Nor was I wrong, for now came our hardships.

To begin with, the mountains proved to be exceeding high; it took us two days to climb their lower slopes.

Also the heat of the sun had softened the snow, which made walking through it laborious, whilst, accustomed though we were to such conditions through long years of travelling, its continual glitter affected our eyes.
The morning of the seventh day found us in the mouth of a defile which wound away into the heart of the mountains.

As it seemed the only possible path, we followed it, and were much cheered to discover that here must once have run a road.

Not that we could see any road, indeed, for everything was buried in snow.