A wonderful sight here presented itself.

Above us was a brilliant blue sky--cloudless; every detail of the rock crest upon which we stood was clear.

Forested to its summit, the ridge formed the half of a magnificent amphitheatre, whose slopes had been vertically furrowed at a hundred points by torrents; to the left a spur projected, the crest of which sloped gently downward, forming an enclosing wall upon that side.

Before us, beyond the valley, was a boundary line of mountain masses, sharply outlined against the sky.

Lower ridges, nearer to us, paralleled this distant rampart.