DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0260
ASPECT OF THE MOUNTAINS. 247
pressed it more and more forcibly upon my mind,
that every thing around me seemed old and in
decay: the valley was barren and devastated
by torrents; the rocks were rent; the mountains
cracked, broken, and crumbling into thousands of
pieces ? and we encamped at night between rocks
which seemed to have been torn asunder by some
violent convulsion, where the stones had washed
down into the valley, and the drifted sand almost
choked the passage. It had been excessively hot
during the day, and at night the wind was whist-
ling around my tent as in mid-winter.
Early in the morning we were again in motion;,
our route lying nearly all day in the same narrow
valley, bounded by the same lofty mountains. At
every step the scene became more solemn and
impressive; all was still around us; and not a
sound broke the universal silence, except the
soft tread of our camels, and now and then the
voice of one of us—but there was little encourage-
ment to garrulity. The mountains became more
and more striking, venerable, and interesting. Not
a shrub or blade of grass grew on their naked
sides, deformed with gaps and fissures; and they
looked as if by a slight jar or shake they would
crumble into millions of pieces. It is impossible
to describe correctly the singularly interesting ap-
pearance of these mountains. Age, hoary and
venerable, is the predominant character. They
looked as if their great Creator had made them
higher than they are, and their summits, worn and
weakened by the action of the elements for thou.-
pressed it more and more forcibly upon my mind,
that every thing around me seemed old and in
decay: the valley was barren and devastated
by torrents; the rocks were rent; the mountains
cracked, broken, and crumbling into thousands of
pieces ? and we encamped at night between rocks
which seemed to have been torn asunder by some
violent convulsion, where the stones had washed
down into the valley, and the drifted sand almost
choked the passage. It had been excessively hot
during the day, and at night the wind was whist-
ling around my tent as in mid-winter.
Early in the morning we were again in motion;,
our route lying nearly all day in the same narrow
valley, bounded by the same lofty mountains. At
every step the scene became more solemn and
impressive; all was still around us; and not a
sound broke the universal silence, except the
soft tread of our camels, and now and then the
voice of one of us—but there was little encourage-
ment to garrulity. The mountains became more
and more striking, venerable, and interesting. Not
a shrub or blade of grass grew on their naked
sides, deformed with gaps and fissures; and they
looked as if by a slight jar or shake they would
crumble into millions of pieces. It is impossible
to describe correctly the singularly interesting ap-
pearance of these mountains. Age, hoary and
venerable, is the predominant character. They
looked as if their great Creator had made them
higher than they are, and their summits, worn and
weakened by the action of the elements for thou.-