156 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



cool, for the bow of the sun-archer could not 

 yet be depressed enough to send its searching 

 arrows into the depths of the cleft through 

 which our course lay. Soon the sea-wind 

 folded its wings; not a breath stirred. From 

 their eyries in the towering rock bastions the 

 brown eagles swooped down as though to rend 

 us, uttering wild and menacing cries. 



The relentless sunbeams searched ever 

 lower upon the western face of the chasm. 

 From the crannies gorgeous-hued lizards crept 

 forth to bask. Their lovely colours — vivid 

 crimson or deep, gentian blue seemed incon- 

 gruous with their ungainly form and ferocious 

 expression. Here and there rock-rabbits 

 darted from ledge to ledge. Crossing our 

 sandy pathway we occasionally noticed the 

 spoor of a leopard, a badger or a snake. For 

 such creatures night is the season of activity; 

 by day they could choose the climate best 

 suited to them, — among the deep, dark cavern- 

 clefts with which this tumbled chaos is honey- 

 combed. 



We were now beyond the area of shade; no 

 longer did the cliff protect us. For an hour v/e 

 laboured up the widening gorge, over the 

 yielding sand, — in the glaring, unmitigated 

 sunshine. It was with a grateful sense of relief 



