26 



THE ANDES. 



compelled again to confide my safety to his 

 superior footing and sagacity. 



From the ridge we were now on we looked 

 down a valley half filled with snow ; but the 

 sides of the mountain were too steep to allow 

 any of it to rest upon them. They were of a 

 red sandy colour, and sometimes assumed a yel- 

 low or greenish sulphureous tinge. I saw^ no 

 abrupt crags, or glaciers, nor any vegetation, as 

 amidst the Swiss Alps. Heavy dull masses 

 surrounded us on all sides ; and the perfectly 

 barren mountains, the deep blue of a cloudless 

 sky, and the absence of all verdure, seemed to 

 increase the monotony of this vast and dreary 

 solitude. 



The cold was intense, and the wind extremely 

 disagreeable, until we got lower down ; but our 

 descent continued without accident until nearly 

 dark. We then emerged from the gorge and 



