HEART OF THE SOUTHERN CATSKILLS 45 



divinities. They offered their sacrifices upon 

 them. In the Bible mountains are used as a 

 symbol of that which is great and holy. Jeru- 

 salem is spoken of as a holy mountain. The 

 Syrians were beaten by the Children of Israel 

 because, said they, "Their gods are gods of the 

 hills; therefore were they stronger than we." 

 It was on Mount Horeb that God appeared to 

 Moses in the burning bush, and on Sinai that 

 he delivered to him the law. Josephus says 

 that the Hebrew shepherds never pasture their 

 flocks on Sinai, believing it to be the abode of 

 Jehovah. The solitude of mountain-tops is 

 peculiarly impressive, and it is certainly easier 

 to believe the Deity appeared in a burning 

 bush there than in the valley below. When 

 the clouds of heaven, too, come down and en- 

 velop the top of the mountain — how such a 

 circumstance must have impressed the old God- 

 fearing Hebrews. Moses knew ^vell how to 

 surround the law with the pomp and circum- 

 stance that would inspire the deepest awe and 

 reverence. 



But when the clouds came down and envel- 

 oped us on Slide Mountain the grandeur, the 

 solemnity, was gone in a twinkling; the por- 

 tentous-looking clouds proved to be nothing 

 but base fog that wet us and extinguished the 

 world for us. How tame, and prosy, and 

 humdrum the scene instantly became. But 

 when the fog lifted, and we looked from under 

 it as from under a just raised lid, and the eye 

 plunged again like an escaped bird into those 



