THE TOP OF TAHAWUS. 59 



stop and laugh to see B n fight his way through. 



Rolling himself over like a cart-wheel, he would dis- 

 appear in the thiclv: evergreens — in a short time, his 

 face, red with the fierce struggle, would rise like that 

 of a spent swimmer's over the waves ; and then, with 

 a crash, he went out of sight again ; and so kept up 

 the battle for at least half an hour. Here we passed 

 over the bed of a moose, which we doubtless roused 

 from his repose, for the rank grass was still matted 

 where he had lain. At length, we emerged upon the 

 brow of a cliff, across a gulf at the base of which arose 

 a bare, naked pyramid, that pushed its rocky forehead 

 high into the heavens. This was the summit of 

 Tahawus. A smooth grey rock, shaped like an in- 

 verted bowl, stood before us, as if on purpose to 



mock all our efforts. Halfway up this was S th, 



looking no larger than a dog, as with his pack on his 

 back he crawled on all fours over the rocks. Hitherto 

 nothing could knock the fun out of him ; and as h". 

 from time to time stumbled on a log, or heard the 

 complaint of some one behind, he would sing in a 

 comical sort of a chorus, '' go-iii-up,^^ followed by his 

 hearty ha-ha-ha, as if he were impervious to fatigue. 

 To everv lialloo we sent after him, lie would re- 



