by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XII
THE SNOW FORT
The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done avery hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks ofinactivity. At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out buta few minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to faceit until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hoursufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind bythe chief when he started.
"Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here."
The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it wasagreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work ofthickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared sofar from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though butsix feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above thelevel of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having,during the two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwardswith snow-water.
"Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harrysaid. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, butit is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other upto the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would notattack, and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of themcreep up in the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try toclimb it. Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. Ifit goes to within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can standand fire over the wall, that is all that is wanted."
Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval ofthe work when he had examined it.
"Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it.No opening to fire through, good as wall of town house."
"I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief."
"Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come.Two men keep on watch; two better than one."
"That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mightycold. I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall,and have a bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it byturns every few minutes to come in and get a warm."
With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against thewall. The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logspacked closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire inthe hut, and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so thatthe air within could get warm while they were at supper.
"Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and Iwill take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can takethe next."
"Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will beopen."
"Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that willgive us each one hour out and three hours in bed."
Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up tothe fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter.The hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well.The night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of somedistant snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall,but keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level.
"Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for foureyes."
"Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go inafterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't."
After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, andHunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing wouldhave persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure thateven white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving onthe surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was notlevel; here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rockbeneath. Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approachunseen.
In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely coldoutside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by thefire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quitesurprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other twomen and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in thekettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after theirfirst watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to theplatform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Justbefore it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned:
"Indian down in valley."
"Have you heard them, chief?"
"Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack."
"That might have been a deer," Ben suggested.
The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree."
"Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shallbe ready for them."
"Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see ifsome of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; butcrawl up slow, not know whether look-out there."
"Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night;it is cold enough to freeze one's breath."
"'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; thatmakes his blood warm."
"I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chanceto lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will lookout sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turnout, Ben."
"Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry saidwhen he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well withthese hoods over one's head."
"Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain,Indians down below."
"Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for themwhen they come."
Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him.
"Time to go and watch," he said.
"Has everything been quiet?"
The Indian nodded. "No come yet."
Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him.Tom made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity forabsolute silence.
"If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and wewould rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this jobover the better."
The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of hishunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touchedHunting Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, andthen both stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but hecould hear nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward overhis ears again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which theywere listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravinewhere the Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be whiteand bare.
Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharpcrack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and thenfell headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes hadbeen fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he couldhave sworn that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later theother four men came running up.
"What is it, chief?" Harry whispered.
Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow.
"So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more ofthem about?"
"More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below."Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the footof the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, anavalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow.
"They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow wouldnever have shown himself on the snow," Harry said.
"He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but Iwas looking at the spot when the chief fir
ed, and I saw no signs of himwhatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere elseI should have said he must have had a white sheet over him."
"It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall seein the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again,do you think, chief?"
"Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak.Now they know we are awake, will not venture on snow."
Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lowerdown the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it.
"Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm."
The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was nofurther alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hickssuddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He hadfired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below,and he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that somepieces of the snow had dropped from the leaves.
"We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then wewill turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of thered-skins from below came up the path to have a look at us thismorning."
He took a steady aim and fired.
"Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is luckythat Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he mighthave got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finishedtaking a view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam ormyself before he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can'tcommand the path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch onthe platform too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of itsturnings."
"They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief HadShot."]
They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the bodyof the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-orthree-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived wasnow evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawledforward, scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth,pushing the snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank infront of him and screened him from the sight of those on watch. Thechief's keen eye had perceived a slight movement of the snow, and afterwatching a moment had fired at the point where he judged anyoneconcealed by it must be. He had calculated accurately. The ball hadstruck on the shoulder close to the neck, and had passed down throughthe body. The Indian had brought no rifle with him, but had knife andtomahawk in his belt.
"Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself bya deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he wouldhave taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it."
They now went on to the bush.
"You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on thesnow made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian heresure enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and nodoubt he would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. Idon't expect you hit him; there are no signs of blood."
"Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had beenfreshly cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at manbehind bush. Man cannot float in air."
There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose hecould, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinkingabout it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall knowbetter next time."
The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along bythe edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped bythe dead Indian.
"Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; itain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway."
Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached therock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snowagain. The chief looked on.
"Bears get him," he said when they had finished.
"That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him.There is no digging into the rock."
"I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwardssaid to his uncle.
"So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian.He has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't likeit. I don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself,but with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it wentagainst his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for thescalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been gotwithout a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt hehas got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but theywill be hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own.
"Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, afterreturning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come orwon't they?"
"I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tellthem fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before theyget to it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks theywill stop in wigwams."
"No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural ifhe were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good bigrisk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we haveleft their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either tohunt there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soonas we can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear nomore of them, anyhow not for some time."
The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then thinkperhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try."
"Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by asurprise. Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shootstraighter than they do and have better rifles. You remember that timewhen you and I and Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrisetill sunset down near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that apost-rider who was passing along heard the firing, and took the news toa fort, and that the officer there brought out fifty troopers just asthe sun went down, or we should have been rubbed out that night sure."
The Seneca nodded.
"How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked.
"It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two daysbefore, and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down.We had just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them.They were within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief,who was leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought downanother one and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keepingstraight on they began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day.Sometimes they would get in pretty close, but each time they did thechief brought down a horse, and when his rider, who was of coursehanging on the other side of him, got up to run, I fetched him down.Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we would not let him fire. It discouragesred-skins mightily when they see that there is never a shot thrownaway, and that it is sure death whenever one draws a trigger. So at lastthey got careful and held off, knowing as they would get us at night,when they could have crawled up on foot and made a rush when they gotclose to us.
"The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and itwas just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nighmad with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up Iwas about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was thatthe Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain'tany good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by ridingstraight at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bringthemselves to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. Theymay, as the chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins tobreak, in hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if theyfind us awake they will never try an open attack, for they could notreckon on taking the place without losi
ng a score of men in doing so. Ifthe snow was off the ground it would be different. Then of a dark nightthey could crawl up close and make a rush."
After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When theyreturned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snowalong the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley,and that in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, therehad been a large party encamped.
"I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along overthe hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, andthey had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scoutsreported that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they wouldcome up before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all riddenoff?"
"All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. Nostop anywhere, gone back to lodges."
"Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to theirshed again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three daysago, I gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that wekeep a pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear oftheir coming up here when it is light."
As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horseswere taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridlesunbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards thebeaver meadow.
For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one manat a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning andbrought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for theyhad as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply offrozen meat sufficient to last well into the spring. In March theweather became perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began tomelt where the full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day byday the crashes of distant avalanches became more frequent, and theybegan to look forward to the time when they should be able to proceed ontheir journey.
One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard arustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grewlouder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down overthe cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. Itneeded no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filledthe air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to breaktheir head-ropes and snorted with fright.
"Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at hisorder there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a massof snow followed; a minute later a deep silence followed the deafeningroar.
"Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tomwas jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance,his uncle was next to him.
"I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered."
"All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit."
The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm wascleared, and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back closeto him. Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof hadfallen close to the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harryturned, and with some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next tohim, freed from the snow.
"Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and Iwill try to burrow a way out."
It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall theypushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turnsto go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effortHarry rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge ofthe platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with handsand knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just asthey did so Jerry crawled out from within.
"Are they all right, Jerry?"
"Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof cavedin, and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had alot of trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that hewas gone when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can'twalk yet. The Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working awayto clear a passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben outthrough that rabbit-hole you have made."
"Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, nowthat we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but wesha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fallin as fast as we get it out."
They soon found that they could do nothing in this way.
"We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feetalong. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enoughto drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work withthe spades to clear the place."
After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, andthen got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him whilethe other shoved at his legs.
"How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside.
"I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feelmy legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow onthem."
"I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg."
"I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said."I was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against thewall I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?"
"Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and Icould not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free andthen pulled me out of it."
Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indiansand Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fellin as fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalorobe to wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank somespirit, and he said that he felt better already. The others at once setto work with the shovels. They first cleared the platform along by thewall to the entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the spacebetween the two rock walls to the top.
Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing itdown in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform,going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dogmade his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down tosay that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him totake up his post at once at the top of the path leading from below.
"He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "Ifit had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we getour rifles out the better."
This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow abovehad caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall hadfallen in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled bysnow, had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defendedthe path alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls ofsnow, and had to be dragged out by the others. By daylight aconsiderable gap had been made in the snow, and they were able to getinto the space beyond the fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meatthat had been taken in the day before to thaw, were brought out, and afire was soon blazing on the platform.
"I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, whowas now able to sit up, remarked.
"I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but itmay have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thickwalls couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had."
"But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked.
"No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of itsideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot rightover the rest of the roof just as before."
"It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "forit would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have beenmighty rough on us to
have lost them, just as we are going to want them,after our taking such pains with them all through the winter."
The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal,and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but itwas not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away.
"I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said asthey sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room,having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We couldhave held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. Therock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort'sgone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling closeup the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to besending scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long beforethey hear that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow."
Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said.
"That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along thehills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way nexttime. They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path."
"It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should havebeen able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now;it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are togo, the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge.This is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would bedangerous to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horsesdown to the meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. Thesnow gets softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes atnight. We have the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; andeven if we take three or four days getting over the divide we can sleepin the daytime."
"We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said."This joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, andthough I reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now,it won't do to risk that."
"We have the pack-horses, Jerry."
"Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but Idon't want to lose our skins."
"Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed.
"That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both."
"Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "Ithung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it fromabove, as it did in here."
"That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. Iam so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold."
As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snowfrom the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfactionfour bear hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. Thetwo Indians had not shared in the work, having started away earlywithout saying where they were going. They returned to breakfast, eachcarrying a hind-quarter of venison, which they had found in the snowbelow.
It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset thehorses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulstonhad to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respectsrecovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back acrossthe loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shiningbrightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainlyas if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spotwhere for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty inrestraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief beforestarting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently."Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going."
The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said:
"I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guidesalways forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed toavalanches. At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance asmay be of going for us."
They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for thesnow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it withoutdifficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; butthey determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, andto strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot forcrossing. Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snowbeing found too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, whichwas made just after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hillto their right, and, after great difficulty, descended into anothervalley. This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass, forfrom the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trailran.
It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow wasbeginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. Theytherefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they hadbrought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, andgave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrappingthemselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late inthe afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morningthey had crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view overthe country far to the south.