668 



THE UNIVERSE. 



sation the Genevese savant, returning to this part, learned 

 that the hunter's sad foreboding had been realized. 



In Eurojoe the mantle of eternal snoAV, Avhich buries in 

 death all the n23i)er regions of onr mountains, generally 

 begins at a height of 2700 to 2800 metres (8865 feet and 

 9193 feet). In equatorial America the limit of these inces- 

 sant frosts is almost half as high again, while at Spitz- 

 bergen it sinks to the level of the sea (see Fig. 304). 



Tliis imposing shroud of snow, by its calm majesty, 

 sometimes gives an air of fantastic hghtness to the loftiest 

 peaks. When these are softly undidated, they are often 

 taken at a great distance for a transparent curtain of 

 motionless clouds scattered npon the horizon. The chain 

 of the Al^os often a23pears like this. The eye is frequently 

 deceived, especially towards evening, and the conAdction 

 that they are really mountains is only acc[uired by observing 

 that the false clouds do not undergo the least change of 

 form, whilst if they were true ones, a few minutes would 

 suffice to change their outline. 



Sometimes also the diadem of snow which crowns a 

 mountain l)ecomes the theatre of the most unusual phe- 

 nomena: fire and ice are at war, and it is a struggle as to 

 which shall overwhelm the other. This happens in the 

 inaccessible Ereluis, a volcano of the polar regions, dis- 

 covered by Sir James Eoss. Enveloped in snoAV and ice 

 from the base to the summit, and resembling an immense 

 Idock of rock-crystal, its crater is yet in perpetual activity. 



It is in these lofty mountain regions that we hear the 

 thunder of the avalanche groAvl — their most terrible and 

 most imposing phenomenon. Here the traveller may 

 every instant enjoy this grand spectacle, for it is almost 

 incessant wherever the snow and ice extend their covering 

 over slightly inclined smooth surfaces. 



