To Mocke. 
379 
is snow." It was unmistakable. It was a truly 
magnificent sight. Behind the moving clouds, set up 
against a sky of purest azure, there it shone motion- 
less and sublime. In shape it is a beautiful dome 
of stupendous proportions, and as the clouds passed 
the whole of it became exposed. The snow lies 
on the whole of the dome, but not in one uniform 
covering. Near the top in the centre is a small dark 
spot, the uncovered face of a jutting rock. Below 
this is another dark patch, extending nearly half-way 
down the dome. This is a precipice upon which it is 
impossible that the snow should lie, though falling 
over the top, and accumulating below, the latter 
has risen some distance from the bottom up the face' 
of the rock. On the east side there are other 
precipices, and on the west side is a long, narrow, 
dark slip, following the dome's curve, which is of 
course a series of precipices. The snow line cuts 
the mountain just where the ridge rises in abrupt 
acclivities to form the dome. It is higher in the east 
than in the west. As to what may be the height 
from the snow line to the top of the dome it is im- 
possible to say with anything like precision, but I 
may observe that while it is of sufficient extent to 
form a grand spectacle, the proportion it bears to the 
whole mountain cannot be more than one-twentieth. 
If the mountain be 20,000 feet high, the snow, where 
it comes farthest down, cannot cover more than the 
extent of 1,000 feet. From the point where I stood 
there seemed to be a ridge of snow extending from 
the east side of the dome northwards. So much for 
this elevation. 
But where was the other summit, the peak I had 
