JOURNEY OVER MOUNT GO,TTHARI>. 31 1 



all its ft one bridges, was covered with fnow, fo as to 

 be vilible only here and there. Accordingly I rode 

 over fnow which has no foundation in the deep whereon 

 to reft. Should this vault of fnow fall in, one muft 

 link into an abyfs through which a rapid torrent rolls 

 its courfe. The beft of it is, that the traveller can 

 feldom fee his tremendous lituation. Yet he comes to 

 places where it too plainly ftrikes his ftght, where the 

 ftream runs deep below him by the lide of the road, 

 and then fomewhat farther on fees a high vault of pure 

 fnow raifed over the ftream. From under this vault 

 the torrent nifties, as from a dark cavern ; and the idea 

 that one muft ride over this frail vault of fnow actually 

 makes one giddy. 



To this danger is to be added that ariftng from the 

 great maffes of fnow, which at times come tumbling 

 down from the height, carrying away with them what- 

 ever they meet. In two feveral places I faw fragments 

 of fuch mafTes that had lately rolled down ftill lying 

 by the ftde of the road. 



The paflage acrofs this fnow has no other conftftence 

 than what it acquires by being trodden together, and is 

 thus become fomewhat folid. But, as at this feafon of 

 the year the fun acts in full vigour, the path is in va- 

 rious places become weak and yielding, and the horfes 

 frequently fink deep into it. It is curious to fee how 

 thefe animals, when they begin to fink, immediately 

 perceive their danger, and with extreme caution ftxive 

 to recover themfelves, that they may not by too forcible 

 exertions work themfelves ftill deeper in the fnow. The 

 horfe on which I rode was fomewhat more fpirited than 

 the others,, and ftruggled too violently on fuch occa- 



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