I raised my head and examined the place with growing curiosity. Yes, there could be no question about it, the whole top of the wall was built up artificially. Perhaps it was some great fortress, or decaying monastery; for the singular blending of art and nature made it seem as if the two had grown together through vast periods of time. As I lay there, dreading the effort of rising, and indeed almost too weak to proceed, there came a strange sound through the air, which grew louder, and more inexplicable each minute. I listened, wondering if it could be in my own ears, as signal of approaching death, and almost wished it might be. Was it a rushing wind creeping down from the heights above, or the portent of subterranean upheaval? It grew, and while vaguely surmising the cause, I became suddenly aware of a fearful object, hovering above. I started to my feet, staggered and fell, for directly over me was one of those gigantic birds. It swooped earthward, and I crouched in horror, as I saw that it was making directly for me. The end was at hand. I should be pecked to pieces before I was dead, and my flesh be consumed like carrion by this damnable, awe-inspiring monster. Even had I the strength to resist, a dozen men could not have coped with such a creature. I lay quietly waiting to feel that awful beak pecking at my heart, my eyes, my brains, and suffered the agony of a thousand deaths. Down it came; it was close above, and the stench upon the air was overpowering. I could not move, for the paralysis of a consuming fear devoured me. I looked straight up into those baleful eyes, and my attention was attracted by a strange thing, for around the bird’s neck was suspended a gilded barrel of peculiar form. Now was I alive, or was I dead? for at that moment a sight presented itself which might well have made me doubt. When close above the ground, and within fifty feet, the bird stopped and by some dextrous movement of beak and claw, disengaged the barrel, which dropped quietly upon the ground, leaving the animal free to fly away as quietly and mysteriously as it had come. It disappeared among the rocks near the summit of the cliff. Crawling toward the cask I examined it, and discovered to my unspeakable joy that it was divided into two compartments, in one of which was about five gallons of cold water, while in the other was a quantity of fruit. Had this strange creature been sent from heaven? but I could not stop to think until after I had drunk and eaten, and then falling down upon my knees thanked God for his deliverance, for even here in this awful desert I was watched and cared for.