The Cliff Climbers | Page 5

the
tropical jungles of India; the rich woods of the Oriental islands; and, in

short, wherever there is a prospect of discovering and obtaining new
floral or sylvan beauties.
The exploration of the Sikhim Himalaya by the accomplished botanist,
Hooker--recorded in a book of travels not inferior to that of the great
Humboldt--had drawn attention to the rich and varied flora of these
mountains; and in consequence of this, the enterprising "seedsman"
who had given Karl Linden temporary employment in his garden,
promoted him to a higher and more agreeable field of labour, by
sending him as a "plant-hunter" to the Thibetan Himalayas.
Accompanied by his brother, Caspar, the young botanist proceeded to
Calcutta; and, after a short residence there, he set out for the
Himalayas--taking a direction almost due north from the city of the
Ganges.
He had provided himself with a guide, in the person of a celebrated
Hindoo hunter or "shikaree," called Ossaroo; and this individual was
the sole attendant and companion of the two brothers--with the
exception of a large dog, of the boar-hound species, which had been
brought with them from Europe, and that answered to the name of
Fritz.
The young botanist had come to India furnished with a letter of
introduction to the manager of the Botanical Garden of Calcutta--an
establishment of world-wide renown. There he had been hospitably
received on his arrival in the Oriental city; and during his sojourn he
had spent much of his time within its boundaries. Moreover, the
authorities of the place, interested in his expedition, had given him all
the information in their power as to the route he intended
pursuing--though that was not much: for the portion of the Himalayas
he was about to explore was at that time a terra incognita to
Englishmen--even in the city of Calcutta!
It is not necessary here to detail the many adventures that befel our
plant-hunter and his party, during the progress of their journey towards
the Himalayas, and after they had entered within the grand gorges of
these mountains. Suffice it to say, that in pursuit of a beautiful little

animal--a "musk-deer"--they had gone up a gully filled by one of those
grand glaciers so common in the higher Himalayas; that the pursuit had
led them far up the ravine, and afterwards conducted them into a
singular crater-like valley--the one already described; that once in this
valley, they could find no way out of it, but by the ravine through
which they had entered; and that on returning to make their exit, they
discovered to their great consternation that a crevasse in the glacier,
over which they had passed, had opened during their absence, and to
such an extent as to render their exit impossible!
They had endeavoured to span this crevasse; and had spent much time
in making a bridge of pine-trees for the purpose. They had succeeded at
length in getting across the chasm--but only to find others in the glacier
below, which no ingenuity could enable them to get over.
They were compelled to abandon the idea, and return again to the
valley; which, though lovely to the eye, had now become hateful to
their thoughts: since they knew it to be their prison.
During their residence in the place, many adventures befel them with
wild animals of various kinds. There chanced to be a small herd of
"yaks," or grunting oxen, in the valley; and these formed for a time the
staple article of their food. Caspar, who, though younger than Karl, was
the more skilled hunter of the two, had a very narrow escape from the
old yak bull; though he succeeded at length in killing the dangerous
animal. Ossaroo was very near being eaten up by a pack of wild dogs--
every one of which he afterwards succeeded in killing; and Ossaroo
was also in danger of being swallowed up by an enemy of a very
different kind--that is by a quicksand, into which he had got his legs
while engaged in taking fish out of a net!
Karl was not without his hair-breadth "'scape"--having been chased by
a bear along a ledge of the cliff, from which he was compelled to make
a most perilous descent. The bear itself took refuge in a cave, where it
was afterwards pursued and killed, by all three acting in concert,
materially assisted by the dog Fritz. They had incurred great risk in this
chase of the bear: for although they had succeeded in destroying the
formidable animal they lost themselves in the great labyrinthine cavern,

and were only able to find their way out by making a fire with the
stocks of their guns, and rendering the bear's-grease available for
candles--which fortunately enabled them to extricate themselves.
During the pursuit of the bear, and their subsequent endeavours