Part 19 (1/2)

The next incident occurred atway of the ice It was a fearful sound and scene

The streets were thronged with men, women, and children, who rushed abroad to witness the approach of the icy avalanche At length it ca on with a power that a thousand locomotives in a body could not vie with; but it was vailed froht, and the ear only could trace its progress by the sounds of crashi+ng buildings, luliht of hundreds of torches and lanterns that threw their glare upon the misty atmosphere The jah the weakest portion of the great bridge, and thus, joining the ice below the bridge, pressed it down to the narrows at High Head The destruction, , which poured down its tributary ice, sweeping s, with s and lumber, to add to the common wreck

At that moment, the anxiety and suspense were fearful whether the jah the narrows, or there stop and pour back a flood of waters upon the city; for it was froreat destruction was to be apprehended But the suspense was soon over A cry was heard from the dense mass of citizens who crowded the streets on the flat, ”The river is flowing back!” and so sudden was the revulsion, that it required the ut waters It seeed; and many men did not escape from their stores before the water was up to their waists Had you witnessed the scene, occurring as it did in the ht, and had you heard the rushi+ng of the waters, and the crash of the ruins, and seen theflood, illulare of torches and lanterns, and listened to the shouts and cries that escaped froive the alar reminded of the host of Pharaoh as they fled and sent up their cry froth

”The closing scene of this dreadful disaster occurred on Sunday evening, beginning at about seven o'clock The alariven way The citizens again rushed abroad to witness what they knew must be one of the most sublime and awful scenes of nature, and also to learn the full extent of their cala up of the janitude, it is certain, has not occurred on this river for more than one hundred years The whole river was like a boiling cauldron, with masses of ice upheaved as by a volcano But soon the darkness shrouded the scene in part The ear, however, could hear the roaring of the waters and the crash of buildings, bridges, and lumber, and the eye could trace the , which passed onthe contents of both rivers on its bosoes of the Kenduskeag, and the two long ranges of saw-s, and lue The new , a part of which remains, and, most happily, landed at a point of the wharves, where it sunk, and formed the nucleus of a sort of boo lu, and protected thousands of dollars' worth of lumber on the wharves below”

THE PANTHER'S DEN

The occupants of a few log cabins in the vicinity of the Bayou Manlatte, a tributary of the noble Bay of Pensacola, situated in the western part of the then territory of Florida, had been for some weeks annoyed by the oats, which constituted almost the only wealth of these rude countrymen; and the belated herdsman was frequently startled by the terrible half hu, some one of the squatters would find himself minus of a number of cloven feet About this ti excursion, in co the state of affairs, resolved, if possible, to rid the ”clearing” of its pest, and bind new laurels on our brows The night before our arrival, a heifer had been killed within a few rods of the cabin, and the carcass dragged off toward the swa a broad trail topointed out to us, Ned and myself resolved to execute our enterprise without delay--this was to ”beard the lion in his den”

Having carefully charged our rifles and pistols, and seen that our boere as keen as razors, we set out on the trail, which soon brought us to the edge of the Bayou Manlatte swa a dense rape vines, &c A perpetual twilight reigned beneath the dense foliage supported by the rank soil, and our hearts beat a few lare of the noon day sun, and plunged into the glooentleh the ave no further heed other than to keep without the range of the deadly sweep of their powerful tails, hich they bring their unsuspecting prey within reach of their saw-like jaws; the bears we did not happen to iven thened for the panthers

Well, we followed the trail half a mile into the swamp, when on an elevated spot, we suddenly encountered the half-devoured body of the unfortunate heifer, apparently just deserted by the captors We cautiously advanced a few paces further over a pavement of bones, ”clean scraped and ht met my eyes which certainly made me wish myself safe at home, or in fact, anywhere else but where I was About twenty-five feet from us , instead of one, an old she-panther and two cubs nearly grohile directly over theu his sides fiercely with his tail, and snorting and spitting like an enraged cat, an example which was imitated by the three below Here was a dilemma, on the particularly sharp horns of which we found ourselves most uncomfortably situated To retreat would induce an immediate attack, the consequence of an advance would be ditto, so we stood _en tableaux_, for a brief second, our guns cocked and ai a bead on the dam, while I did the sa uncertain as to our course, for the old fellow suddenly bounded fro roar I fired as he sprang, and the report ofaside, droppingand heavy knife; it ell I did so, for the hted on the very spot I had left

He turned and sprang uponwith hiht around his neck, and hugging close to his body to avoid his teeth and clahile I dealt rapid thrusts with my knife I was very powerful; but never was in a situation where I feltallthrough the brute's heart--

”And panting from the dreadful close, And breathless all, the champion rose”

And it was full tih the head of the da with her two cubs; the poor felloas sore pressed, strea with blood from numberless scratches, and almost in a state of nature, for the sharp claws of the cubs had literally undressed hie assailants also, bore upon their bloody hides nu his bowie

Their syste with their paws, and as they did so, in most instances, simultaneously, it was i and active as he was; and had no assistance been at hand, they would undoubtedly have gained the victory It was a brave sight though, to see the tall, strong hunter,with his left ar his knife into their tough bodies as he threw them from him, but to meet the next moment their renewed efforts for his destruction

All this I caught at one glance, as I rushed to his rescue ”Ned!”

shouted I, mad and reckless with excitement, ”take the one on your left!” And we threw ourselves upon the a desperate blow at him, my wrist struck his paw, and the knife flew far fro else for me but to seize him by the loose skin of the neck with both hands, and hold on like ”grith, while his paws beat a tattoo to a double quick tiarments into ribbons in amy sensitive skin with a variety of lines and characters, done in red--a process which I did not care to prolong, however, beyond a period when I could soonest put a stop to the operation

As I was debating how to attain so desirable an end, the remembrance of the small rifle pistol, in my belt, and which, till now, in the hurry of the conflict I had forgotten, suddenly flashed uponone hand, I drew it forth, cocked it with my thumb, and the next moment the panther's brains were spattered into free himself from the dead body of the panther, whose teeth were fastened, in their death grip, to the s around his neck; I separated the strip of cloth with round, while our hearts went up in thankfulness for deliverance fro awhile, ashed the blood--our blood--fro them with ”as left,” somewhat after the fashi+on of the Indian ears only a ”breech clout,” we took the scalps of the four panthers, and started on our ho, and in the evening a barbecue was had in oar honor, to furnish which a relation of the unfortunate heifer met with a fate scarcely less terrible This exploit added not little to our reputation a the hunter folk

ADVENTURE WITH ELEPHANTS

On the 27th, as day dawned, says Mr cu-hole, and proceeded to inspect the spoor ofit for so that fro country, I left my followers to seek the spoor, while I ascended I did not raise hest pinnacle of rock I then looked east, and to ratification, beheld a troup of nine or ten elephants quietly browsing within a quarter of a lance at them, and then rushed down to warn my followers to be silent A council of as hastily held, the result of which wasIsaac to ride hard to camp, with instructions to return as quickly as possible, accoe Dutch rifle, and a fresh horse I oncesight before lass, narroatched the motions of the elephants The herd consisted entirely of females, several of which were followed by s the surrounding country, I discovered a second herd, consisting of five bull elephants, which were quietly feeding about atoward a rocky ridge that stretched away fro with impatience to co systes and horses Having thus decided, I directed the guides to watch the elephants fro heart I approached theained the rocky ridge tohich they were feeding They were noithin one hundred yards, and I resolved to enjoy the pleasure of watching their movements for a little before I fired They continued to feed slowly towardthe branches fro the leaves and tender shoots I soon selected the finest in the herd, and kept th two of the troup had walked slowly past at about sixty yards, and the one which I had selected was feeding with two others, on a thorny tree before me

My hand was now as steady as the rock on which it rested; so, taking a deliberate aiot it hard and sharp, just where I ai a loud cry, she wheeled about, when I gave her the second ball close behind the shoulder All the elephants uttered a strange ru noise, andpace, their huge, fan-like ears flapping in the ratio of their speed I did not wait to load, but ran back to the hillock to obtain a view On gaining its su in a grove of shady trees, but the wounded one was some distance behind with another elephant, doubtless its particular friend, as endeavoring to assist it These elephants had probably never before heard the report of a gun, and, having neither seen nor smelt me, they were unaware of the presence of o any further Presently s; and when these ca the attack, that the dogs and horses ht recover their wind We then rode slowly toward the elephants, and had advanced within two hundred yards of the open, they observed us and made off in an easterly direction; but the wounded one immediately dropped astern, and the next rily, see placedtroop, I disround Colesberg was extreave th I let fly; but, on endeavoring to regaindeclined to allow me to mount; and when I tried to lead him, and run for it, he only backed toward the wounded elephant At thisabout, I beheld the ”friend,” with uplifted trunk, charging down uponan old black pointer na before the enraged elephant quite unaware of as behind him I felt certain that she would have either me or my horse I, however, determined not to relinquish my steed, but to hold on by the bridle My hast with their mouths open, and for a few seconds my position was certainly not an enviable one Fortunately, however, the dogs took off the attention of the elephants; and just as they were uponinto the saddle, where I was safe As I turned my back to mount, the elephants were so very near that I really expected to feel one of their trunks lay hold of rooved rifle: he and Isaac were pale and ale, I was soon oncefrom the saddle, I sent another brace of bullets into the wounded elephant Colesberg was extremely unsteady, and destroyed the correctness of my aim

[Illustration: CHARGE OF THE ELEPHANTS]