The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-02-04
e-player would give at the head of a

mock arc =. : ~
We al noved o6, leaving the clump of trees
70 the n BIT, going, We knew not whittier, K
uuknowf suferings and an unknown fate. The
land that ny before us was Wild and open, with
out feno or habit&tions. Here and there
cattle W dered about over it, and Q few stray
Indians. Beyond, in the distance, ss far a. w
could Sc rose prospect of mountains and
forests. Above rs was the pitiless sun, in Q
sky that as too brightly blue TO look at. Be
h'pd US fas the calm murmuring ocean, with
the dear Island home which the women and
children sad lost, rising in the distance like g
little gre N garden on the bosom of the sea
After hs an hours walking, wsbegan to de
cehd int the plain, and the last glimspe of the
Island Silver-Ssore disappeared from oul
view. /,
The Ter of march which we prisoners nov
maintaii d among ourselves, being the order
which, ID certain occasional variations, we
obssrvet for the next three days, may assuea
give son description of 1t in this place, before
get copied with other things, and forget it.
mys 4, and the sailor have mentioned
under Il 5 name of Short, led the march. After
Us came Miss Msryon, and Mr.. and Mrs. Ma
cey. = ~ were followed by two of my com
rades Of Marines, with Mes. Pordage, Mrs
Belltottsnd two of the strongest of the ladies
| to look &er them. Mr.. Fisher, the ships boy,
and the, jnree remaining men of the aloop's
came ne e.; Tom Packer, taking care of Ser.
geant D poce, brought up the rear. So long as
we got - quickly enough, the pirates showed
no dispe ,iton to interfere with our order OF
march; out, if there were any signs of lag.
ging-a ! God knows it was hard enough work
for ma to walk under that burning sun T.
the villa Us threatened the weakest of our com.
pany VI d the points of their swords. The
younger among the children gave out, as might
have be, expected, poor things, very early on
the MAJ b. Short and I set the example OF
taking I, o of them up, pick-a-back, which was
followed >Jirectly by the rest of the men. Two
of Mrs.. 5acey's three children fell to our share,
the eide travelling behind us on his fathers
back. Saort hoisted the next in age, girl, on
his bros shoulders. see him now, as if it
was ye, srdsy, with the perspiration pouring
down hi fat tace and bushy whiskers, rolling
along q ifhe was on the deck of ship, and
making sling of his meek. handkerchief, with
clever a. doris fingers, to support the little eir
on his b ok. " / expect you'll marry ne, nv
darling. then you grow up," says he, in his
oily, jot eg voice. And the poor child, in her
innoce6, laid her weary head down on his
shouldst and gravely and faithfully promised
that she could.
A hgster weight fell to my share. had the
youngetA of the children, the pretty little boy,
already pentioned, who had been deaf and
dumb &LJm his birth. His mothers voice tren.
bled saefy, as she thanked me for taking him
up, andssnderly put his little dress right, while
she walked behind me. :" He is very little and
light ofshis age" says the poor lady, trying
hard ID 1peak steady. "He won't give you
much '6suble, Davis-he has always been q
very patcsnt child from the first" The boys
little frsss arms clasped themselves round my
neck whsle she was speaking, and something
or other yeemed to stop in my throat the cheer
full answer that wanted to make. walked
on with what must have looked, I am afraid,
like g,1H silence the poor child humming
softly CT my back, in his unchapging, dumb
way, tila4be hummed himself to sleep. Often
and ofsa1, since that time, in dreams, have
talt tho1c spali arms round my neck again, and
ear, dy,ag away fainter, and fainter, till moth.
ing wa- left but the light breath rising and
falling ssgularly on my cheek, telling me that
my lttla fellow prisoner had forgotten his
troubles,in sleep.
We 1ssrched, as we'll as could guess, some
where dsbut seven miles that day-a short spell
enough, Judging by distance, but a terrible
long oes, judging by heat. Our hating place
was by ne banks of stream, across which, at
little ,i;stance, some wild pigs were swimming
as we anne up. Beyond US was the same
view Of iorests and mountains that have al
ready E,entioned and all round US was per.
feet WI ]3erness of flowers. The shrubs, the
bushes .he ground, all blazed again with mag
ni6cen, colors, under the evening sun. When
we wer<- ordered to halt, wherever we set a
child d 5Wn, there that child had laps and laps
full OF overs growing within reach of its hand.
We ga On flowers, eaton flowers, slept at night
on hok fs-any chance handful of which would
have IN we'll worth q golden guinea among
the gessiefolks in England. 1t was sight not
easily described, to see niggers, savages, and
Pirates hideous, filthy, and ferocious in the last
degree. % look al, sauatting about grimly upon
q natu' 81 carpet of beauty, of the sort that
is paint d in pictures with pretty fairies dancing
on it.
TheCiules were unloaded, and left to roll
among The flowers to their hearts content. A
neat te, was set up for the Pirate Captain, at the
door OF Shich, after eating good meal, he laid
himself down in a languishing attitude, with q
nosega in the bosom of his waistcoat, and his
guitar On his knees and jingled away at the
strings singing foreign songs, with shrll voice
and wi his nose conceitedly turned up in the
air. VAS obliged to caution Short and the
sailors -or they would, to dead certainty,
have all our lives in peril by openly laugh.
| ing at I'm.
| We lad but q poor supper that night. The
Pirate COW kept the provisions they had brought
| from , Island for their own use; and We had
| to sha the miserable starvation diet of the
| counts with the Indians and the Sambos. This
consis. d of black beans fried. and of things
they G Tortillas, meaning, in plain English,
| fat ca les, made Of crushed Indian corn, and
baked, On q clay griddle. Not only was this
food il jpid, but the dirty manner in which the
Indiacy prepared il was disgusting. However,
complnt was useless; for we could see for
ourselS,s that no other provision had been
| brougs fer the prisoners. I heard some grum.
bling Q gong our men, and some little fretfulness
amons the children, which their mothers soon
quiet@. / myself wss Indifferent enough to the
| food !; Or had noticed circumstances, Just
| before 4 was brought to Us, which occupied my
mind e1th more serious considerations. One
of thsnpules was unloaded near us, and OBJ.
served among the baggage large bundle Of
new ~ es, doubtless taken from some ship.
After ,yuzgling my brains for some time to
know THAT they could be wanted for, came to
the COZ elusion that they were to be employed
in cuS,.pg our way through, when we came to
which hese preparations promised-if the view
/ tool Of them was the right one-and then to
look & the women and children, exhausted by
the e. days march, vas sufficient to make
any FN.n uneasy. II weighed heailY enough
on mTmind, know, when woke up among
the hSgers, from time to time, that night.
Ops sleeping arrangements, though we had
not single civilized comfort were, thanks to
the flyers, simple and easy enough. For the
FIRST tshe in their lives, the women and children
laid gown together, With the sky for root, and
the ked earth for bed. We men shook our
selves down, Is we'll as we could, al round