ley, and discover too late the error we had committed, he
replied by detailing all the evils of our present condition, and the
sufferings we must undergo should we continue to remain where we then
were.

Anxious to draw him away from the subject, if possible--for I saw that it
would be in vain to attempt changing his mind--I directed his attention to
a long bright unwooded tract of land which, sweeping down from the
elevations in the interior, descended into the valley before us. I then
suggested to him that beyond this ridge might lie a capacious and
untenanted valley, abounding with all manner of delicious fruits; for I
had heard that there were several such upon the island, and proposed that
we should endeavour to reach it, and if we found our expectations realized
we should at once take refuge in it and remain there as long as we
pleased.

He acquiesced in the suggestion; and we immediately, therefore, began
surveying the country lying before us, with a view of determining upon the
best route for us to pursue; but it presented little choice, the whole
interval being broken into steep ridges, divided by dark ravines,
extending in parallel lines at right angles to our direct course. All
these we would be obliged to cross before we could hope to arrive at our
destination.

A weary journey! But we decided to undertake it, though, for my own part,
I felt little prepared to encounter its fatigues, shivering and burning by
turns with the ague and fever; for I know not how else to describe the
alternate sensations I experienced, and suffering not a little from the
lameness which afflicted me. Added to this was the faintness consequent on
our meagre diet--a calamity in which Toby participated to the same extent
as myself.

These circumstances, however, only augmented my anxiety to reach a place
which promised us plenty and repose, before I should be reduced to a state
which would render me altogether unable to perform the journey.
Accordingly we now commenced it by descending the almost perpendicular
side of a steep and narrow gorge, bristling with a thick growth of reeds.
Here there was but one mode for us to adopt. We seated ourselves upon the
ground, and guided our descent by catching at the canes in our path. The
velocity with which we thus slid down the side of the ravine soon brought
us to a point where we could use our feet, and in a short time we arrived
at the edge of the torrent, which rolled impetuously along