after the floor had been securely pegged to the ground, or snow.  Tucker’s tent offered the advantages of being carried without difficulty, easily erected by one man, readily ventilated and yet giving shelter to four men in any weather.  We proposed to leave the wall tent at the Base, but to take the pyramidal tent with us on the climb.  We determined to carry the “Mummery” to the top of the mountain to use while taking observations.

The elevation of the Base Camp was 17,300 feet.  We were surprised and pleased to find that at first we had good appetites and no soroche.  Less than a hundred yards from the wall tent was a small diurnal stream, fed by melting snow.  Whenever I went to get water for cooking or washing purposes I noticed a startling and rapid rise in pulse and increasing shortness of breath.  My normal pulse is 70.  After I walked slowly a hundred feet on a level at this altitude it rose to 120.  After I had been seated awhile it dropped down to 100.  Gradually our sense of well-being departed and was followed by a feeling of malaise and general disability.  There was a splendid sunset, but we were too sick and cold to enjoy it.  That night all slept badly and had some headache.  A high wind swept around the mountain and threatened to carry away both of our tents.  As we lay awake, wondering at what moment we should find ourselves deserted by the frail canvas shelters, we could not help thinking that Coropuna was giving us a fair warning of what might happen higher up.

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Figure

The Base Camp, Coropuna, at 17,300 Feet
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Figure

Camping at 18,450 Feet on the Slopes of Coropuna
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For breakfast we had pemmican, hard-tack, pea soup and tea.  We all wanted plenty of sugar in our tea and drank large quantities of it.  Experience on Mt.  McKinley had led Tucker to believe heartily in the advantages of pemmican, a food especially prepared for Arctic explorers.  Neither Coello nor Gamarra nor I had ever tasted it before.  We decided that it is not very palatable on first acquaintance.  Although doubtless of great value when one has to spend long periods of time in the Arctic, where even seal’s blubber is a delicacy “as good as cow’s cream,” I presume we could have done just as well without it.

It was decided to carry with us from the Base enough fuel and supplies to last through any possible misadventure, even of a week’s duration.  Accounts of climbs in the high Andes are full of failures due to the necessity of the explorers’ being obliged to return to food, warmth, and shelter before having effected the conquest of a new peak.  One remembers the frequent disappointments that came to such intrepid climbers as Whymper in Ecuador, Martin Conway in Bolivia and Fitzgerald in Chile and Argentina, due to high winds, the sudden advent of terrific snowstorms and the weakness caused by soroche.  At the cost of carrying extra-heavy loads we determined to try to avoid being obliged to turn back.  We could only hope that no unforeseen event would finally defeat our efforts.