182 7. ] 1 Me Borderers Leap. 4 9 * 



corresponding shape of its landward side, and the strata of its substance, 

 a geologist might inter the traces of a more intimate connexion subsisting at 

 some remote period, and look upon it as a further token of the great natu- 

 ral convulsion believed to have once visited the elements of our globe 



" For neither rain, nor hail, nor thunder 



Could wholly do away, I ween, 



The marks of that which once had been." 



The outlaw whose flight we are relating had good title to bestow his name 

 on the Raven's Tower; for he alone, even of all the desperate adventurers 

 who infest that part of the country, had strength of limb, steadiness of 

 brain, and boldness of heart to leap across the chasm which separates it 

 from the mountain. This feat he had performed on several occasions of 

 imminent danger, and always successfully ; for, when once he had gained 

 the rock, a natural path down the riverward side although one filled with 

 danger even to him, and only made available by the heath, brushwood, and 

 projecting stones, which afforded points of precarious support led the 

 fearless ruffian in safety to the ford below. On this occasion, however, 

 there was more danger to be apprehended in the leap than on any former 

 one. The length of his flight which had lasted from the forenoon till 

 the shades of evening were beginning to fall had deprived his limbs of 

 their wonted strength arid elasticity ; and, perhaps, even the few years of 

 toil, intemperance, and crime that had elapsed since his last visit to the 

 tower, had cast a weight upon his head, to which, during the progressive 

 infliction of the burthen, he had been insensible. It maybe, too, that the 

 dreadful deeds of the morning, so different in their character from the 

 usual feats of arms which, however bloody in their consequences, appeared 

 to these lawless men as something honourable and praiseworthy may 

 have sate with more than common weight upon his mind. But, however 

 this may be, it was with an unsteady step he approached the brink of the 

 precipice; and when a wild bird, which had built' in the cliff, scared from 

 her nest by the intrusion, burst away with a sudden scream, the bold out- 

 law started and grew pale : perhaps it was the cry of the devoted bride 

 which it brought to his haunted recollection. Controlling his feelings, 

 however, he went close to the edge of the cliff, and looked down for a 

 moment into the abyss. Objects of a similar nature, occurring in the scenery 

 of mountainous countries, do not usually impress the traveller with ideas 

 of unmingled terror : the trees bending across the chasm, and concealing 

 with their foliage its depth and danger the heath and brushwood cling- 

 ing to the sides, like natural tapestry and the projecting points of the 

 rocks, raising their grey heads at intervals through the curtain, give a 

 romantic variety to the picture, and gild our fear with admiration. But 

 these points of pictorial beauty and relief were here wanting : the naked 

 sides of the rock were only variegated by the colours of the different strata, 

 and by its own sharp and bare projections, stretching forth from either side 

 like threatening knives, to deter or to mangle ; while the river, rushing 

 through the comparatively narrow channel below although its voice was 

 scarcely heard through the distance seemed to light the dismal passage 

 with its white foam. A sound of hasty footsteps behind did not permit the 

 outlaw to indulge long in contemplation of this object; and, suddenly 

 mustering up his resolution as well as he might, he stepped backwards a 

 few paces, rushed to the edge of the cliff, and took the terrible leap. He 

 did not, as heretofore, clear the chasm at a single effort ; for it was his 

 breast that first met the rock his legs and the greater part of his body 

 hanging over into the abyss. He was as brave a man, in the vulgar accep- 

 M.M. New StrfaVoL. III. No. 17. 3 S 



