The hill was conical, but I found that it had a flat
top--an oblong or pear-shaped area, almost level, of a soft,
crumbly sandstone, with a few blocks and boulders of a harder
stone scattered about--and no vegetation, except the grey
mountain lichen and a few sere-looking dwarf shrubs.
Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, remained
standing still for some minutes, as if to give me time to recover
my breath; and I was right glad to sit down on a stone to rest.
Finally she walked slowly to the centre of the level area, which
was about two acres in extent; rising, I followed her and,
climbing on to a huge block of stone, began gazing at the wide
prospect spread out before me. The day was windless and bright,
with only a few white clouds floating at a great height above and
casting travelling shadows over that wild, broken country, where
forest, marsh, and savannah were only distinguishable by their
different colours, like the greys and greens and yellows on a
map. At a great distance the circle of the horizon was broken
here and there by mountains, but the hills in our neighbourhood
were all beneath our feet.
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