OF THE POLAR SEA. 203 
so happily placed that it would not have required 
a great stretch of imagination to fancy ourselves 
driving through a well-arranged park, We had 
now to cross a small lake, and then gradually 
ascended hills beyond it, until we arrived at the 
summit of a lofty chain of mountains command- 
ing the most picturesque and romantic prospect 
we had yet seen in this country. Two ranges 
of high hills run parallel to each other for several 
miles, until the faint blue haze hides their parti- 
cular characters, when they slightly change their 
course, and are lost to the view. The space 
between them is occupied by nearly a daxclplain. 
through which a river pursues a meandering 
course, and receives supplies from the perce and 
rills issuing from the mountains on each side. 
The prospect was delightful even amid the snow, 
and. though marked with all the cheerless cha- 
racters of winter; how much more charming 
must it be when the trees are in leaf, and the 
ground is arrayed in summer verdure! Some 
faint idea of the difference was conveyed to my: 
mind by witnessing the effect of the departing 
rays of a brilliant sun. The distant prospect, 
however, is surpassed in grandeur by the wild 
scenery which appeared immediately below our 
feet. There the eye penetrates into vast ravines 
from, two to three hundred feet in depth, that are 
