Amador weekly ledger., 1858-01-30
SON AMADoR COUNTY CAL. SATURDAY MORNING. JAN 80


A SroRY--It was near midnight, towards
the close of the afternoon on sultry morn
ing in December, IS, previous to the revo-
luton Of the last war, when the burning moon
was setting in the Eastern sky, casting
brilliant shadow over the gorgeous clouds
which entirely obscured the armament; and
the unclouded sun was sending down its noon
day beams with an intensity Of heat like the
shrieking Of heavy thunder through the deep
mountain gorges of the Western praires.
Lonely was the sound of such a spectacle
to the feet Of the weary traveller, for three
feline monsters Of the deep were just gather
ing together for their evening meal, and sep
arating ere the sun was risen, for the sports
OF the chase, and alt things betokened re-
pose too deep for utterance
In the ensuing autumn, about two years
previous to the above mentioned cat-as-tropy,
two pedestrians might have been seen riding
on horse back in three wheeled carriage,
up to the brow of precpice, under the side
of forest which had been cut down before
the trees had begun to take root, and engag-
ed in eating their evening dinner by the road
side, in the arms of Morpheus. The eldest
of three gentlemen was young lady, about
53, and about two years younger than the
other man, which latter gentleman was, from
the manner in which he addressed him, eyi-
IDENTITY her only and youngest daughter.
The remainder of her dress consisted Of
two pair of pantaloons neatly attached by a
golden strap of unwoyen silk, TO the axletrees
of the middle aged genteman's horse.
The timid individual, last mentioned, was
an old gentleman of about twenty-five, whose
venerable features disclosed the livid hues of
the Siberian negro. His bald head was pro-
fusely covered with long silver locks of sandy
jet, and which he had evidently lost during
severe attack of sea sickness, caught from
tho next door neighbor, who resided several
blocks from him in the country. He also
was richly attired in the same manner as the
lady, being clothed in worn out frock coat,
which was secured by straps under his feet.
Ills feet were bare, save his gloves, he had
no garments to shield him from the balmy
atmosphere. He had lost both arms Just
above the collar bone and was constrained
to wear crutches. This, added to his total
blindness, rendered him an object of general
admiration.
The OsrRIcH.-The cry of the ostrich SO
greatly resembles that of lion as occasional
y to deceive even the natives. 1t is usually
heard early in the morning, and at times,
also, in the night. The strength of the os-
trich is enormous A single blow from its
gigantic foot Git always strikes forward), is
sufficient to PROSTATE, nay, to kill, many
beasts Of prey, such as the hyena, the pan
uher, the wild dog, the iackal, and others.
1t is exceedingly swift of foot, uuder ordinary
circumstances outrunning feet horse.
"What time she lifteth up herself on high,
she scorneth the horse and his rider" On
special occasions, and for a short distance, its
speed is truly marvellous perhaps not much
less than mile in half a minute Its feet
appear hardly to touch the ground, and the
length between each stride is not unfrequent-
~ twelve or fourteen feet Indeed, if we are
to credit the testimony of Mr.. AdamSon, who
says he witnessed the fact in Senegal, such is
the rapdity and muscular power of the os-
trich, that even with two men mounted on
his back, he will outstrip an English horse in
speed! The ostrich, moreover, is long-winded,
If we may use the expression so that it is a
work Of time to exhaust the bird Its food
in its wild state, consists of Seeds tops and
buds of various shubs and other plants; but
it is difficult to conceive how it can manage
to live at all, for one not unirequently meets
with it in regions apparently destitute of veg
citation of any kind-Aaderson'S Africa.
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A DREADFUI. SPEcrAcLE.-It will be recol.
lected that one of the Russian line of battle
ships, the Lefort, lately capsized at MONDAY
in the bay of Finland, carrying down twelve
hundred persons, of whom nearly four hun
dred were females. A diver lately descended
to the wreck, and referring to this, writer
in the London Times, from ST. Petersburg
says:
Such persons as were on deck at the time
were, OF course, at once washed away, but
the divers found no less than eleven hundred
corpses in the cabins, between decks and in
the hold Of the vessel, all clinging to some
portion Of the timbers of the ship, or to each
other. The horror Of this fearful sight ap
pears to have been aggravated by the cir
cumstance that the bodies were already fal
gone in decomposition, and with few excep
tons, the eyes were wide open and gIarng
The effect of this dreadful spectacle on the
divers was such that one Of them was totally
unable for many days to recount the ghasty
scenes he had witnessed down in that hive OF
purifying corpses, aud on his persistent re-
fusal to repeat his visit there, was sent home
A QUEER LEGISLATIVE Acr.-The Missouri
Legislature recently disposed of somewhat
delicate case in the following manner. A
| young woman having borne to a Young man