228 A GLORIOUS PANORAMA. 



was still a considerable distance off, we continued our ascent, 

 and soon reached the summit of the range. 



What a glorious panorama now presented itself as I sat 

 down on the ridge to enjoy this magnificent prospect of moun- 

 tain piled behind mountain, stretching away as far as the eye 

 could reach ! The day was one of those when, from the sky 

 being overcast, the light was of that dull subdued kind, which 

 gave to the more distant ranges an intense dark-blue tint, 

 causing them to appear more solemn in their grandeur, and 

 the valleys lying between them more profound in their depth, 

 than had they been lighted up by the glare of a bright noon- 

 day sun. And the heavy pall of cloud that rested on some of 

 the higher mountains threw a gloomy shade over their snow- 

 clad sides immediately beneath, giving one a vague and an 

 exaggerated idea of the height of their hidden crests. 



A thin blue line of smoke curling lazily up from a shel- 

 tered spot among the pine-trees far below, showed us that the 

 men with the loads had reached the place where it was 

 intended we should pass the night. I was not, however, 

 destined to reach it without the occurrence of a rather serious 

 accident, which nearly brought my shooting-trip to a prema- 

 ture end. 



The chilling wind that blew over the ridge, off the snow, 

 reminded me, as I sat admiring the view, that it was not 

 advisable to remain inactive. We therefore commenced 

 descending towards the camp. The declivity, although very 

 steep, would not have been difficult to traverse had not the 

 ground been covered with a layer of half-melted slushy 

 snow, which made the footing slippery and uncertain. I was 

 walking rather carelessly, and happened to place one of my 

 feet, on which I was wearing straw poolas, 1 on a smooth birch 



1 Hob-nailed boots I found safer, on the steep'slippery slopes of dry grass so 

 common in markhor ground, than poolas, which on these dangerous slopes 

 become very dry, and consequently are apt to slide ; so it is as well to be pro- 

 vided with both. 



