Well, I
saw snowy peak after snowy peak come in view as the summit in front of
me narrowed, but no mountains were visible higher or grander than what I
had already seen. Suddenly, as my eyes got on a level with the top, so
that I could see over, I was struck almost breathless by the wonderful
mountain that burst on my sight. The effect was startling. It rose
towering in a massy parallelogram, disclosed from top to bottom in the
cloudless sky, far above all the others. It was exactly opposite to me,
and about the nearest in the whole range. So you may imagine that it
was indeed a splendid spectacle. It has been calculated by the
Admiralty people at 13,200 feet, but Mr. Haast, a gentleman of high
scientific attainments in the employ of Government as geological
surveyor, says that it is considerably higher. For my part, I can well
believe it. Mont Blanc himself is not so grand in shape, and does not
look so imposing. Indeed, I am not sure that Mount Cook is not the
finest in outline of all the snowy mountains that I have ever seen. It
is not visible from many places on the eastern side of the island, and
the front ranges are so lofty that they hide it.
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