Page 85 - The snake's pass

THE SECRETS OF THE BOG. 73
I stood in a deep valley, or rather bowl, with behind
me a remarkably steep slope of green sward, whilst on
either hand the sides of the hollow rose steeply—that
on the left, down which I had climbed, being by far the
steeper and rockier of the two. In front was the Pass
itself.
It was a gorge or cleft through a great wall of rock,
which rose on the seaside of the promontory formed
by the hill. This natural wall, except at the actual
Pass itself, rose some fifty or sixty feet over the summit
of the slope on either side of the little valley ; but right
and left of the Pass rose two great masses of rock,
like the pillars of a giant gateway. Between these lay
the narrow gorge, with its walls of rock rising sheer
some two hundred feet. It was about three hundred
feet long, and widened slightly outward, being shaped
something funnel-wise, and on the inner side was about
a hundred feet wide. The floor did not go so far as
the flanking rocks, but, at about two-thirds of its
length, there was a perpendicular descent, like a groove
cut in the rock, running sheer down to the sea, some
three hundred feet below, and as far under it as we
could see. From the northern of the flanking rocks
which formed the Pass the rocky wall ran northwards,
completely sheltering the lower lands from the west,
and running into a towering rock that rose on the
extreme north, and which stood up in jagged peaks
something like " The Needles " off the coast of the Isle
of Wight.