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 we were obliged to dismount, in order to lead our horses up the
steep rocks on the opposite side. On arrival on the summit, a lovely
view burst upon us. The valley of Ellyria was about four hundred feet
below, at about a mile distant. Beautiful mountains, some two or three
thousand feet high, of grey granite, walled in the narrow vale; while
the landscape of forest and plain was bounded at about fifty or sixty
miles' distance to the east by the blue mountains of Latooka. The
mountain of Ellyria was the commencement of the fine range that
continued indefinitely to the south.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 158 of 662
Words from 43304 to 43558
of 178435
