Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-07-27

She even hnted that He InlSnt nave dont
Injustice to the young man. He might turl
out smarter m an than he had credit for
t He might-who knew make fine THE
vet, psssess plenty of horses, and prove
, highly eligible match for their daughter
The old fellow had been Qor him) quit'
moderate but this was too much. His rag
completely mastered him. He rose up
seized the child's cradle, and hurled it vlo
lently out of doors and the other chattel
appertaining TO his daughter went after j
in rapid succession. He then ordered he
to follow her goods ins'anter, with which ben
ediction she departed, responding with ;
smile of satisfaction. Leaving the lodge
she gathered up her scattered effects, and
accompanied by her mother,the bridal-par'
ty disappeared. The chief sat on his horse
skin couch, his legs crossed partly under
him, looking sour enough. Presently the
bride and her mother returned. and now be.
gan the second scene. The chief no soon
er recognized them than sound-some-
thing between a grunt and growl, but
much nearer the latter than the former
gave warning of fresh eruption. The rum
Bling grew more emphatic and suddenly
his fury burst on the head of his wife
Selling her by the hair, he hurled her vio-
enty to the ground, and beat her with his
clenched fists till thought he would break
every bone in her body and reduce her sub
stance to Jelly. The drubbing ended, she
rose, and muttered something he did not
like. He replied by violet blow on the
side of her head, that sent her staggering to
the further end of the hut This last argu-
ment was decisive and she Kept her huge
mouth closed for the night, There was a
silent pause for some minutes and without
another word, we ranged ourselves for re-
pose. I thought the old heathen's con-
science troubled him through the night ; his
sleep was broken, and he appeared very
restless. Early the next morning he went
to the lodge of the newly-married pair and
had long chat with them. They thought
HIM rather severe upon them at first but,
after good deal of diplomacy, better un-
derstanding was brought about. The young
people could hardly get over sense of the
indlgnities they had received; but in the
course of the day they returned, bag and
baggage, to the old chiefs tent and made
it their permanent abode"
These strange people did not appear tn
have any form of worshp,or even any idea
of SupEsme Being. Possibly, however, a
better acquaintance with their language
would show thai they were not so entirely
destitute of religious feeling as they SEEM
| od to tho coptive stranper
Mr.. Bourne in his anxiety to escape from
his painful captivity, continued, by promi
ses and persuasons to urge the savages to
convey him to some settlement of white
men. AT first he proposed that they should
proceed with him to the Chllian penal set
tlement, in the Strait of Magellan but 10
this request they gave prompt and decid-
ed refusal and he afterwards learned that
they had lately returned from horse-steal-
ing expedition in that quarter, and natural
ly did not feel inclined to repeat their visit.
They assured him, however, that they would
take him to a much better place, which
they called "Holland,' and where there
were "twenty or thirty white men,and plen-
ty of rum and tobacco" Mr.. Bourne had
never before heard of this South American
Holland, and was much inclined to doubt
its existence. However, after wandering
about for three months in various directions,
they at length reached the river Santa
Cruz, winch flows into the Atlantic Ocean,
about $50 miles north Of the Strait of Ma
gellan. Sure enough, on an island oppo-
site the mouth of the river, were visible
/ couo,ol Ill hp,lI v-bich bn told
were occupid by white men. A signal was
made. which had the effect of attracting a
boat from the island AS it came near, the
Indians ordered their captive to keep back,
and he saw reason to fear that they meant
to practice the same deception and bad faith
with regard TO his ransom as he had expe-
rienced when he first fell into their hands.
Determined TO make desperate effort for
freedom, he suddenly broke away from them
and rushed down to the beach, holly pur-
sued by the savages. After a hurried par
ley with the boatman in English, he threw
himself into the water, and swan out
through the surf to the boat, which he reach
ed in nearly exhausted state. He was
Immediately drawn into it by the boatmen,
and conveyed to the island, where he was
received with the greatest kindness by the
persons in charge of the establishment
The name of the place, he learned, was Sea-
lion Island the last word being that which
the Patagonlans, in their cultural pronunci-
alton, had transformed into Holland. The
party then occupying it consisted of only
ten men, who had been placed on the is
land by an English commercial company
for the purpose of collecting guano, which
was from time to time taken away by the
vessels the company The agent in charge
of the party, Mr.. Hall, whom the grateful
seaman praises as ga noble specimen OF 6
true-hearted Englishman," behaved in the
most generous manner to the unfortunate
American, furnished him with clothing, ant
took him into bis own habitatlon. After
residing for a considerable time on the is
land, Mr.. Bourne was at length taken of
by an American whae-ship which chancet
to pass that way.
1t deserves notice that 1t was in the Sira
of Magellan, at no great distance from the
place where Mr.. Bourne was taken priso
ner that Captain Gardiner and his com.
panions met with their deplorable fate in
the year 1S51-encountering death from
starvation while engaged in the attempt tc
commence a mission among these very Pat
aeonians. Had the information which thi:
narrative affords been possessed by the un'
fortunate missionaries or their friends in
England different arrangements would
doub btless have been made, and that calam'
itous result would probably have been a.
voided.
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