It is wonderful that people should have thought of crossing these
gulches on anything with four legs. Formerly, that is, within the
last thirty years, the precipices could only be ascended by climbing
with the utmost care, and descended by being lowered with ropes from
crag to crag, and from tree to tree, when hanging on by the hands
became impracticable to even the most experienced mountaineer. In
this last fashion Mr. Coan and Mr. Lyons were let down to preach the
gospel to the people of the then populous valleys. But within
recent years, narrow tracks, allowing one horse to pass another,
have been cut along the sides of these precipices, without any
windings to make them easier, and only deviating enough from the
perpendicular to allow of their descent by the sure-footed native-
born animals. Most of them are worn by water and animals' feet,
broken, rugged, jagged, with steps of rock sometimes three feet
high, produced by breakage here and there. Up and down these the
animals slip, jump, and scramble, some of them standing still until
severely spurred, or driven by some one from behind. Then there are
softer descents, slippery with damp, and perilous in heavy rains,
down which they slide dexterously, gathering all their legs under
them.
Pages:
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170