The Eye Wanders Over The Vast Desert, And Finds Not
One Familiar Object On Which It Can Rest.
To-night, as at past eleven o'clock we reached the elevated plain, I
saw a sunset which I shall never forget.
The sun disappeared behind
the mountains, and in its stead a gorgeous ruddy gleam lighted up
hill and valley and glacier. It was long ere I could turn away my
eyes from the glittering heights, and yet the valley also offered
much that was striking and beautiful.
Throughout almost its entire length this valley formed a meadow,
from the extremities of which columns of smoke and boiling springs
burst forth. The mists had almost evaporated, and the atmosphere
was bright and clear, more transparent even than I had seen it in
any other country. I now for the first time noticed, that in the
valley itself the radiance was almost as clear as the light of day,
so that the most minute objects could be plainly distinguished.
This was, however, extremely necessary, for steep and dangerous
paths lead over masses of lava into the valley. On one side ran a
little river, forming many picturesque waterfalls, some of them
above thirty feet in height.
I strained my eyes in vain to discover any where, in this great
valley, a little church, which, if it only offered me a hard bench
for a couch, would at any rate afford me a shelter from the sharp
night-wind; for it is really no joke to ride for fifteen hours, with
nothing to eat but bread and cheese, and then not even to have the
pleasant prospect of a hotel a la villa de Londres or de Paris.
Alas, my wishes were far more modest.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 124 of 329
Words from 32954 to 33244
of 87606
