Many times in the pitch darkness of the night I thought the small Mummery tent I was in would be simply torn in pieces, but towards daylight the hurricane gradually died away, and by nine o'clock the sun came out. The scene, when I emerged from the tent, I shall never forget. Bright sunshine and dazzling white snow--but where were all the groves of rhododendron bushes, from four to five feet high, that yesterday had surrounded our camp? Loaded with the snow, they had been beaten flat, and lay there plastered and stuck tight to the ground, by the ice and snow of the blizzard of the night before. But under the double action of the sun's heat and the rapid evaporation that takes place when the barometer stands only at about sixteen inches, the snow, which was over six inches deep, soon melted, and by the afternoon had all disappeared from around our camp. On the morrow a cloudless sky and a northerly wind changed the whole aspect of affairs. [Illustration: Diama Glacier. Summit (26,629 feet) Nanga Parbat Pass. NANGA PARBAT FROM THE DIAMIRAI GLACIER. A--Upper Camp at the base of Nanga Parbat. B--First rib of rocks. C--Second rib of rocks. D--Sleeping-place on the top of the second rib of rocks. E--Third rib of rocks. F--Mr. A. F. Mummery's highest point (over 20,000 feet). G--The foot of the Diama Glacier. H--The Diamirai Glacier. The dotted line shows route taken.] We had a long consultation, Mummery arguing that we ought to start for Nanga Parbat at once, and make an attempt to reach the summit. His only fear was that Hastings would feel that we were not treating him fairly by starting before he had returned from Astor and could join us in the climb. But the weather had been changeable, and the Chilas coolies with us were predicting that when the next snowstorm came, it would be worse than the last, and the snow would not clear away so quickly. There seemed great probability in their predictions. At any rate, with the cold north wind the good weather would last, but we ought to make use of that good weather at once. So, hoping that Hastings would forgive us, we started on the final attempt to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat. Our position was as follows:--We had plenty of provisions and firewood at the camp at the head of the glacier, a tent and more provisions with some spirits and a boiling tin on the top of the second ridge of rocks, and a last rucksack with more edibles half way up the third rib of rock.