Outside the narrow gorge it was considerably lighter, and I had no difficulty in finding my way a bit up towards the pass, where I fortunately discovered a patch of tall snow grass between the tussocks of which the ground had been partly sheltered from the snow, and near this I stumbled on a quantity of “Irishman” scrub which had recently been burnt and was easily broken down.  So far this was lucky, for it secured me the means of making a fire, without which it would have been impossible, I believe, to live till the morning, which was still some sixteen hours distant.

I tethered my horse to a tussock, and selecting a couple of large ones, knotted their tops together, forming thereby a little room about four feet long by two wide.  In this I cut and spread some more snow grass and pushed my saddle and blanket to one end.  This did not occupy many minutes, and now I had to break down and collect firewood to last me during the night.  When all was done I felt terribly hungry, the little bit of food I had brought with me I had eaten early in the day, and the fact that I had not a morsel left increased my longing for it.  Fortunately I had a supply of tobacco and a box of wax vestas, and I smoked continuously.  I dared not attempt to lie down to sleep, for I had not covering enough to keep me warm, and indeed I felt no desire for sleep.  I was too much concerned about the night; if heavy snow fell I would find it very difficult to move, even when daylight appeared, and it was now falling in a half-hearted sort of way.  My poor horse stood as near the fire as he could, without any food, and shivering, and I was constantly standing up and clapping my arms and stamping my feet if the fire got low, then, when a bit warmed, I would crouch inside my den and sometimes I dozed, only to waken up from sheer cold and resume my exercise.  After some hours I had the satisfaction to notice that the snow had ceased falling, and a brighter night, with frost, had set in.  This was pleasant, as the probability of being snowed up was no longer to be apprehended, but the biting cold was terrible, and I knew that if I succumbed to sleep, I would be frost-bitten.

I scarcely know how I got through the night; one never does.  I must have had periods of unconsciousness, and the heat emanating from the hot ashes, and what fire I was able to keep going, saved me.  Had it not been for that, I could not have survived, and it was a piece of extraordinary luck my lighting on a patch of snow grass and scrub in that wild and desolate pass.

How I longed for daylight may be imagined, and the first tinge of light I noticed on the horizon was a welcome sight indeed.  My firewood was long since burnt away, but the ashes were yet warm, and I thrust in my hands till I revived some life into them, and was able to collect more brushwood which I carried over, and had a rousing fire, and was enabled to get the saddle on to my horse.  I was now undecided whether to retrace my steps to Mesopotamia or endeavour