in order that I might discover, if possible, upon what coast the storm
had cast me. It commands, as I recollect, an extensive inland view, and
I would show my fellow-soldiers the beauty of the country into which I
have led them.'

"'It must have been the Druid's Chair, for that is the loftiest headland
upon our coast.'

"'The higher the better, my child, for so shall we gain the wider
prospect. The morning is at present, clear, and I would climb the cliff
before those clouds which I see gathering in the west, shall be blown
hither to intercept our prospect.' So saying, he invited his comrades,
as well as Oscar, to accompany him; while Gryffhod, on learning his
purpose, joined his party with Leoline and others of his men, in order
that they might render assistance, should any such be required, in
climbing the broken and somewhat perilous ascent to the dizzy summit of
the cliff. Ropes were provided in case of accident, as persons had more
than once slipped from the narrow ledge, and fallen upon lower fragments
of the cliff, whence they could be only extricated by hauling them up.

"Battered and undermined by the storms of ages, the Druid's Chair has
long since been shivered into fragments and wasted away; but at the
period of which we are writing it formed the outermost of a chain of
crags which were connected together by a tongue of rock and cliff
sufficiently continuous to allow a passage, but broken into sharp
acclivities and descents which rendered the undertaking toilsome to all,
and not without peril for those who were liable to be giddy, or who did
not possess a good portion of activity. 'Surely,' said Hengist, as he
followed Gryffhod, 'this ridge was much more even when I traversed it
fifteen years ago.'