ut this did not trouble me, for my feet were
hardened to the consistency of leather. The diamonds I made into a
bundle with some shreds of clothing, and stowed them in the canvas
haversack, except for Inyati's and a few other blue ones which I
luckily put in my pocket.

All these belongings I conveyed one evening to the foot of the cliff up
which I intended attempting to climb, sleeping at the spot so as to be
ready and fresh for a start at daybreak. I feared little as to my
strength, for in spite of my injuries I was now stronger than I had
ever been; but what I did fear was vertigo. From a child I had always
had a horror of looking down from a great height, feeling an almost
irresistible desire to throw myself down whenever I did so, and I
feared that as I neared the top this would happen and I should be
dashed again to the floor of the crater.

But better that and death than this endless captivity; and I did not
shrink from my formidable undertaking. At early dawn I drank deep from
the gushing water that I was leaving, and fastening on my load I began
to climb. For a time all went well, though of necessity my progress was
but slow, and the sun was full overhead when I halted for a rest on a
small ledge about half way up. Here for the first time since I started
I could lie at full length without having to hold on, and I needed the
rest, for the strain had been terrific, and I feared that the worst
part of the climb was still to come.

So far, I had resisted all inclination to look down, but shortly after
leaving the ledge I was compelled to do so. I had been following a
crack running diagonally up from it, and which from below had appeared
to connect with another ledge favorable to me, but to my consternation
I found that this was not the case, ten or twelve feet of absolutely
smooth and vertical rock cutting me off from my coveted path to
freedom. I was flattened against the wall, my heels overhanging the
abyss, clutching with one hand a projection above me, and feeling with
my other for a new grip; but the rock was as smooth as polished marble,
and it was evident that I must work back to the ledge I had rested on
and try for a new route. And to do this I had of necessity to look
down. As I did so the deadly vertigo I feared so much came over me, and
it was well that I had good hand and foothold, or I should certainly
have fallen. As it was I clung helpless, sick, and giddy, with closed
eyes for some time, and it