296 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



spring as the fierce breath of the mountains rushed 

 down from the snow-clad heights, lashing the lake to 

 a seething, boiling turmoil. 



The witching scene was accentuated by an ethereal 

 splendour. From our very feet, on the one side, rose 

 the hills, first in gentle slopes, extending for a long 

 way, till they mounted tier upon tier, towering aloft 

 to altitudes of many thousands of feet. Between each 

 mighty peak vast canons and gorges lay, deep in 

 snow, beneath which the roaring torrents hurled their 

 icy waters downwards to the river. The hillsides were 

 densely clad with cloaks of alder, willow, birch, and 

 mountain ash, whilst here and there bright patches 

 of green carpeted a glade from which the snow had 

 gone. 



Higher still lay the vast fields of perennial snow, 

 which defiant alike to sun and rain formed a back- 

 ground in vivid contrast to the foliage around. The 

 sun climbed over a gleaming white cone, most lofty 

 and noble of all the noble peaks, and the rays reflected 

 a thousand tints with a brilliancy only to be seen in 

 the rarefied atmosphere of these Northern climes. The 

 light danced and flickered on the highest snow-clad 

 tops, and fell slowly athwart a dark green patch of 

 alder, outlining the vivid clumps of mountain ash, 

 gleaming on the boles of the silver birch. The gold 

 and silver glory of the streams rippled over the tiny 

 boulders at our feet, falling in a sparkling chain of 

 cascades, clear as the snow from which they sprung, 

 adding endless music to the scene. And over all the 

 mid-evening silence rang the trilling " Good-night " 



