their situation afforded Elizabeth and her companion the respite, of which they availed themselves to make the efforts we have recorded.
The thin covering of earth over the rock on which they stood, supported but a scanty and faded herbage, and most of the trees that had found root in the fissures had already died, during the intense heats of preceding summers. Those which still retained the appearance of life, bore a few dry and withered leaves, that were drained of their nourishment; while the others were merely the wrecks of pines, oaks, and maples. No better materials to feed the fire could be found, had there been a communication with the flames; but the ground was destitute of the leaves and boughs that led the destructive element like a torrent over the remainder of the hill. As auxiliary to this scarcity of fuel, there was one of the large springs which abound in that country, gushing out of the side of the ascent above, which, after creeping sluggishly along the level land, saturating the mossy covering of the rock with moisture, swept round the base of the little cone that formed the pinnacle of the mountain, and, entering the canopy of smoke near one of the terminations of the terrace, found its way to the lake, not by dashing from rock to rock, but by the secret channels of the earth. It would rise to the surface, here and there, in the wet seasons, when it exhibited a mimic torrent, overflowing the ground for some distance; but in the droughts of summer, it was to be traced only by the bogs and moss that announced the proximity of water. When the fire reached this barrier, it was compelled to pause, until a concentration of its heat could overcome the moisture, like an army impatiently waiting the operations of a battering train, to open its way to death and desolation.
