Such being the state of the weather, my wife did not go out at
all, but I strolled about the premises, in the intervals of rain-drops,
gazing up at the hillsides, and recognizing that there is a vast variety
of shape, of light and shadow, and incidental circumstance, even in what
looks so monotonous at first as the green slope of a hill. The little
rills that come down from the summits were rather more distinguishable
than yesterday, having been refreshed by the night's rain; but still they
were very much out of proportion with the wide pathways of bare rock
adown which they ran. These little rivulets, no doubt, often lead
through the wildest scenery that is to be found in the Highlands, or
anywhere else, and to the formation and wildness of which they have
greatly contributed by sawing away for countless ages, and thus deepening
the ravines.
I suspect the American clouds are more picturesque than those of Great
Britain, whatever our mountains may be; at least, I remember the
Berkshire hills looking grander, under the influence of mist and cloud,
than the Highlands did to-day. Our clouds seem to be denser and heavier,
and more decided, and form greater contrasts of light and shade.
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