284 ASCEND THE HEIGHT 



who, for a few moments had disappeared, I got up 

 to see what success I might have. Walderheros 

 having given the bottle containing the gunpowder 

 to Goodaloo, returned to assist me, and I soon 

 found that by a very indirect mode of progress, suc- 

 cessively leaping in different directions, the opposite 

 bank was being gained. The mule came clattering 

 after me, jumping like a cat, her four feet 

 occupying sometimes the summit of a stone not 

 the size of a dinner-plate, and sometimes scratching 

 up on to a high rock, as if she had strong claws 

 rather than smooth horny hoofs. I kept a sharp 

 look out behind, for though she was making use 

 of me as a guide, she came so fast that, occasionally, 

 a very summary kind of ejectment precipitated me 

 forward, to make room for her upon the stone. 



After reaching the opposite bank we all sat 

 down to rest ourselves, previous to commencing 

 an ascent before us, that if not so steep, seemed 

 to promise to be as long as that of Tchakkah. As 

 I looked up I could not help expostulating with 

 Walderheros for having persuaded me, ill as I was, 

 to undertake a journey which I had calculated 

 would only occupy me an hour, and here we had now 

 been that time, and by his own confession we were 

 not half way yet. Some consolation was afforded 

 by the sun breaking out, and enlivening me by 

 its warmth and brightness. I mounted my mule 

 again, and with a desperate resignation faced the 

 rugged steep- Half an hour we were climbing 



