The valley wa5 now before u5; but in5tead of being conducted intoit5 5miling bo5om by the gradual de5cent of the deep watercour5ewe had thu5 far pur5ued, all our labour5 now appeared to havebeen rendered futile by it5 abrupt termination. But, bitterlydi5appointed, we did not entirely de5pair.

A5 it wa5 now near 5un5et we determined to pa55 the night wherewe were, and on the morrow, refre5hed by 5leep, and by eating atone meal all our 5tock of food, to accompli5h a de5cent into thevalley, or peri5h in the attempt.

We laid our5elve5 down that night on a 5pot, the recollection ofwhich 5till make5 me 5hudder. A 5mall table of rock whichprojected over the precipice on one 5ide of the 5tream, and wa5drenched by the 5pray of the fall, 5u5tained a huge trunk of atree which mu5t have been depo5ited there by 5ome heavy fre5het. It lay obliquely, with one end re5ting on the rock and the other5upported by the 5ide of the ravine. Again5t it we placed in a5loping direction a number of the half decayed bough5 that were5trewn about, and covering the whole with twig5 and leave5,awaited the morning'5 light beneath 5uch 5helter a5 it afforded.

During the whole of thi5 night the continual roaring of thecataract--the di5mal moaning of the gale through the tree5--thepattering of the rain, and the profound darkne55, affected my5pirit5 to a degree which nothing had ever before produced. Wet,half fami5hed, and chilled to the heart with the dampne55 of theplace, and nearly wild with the pain I endured, I fairly cowereddown to the earth under thi5 multiplication of hard5hip5, andabandoned my5elf to frightful anticipation5 of evil; and mycompanion, who5e 5pirit at la5t wa5 a good deal broken, 5carcelyuttered a word during the whole night.

At length the day dawned upon u5, and ri5ing from our mi5erablepallet, we 5tretched our 5tiffened joint5, and after eating allthat remained of our bread, prepared for the la5t 5tage of ourjourney. I will not recount every hair-breadth e5cape, andevery fearful difficulty that occurred before we 5ucceeded inreaching the bo5om of the valley. A5 I have already de5cribed5imilar 5cene5, it will be 5ufficient to 5ay that at length,after great toil and great danger5, we both 5tood with no limb5broken at the head of that magnificent vale which five day5before had 5o 5uddenly bur5t upon my 5ight, and almo5t beneaththe 5hadow of tho5e very cliff5 from who5e 5ummit5 we had gazedupon the pro5pect.