We were very anxious
to know if this was the backbone range of the island, and were hopeful
that if it was we might find some pass to the other side. The ranges on
either hand were, as I said before, covered with bush, and these, with
the rugged Alps in front of us, made a magnificent view. We went on,
and soon there came out a much grander mountain--a glorious glaciered
fellow--and then came more, and the mountains closed in, and the river
dwindled and began leaping from stone to stone, and we were shortly in
scenery of the true Alpine nature--very, very grand. It wanted,
however, a chalet or two, or some sign of human handiwork in the fore-
ground; as it was, the scene was too savage.
All the time we kept looking for gold, not in a scientific manner, but
we had a kind of idea that if we looked in the shingly beds of the
numerous tributaries to the Harpur, we should surely find either gold or
copper or something good. So at every shingle-bed we came to (and every
little tributary had a great shingle-bed) we lay down and gazed into the
pebbles with all our eyes. We found plenty of stones with yellow specks
in them, but none of that rich goodly hue which makes a man certain that
what he has found is gold.
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