side of the island. He accordingly commenced a descent toward the
new region which lay stretched before him, fair as--even fairer
than--the one which had first greeted his eyes.

But he had not proceeded many yards amidst the defiles of the rugged
rocks which nature had piled around the base of the volcano, when he
found his way suddenly barred by a vast chasm, on the verge of which the
winding path stopped.

The abyss was far too wide to be crossed save by the wing of the bird:
and in its unfathomable depths boiled and roared a torrent, the din of
whose eddies was deafening to the ear.

Wagner retraced his way to the very base of the volcano, and entered
another defile: but this also terminated on the edge of the same
precipice.

Again and again did he essay the various windings of that scene of rock
and crag: but with no better success than at first; and after passing a
considerable time in these fruitless attempts to find a means of descent
into the plains below, he began to fear that he should be compelled to
retrace his way into the region of verdure which he had quitted the day
before, and which lay behind the range of mountains. But the thought of
the hideous snake which he had seen in the tree caused a cold shudder to
pass over him--then, in the next moment, he remembered that if the
region on one side of the mountain were invested with reptiles of that
terrible species, it was not probable that the forests which he beheld
as it were at his feet, were free from the same source of apprehension.
Still he had hoped to find human companionship on this side of the
mountains which he had so far succeeded in reaching--the companionship
of the man who had cast away the doublet, and of the woman whom he had
seen in the mirage.

And was it not strange that he had not as yet overtaken, or at least
obtained a trace of, the man who thus occupied a portion of his
thoughts? If that man were still amongst the mountains, they would
probably meet; if he had succeeded in descending into the plains below,
the same pathway that conducted him thither would also be open to
Wagner. Animated with these reflections, and in spite of the hunger
which now sorely oppressed him, Wagner prosecuted with fresh courage his
search for a means of descent into the lovely regions that lay stretched
before him, when he was suddenly startled by the sound of a human voice
near him.

"My son, what dost thou amidst this scene of desolation?" were t