Clear rapid streams,
fern-fringed, sometimes offered us a few yards of highway, but the
jungle ever grew more dense, the forest trees larger, the lianas
more tangled, the streams more sunk and rocky, and though the horses
shut their eyes and boldly pushed through the tangle, we were fairly
foiled when within half a mile from the head of the valley. I
thoroughly appreciated the unsightly leather guards which are here
used to cover the stirrups and feet, as without them I could not
have ridden ten yards. We were so hemmed in that it was difficult
to dismount, but I bound some wild kalo leaves round my feet, and
managed to get over some broken rock to a knoll, from which I
obtained a superb view of the wonderful cleft. Palis 3000 feet in
height walled in its head with a complete inaccessibility. It lay
in cool dewy shadow till the sudden sun flushed its precipices with
pink, and a broad bar of light revealed the great chasm in which it
terminates, while far off its portals opened upon the red eastern
sky. This little lonely world had become so very dear to me, that I
found it hard to leave it.
There was some stir near the sea, for a man was about to build a
grass house, and they were preparing a stone pavement for it.
Pages:
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298