We were not quite asleep, when the fearfully plaintive tone of some animal which was probably bidding farewell to life in the claws of a grizzly bear rang through the mountains; still this did not prevent us from falling into the soundest sleep, and trusting our safety to the faithful dog. The rising sun saw us again _en route_ over very difficult ground. The ravines which we always followed in order to skirt the precipices, were at times so full of large blocks that we could not jump from one to the other without danger, while the rock strata we were compelled to climb were often too high for us to lift ourselves upon them. Hence we were obliged to make numerous circuits and could not advance so rapidly as the distance would have allowed. About noon we were scaling a height when suddenly a mighty condor spread out its enormous wings with a loud yell, and rose from a rock with a great effort, and we saw a mountain sheep hanging in its claws. It swung itself on to the nearest peak and sat down there, looking over at us with extended wings and croaking hoarsely. We raised our rifles almost simultaneously and the eagle sank lifeless on its quarry. Tiger climbed up and threw both down to us. The sheep was a one year old ewe and welcome to us as delicate food: while Tiger appropriated the eagle's feathers and claws, we cut the flesh from the sheep and rubbed salt into it, after giving it a hearty beating, for thus when our stock of roast meat was expended, we should be able to fall back on raw meat, as we had no fire materials. We continued our journey and soon reached snow, which only remained, however, on the north side. The air became very cold, which rendered breathing difficult, and we could not walk fast. Evening surprised us completely surrounded by snow, and we had to go a long distance ere we found under southern precipices a spot where the sun had melted it away. Here we slept and my comrades woke me several times and asked whether I was not frozen--they could not close an eye, while I was tolerably warm. They shook me again before daybreak and we continued our journey, pulling our skins tightly round us. The snow was frozen very hard and had generally a rough surface, so that we passed easily over it. Our long sticks, which we frequently sharpened, here served us in good stead, as at doubtful spots we felt with them whether the snow would bear us, and no doubt we frequently crossed deep places, into which we might easily have sunk.