Thus its life is as brief as it is useful.

Through one bright mountain-stream, which swept along the ravine over a
stony bed, breaking up into eddies and tiny whirlpools, and in some
places attaining a depth of three feet, Madame Pfeiffer and her guide
waded or half-swam two-and-sixty times. The resolute spirit of the
woman, however, never failed her; and though the path at every step
became more difficult and dangerous, she persisted in pressing forward.
She clambered over rocks and stones; she forced her way through inter-
tangled bushes; and though severely wounded in her hands and feet, never
hesitated for a moment. In two places the ravine narrowed so
considerably that the entire space was filled by the brawling torrent. It
was here that the islanders, during their struggle against French
occupation, threw up stone walls five feet in height, as a barrier
against the enemy.

In eight hours the bold traveller and her guide had walked, waded, and
clambered fully eighteen miles, and had attained an elevation of eighteen
hundred feet. The lake itself was not visible until they stood upon its
shores, as it lies bosomed in a deep hollow, among lofty and precipitous
mountains which descend with startling abruptness to the very brink of
its dark, deep waters. To cross the lake it is necessary to put one's
trust in one's swimming powers, or in a curiously frail kind of boat,
which the natives prepare with equal rapidity and skill. Madame
Pfeiffer, however, was nothing if not adventurous. Whatever there was to
be dared, she immediately dared. At her request, the guide made the
usual essay at boat-building. He tore off some plantain branches, bound
them together with long tough grass, laid a few leaves upon them,
launched them in the water, and requested Madame Pfeiffer to embark. She
confesses to having felt a little hesitation, but without saying a word,