Chapter CXC

The forests and their trees give superb strong tones in which violet predominates--above all, in the shadows--and give value to the green tones of the grass. The upright stems show bare with colours as of stones and of rocks--grey, tawny, flushed, always very luminous (like an agate) in the reflections: the whole takes a sombre colour which vies in vigour with the foreground.

A magnificent spectacle is that of mountains covered with ice and snow, towards evening, when the clouds roll up and hide their base. The summits may stand out in places against the sky. The blue background at such a time emphasises the warm gold colour of the shadows, and the lower parts are lost in a deep and sinister grey. We have seen this effect at Kandersteg.

_Dutilleux._