in the mountains, which seemed to become
gradually narrower and narrower, and from all appearances afforded
every prospect of terminating in a 'cul-de-sac'. A watercourse must at
some period have run down this ravine, for the boulders were rounded;
but it was now quite dry. As the sides of the mountains drew nearer,
our path led along this watercourse, and the walking became dreadfully
fatiguing. The boulders were sometimes so close as to render walking
between impossible, and then it became necessary to clamber over them,
which, loaded as we were, was very painful. If, on the other hand, we
attempted to journey on the 'top' of the boulders, they were not only
of unequal heights, but sometimes so wide apart, that a good spring was
requisite to get from one to the other. Lizzie was the only one of the
party who appeared thoroughly at home; her light figure bounded from
rock to rock with the greatest ease and rapidity. Even Cato and
Ferdinand, barefooted as they were, seemed to be a long way from
enjoying themselves, and for us wretched Europeans, with our thick
boots, that obtained scarcely any foothold, we slipped about from the
rounded shoulders of the rocks, in a way that was anything but pleasant.

Thus we scrambled along for another hour, at the expiration of which we
could only see a blank wall of mountain before us, up which it would
have been both impossible and useless to climb. Wondering where the
deuce Lizzie was leading us, we blundered along until we arrived at the
base of the perpendicular cliff, and saw that by some convulsion of
nature the ravine now branched off at a right angle to the left, and
gradually widened out into a beautiful and gently declining stretch of
country, perfectly shut in by hills, and into which a pretty little bay
extended, with several canoes on its placid surface. We were distant
from the beach about three miles, and could see clearly the smoke of
several fires; while with binocular glasses we could make out the
figures of the blacks fishing, and of the piccaninnies and gins romping
in the sand.

Lizzie was a sight to see, as she pointed triumphantly to the
unconscious savages, and, trembling with eagerness, tapped the butt of
Dunmore's carbine, as she whispered--

"Those fellow sit down there, brother belonging to me, plenty you shoot
'em, Marmy."

"You take us close up along of those fellow, Lizzie?" said Dunmore.

"Your Marmy, plenty close, you been shoot 'em all mi