38 MOUNTAIN§. 
■of Mont BlanCj that enormous colossus of snow ani ice, 
wliich parts tlie clouds, and j)ierces to the very heavens ! 
Below this mountaiu, which bids detiance to time, and 
whose eternal ice disregards tire dissolving power of llie 
sun, a band of pyramidal rocks appears, the intervals be- 
tween them being so many vallies of ice, the immensity of 
which appals the imagination. Their deep chasms may be 
distinguished, and tlie noise of tire frequent avalanche* 
(falls of immense masses of snow,) presents to the mind 
the gloomy ideas of horror, devastation, and ruin. Farther 
on, otlier summits of ice prolong this majestic picture- 
Among diese are the high mountains of the St. Bernard, 
and those which border on the Boromean islands. 
Perhaps there is not in our Itemisphere a tlieatre more 
uistructive, or more adapted for reflection, tlian tlie summit 
of this mountain. Where beside can be seen sucli variety 
and contrast of forms ; such results of the efforts of time ; 
such effects of all tlie climates, and of all tlie seasons ? 
At one glance may lie embraced frosts equally intense with 
those of Lapland, and the rich and delightful frontiers of 
Italy; eternal ice, and waving han’csts ; all the chilling 
horrors of winter, and the luxuriant vegetation of summer ; 
eighty leagues of fertile plains, covered with towns, with 
vineyards, with fields and herds, and, adjoining to these, 
a depth of twenty thousand feet of everlasting ice. 
MONTSERRAT. 
Here, 'midst tlie clmii;;efiil scenery, over neiv, 
I'aiicy it tliiiiisiind woikI’ious I'onns descries, 
^Tore wildly great tlian ever pencil drew ; 
Koeks, torrents, gulfs, and sliapes of giant size. 
Anti glittering clilFs on elifls, and fiery raiiipart.s rise. 
HeA'ITIE. 
This Spanish mountain, which has been so long cele- 
brated on account of the singularity of its shape, but 
ediiefly for its convent and its numerous hermitages, is nin® 
leagues north-west of Barcelona, in the province of Cata- 
lixiia. It is in height only 3300 feet above the level of flj® 
»e:i, but it commands an enchanting prospect of the fin® 
jrlain of Barcelona, extending to tlte sea, as well as cf ll>® 
islands of Majorca and Minorca, distant 150 miles. 
