Butte record., 1855-10-27

torioises ready captured to the rcturni:.-
captains hand These the Cholo.
meant to secure after their owa work
was done, against the prob4bl, time o.
the frenchm1n's ming back; and no
doubt in prospect already felt, that in
those hund ed tortoi>es now somewhere
ranging the Isles interior--they posses
sed one hundred hostag $. Enough: the
vessel sailed; the gazing three On shore
answered the loud glee of the singing
crew; and ere evening the French aft
was hull down IN The distant sea, it's
masts three fliatest lines which quickly
faded from Hunilla eye.
The stranger had given a blithesomc
promls', AID 4 chored it with oaths; but
oaths and anchors equally viii drag;
nought else abides on fcble earth bat
unkcpt promises Of joy Contrary winds
from out unstable skies, or contrary
moods Of his moe varying mind or ship
wreck and sudden death in solitary
waves; whatever was the cause, the
bllthe stranger never was seen again.
Yet, however dire calamity was
here in store, mi~givings Of it ere due
time never disturbed the Cholos' busy
mind, nov all intent upon the toilsome
matter which had brought them hither.
Nay, by swift doom coming like the thief
at night, ere seven weeks went by, two
of the It'll party were remoyod q from all
anzieties f land or sea. No more they
sought the gaza with feveIish fear, or
till more fererish Lope, beyond the
presents horizon line; but INTO the fur
thest future their own silent spirits
sailed, BY perseveling labor beneath
that burning sun, Felipe and T. iuxill had
brought down to their hut many scores
Of tortoises, aud tried out the oil, when,
elated with their good success, and to
reward themselves for such hard work.
they, too hastily, made catamaran, or
Indian raft, much used on the Span sh
main, and merriIy started on fishing
trip just without long reef with many
jagged gaps, running parallel with the
shore, about half nile from it. By
some bad tide or hap, or natural neeli>
gence OF joyfulness (for torgh they
could not be heard, yet BY their GESTURES
they seemed ing ng at the tine, forced
in deep water against that iron bar. the
ill-inade catamaran was ovetset, and
came all to pieces; when dashed by
broad chcsed swells between their bro
ken logs and the sharp teeth Of the reef
both adventurers perish 4 before uunil>
las eyes.
Before Hunilla's eyes they sank. The
real woe Of this event passed before er
sight as some sham tragedy on the STAGE.
She was seated on rude bower among
the withcred thickcts crowuing lofty
cliff, little back f.om the beach. The
thickets were 50 di,posed, that in look
ing uPot the sea at large she peered out
from among the branches as from the
lattice Of high balcony. But upoa the
day We sp. ak of here, the better to watch
the adventure of tn Sc two hearts sic
loved, Huni Ia had withdrawn the bran
ches 10 one sid and held them SO. They
formed an oval fame, through which
the bluey boundi,s S. s rolled Ike a
painted one. Aud there the Invisible
painted to her view the tossed and
disjointed raft, its once level logs Slant
ingly upheaved, as raking masts, and the
four struggling arms undstinguishable
among ttem; and then all subsidized into
smo mo'th-fowng creamy waters, slowly
drifting h. splintered wreck; while first
and last, no sound of any sori was heard.
Death in silent picture; a dream Of
the eye; such vanishing shapes as the
mil age shows
So instant was the scere, so trance
like its mild pictorial effect, SO distant
from her blasted tower and her common
sense Of things, that Hunilla gazed and
gazed, nor raised IA finger nor vail
But as g"od to sit thus dumb, in stupor
staring on that dumb show, for all that
otherwise might be done With half a
mile of sea between, could her two en-
chanted arms aid those four fated ones:
The distance long, the time one SAND.
After the lightning is beheld, what fool
shall stay the thunderbolt: Felipe's
body was washed ashore, but TruxIll's
never came; only his gay, braided hat of