62 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



every twenty steps, the fog suddenly lifted and disclosed 

 the snow-bound slopes of Ruiz a short distance away. Be- 

 tween us lay a valley flanked by perpendicular walls of 

 rock and hundreds of feet deep. The snow apparently ex- 

 tended down two hundred feet lower than our station, 

 making its lower limit fifteen thousand feet. 



We stood lost in admiration at the marvellous spectacle 

 that unfolded itself before us. The hurrying curtains of 

 clouds revealed ever-changing scenes. One moment miles 

 of slopes covered with a white mantle of snow stood out in 

 bold relief; the next, they were whisked from view and 

 bare pinnacles of dark rock, like the spires of a cathedral, 

 appeared momentarily high above, their ragged outlines 

 softened by a veil of thin blue haze. Again, the lower edges 

 of the panorama came into view, revealing glaciers and 

 avalanches of snow and rocks perched on the brink of the 

 wall ready to plunge with a boom into the deep valley. 



The floor of the valley was a series of ponds and morasses. 

 Ducks disported in the cold water, all oblivious of our 

 presence, and apparently safe in their, at least to man, in- 

 accessible retreat. A raging torrent tore along the base of 

 the wall, adding its roar as a fitting accompaniment to the 

 general awe-inspiring character of its desolate and inhos- 

 pitable surroundings. 



A whisp of vapor borne on a chill wind hurried across 

 the intervening chasm and blew into our faces. Time had 

 passed faster than we realized and we discovered that half 

 of the afternoon was gone. Hurriedly we began to retrace 

 our steps along the wall of rock and through the treacher- 

 ous bog. By the time the sharp ridge was reached, clouds 

 in such volumes had rolled in over the paramo that every- 

 thing was obscured outside of a radius of a few yards from 

 us. There was no trail of any kind, and even the most 

 familiar rocks assumed strange shapes swathed in the dank 

 vapor. A compass is useless under such circumstances. 

 Before long we reached the interlacing mass of ridges and, 

 after holding a consultation, followed along the top of one 



