The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-03-27

| the passage opened INTO aSpaclOuS cnamDer, rom
every part of which-roof. floor and sides,
streamed the rcfracted light from a thousand
brlliants. The sharp, SANDER rays of almost all
the colors Of the rainbow crossed each other in
every direction, and shifted and changed with
every movement of our torches. Corruscations
of unspeakable splendor ran along the roof, flash
ing and changing their hues with every step we
moved and when ray of light from some of
the clearest gems fell directly upon the cye-ball,
such was the intensity ofthe light.
l assure you, we were all much excited by
the glorious spectacle around US. Mr. Burton,
grasping Tim by the hand, exclaimed, "Tim,
you free man, from this hour, and one third
of all this untold wealth is yours!' Tins joy
was too deep to find expression in words; he fell
upon his knees and never uttered a syllable his
broad chest heaved and swelled with emotion !;
and it seemed as if his big heart would burst,
such was the depth Of it's gratitude. Our atten
ton was now directed to the corner of the cave,
which seemed in blaze of light, and as we came
near the brightness became so dazzling that we
;. could hardly bear to look in that d rection. We
soon ascertained that it proceeded from heap
of loose diamonds, which seemed to have been
carefully gathered together in that place. This
heap, upon examination, we thought to contain
apout bushel measure. They were of all sizes
and colors some were nearly as large as
mans fist, and others not larger that hicory
nut; some were yellow; some blue; some rose
color, and many entire colorless-gems of the
first water, as they are called. But how came
they there, so carefully placed in the corner of
the cave? They could not get there by acct
dent. The question at once arose in our minds,
by whom, and when had all this been done9
Were we at last, only second hand discoveries,
with chance of being dispossessed Of all our
supposed riches? These thoughts led us to ex-
anime carefully the sides of the chamber, to see
| if there was any other passage or entrance than
the one which we had found. After going
entirely around it, we found none.-A circum-
stance now happened which partially, at least,
unravalled the mystery.
AS we were returning across the cave to take
more careful survey of the treasure in the cor
ner, Mr. Burton stumbled over something and
came near falling. Turning to see what it as as
he recoverscd himself, he found it to be human
foot. MIR. Burton, though 4 stout hearted man,
looking amazed, and Tim actually shook with
terror when he learned that we were in the pres
ence of the dead. Having discovered human
body; curiousity led us to look upon the counten-
ance. Oh what horrid sight was here pre-
sented. l shall never forget it.-Mr. Burton
raised booth his hands, and letting fall his light
started back in amazement. The blazing torch
fell close beside the face, and the increased light
revealed more clearly the terrible express
sion of the features. Two ldless eyes glared
| fiercely upon us, with unnatural but life-like
expression; the mouth seemed to send forth
stream of fire, and the palms of the outstreched
hands glowed like burning Goals. The sur
rounding darkness and little superstitous dread
at standing by a hfeless human body in such a
place, operated powerfully upon our maginations
for the moment and we almost fancied that
| the eyes moved in their sockets, and that the
mouth glowed with increasing light as we gazcd.
The tho now struck me that he unnatural light
of those eyes proceeded from two diamonds
which had by accident design been lodged
there; which upon examination proved to be true,
and the whole cause of fear was removed. We
now examined the body, and found that it was
in good state of preservation, being dried and
shrivelled like mummy. The stature of the
body is gigantic, measuring, as we Judge some
nine feet in length.
What sight was here presented to our view!
| Here was a former discoverer of all these treas
ures. Perhaps he had lain here for centuries.
No one could tell how long. And what was
all this glittering wealth to him now felt re-
buked in his presence for my avaricc, and in
stinctively ilet fall very large diamond which
l had held for some time in my hand. | felt
for the moment like turning away and leaving
the diamond cave forever. But soon recovered
from this feeling, and felt as strong desire to
grasp its treasures ever. When we turned
round from looking at the mummy we found
Tim lying upon the ground. He had been over
| come Win terror ana eAclLe1lcuL ana H'lu ldllL-
| cd We dragged him to the mouth of the cave
where the fresh air restored him to con-
seriousness.
We now went for our dinner, and on returning
to the cave brought with some strong sacks,
wherewith to remove the loose diamonds found
in the cave We gathered up as many as
each of us could carry conveniently, and after
carefully covering the opening of the cave, and
obliteratlng as far possible, all traces we had
I Al l. ~ &
ter consulting together, it agreed that l
should come to the city with portion of the dia-
monds and see what prices could be obtained
for them here. | find that very few people know
any thing about them; for hardly any body here
has ever seen large one. The British consul
at this port, andan agent for the Russian govern
ment who resides here, having heard of the
great discovery, have been to see me. The
consul and not the means to make large pur-
chase, but he tells me that shipping them to Lon
don, can get their full value, and desires me to
do so. The Russian agent, after looking at my
pile offered me, for peck Of an average size,
the sum of five hundred thousand pounds-or,
about two and a half millions of dollars. The
consul, who seems tolerably we'll acquainted with
the value of the articles, advises me not to accept
the offer. am however half inclined to take
it, and ship the balance to London, as | am of
the opinion that such large addition to the
stock ofdiamonds in the world, will have tend
ency to reduce the price. The amount we
brought from the cave is something more than
bushe, including the heap, and what loose
ones we could pick up on the bottom of the cave;
and as the roof and sides contain imbedded in
them untold numbers more, the total amount yet
to be brought to market is very doubtful; and
besides, it is by no means certain but other dis
coveres will be made in the ncighborhood, as
extensive as ours.
In looking over our diamonds since I arrived
here, have observed sticking to the sides of
many of them scales of gold-Those that have
no gold cleaving to them are perfectly clean,
which leads me to believe that the sides and roof
of our cave are composed of pure gold. This
being the case (and slight examination will
show whether it is so) we can at least make the
gold pay for extracting the diamonds, which will
be so much better than we expected.-lfI ship
our present stock to London, shall return in
few days to the cave and what success we
are to have in getting another batch. 1t is un-
certain when return to the states. If our
mines should be exhausted, or if we shonld sell
out, shall likely be with you in the spring. |
had almost forgotten to tell you, that upon
careful examination of the appearances about
the mouth of orr cave we became satisfied that