that the peak shelved so
rapidly towards the top of the sheer precipice, that it would be
impossible to get near enough to the edge to see down into the
amphitheater They reported, however, that stones and rocks set
going would dash down below, and that points could be gained from
which these missiles could be dispatched on their errand.

A council of war was held; and it was determined, in the first
place, to endeavor to force the position by direct attack. Some men
of approved courage were chosen to lead the forlorn hope; a number
of marksmen, with arrows and firearms, were placed in the valley to
keep up a fire upon any who might show themselves on the path,
while above, several hundreds of men were sent up, with crowbars,
to loosen and hurl down rocks.

The defenders, on their part, were not idle. Two spots had been
chosen in the pathway for the defense At each of these the face of
the cliff extended sharply out in an angle, and it was on the side
of this angle next to the amphitheater that the preparations were
made. Here barricades of stones were heaped up on the path, which
at this point was some three yards wide. Six of the steadiest and
most courageous negroes were placed here, with muskets and pikes.
Two of them were to lie with their guns pointed at the protecting
angle so that, the instant anyone showed himself round the corner,
they could open fire upon him. The others were lying in readiness
to assist, or to relieve those on guard. Either Gerald or Ned
remained with them, always.

A few stones were thrown up on the outside edge of the path, to
protect the defenders from the shots of those in the valley below;
not indeed that the danger from this source was very great, for the
face of the precipice was some eight hundred feet high, and the
path ran along some four hundred from the bottom. With the clumsy
arms in use, in those days, the fear of any one being struck from
below was by no means great.

A similar barricade was erected behind, and the negroes were, in
case of extreme necessity, to fall back from their first position.
At the second point an equal number of men were placed.

Lastly, where the path ended at the amphitheater, strong barricades
had been erected in a sort of semicircle; so that anyone, after
having forced the first defenses, would, as he showed himself at
the entrance to the amphitheater, be exposed to the fire of the
whole of its defenders.

The position was so strong that N