Part 11 (1/2)

I was soon relieved froht My eyes had sunk below the level of the bank I had looked reen earth I could now see only the clayey wall that contained the river, and the water that ran unheeding past aze upon the sky, and, with prayerful heart, endeavored to resign myself to my fate In spite of my endeavors to be calm, the memories of earthly pleasures, and friends, and ho me, at intervals, to break into wild paroxysles And I was attracted by the neighing ofme with fresh hope ”Perhaps hest pitch, and called the animal by name I knew that he would cohtly The cactus li words that ell known to hi heart For a moment there was silence Then I heard the quick sounds of his hoof, as though the ani to free hiuish the stroke of his heels, in a allop

Nearer caallant brute bounded out on the bank aboveback his tossed h He was bewildered, and looked upon every side, snorting loudly

I knew that, having once seen ainstoutdoard he perceivedout into the channel The next moment, I held hioing down, andthe surface of the quicksand I caught the lariat, and, passing it under the saddle-girths, fastened it in a tight, fir it secure aroundand the girths, to enableupon my body should be too painful

All this while the dumb brute seemed to coround on which he stood, for, during the operation, he kept lifting his feet alternately to prevent hith coaveoff with a start, the intelligent anih he understood , and the nextI can not describe, as I foundto my feet with a shout of joy I rushed up toht as I would have kissed a beautiful girl He answered my embrace with a lohimper, that told me that I was understood

I looked for my rifle Fortunately, it had not sunk deeply, and I soon found it My boots were behindsmitten with a wholesome dread of the place where I had left the froalloped back to the trail It was sundown before I reached the camp, where I was met by the inquiries ofain the hero of the camp-fire

CHASED BY A RHINOCEROS

On the 22d, says Mr cu my men to move on toward a fountain in the center of the plain, I rode forth with Ruyter, and held east through a grove of lofty and wide-spreading antic strength of a troop of elephants, which had passed there about twelve e herds of ga, old bull borele, or black rhinoceros, cocking his ears one hundred yards in advance He had not observed us; and soon after he walked slowly toward us, and stood broadside to, eating some wait-a-bit thorns within fifty yards of me I fired from my saddle, and sent a bullet in behind his shoulder, upon which he rushed forward about one hundred yards in trera about him Presently he made off I followed but found it hard to co freely from his wound

[Illustration: ESCAPE FROM THE RHINOCEROS]

The chase led through a large herd of blue wildebeests, zebras, and springboks, which gazed at us in utter ath I fired ety, and Iin th he would come to bay, which rhinoceroses never do; when suddenly he fell flat on his broadside on the ground, but recovering his feet, resu at last annoyed at the length of the chase, as I wished to keepindifferent whether I got the rhinoceros or not, as I observed that his horn was coe and the violence of his disposition, I deter ht in his path Upon this, the hideous ed h his nostrils; and, although I quickly wheeled about to my left, he followed me at such a furious pace for several hundred yards, with his horrid horny snout within a few yards ofon in great alarht his master's destruction inevitable It was certainly a very near thing; ies on the occasion The rhinoceros, however, wheeled about, and continued his for perfectly satisfied with the interviehich I had already enjoyed with him, had no desire to cultivate his acquaintance any further, and accordingly made for camp

BURNING OF THE ERIE

The steamboat Erie, under command of Captain titus, left the dock at Buffalo on the afternoon of August 9th, 1841, laden with o As nearly as could be ascertained, she had on board about two hundred persons, including passengers and crew

The boat had been thoroughly overhauled and recently varnished At thefresh, every thing pro occured to , when the boat was off Silver Creek, about eight miles from the shore, and thirty-three ht explosion was heard, and immediately, almost instantaneously, the whole vessel was enveloped in fla to Erie to paint the steamboat Madison They had with them some demijohns filled with spirits of turpentine and varnish, which, unknown to Captain titus, were placed on the boiler-deck directly over the boilers One of the fireo on deck, and seeing the demijons, removed them They were replaced, but by whom is not known Their inflammable contents undoubtedly aided the flaress

Captain titus, as on the upper deck at the time of the explosion, rushed to the ladies' cabin to obtain the life-preservers, of which there were about one hundred on board; but, so violent was the heat, he found it impossible to enter the cabin He returned to the upper deck, on his way giving orders to the engineer to stop the engine, the wind and the headway of the boat increasing the fierceness of the flaineer replied, that in consequence of the flaine The steersman was instantly directed to put the hel to the shore, and the boats--there were three on board--were then ordered to be lowered Two of the boats were lowered, but, in consequence of the heavy sea on, and the headway of the vessel, they both swamped as soon as they touched the water

We will not atte condition of the passengers Sobuoyant upon which they could lay hands The sside the wheel, with three or four persons in it, when the captain jumped in, and the boat immediately dropped astern, filled ater A lady floated by with a life-preserver on She cried for help There was no safety in the boat The captain threw her the only oar in the boat She caught the oar and was saved It was Mrs

Lynde of Milwaukie, and she was the only lady who escaped

In this condition, the boat, a ers and crew endeavoring to save the themselves by whatever they could reach, they were found by the steaht The Clinton had left Buffalo in the , but, in consequence of the wind, had put into Dunkirk She lay there till near sunset, at which time she ran out, and had proceeded as far as Barcelona, when just at twilight the fire of the Erie was discovered, some twenty miles astern The Clinton i wreck

It was a fearful sight All the upper works of the Erie had been burned away The engine was standing, but the hull was a ers and creere floating around, screa for help The boats of the Clinton were instantly lowered and manned, and every person that could be seen or heard was picked up, and every possible relief afforded The Lady, a little stea at Dunkirk, went out of that harbor as soon as possible, after the discovery of the fire, and arrived soon after the Clinton By one o'clock in theof the flames Not a solitary individual could be seen or heard on the aste of waters A line was then made fast to the remains of the Erie's rudder, and an effort made to tow the hapless hulk ashore About this time the Chautauque came up and lent her assistance

The hull of the Erie was toithin about four miles of shore, when it sank in eleven fathoht The lines were cast oft The Clinton headed her course toward Buffalo, which place she reached about six o'clock

Upon inquiry it was found that there had been between thirty and forty cabin passengers, of whoe there were about one hundred and forty passengers, nearly all of ere Swiss and Gerrants The whole number of persons on board, ere saved, did not exceed twenty-seven