_Continuation of the Adventures of the Author and his Comrades,
till they came to an Inhabited Country._
Finding our selves fresh and brisk when we wak'd, we resolv'd to
shift our Quarters; and, despising this terrestrial Manna which
had so enervated us, after laying in a good Stock of the roasted
Fowls for our Provision, we bid adieu to the Monuments, and
advanc'd farther into the Country. We were then full fifty
Leagues from the Sea. We were inclinable to eat the first Night,
but tho' we had walk'd a great deal, and pass'd over a Mountain
of seven or eight Leagues, we had little or no Appetite; and it
was three Days before we could take any thing; which gave us
reason to think, that the Bread of the Tree must be extremely
nourishing, and that it could not but be good, when taken with
Moderation. Mean time, the Way prov'd worse and worse; but, to
our Comfort; the Nights were clear, and the Days long, and the
farther we advanc'd into the Spring of this Country, and the
farther we got from the Line, the more charming we thought the
Climate and the Soil; and either the one or the other was
generally the Subject of our Conversation.
_Du Puis_, above all things, seem'd to be charm'd with the Sun,
which, from its Rising to its Setting, continually smil'd on us
with its agreeable Rays. I do assure you, said he to us one Day,
If I had not been born in a Country where the People are so happy
as to be instructed in the Knowledge of their Creator, and if I
had never heard a Word about the Being of all Beings, the
Flambeau of Heaven would, without dispute, be the only Deity that
I should think worthy of my Adoration; not only, because of all
the visible Objects in the World 'tis the most agreeable, but
because without its Influence, no Plant nor Animal can subsist:
Every thing languishes the Moment that it departs; whereas its
Presence renders Vigour to what before seem'd dying. You are not
the only Man, said I, of that Opinion; there are intire Nations
that invoke this glorious Planet, as the prime Cause of all
things; and even those Ancients who acknowledge a Being of
Sovereign Perfection, could not help ascribing certain Epithets
to it, which plainly denoted their Esteem for it. _Orpheus_
call'd it the _Eye of Heaven_. _Homer_, the _Being which sees and
hears all things_. _Heraclitus_, the _Fountain of Celestial
Light_. St. _Ambrose_, the _Beauty of Heaven_. _Philo_, the
_Image of eternal Splendor_. _Plato_, the _Soul of the World_.
King _David_ extols its Excellency to a marvellous Degree,
especially in his 18th _Psalm_; and the holy Men of the _Old_ and
_New Testament_, make no Scruple to represent it to us as the
Model of the Divinity, whom they call in a hundred Places, the
_Day-spring from on high_, and the _Sun of righteousness_.
I laugh, continued _La Foret_, at what some People have said
concerning the Planets. I pray to God, and if I have any
Veneration for the Creatures, 'tis only for the Creator's sake,
who is marvellous in all his Works; but what surprises me most is
to hear of two Motions of the Sun, which are directly opposite to
each other, _viz._ its Daily Motion, from East to West; and its
Annual one, from West to East. 'Tis true, reply'd I, these two
Motions are directly contrary to one another, if they are
ascrib'd to the Sun, which is done by the Ancients universally;
but nothing is more natural, if we ascribe these two Motions to
the Earth, which makes a great Circle round the Sun in the space
of a Year, and turns once upon its own Center or Axis in
Twenty-four Hours, just as if you were to push a Bowl, or if you
please, a Turnep, from one end of an Alley to the other, which,
while it was rolling to the end of the Alley, would make several
Turns at the same time upon its own Axis. The Earth does the
very same thing; and its two different Motions were always of use
to Men to measure the Time of their Duration. The Tour which it
makes upon its own Axis, forms our Natural Day of Twenty-four
Hours; and the Time it takes in its grand Circle round the Sun,
makes our Year of 365 Days and 6 Hours, wanting a few Minutes.
'Tis true, that this Computation or Measure for the Year was not
known always alike to all Nations. The _Egyptians_, the
_Chaldeans_, the _Jews_, and other ancient People, computed their
Years differently, and made them longer or shorter, some than
others. Many of them regulated their Years rather by the Course
of the Moon, than that of the Earth, as several Nations do even
at this Day.
The Calendar now follow'd by the Nations of _Europe_, came from
the ancient _Romans_, but was not always so exactly regulated as
at present; for in the time of _Romulus_, the Founder of _Rome_,
the Year, which ought to be the Time that the Earth is making its
great Tour round the Sun, was computed at only 304 Days, included
in 10 Months: _March_, _May_, _July_, _October_, consisted each
of 31 Days, and the others of but 30. _Numa Pompilius_, his
Successor, added 51 to this Number, so that then the Year had 355
Days. Besides, he cut off a Day from every lesser Month, which he
added to those 51, and of these he instituted the Months of
_January_, consisting of 29, and _February_, of 28 Days. In fine,
_Julius Cæsar_, the first of the _Roman_ Emperors, having
consulted the most skilful Astronomers of his Time, did, with
their Consent, change the Year, which was almost a Lunar Year,
into a Solar one by adding 10 more Days to it, which he
distributed in such manner, that _January_, _August_, and
_December_, had each two, and _April_, _June_, _September_, and
_November_, one. Nevertheless, as all this was not enough,
because the Year consists of 365 Days, 6 Hours, wanting about 11
Minutes, the Emperor would have every 4 Years, a Year of 366
Days, which additional Day should be plac'd between the 6th and
7th of the Calends of _March_, so that there were two 6th Days of
the Calends of _March_, in such a Year, which was therefore
call'd _Bissextile_, because the 6th Day was reckon'd twice
before they proceeded to the next.
This Correction, as just as it was thought to be, did
nevertheless occasion a Mistake in the Calendar, in process of
Time; for tho' the Year was then but about 11 Minutes too long,
whereas the Sun, as they said, enter'd in his Time (or 45 Years
before the Birth of Jesus Christ) into the Vernal Equinox, the
24th of _March_, it enter'd into it on the 21st, at the time of
the _Nicene_ Council, _Anno_ 327, and on the 11th of _March_ in
1582, in the Reign of Pope _Gregory_ XIII, who observing it,
suppress'd 10 Days of that Year, between the 4th and 15th of
_October_, because in that Space there were no Festivals nor
Saints Days. And for fear that Posterity should relapse into the
same Error, which was a Point of Consequence to the Equinoxes,
that in time would have made an entire Revolution thro' all the
Months of the Year, by such Retrogradation, he order'd, that for
the next three Centuries successively, the _Bissextile_ Year
should not be computed at their Expiration, but only at the End
of the Fourth, from whence it comes, that there must be 400
_Gregorian_ Years and three Days to equal 400 _Julian_ Years.
I am oblig'd to M. _Du Puis_, said _La Foret_, for having started
this Subject of Conversation; for I had been a long time desirous
to know what was meant by the _Bissextile_ Year, by _Old_ and
_New Style_, and what was the real Cause of all those
Alterations. They would not be satisfy'd till I had at several
times explain'd to them the Meaning of the Terms _Epact_, _Golden
Number_, _Solar Cycle_, _Roman Indiction_, _Ides_, _Calends_, and
every thing almost that is necessary to be known for the
Composition of an Almanack. What they most wonder'd at was, when
I assur'd them that the Sun, which to us seem'd so small, is
absolutely bigger than the whole Earth. Really, said _La Foret_,
this is beyond Imagination, and I can't think that all the
Stories told us of these things are any better than Dreams. _Du
Puis_, who aggravated every Objection made by his Comrade,
presum'd to tell me, that I talk'd very much at random, because I
maintain'd the Truth of it; so that I was under a Necessity, tho'
sorely against the Grain, to proceed to some Eclaircissements for
their Satisfaction.
I confess, said I, that 'tis impossible to determine the exact
Dimensions of the Celestial Luminaries; and all that have
pretended to it have been presumptuous Impostors. The Instruments
we make use of to measure the Parallax of the Sun, are too small,
and too ill divided, considering the prodigious Distance of that
Planet from the Earth. I never yet saw an Astrolabe divided into
Minutes, tho' it were necessary it should be divided into
Seconds, and perhaps into smaller Parts, which is impossible, or
it would be too large for the Purpose. And as a Proof how liable
we are to be mistaken for want of it, the most exact Astronomers,
who, not content with the Theory, have gone about to reduce this
Query to Practice, have been so grossly deceiv'd, that the wide
Difference of one Man's Opinion from another, is enough to bring
the Understanding of those Men in question, who would palm their
Conjectures upon the World for real Truths. _Tycho Brahe_, who
seems to have made a Circuit round the Heavens, as _Christopher
Columbus_ did round the Earth, affirms, that the Sun is 139 times
bigger than the Globe which we inhabit. _Copernicus_ makes the
Number to be 162; _Ptolemy_, 166; Father _Scheiner_, 434;
_Wendelinus_ 4096: And one of my Tutors affirm'd it to be three
Millions of times bigger than the Earth. Therefore we know
nothing positively of its Bigness, but that 'tis much larger than
this great Body, how big soever it appears to us, is a Certainty.
For in the first Place, supposing it to be of equal Bigness with
the Earth, 'tis evident that its Rays in their Passage over the
exterior Parts of this Terrestrial Sphere, would leave a Cylinder
of Obscurity beyond it, whose Sides would be parallel, so that
the Planets, in their way thro' that Opaque, receiving no Light,
and having none of their own, would be eclips'd. If the Sun was
Smaller than the Earth, its Rays, after having glanced over the
Earth, would grow wider, and form a Cone cut off by a Shadow,
with its Basis in the Firmament, and the Top on the Part of the
Earth opposite to the Sun; the Consequence of which is that a
still greater part of the Heavens would be darken'd, and all the
Planets there, as was just now observ'd, could give no Light. The
only Planet that ever we see eclips'd is the Moon; it appears,
therefore, that the Sun must be incomparably bigger than the
Earth, because its Rays, when they have pass'd over this great
Mass, unite again a little above the Moon, where the Cone, form'd
by the Shadow of the Earth, ends in a Point. To illustrate this
Explanation, I made a Figure in the Sand.
I confess, said _Du Puis_, this is demonstrative, as to the
Cause; but as to the Effects you speak of, or the Defects of the
Planets, I can't comprehend it, for I always thought that
Eclipses were things uncommon and unnatural. On the contrary, I
reply'd, there is nothing in them that is mysterious. The Planets
are hard opaque Bodies, which bear a good Resemblance to the
Earth, and are by many People thought to be inhabited, for they
give no Light but by Reflexion, after having receiv'd it from the
Sun. For this Reason it is that we have no Eclipse of the Moon,
except when this Planet is rising on the one hand, while the Sun
is setting on the other, and when the Earth happens to interpose
directly between them, and hinders their seeing each other Face
to Face. But if the Sun, said _La Foret_, be the Source of Light,
how happens it that at certain times it loses it? From whence
come those Eclipses which are so alarming to the World, and what
is it that restores its former Lustre to it? As the
Interposition of the Earth, said I, causes Eclipses of the Moon,
the Interposition of the Moon, in like manner, darkens the Sun;
that is to say, as often as the Moon is in Conjunction with the
Sun, and passes in a direct Line, betwixt it and the Earth, it
does the Office of a Curtain, and conceals that glorious Planet
from us; but this Privation can be of no long Continuance,
because of the different Motion of those Bodies. The Circle which
the Earth describes about the Sun, is incomparably greater than
that which the Moon describes round the Earth; and whereas the
former advances about 13 Degrees in a Day, the latter rids away
little more than one in Winter, and not quite so much in Summer,
so that they soon get clear of one another. What, said _La
Foret_, does the Earth go faster at one Season, than at another?
Yes, said I, in Appearance the Difference is about four Minutes,
because the Earth being much farther from the Sun in Summer, than
in Winter, it must necessarily seem to have a slower Motion
during the long Days, than the short ones; as a Waggon which is
not above 50 Paces off, seems to go much faster than when it is
at the Distance of 500.
But, said _Du Puis_, since you talk of Paces, is not the Heat of
one and the same Fire better felt at the Distance of two Paces,
than of ten? No doubt, said I. Then if the Sun, which is a Body
of Heat, reply'd he, is nearer the Earth in the Winter, than in
Summer, how comes it that the Heat is not felt in proportion to
its Distance, and what's the Reason that we shake with Cold at
the same time one might expect to be in a melting Sweat? You say
very well, I reply'd, and this Objection shews that Ignorance and
Reason are not incompatible, but while you think you have
hamper'd me, you are quite mistaken. I will not go about to prove
to you, that there are no such things in Nature as Heat, Cold,
Light, Smell, Sound, or Colours, nor any of the Qualities which
we perceive in Bodies; for it would be a Work of too much
Trouble, and perhaps too you would not understand me, because
this depends on certain Points of Knowledge, of which you have
not so much as the Principles. I will only observe to you, that
properly speaking, there is but one and the same sort of Matter,
which according as it's form'd or actuated, produces in us, by
means of our Organs, certain Effects which we ascribe to Bodies,
and which therefore we call Hot, Cold, Luminous, Colour'd, and so
of the others, tho' in effect Sounds Colour, Taste, _&c._ are
properly in us, and not in those Bodies; as the Pain or Smart
which proceeds from a Prick, is in our selves, and not at all in
the Thorn which occasion'd it. And to prove that your Comparison
is not just, even in the Sense that you your self would use it
in, consider, that the Top of the _Alpes_, which is so much
nearer to the Sun than the Foot, is cover'd with Snow in the
Summer, while the Valleys, which are so much farther from the
Sun, are quite burnt up with Heat: The true Reason of which is,
(that we may pass over nothing without some Right Explanation)
the Air, about a League from the Earth, is so thin, that it has
not Strength enough to dissipate the least Bodies; whereas 'tis
so gross upon the Surface, that 'tis capable of shaking our most
solid Parts, and to cause what we call excessive Heat.
All this is really fine, reply'd _La Foret_, but pardon me, if I
tell you, that I don't see you have yet settled the Point, with
respect to Summer and Winter. Very true, said I, that's a
Question of another Nature. When the Sun is ascended towards our
Zenith, as it does in Summer, tho' it be at a very great Distance
from us, yet it emits a great Number of Rays, almost
perpendicularly upon us; whereas in Winter, when it declines
lower towards the Horizon, most of its Rays, which can only come
sideways, reverberate upon the Surface of our Atmosphere, so that
very few pass and penetrate to our Bodies: Mean time, Heat and
Cold consist in the greater and lesser Number of those Rays, as
is easily to be prov'd by Mirrors and Burning-Glasses, whose
Effects are always proportion'd to the Number of Rays of Light
which they collect.
During this agreeable Conversation, which was carry'd on with a
View, rather to pass the Time, than to increase the Number of
Philosophers, because in that Case another Course must have been
taken, we had travell'd a good way, but at length we were oblig'd
to turn to another Subject. It was now Thirty-five Days that we
had left our Company, and we imagin'd that we could not have
travell'd less than 130 Leagues, when on a sudden, we found our
selves on the Brink of a Lake, which seem'd to be of a vast
Extent. This Obstacle in our way so confounded us, that for a
long time we knew not what to resolve upon. One talk'd of
returning back, another of staying where we were for a few Days,
and making the best shift we could to lodge our selves; but at
last we resolv'd to go straight along by the Side of this great
Water, in hopes of finding the End of it. After coasting it seven
or eight Leagues, we began to see Land on the other side of it,
and were overjoy'd to find that the farther we advanc'd we had
still a plainer View of the Objects on the other Shore; but then
we had a fresh Mortification to see our selves got insensibly
into a marshy Place, where the Ground was not only soft, but
stunk, and trembled under our Feet. All the Country about us was
flat and even; we saw no end of it, and every Step we took, which
way soever we turn'd, we sunk in half way the Leg. All that I
could say to encourage my Comrades, was in vain; there was no
going further, so that we were fain to return back as we came,
much against our Wills and tho' extremely fatigu'd, were forc'd
to travel two long Leagues before we durst make a Halt, because
we were sadly bemir'd, and had not yet met with any Fuel fit to
make a Fire to dry us.
After we had rested our selves sufficiently, we resolv'd to turn
still to the Left, and to see if there was any Rub on that Side.
We travell'd on four Days successively, 'till we came to a Forest
full of tall Oaks, of an extraordinary Bigness. We paus'd at
first whether we should enter it, and at length resolv'd to
venture into it, on condition of keeping as near as possible to
the Lake; but this did not hold long, for we had scarce advanc'd
three small Leagues but we came to the Foot of a Mountain, so
cragged, that it was impossible for any Creature to ascend it.
The Rock hung over the Lake, the Waters of which being sometimes
ruffled, had in all Probability gradually wash'd away the Bottom.
We try'd to ascend this Mountain on the other Side, for a whole
Day, without finding any Place where it was accessible, because
of Precipices and astonishing Hills. At the dismal Sight of so
many invincible Obstacles, our Patience left us, and my two
Comrades reproached me very heartily for having brought them into
this Disaster.
I confess, said I, that we have reason to bewail our unhappy
Fate; but you ought to consider that nothing happens by chance,
for there is a Providence which directs every thing according to
his own Pleasure. As 'tis this same wise Being who has brought us
hither, so he will not fail to hint some Means or other to
extricate us. 'Tis most certain that God never abandons his
People, let them go where they will; if we place our Confidence
in him, he will infallibly assist us, You know that it was
neither a View to Profit nor Honour that led us hither; we had
nothing to lose, and provided we escape with our Lives, we have
all that we brought along with us. Let us not be daunted at what
has happen'd to us hitherto; our principal Aim is to ramble in
search of new Things, which may give us Pleasure; I don't despair
of going farther still, and that we shall some Day or other find
out a way to get a comfortable Subsistence. Come on, my Lads, let
us lose no Time, said I, but return back to the Lake, and see if
we can't contrive how to pass it, without running too great a
Risque. By good Fortune we have Hatchets, and here's Timber in
abundance. If we venture over upon Floats, we shan't be the first
Adventurers of this sort, and if we are so happy as to get safe
to the other Side, I flatter my self we shall make more fortunate
Discoveries. Hitherto the Country is uninhabited, but, humanely
speaking, 'tis impossible it should be the same every where; and
who knows, but at last we may meet with some civiliz'd Nation,
whose kind Treatment of us may make us ample Amends for the
Fatigues and Dangers we have run thro' to find them out, and for
telling them if they don't know it already, that there are other
People in the World besides them.
My Comrades turn'd a deaf Ear to me; nothing I said could make
'em easy, and I am persuaded, that if they had seen the least
Probability of finding our Ship's Company again, where we left
them, they would undoubtedly have run all Hazards in quest of
them. In the mean time, there was a Necessity of resolving upon
something. We return'd to the Lake, and view'd it well in many
Parts, before we agreed what Place to put off at. These Motions
backwards and forwards took us up eight Days, and the ninth we
began to set our Hands to the Work. First, we cut down half a
score Trees, of seven or eight Inches Diameter, from which we
stripp'd the Branches, shorten'd them to the length of twenty
Foot, put them into the Water, and then fasten'd them together as
well as we could, partly with Rushes, but chiefly with the Bark
of Willow-Trees, which were very numerous on the Side of the
Lake, and of which we made a sort of Cordage, of what length we
pleas'd. After this, we provided a Score of other shorter Trees,
which we laid in a row, and bound across the former, and upon
these we laid a third Floor of the same Size and Length as those
of the first Lay. We also made five Oars, or rather Shovels,
which took us up more Time than all the rest.
Before we had finished our Carpenter's Work, _La Foret_ came and
told us, that at sixty Paces distance he saw something stir in
the Rushes, which were not very far from the Lake, and in short,
we were of his Opinion immediately, that it must be some great
Animal. _Du Puis_, and I, took each our Gun, and charging with
four Balls, we fir'd both at once, reserving a third Charge in
case of Necessity, as we had been taught to do by Experience in
our Travels, wherein we had like to have been torn to Pieces by
Bears, two or three times, because we had spent all our Fire at
once. Our Pieces were scarce discharg'd, when we were extremely
surpris'd and terrify'd with a hideous Howling, and prodigious
Rustle among the Reeds, so that we were a long time in Suspence,
whether we should go near to see what it was; but upon
consideration that what we heard and saw could be nothing else,
in all probability, but the Effect of a mortal Wound, which had
disabled the Beast from defending himself, we charg'd our Pieces
again, and approach'd, tho' with great Fear and Trembling, to the
Place where he made such a Stir. As soon as he perceiv'd us, he
made a greater Noise than before, and struggled hard to escape,
which Fear of his rais'd our Spirits, and _La Foret_ seeing him
lift up his Head, let fly at him so dexterously that he shot him
thro' and thro', and laid him flat on the Ground. Nevertheless,
we durst not approach him for some Moments, but perceiving he
had no Motion, we began to touch him with the Ends of our Pieces,
and at length dragg'd him out, when we found him to be of the
Otter Kind, with two very short Legs before, which either _Du
Puis_ or I maim'd at the first Discharge, whereby he was disabled
from getting away. This Creature could not weigh less than 150
Pound. We skinn'd him, roasted the best Part of him, and found
his Flesh to be good, and that it tasted not much unlike our
Ducks.
Next Day, which was the thirteenth since we arrived there, we
resolv'd to put off, but our Float was so heavy that we made very
little way; and two of us constantly ply'd the Oars by turns,
while the third rested. As good Luck would have it, the Weather
was very favourable, and the Season exceeding pleasant, so that I
can truly say, we were very much delighted in the Voyage, tho' we
did not know what would become of us when we undertook it. 'Twas
surprising to see the infinite Shoals of Fish in this fine Lake,
leaping and casting on both sides of our Float, which some of
them follow'd with their Heads above Water, and playing with
their Tails, as if they had been rejoic'd to see us. We were so
attentive at this dumb Sport, that we lay upon our Oars sometimes
for a great while together to enjoy it. We took up several of
them with our Hands, and then toss'd them back again into their
own Element, and might have caught what Number we had pleas'd. At
the Close of the Day, just as we lost Sight of the Shore we came
from, we were overjoy'd to discover that to which we were
steering our Course. This agreeable Sight gave us fresh Spirits;
we work'd lustily almost all Night, and I think it was next Day
about four of the Clock in the Afternoon, when we had the good
Luck to touch Land. As soon as we got ashore, we made use of all
the Tackle we had to moor our Machine, not only to great Stones
upon the Strand, but to a Post or Stump of a Tree, which we drove
into the Ground, and which we carry'd with us for that purpose,
being uncertain whether we should fare better elsewhere, and
whether we should not be oblig'd to come back again the same way.
We were so fatigu'd with our Voyage that we took up our Lodging
at the distance of an hundred Paces, and stay'd there till next
Morning, when we continu'd our Journey.
We had not travell'd half a League but we came to a Wood, as
thick as any we had yet met with, tho' we forc'd our way thro' it
in less than two Hours. But there we were stopt all on a sudden,
by steep Rocks altogether as difficult to ascend as a Wall. This
new Barrier occasion'd fresh wrangling betwixt us; my Comrades
murmur'd sadly, and I, as usual, did all I could to hearten them,
so that I was forc'd at last to assure them, that tho' my Ideas
were commonly so confus'd and irregular in my Slumbers, that I
could seldom tell what to make of my Dreams, yet I had one last
Night, the Connexion and Circumstances of which were so
particular, that it was an infallible Presage of something to our
Advantage; and thereupon I invented some Fictions _ex-tempore_,
which, tho' perhaps not very well concerted, had however all the
Effect I expected from them. In the Morning, said I, about an
Hour before Sun-rise, methoughts I heard a Rumbling, like the
Voice of Thunder, which said to me, _What have you to do there,
Child? Rise up, and walk, thy Deliverance is near at hand._ At
the same time a young Woman appear'd to me with a smiling
Countenance, dress'd in white Raiment, with her dishevell'd Hair
flowing about her Shoulders, her Legs bare even to the Knee, and
in her Hands a little Basket of fine Ozier, artfully interwoven
with all manner of fragrant Flowers, and full of uncommon
delicious Fruits, of which she invited me to eat. On my left Hand
there appear'd a Field, cover'd all over with Sheaves of the
finest Corn that the Earth ever bore; and on my right a Tree, in
the Trunk of which there was a Cleft, from whence there gush'd a
clear beautiful red Liquor, which smelt like musk. I turn'd about
to look behind me, and perceiving a frightful Monster, bristled
all over like a Porcupine, I was so affrighted at it, that tho'
it turn'd its Back upon me, I started out of my Sleep. To this
Dream I gave a favourable Interpretation, which contributed not a
little to quicken our Pace.
As we still kept along the East side of those Mountains, we at
last discover'd a narrow Passage, which we resolv'd to climb, but
the Difficulty we met with before we got up to the Top, was such
that I cannot express it. When we had conquer'd it, we sat down
to recover Breath, and take a little Food. Soon after we rose
again, we perceiv'd a Pond about a Quarter of a League in
Circumference, which was bounded on one side by the craggy Points
of a Rock, which hung over the Water, and on the other by a very
narrow rugged sort of Dyke, with a Precipice on the right hand,
of which there was no discovering the Bottom. These mocking
Objects made me as mute as a Fish; I had neither the Strength nor
Courage to speak, and to be frank, I wish'd then with all my
Heart I had never undertaken the Voyage. There was no Prospect of
going down the way that we ascended, and the Danger of going
farther was very great.
While we were at that Nonplus, I made a hard Struggle to climb to
the Top of a Rock which was behind us; as soon as I was got up to
it, my Sorrow was turn'd on a sudden into extravagant Joy, at the
Discovery of a fine Champain Country beyond these Hills, which
was interspers'd with Canals, and Trees regularly planted on the
Banks of them. I thought likewise that I saw Cattle grazing in
the Meads, and at a further distance great Bodies, which I took
to be the Habitations of Men. I beckon'd to my Comrades to follow
me, and signify'd to them by my Gestures and various Contortions
of Body, that our Deliverance was nigh. They were so fond to know
the good News, that they ventur'd after me, tho' they had like to
have broke their Necks as well as I; but then, on the other hand,
they were soon satisfy'd for their Pains, and agreed that this
Country was, without Dispute, inhabited. All the Difficulty was
how to come at it, a Difficulty, which we verily thought
insurmountable. From this Eminence we carefully survey'd all the
Country round; but there being no Appearance of Access to it, we
help'd one another down, and took another View of the Precipice
and Pond.
For my part, I was immediately of Opinion let the Danger be what
it wou'd, that we ought to return and cut down Timber in the
Forest where we had spent the Night, and to draw it up in the
best manner we could, in order to venture this short Passage over
the Pond. But _Du Puis_, thinking my Proposal impracticable,
said, that the Passage between the Lake and the Precipice seem'd
to be only two Foot broad in the narrowed Parts of it, that
therefore one might easily cross over it, and that he would
undertake to be our Guide. I was wonderfully pleas'd with his
Motion, and did not fail to second it by instancing in the
_Pyrenees_ and _Alpes_, of which I had read something in the
Memoirs of several Travellers; but _La Foret_, who was, as he
said, subject to Vertigoes, protested he would not go that way,
whatever was the Consequence, but that if we were resolv'd to
pass it, he would rather do it by Swimming. _Du Puis_ immediately
acquiesc'd, and engag'd to carry his Clothes, and mine too, if I
would take to the Water with him. No sooner said, but done, for
_La Foret_ and I stripp'd, bundled up our Clothes, and _Du Puis_
taking them along with him, set out. We resolv'd to leave our
Hatchets and Fowling-Pieces behind us, which indeed were of no
more Service to us, because we had not three Charges of Powder
left; nevertheless, _Du Puis_ was to return to fetch them, if he
found the Passage not so dangerous as we imagin'd. _La Foret_
and I being both very good Swimmers, we arriv'd quickly at the
other Shore, because we made choice of the narrowed Place; but
_Du Puis_, who had taken our Clothes, was oblig'd to take a large
Compass, before he came to the Place where he was to pass.
As soon as we got ashore, we ran to meet him, and glad we were to
see him briskly advancing to us, but by an unaccountable
Disaster, which I shall lament as long as I live, the poor Man
was within ten Paces of being upon _Terra Firma_, when a Piece of
the Rock giving way all on a sudden under his Feet, he cry'd out,
_Lord have Mercy upon me!_ and, and to our Astonishment,
disappear'd in an Instant. We ran hastily to see what became of
him, but alas! we neither saw nor heard him more.
I beg the kind Reader to pause here for a Moment, and seriously
to reflect upon our Misfortune. Our inconceivable Grief for the
Loss of our Friend, together with the pitiful Condition he left
us in, having neither Clothes to cover our Nakedness, nor any
Means possible to subsist us, so dispirited us, that we thought a
hundred times of casting our selves headlong after him, and by
that means to have put a sudden Period to the fatal Course of our
unfortunate Lives.