of nine thousand and twelve thousand feet, was 

 three thousand feet deep. 



When I rose above the surface of this sea the 

 sun was shining upon it. It was a smooth sea; 

 not a breath of wind ruffled it. The top of Long's 

 Peak rose bald and broken above. Climbing to 

 the top of a commanding ridge, I long watched 

 this beautiful expanse of cloud and could 

 scarcely realize that it was steadily flinging 

 multitudes of snowflakes upon slopes and 

 snows below. Though practically stationary, 

 this cloud expanse had some slight movements. 

 These were somewhat akin to those of a huge 

 raft that is becalmed in a quiet harbor. Slowly, 

 easily, and almost imperceptibly the entire mass 

 slid forward along the mountains ; it moved but 

 a short distance, paused for some minutes, then 

 slowly slid back a trifle farther than it had ad- 

 vanced. After a brief stop the entire mass, as 

 though anchored in the centre, started to swing 

 in an easy, deliberate rotation; after a few de- 

 grees of movement it paused, hesitated, then 

 swung with slow, heavy movement back. In 

 addition to these shifting horizontal motions 



83 



