A task that would have appeared impossible when
viewed in daylight, lost half of its terrors because we only vaguely
apprehended the dangers that threatened us when a layer of shale
crumbled beneath our feet. Our descent became a wild toboggan. Slipping
and sliding, clutching wildly at every little projection that would
decrease the speed at which we were travelling, we rolled with bruised
and bleeding bodies on to a small platform, and lay half stunned for a
moment, as a thousand pieces of rock, dislodged by our bodies, bounced
past us into the valley.
Holman picked himself up and looked around. The pink flush had deepened
in the east, and nearby objects were discernible.
"By all the gods! we are back on the ledge near the crevice!" he cried.
"Come along and we'll hunt for Kaipi."
It was wonderful how we had pulled up in our slide near the place where
we had witnessed the performance that prompted us to make the ascent.
But there was no mistake about the spot. As we crawled along the
platform we found that we had landed not more than twenty feet from the
crevice through which we had witnessed the blood-curdling "tivo," and we
hurried toward the spot where we had left the Fijian, whose nerves had
been upset by the glimpse he had had of the strange antics of the
dancers.
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