SIBEKIAN STAO. 45 



pine ; the lowest fall spreading out like a fan of thin 

 gauze, hanging over the rocky wall, and screening the 

 black cavern behind. 



With difficulty you climb through a ravine to the top 

 of the waterfall, and follow the stream for a few hun- 

 dred yards higher, till you find its origin in a little moun- 

 tain tarn, deeply embosomed amidst perpendicular walls 

 of rock, with no opening or outlet except the narrow cleft 

 by which the tiny stream escapes. How beautiful is the 

 little quiet lake, clear as crystal, but of great depth, and 

 hence of a deep green hue, receiving and absorbing the 

 sun's rays in its profundity, like a floor of polished beryl ! 

 And there on the opposite precipice, gazing down into 

 the distant water, stand in antlered majesty three noble 

 stags. Magnificent creatures ! here they are at home, 

 dwelling amidst this grandeur, the very presiding genii 

 loci* 



We are familiar, by report, with that great bird of 

 mighty wing, the lammergeyer or bearded eagle, whose 

 red eye is a fair index of its cruel ferocity, that preys not 

 only on birds and quadrupeds, but even on children. We 

 commonly associate this proud and savage bird with the 

 crags of the Alps, but it is spread over the whole central 

 line of Europe and Asia, wherever lofty and rugged 

 mountain-chains arise. Mr Atkinson speaks of having 

 shot one in a scene which for savage grandeur surpasses 

 anything in the Alps. It was among the Alatou moun- 



* Every feature in this picture is in Atkinson's Siberia ; in the 

 grouping only have I taken any liberty. 



