PETER BOTTE'S MOUNTAIN. 31 



Port Louis, (the capital situated on the west side of the island) but on 

 arriving at its base, you find that it is actually separated from the rest of 

 the range by a ravine, or cleft of a tremendous depth. The mountain 

 appears to be about eighteen hundred feet high. 



" Captain Lloyd, chief civil Engineer, accompanied by Mr. Dawkins, had 

 made an attempt in 1831 to ascend the mountain, and had reached what 

 is called the neck, when they planted a ladder, which did not, however, 

 reach half-way up the perpendicular face of rock beyond. Still Captain 

 Lloyd was convinced that with proper preparations the feat might be 

 accomplished. Accordingly, on the morning of the 7th September, 1832, 

 that gentleman, along with Lieut. Philpot, 29th Regt., Lieut. Keppel,R.N. 

 and Lieut. Taylor, set out on the bold and perilous adventure. ' All our 

 preparations being made' says Lieut. Taylor, who furnished Mr. Barrow 

 with the account, ' we started, and a more picturesque line of march I 

 have seldom seen. Our van was composed of about 1-5 or 20 Sepoys, in 

 every variety of costume, together with a few negroes carrying our food, 

 dry clothes, &c. Our path lay up a very steep ravine, formed by the 

 rains in the wet season, which having loosened all the stones, made it 

 any thing but pleasant; those below were obliged to keep a bright look out 

 for trembling rocks, and one of these missed Keppel and myself by a 

 miracle.' Along this path, which was not a foot broad, they picked their 

 way for about four hundred yards, the negroes keeping their footing firm 

 under their loads, by catching hold of the shrubs above them, as they 

 proceeded. " On rising to the shoulder of the mountain," continues the 

 narrative, "a view burst upon us which quite defies my descriptive 

 powers. We stood on a little narrow ledge, or neck of land, about 20 

 yards in length, on the side which we mounted; we looked back into the 

 deep wooded gorge we had passed up while on the opposite side of the neck, 

 which was between six and seven feet broad, the precipice went sheer down 

 fifteen hundred feet to the plain. One extremity of the neck was equally 

 precipitous, and the other was bounded by what to me seemed the most 

 magnificent sight I ever saw. A narrow, knife-like edge of rock, broken 

 here and there by precipitous faces, ran up in comical form to about 

 three hundred and fifty feet above us, and on the very pinnacle old Peter 

 Botte frowned in all his glory. 



" After a short rest we proceeded to work. A ladder had been left by 

 Lloyd and Dawkins last year; it was about twelve feet high, and reached 

 about half way up the face of the perpendicular rock. The foot which was 

 spiked rested on a ledge, which was barely three inches on each side. A 

 graphriel-line had been also left last year, but was not used. A negro of 



