ch he turned to see if there were any vessels coming through the
Straits of Minas. None were visible; so, turning back once more, he
resumed his journey, and went forward among the trees.

His path now became a difficult one. It was necessary to keep away
from the edge of the cliff, but still not to go out of sight of it. The
trees were principally spruce and fir, but there were also birch and
maple. He also noticed mountain ash and willow. Beneath him all the
ground was covered with soft moss, in which he sank to his ankles,
while on every side were luxuriant ferns and evergreen trailers. Tom
recognized all these with great satisfaction, for they showed him the
means of furnishing for himself a soft couch, that might be envied by
many a man in better circumstances. Progress soon grew more difficult,
for there were numerous mounds, and dense underbrush, through which he
could only force his way by extreme effort. Windfalls also lay around
in all directions, and no sooner would he have fairly surmounted one of
them, than another would appear. Thus his progress was exceedingly
slow and laborious.

After about a half an hour of strenuous exertion, Tom found himself in
the midst of an almost impassable jungle of tangled, stunted fir trees.
He tried to avoid these by making a detour, but found that they
extended so far that he could only pass them by going along close to
the edge of the cliff. This last path he chose, and clinging to the
branches, he passed for more than a hundred yards along the crest of a
frightful precipice, where far down there yawned an abyss, at whose
bottom was the sea; while abreast of him in the air there floated great
flocks of gulls, uttering their hoarse yells, and fluttering fiercely
about, as though trying to drive back this intruder upon their domains.
Once or twice Tom was compelled to stop, and turn away his face from
the abyss, and thrust himself in among the trees; but each time he
regained his courage, after a little rest, and went on as before.

At length he passed the thick spruce underbrush, and found the woods
less dense. He could now work his way among them without being
compelled to go so close to the edge of the cliff; and the dizzy height
and the shrieks of the gulls no longer disturbed his senses. The trees
here were not so high as those at the other end of the island, but were
of much smaller size, and seemed stunted. There were no maples or other
forest trees, but o