Wecouldnotseethroughthewholeextentofthisopening；but，asagooddealoflightcamedownit，wehadlittledoubtoffindingatthetopofitifwecouldbyanymeansreachthetopaclearpassageintotheopenair。
Inowcalledtomindthatthreeofushadenteredthefissurefromthemaingorge，andthatourcompanion，Allen，wasstillmissing；wedeterminedatoncetoretraceourstepsandlookforhim。
Afteralongsearch，andmuchdangerfromthefarthercavinginoftheearthaboveus，Petersatlengthcriedouttomethathehadholdofourcompanion’sfoot，andthathiswholebodywasdeeplyburiedbeneaththerubbishbeyondthepossibilityofextricatinghim。Isoonfoundthatwhathesaidwastootrue，andthat，ofcourse，lifehadbeenlongextinct。Withsorrowfulhearts，therefore，weleftthecorpsetoitsfate，andagainmadeourwaytothebend。
Thebreadthoftheseamwasbarelysufficienttoadmitus，and，afteroneortwoineffectualeffortsatgettingup，webeganoncemoretodespair。Ihavebeforesaidthatthechainofhillsthroughwhichranthemaingorgewascomposedofaspeciesofsoftrockresemblingsoap。stone。Thesidesofthecleftwewerenowattemptingtoascendwereofthesamematerial，andsoexcessivelyslippery，beingwet，thatwecouldgetbutlittlefootholduponthemevenintheirleastprecipitousparts；insomeplaces，wheretheascentwasnearlyperpendicular，thedifficultywas，ofcourse，muchaggravated；
and，indeed，forsometimewethoughtinsurmountable。Wetookcourage，however，fromdespair，andwhat，bydintofcuttingstepsinthesoftstonewithourbowieknives，andswingingattheriskofourlives，tosmallprojectingpointsofaharderspeciesofslatyrockwhichnowandthenprotrudedfromthegeneralmass，weatlengthreachedanaturalplatform，fromwhichwasperceptibleapatchofbluesky，attheextremityofathickly-woodedravine。Lookingbacknow，withsomewhatmoreleisure，atthepassagethroughwhichwehadthusfarproceeded，weclearlysawfromtheappearanceofitssides，thatitwasoflateformation，andweconcludedthattheconcussion，whateveritwas，whichhadsounexpectedlyoverwhelmedus，hadalso，atthesamemoment，laidopenthispathforescape。Beingquiteexhaustedwithexertion，andindeed，soweakthatwewerescarcelyabletostandorarticulate，Petersnowproposedthatweshouldendeavourtobringourcompanionstotherescuebyfiringthepistolswhichstillremainedinourgirdles-themusketsaswellascutlasseshadbeenlostamongthelooseearthatthebottomofthechasm。