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Chapter Four. Above the Clouds |
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description of thick mountain forest slopes |
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(30) Thin mist filled the forest, and the trunks of huge creeper-clad trees rose steep and straight to their first spreading branches, and heavy drops dripped from the damp foliage, sinking soundlessly into a ground covered with rotting leaves. For hours we had climbed through the silent forest, that seemed to grow denser and denser, and even more luxuriant, with every step. No human axe could have disturbed this forest for hundreds of years. Were the mountain slopes too steep for cultivation, or did the Konyaks, owning so much land, think it scarcely worth their while to clear away these age-old trees? We did not pass a single field on the whole day's climb. |
