest the men went on, leaving Miss Ark- vwricht at the cabanc. "The caravan suc-

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ceceded 1 gaimmg the steep slope which leads to the Grand Pl iteau, when an cnor- mous overhanging mass uf 1ce became detached, and, starting an avalanche, Cap- tain Simond, and the two DOT- ters were swept mmto a profound crevassc Sylvain Couttet escaped by making a pro- digious leap, which took him dun of the tmd\ of the avalanche. When e had recovered from tne shock, he scarched for his u)m]mm()ns, and, to his horror, he saw the body of Simond abs=olutely crushed to picces by theice. The others were nowherce to be seen. He at once descended to the cabance, where Miss Arkwright was sitting on the rocks sketchme the d(mm Unable to conceal his horror and grict, she cuessed the truth, for she had huml t]u A\dlanchp fall. T'he scene that ensued in that awful solitude can be better mmagimed than de- scribed. The bodies of the captain and the two porters were never recovered. The orcat glacter kept its prey, but will give them up some day.

Of all the dark, sad years that are woven into the human story connected with Mont Blane, that of 1870 15 the darkest and saddest. Tt was a0 yvear of bitterness for [France, and hcr tourist and health resorts were deserted, nearly so. A few people found their way 1() Chamonix, and amongst them were an American gentleman named Mark, Ins owife, and sister-in-law, Miss Wilkinson. They started to ascend the Great White Mountam on August 2, (mu)mplmul by only two guides. By the time the Grands Mulets was reached the two ladies were sulfermg from great fatigue, and the keeper of the cabane olfered the services of his porter—a yvoung man named Olivier Gay—-as Mr. Mark had determined (o proceed. Gay o was ‘mu])tul and all went well until* The Corridor ' was reached, when the ladies were o exhausted that they could go no further. Gay thercapon under- took to conduct them back to the cabane, and Mark and his two guides continued upwards. In o short tme, however, the cchoes of the ey world were awakenced by

the picrcing serecam ol a woman. T'he men turned, and o=aw Miss o Wilkims=on wrineing her hands i frenzy ;o Gay and Mrs. Mark were nowhere to be scen. They had both fallen into a crevasse, and their bodies were never recovered. Mrso Mark was the hrst woman the mountam had claimed as Ins victim, This sad covent, however, was but the prelude to a more chastlv tragedy a month Jater. Two

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