286 Unexplored Spain 



at their saeters, or summer slieilings on the fjelcl. Hard by the 

 cdbaha, or cabin, of these honest folks, our tent was pitched — 

 altitude, 5800 feet. 



With the first of the daylight, after a drink of milk, we 

 started upwards, our host, the Cura, Bertie, and ourselves. 



With us were ten goat-herds who had to flank the drive ; the 

 others would already be occupying allotted positions, we knew not 

 where. Three hours' climbing — the usual struggle, only worse — 

 took us to the first line of " passes," far above the last signs of 

 veo-etation and amidst what little snow remains here in summer. 

 This " drive " had been reckoned a certainty, and four animals 

 were reported seen in the mist, but no chamois came in to the 

 o-uns, and yet another two-hours' climb had to be faced ere the 

 second set of posts was reached. 



This bit, however, definitely stopped for the moment my 

 career as a chamois-hunter, such was the slippery, perpendicular, 

 and utterly dangerous nature of the rocks. A fortnight before 

 I had climbed the Plaza de Almanzor in the Sierra de Gr^clos, but 

 these pinnacles of the Picos proved beyond my powers. The 

 admission, beyond any words of mine, bespeaks the character of 

 these Cantabrian peaks. Here on a dizzy ledge at 8000 feet I 

 remained behind, while the rest of the party, filing up a rock- 

 stair, were lost to sight within fifteen yards. 



Before me stretched away peak beyond peak in emulating 

 altitudes the whole vast cordillera of Cantabria — a glory of 

 mountain-forms. 



. . . the things which tower, Avhich shiiie, 

 Whose smile makes glad, whose frown is terrible. 



In majestic array, pinnacles and crannied summits, flecked 

 and streaked with glistening snows, enthral and subdue. The 

 giants Peiia Vieja, Urriales, Garnizo, lift their heads above the 

 rest, piercing the blue ether — fancied spires in some celestial 

 shrine. 



This smiling noontide an all-pervading spirit of peace reigns ; 

 the sublimity of solitude generates reverence and awe, the voice 

 of the Creator seems audible amidst encompassing silence. 



Far away below, as in another world, lie outspread champaigns ; 

 sunlit stubbles, newly stripped of autumnal crops, form chequers of 

 contrasted colour that set off with golden background the dark 



