untains for the
best part of an hour, however, we came to a position where it was
possible, with caution, to descend for some distance, and by aid of our
rope, one end of which we fastened to rocks or stubble as opportunity
offered, we succeeded in reaching a cliff from which there was a drop
of not more than two hundred feet. This I calculated to be the entire
length of the rope we had brought with us, by which I resolved to be
lowered. Bantum tried to dissuade me from my project, urging that the
risk was too great; but I was determined that, having come so far, I
would not go back without being able to make some report of the valley
we had undertaken to explore, and a descent by means of the rope seemed
to be the only method, nor could Bantum suggest any other.

I now knotted at one end of the rope a cradle in which I could sit.
while being lowered, and so long as the rope held, of which there
appeared to be no reason to doubt, for my weight was well within its
compass, I did not anticipate danger.

All being made ready, and every possible precaution taken against
accident, I was let down from the top of the cliff to what looked like
the dried-up course of a stream composed of pebbles and wash-dirt. The
whole valley presented the most dreary and desolate appearance. The
high cliffs by which it was surrounded rose like perpendicular walls,
casting deep shadows, so that the sun's rays never penetrated to the
floor, for which reason it was destitute of verdure, barren to the eye,
and depressing to the senses. As I descended it seemed to me as though
I was being lowered into some forgotten tomb.

At length my feet touched ground, and, extricating myself from my
cradle, I began to explore the course of the stream. The light in these
depths, although it was noonday, was not greater than twilight, and I
found some difficulty in ascertaining of what the bed of the stream was
composed, but by crawling on all fours I was able to form some idea of
its composition, and among the wash-dirt I found a number of dark
stones, which, from the experience I had gained at Amsterdam, I knew to
be rubies of a size and weight that promised great value.

I now became so absorbed in my hunt for rubies that the dismal nature
of my surroundings was forgotten. The greed of gain obsessed me, and as
I gathered the precious stones into my pocket I would not have
exchanged this desolate valley for the most beautiful spot on earth.

But I was soo