﻿116 PICTORIAL MISCELLANY 



the spot where it is joined by the ridge up which we climbed. In one spot 

 the head, overhanging its base several feet, reaches only perpendicularly over 

 the edge of the precipice ; and, most fortunately, it was at the very spot where 

 we mounted. Here it was that we reckoned on getting up. A communication 

 being established with the shoulder by a double line of ropes, we proceeded to 

 get up the necessary material, Lloyd's portable ladder, additional coils of rope, 

 crowbars, &c. But now the question, and a puzzler too, was, how to get the 

 ladder up against the rock. Lloyd had prepared some iron arrows, with 

 thongs, to fire over ; and having got up a gun, he made a line fast round his 

 body, which we all held on, and going over the edge of the precipice on the 

 opposite side, he leaned back against the line, and fired over the least project- 

 ing part. Had the line broken, he would have fallen eighteen hundred feet. 

 Twice this failed ; and then he had recourse to a large stone with a lead-line, 

 which swung diagonally, and seemed to be a feasible plan ; several times he 

 made beautiful heaves, but the provoking line would not catch, and away 

 went the stone far down below, till at length ^Eolus, pleased, I suppose, with 

 his perseverance, gave us a shift of wind for about a minute, and over went 

 the stone, and was eagerly seized on the opposite side. " Hurrah, my lads ! 

 steady 's the word." Three lengths of the ladder were put together on the 

 ledge, a large line was attached to the one which was over the head, and 

 carefully drawn up, and finally, a two-inch rope, to the extremity of which we 

 lashed the top of our ladder, then lowered it gently over the precipice till it 

 hung perpendicularly, and was steadied by two negroes on the ridge below. 

 " All right ; now hoist away !" and up went the ladder, till the foot came to 

 the edge of our ledge, where it was lashed in firmly to the rock. We then 

 hauled away on the guy to steady it, and made it fast. The union-jack and 

 a boat-hook were passed up, and Old England's flag waved freely and gallant- 

 ly on the redoubted Peter Botte. 



I certainly never felt anything like the excitement of that moment ; even 

 the negroes down on the shoulder took up our hurrahs, and we could hear far 

 below the faint shout of the astonished inhabitants of the plain. We were 

 determined to do nothing by halves, and accordingly, made preparation for 

 sleeping under the neck, by hauling up blankets, pea-jackets, &c. Mean- 

 while our dinner was preparing on the shoulder below, and about 4 P. M., 

 we descended our ticklish path to partake of the portable soup, preserved 

 salmon, &c. Our party was now increased by Dawkins and his cousin, a 

 lieutenant of the Talbot, to whom we had written, informing them of our 

 hopes of success, but their heads would not allow them to mount the head or 

 neck. After dinner, as it w r as getting dark, I screwed up my nerves and 

 climbed to our queer little nest at the top, followed by Tom Keppel and a ne- 

 gro, who carried some dry wood, and made a fire in a cleft under the rocks. 



