A GLORIOUS PANORAMA. 177 



and precipitous. Broad patches of melting snow, in many 

 : places very deep, still lay on the mountain-side, often form- 

 ing a treacherous covering over gullies hidden by it, or to 

 I slippery branches of birch bushes that lay pressed down by 

 its weight along the steep ground beneath, and on which 

 our feet were continually either slipping or tripping. 



What a glorious panorama presented itself from the sum- 

 mit of the range where I sat down to rest and to enjoy this 

 magnificent prospect of mountain 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 

 noonday 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 hid- 

 den 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 seri- 

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

 premature 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 



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