The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-04-17

mails receive three bites In different parts OF
his body, from which the grun,er received as
little detriment 10 his health or comfort rs il he
had been prickcd with pin.
Deer have the credit of exterminutng any
Of them that come in their way, leaping upon
them from distance with all their feet brought
together, and repeating the process as long as
lie or motion remains.
The question is often asked whether this
snake ever strikes without giving warning by
Hs rattle. ! am inclined to believe that It
never iails, when aware Of the approach OF an
enemy IA word in its case of petty extensive
meahihg,l TO announce that latef anguis IN
ne'od. Nor again, is there any doubt but
what' u suddenly and unexpectedly intruded
uPon' the bite and the rattle would be stimuli
taneous. Ihe sound is one that never fails to
jar upon the stoutest nerves, though In itself
IL is rather musical and soothing. Its effects
upon horses is very unequal some will hear
il with indifference, and others il terriHes al
most to frenzy.
A farmer in my neighborhood used to tell
Of perilous adventure and a narrow escape.
He was walking along pathway, with n
stream Of water on one side and precipitous
rock on the other, on ledge Of which, and
within foot of his face, he perceived snake
in the act of striking; with an instructive inn
pulse he sprang into the water, the snake
making its blow at the same time. and failing
in his mark, fell in the water directly by his
side. He was not long, Of course, in getting
out Of so dangerous a vicinity, and thought
himself lucky in getting off with afright and
ducking.
A gentleman travelling in the mineral re-
gion had taken shelter in miners hut. The
beds we're made in cribs attached to The sides
of the room, and raised but few inches from
the floor, which was part and parcel, by the
way, Of the soil Of the prairie. In the night
he was awoke by the singing Of a snake di-
recty under him. This serenade. il may we'll
be supposed, most effectLally murdered
sleep;" but the question was how, IN the
darkness, TO set about the destruction OF the
author of it. In the MEANWHILE little dog,
lacking the better part Of valor, rushed in to
make battle, but instantly ingloriously retreat
ed, with wound in his nose, OF which he
died in few hours. The case now becoming
urgent, some one of the inmates yentured to
strike light, with the assistance Of which
they soon succeeded in serving wriI OF
ejectment on this unbidden guest
Perhaps there are few things more alarm
ing than the being oyertnken by snowstorm
on one Of the large prairies. The mir becomes
so filled by the falling fakes as to be imper-
vIous to sight, except for short distance.
The faint track is soon obliterated, and the
eddying gusts confuse all ideas of courses and
distances. An instance of suffering and death
from this cause, once fell under my observa-
ton, rivaling, in the horrors of its reality. any
thing that ever entered the fancy of the Poet
OF the Seasons. Several years ago, in ex-
ceedlng cold weather, two men undertook to
cross wide prairie, twenty miles over, and in
the whole distance not house, nor tree, nor
even shrub to afford them shelter. They
were each driving team, one of them of
oxen, and the other Of horses. They had
passed about half the distance-the day was
drawing to close, when it commenced
showing, accompanied with furious wind.
The man who drove the horses determined
to push on rapidly, and il possible, get across
before night. His comrade, left alone, soon
found his wagon too great an incumbrance.
He detached his oxen, and taking the precau-
ton to tie his hands into their tails. abandoned
himself to their instinct. Late in the night,
after the family had retired to rest, his wife
thought she heard the oxen trampiing round
the house Immediately getting up, she found
the unfortunate man speeches. from cold and
exhaustion.
He, however, soon recovered, but his feet
were so badly frosted that he remained Grip
pie for life. His companion, in the meantime,
had not arrived, and in the morning, as soon
as the storm had ceased, the neighbors turned
out to search for him. They presently came
upon his wagon, entirely out of the track, with
one horse attached to it, frozen stiff. From
occasional traces left in the snow, they con.
cluded he had mounted the other horse to fa-
cilitate his escape; but in his bewilderment he
had gradually turned about, and actually wan-
dered out farther into the prairie. Here all
traces of his farther progress were obliterated,
and nothing more was ever seen or known Of
him. Some four or five years after the catas
trcphe, a wandering Indian reported that he
had seen in the middle of the prairie, the bones
of a man and horse, and that wrapped
around the human skull, were the remains of
a drab over-coat. The lost man was known
to have worn such coat, and the probability,
Of course, was strong, that these we're the re-
mains Of him and his horse. But they were
never seen by any white man. for the Indian
could not designate with sufficient precision
their location on the open and trackless waste,
to enable any one to find them.
THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE.
Once in TRAVELLING I ohserved nm old huiId