They  now  attained  a  more  level  and  open  space
of  ground,  being  the  flat  top  of  an  isthmus  of  pro-
jecting rock,  narrowing  again  towards  a  point  where
it  was  terminated  by  the  chasm  which  separated  the
small  peak,  or  stack,  occupied  by  Noma's  habitation,
from  the  main  ridge  of  cliff  and  precipice.  This
natural  fosse,  which  seemed  to  have  been  the  work
of  some  convulsion  of  nature,  was  deep,  dark,  and  ir-
regular, narrower  towards  the  bottom,  which  could
not  be  distinctly  seen,  and  widest  at  top,  having  the
appearance  as  if  that  part  of  the  cliff  occupied  by
the  building  had  been  half  rent  away  from  the  isth-
mus which  it  terminated,  —  an  idea  favoured  by  the
angle  at  which  it  seemed  to  recede  from  the  land,
and  lean  towards  the  sea,  with  the  building  which
crowned  it.
1  Jarlo,  my  dear.
104  THE  PIRATE.
This  angle  of  projection  was  so  considerable,  that
it  required  recollection  to  dispel  the  idea  that  the
rock,  so  much  removed  from  the  perpendicular,  was
about  to  precipitate  itself  seaward,  with  its  old
tower:  and  a  timorous  person  would  have  been
afraid  to  put  foot  upon  it,  lest  an  addition  of  weight,
so  inconsiderable  as  that  of  the  human  body,  should
hasten  a  catastrophe  which  seemed  at  every  instant
impending.
Without  troubling  himself  about  such  fantasies,
the  Udaller  rode  towards  the  tower,  and  there  dis-
mounting along  with  his  daughters,  gave  the  ponies
in  charge  to  one  of  their  domestics,  with  directions
to  disencumber  them  of  their  burdens,  and  turn  them
out  for  rest  and  refreshment  upon  the  nearest  heath.
