Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-10-22

growth of trees and vines, and undergroWtf
on the Island was dense and luxuriant Al
the very waters edge We encountered the
projecting and impervious thicket, and the
rami6cation of vines held acres Of growth
knit and woven together. We would cut q
tree from its roots, but it would not fall, un.
til the ambiage of vines supporting it, were
cleared away. But after much labor an
opening was cleared into the Island, and on
the third morning we landed in force, and
renewed the work. The beautiful trees
we're ruthlessly cut down, the roots uprooted,
broad streets were opened, and the declin'
ing sun of the 7th of February saw magic
city of canvass erected on the desolate and
untrodden Island.
On the 4th day another terrible norther
blew up, and fretted the gulf into adiaboli-
cal tempest. Our tents were blown down,
and it required great ingenuity to fasten
them so as to stand the violence of the wind.
The waves rolled high and fierce, and were
dashed into clouds of white mist over the
breakers. Neptune and Eolus are in fierce
and terrible struggle,
ssAnd the battle RACES long and loud,
And the hollow winds do blow"
Our sufferings are excruciatiDg-they rise
to the sublime of agony. There is no water
on the Island, and any communication with
the ships is impossible. Even when the
storm was milder, three separate attempts
were made to put cask of water on boat,
but they were dashed to pieces in the at
tempt. Now, it would be worth the lives
of all the boats crew, even to attempt to
reach the Island The ships pull hard on
their anchors, but being sheltered by the
Island, they escape wreck. But we have
nothing to drink. Our salt pork increases
our thirst, our vitals are consuming with
heat, and we have no water. And yet a
wide expanse of water surrounds us, and
plays at our feet. There is
"Water, water every where
But not drop to drink"
Dives in he'll did not pray more earnestly
for drop of water "to cool his parched
tongue" than I did during that storm on
Lobos
We tried to find water on the Island, but
there was none. In the centre of it we
dug a hole into the ground which at the
depth of few inches supplied a sufficient
quantity of the fluid, but it was hot and
brackisb. 1t was disgusting and nauseating
to the taste, and it only infamed our
thirst. Yet in our phrenzy and desperation
we drank it copiously. I think that drank
two or three gallons of it per day. But it
only maddened and phrenzied us. We felt
as if the fires Of volcano were raging in
our stomachs and our throats were the era
ters. l believe that if I had been mil
lionaire and had all my gold in a heap be-
fore me, I would have given the last dollar
of it for one glass of pure cold water. My
imagination Knocked and tortured me with
memories of my native hills, and the pure
cold waters gushing from them. How bit
ter!y cursed my folly, my ambition, my
chivalry, my love of adventure, that had led
me far away from the cool fountains of my
native hills, to die of thirst and fever in the
tropics. Never before or since have I suf-
fered such agony as during this time on Lo-
bos.
But Neptune at last asserted the supre-
macy of his trident, and the winds hushed
their fury. After the usual spell of three
days the norther had wasted its breath, and
there was calm on the waters. Then we
had water, fresh water from the ships, and
our sufferings were ended.