m the plane in which
they were blended, and thrust boldly out between the dividing inlets of
blue water; the lighter green of birches and maples mingled with the
sombre woods of coniferae; but the picture, with all its varied features,
was silent and lonely. No sail shone over the lake, no boat was hauled
up between the tumbled masses of rock, no fisher's hut sat in the
sheltered coves,--only, at the highest point of the cliff, a huge wooden
cross gleamed white against the trees.

As we drew around to the northern shore, point came out behind point,
all equally bold with rock, dark with pines, and destitute of any sign
of habitation. We were looking forward, over the nearest headland, when,
all at once, a sharp glitter, through the tops of the pines, struck our
eyes. A few more turns of the paddles, and a bulging dome of gold
flashed splendidly in the sun! Our voyage, thus far, had been one of
surprises, and this was not the least. Crowning a slender, pointed roof,
its connection with the latter was not immediately visible: it seemed to
spring into the air and hang there, like a marvellous meteor shot from
the sun. Presently, however, the whole building appeared,--an hexagonal
church, of pale-red brick, the architecture of which was an admirable
reproduction of the older Byzantine forms. It stood upon a rocky islet,
on either side of which a narrow channel communicated with a deep cove,
cleft between walls of rock.

Turning in towards the first of these channels, we presently saw the
inlet of darkest-blue water, pushing its way into the heart of the
island. Crowning its eastern bank, and about half a mile distant, stood
an immense mass of buildings, from the centre of which tall white towers
and green cupolas shot up against the sky. This was the monastery of
Valaam. Here, in the midst of this lonely lake, on the borders of the
Arctic Zone, in the solitude of unhewn forests, was one of those
palaces which Religion is so fond of rearing, to show her humility. In
the warm afternoon sunshine, and the singular luxuriance of vegetation
which clothed the terraces of rock on either hand, we forgot the high
latitude, and, but for the pines in the rear, could have fancied
ourselves approaching some cove of Athos or Euboea. The steamer ran so
near the rocky walls that the trailing branches of the birch almost
swept her deck; every ledge traversing their gray, even masonry, was
crowded with wild red pinks, geranium, saxifrage, an