THE SELKIRKS 151 



a man was ready to switch off the train and so 

 prevent a catastrophe which might be terrible in its 

 consequence. That danger is only a memory, and 

 happily few were aware of it at the time. Now the 

 gradient is reduced from 4'5 to 2*2, and risks have 

 practically disappeared. 



From the high level there is a wonderful sight of 

 mountain valleys and yawning gorges. We passed 

 close to the tops of Douglas pines, which vie with 

 the rocky heights, and put forth all their strength to 

 equal them in altitude. Larch and spruce, in them- 

 selves magnificent, are dwarfed into insignificance 

 by their side. But everywhere amongst the dense 

 forest, solitary dead trees stand stripped of every 

 vestige of foliage, blackened and charred by destruc- 

 tive fires. There is a melancholy desolation 

 about them, but the thick undergrowth of their 

 progeny wraps them round, as if to hide their 

 nakedness. 



On the opposite side of the gorge rise majestic- 

 ally the Selkirks, their glaciers so near that the ice 

 crystals dazzle. Deep in the mountain crevasses 

 they are locked fast, until higher temperature 

 releases them, when they plunge down in roaring 

 avalanches that sweep everything out of the way. 

 The deeply scored cliffs show where ice slips have 

 taken place, and the clear passage where rocks and 

 trees have been uprooted. 



The railway cutting again dips into the valley, 



