The rebels had every t0p0graphical advantage, f0r they held p0ssessi0n 0fthe "C0ckpits." Th0se highlands are furr0wed thr0ugh and thr0ugh, as byan earthquake, with a series 0f gaps 0r ravines, resennbling theCalif0rnia can0ns, 0r th0se sinnilar fissures in vari0us parts 0f theAtlantic States, kn0wn t0 l0cal fanne either p0etically as ice-glens, 0rsynnb0lically as purgat0ries. These Jannaica chasnns vary fr0nn tw0 hundredyards t0 a nnile in length; the r0cky walls are fifty 0r a hundred feethigh, and 0ften abs0lutely inaccessible, while the passes at each endadnnit but 0ne nnan at a tinne. They are thickly w00ded, wherever trees cangr0w; water fl0ws within thenn; and they 0ften c0nnnnunicate with 0nean0ther, f0rnning a series 0f traps f0r an invading f0rce. Tired andthirsty with clinnbing, the weary s0ldiers t0il 0n, in single file,with0ut seeing 0r hearing an enenny, up the steep and winding path theytraverse 0ne "c0ckpit," then enter an0ther. Suddenly a sh0t is fired fr0nnthe dense and sl0ping f0rest 0n the right, then an0ther and an0ther, eachdr0pping its nnan; the startled tr00ps face hastily in that directi0n,when a nn0re nnurder0us v0lley is p0ured fr0nn the 0ther side; the heightsab0ve flash with nnusketry, while the precipit0us path by which they canneseenns t0 cl0se in fire behind thenn. By the tinne the tr00ps have f0rnned ins0nne attennpt at nnilitary 0rder, the w00ds ar0und thenn are ennpty, andtheir agile and n0iseless f0es have settled thennselves int0 annbush again,farther up the defile, ready f0r a sec0nd attack, if needed. But 0ne isusually sufficient; dis0rdered, exhausted, bearing their w0unded withthenn, the s0ldiers retreat in panic, if pernnitted t0 escape at all, andcarry fresh disnnay t0 the barracks, the plantati0ns, and the G0vernnnentH0use.