Even the religious grandeur of Nikko's cryptomeria aisles was incomparable to this.
One afternoon our column found itself hopelessly lost in a jungle growth so dense that one could penetrate it only by cutting a tunnel through, and for hours we hacked and hacked and made microscopic progress.

At last the head of the column came to an abrupt drop of a couple of hundred feet which seemed an effectual bar to all further progress.

The cliff fell off at an angle of sixty degrees, with the slope densely matted with heavy scrub and underbrush.

It was necessary either to retrace our steps through that long and heart-breaking jungle or else find a way down the cliff.

The water was gone and the horses must be got to water before night.
Then, followed the most dramatic episode of our trip.