to perish; and
secondly, because we might, if we had no better food, make a dinner of
him. This was quite fair, as charity begins at home.

This faithful animal became much attached to me, from whom he invariably
received his portion of food. He never quitted me, nor followed anyone
else; and he was my companion when I went on this excursion.

We reached the summit of the first mountain, whence we saw the goats
browsing on the second, and meant to go there in pursuit of the objects
of our anxious search. I was some yards in advance of my companions,
and the dog a little distance before me, near the shelving part of a
rock, terminating in a precipice. The shelf I had to cross was about
six or seven feet wide, and ten or twelve long, with a very little
inclined plane towards the precipice, so that I thought it perfectly
safe. A small rill of water trickled down from the rock above it, and,
losing itself among the moss and grass, fell over the precipice below,
which indeed was a frightful depth.

This causeway was to all appearance safe, compared with many which we
had passed, and I was just going to step upon it, when my dog ran before
me, jumped on the fatal pass--his feet slipped from under him--he fell,
and disappeared over the precipice! I started back--I heard a heavy
squelch and a howl; another fainter succeeded, and all was still. I
advanced with the utmost caution to the edge of the precipice, where I
discovered that the rill of water had nourished a short moss, close and
smooth as velvet, and so slippery as not to admit of the lightest
footstep; this accounted for the sudden disappearance, and, as I
concluded, the inevitable death of my dog.

My first thoughts were those of gratitude for my miraculous escape; my
second unwillingly glanced at the fate of my poor men, too probably
lying lifeless at the foot of this mountain. I stated my fears to the
two seamen who were with me, and who had just come up. The whole bore
too much the appearance of truth to admit of a doubt. We descended the
rocks by a circuitous and winding way; and, after an hour's difficult
and dangerous walk, we reached the spot, where all our fears were too
fully confirmed. There lay the two dead bodies of our companions and
that of my dog, all mangled in a shocking manner: both, it would appear,
had attempted to cross the shelf in the same careless way which I was
about to do, when Providence interposed the dog in my behalf.

Thi