Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1897-09-09
sprTzsgRoEN LANDSCAPES


n 0nrtouo Ftny OF Liz nj ana Color -
the snow.
In his book giving an account Of his
exploration Of the interior Of the largest
ISLAND in the Spitzbergen archipelago.
Sir William Martin Conway describes
some Of the peculiar scenic effects Of
Tire landscape: Descending one Of the
snow fields they saw on its surface a
brilliant rainbow. IL such /, may he
called. caused by tiny spikes Of ice. and
only to be seen on a neve busted with
these fine crystals. This bow was 50
near that the particular gems Of ice
could be identified that rendered up
each tone Of color II was a. though We
we're In the presence % some great
rodde<s OF old time. whose head was
the radiant sun and her necklace Of
countless rubies. emeralJs and sap
phires. her robes Of snowy samite were
sown all over with diamonds and her
vail was the gossamer mist that lay
along the valley This was on Fox
mountain. over 1900 feet high. so-called
because the trail Of fox was seen there.
Naturally the glaciers formed inter
esting. dangerous aud useful tract. of
highway. They differ from those OF
the Alps and Rockies in being more fat.
more rapid In ,hir motion. less curved
and more viscous in appearance. as II
thev were made OF honey. Pausing to
make some surveys. while his com
rades went on. Conway records his i'm
pTeSsions a. he looked over Advent
IL go e. 70
white: Il was absolutely alone in a
new world. Nowhere was there trace
OF man. Abundance OF reindeer horns
lay about, and the tracks of reindeer
were in all directions. but not foot
print Of man or Of any domestic animal
could be deserted. Wild birds few
about me. inquisitively. rocks Of geese
houked at me as moved forward. The
scenery was. in fact. tame and dull. but
circumstances invested il with a strange
prestige. Its rich. purple tones. its
wide. expanding forms. its suggestive
peeps Of eIOud-euveIcp-d crags suf,icei
to quicken the fancy. 50 iha, walked
along in the bleak. dull day as in
dream. full Of a namelesS and indie
scrihat,le delight. The strik-
ing feature Of the view was where he
huge. clir-fronted aud scanned snout
Of glacier sweP; forth from a deer
blue eioud-enveIop-d valley. The ic.
elf. appearing thus. literally. from the
clouds. produced a most impressive e.
feet. II Numbered forth al frequent in
tervals. when masses Of ice fell from IL
50 We named il Booming glacier Eis>-
where il = reported that between wine
End waterfall sounds reached the camp
a. Of trains going through tunnels and
cut;ingS- 1t was 4 day among thou
saud. worth winning by weeks Of labor
aud wet Cool airs played around. the
sun was warm and the pale blue SKY
brilliantly clear IL might have been
an English May day. There was Sun
day sentiment in the air. One almost
expected TO hear church bells pealing
from afsr Of over the russell SasSeudal
fats. but the ONLY sounds were the
booming river. the ripPlinz brook and
the haPp.ug o. the tents in the breeze
/ Two reindeer came aud stalkei Us
They wandered mp 70 the tents aud
snseit az the sleeping bags lying out
/ FOR an airing We took snap shots al
them With harmless cameras till We
were tired and left them TO auuss
/ themselves a. they liked best One
bright a. well shoot sherP in a field q.
such earrl~sS and stupid beasts Ii i
By no means al bleak IN these far Acids
There are arctic peoples. patches Of
s.lxifra-s Ike crimson rugs. yellow
/ potentillas. dryas. cerastium. drabas
siienes. lychuis snd other plants. be-
sides grass and moSses- The geologisi
" the party found great numbers Of
/ fossils also
In his description the explorer Is usu.
there Once in awhile he shows ar
artists eye in his appreciation OF form
or of other effects His first gIimpses at
spitzbergen are gained from a dis
tanee. with his steamer surrounded by
Hoes SAYS he: The sea was divineIy
calm. with the gentlest heave coming
across it. bright gray fiat. a silver gray
under a lighter gray sky. Scattered
about in il were the lOveliest masses OF
ice. blue. indescribabIy blue below, with
eaVerns Of darker blue and white sur
faces abOve-things fairy like. bathed
IN the soft gray air. melting away in the
distance, Yet strangely defined and
clear with soft definition and clear
ness as of gOSsamer fabrics. I.andwar,l
was just a stripe Of faint yellow. where
the snowy foot of hills appeared iIlum-
ined by the pale midnight sun."-Brook-
lyn Eagle.