20 1 PTA.EMIGAX. 



that are met with in some lonely glen, but never cease to 

 be birds of the snow. There the scanty vegetation, diminished 

 from even the stunted growth of the lower parts, and barely 

 nourished by the sterile soil that has gathered among the 

 crumbling masses of fallen rocks, seem shrunk into itself, 

 shunning the cold of the upper regions, and the withered 

 and blighted remains of the pine forest or the birch wood 

 tell a like tale of the curdling blasts that have frozen out 

 their life in years that are gone. 



As you wander on, you suddenly come upon some small 

 lake, of unfathomable depth, whose blue waters reflect the 

 dark forms of the surrounding craggy rocks and giddy precipices 

 which tower about the lonesome valley fur below. Peak 

 upon peak and range upon range arise in the far distance, 

 and here and there a silver stream trickles down their hoary 

 sides, threading its devious way in its time-worn gully among 

 the wrecks of the mountain top that have fallen or been 

 hurled from their primeval place. It is indeed a 'solemn 

 silence' that prevails, and mysterious, strange, and melancholy, 

 but yet thrilling with pleasure is the feeling that swells the 

 heart. Above, the clouds of heaven roll along, going you 

 know not whither, nor can your fancy guide you, their edges 

 gilded with crimson and purple by the rays of the setting 

 sun, who yet shines below and through them on the hills 

 in a thousand different shades and lights 'passing away.' 

 Again, on the side of the brow hangs a heavy mass of 

 vapour, faintly painted too on its western border with the 

 red of the alpine rose; this next is spread into wreaths of 

 grey mist, which seem to cling to the humid earth; and in 

 the far distance rises tip a dark and lurid mass of cloud, 

 the murky form of which seems pregnant with the lightning, 

 whose flash you seem instinctively aware of, the foreboding 

 of nature warning you to retreat to shelter. Now the sun 

 sets in glory and gorgeous splendour behind the farthest peak, 

 and now the black cloud lowers nearer and nearer, silently 

 moving up the vault; now the whispers of the rising gale come 

 on and on to the ear, and darkness unexpectedly begins to fall 

 and gather on all around, 'Away, away to the mountain's 

 brow,' if you doubt the 'Omnipresence of the Deity;' there 

 'on such a night' you must, like Moses, veil your face, and 

 be 'afraid to look upon God.' There is that in; such a scene 

 to awe the heart, and he is not worthy the name of man 

 who does not fear before the presence of the Almighty. 



