Butte record., 1856-02-16
J5e 5torq.
IErisliAag NarratiYe.

ration of dueNo between an English
ship on the one part, and Spanish
man-ofwar and two galleys on the 9TH
er. We may premise that Amyas
Leigh, who commanded the former
vessel, had had some terrible cause for
vengeance against the Spaniards =
A fortnight or more has passed in Sc
we're toll; but not more severe than
they have endured many time before.
Bidding farewell once and forever to
the green ocean Of the eastern plains,
they have crossed the Corliilera they
have taken longing glance at the CT
ty Of Santa Fe, by lying in the midst
Of rich gardens on its lofty mountain
plateau, and have seen, as was to have
been expected, that it was far too large
place for any attempt Of theirs
But they have not altogether thrown
away their time. Their Indian lad
has discovered that a gold train is going
down fyom Santa Fe toward the Mag
dalcna; and they are waiting for 1t
beside the miserable rut which serves
for a road, cncamped in d forest of
oaks which make them almost fancy
them elves back againin Europe, were
it not for the tree-terns which form the
under growth; and were it not, too,
for the deep gorges opening at their
very feet; IN which their brows are
swept by the cool brczes of temper
ate zone, they can see far below, dim
through their everlasting vapor bath
Of rank hot steam, the mighty form
and gorgeous colors Of the tropic for
est.
They have pitched their camp a
mong the tree-ferns, above a spot
where the path winds along a steep
hillside, with a sheer cliff below Of
many a hundred feet. There was
road there once, perhaps, when Cundi-
namarca was civilized and cultivated
kingdom; but all which Spanish mis-
rule has left Of are few steps slip
ping from their places at the bottom
Of narrow ditch Of mud. 1t has
gone the way of the aqueducts and
bridges, and post-houses, the gardens
and the Ilama-focks Of that strange
empire. In the mad search for gold
every art Of civilization has fallen to
decay, save architecture alone; and
that survives only in the splendid ca
thedrals which have risen upon the ru-
ins Of the temples Of the Sun, in hon
or Of d milder Pantheon if, indeed,
that can be called a milder one which
demands las we have seen already
human sacrifices, unknown to the gen
tie nature worship Of the ncas.
And now, the rapid tropic vcgeta-
tion has reclaimed It's old domains, and
Amyas and his crew are as utterly a
lone, within a few miles of an impor-
tant Spanish settlement, as they would
be III the soitudes Of the Oronaco or
the Amazon.
In the meanwhile, all their attempts
to find sulphur and nitrc have been
uravailing; and they have been forced
to depend after all (much to Yeo's dis
gust upon their swords and arrows.
BE it so; Drake took Nombre de Dios
and the gold train there with no better
weapons; and they may do as much.
50, having blocked up the road above
by telling a large tree across it, they
sit there among the flowers, chewing
cocoa, in default of food and drink,
and moditating among themselves the
cause Of a mysterious roar, which has
been heard nightly in their wake ever
since they left the banks of the Meta.
Jaguar it is not, nor monkey: it is un-
ike any sound they know; and why
should it follow them? However, they
are in the land Of wonders; and more
oveover, the gold train is of far more
importance than any noise.
At last, up from beneath there was
a sharp crack and a loud cry. The
crack was neither the swapping of a
branch, nor the tapping of woodpeck-
er; the cry was neither the scream Of
the parrot, nor the howl of the Mon
key
That was whips crack said
Yeo, and a woman'S wall. They are
close here lads 2
"A woman'sl Do they drive women
in their gangs!' asked Amyas.
why not, the brutes? There they
are, Sir. Did you see their baskets
ghtter!'
'Menr said Amyas, In low voice,
4 trust you all not to shoot till | do.
Then give one arrow, out swords and
at them. Pass the word along
Up they came, slowly, and all hearts
beat loud at their coming.
First, about twenty soldiers, only
one-half of whom were on foot; the
other half being borne, incredible as
it may seem, each in a CHAR on the
back of single Indian, while those