OF THE OLD WORLD. 413 



prevent my limbs from becoming benumbed. Be- 

 sides this, the longer the eye dwelt upon the scene, 

 the vaster and more magnificent became its gigantic 

 and stately proportions ; and again and again I put 

 down my pencil, feeling the impossibility of doing 

 justice to it. At last, after a great trial of patience, 

 I managed to complete a tolerably correct outline, 

 which I filled in with the aid of niy glass, en- 

 deavouring at the same time to impress the scene 

 so correctly on my mind that not a single important 

 feature should be forgotten. 



Whilst so employed, the rays of the rising sun 

 were just beginning to tinge the summits of the 

 loftiest ranges on the eastern horizon (where our 

 guide pointed out to me Mount Kazbek towering 

 high above the rest,) and by degrees each peak, 

 precipice, and ridge assumed a delicate rose-colour, 

 which deepened every moment until it became tinged 

 with a gorgeous golden tint that gradually paled as 

 the glorious luminary of day ascended in the heavens, 

 when after a short time the virgin snow was again left 

 in its unsullied whiteness. 



No description could convey an idea of the intense 

 grandeur of the scene before us, which displayed a 

 richness of colouring far surpassing the painter's art 

 to depict. Mountains divided by deep, dark, densely- 

 wooded ravines lay beneath us, and the valley from 

 Avhich we commenced the ascent was bathed in a rich 

 violet hue. Castellated peaks and masses of rock of 

 every shape and form rose in all directions, and 



