A MONTH BENEATH AN AVALANCHE
One of the treasures of collectors of Alpine books is a small volume in
Italian by Ignazio Somis. The British Museum has not only a copy of the
original, but also a couple of translations, from one of which,
published in 1768, I take the following account. I have left the quaint
old spelling and punctuation just as they were; they accentuate the
vividness and evident truth of this "True and Particular Account of the
most Surprising preservation and happy deliverance of three women," who
were buried for a month under an avalanche. The occurrence was fully
investigated by Ignazio Somis, who visited the village of Bergemoletto,
and obtained his narrative from the lips of one of the survivors.
"In the month of February and March of the year 1755, we had in Turin, a
great fall of rain, the sky having been almost constantly overcast from
the ninth of February till the twenty-fourth of March. During this
interval, it rained almost every day, but snowed only on the morning of
the twenty-first of February, when the liquor of Reaumur's thermometer
stood but one degree above the freezing point. Now, as it often snows in
the mountains, when it only rains in the plain; it cannot appear
surprising that during this interval, there fell vast quantities of snow
in the mountains that surround us, and in course, several valancas[3]
were formed. In fact, there happened so many in different places on the
side of Aosta, Lanzo, Susa, Savoy, and the county of Nice, that by the
end of March, no less than two hundred persons had the misfortune of
losing their lives by them. Of these overwhelmed by these valancas,
three persons, however, Mary Anne Roccia Bruno, Anne Roccia, and
Margaret Roccia, had reason to think themselves in other respects,
extremely happy, having been dug alive on the twenty-fifth of April, out
of a stable, under the ruins of which, they had been buried, the
nineteenth of March, about nine in the morning, by a valanca of snow,
forty-two feet higher than the roof, to the incredible surprise of all
those who saw them, and afterwards heard them relate how they lived all
this while, with death, as we may say, continually staring them in the
face.
"The road from Demonte to the higher valley of Stura, runs amidst many
mountains, which, joining one another, and sometimes rising to a great
height, form a part of those Alps, by historians and geographers, called
maritime Alps, separating the valley of Stura and Piedmont, from
Dauphiny and the county of Nice. Towards the middle of the road leading
to the top of these mountains, and on the left of the river Stura, we
meet with a village called Bergemolo, passing through which village, and
still keeping the road through the said valley, we, at about a mile
distance, arrive at a little hamlet called Bergemoletto, containing
about one hundred and fifty souls. From this place there run two narrow
lanes, both to the right and left, one less steep and fatiguing than the
other, and in some measure along two valleys, to the mountains. The
summit of the mountain makes the horizon an angle much greater than 45°,
and so much greater in some places, as to be in a manner perpendicular,
so that it is a very difficult matter to climb it, even by a winding
path. Now it was from the summit of the aforesaid mountains that fell
the valancas of snow, which did so much mischief, and almost entirely
destroyed the hamlet of Bergemoletto.
"The bad weather which prevailed in so many other places, prevailed
likewise in the Foresta of Bergemoletto. By this word Foresta, the
Alpineers understand the villages dispersed over the vallies covered
with small trees and bushes, and surrounded with high mountains; for it
began to snow early in March, and the fall increased so much on the 16,
17, 18 and 19, that many of the inhabitants began to apprehend, and not
without reason, that the weight of that which was already fallen, and
still continued to fall, might crush their houses, built with stones
peculiar to the country, cemented by nothing but mud, and a very small
portion of lime, and covered with thatch laid on a roof of shingles and
large thin stones, supported by thick beams. They, therefore, got upon
their roofs to lighten them of the snow. At a little distance from the
church, stood the house of Joseph Roccia, a man of about fifty, husband
of Mary Anne, born in Demonte, of the family of Bruno; who, with his son
James, a lad of fifteen, had, like his neighbours, got upon the roof of
his house on the 19th in the morning in order to lessen the weight on
it, and thereby prevent its destruction. In the meantime the clergyman
who lived in the neighbourhood, and was about leaving home, in order to
repair to the church, and gather his people together to hear mass;
perceiving a noise towards the top of the mountains, and turning his
trembling eyes towards the quarter from whence he thought it came,
discovered two valancas driving headlong towards the village. Wherefore
raising his voice he gave Joseph notice, instantly to come down from
the roof, to avoid the impending danger, and then immediately retreated
himself into his own house.
"These two valancas met and united, so as to form but one valanca which
continued to descend towards the valley, where, on account of the
increase of its bulk, the diminution of its velocity and the insensible
declivity of the plane it stopped and arrested by the neighbouring
mountain, though it covered a large tract of land, did no damage either
to the houses or the inhabitants. Joseph Roccia, who had formerly
observed that the fall of one valanca was often attended with that of
others, immediately came off the roof at the priest's notice, and with
his son fled as hard as he could towards the church, without well
knowing, however, which way he went; as is usually the case with the
Alpineers, when they guess by the report in the air, that some valanca
is falling or seeing it fall with their own eyes. The poor man had
scarce advanced forty steps, when hearing his son fall just at his
heels, he turned about to assist him, and taking him up, saw the spot on
which his house, his stable, and those of some of his neighbours stood,
converted into a huge heap of snow, without the least sign of either
walls or roofs. Such was his agony at this sight, and at the thoughts
of having lost in an instant, his wife, his sister, his family, and all
the little he had saved, with many years increasing labour and economy,
that hale and hearty, as he was, he immediately, as if heaven and earth
were come together, lost his senses, swooned away, and tumbled upon the
snow. His son now helped him, and he came to himself little by little;
till at last, by leaning upon him, he found himself in a condition to
get on the valanca, and, in order to re-establish his health there, set
out for the house of his friend, Spirito Roccia, about one hundred feet
distant from the spot, where he fell. Mary Anne, his wife, who was
standing with her sister-in-law Anne, her daughter Margaret, and her son
Anthony, a little boy two years old, at the door of the stable, looking
at the people throwing the snow from off the houses, and waiting for the
ringing of the bell that was to call them to prayers, was about taking a
turn to the house, in order to light a fire, and air a shirt for her
husband, who could not but want that refreshment after his hard labour.
But before she could set out, she heard the priest cry out to them to
come down quickly, and raising her trembling eyes, saw the foresaid
valancas set off, and roll down the side of the mountain, and at the
same instant heard a horrible report from another quarter, which made
her retreat back quickly with her family, and shut the door of the
stable. Happy it was for her, that she had time to do so; this noise
being occasioned by another immense valanca, the whole cause of all the
misery and distress, she had to suffer for so long a time. And it was
this very valanca, over which Joseph, her husband was obliged to pass
after his fit, in his way to the house of Spirito Roccia.
"Some minutes after the fall of the valanca another huge one broke off
driving along the valley and beat down the houses which it met in its
course. This valanca increased greatly, by the snow over which it
passed, in its headlong course, and soon reached with so much
impetuosity, the first fallen valanca, it carried away great part of it;
then returning back with this reinforcement, it demolished the houses,
stopping in the valley which it had already overwhelmed in its first
progress. So that the height of the snow, Paris measure, amounted to
more than seventy-seven feet; the length of it to more than four hundred
and twenty-seven and the breadth above ninety-four. Some people affirm
that the concussion of the air occasioned by this valanca, was so great,
that it was heard at Bergemolo, and even burst open some doors and
windows at that place. This I know that nothing escaped it in
Bergemoletto, but a few houses, the church, and the house of John
Arnaud.
"Being therefore gathered together, in order to sum up their
misfortunes, the inhabitants first counted thirty houses overwhelmed;
and then every one calling over those he knew, twenty-two souls were
missing, of which number, was D. Giulio Caesare Emanuel, their parish
priest, who had lived among them forty years. The news of this terrible
disaster, soon spread itself over the neighbourhood, striking all those
who heard it, with grief and compassion. All the friends and relations
of the sufferers, and many others, flocked of their own accord, from
Bergemolo and Demonte; and many were dispatched by the magistrates of
these places, to try if they could give any relief to so many poor
creatures, who, perhaps, were already suffocated by the vast heap of
snow that lay upon them; so that by the day following, the number
assembled on this melancholy occasion amounted to three hundred. Joseph
Roccia, notwithstanding his great love for his wife and family, and his
desire to recover part of what he had lost, was in no condition to
assist them for five days, owing to the great fright and grief,
occasioned by so shocking an event, and the swoon which overtook him at
the first sight of it. In the meantime, the rest were trying, if, by
driving iron-rods through the hardened snow, they could discover any
roofs; but they tried in vain. The great solidity and compactness of the
valanca, the vast extent of it in length, breadth and heighth, together
with the snow, that still continued to fall in great quantities, eluded
all their efforts; so that after some days' labour, they thought proper
to desist from their trials, finding that it was throwing away their
time and trouble to no purpose. The husband of poor Mary Anne, no sooner
recovered his strength, than in company with his son, and Anthony and
Joseph Bruno, his brothers-in-law who had come to his assistance from
Demonte, where they lived, did all that lay in his power to discover the
spot, under which his house, and the stable belonging to it, were
situated. But neither himself, nor his relations, could make any
discovery capable of affording them the smallest ray of comfort; though
they worked hard for many days, now in one place, and now in another,
unable to give up the thoughts of knowing for certain, whether any of
their family was still alive, or if they had under the snow and the
ruins of the stable, found, at once, both death and a grave. But it was
all labour lost, so that, at length, he thought proper to return to the
house of Spirito Roccia, and there wait, till, the weather growing
milder, the melting of the snow should give him an opportunity of paying
the last duty to his family, and recovering what little of his substance
might have escaped this terrible calamity.
"Towards the end of March, the weather, through the lengthening of the
days, and the setting in of the warm winds, which continued to blow till
about the twentieth of April, began to grow mild and warm; and, of
course, the great valanca to fall away by the melting of the snow and
ice that composed it; so that little by little, the valley began to
assume its pristine form. This change was very sensible, especially by
the eighteenth of April, so that the time seemed to be at hand for the
surviving inhabitants of Bergemoletto to resume their interrupted
labours, with some certainty of recovering a good part of what they had
lost on the unfortunately memorable morning of the nineteenth of March.
Accordingly, they dispersed themselves over the valanca, some trying in
one place, and some in another, now with long spades, and another time
with thick rods of iron, and other instruments proper to break the
indurated snow. One of the first houses they discovered by this means,
was that of Louisa Roccia, in which they found her dead body, and that
of one of her sons. Next day, in the house called the confreria, that
had two rooms on the ground floor, and one above them, they found the
body of D. Giulio Caesare Emanuel, with his beads in his hand. Joseph
Roccia, animated by these discoveries, set himself with new spirits
about discovering the situation of his house, and the stable belonging
to it; and with spades and iron crows, made several and deep holes in
the snow, throwing great quantities of earth into them; earth mixed
with water, being very powerful in destroying the strong cohesion of
snow and ice. On the twenty-fourth, having made himself an opening two
feet deep into the valanca, he began to find the snow softer and less
difficult to penetrate; wherefore, driving down a long stick, he had the
good fortune of touching the ground with it.
"It was no small addition to Joseph's strength and spirit, to be thus
able to reach the bottom; so that he would have joyfully continued his
labour, and might perhaps on that very day, had it not been too far
advanced, have recovered some part of what he was looking for, and found
that which, assuredly, he by no means expected to meet with. When,
therefore, he desisted for that time, it was with much greater
reluctance than he had done any of the preceding days. The anxiety of
Joseph, during the following night, may well be compared to that of the
weather-beaten mariner, who finding himself, after a long voyage, at the
mouth of his desired port, is yet, by the coming on of night obliged to
remain on the inconstant waves till next morning. Wherefore, at the
first gleam of light, he, with his son, hastened back to the spot, where
the preceding day he had reached the ground with the stick, and began to
work upon it again; but he had not worked long, when lo, to his great
surprise, who should he see coming to his assistance but his two
brothers-in-law Joseph and Anthony Bruno.
"Anthony, it seems, the night between the preceding Thursday and Friday,
being then in Delmonte, dreamed that there appeared to him, with a pale
and troubled countenance, his sister Mary Anne Roccia, who, with an
earnestness intermixed with grief and hope, called upon him for
assistance in the following words:
"'Anthony, though you all look upon me as dead in the stable where the
valanca of snow overwhelmed me on the nineteenth of March, God has kept
me alive. Hasten therefore to my assistance, and to relieve me from my
present wretched condition; in you, my brother, have I placed all my
hopes, dont abandon me; help, help I beseech you.' Anthony's
imagination, was so affected by the thoughts of thus seeing his sister,
and hearing her utter these piteous words, that he immediately started
up, and calling out to his brother Joseph, he acquainted him with what
he had seen and heard. They both, therefore, as soon as it was day, set
out for Bergemoletto, where they arrived a little before eight, tired
and out of breath, for they seemed to have their sister continually
before their eyes, pressing them for help and assistance. Having
therefore taken a little rest and refreshment, they set out again for
the place, where Joseph Roccia, and many others, were hard at work in
looking for the wrecks of their houses. Joseph had left the spot, where,
the day before he thought he had reached the ground, and was trying to
reach it in other places. His brothers-in-law immediately fell to work
with him, and making many new holes in the snow, the interior parts of
which were not so very hard, with the same iron rods, with earth and
with long poles, they at last, about ten, discovered the so long sought
for house, but found no dead bodies in it. Knowing that the stable did
not lie one hundred feet from the house, they immediately directed their
search towards it, and proceeding in the same manner, about noon, they
got a long pole through a hole, from whence issued a hoarse and languid
voice, which seemed to say: 'help, my dear husband, help, my dear
brother, help.' The husband and brother thunderstruck, and at the same
time encouraged by these words, fell to their work with redoubled
ardour, in order to clear away the snow, and open a sufficient way for
themselves, to the place from whence the voice came, and which grew more
and more distinct as the work advanced. It was not long, therefore,
before they had made a pretty large opening, through which (none minding
the danger he exposed himself to) Anthony descended, as into a dark
pit, asking who it was, that could be alive in such a place. Mary Anne
knew him by his voice, and answered with a trembling and broken accent,
intermixed with tears of joy. 'Tis I, my dear brother, who am still
alive in company with my daughter and my sister-in-law, who are at my
elbow. God, in whom I have always trusted, still hoping that he would
inspire you with the thought of coming to our assistance, has been
graciously pleased to keep us alive.' God, who had preserved them to
this moment, and was willing they should live, inspired Anthony with
such strength and spirits, that, notwithstanding the surprise and
tenderness with which so joyful and at the same time so sad a sight must
have affected him, had presence of mind enough to acquaint his
fellow-labourers, all anxiously waiting for the report of his success,
that Mary Anne, Margaret, and Anne Roccia were still alive. Whereupon
Joseph Roccia, and Joseph Bruno, enlarging the passage as well as they
could, immediately followed him into the ruins; whilst the other
Alpineers, scattered over the valanca in quest of their lost substance,
and the dead bodies of their relations, on the son's calling out to
them, flocked round the mouth of the pit, to behold so extraordinary a
sight; not a little heightened by that of two live goats scampering out
of the opening. In the meantime, those who had descended into the hole,
were contriving how to take out of it the poor and more than half dead
prisoners, and convey them to some place, where they might recover
themselves. The first thing they did was to raise them up, and take them
out of the manger in which they had been so long stowed. They then
placed them one by one on their shoulders, and lifted them up to those
who stood round the mouth of the pit, who with very great difficulty
took hold of them by the arms, and drew them out of their dark
habitation. Mary Anne, on being exposed to the open air, and seeing the
light, was attacked by a very acute pain in the eyes, which greatly
weakened her sight, and was attended with so violent a fainting fit,
that she had almost like to have lost, in the first moment of her
deliverance, that life, which she had so long and with such difficulty
preserved. But this was a consequence that might be easily foreseen. She
had been thirty-seven days, secluded, in a manner entirely, from the
open air; nor had the least ray of light, in all that time, penetrated
her pupils.
"Her son found means to bring her to herself with a little melted snow,
there being nothing else at hand fit for the purpose, and the accident
that happened her was improved into a rule for treating the companions
of her misfortune. They, therefore, covered all their faces, and wrapped
them up so well, as to leave them but just room to breathe, and in this
condition took them to the house of John Arnaud, where Mary Anne was
entirely recovered from her fit, by a little generous wine. They then
directly placed them in some little beds put up in the stable, which was
moderately warm, and almost entirely without light, and prepared for
them a mess of rye meal gruel, mixed with a little butter; but they
could swallow but very little of it."