The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-12-26
NUMBER S8.


~ NA-4+|| |@t4CBcs
Asif By enchani'n The cold snowy sur
face all at once dis peared. Green fields
lay before rs, and tal reas spFaRg up cover
ed with a thick and ry|ant foliage
.Cottonwoods cI'| 4 hunter, as his eye
rested on these siili 4 iant groves.
Tall saplisg at Wagh 7 ejacnlatsd
Water ahsi iIs | .sclin'. remarked al
Yes. sir.sss u dpl't sse such sprouts as
them | growing 81 y ! dry peraira.. Look!
/ ihilloa q < e 4 4, Il + N ~.
.BygolIise yonasfs house 7
"A house One4-L Lwo three. A house?
thaf's whols town, il thars single shan
~. Gee jim, look yonasrg Waghp
| IL was riding in front III lSegum rest
Eofthe band strung out behind us. had been
| for some time gazing upon the ground In
sort Of abstractiof Io1Eihg at the snow
| white efiorescence, listening TO the crunch
ing of my horses hoofs through its incrusta-
tion. These exclamations induced me to
raise my eyes. The sight that made me rein
up with sudden jerk iSegum had done the
same, and saw that the whole band had halt
ed with similar impulse.
We had just cleared one Of the buties, that
had hitherto obsiructed our view Of the great
gap, This was now directly in front Of us;
and along its base on the southern side rose
the walls and battlemeutsof city-a vast
city, judging from its architecture! We
could trace the columns of temples, and
doors, and gates, and windows, and balcon-
les, and parapets, and spires There were
many towers rising high over the roofs: and
in the middle was temple like structure,
with lis massive dome toweringfar above all
the others.
looked upon this suddenapparition witha
feature Of incredulity. 1t was dream-an
imagination-a mirage. Hai it was the mi
rageL But no! The mirage could not ef-
feet sucha complete picture. There were the
roofs, and chimneys, and walls, and windows!
There were the parapets Of fortified houses,
with their regular notches and embrazures -
1t was reality. 1t ioas a city.
Was it the Cibolo Of the Spanish Padre2--
Was it the city Of golden gates and burnish-
ed towers? Was the story Of the wander
ing priest after all, true? Who had proved it
a fable? Who had ever penetrated this re-
gion, the very country in which the ecclesi-
as!lc represented the golden city of Cibolo to
exist? ~
saw that Segum was puzled-dismayed
las we'll as myself! He knew nothing Of
this land. He had never witnessed mirage
| like that
For a while we sat in our saddles. infiu-
enced by strange emotions. Shall we 90 for.
ward? Yes we must reach water We
are diving of thirst. and imoelled Nv this we
spur forward. rIa.s = n = +
i We had ridden only few paces further.
when the hunters uttered simultaneous cry.
A new obiect-an object Of teuor--was be-
fore us Along the mountain foot appeared
a string of dark forms. They ,Otre mounted
men!
We dragged our horses TO the launches
our whole line halting as one mar.
'Injuns = was the exclamation of several.
Indians, they must be- muttered Seguin.
There are no other here--Indiansl No T.
There never were such as them. See! they
are not men-look! their hugh horses--their
long guns-thev arc giants .Ry Heayens'
continued he, after a moments pause. thew
are bodiess. They are pllantoms.
There were exclamations Of terror from the
hunters behind. Were these the Inhabitants
Of the city? There was striking proportion
in the colossal size of the horses and the
horseman.
For moment was awe-struck like the
rest. Only moment. A sudden memory
! flashed upon me. thought of the Hartz
mountains and their demons. ] knew that
the phenomena before us could be no other-
an op.ica, deins,on a creation OF tne n'ragc'
l raisea my haho ABOVE my neao. Ine
loremosi Oh lhe giants initiated the motion!
put spurs 10 my morse and galloped Tor
waio' SO alo me- as II 70 meet me after lew
springs naa passed Inc reiracting angel and
IKE tnought' Inc Shadowy giant vanished IN
10 ar -,
Inc men had ridden forward ailer me iano
, having also passed tne angle OF reiraction'
II saw no more OF the nhant0m lOgt.