FROM VALPARAISO TO PORTSMOUTH. 
186 
extraordinary rapidity. An opening was visible through which it seemed possible to reach the 
harbour before the conflagration had time to seize the woods all around ; but before trying 
to reach it through the belt of trees which clothed the steep slopes, I got upon a prominent 
rock, and hailed a number of sailors who, unaware of the approaching danger, were gathering 
mussels on the beach below. They neither heard nor saw me, and I then commenced my 
descent through the forest, clambering over the trunks and branches of fallen trees which 
encumbered the ground, and at every step sinking up to the waist in the moss which filled 
up the insterstices. While thus progressing slowly down the steep slope, more by the help of 
hands than of feet, I heard the distant roar of the fire on each side. Then came a “ happy 
thought,” and it suddenly struck me that, if I should be disabled by spraining a foot or 
fracturing a limb, my plight would be a sorry one, unable to move, with the flames closing 
around me. Would it not be wise to regain the rocky heights above the wood ? When at 
last I emerged from the trees, I was so exhausted that I lay down for a few minutes in a 
spot protected from the flames by a piece of swampy ground. Along the edge of the swamp 
the fire rose with a terrible roar, forming a burning wall from twenty to thirty feet high. 
The sight was one never to be forgotten— 
“ Wide and aloft the smoking fires extend, 
And in the form of high embattled walls, 
Gird the green wood.” 
Ascending the bare rocks above me, so as to get completely clear of the vegetation, I made 
for the summit of a hill which commanded a good view of the country. By a fortunate 
accident I had glanced at a chart of Gray Harbour before leaving the ship, and was thus 
enabled to judge of the direction by which I was likely to reach a spot where one of our 
boats might be lying, or catch sight of the ship. On examining the land from my lofty 
perch, I saw that my object could be effected by following the bare ridges of the hills, thus 
avoiding the danger of being caught by the conflagration in the midst of the woods. Towards 
evening the sea-breeze had given way to a land-breeze, and the fire was spreading in my 
direction and towards Messier Channel, so that I had to keep as much to the westward as 
possible. The only obstacle in view was a small river flowing into the above channel from 
a lake near Gray Harbour. 
Before commencing my journey over the rocks, I descended to a pool of water, and 
there partook of the few slight eatables I had carried, the pool serving to quench my thirst 
On nearing the water I disturbed a pair of upland geese, with their young, on whose private 
domain I had evidently intruded. The upland goose is the great aim of the sportsmen of 
these regions, being considered a rare and delicate morsel. It is a large bird, well- 
proportioned, and of beautiful plumage neck and breast of a light reddish-brown, and the 
wings, when expanded, display two broad snow-white bands, separated by a band of metallic- 
green feathers. At my approach the young birds disappeared as if by enchantment, being 
stowed away by their parents in some hidden creek ; and the latter, not quite sure of the 
