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THE .MA.MLSOX PASS AND (.iEBl 111
the hollows, from which the snow has but just disappeared.
Gentians—new species, most of them, to the Alpine climber—
forgetme-nots,
cowslips, and pink daisies adorn the brows. To the
north rise the peaks of the central chain : the tower of Burdjula ;
then the long wall, behind which lies the Karagom Glacier ; close
at hand a broad double-peak and a rock-pyramid — not unlike
a steeper Piz Zupo and Piz Bernina. At our feet spread the
pastures and beech-forests of the Rion. Through the trench by
which the river escapes from its mountain prison there is a
glimpse of the sunny hills beyond Oni, shimmering in vaporous
sunshine. Troops of horses and a few heifers are pasturing on
the hills, but otherwise there is no sign of life or habitation.
The humble huts of Glola and Gvirshevi lie buried in the woods.
No brown cluster of chalets marks the summer lodgings of
herdsmen ; no tinkle of bells announces the whereabouts of the
herds. Yet the landscape is too brilliant to be melancholy.
There is no waste visible :
fertility begins where the snows cease.
Fed by their bounty the streams pour forth from the hills, the
flowers and forests spread themselves out in glowing luxuriance.
The keynote of the landscape
Natui-e is sohtary, but self-sufficing.
is struck in the lines of the opening chorus of Faust :—
'
Alle Deine liohen Werke
Sind herrlich wie am ersten Tag.'
As I have said already, there are those who pretend that frequent
traces of Man's presence are essential to the enjoyment of —
scenery
that Nature unadorned cannot satisfy souls m search of the Beautiful.
These critics range from the most eminent mountaineers down to the
frequenters of tea-gardens. No doubt there is a truth in then- con-
tention. The incidents man adds to scenery are often very essential.
There are many landscapes which owe their beauty in great part to
such incidents, which* would lose their eSect and sense of size
without them. Lake and river scenery —Como and the Rhine—
depend to a great
extent on human habitations. But there is
also scenery which is sufficient in itself, and the sentiment of
•which— the appeal it makes to the mind— is not only independent