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Typee by Herman Melville
page 101 of 408 (24%)
sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.

After two hours' perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of
another ridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to
believe that we had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm
which then gaped at our feet. Again we gazed upon the prospect
which the height commanded, but it was just as depressing as the
one which had before met our eyes. I now felt that in our
present situation it was in vain for us to think of ever
overcoming the obstacles in our way, and I gave up all thoughts
of reaching the vale which lay beyond this series of impediments;
while at the same time I could not devise any scheme to extricate
ourselves from the difficulties in which we were involved.

The remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva, unless assured of our
vessel's departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it was
questionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it,
divided as we were from the bay by a distance we could not
compute, and perplexed too in our remembrance of localities by
our recent wanderings. Besides, it was unendurable the thought
of retracing our steps and rendering all our painful exertions of
no avail.

There is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he
is more disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightabout
retrograde movement--a systematic going over of the already
trodden ground: and especially if he has a love of adventure,
such a course appears indescribably repulsive, so long as there
remains the least hope to be derived from braving untried
difficulties.
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