

n6 A DISAPPOINTING MOUNTAIN, [ch 



the ridge, my disappointment was extreme in finding! 

 precipitous valley as deep as the plain, which cut the chain 

 transversely in two, and separated me from the four points. 

 This valley is very narrow, but flat-bottomed, and it forms 

 a fine horse-pass for the Indians, as it connects the plains 

 on the northern and southern sides of the range. Having 

 descended, and while crossing it, I saw two horses grazing ; 

 I immediately hid myself in the long grass, and began to 

 reconnoitre ; but as I could see no signs of Indians I pro- 

 ceeded cautiously on my second ascent. It was late in the 

 day, and this part of the mountain, like the other, was 

 steep and rugged. I was on the top of the second peak 

 by two o'clock, but got there with extreme difficulty ; every 

 twenty yards I had the cramp on the upper part of both 

 thighs, so that I was afraid I should not have been able 

 to have got down again. It was also necessary to return 

 by another road, as it was out of the question to pass over 

 the saddle-back. I was therefore obliged to give up the 

 two higher peaks. Their altitude was but little greater, 

 and every purpose of geology had been answered ; so that 

 the attempt was not worth the hazard of any further 

 exertion. I presume the cause of the cramp was the great 

 change in the kind of muscular action, from that of hard 

 riding to that of still harder climbing. It is a lesson worth 

 remembering, as in some cases it might cause much 

 difficulty. 



I have already said the mountain is composed of white 

 quartz rock, and with it a little glossy clay-slate is associ- 

 ated. At the height of a few hundred feet above the plain, 

 patches of conglomerate adhered in several places to the 

 solid rock. They resembled in hardness, and in the nature 

 of the cement, the masses which may be seen daily forming 

 on some coasts. I do not doubt these pebbles were in a 

 similar manner aggregated, at a period when the great 

 calcareous formation was depositing beneath the surround- 

 ing sea. We may believe that the jagged and battered 

 forms of the hard quartz yet show the eff"ects of the waves 

 of an open ocean. 



I was, on the whole, disappointed with this ascent. Even 

 the view was insignificant ; — a plain like the sea, but 

 without its beautiful colour and defined outline. The scene, 

 however, was novel, and a little danger, like salt to meat, 

 gave it a relish. That the danger was very little was 

 certain, for my two companions made a good fire — a thing 



