The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-07-24

monplace point Of observation appeared by
far the most preferab bic.
Good bye and I saw them vanish.
Then, climbing over the ridge, which here
sloped on the other side for some distance
before taking the final plunge, sat down,
sheltered from the wind, while eating my
bread and ham.-fog- hidden cascades max
ing music for me meanwhile.
Off again. \ two minutes tramp assures
me that the ladies turned back little too
soon for ] am on the last summit. bare
desolatc place. strewn with fragments of
rock and the inevitable beer bottle What
glorious view one could have if the
clouds would only lift. but they wouldn't
On the contrary they became heavier A
moments inspection assured me the de
scent would be a very different matter
from that on the side We came. No track
was to be found on the impressonless
rock. The hole made by walking stick
in some soft earth finally gave me the cue
and then it was down, down, down with a
vengeance. Mist SO thick that the view
was not clear twenty feet away most of the
time. A winding track of slippery rock
or loose shingie leading steeply along the
mountain front with sudden jumping off
places from two to six feet high. with
slight foot hold for climbing down. and
landing places the reverse of spacious. On
both sides rock, one sheer up the other
sheer down; abrupt passages between over
topping masses of black, messy granite
Nothing dangerous, but it behooved a fell
low to attend strictly to present business,
for broken leg or sprained ankle would
prove no Joke to one alone in the mist and
remote from human habitation, especially
when fellow is not expected anywhere
and failure to appear at nightfall would
not call for search The arrival at the
first terrace was followed by another look
for the track. Down again. another ter
the way positively declines appearing
After trying two or three ways and failing
to be satisfied with the prospect, finally
choose one which promised well for get
ting down, but made no fiattering offers as
to direction. Grass is soon reached and an
occasional sheep yanishes suddenly through
the mist. At places the slippery descent
is so near perpendicular that one needs to
guard well against taking a fall which
might have ended in Jump off of a thirty
foot precipice. more or less. Frequently
it was necessary to turn aside from deep
cliff, while huge rocks were plentiful. AT
length, emerging from the mist, | soon
came ont upon a sort of a ridge ending in a
point where the tiny rivulet | had been fol-
lowing joined another. There was a
scramble down over the loose shingles and
| was in lay of the hills along whose
sides the clouds Were floating a short dis
lance above me. All around the ground
was in hummocks and ridges from the ac-
ton of the water which here collected in
pools drained through little channels into
each other and main channel which at
tanned the dignity of brook. To the
north the narrow winding valley. still de
scending. showed the way ont. To follow
the stream must inevitably bring me some
where's so, well contented, ! threw my
waterproof ON the ground under the lea of
a hinge bowlder and sat down 10 rest, doing
some writing meanwhile on paper taken
from my knapsack.
Off again. along the brook in its down
ward couse, among Struggling bushes and
small trees At times it flowed smoothly,
at others dashed foaming along or poured
in cascades over the black fronted cliffs.
There were wild flowers among the grasses
and the water was very clear. The valley
still curved to the right, widened and de-
seconded into another one like itself, where
in the distance could be seen two stone
cottages One story and half structure
under Ben Lomond's Tiven snow-wrea thed
crest and near the way should have come
down. The other one was a three-room-nI-
arrow edifice ON the opposite side of the
valley, with a range of lofty hills back of
it. Near the cottage and extending west
ward there was wide break in the range,
showing high ridges and irregular slopes
of moorland.
My sudden appearance at cottage num-
Der one caused the sudden stampeding of
two ragged children, who did their best to
run in every direction at the same time. \
black-eyed girl with her arms bare came
out of the chaos of uncleanliness. partially
visible through the doorway, and in semi
belligerent manner favored me with some
information as to direction and distances
which proved exceedingly valuable, as
curiosity. its unparalleled vagueness mark
ing it as a most signally unique p.oduc-
ton of the human intellect-or lack of
any.
A narrow foot bridge offered a dry way
over the stream, now large enough to be
called creek Across a strip of smooth
turf and over another foot bridge spanning
another brook and | walked up TO cottage
number two. The first room proved TO be
a stable. the second was non-committal. \
rap at the third and last produced a vocal ca
nine concert with feminine human accom-
paniment in jaw breaking Gaelic and much
abused English. A woman, fat, fair and
forty. at least, waddled cut holding in her
hand the remains of long handled scrub