The last lap of the journey proved extraordinarily difficult. Vainly
we searched for a safe, or a reasonably safe, way down the steep ice-
clad mountain-side. The sole possible pathway seemed to be a channel
cut by water running from the upland. Down through icy water we
followed the course of this stream. We were wet to the waist,
shivering, cold, and tired. Presently our ears detected an unwelcome
sound that might have been musical under other conditions. It was the
splashing of a waterfall, and we were at the wrong end. When we
reached the top of this fall we peered over cautiously and discovered
that there was a drop of 25 or 30 ft., with impassable ice-cliffs on
both sides. To go up again was scarcely thinkable in our utterly
wearied condition. The way down was through the waterfall itself. We
made fast one end of our rope to a boulder with some difficulty, due to
the fact that the rocks had been worn smooth by the running water. Then
Worsley and I lowered Crean, who was the heaviest man. He disappeared
altogether in the falling water and came out gasping at the bottom. I
went next, sliding down the rope, and Worsley, who was the lightest and
most nimble member of the party, came last. At the bottom of the fall
we were able to stand again on dry land. The rope could not be
recovered.
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