Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-02-04


an instant, as our united strength forced
her Immediately through. The water
swept overheard only sextant and pair
of saddlebags. caught the sextont as it
passed by me; but the saddlebags became
the prey of the whirpools. We reached
the place where Mr.. Preuss was standing,
took him on board, and with the aid of the
boat, put the men with the rope on the
succeeding pile OF rocks We found this
passage much worse than the previous
one, and eur position was rniher bad
one. To 60 back was impossible; before
us, the catarnct was sheet of foam; and
shut up in the chasm by the rocks, which,
in some places, seemed almost 10 meet
overhead, the roar of the water was deaf
ening. We pushed Off again; but, alter
making little distance, the force oil the
current became too great for the men on
shore, and two Of the men let 60 the rope.
Lajeunesse, the third man, hung on, and
was erked headforemost into the river
from a rock about twelve feet high; and
down tho boat shot like an arrow, Basil
following us in the rapid current, and ex-
erting all his strength TO keep in mid
channel--his head only seen occasionally
like black spot in the white foam. How
far we went, do not exactly know but
we succeeded in turning the boat into an
eddy below "'Cre Dieu," said Basil
Loieunesse, as he arrived Immediately az
ter US, "Je crois biea que jdi mage an de-
mi mile" lie had owed his life 10 his
skill as a swimmer. determined 20 take
him and the two others on board, and trust
to skill and fortune to reach the other end
in safety. We placed ourselves on our
knees, with the short paddesin our hands,
the most skiliul hoatman being al the
bow; and again we commenced our rapid
descent. We cleared rock after rock, and
shot past fall after fall, our little boat SEEM
ing 10 play with the cataract. We be.
came flushed with success, and familiar
with the danger; and, yielding to the ex-
cliement of the occasion, broke forth to.
gelher intoa Canadian boat song. Sing
ing, or rather shouting, we dashed along /;
and were, | believe, in the midst Of the
chorus, when the boat struck a concealed
rock Immediately at the foot of fall,
which whirled her over in an Instant
Three Of my men could not swim, and my
first feeling was TO assist them, and save
some Of our effects but a sharp concus.
sion or Two convinced me that had not
YET saved myself A few strokes brought
me into an eddy, and landed on pile OF
rocks on the lett side. Looking around, !
saw that Mr.. Preuss had gained the shore
on the same side, about twenty yards be-
low and little climbing and swimming
soon brought him 10 my side, On the OPP
poste side, against the wall, lay the boat
bottom up; and Lambert was in the act of
saving DescoteauS, whom he had grasped
by the hair, and who could not SWIM -
+" Ldche pas" said he, as | afterwards
learned, "ldehe pas, cher frere I" "Crains
pas" was the reply, " ,Je men rails mou
rir araat que de te iacher" Such was
the reply of courage and generosity in
this danger For hundred yards below,
the current was covered with floating
books and boxes, bales Of blankets, and
scattered articles Of clothing; and 80 strong
and boiling was the stream, that even our
heavy Instruments, which were all in ca
ses, Kept on the surface, and the sextant,
circle, aud the long black box OF the tel
escope, we're in view at once. For mo-
ment, felt somewhat disheartened. All
our books, almost every record Of the
Iourney-our journals and registers Of as
Economical and baromctico observations
had been lost in a moment But II was
no time to indulge in regrets; and | i'm
mediately set about endeayorng 10 save
something from the wreck. Making our
,elves understood as well as possible by
signs, (for nothing could be heard in The
roar of waters,) we commenced our ope-
rations. or every thing on board, the
only article that had been saved was my
double barrelled gun, which Descoteax
had caught, and chung TO with drowning
tenacity. The men continued down the
river on the lett bank ur Preuss and
myself descended on the side we we're on;
and Lajeunesse, with paddle in his hand
jumped on The boat alone, and continued
down the canon. She was now light, ant
cleared every bad place with much less
difficulty 10 short time, he was joined
by Lambert; and the search was contlnu
ed for about mile and half, which wa,
as far as the boat could proceed in the pass
Here The walls were about five hun
dred feet high, and the fragments of rock
from above had choked the river into a
hollow piss, but one or two feet above the
/ surface. Through this and the Interstice'
OF the rock, the water found It's wey Fla.
vored beyond our expectations, all Of oul
4 registers had been recovered, with The ex
ception Of one Of m, journals, which con
tanned the notes and incidents Of travel
The day was running rapidly away, unt
| i, ,yaa necessary 10 reach Goat island