SNOWSTORMS ON THE HILLS.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 107, 7 May 1887, Page 3 (Supplement)

SNOWSTORMS ON THE HILLS.

No.vk.|»(jt those who hm& been cavight irf

them caw form any idea <?S now terrible aVe' mountain snow-storms. Blinding, bewildering, both nve» and animals qtabkly succumb to them. Clowda and banks off snow, rush hither and thit&er in opaque masses : the bitter hail sleet se«m to drive threiVgh you. A few momentsl after the storm' breaks, every wrap you lftwy have at command is soaked through, thwcold is intense ;' and a sense of numbness sWon takes possession of the whole body. Twice have I litirsbwly escaped death when suit on the northern mountains in winter,, suddenly finding myself at the close of a 1 short afternoon enveloped in a blinding storm. Once, offer long exposure, I owed my deliverance tol a search-party of shepherds ; on the secondoccasion I was saved liy the intelligent? iMeltfcy of a brace of foxhounds. Those who* have been overtaken in tills manner have-i not always been so fortunate ; and some terrible deaths have occurred among the higher hills in winter, asl the following sttories will show.

Half-way down this grey stone wall, on 1 bIW near side, is a sad gveeni spot; and beside it we have thrown up a» loose cairn. The1 snow had fallen thickly for'many flays ; ■ all the deep holes were filled up, and the mountain-rood was no longer to be seen. ■ The1 wall-tops stood out as white ridges on the- otherwise smooth surface. Only the cuags- hung ia shaggy snowy masses, black seams and scaurs rocking out Hits1 ravines. Nature was sombre and still; ifaessmecl us .. though her pulse had ceased to heat. The softly winnowed snowflakes still fell, and not even the wing of a bird of prej; moved in the thin cold air. It had gone hard with' the sheep.- Hundreds were buried in the snow, and would have to l>e dug out. . They sought the site of tin: old wall and fell into deep drifts ; but the li.irdy goatlike Hfeid wicks-instinctively climbed'tO»the bleak and exposed fell-tops, and in tin's was their safety. Torelieve the sheep that had as-yet escaped,. Hay was carried to the fella ; each' shepherd having a loose bundle upon his hack, It was thus, with three dogs, that we toiled up the gorge by an undefined trail parallel to the buried fence. Soon it began to snow heavily, and the sky suddenly darkened. The dogs that wore in front stopped before somo object. They whined', ran towards us, and. gave out short, sharp barks. With a kind of instinctivodread wo followed them as they led us towards a granite boulder ; and on its lee1 side lay something starkly outlined against the snow. "Dead!" we whispered' to> each other. There was no trace of pain over the features — nothing bwfc rigid quiet. The icy fingers graspedi a pencil, and on the snow lay a scrap >of paper. It contained only two words-- " This day " — then stopped. Wo buried the body next morning in the little mount tain cemetery. Whence he came op whither lie went none ever knew. A few of the- dead man's belongings, trifling, enough, are thrust in a hole in the old barn, for- her whom we still expect tocome for them one of these days.

In our .summer fishings, one of the spotsat■which woaised bo resort was a quaintcottage in the beautiful vale of Duddon—the same that Mr- Wordsworth has immortalised in his series; of sonnets. The cottage stood' hard by the stream, and in it lived a widowwoman, the daughter of a hill "statesman." During trout-time the house was embowered in greenery. Deliciously cool was its whitewashed porch and cleari-'sandal floor, a«r-at tree standing over all. In tho grate of her parlour in summer, where Mr Wordsworth ctften used to sit, she invariably had a thick, sod of purple heather in full bloom.. Here: many anglers came and drew from, their holds the pink-spotted trout. The dipper and the kingfisher darted by the (1001%. and those who drank-in the qniet and pastoral peace of Duddon never forgot it; The woman of the ootbage, by great industry and exertion, had reared1 and settled comfortably in life a small family. She was respected by all about her. Out of her small' means she gave away almost as much food and home-brewed ale as was sold by any country inn of the district. For one in so limited a sphere her life was almost an ideal one ; and yet her end was terribly sad. She- left home one wintry afternoon to visit a- sick relation, in EskV dale. At this time "pedlars"—of whom tho Wanderer- of the " Excursion " is a type —were common in remote country districts, and one of fehem. ottered to convey her in his gig to. Eskdale-over-the Birk Moor road. At the-end of this he was to take her up at a stated time.. It happened that she was tco> Me for tho traveller,, but walked onwards,, supposing that ho was behind and would overtake-her.. On> the sixth day after thisthe clergyman's daughter from Eskdale casually called at the poor woman's cottage. It then became known that she had not been seen at Eskdale, and a band! of dalesfolk at once sets out to. search the fens. The body of the poor creature was found only forty yards from the- road-,, her hands and knees terribly lacerated, and her dress torn.. These showed that after losing the power of walking she- had struggled onwards,, no one knows how far, upon her hands and knees. She had taken out her spectacles, as was thought, to- assist her in seeing-her way through the blinding mists. These had prevailed for a week, and to them must be attributed the fact that her body lay so long undiscovered by the mountain road. Some sweetmeats tied ma handkerchief,which she had carried for her grandchildren, were found near the spot where she died. Eskdale is. one of the most pi&tnresque glens among tho Cumbrian mountains—" a spot made- by Nature for herself," as some of the-Lake poets have it. With, its tarn, its ghyll-continued waterfall, and the fact of its being placed among the splintory peaks of the Be rrowdale series, it constitutes a wildly charming spot at every season. Here upon the snow, many years ago, was played out a cruel tragedy indeed A poor hard-working peasant and his \vi', named Green,were returing from Langd-iie late on a wintry night to their home i/i Easdale. A terrible storm overtook them on the way, and becoming exhausted, they both died in it. Meanwhile six children were snowed up in their cottage, where, without help, they remained several days. Fully appreciating their situation, but as yet ignorant of _ the fate which had befallen her parents, a little lass offline assumed command at home, and exhibited unusual forethought and care in meeting the home wants of her brothers and sisters. After a time she mado hei escape from the snow-bound cottage*.anc ; told the hill-farmers and shepherafe. hoy her father and mother had not returned-. ■& search party was organised, and aister thro* days the bodies were discovered, upon th< hills at a short distance from cash, otheii 1---"St. James Gazette."