iew of the depth
beneath me. For the instant I was safe, and I uttered a devout ejaculation
of thanksgiving for my escape.

"Pretty well done," shouted Toby underneath me; "you are nimbler than I
thought you to be--hopping about up there from root to root like any young
squirrel. As soon as you have diverted yourself sufficiently, I would
advise you to proceed."

"Ay, ay, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous roots as
this, and I shall be with you."

The residue of my downward progress was comparatively easy; the roots were
in greater abundance, and in one or two places jutting out points of rock
assisted me greatly. In a few moments I was standing by the side of my
companion.

Substituting a stout stick for the one I had thrown aside at the top of
the precipice, we now continued our course along the bed of the ravine.
Soon we were saluted by a sound in advance, that grew by degrees louder
and louder, as the noise of the cataract we were leaving behind gradually
died on our ears.

"Another precipice for us, Toby."

"Very good; we can descend them, you know--come on."

Nothing indeed appeared to depress or intimidate this intrepid fellow.
Typee or Niagaras, he was as ready to engage one as the other, and I could
not avoid a thousand times congratulating myself upon having such a
companion in an enterprise like the present.

After an hour's painful progress, we reached the verge of another fall,
still loftier than the preceding, and flanked both above and below with
the same steep masses of rock, presenting, however, here and there narrow
irregular ledges, supporting a shallow soil, on which grew a variety of
bushes and trees, whose bright verdure contrasted beautifully with the
foamy waters that flowed between them.

Toby, who invariably acted as pioneer, now proceeded to reconnoitre. On
his return, he reported that the shelves of rock on our right would enable
us to gain with little risk the bottom of the cataract. Accordingly,
leaving the bed of the stream at the very point where it thundered down,
we began crawling along one of these sloping ledges until it carried us to
within a few feet of another that inclined downward at a still sharper
angle, and upon which, by assisting each other, we managed to alight in
safety. We warily crept along this, steadying ourselves by the naked roots
of the shrubs that clung to every fissure. As we proceeded, the narrow
path became still more contracted, re