We Now Arrived At A
Dangerous Pass That Defied All Attempts To Descend By Carts.
A
succession of zigzags at an inclination of about one foot in two and a
half led down the soil of a cliff into a succession of exceedingly
narrow valleys about three hundred feet below.
In many places this
narrow path had been washed away by the same natural process that was
gradually reducing the upper level, and in the sharp angles of the
zigzags there were awkward gaps with only a few inches of slippery soil
rendered soapy by the morning's rain, a slip of the original path having
crumbled down the precipice below. The animals were wonderfully careful,
and although a nervous person might have shuddered at some awkward
points, both mule and ponies were thoroughly self-confident and safely
carried us to the bottom. But the carts? These were making a circuit of
some miles across country in the endeavour to discover a practicable
route.
Although the way was difficult, it was the more agreeable as the scenery
was extremely picturesque. The narrow valleys were without exception
cultivated, which formed a striking contrast to the exceedingly wild
heights by which they were surrounded, and I remarked that not a yard of
available land was neglected, but that small and precipitous hollows
were banked by rough stone walls, to retain the soil that would
otherwise be washed away, and to form terraces of insignificant extent
for the sake of cultivation. Our animals could amble at five or six
miles an hour along these narrow bottoms, which made up for the delay in
descending the bad places. My dogs were in the best spirits, as they had
moved a considerable number of partridges during this morning's march,
and they heard the peculiar loud "chuck-a-chuck, chuck-a-chuck," of the
red-legs in all directions. As we advanced the hills increased in
height, and we passed through a valley, bordered on the right by abrupt
cliffs, forming a wall-like summit to the exceedingly steep slope
beneath, which had been created by the debris from the wasting face of
rock. This flat-topped height may have been about 500 feet above the
valley, and the white cliff, which was quite perpendicular from the
summit for about one hundred feet to the commencement of the steep green
slope beneath, was in one place artificially scarped, and had been cut
perfectly smooth like the wall of a stone building. In the centre of
this smooth face we could plainly distinguish a square-cut entrance, to
which an exceedingly narrow ledge cut in the rock formed a most
dangerous approach, more adapted for wild cats than for human occupants.
I halted to examine this with a good glass, and I could perceive that
the greatest care had been taken in the formation of a smooth
perpendicular front, and that the narrow ledge which formed the approach
was a natural feature that had been artificially improved. There were
several similar lines observable at unequal distances nearly parallel
with each other:
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