conversation dropped. About midnight the captain commenced his
ascent of the ravine, and I resolved that I would not lose the
opportunity, if it offered, of following him. I watched him as long as
I could see him, that I might know the direction of the secret path, and
then I joined the crew, who were lying down by the tents which they had
pitched on the shore. Shortly afterwards, the Spanish Indian, who had
coloured me, passed by me, and, as I intended to make the attempt before
it was quite dark, I thought that I would remove any suspicion, and I
therefore requested him to stain me again. This he consented to do, and
in half an hour I was again naked among the negroes and undergoing the
operation. Having received the two applications, as before, I then
quitted them.

As soon as it was quite dark, I armed myself with a pair of pistols, and
crawled underneath the back of the captain's tent, in which I always
slept, and, without being perceived, gained the narrow path in the
brushwood by which the captain had left.

I continued in the path for some time, by feeling the brushwood on
either side; but before I had crawled half way up the ravine, I found
that the brushwood had not been cut away any farther and I was at a loss
how to proceed. All traces were gone, and all I had to do was to climb
up to the summit, and to take my chance of finding any egress. I toiled
on with difficulty, sometimes stopped by a rock which would take me
minutes to climb over at others, holding on by the brushwood for my
life. By twelve o'clock I had gained more than two-thirds of the
ascent, and then the moon rose, and assisted me with her light. I must
say, that when I looked up and saw the rocks towering above me, and
overhanging my path, I felt that escape was nearly impossible: however,
I recommenced my labour, and gained some ground, when, as I was clinging
to the side of a rock by a small shrub, it gave way, and I rolled and
fell down many feet, between that rock and another opposite to it.

I was not much hurt, and I regained my legs. Looking up and about me, I
found that I was in a narrow passage, between the rocks, leading both up
and down--in fact, I had tumbled into the secret path that I had been in
search of. Delighted with this discovery, I now set off with great
spirit, and in half an hour found myself on the other side of the lull
which formed the ravine, and looking down upon an expanse of country in
the interior.