THE PELMO.

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those of an ordinary volcano.’ The description exactlyfits our peak; and if, reversing the picture, we imaginethe level of the Adriatic raised a trifle of 10,000 feet,the glacier would yield its place to a lagoon, and theseridges would exactly represent an atoll of the southernocean. Our leader at first swerved to the left towardsthe lower crags which immediately overlooked his nativevillage; turned by our remonstrances, he led us to thehighest rocks, a broken crest perfectly easy of access. 1The verge of the huge outer cliffs, in some places levelup to the extreme edge, and unencumbered with loosestones so as to allow of the closest approach, wasgained within a few yards of the cairn which marksthe summit.

Through a framework of mists we could see downfrom time to time into Val Fiorentina and along thegorge of Sottoguda, but the upper mass of the Marmo-lata and all the neighbouring peaks were wrapped indense folds of leaden-coloured cloud. Feeling that adistant view was hopeless, we hastened to retrace oursteps before any wandering storm should burst on themountain. During the descent the fog became at timesthick enough to suggest unpleasant fears of missingthe direction. No such calamity, however, occurred;and, gaining a slide on every slope composed of frag-ments minute enough to allow it, we found ourselves farsooner than we had expected on the brink of the lowerprecipice. The spot was marked by a patch of dwarfEdelweiss, which, in company with other bright but

1 The assurance given by the San Vito landlord to Messrs. Gilbert andChurchill, that ‘only the final ice-portion was difficult’ (The DolomiteMountains , p. 399), was, I need scarcely say, wholly misleading and con-trary to fact.