940 ONCE MORE ON SOLID GROUND.

beneath to the clouds above, without outward or
visible sign of fret or fissure, as far as I could
judge, on which even a chamois could rest its hoof ;
for the width of whatever ledge it might have was
diminished, by the perspective view we had of it,
to Huclid’s true definition of a mathematical line—
viz., length without breadth. At this distance of
time I have no very clear recollection of the mode
of our exit, and cannot speak positively as to
whether we skirted any part of this perilous wall
of the Titans, or crept up through the corner of
the curve by some fissure leading to the summit.
I have, however, a very clear and agreeable recol-
lection of the moment when I came in contact
with a tough bough, which I welcomed and grasped
as I would have welcomed and grasped the hand
of the dearest friend I had upon earth, and by the
help of which I in a very few more seconds
scrambled up, and set my foot once more, without
fear of slips or sliding, on a rough heathery surface,
forming the bed of a ravine, which soon led us to
an upland plateau, on which I stood as in the
garden of Paradise.”