Toiun and Country Delights 



have presented great difficulties, it having been 

 necessary in many cases to let down the work- 

 men by ropes from above. As their existence 

 is essential to the cultivation of the lower lands 

 they are generally kept in good repair, and 

 those who have steady heads, and dare to walk 

 by so narrow a path along the face of giant 

 precipices, may reach magnificent scenery other- 

 wise unapproachable. As the levadas must of 

 course follow every deviation of the hillside 

 their length is often very great, and it may 

 sometimes involve a walk of fifteen or twenty 

 miles to reach a point not more than two or 

 three miles distant in a straight line. Here and 

 there it may be necessary to creep through 

 tunnels, and perhaps to walk in the water- 

 channel itself ; sometimes an overhanging rock 

 will make the passage of the narrow parapet, 

 with a thousand feet of precipice below, a rather 

 blood-curdling business ; but the reward is 

 great. We are conducted into the very heart 

 and penetralia of the mountain solitude, and 

 may feast our eyes on ever-changing vistas of 

 forest-clad cliffs and soaring crags. 



It happens that a point of view in one of the 

 grandest and most typical valleys of the north 



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