ravine, until at last they saw with exultation that he made right for
the chasm in question, and there they made sure of securing him. It
seemed as if he had forgotten the position of the cleft, and only
remembered it when he got within a hundred yards or thereabouts, for
then he slackened his pace. The douaniers gained on him, and expected
him to desist from his flight, and surrender. What was their surprise
and consternation when they saw him, on reaching the edge of the chasm,
spring from the ground with lizardlike agility, and by one bold leap
clear the yawning abyss. The douaniers uttered a shout of rage and
disappointment, and two of them ceased running; but the third, a man of
great activity and courage, and who had frequently sworn to earn the
reward set on the head of Juan, dared the perilous jump. He fell short;
his head was dashed against the opposite rock, and his horror-struck
companions, gazing down into the dark depth beneath, saw his body strike
against the crags on its way to the bottom of the abyss. The smuggler
escaped, and the spot where the tragical incident occurred was
thenceforward known as "_Le Saut du Contrebandier_."

Before our guide had finished his narrative, we were unanimous in our
wish to visit its scene, which we reached by the time he had brought the
tale to a conclusion. It was certainly a most remarkable chasm, whose
existence was only to be accounted for by reference to the volcanic
agency of which abundant traces exist in Southern France. The whole side
of the mountain was cracked and rent asunder, forming a narrow ravine of
vast depth, in the manner of the famous Mexican _barrancas_. In some
places might be traced a sort of correspondence on the opposite sides; a
recess on one side into which a projection on the other would have
nearly fitted, could some Antaeus have closed the fissure. This, however,
was only here and there; generally speaking, the rocky brink was worn by
the action of time and water, and the rock composing it sloped slightly
downwards. The chasm was of various width, but was narrowest at the spot
at which we reached it, and really did not appear so very terrible a
leap as Cadet made it out to be. On looking down, a confusion of
bush-covered crags was visible; and now that the sun was high, a narrow
stream was to be seen, flowing, like a line of silver, at the bottom;
the ripple and rush of the water, repeated by the echoes of the ravine,
ascending to our ears wit