in THE VAUGACULLEN 51 



This I know was foolhardy, but the lesson it ultimately 

 taught me was cheaply earned however viz. that it is a 

 piece of unjustifiable rashness to attempt to ascend any 

 mountain known to be so dangerous and difficult alone, 

 one man cannot stand the work, even if he manage by 

 some great chance to get a certain way without a 

 serious accident ; this, even if I did not think of, I 

 did not appreciate at that time, so I turned up my 

 sleeves and began. For some way I managed pretty 

 well ; I was fresh, and the climbing was pretty 

 easy, owing to some small ridges, with a little 

 scanty grass growing on them ; these, however, soon 

 stopped, and all I could get to hold on to were 

 mere inequalities in the rock, all very well for a short 

 time ; but, as I found nearly to my cost, wonderfully 

 trying and tiring when the strain lasts for nearly two 

 hours. There was only one place where I could rest ; 

 there I threw myself down, squeezing myself between a 

 projecting rock and the side of the mountain. After 

 resting for a minute or two I examined my situation. I 

 must own it was not an enviable one. I had, with the 

 greatest difficulty, climbed into a place from which I 

 saw no possible way of getting out. With one glance 

 I saw that to descend, even had I wished to, was 

 impossible. What was to be done ? I was about 

 three-quarters of the way up, and if I could only climb 

 20 feet higher, I could easily reach the top of the 

 ridge. I looked about for some minutes, and I must 

 say my investigations did not raise my spirits. I 

 never saw a more awkward place ; to go to the left 

 was impossible, nothing but the wall of a precipice 

 presented itself to me ; to climb straight up was 

 equally impracticable, as the rock slightly projected ; 

 to the right was my only chance. The great difficulty 

 consisted in getting across a great slab of vertical rock 



E 



