An Exciting Passage.

It is the trip from Defiance Hut up to the Almer bivouac, on the shoulder of the Baird Range overlooking the Great Ice-Falls, however, that is the most exciting. The route lies over on to and up the middle of the glacier, passing to the left in front of the Great Ice-Falls, up the Glacier again for a long stretch, across the junction where the Almer Glacier flows into “The Franz,” and then up the face of the Almer ridge to the bivouac above. The Almer Glacier, badly discoloured with mountain debris, is a vision of wickedness at any time, but as we saw it in January, when it was still coated with red dust blown over the Tasman sea from Australia in October last, it was more evil-looking than ever. With scores of super-imposed pinnacles, 200 feet high, crowding closely down upon one another, they were cracked at their bases and leaning forward at an ominous angle as if they were about to topple over at any moment. Passing up under the face of these, too close to be at all pleasant, and with Guide Jack Pope cutting steps the whole way, we could actually feel the ice moving under our feet as the great pressures met, and, worse still, heard it creak and groan! …. Needless to say, no matter how tired we were (we had climbed Mt. Moltke that morning from Defiance Hut), we did not linger to enjoy these sensations, or to admire the scenery, but pressed forward with all possible speed. Even the guide, accustomed to such things, said, “We will get past here as quickly as possible.” And we kept hard upon his heels. But, oh! the “pace” was by no means killing; it seemed at the rate of about a quarter of a mile an hour, and may have been less than that.