of the row, that one of the soldier’s eyes had been torn out. On this Ball determined to proceed on foot; but Hooker and Maw, after a few steps over the very broken ground, thought it better to remount, and rely on the sagacity of their four-footed companions. In our awkward position the time seemed long; but at last we got through the olive grove, and found when we emerged from it that the night was even darker than before. It is well known to those who have made night excursions in mountain countries, that anything approaching absolute darkness, in places not overshadowed by trees or rocks, is very unusual. It may be impossible to distinguish one object from another; but the outline of opaque bodies against the sky is almost always traceable, and it rarely happens that a path is not in some degree distinguishable by its lighter hue from the surrounding rocks or vegetation. On this night, however, nothing whatever could be seen; and as we knew that the narrow track was carried for the next three or four miles along a very steep slope, precipitous in places, we felt that our difficulties were not yet over. The horses and mules, however, showed themselves deserving of the confidence placed in them. Ball, who led the way on foot, feeling his way with an alpenstock, had a narrow escape, as, misplacing his foot, he fell over the edge, but was luckily stopped by a dense mass of thorny bushes, from which he was rescued with a little trouble. We were heartily glad when, on reaching the spot where the track turns downward towards the river, we at last saw the lights of our camp glimmering through the trees. The roof of dark clouds overhead had by this time grown rather less dense; some faint light helped us down the steep slope, and a little before eleven o’clock we reached the welcome shelter of our tents. The case of the wounded soldier was first attended to. It was much less serious than we supposed; the eye was not much injured, but there was an ugly flesh wound on the face below it, where a jagged stem had torn through the upper part of the cheek. Wounds heal with remarkable readiness among the natives of this country, and after a few days nothing remained but a scar on the man’s face. A sheep, several fowls, eggs, and three large dishes of cooked food were soon forthcoming as the evening _mona_, and a rather late supper closed the proceedings of the day. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: See Ramusio, _Delle Navigationi et Viaggi_. Venetia: 1563. Vol. i. 12.] CHAPTER IX.