King's ''Mountaineering" 



visible, but most exquisitely mod- 

 ulated. The hollow blue which over 

 Mount Tyndall led the eye up into 

 vacant solitudes was here replaced by 

 a sense of sheltering nearness, a cer- 

 tain dove-colored obscurity in the 

 atmosphere which seemed to filter 

 the sunlight of all its harsher proper- 

 ties." 



The reader can gather from these 

 imperfect examples what is the charm 

 of King's descriptive writing. His 

 narrative is not less attractive. We 

 know of no writing devoted to climb- 

 ing that is more satisfying, that brings 

 the thing more clearly to the view or 

 enlists more closely the sympathetic 

 interest. A considerable part of the 

 book is occupied with personal adven- 

 ture and with character sketches, 

 which are excellent in their way. No 

 tale of escape from robbers was ever 

 more thrillingly and compellingly told 

 250 



