The men, working in relays, were instructed to hew a path wide enough for two people to walk abreast, and, keeping in a straight line with the portion they had already cut, our rate of progression was about a furlong an hour.
For two hours not a sound was heard save the dull swish of the axes as they sheared through the sap-laden canes and brushwood.
Suddenly one of the men gave an exclamation of surprise, and, dropping his axe, seized on a strange object and with a heave wrenched it from the ground. It was an arquebus, apparently of sixteenth-century workmanship, its barrel nearly rusted through, and its stock so worm-eaten that it crumbled in his grasp.
This was the first token we had seen which related to our quest, and with renewed efforts our men again attacked the impeding mass of vegetation.
When at length the path had been constructed to a distance of about two miles, our hopes and fears increased. How could the exact spot be fixed in that wilderness? Had Captain Jeremy some particular clue, the result of which he kept locked in his breast till the fateful moment? A glance at our leader's resolute face was sufficient. He, at all events, was satisfied with the progress made.
"A man with a mattock!" he exclaimed; and as a seaman ran forward with the required article, he gave the order, "Dig here".
A few heavy strokes, and the implement struck a blackish stratum of soil. Picking up a handful, Captain Jeremy sniffed at it; but even where I was standing I recognized the odour. It smelt of pitch.
"We are hard on the place," the Captain exclaimed; "another twenty yards, lads!"
At length, with an exclamation of triumph, one of the men pushed aside the reeds, and disclosed a scene the like of which I had never seen before. For a space of nearly a hundred yards across, the ground was destitute of verdure, being composed of a bituminous soil. On all sides, save the one by which we had approached, were lofty black rocks, grotesquely shaped as if carved by the hand of man; while facing us was a pinnacle that resembled a human face in profile, about thirty feet in height. A more repulsive caricature could not be imagined. The thick, protruding upper lip, the overhanging eyebrows, and the diabolical grin--'twas the very image in stone of the villainous Ned Slater.