way through the weeds and under-wood, and, with infinite labour, arrived at the summit.
Here he stopped to look round him, another valley was beneath, which seemed to terminate in a thick wood on the right, and more hills to the left. Heartily tired of ascending and descending, he resolved to go into the woods from the vale beneath, rather than climb another mountain: Descending, however, to the valley, his attention was arrested by the beauty of the vines, which entirely covered the southern side of the hill; and several small streams, which had forced their way from the cascade on the other side, here crossed each other in the valley, and divided it into many parts like a cluster of small vales, which had a beautiful effect upon the eye, and agreeably amused Ferdinand till he came to the entrance of the wood, which he found uncommonly thick, and seemingly difficult to penetrate. He hesitated a moment, supposing that it might be the retreat of a troop of banditti, which had for some time past committed many out-
