of the Old World. 439 



the idea of numberless rocky islands in a tempestuous 

 ocean suddenly frozen. In the valleys and undula- 

 tions' between were innumerable blue and violet 

 streaks, which, with the aid of my glass, I made out 

 to be deep fissures and yawning chasms so wide as to 

 appear perfectly impassable, although some seemed 

 arched over with natural bridges of ice. Here and 

 there, scattered over the surface, dark masses of rock 

 and fantastically-grouped aiguilles and pinnacles ap- 

 peared like the domes, spires, and minarets of far- 

 distant Eastern cities, whilst the massive ridges of ice 

 forcibly reminded me of lines of defence and fortifica- 

 tions on the largest scale, the effect of which was 

 somewhat heightened by the continual cracking and 

 breaking of the ice, which often resembled a well- 

 kept-up file-firing, varied by rolling volleys of mus- 

 ketry, whilst at intervals the roaring of avalanches 

 sounded like salvoes of heavy artillery. 



Those who have not witnessed, cannot conceive the 

 solemn grandeur of the scene then before us, and 

 discription can convey but a very faint idea of it. 

 The firmament was of that intensely - deep blue 

 peculiar to the waves of the Mediterranean at certain 

 times, and contrasted strangely with the dazzling 

 whiteness of the eternal snow, which lay spread out 

 like the vast winding-sheet of a dead world. The 

 sun, too, shone with a peculiarly strange unearthly 

 light, more like that of the moon, as if his rays were 



