THE PANORAMA PROM POINT SUBLIME. 
155 
shadows and light up the gloom of the amphitheaters and alcoves, weaken- 
ing the glow of the haze and i-endering visible the details of the wall faces. 
At length, as the sun draws near the horizon, the great drama of the day 
begins. 
Throughout the afternoon the prospect has been gradually growing 
clearer. The haze has relaxed its steely glare and has changed to a veil of 
transparent blue. Slowly the myriads of details have come out and the walls 
are flecked with lines of minute tracery, forming a diaper of light and shade. 
Stronger and sharper becomes the relief of each projection. The promon- 
tories come forth from the opposite wall. The sinuous lines of stratification 
which once seemed meaningless, distorted, and even chaotic, now range 
themselves into a true perspective of graceful curves, threading the scallop 
edges of the strata. The colossal buttes expand in every dimension. Their 
long, narrow wings, which once were folded together and flattened against 
each other, open out, disclosing between them vast alcoves Illumined with 
Rembrandt lights tinged with the pale refined blue of the ever-present haze. 
A thousand forms, hitherto unseen or obscure, stai't up within the abyss, and 
stand forth in strength and animation. All things seem to grow in beauty, 
power, and dimensions. What was grand before has become majestic, the 
majestic becomes sublime, and, ever expanding and developing, the sublime 
passes beyond the reach of our faculties and becomes transcendent. The 
colors have come back. Inherently rich and strong, though not superlative 
under ordinary lights, the}' now begin to display an adventitious brilliancy. 
The western sky is all aflame. The scattered banks of cloud and wavy 
cirrhus have caught the waning splendor, and shine with orange and crimson. 
Broad slant beams of yellow light, shot through the glory-rifts, fall on turret 
and tower, on pinnacled crest and winding ledge, suffusing them with a 
radiance less fulsome, but akin to that which flames in the western clouds 
The summit band is brilliant yellow; the next below is pale rose. But the 
grand expanse within is a deep, luminous, resplendent red. The climax has 
now come. The blaze of sunlight poured over an illimitable surface of glow- 
ing red is flung back into the gulf, and, commingling with the blue haze, 
turns it into a sea of purple of most imperial hue — so rich, so strong, so piire 
that it makes the heart ache and the throat tighten. However vast the mag- 
