Nor did I hesitate to believe that the phrases,
'forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes,' and 'northeast and by
north,' were intended as directions for the leveling of the glass.
Greatly excited by these discoveries, I hurried home, procured a
telescope, and returned to the rock.
"I let myself down to the ledge, and found that it was impossible
to retain a seat upon it except in one particular position. This
fact confirmed my preconceived idea. I proceeded to use the glass.
Of course, the 'forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes' could
allude to nothing but elevation above the visible horizon, since
the horizontal direction was clearly indicated by the words,
'northeast and by north.' This latter direction I at once
established by means of a pocket compass; then, pointing the glass
as nearly at an angle of forty-one degrees of elevation as I could
do it by guess, I moved it cautiously up or down, until my
attention was arrested by a circular rift or opening in the foliage
of a large tree that overtopped its fellows in the distance. In
the center of this rift I perceived a white spot, but could not, at
first, distinguish what it was.
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