As the sun rose, the pink summits of the mountains changed to
gold and yellow, and then to dazzling white, as the light crept down
into the valleys, illuminating all the dark places, and bringing out
the shades of olive-greens, greys, and purples, in the most wonderful
contrasts and combinations of colour. The grandeur of the scene
increased with every revolution of the screw, and when fairly in the
Guia narrows we were able to stop and admire it a little more at our
leisure, Mr. Bingham making some sketches, while I took some
photographs. To describe the prospect in detail is quite impossible.
Imagine the grandest Alpine scene you ever saw, with tall snowy peaks
and pinnacles rising from huge domed tops, and vast fields of unbroken
snow; glaciers, running down _into_ the sea, at the heads of the
various bays; each bank and promontory richly clothed with vegetation
of every shade of green; bold rocks and noble cliffs, covered with
many-hued lichens; the floating icebergs; the narrow channel itself,
blue as the sky above, dotted with small islands, each a mass of
verdure, and reflecting on its glassy surface every object with such
distinctness that it was difficult to say where the reality ended and
the image began. I have seen a photograph of the Mirror Lake, in
California, which, as far as I know, is the only thing that could
possibly give one an idea of the marvellous effect of these
reflections.
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