sses. In the spring, when the rocks, split by wedges of ice,
disengage themselves from the summit, and thunder down upon the piled
wrecks of ages, it must be terribly sublime. A bridge, consisting of two
logs spanned across abutments of loose stones, and vibrating strongly
under our tread, took us over the torrent. Our road, for some distance
was now a mere staircase, scrambling up, down, under, over, and between
the chaos of sundered rocks. A little further, and the defile shut in
altogether, forming a _cul de sac_ of apparently perpendicular walls,
from 2000 to 3000 feet high. "How are we to get out of this?" I asked
Peder. "Yonder," said he, pointing to the inaccessible summit in front.
"But where does the stream come from?" "That you will soon see." Lo! all
at once a clean split from top to bottom disclosed itself in the wall on
our left, and in passing its mouth we had a glimpse up the monstrous
chasm, whose dark-blue sides, falling sheer 3000 feet, vanished at the
bottom in eternal gloom and spray.

Crossing the stream again, we commenced ascending over the debris of
stony avalanches, the path becoming steeper and steeper, until the
far-off summit almost hung over our heads. It was now a zigzag ladder,
roughly thrown together, but very firm. The red mare which my friend
rode climbed it like a cat, never hesitating, even at an angle of 50 deg.,
and never making a false step. The performance of this noble animal was
almost incredible. I should never have believed a horse capable of such
gymnastics, had I not seen it with my own eyes, had I not mounted her
myself at the most difficult points, in order to test her powers. You,
who have climbed the _Mayenwand_, in going from the glacier of the Rhone
to the Grimsel, imagine a slant higher, steeper, and composed of loose
rocks, and you will have an exact picture of our ascent. We climbed
well; and yet it took us just an hour and a half to reach the summit.

We were now on the great plateau of the Hardanger Fjeld, 2500 feet above
the sea. A wild region lay before us--great swells, covered with
heather, sweeping into the distance and given up to solitude and
silence. A few isolated peaks, streaked with snow, rose from this upper
level; and a deep break on our left revealed the top of the chasm
through which the torrent made its way. At its extremity, a mile or more
distant, rose a light cloud of vapour, seeming close at hand in the thin
mountain air. The thick, spongy soil