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The Mysteries of Udolpho

Page 47

They continued to wind under the woods, between the grassy knolls of the

mountain, and, as they reached the shady summit, which he had pointed

out, the whole party burst into an exclamation. Behind the spot

where they stood, the rock rose perpendicularly in a massy wall to a

considerable height, and then branched out into overhanging crags. Their

grey tints were well contrasted by the bright hues of the plants and

wild flowers, that grew in their fractured sides, and were deepened by

the gloom of the pines and cedars, that waved above. The steeps below,

over which the eye passed abruptly to the valley, were fringed with

thickets of alpine shrubs; and, lower still, appeared the tufted tops of

the chesnut woods, that clothed their base, among which peeped forth the

shepherd's cottage, just left by the travellers, with its blueish smoke

curling high in the air.

On every side appeared the majestic summits

of the Pyrenees, some exhibiting tremendous crags of marble, whose

appearance was changing every instant, as the varying lights fell upon

their surface; others, still higher, displaying only snowy points, while

their lower steeps were covered almost invariably with forests of pine,

larch, and oak, that stretched down to the vale. This was one of

the narrow vallies, that open from the Pyrenees into the country of

Rousillon, and whose green pastures, and cultivated beauty, form a

decided and wonderful contrast to the romantic grandeur that environs

it. Through a vista of the mountains appeared the lowlands of Rousillon,

tinted with the blue haze of distance, as they united with the waters of

the Mediterranean; where, on a promontory, which marked the boundary of

the shore, stood a lonely beacon, over which were seen circling flights

of sea-fowl. Beyond, appeared, now and then, a stealing sail, white with

the sun-beam, and whose progress was perceivable by its approach to the

light-house. Sometimes, too, was seen a sail so distant, that it served

only to mark the line of separation between the sky and the waves.

On the other side of the valley, immediately opposite to the spot where

the travellers rested, a rocky pass opened toward Gascony. Here no sign

of cultivation appeared. The rocks of granite, that screened the glen,

rose abruptly from their base, and stretched their barren points to the

clouds, unvaried with woods, and uncheered even by a hunter's cabin.

Sometimes, indeed, a gigantic larch threw its long shade over the

precipice, and here and there a cliff reared on its brow a monumental

cross, to tell the traveller the fate of him who had ventured thither

before. This spot seemed the very haunt of banditti; and Emily, as she

looked down upon it, almost expected to see them stealing out from

some hollow cave to look for their prey. Soon after an object not less

terrific struck her,--a gibbet standing on a point of rock near the

entrance of the pass, and immediately over one of the crosses she had

before observed. These were hieroglyphics that told a plain and dreadful

story. She forbore to point it out to St. Aubert, but it threw a gloom

over her spirits, and made her anxious to hasten forward, that

they might with certainty reach Rousillon before night-fall. It was

necessary, however, that St. Aubert should take some refreshment, and,

seating themselves on the short dry turf, they opened the basket of

provisions,

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