The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-04-17

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"Do not flatter Yourself with the belief that
these animals will let us escape out of their
sight till they have had their revenge. The
hours we have TO live are numbered"
Nevertheless there appeared chance of
our rescue, for, to our surprise. we saw both
our Indians standing before the entrance and
heard them call to us to seize the only noss;-
blht!v of flight, for that the tirers had rome
round the height, possibly to seek another
Inlet to the cave. In the greatest haste the
stone was pushed aside, and we stepped forth
from what we had considered living grave
+ Wharton was the last who left it: he was nm
wiling TO loose his double -harrelled gun, and
stopped to take it up; the rest Of lis thought
only OF making onr escape We now heard
once more the roaring ofthe tircrs. though a,
distance; and following the examples Of our
guides w" pr"cip'a'"lv struck into side
path. From the number of roots and branch
es Of trees with which the storm l,,1 .trowod
"'r way and III" slipp"rine>s of the road. our
flight was sow and difficult.
We had proceeded thus for al.ou, omar
ter OF an hour. when We found that our way
led along the edge Of roxy cliff with innu-
mcrahl" ti>surcS. We had lust entered unor
1t, when suddenly the Indians. who were be.
for" ne, uttered one Of their piercing shrick>.
) and we immediately hc"ame aware tia, the
} tl""rS We're in pursuit OF us Urged bv de-
SPAR. we rushed towards one Of the breaks or
"uitS III our way. over which was thrown 4
brId-" OF reeds that >prun. up anI down at
every step, and rou'i be trol with safety Iy
= t',r hight foot o.. the indians only. Deem in
the hollow below rushed an impctuous stream
and Thousand pointed and Jagged rocks
threatened destruction on every side. Lin
cold, my hnnf>mln. an'! myself. passed the
cha>in i'll >rf,rv: bu, Wharton was still in the
middIc Of the waving bridge. and cudeayor-
inE t" steady himself, when both the ti-ers
wrr" seen to i>>u" from the adjoining forest;
an! III" moment they deserted us thev houn-
- d.d towards Us with dreadful ro,rinns -
M"anwh'l" Wharton hal nearly gained the
safe >i'ic o! I'll" gulf, and were all clam-r-
in" np the 70 ,hy rIiil' r>ccl: Ln:"n. who re-
: manned n III" reed, bridge toassi>t his friend
to step upon the frni ground
: Wharton. i!"u.h the f.rociou> animals
were clos" up"n him. never lost his courage
or presence q mind, * soon a> he had gain
"'t the cd - o. the cliff he knrit down. and
with hi 'worlhiviicL the f,r>trninr> hy which
The bride was attached 10 the rock He cx-
p"rt"d that m cifr-,ual barrier wonli tins
h"put to the further progress OF our prrsI-
crS: hu' he was mistaken for he had scarcely
accomplished hi task, when the tyres. with
ont moments pause. rushed towards the
cha>m and attempted to bound over it. II
was fearful sight 10 see the mighty animal
for moment i'll the air above the ahySS but
her strength was not equal 10 the distance
She fell into the gulf. and before she reached
the bottom she was torn into thousand pie
ces by the Jagged points of the rocks Her
fate did not in the least dislnav her compan-
lon-hc followed her with an immense spring
and reached the opposite side. but only with
ms fore claws: and thus he clung to the edge
OF the preripice. endeavoring to gain a foot
ing. The Indians again uttered wild shrek
as II all hope had been lost. But Wharton.
who was nearest the edge of the rork. ad-
vanccd coura.rou>lv towards the ,ircr. and
struck his sword into the ANNALS breast.
Ma'ldencd with pain. the turion> beast col
lectcd all his strength. and fixing one of his
hind legs upon the ed @e OF the cleft, he sciz
cd Wharton 10y the thigh. The heroic man
still preserved his tortitud'.; he gra>prd the
stem OF tree with his left hand, to steady
and support himself, while with his right he
wrcnchrd and violently turned the sword
that wa> in the breast of the tiger Al! this was
the work OF an instant The Indians. Frank
and myself, hastcncd to his assistance; but
Lincoln. who was olrcady at hi side had
seized Wharton's -nn. which lay near upon
the ground, and struck 50 powerful blow
with the butt end upon the head of the tiger
that the ANNA stunned and oserpowercd,lc let
: 20 his hold and fell back into the abySs. The
unhappy Lincoln, however, had not calculat
ed upon the force of the blow; he staggered
forward, reeled upon the edge of the preci-
picc, extended his hand to seize upon any
thing to save himselt-but in vain. For an
instant he hovcred over the gulf, and then
fell nso it to rise no more.
for few minutes there was dead and aw :
tul silence. When we were able to revert,
to our own condition. found Wharton living
inscn>ible Oh the brink OF the precipice. We
examined his wound, and found that he was
torn dreadtuily. The Indians collected some
herbs, the application of which stopped the
bleeding, and we then bound up the nlangrd
: limb
! 1t was now evening, and we were obi ged
r to resolve upon passing the night under the
, shelter of some rocks The Indians made
: fire to keep the wild beasts from our couch
but no sleep visited my eyes l sat at Whar-
l tons bed and listened to his deep breathing
1t became more and more hard & deep, & his
, hand gra>ped violently, as if in convulsive