CHAP. vii. CROSSING THE LAND-SLIDE. 115 



easily discerned with a good glass. Those in the valley 

 near me were not all dead ; some of the birches had put 

 forth their leaves, and looked green and fresh amidst the 

 forest of broken trunks so rudely torn from the spot 

 where they grew. I was struck with the singular luxu- 

 riance of the vegetation, and the comparatively great 

 size of the forest trees in this valley, but the discovery of 

 the Labradorite rocks at once explained the cause. La- 

 bradorite is a lime felspar, which, upon decomposition, 

 yields a very fertile soil. 



We were almost afraid at first to speak, lest the 

 vibration of a sound should dislodge some of the masses 

 which seemed ready to descend the hill at the slightest 

 touch. We picked our steps over the fragments with 

 great but needless caution, for they had evidently all 

 attained a stable position, and with few exceptions 

 allowed us to pass over them without being displaced or 

 shaken. 



The men who, with ' weary step and slow,' had followed 

 us with heavy burdens up the hill, paused in amazement 

 and doubt as they came to the edge of the slide. They 

 looked up at the dark-green mountain-wall from which 

 the shattered masses had fallen ; they looked down into 

 the deep valley where the fragments were strewn and 

 heaped ; they looked across the path of the slide and 

 traced our footsteps one by one over the treacherous 

 incline, the foremost calling out in a low voice, ' Is it 

 safe ? can we pass ? ' 



' Put your feet in our steps ; don't touch any of the 

 loose rocks, or you'll send them tumbling down the hill, 

 and come as quick as you can, one by one.' 



i 2 



