I was some yards in advance of my
companions, and the dog a little distance before me, near the shelving
part of a rock, terminating in a precipice. The shelf I had to cross
was about six or seven feet wide, and ten or twelve long, with a very
little inclined plane towards the precipice, so that I thought it
perfectly safe. A small rill of water trickled down from the rock
above it, and, losing itself among the moss and grass, fell over the
precipice below, which indeed was of a frightful depth.
This causeway was to all appearance safe, compared with many which
we had passed, and I was just going to step upon it, when my dog ran
before me, jumped on the fatal pass--his feet slipped from under
him--he fell, and disappeared over the precipice! I started back--I
heard a heavy squelch and a howl; another fainter succeeded, and all
was still. I advanced with the utmost caution to the edge of the
precipice, where I discovered that the rill of water had nourished
a short moss, close and smooth as velvet, and so slippery as not
to admit of the lightest footstep; this accounted for the sudden
disappearance, and, as I concluded, the inevitable death of my dog.
My first thoughts were those of gratitude for my miraculous escape; my
second unwillingly glanced at the fate of my poor men, too probably
lying lifeless at the foot of this mountain. I stated my fears to the
two seamen who were with me, and who had just come up. The whole bore
too much the appearance of truth to admit of a doubt.
Pages:
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375