160 IRature StuMes in Berkshire. 



enjoy a mountain must pick his day ; and he who 

 would enjoy a mountain at night must be doubly care- 

 ful in the selection of the night for his pleasure. It is 

 better to wait a month for just the right turn in the 

 weather than to select a poor time and waste a night 

 in the fog or in the rain. The fit time is such a one 

 as we had chosen. Heavy thunder-storms in the 

 night had left the air quite clear of vapours, and 

 the north wind, still blowing freshly at noon, was 

 the assurance of a clear evening and morn. At three 

 o'clock it was decided that the time was ripe for the 

 long-projected bivouac, and at half-past five we were 

 at the mountain's foot with our packs of food and 

 blankets, moving up the easterly slopes of the forest- 

 clad pile. 



It is a peculiarly choice experience to climb the 

 eastern side of a wooded mountain in the late after- 

 noon. One enjoys then a prolonged sunset effect. 

 The sun is already below the mountain's crest, and 

 the shadows are gathering in the forest which he 

 threads. The silence of the mountain solitude is 

 broken only by the vesper song of the thrush. And 

 the stillness and cool shade fill the climber with pre- 

 monitions of the intenser silence and darkness which 

 await him on the summit to which he moves. 



The sun was a half-hour too soon for us, weighted 

 as we were with our loads, and by the time we had 

 reached the mountaintop it had been fully fifteen 

 minutes below the horizon. The twilight was fast 

 fading as we prepared our simple camp upon a flat 



