VI MOUNTAINS 213 



that blush and glow 

 Like angels' wings.^ 



On low ground one may be in the clouds, 

 but not above them. But as we look down 

 from mountains and see the clouds floating 

 far below us, we almost seem as if we were 

 looking down on earth from one of the heav- 

 enly bodies. 



Not even in the Alps is there anything 

 more beautiful than the "after glow" which 

 lights up the snow and ice with a rosy tint 

 for some time after the sun has set. Long 

 after the lower slopes are already in the shade, 

 the summit of Mont Blanc for instance is 

 transfigured by the light of the setting sun 

 glowing on the snow. It seems almost like 

 a light from another world, and vanishes as 

 suddenly and mysteriously as it came. 



As we look up from the valleys the 

 mountain peaks seem like separate pinnacles 

 projecting far above the general level. This, 

 however, is a very erroneous impression, and 

 when we examine the view from the top of 

 any of the higher mountains, or even from 



1 Bullar, Azores. 



