Add to all this, that hands and feet had not been
rendered more serviceable by an hour and a half of contact with ice, and
it will easily be understood that I was glad when the measurement was
over. At this point the breadth was 25 yards, and, a few feet above the
line in which I crossed, all traces of rock or stone disappeared, and
there was nothing but unbroken ice. I had of course abundant
opportunities for examining the structure of the ice, and I found in all
parts of the fall the same large-grained material, breaking up, when
cut, into the usual prismatic nuts.
I now rejoined Christian, and we worked our way upwards to the mouth of
the cave, penitently desisting from stoning a remaining raven. We
observed at the very mouth, by watching the flame of the candles, a
slight current outwards, extremely feeble, and on our first arrival I
had fancied there was a current, equally slight, inwards, but neither
was perceptible beyond the entrance of the cave. M. Soret was fortunate
enough to witness a curious phenomenon, at the time of his visit to the
Schafloch, in September 1860, which throws some light upon the
atmospheric state of the cave.
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