There was no longer any vegetation at all, or, if here
and there a blade of grass had put forth under the shelter of some stone,
it was so meagre, and of so rare occurrence, as to be unnoticed in that
sublime scene of chaotic confusion. Ferruginous, streaked, naked, and
cheerless rocks arose around them, and even that snowy beacon, the glowing
summit of Velan, which had so long lain bright and cheering on their path,
was now hid entirely from view. Pierre Dumont soon after pointed out a
place on the visible summit of the mountain, where a gorge between the
neigh boring peaks admitted a view of the heavens beyond. This he informed
those he guided was the Col, through whose opening the pile of the Alps
was to be finally surmounted. The light that still tranquilly reigned in
this part of the heavens was in sublime contrast to the gathering gloom of
the passes below, and all hailed this first glimpse of the end of their
day's toil as a harbinger of rest, and we might add of security; for,
although none but the Signor Grimaldi had detected the secret uneasiness
of Pierre, it was not possible to be, at that late hour, amid so wild and
dreary a display of desolation, and, as it were, cut off from communion
with their kind, without experiencing an humbling sense of the dependence
of man upon the grand and ceaseless Providence of God.
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