2 6 Mr. x'^ndersqn's Account of a 



die in the woods. The propriety of their reafoning was evi- 

 dent to me ; yet I thought it hard, after the fatigues of three 

 days and two nights, to be wltiiin half a mile of the top, 

 and not be able to get up, and to know little more about it than I 

 did at the bottom. As the negroes had not the fame motive 

 for going up as I, all my reafoning was to them ineffectual ; I 

 found I was obliged to return mvfelf, as I could not perfift 

 alone. At half paft twelve we began to defcend the fame way 

 we came. As there was now a clear path all the way to 

 the bottom, we got down to Mr. Gasco's by fun fet. After 

 fitting fome time here, I was hardly able to rife again, I wasfo 

 tired ; and m.y feet were fo fore I could hardly ftand on them,, 

 for, my ihoes being torn to pieces, I came down the whole way 

 bare-footed. I continued my journey, however, to Mr. Mat- 

 Loune's, where I arrived between fix and feven at night. 



March 4th, being the day I had fixed to finifli my excurfion, 

 about four in the morning, I left the houfe of Mr. FraseRj 

 who out of curiofity agreed to accompany me, of which I was 

 very glad, as he was a fenfible young man ; and with the affift- 

 ance of two negroes we purfued our journey. We found very 

 little obftrudion in our way up, until we got to the place where 

 I returned ; and there, for about a quarter of a mile, wc had 

 conliderable difficulty to clear our way through grafs and ferns. 

 After we came within a quarter of a mile from the top, we 

 found ourfelves in another climate all at once, the air very cold, 

 and the vegetable productions changed ; here was nothing but 

 barrennefs over the whole fummit of the mountain. On the 

 confines of the grafly region and the barren I found fome beau- 

 tiful plants. Mofs grows here in fuch plenty, that I frequently 

 funk up to my knees in it. This is the only place in the Weft 

 Indies that produced any mofs that I have feen. About nooa 

 1 we 



