Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-12-09


and Observation-Disclosures, groans, and
prayers, all mixed up in one horrible
din, till you could not tell which was
loudest. Mary voice was then lifted
to heaven that never prayed before
and the unfshed prayer was buried
with them in the opening of the earth
or the ruins of the houses. Some went
mad and stood and laughed as the roofs
nodded above them, and the laugh was
stopped as the prayer had been. Some
stood still with children in their arms,
hugging them to their bosoms with
their heads bent over them, till they
found common grave. And then the
fire began; for the tapers at the affairs,
and the lights in the houses set fire to
whatever fell on them, till a thousand
flames completed the horror of that
dreadful day.
'For my own part, staggering along
the heaving streets, and, at every other
step, thrown on the ground, with bricks
and stones r,ttling round me on all
sides, / scrambled, l did not know
where. 1t was not exactly fear, for a
British sailor, you know, sir, is not
used to lose his bearings from such a
cause; but the darkness, and the dust,
and the smoke made such a confusion,
one born in the place could not have
found his way, to say nothing of a
stranger. However, as was saying,
scrambling to make my way some
where, or anywhere indeed, where
there was fresh air and no houses, 1
ran against lady with child in her
arms. She was young, and as beauti-
full creature as I ever set my eyes
upon. She hurried past me, and the
next moment, the earth gave shud-
der, and heard scream louder than
all the uproar. thought it must be
she, and turned round; when found
the earth had split in great chasm be-
tween US, even on the very spot where
a moment before, we had been stand
ing; and there she was balancing upon
the brink Of it, with the child held a.
bove her head. The ground was crum-
bling under her, but / stood where it
was still firm. ! held out my arms
she said something to me in Portu-
guese, which did not understand, but
| knew she was asking me to take care
Of the child, and l told her l would
| swore it! Nature, you know, sir, is
alike in all languages-so she under
stood me, and giving one wild kiss to
the little ones lips, with desperate
struggle she threw it across the chasm.
She saw the child was caught in nv
arms, and she clasped her hands and
threw up her beautiful eyes to heaven,
when fresh shake of the earth tum-
bled down large building behind her,
and she rolled within it in the yawn-
ing gulf-never ,tsai4sssain in this
world. up crhaps you may imagine
what felt-what l did l do not know
but, after an hour of wandering and
escapes more than / could count, /
found myself in the open country, and,
for the present at least, safe. went
on my knees to thank God, and
babe the little creature do the same;-
but she did not stir, and as I laid her
on the grass, ! found deep wound on
her head, and the blood clotting her
black hair; but still she breathed. To
make short Of a long story, we got on
board the ship again, and the doctor af-
ter examining the wound, said there
was no harm done, and that she would
soon be az we'll as ever.
She was lovely little girl about six
years old, and as we were to sail di-
rectly, they wanted to send her ashore
again, to try if any Of the family could
be found. But | thought of the vow l
had made to her poor mother, which /
am sure she understood, and / deter
mined not to part with the wounded
little thing, that loved now as if she
had been my sister; so I spoke to the
captain, who was very good man, and,
had children Of his own,
and he agreed to let me take her to
with us. Well, sir, home we
got, and it was astonishing how soon
The little darling began to speak Eng
ish. You could see she liked it, bless
ner! And now, as she was young
ady-for she said her father, who had
lied about a year before, was Don
Somebody or other-it was such along
name we never could speak it, SO we
old her to call herself Jackson, which
IS my name; but, somehow, she always
liked her long Portuguese name best,
10 you see, sir, how early prejudices
foreigners, that is to say