will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray Heaven, you
may not find yourself deceived," observed I, with a shake of my head.

"Amen to all that, and much more," shouted Toby, rushing forward; "but
Happar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be. So glorious a
valley--such forests of bread-fruit trees--such groves of cocoa-nut--such
wildernesses of guava-bushes! Ah, shipmate! don't linger behind: in the
name of all delightful fruits, I am dying to be at them. Come on, come on;
shove ahead, there's a lively lad; never mind the rocks; kick them out of
the way, as I do; and to-morrow, old fellow, take my word for it, we shall
be in clover. Come on"; and so saying, he dashed along the ravine like a
madman, forgetting my inability to keep up with him. In a few minutes,
however, the exuberance of his spirits abated, and, pausing for awhile, he
permitted me to overtake him.

CHAPTER VIII

Perilous passage of the ravine--Descent into the valley

The fearless confidence of Toby was contagious, and I began to adopt the
Happar side of the question. I could not, however, overcome a certain
feeling of trepidation, as we made our way along these gloomy solitudes.
Our progress, at first comparatively easy, became more and more difficult.
The bed of the watercourse was covered with fragments of broken rocks,
which had fallen from above, offering so many obstructions to the course
of the rapid stream, which vexed and fretted about them,--forming at
intervals small waterfalls, pouring over into deep basins, or splashing
wildly upon heaps of stones.

From the narrowness of the gorge, and the steepness of its sides, there
was no mode of advancing but by wading through the water; stumbling every
moment over the impediments which lay hidden under its surface, or
tripping against the huge roots of trees. But the most annoying hindrance
we encountered was from a multitude of crooked boughs, which, shooting out
almost horizontally from the sides of the chasm, twisted themselves
together in fantastic masses almost to the surface of the stream,
affording us no passage except under the low arches which they formed.
Under these we were obliged to crawl on our hands and feet, sliding along
the oozy surface of the rocks, or slipping into the deep pools, and with
scarce light enough to guide us. Occasionally we would strike our heads
against some projecting limb of a tree; and wh