direction, they hid in their clothes, and on the night of the next
full moon all left the valley. The Princess was followed only by a
single favourite, who did not know whither she was going.

They clambered through the cavity, and began to go down on the
other side. The Princess and her maid turned their eyes toward
every part, and seeing nothing to bound their prospect, considered
themselves in danger of being lost in a dreary vacuity. They
stopped and trembled. "I am almost afraid," said the Princess, "to
begin a journey of which I cannot perceive an end, and to venture
into this immense plain where I may be approached on every side by
men whom I never saw." The Prince felt nearly the same emotions,
though he thought it more manly to conceal them.

Imlac smiled at their terrors, and encouraged them to proceed. But
the Princess continued irresolute till she had been imperceptibly
drawn forward too far to return.

In the morning they found some shepherds in the field, who set some
milk and fruits before them. The Princess wondered that she did
not see a palace ready for her reception and a table spread with
delicacies; but being faint and hungry, she drank the milk and ate
the fruits, and thought them of a higher flavour than the products
of the valley.

They travelled forward by easy journeys, being all unaccustomed to
toil and difficulty, and knowing that, though they might be missed,
they could not be pursued. In a few days they came into a more
populous region, where Imlac was diverted with the admiration which
his companions expressed at the diversity of manners, stations, and