narrow path between the fence and the hollow, so that it was with the utmost difficulty we succeeded in gaining the high road. With hasty steps we then passed be tween the trees, crossed the mound, and the cemetery; and in about half an hour, reached the foot of the first hill which we had to ascend.

Proceeding in our hazardous enterprize, we began, at the distance of about five wersts from the shore, to climb the hills, and endeavoured, wherever it was possible, to direct our course towards the north. The stars served to guide us Whilst we were ascending the first hill I felt a violent pain in my knee, which, in a short time swelled prodigiously. When we proceeded along places which were level, I could, with the assistance of a stick, walk without much difficulty; but I experienced severe pain either in ascending or descending, as I was then obliged to tread heavily with the leg which had been hurt. Being thus unable to make an equal use of both feet, I was quickly overcome with fatigue. My companions were, therefore, under the necessity of stopping every half hour, in order that I might recover myself, and ease my knee by resting. Our object was to reach, before day-break, some hills, along which a thick forest extended, in order to conceal ourselves from the observation of the enemy; for we had now reason to regard the Japanese as implacably hostile to us. During our walks in the vicinity of the town, this forest appeared to us to be at no considerable distance, but we soon found how greatly we had mistaken its situation.

We could trace no footpath leading directly to the forest, and we therefore advanced straight forward. Owing to the darkness of the night we could see no farther than a few paces around us, and we sometimes unexpectedly found ourselves at the foot of a steep precipice which it was impossible to climb. We had then to search for a more practicable road; which, when found, we continued to ascend until new obstacles presented themselves.

In this way we spent three anxious hours, and having at last gained the summit, we proceeded northward along the level height. But fate had every where thrown interruptions and difficulties in our way. At the height we had now reached, the snow lay in some parts extremely thick, and the Japanese might easily have traced our footstepts across it. We were therefore obliged to search for such places as were not covered with snow; in doing this we crossed from one side to the other, and frequently turned back, by which we were greatly fatigued, and advanced but slowly. About an hour before daybreak, however, we unexpectedly found ourselves proceeding, in a direct line, for the forest, along a good road, which the Japanese had made for the purpose of conveying wood to the city on packhorses. This road was thickly imprinted with the tracks of horses and men; there was no snow upon it, and therefore the Japanese could not trace our footsteps. It led in a straight northerly direction, and passed over the level summits of the hills. We were not a little delighted at the discovery, and

advanced

advanced with increased rapidity. I still felt much pain in my knee, and through the whole of my leg; but as we were walking on level ground it was nothing to equal that which I experienced when ascending the side of the hill.

We hoped shortly to reach the forest, in the heart of which we intended to pass the day; but the sailor, Wassiljeff, who accidently looked behind him, suddenly exclaimed, "they are pursuing us on horseback with lanterns."With these words he quickly descended into a hollow on one side of the road. On looking round, we perceived some lights which appeared to be at no great distance from us. We immediately followed the example of Wassiljeff, and precipitated ourselves into a deep hollow. We descended to a considerable distance without finding either a tree or thicket under which we could conceal ourselves, and day was already beginning to dawn. Had it been broad daylight we might easily have been observed from any of the surrouning hills. We at length reached the bottom of the hollow, which was on every side overhung with naked precipices. The hollow itself was covered with thick snow, but no place of concealment presented itself, and the sun had now completely risen.

We stood still for a few moments, not knowing how to proceed; at last we perceived a small aperture in a rock, and on approaching it, found that it was a cavity which might, perhaps, though with difficulty, contain us all. A waterfall, which descended from the hill and passed by the

side of this cavity, had hollowed out a pit about ten feet deep almost directly under it. We were enabled to get near the cavity by advancing along the snow which was very high on the one side. This hole, in which we hoped to find shelter, was situated in the side of a rock, about nine feet from the bottom of the hollow, but the cataract had driven away so much of the snow, that it was with the greatest difficulty we could reach the aperture, our only assistance in climbing being a small tree which grew beside it. Had any of us missed a step, or had the tree failed to support our weight, we might have been precipitated into the pit, from which we could not easily have extricated ourselves. With my lame leg, it would have been next to impossible for me to have got out. We, however, succeeded in reaching the hole in safety.

When in it, we found that we had not sufficient room to sit down, and our grotto was, be sides, half filled with a kind of sand stones, of which the whole hill was composed. Many of the stones lay with their sharp points and edges upwards, and we dared not to stir without the greatest caution, as there was a considerable slope towards the mouth of the hole; and had any of the stones given way, we might have rolled out along with them. We could neither lie down nor stretch out our feet, but were obliged to rest ourselves first on one elbow, and then on the other. In other respects our hiding place was well adapted to our purpose. The Japanese could not have traced us to it from any distance,

for

for fortunately a keen frosty morning had so hardened the snow, that our footsteps were no longer visible. But there was one circumstance which excited our apprehension, our companion Schkajeff, as he was descending the hollow, lost his cap, which he had himself made out of a worsted stocking. Had it been picked up by the Japanese, they would have immediately recognised it as a part of our wardrobe, and it might perhaps have assisted them in discovering our asylum. We were, besides, afraid that the rays of the sun might melt the snow at the entrance of the cavity, and in that case we should have found it impossible to get out, as even in the morning we could not reach it without considerable difficulty.

In this situation we remained until sunset, reflecting on our fate, and deliberating how we should proceed. The day was extremely clear, but the rays of the sun did not penetrate to our retreat, and the neighbouring waterfall increased the coolness of the atmosphere, so that we frequently shivered till our teeth knocked against each other. During the whole day we distinctly heard the sound of hatchets in the forest, which was at no great distance from us. At sunset we peeped out of our hole and saw a number of people on the hills. No other remarkable circumstance occurred, except that we heard a rustling noise as if somebody had been slipping down the hill towards us. The noise became louder and louder; we even fancied that we beheld soldiers in search of us, and prepared for our defence, when we

suddenly perceived a wild deer, but the animal no sooner smelt us than he darted off at full speed.

When the stars began to appear we left our hole, and proceeded northwards to a high hill, which was here and there overgrown with underwood. My stuation was dreadful. Whilst we were in the cave I had constantly kept my lame leg in one position, and therefore experienced but little uneasiness, but whenever I at tempted to walk, and particularly to ascend the hill, the pain, which was not confined to my knee, but extended from the heel to the hip, was unbearable. I endured the utmost agony in climbing this hill, and we had yet many more to ascend. The circumstances of our case, however, required that we should advance without loss of time. Finding that I retarded my companions, and that I might perhaps occasion them to be overtaken by their pursuers, I entreated that they would abandon me to my fate, and proceed without me; but to this suggestion they would not listen. I represented that, from the commencement of our enterprise, fate had destined me to suffer, by rendering me incapable of following them. I begged that they would not sacrifice themselves for my sake, as I only occasioned them to linger, and from the excruciating pain which I endured, they must, sooner or later, leave me behind. But they were not to be prevailed on by my entreaties. They ail protested that so long as I lived they would not abandon me, and that they would stop to let me rest at every quarter of a mile, and that, when they reached a

safe

watered by a little stream, on the surface of which the ice and deep snow were in many places sufficiently strong to bear our weight. We now lost sight of the road, and proceeded over the snow in an oblique direction across the valley, in the hope of finding the road again, but our attempt was unsuccessful: we however discovered a footpath, leading to the summit of a hill, which was higher than any we had hitherto crossed. As the precipice was extremely difficult to ascend, and we frequently found it necessary to stop to rest ourselves, we did not reach the summit until day was about to dawn. We then found a convenient resting place, where we resolved to halt for the day. We crept in among the thickest of the bushes, and for the sake of a little warmth lay close to each other, as the morning was extremely cold, and our clothing was not calculated to protect us from its influence. We did not, however, lie in this place above two hours, and we suffered so severely from the cold, that to sleep was quite impossible.

When daylight was completely set in, we arose to take a view of the objects around us. We found ourselves on a lofty eminence, which was on every side surrounded by mountains. Those

towards the south were somewhat lower than the one on which we stood, but those to the north were, on the contrary, consider ably higher. Hills, forests and snow were the only objects which met our eyes; yet the prospect was sublime. We observed that the tops of all the hills were enveloped in mist, and we con

sequently concluded that if we kindled a fire among the bushes it would not be perceptible from any of the surrounding eminences; we therefore resolved to try the experiment, for the double purpose of warming ourselves and and boiling our kettle; not indeed to make tea, for we had none with us, but to warm and render more palatable our rice, which was by this time dry and mouldy. We likewise searched for wild herbs, but in vain, for among these hills winter still raged with the utmost severity. We collected some dry twigs, kindled a fire, and warmed some snow-water, which we sucked up with small bamboo reeds, and eat the rice along with it.

In the meantime some heavy clouds arose behind the hills from the east, and the wind began to howl among the rocks. The clouds spread in every direction, and the wind blew with more and more violence. A storm appeared to be gathering. Persuaded that we we should now meet nobody among the hills, and that our pursuers therefore could not discover us, we resolved to proceed without waiting for night. We were, moreover, induced to adopt this resolution on account of the extreme cold, from which, notwithstanding the fire, we suffered most severely.

We proceeded straight northwards, along the footpath which had been traced on the ridges of the mountains. This path, however, soon inclined to one side, and at length turned completely round; we therefore abandoned it, and pursued our course among the thickets. The declivity of the hill, which was covered with

snow,