Butte record., 1856-02-09
The Sensations Caused BY
Drowning,

In the recently published volume
entitled Lady Huson, is the following
thrilling description of the sensations
experienced by the writer as she sunk
into the waters of the waters of the
Mississippi, after throwing herself
from the burning steamer. 1t comes
in after the sights and sounds of the
sufferers by the wreck were shut out
from the senses Of the drowning girl:
you do not know what strange fan
cies seized upon my mind, when was
utterly insensible to the scene OF hor-
ror around me. Then came a sudden
sound on my ears, like the firing of a
cannon, and then I felt pain no longer.
| thought | slept, and suddenly awall-
ing with glare Of light, | fancied |
laid in rich and lofty chamber-its
walls of golden colored glass, that
cleaned and glistened iu the lustre of
countless thousands Of lamps; It's roof
was mother-of-pearl, Of tremendous
brightness it's floor Of the whitest
and purest marble; numbers of couch
es and chairs were scattered about,
seemingly of tortoise-shen, inlaid with
gold and silver; the bcdstead on which
lay was of ivory: the curtains the
richest purple silk, all scattered over
with strangely fantastic figures, en-
broidered with pearls. A fountain
was playing in conservatory full Of
the most gorgeous flowers at the fur
ther end Of the room; birds hoped
from plant to plant with sweet but
plaintivc warbling. Everything seem
ed a vision Of fairy enchantment, such
as | never dreamed of before; but a.
midst all this beauty and brightncs,
lay in a misery that cannot be des-
cribed. 1t was not paint was far
more than pain, for, though would
have given worlds for one gasp, | could
not dra,g my breath
Then, with a slow and shadowy
change, the scene melted away into a
green, smiling valley; the walls be-
came sides of hills and skirts of woods,
green banks and sprouting hedges ;
the ceiling dissolved into blue sky,
across which few stray clouds are
floating slowly, and casting teir linger-
ing shadows on the sides Of the noun
tains; flowers seemed springing into
life and light at my feet; birds Of
beauty thronged in gorgeous multi |
tudes, and the sweet birds Of song
called to them from the thickets; the
fish leaped cxultingly, till the gleam-
ing waters seemed alive with the flash |
ing of light; the butterflies fitted |
among the flowers and the bees worked |
carefully as if the sight Of their bright |
futterings ligtened their labors; the |
brcezes came and went-some came
over violet beds, some through orange |
groves-but they famed my fore
head in vain A tight hand seemed |
fastened around it, a sitting weight |
pressed on my chest; for, though
would have given worlds for one gasp
I could not draw my breath.
And suddenly there came darkness,
but a clear cold darkness, ike star
light, and the place | was in turned
to stone: there was no more green
fields or bright birds-the valley was
petrifed; naked rocks stood around,
rearing up their giant forms like watch
ing giants; huge clusters of every
form and size, rejecting back the pale
cheerless light in thousand different
rays and above all were soaring PIN
nacles of ice, that it froze my heart to
look at then, as looked around,
thought the valley narrowed, and then
| saw that it was filled with living
tombs cut from the living rocks, carved
with all manner Of grotesque orna-
ments; and suddenly, from out one of
those came a group Of frightful figures
clad in grave garmcnts-and | lay,
living corpse, awaiting its tomb.
hew no more till / woke to partial
consciousness, and felt the singing
agony that, | suppose, attended my
resuscitation. | slept again, to see
you bending over me just now."
A lady was reoucSed by n bachelor