When Nearly On The Crest Of The Portillo, We Were Enveloped
In A Falling Cloud Of Minute Frozen Spicula.
This was
very unfortunate, as it continued the whole day, and quite
intercepted our view.
The pass takes its name of Portillo,
from a narrow cleft or doorway on the highest ridge,
through which the road passes. From this point, on a clear
day, those vast plains which uninterruptedly extend to the
Atlantic Ocean can be seen. We descended to the upper
limit of vegetation, and found good quarters for the night
under the shelter of some large fragments of rock. We met
here some passengers, who made anxious inquiries about the
state of the road. Shortly after it was dark the clouds suddenly
cleared away, and the effect was quite magical. The
great mountains, bright with the full moon, seemed impending
over us on all sides, as over a deep crevice: one morning,
very early, I witnessed the same striking effect. As
soon as the clouds were dispersed it froze severely; but as
there was no wind, we slept very comfortably.
The increased brilliancy of the moon and stars at this
elevation, owing to the perfect transparency of the atmosphere,
was very remarkable. Travelers having observed
the difficulty of judging heights and distances amidst lofty
mountains, have generally attributed it to the absence of
objects of comparison. It appears to me, that it is fully as
much owing to the transparency of the air confounding
objects at different distances, and likewise partly to the
novelty of an unusual degree of fatigue arising from a little
exertion, - habit being thus opposed to the evidence of the
senses.
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