Although tired, I could not rest
until I had arranged some plan for the morrow.
It was evident that we
could not travel over so rough a country with the animals thus
overloaded; I therefore determined to leave in the jungle such articles
as could be dispensed with, and to rearrange all the loads.
At 4 A.M. I awoke, and lighting a lamp I tried in vain to wake any of
the men, who lay stretched upon the ground like so many corpses, sound
asleep.
I threw away about 100 lbs. of salt, divided the heavy ammunition more
equally among the animals, rejected a quantity of odds and ends that,
although most useful, could be forsaken, and by the time the men awoke,
a little before sunrise, I had completed the work. We now reloaded the
animals, who showed the improvement by stepping out briskly. We marched
well for three hours at a pace that bade fair to keep us well ahead of
the Turks, and at length we reached the dry bed of a stream, where the
Latooka guides assured us we should obtain water by digging. This proved
correct; but the holes were dug deep in several places, and hours passed
before we could secure a sufficient supply for all the men and animals.
Ascending from this place about a mile we came to the valley of Tollogo.
We passed the night in a village of the friendly natives, and were off
again bright and early. On reaching the extremity of the valley we had
to thread our way through the difficult pass. Had the natives been
really hostile they could have exterminated us in five minutes, as it
was only necessary to hurl rocks from above to insure our immediate
destruction. It was in this spot that a trader's party of one hundred
and twenty-six men, well armed, had been massacred to a man the year
previous.
Bad as the pass was, we had hope before us, as the Latookas explained
that beyond this spot there was level and unbroken ground the whole way
to Latooka. Could we only clear Ellyria before the Turks, I had no fear
for the present; but at the very moment when success depended upon speed
we were thus baffled by the difficulties of the ground. I therefore
resolved to ride on in advance of my party, leaving them to overcome the
difficulties of the pass by constantly unloading the animals, while I
would reconnoitre in front, as Ellyria was not far distant. My wife and
I accordingly rode on, accompanied only by one of the Latookas as a
guide. After turning a sharp angle of the mountain, leaving the cliff
abruptly rising to the left from the narrow path, we descended a ravine
worse than any place we had previously encountered, and were obliged to
dismount in order to lead our horses up the steep rocks on the opposite
side. On arrival at the summit a lovely view burst upon us.
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