"looked across a benighted plain of naked rock."<br><br>"The somber plain was pitted like the cheeks of a child who had survived the pox, and far more parren tha tne sheer clifss of the Pilgrims' Way; no tree, no flower, no least wed or dot of moss sprouted from its rock."<br>
<br>"The plain of rock had blanched unwatfched, and was streaked with sable...."<br><br><br><br>So, we have a plain of benighted rock which is pitted like a pox survivor. Sounds like an asteroid to me.<br>