ABOVE THE CLOUDS—MOUNT

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 5, 1 February 1900, Page 29

ABOVE THE CLOUDS— MOUNT

ASPIRING

To the dwellers on the plains and in the cities, the clouds present but little variation in shade or forms of beauty. Perhaps at sunrise, flushed by the fiery glow of the dawn, and piled up in gleaming masses of crimson and gold, or at sunset appearing in many hues in the soft, subdued lights of the afterglow, they may bid the beholder pause and wonder. The thunderstorm, too, has an awful grandeur of its own, but far up on the mountain tops, above the clouds, there is the magic world, there is the glory of cloud beauty, a wonderful scene, ever varying, and once seen never to be forgotten, t had been on the slope of Mount Aspiring all night my companion had elected to visit Gladstone and the Great Rock at Hawea, and when the first light of dawn appeared in the east, I started up tho mountain side for the higher slopes. It was a toilsome climb, over great rocks, through drifted snow, but the thought of the enchanted region of cloudland spurred me on. Above me, creeping round the mountain like a living but shapeless form, hung the grey curtain in sombre folds reaching far and wide, and seeming to dare the sacinlegious intruder to venture into its misty embrace. Step by step I toiled up tho weary path, and at last passed into the semi-dark-ness of the cloud-belt —

" Through that strange and silent world, To the mighty presence led, While round me thronged the spirits Of the long since dead."

Groping for the path, I stumbled blindly on, through the cold, clammy mist, and at last emerged in the clear light above the clouds. Spread out in front as far as the eye could reach, was a vast sea of grey mist, billowing in its great profundity, sometimes rising in mighty columns as

though in wrath ; anon, rippling along as softly as the silver wave of a summer sea ; then, as though impelled by the agency of a spirit of evil, rising up in weird and ghostly forms. Presently camo a soft, sobbing sound like a summer breeze stirring the leaves of a tropical forest, and the first beams of tho rising sun shot over the silent sea of mist. The transformation scene had commenced. The vast expanse was no longer groy, but bathed in colours so bizarre, so wonderful, that no description would adequately convey a full conception of its brilliant glory. Waves of cloud arose from the main body, gleaming like silver and gold, the top edges tinted crimson and pink, then noiselessly foil back and faded away. Little cloudlets like birds of passage with gorgeous plumage floated above the rest, casting fleeting shadows over the silent sea of crimson and gold. Then the sun appeared in full glory ; the great ocean of cloud reflected the bright light, the deep grey in the centre of the masses gave way to a soft, fleecy white, the pink tinge of tho outer edges increased to a fiery glow, and the huge column of mist assumed the appearance of flames of fire tinted with violet and purple. Tho dull sullen glow in the far east seemed to leap with gladness, and change into a flaming sea of carmine ; then, as though gathoring strength for a fresh effort, the great oxpause became calm and smooth, stretching out in all directions liko tho surface of a tranquil lake. A slight brcoze arose, and instantly, as though obeying some mighty omnipotent will, strange unearthly forms rose from tho ocean of cloud. Tho great masses heaved and tossed in sudden angor ; troops of spectral horses fled along tho surface ; beautiful fountains, besides which tho world-famed marble fountains of tho Alto Uccello would appear commonplace, spouted forth their silver spray ; mighty armies appeard and vanished; splendid cities grow, then faded as instantly away ; great masses of dark mist warred with their rainbowtinted brethren as though the spirits of heaven and the legions of hell fought for the possession of a world; ghastly spectres glided

over the vast battlefield, and great ships sailed on their silent way.

Forms and shapes beyond description grew in an instant, then disappeai'ed back into the mother of all — tho cloud sea. Over all rested the ghostly sense of perfect silence ; no sound reached tho ear in that dead world far from the haunts of men. Far down below, shut off fromj_view,~was the world of civilisation ; cities, the abode of men intent on the race for gold, storehouses of

all that is beautiful, yet not one contained ought to compare with the glorious beauty of the scene above the clouds. The call to arms might be sounding, or the tocsin of a revolntion ; thrones might be overturned or nations annihilated, but above the clouds was silence, awe, and beauty. The breeze drove the olouds against the mountain, silently thoy swept along, grim, intangible forms like denizens of a dead aud silent world. Presently rifts appeared, then

widened, and the surrounding country came

into view,

Across the shoulder of the mountain the beautiful Glacier Dome glistened in the warm sunlight ; far down below the valley of the Matukituki River, with its graceful wooded slopes,' and the shallow stream wandering over its white sands ; further over was the Matatapu, a tributary of the Matukituki; and close to the mountain the dark mass of immense forest at the head of the valley.

Beautiful waterfalls with their silvery spi*ay were shown in strong relief by the dark green of the forest trees ; great ravines scored the mountain side, tracks of the dreaded avalanche ; while far up above the everlasting glaciers and icefields the pure white of the snow contrasted with the dark shade of the solid ice. The clouds were rapidly drifting away, their beautiful forms and colouring gone, as I descended to the lower levels on the road to civilisation at Pembroke.