one in the morning
Doubtless he had often travelled over it , and could not lose himself . I followed him with unshaken confidence . He seemed to me like a genie of the sea ; and , as he walked before me , I could not help admiring his stature , which was outlined in black on the luminous horizon . It was one in the morning when we arrived at the first slopes of the mountain ; but to gain access to them we must venture through the difficult paths of a vast copse . Yes ; a copse of dead trees , without leaves , without sap , trees petrified by the action of the water and here and there overtopped by gigantic pines . It was like a coal-pit still standing , holding by the roots to the broken soil , and whose branches , like fine black paper cuttings , showed distinctly on the watery ceiling . Picture to yourself a forest in the Hartz hanging on to the sides of the mountain , but a forest swallowed up .