324 iButtetmcte ^fgtrict 



that warm picture, with its yellow lights and soft shadows, 

 with the turbulence and chill and gloom of the station from 

 which we viewed it We had but a moment to look at it ; 

 for not only did the clouds sink before our eyes, but the 

 wind veered round to the opposite point of the compass, 

 throwing one after another of us flat as it passed. Within 

 a few minutes one of us had six falls, from the force of the 

 wind and the treachery of the ground, — now in a trice a 

 medley of small streams. It was impossible to stop the 

 guide for a moment's breath. In the roar of the blast, and 

 crash of the thunder, and pelt of the hail, one might as well 

 have spoken to the elements : so it was necessary for us to 

 keep our pace, that he might not stride away from us entirely. 

 Through stumblings and slidings innumerable, we did this, 

 — the lightning playing about our faces the while, like a 

 will-o'-the-wisp on the face of a bog. The hail and rain had 

 drenched us to the skin ; they were driven in at every open- 

 ing of our clothes ; they cut our necks behind, and filled 

 our shoes ; our hats and bonnets were immediately soaked 

 through, and everybody's hair wringing wet. The thunder 

 seemed to roll on our very heads. In this weather we went 

 plunging on for four miles, through spongy bogs, and turbid 

 streams whose bridges of stones were hidden in the rushing 

 waters, or by narrow pathways each one of which was con- 

 verted by the storm into an impetuous brook. When we 

 had descended into a region where we could hear ourselves 

 speak, we congratulated one another on our prudence in 

 having engaged a guide. Without him, how should we have 

 known the path from the brook, or have guessed where we 

 might ford the stream, when the bridges were out of sight ? 

 Two horses, we afterwards heard, were killed on the same 

 fell in that storm : and it is my belief we should never have 

 come down, if we had been left to wander by ourselves. 



