I had but to look straight below me, and I could see long tresses of glossy seaweed floating under the surface of the sea.

Both my head and my footing were steady, for I had grown accustomed to giddy heights and venturesome climbing.

I walked on slowly, casting many a reluctant glance behind me at the calm waters, with the boats gliding to and fro among the islets.

I was just giving my last look to them when the loose stones on the crumbling path gave way under my tread, and before I could recover my foothold I found myself slipping down the almost perpendicular face of the cliff, and vainly clutching at every bramble and tuft of grass growing in its clefts..