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THE ASCENT OF TETNULD 2(i5
fastest— that is, those which liave the greatest vohuue ami the
steepest beds—which take the lead in oscillations. For example,
the Glacier des Bossons begins to encroach on the Valley of
Chamoiiix long before the Mer de Glace shows any sign, and the
Upper
Grindelwald Glacier advances before the Lower. AVith
to fall. Our Willesden canvas resisted
night, heavy rain began
the downpour, but the guides, who had pitched their tent badly
and in a hollow, were inundated. The Cossacks made an arrange-
ment in birch-boughs and boui'kas, which, as the event proved,
was not onlv water- but sound-proof
In the grey dawn Devouassoud withdrew the tent curtains, and
in the o-loomiest tones made the solemn announcement — 'Our
mutton has been stolen.' Further research showed that the thieves
had been singularly audacious, and that our loss was far more
than a few joints of meat. The luggage bad been piled under a
waterproof
sheet between our tent and the Cossacks' shelter. The
cover had been lifted, the lock of M. de Dechy's hand-portmanteau
removed, and the contents ransacked. A revolver, some steigeisen
presented to me by Viennese friends, and my companion's
store of
clothes, had been abstracted. His medicine-chest had been opened,
but the contents were left untouched. The waterproof cover had
been skilfully and carefully replaced, so that the more serious theft
was not suspected until long after we had missed the mutton.
This vexatious, but by no means disastrous, theft had its most
serious result in a telegram which by some means found its way
through Germany to the English newspapers to the effect that,
owing to the robbery of all my goods, I had been compelled
to give up my Caucasian juvuney. Some of my friends were m
consequence needlessly alarmed, and I received much undeserved
sympathy.
We had little doubt as to where the thieves came from. After
such an experience, we could hardly leave our camp to the mercy of
the men of Adish, while we attempted Tetnuld. In the drenching
rain we decamped as best we could. It was a noisome struggle
with wet ropes and canvas and photographic cases that had to
be carefully tended to keep them from suffering from damp. Adish