of the Laura Convent, amid the woods beneath the frowning
cliff. And now was produced the apparition of a sunset, with this
towering mountain cone for a centerpiece, that surpassed all our
experience and imagination. The sea was like satin for smoothness,
absolutely waveless, and shone with the colors of changeable silk, blue,
green, pink, and amethyst. Heavy clouds gathered about the sun, and from
behind them he exhibited burning spectacles, magnificent fireworks, vast
shadow-pictures, scarlet cities, and gigantic figures stalking across
the sky. From one crater of embers he shot up a fan-like flame that
spread to the zenith and was reflected on the water. His rays lay along
the sea in pink, and the water had the sheen of iridescent glass. The
whole sea for leagues was like this; even Lemnos and Samothrace lay in a
dim pink and purple light in the east. There were vast clouds in huge
walls, with towers and battlements, and in all fantastic shapes--one a
gigantic cat with a preternatural tail, a cat of doom four degrees long.
All this was piled about Mt. Athos, with its sharp summit of snow, its
dark sides of rock.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] From "Pictures from Italy." Dickens made his trip to Italy in 1844.

[2] From "Italy: Florence and Venice." By special arrangement with, and
by permission of, the publishers. Henry Holt & Co. Copyright, 1869.
Translated by John Durand.

[3] Begun in 1386. Its architects were Germans and Frenchmen.

[4] From "Italy: Florence and Venice." By special arrangement with, and
by permission of, the publishers, Henry Holt & Co. Copyright, 1869.
Translated by John Durand.

[5] From "The Story of Pisa." Published by E. P. Dutton & Co.

[6] From "Pictures From Italy."

[7] From "Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily."

[8] From "Travels in Italy."

[9] A German friend with whom Goethe was traveling.

[10] From "Pictures from Italy."

[11] From "Italy: Rome and Naples." By special arrangement with, and by
permission of, the publishers, Henry Holt & Co. Copyright, 1869.
Translated by John Durand.

[12] This term designates a road built along the rocky shore of a
seaside, being a figurative application of the architectural term
"cornice."--Translator's note.

[13] From "Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily."

[14] From a letter to Thomas Love Peacock, written in 1819.

[15] From "Pictures from Italy."

[16] From "Journeys in Italy." By special arrangement with, and by
permission of, the