30 
COL. 1J. W. FEILDEN OX THE DESERTED DOMICILE 
known to them, and we heard them congratulating themselves, 
in their French patois, when they came across an old blaze or 
cutlass blow on a tree, which marked the ascent in some prior 
year. They repeatedly complained that the hurricane of 1883, 
by prostrating the forest, had rendered the route far more difficult, 
as the undergrowth had been rendered thicker by the bent-over 
trees striking root at various points. At 1500 feet we entered 
into the region of mist, and the forest seemed super- saturated with 
moisture ; from every branch and leaf the water dripped, the roots 
and boughs were clothed in ferns and mosses, that held water like 
a sponge, and on grasping them to haul oneself up, a stream 
of water ran down one’s arms. Shortly before sundown we came 
on to a very narrow portion of the ridge, so narrow, indeed, that 
the strong wind blowing across it had shorn down the trees, so 
that, through the rifts in the mist, we could catch glimpses of the 
two oceans, on our right and left. The descent to the Atlantic 
side seemed almost precipitous, though densely wooded. We 
estimated our altitude at about 2000 feet. 
Selecting the leeward side of the ridge, we directed some of our 
people to build an “ajupa,” whilst we pushed on with the two 
woodsmen, to cut as much more of the upward track before 
night-fall as possible. We got about two hundred feet higher, and 
darkness coming on, we descended to the camp, Eugene Valeur 
assuring us that the elevation from where we turned back was right 
in the midst of the old breeding-grounds of the Diablotin. Had 
the birds been there, he thought w r e should have seen or heard 
something of them when leaving their holes ; all, however, was 
silent, save for the dripping of the water from the trees, and the 
noise of the wind as it swept through the forest. Our men had 
constructed a very excellent shelter with some posts and ridge poles, 
thatched over with leaves of the Mountain Palm ; it was a very 
good camp, and kept out the rain, but the ridge being so steep, we 
felt like lying on the roof of a house, with a constant inclination to 
slide down. We could not find any wood sufficiently dry to light, 
and we were also disappointed in finding water, so that, from the 
want of these two necessaries, our guides and porters passed a very 
w'rctchcd night. They complained sadly of the cold, and sat 
shivering, with chattering teeth, all through the long night. The 
temperature at the sea-shore, when we left, was 80 J Fahr. in the 
