76 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
top, the last mile of which is very steep, and the 
road being on this especial occasion very slippery from 
the fact that the last two days have been very rainy. 
It is in vain to try to describe a wide view, but 
certainly very few can combine so many elements 
of beauty, — the enormous land-locked harbor all 
hemmed in by mountains with its gateway open to the 
sea, the broad ocean beyond, the many islands, the 
nearer peaks with the fleecy afternoon clouds floating 
about them and a gleam of sunshine over them from 
time to time. It was most lovely, and the view not 
so distant that things lost their individuality. Well, 
my dear, it faintly dawned upon my mind occasion- 
ally that we had to get down from this peak, but I did 
not allow my thoughts to rest upon it for an instant. 
The awful moment came, however, like the dentist’s 
and all other inevitable facts, and then I found that 
all the rest of the party intended, with the exception 
of Mr. Billings and Captain Coster, to walk down the 
steepest part of the slippery road and take their 
horses at a lower station. But I said to myself, “I 
shall never have such a chance to learn again as now 
when I have Mr. Billings to teach me, and if I’m 
going to baulk at the first dangerous bit of riding, 
how shall I get on when there are nobody knows how 
many miles of muleback before me?” So, as if it were 
quite my habit to mount horses on the tops of high 
mountains and slide down to the bottom, I announced 
my intention of descending as I had come, whatever 
other members of the party might do. You must 
remember that all the time I had Mr. Billings to 
