their fire, but that the dogs drove them off.

On the top of this ridge they found about two acres of land clear of
trees, covered with loose stones and short coarse grass, such as grows
on some of the commons of England. Over this heath they proceeded about
a mile and a half, and encamped by the side of a fine stream of water,
with just wood enough on the banks to serve for firewood. From the
summit they had a fine view of all the settlements and country
eastwards, and of a great extent of country to the westward and
south-west. But their progress in both the latter directions was stopped
by an impassable barrier of rock, which appeared to divide the interior
from the coast as with a stone wall, rising perpendicularly out of the
side of the mountain. In the afternoon they left their little camp in
the charge of three of the men, and made an attempt to descend the
precipice by following some of the streams of water, or by getting down
at some of the projecting points where the rocks had fallen in; but they
were baffled in every instance. In some places the perpendicular height
of the rocks above the earth below could not be less than four hundred
feet.

On the 28th they proceeded about five miles and three-quarters. Not
being able to find water, they did not halt till five o'clock, when they
took up their station on the edge of the precipice. To their great
satisfaction they discovered, that what they had supposed to be sandy,
barren land below the mountain, was forest land, covered with good
grass, and with timber of an inferior quality. In the evening they
contrived to get their horses down the mountain by cutting a small
trench with a hoe, which kept them from slipping, where they again
tasted grass for the first time since they left the forest land on the
other side of the mountain. They were getting into miserable condition.