Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1837-01-05

SIN rifle balls, three in each foot The Indi-
ans, thinking me dead. left the light house
and SET lire Ia the dwelling house, kitchen,
and other outhuuses, and hogan 10 carry
their l''nnder 20 the beach they tonk ell The
The empty barrels, the drawers Of the bu-
reaus, and in fact every thing that would &C,
as ii vessel 10 hold any thing. My provis
IONS weie in the light house, except "A Sarrel
"i Hour, which they carried off The next
morning they hauled out of the light house,
| by means of pole, the lin that composed the
oil tanks, no doubt 10 make CRATES TO manu-
iaCture the comfy root into what we call ar
row root. Ater loading my little sloop, IA.
bout ten or twelve went into her, the resi-
| took TO the beach In meet al the other end OF
The Island This happened as Judged, ahou!
I'D, Al. NJ. My eyes being much affected,
| prevented me from knowing their actual
iorce, but Judge there were from 40 to so,
perhaps more. was now almost as bad of
as before d turning lever ON me, my feet
shot To pieces, no clothes Ia cover me, moth
ing 10 cat or drink, a hot sun over head a
dead man by my side, no friend near or any
to expect, and placed seventy or eighty feet
from the earth, and no chance of getting
! down my situation was truly horrible A
bou, twelve O'clock Thought could per
ceive vessel not far off, took piece oi the
itamcs by being wet with blood, and made
signal
Some time ia the afternoon, | saw two
boats, with my sloop in tow, coming Ia the
landing. had no doubt but they we're In
dams, having seen my signal, and had return
cd To hnlsh their mnrderuus design {; but it
proved 10 be the boats of the u. S schooner
Motto, Capt. Armstrong, with detachment
al seamen and marines, under the command
oi Lieut. Floyd, of the slnop of war Concord
fney had re,aken my sloop after the Indians
! had stripped her ii her sails and rigging and
every thing OF consequence shelonging To her.
They informed me they heard my explosion
II miles off, and ran down TO my assistance,
but did no! expect to find me alive Those
gentlemen did all in their power to relieve
me, but night coming on, they returned on
board the Motto, after assuring me of their
| assistance in the morning.
Next morning, Monday, July 5. three
boats landed, amongst them Cant. Cole. Of
the schooner Pee Dee, from New York.
They had mall kite during the night, To
get liie 10 me, hut without effect they
| then fired Irvine from their muskvts, made
last 10 ramrnd, which | received. and
hauled up il tackle block, and made il last
FOUND al iron stanCheon, rove the Irvine
! through the block, and they below by that
means rove two inch rope, and hnisled III.
two men, who soon landed me on terra firma.
must state here that the Indians had made
| ladder. hy flashing pieces Of wood across
the lightning rod, near ioriy feet from the
ground, as il 20 have nay scalp, nolens vo-
lens. This happened ON the 5th. After |
got on board the Motto, every man, from the
captain 10 the co"k, tried to alleviate my
suii.rings. On The 18th was received into
the military hospital, through the politeness
of Lieut.. Alvord, OF The 4rh regiment T.. S.
Infantry. He has dune every thing 10 render
my situation as comfortable as possible.
| mus, not omit here 10 return nv !hanks
TO the citizens al Key West generally, for
their sympathy and Kind offers of any thing
| weuld wish, that il was in their power Ia
bestoS. Before left Key West two balls
were extracted, and one remains in my ,gh,
| leg but, since ! am under lie care OF Dr.
Ramsey, who has paid every attention tc
| rae, he will Know best whe iher To extract il
or not.
These lines are written 10 let my friends
know that am still in the land of the living
and am now in Charleston, S. c., where
every attention is paid me. Although q
cripple, can eat my allowance, and walk
about without the use of cane.
Respectfully yours,
| JOHN w b. THOMPSON