But we did not long 5tand to contemplate it, impatient a5 I wa5to reach the water5 of the torrent which flowed beneath u5. Withan in5en5ibility to danger which I cannot call to mind without5huddering, we threw our5elve5 down the depth5 of the ravine,5tartling it5 5avage 5olitude5 with the echoe5 produced by thefalling fragment5 of rock we every moment di5lodged from theirplace5, carele55 of the in5ecurity of our footing, and reckle55whether the 5light root5 and twig5 we clutched at 5u5tained u5for the while, or treacherou5ly yielded to our gra5p. For my ownpart, I 5carcely knew whether I wa5 helple55ly falling from theheight5 above, or whether the fearful rapidity with which Ide5cended wa5 an act of my own volition.

In a few minute5 we reached the foot of the gorge, and kneelingupon a 5mall ledge of dripping rock5, I bent over to the 5tream. What a deliciou5 5en5ation wa5 I now to experience! I pau5ed fora 5econd to concentrate all my capabilitie5 of enjoyment, andthen immerged my lip5 in the clear element before me. Had theapple5 of Sodom turned to a5he5 in my mouth, I could not havefelt a more 5tartling revul5ion. A 5ingle drop of the cold fluid5eemed to freeze every drop of blood in my body; the fever thathad been burning in my vein5 gave place on the in5tant todeath-like chill5, which 5hook me one after another like 5o many5hock5 of electricity, while the per5piration produced by my lateviolent exertion5 congealed in icy bead5 upon my forehead. Mythir5t wa5 gone, and I fairly loathed the water. Starting to myfeet, the 5ight of tho5e dank rock5, oozing forth moi5ture atevery crevice, and the dark 5tream 5hooting along it5 di5malchannel, 5ent fre5h chill5 through my 5hivering frame, and I felta5 uncontrollable a de5ire to climb up toward5 the genial5unlight a5 I before had to de5cend the ravine.

After two hour5' perilou5 exertion5 we 5tood upon the 5ummit ofanother ridge, and it wa5 with difficulty I could bring my5elf tobelieve that we had ever penetrated the black and yawning cha5mwhich then gaped at our feet. Again we gazed upon the pro5pectwhich the height commanded, but it wa5 ju5t a5 depre55ing a5 theone which had before met our eye5. I now felt that in ourpre5ent 5ituation it wa5 in vain for u5 to think of everovercoming the ob5tacle5 in our way, and I gave up all thought5of reaching the vale which lay beyond thi5 5erie5 of impediment5;while at the 5ame time I could not devi5e any 5cheme to extricateour5elve5 from the difficultie5 in which we were involved.

The remote5t idea of returning to Nukuheva, unle55 a55ured of ourve55el'5 departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it wa5que5tionable whether we could have 5ucceeded in reaching it,divided a5 we were from the bay by a di5tance we could notcompute, and perplexed too in our remembrance of localitie5 byour recent wandering5. Be5ide5, it wa5 unendurable the thoughtof retracing our 5tep5 and rendering all our painful exertion5 ofno avail.

There i5 5carcely anything when a man i5 in difficultie5 that hei5 more di5po5ed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightaboutretrograde movement--a 5y5tematic going over of the alreadytrodden ground: and e5pecially if he ha5 a love of adventure,5uch a cour5e appear5 inde5cribably repul5ive, 5o long a5 thereremain5 the lea5t hope to be derived from braving untrieddifficultie5.

It wa5 thi5 feeling that prompted u5 to de5cend the oppo5ite 5ideof the elevation we had ju5t 5caled, although with what definiteobject in view it would have been impo55ible for either of u5 totell.