now nearly in shadow; all but the uppermost jets of
spray, which rose like slow smoke above the undulating line of the
cataract, and floated away in feeble wreaths upon the morning wind.

On this object, and on this alone, Hans' eyes and thoughts were fixed;
forgetting the distance he had to traverse, he set off at an imprudent
rate of walking, which greatly exhausted him before he had scaled the
first range of the green and low hills. He was, moreover, surprised, on
surmounting them, to find that a large glacier, of whose existence,
notwithstanding his previous knowledge of the mountains, he had been
absolutely ignorant, lay between him and the source of the Golden
River. He entered on it with the boldness of a practised mountaineer;
yet he thought he had never traversed so strange or so dangerous a
glacier in his life. The ice was excessively slippery, and out of all
its chasms came wild sounds of gushing water; not monotonous or low, but
changeful and loud, rising occasionally into drifting passages of wild
melody, then breaking off into short melancholy tones, or sudden
shrieks, resembling those of human voices in distress or pain. The ice
was broken into thousands of confused shapes, but none, Hans thought,
like the ordinary forms of splintered ice. There seemed a curious
_expression_ about all their outlines--a perpetual resemblance to living
features, distorted and scornful. Myriads of deceitful shadows, and
lurid lights, played and floated about and through the pale blue
pinnacles, dazzling and confusing the sight of the traveller; while his
ears grew dull and his head giddy with the constant gush and roar of the
concealed waters. These painful circumstances increased upon him as he
advanced; the ice crashed and yawned into fresh chasms at his feet,
tottering spires nodded around him, and fell thundering across his path;
and though he had repeatedly faced these dangers on the most terrific
glaciers, and in the wildest weather, it was with a new and oppressive
feeling of panic terror that he leaped the last chasm, and flung
himself, exhausted and shuddering, on the firm turf of the mountain.

He had been compelled to abandon his basket of food, which became a
perilous incumbrance on the glacier, and had now no means of refreshing
himself but by breaking off and eating some of the pieces of ice. This,
however, relieved his thirst; an hour's repose recruited his hardy
frame, and with the indomitable spirit of avar