142 
stretching completely across the ravine, 
which had hitherto afforded a passage, and 
seeming to bar all further progress. This 
difficulty was surmounted by placing two 
of the longest bamboos against the rock 
underneath, where the bare root of a tree 
projected from.above; by the aid of these, 
held fast at the bottom, and afterwards 
secured by a rattan at the top, they suc- 
ceeded in clambering up to the tree which 
over-hung the precipice. The next accli- 
vity terminated at the head of another 
ravine, where their progress was again 
checked by a jutting rock, rendered moist 
by the trickling of a small spring of water 
from among its crevices. 
declared that further ascent was imprac- 
ticable, and that from thence the party 
might return as soon as they pleased. (The 
fact is, they were extremely averse to their 
proceeding, fearing the vengeance of the 
evil spirits if they conducted strangers to 
the summit ; they were, therefore, advising 
to return at every difficulty, and the ascent 
was ultimately accomplished without their 
aid, or rather in spite of them.) The ap- 
pearances around were calculated to con- 
firm this assertion, but before determining 
to retreat, they examined the extent of the 
precipice; and, crossing the ravine, per- 
ceived that the opposite side, though al- 
most perpendicular, had a thin coating of 
soil and moss, with numerous roots of trees 
half laid bare, by laying hold of which 
with the hands and placing the toes in the 
niches, they at length reached the ridg 
which formed the right-hand shoulder of 
hill. Along this, a path was found 
sometimes along the base, sometimes over 
the face of a succession of bare masses of 
rock, which it was necessary to clamber 
oyer by the aid of such twigs and roots as 
occasionally fastened themselves in their 
fissures. The last of these precipices was, 
perhaps, the most dizzy and dangerous, as 
it was necessary to make a step or two on 
a narrow ledge, on the face of a cliff of 
such height that the eye could not discern 
the bottom ; and thence catch at a dry 
within reach, by swinging 
was possible, with a consi- 
Ie] 
stump b 
from which. diae: 
Here the guides: 
MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. WILLIAM JACK. 
derable effort, to pum the rock. 
denseness of the moss and the stunted ap- a 
pearance of the trees, now indicated their — 
approach towards the top; and, at length, | 
about two o'clock, they found themselves - 
This was a bare spot, of 
on the summit. 
not more than four or five yards in breadth, 
with a precipice on each side, partly con- : 
cealed by brushwood. Of those who set 4 
out together from the foot of the hill, a 
few only reached this point, by far the 
majority giving up, in despair, at different 
parts of the ascent ; but the labour of those 
who persevered, was amply recompensed. 
by the view which opened from the sum- 
mit. 
tinctly marked. The vessels in the bason 
of Rat Island, were distinguishable with 
the aid of a glass; and the white ramparts 
of Fort Marlborough were easily discerned. 
To the South, they looked down on the 
hills of Bukit Kandees or the Lion’s Rump, 
and Bukit Kabut, (the hill of mist), which 
formed a straight line with the Sugar-loaf. 
Inland, the view was obscured by a cloud 
which was evidently directing its course 
towards the hill, and it was necessary, E 
therefore, to take the desired observations . 
and bearings, with all possible dispatch. | 
This was done with a small compass, none - 
of the larger instruments having got up. - 
The character of the vegetation was de- 
cidedly Alpine; the rocks and the trunks : 
of the trees being covered with dense i 
moss, and many of the shrubs belonging 
to genera of higher latitudes, such as Vac- 
cintum, Rhododendron, &c. There is also 
found here a shrub which the natives con- - 
sider a substitute for Tea, remarkable by : 
its thick glossy leaves; it will form a new a 
genus in the family of Myrtacee. Having 
finished their observations, they made haste à 
was eet eae facilitated by fastening à 
a tree above, and then slid- 
ing along it, p as the steepest places. Tt 
The line of the coast, from Layeon 
the North, to a considerable distance be- _ 
yond Buffaloe-point on the South, wasdis- — 
a Ermessen — 
