Page 50 - erewhon

mountain upon my master’s sheep-run was a crowded thor-
oughfare in comparison with this sombre sullen place. The
air, moreover, was dark and heavy, which made the loneli-
ness even more oppressive. There was an inky gloom over
all that was not covered with snow and ice. Grass there was
none.
Each moment I felt increasing upon me that dreadful
doubt as to my own identity—as to the continuity of my
past and present existence—which is the first sign of that
distraction which comes on those who have lost themselves
in the bush. I had fought against this feeling hitherto, and
had conquered it; but the intense silence and gloom of this
rocky wilderness were too much for me, and I felt that my
power of collecting myself was beginning to be impaired.
I rested for a little while, and then advanced over very
rough ground, until I reached the lower end of the glacier.
Then I saw another glacier, descending from the eastern
side into a small lake. I passed along the western side of the
lake, where the ground was easier, and when I had got about
half way I expected that I should see the plains which I had
already seen from the opposite mountains; but it was not to
be so, for the clouds rolled up to the very summit of the pass,
though they did not overlip it on to the side from which I
had come. I therefore soon found myself enshrouded by a
cold thin vapour, which prevented my seeing more than a
very few yards in front of me. Then I came upon a large
patch of old snow, in which I could distinctly trace the half-
melted tracks of goats—and in one place, as it seemed to me,
there had been a dog following them. Had I lighted upon