Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-12-10
Thrilling Cave Adventure.

buriTOOd Oi the salt works OF M. NV
father was second engineer, and / filled the sit
uatiOn of assistant. The scene Of our mining
operations, at the time Of the event which
am going to narrate, was in narrow valley,
lying close 10 the foot Of perpendicular cliff
OF rock about one hundred feet high. On its
bare sides neither grass nor shrub, was TO be
seen and scarce any inequality was visible,
whereOn the fOOt Of the climber might find
rcstinK.place. In fact, it was considered un-
Scalabe for distance Of two miles, when it
sunk down gradually at either end to the level
OG the plain. Ascending the Gill, one bchcld
on its summit . wide plain, stretching off in
the distance IFOsn the sharp edge Of the prcci-
PiSO, and Iv"'n tl'at dizzy point could look
! 'IOWn uIam the works VI tue miners below,
c'oas sn'l.T IT, .il.r.
l'Paa Il.r tT. Il the cliff Whirh have been
aaestl4ss. I Gsa saSUllile listleESly, late one
Suntlag sIl-VSa-sn, OllNking Of q strange aud
sga etsvts-tSsrs wtlirh had happened about
sysap ~ ~ N ..s,1 Aaily. Ny only brother,
~ tsttrv~. haa Es'sss cut early one sum
- .li'se T.. sl.suA l.lOvcF on the heights,
..-l 6-ss 'ha hsssr had Iwvcr been heard Of
v hsa at ssxf. he NAs mounting the cliir,
eoas tis. Ss-sssn SlIr. aud though twhen
sAaa@el Ai IA. hsE .lglayI we naLe imlncdi-
sss srA''-h S'd i'.'Iuiry. we never gained any
IssgShrT iIsEaHsAii.I. To- speak of our family
sliraFvp-. sssl ny "wn hcaTt.gricving for my
ss.riUTrd AsUtlrT. n ss,,t ftov tiny purpose
l,sSt u vas che Oi.ly subject Of my thoughts on
tlsst quiet summer evening, when all the noise
GrOm the works was lmisilc,, aud the stiffness
seemed tcniolI by contrast.
] approached very near the edge Of the
cliiL ] was now at its stccpest part, and
looking down its mouth sides, thought how
terrible q fall would be; but my brother
could not have fallen down. In that case his
lnang'ed body, at least, would have been
found
was recalled to myself by a strange sink.
ing Of my feet. My first confused idea was
that the soil had given way from the edge Of
the cliff, upon whose utmost verge ! stood,
and was about to be prccipitatcd to the bot
tom. became dizzy with horror for felt
at once that could not recover myself 50
sudden was the caving in of the earth beneath
me. made one stumble forward, in n wild
struggle to save myself, felt n ringing and
crushing in my ears, and then lost all fur
thcr sensation.
1t must have been many hours before was
sufficiently conscious To know that still ex
isted. Sick aud bruised, was long unable to
raise myself from the PROSTATE position in
which became aware, at last, that was lying.
1t was quite dark, and every portion Of earth
or stone that touched was wet, and smell
Of damp salt pervaLed the close atmosphere.
] thought had fallen into nm exhausted salt
mine, but soon remembered that | had been
standing on the edge of the cliff. 1t was an
impoSSibility. Then came the idea that |
must have fallen to the bottom, and the loose
Garth and stones Ind fallen over me. That,
too, ! soon found equally unlikely, and. after
cropping about some time on my hands and
knees, (cvery movement one Of intense agony, J
| became sure that my prison was cave Of
some extent Too weak to move farther lay
down and cndcavorcd to think Of my position.
1t seemed hopeless orc. was certainly in
ono Of those caves formed in the salt rocks,
and sometimes found by miners, running far
below the cartlls surface. had no idea how
far had fallen: it might bc but u few feet; it
might be many hundred. As yet could find
no trace Of the passage through which had
dropped, but | remembered that had case
OF matches in my pocket, and it was not long
before ! succeeded in dragging them out,
though it was cXcruciating pain to my bruised
limbs TO move them.
Having no Taper, determined to be very
careful Of the Matches and to improve the
short moment of light, during which one
would last. rubbed it very carefully against
the sole Of my boot, then harder, then furious
ly-but it would not ignite! Then tried
another, with no better success. They were
too damp was damp; the match
es were useless. With faint hope of drying
them in time, put the box into my breast,
and buttoncd my vest over it. What with
my failure in procuring light, and the pain
Of my bruises, added to my terror and Devil.
dcrment of mind, | suffered intensely
Through all, it becomes clear to Inc that in
stead Of falling over, had fallen through the
cilf-strange as it was that hollow ground
should occur so near to the edge without the
external wall Of the cliff caving in towards it.
The space through which had fallen must
have been narrow, for my body was bruised,
and the skin torn from my sides, with strips
Of my clothing; that could feel. aOh for a
light TO examine better into my miserable DO
stion; but after all, did not feel without
hope. could not lose the idea that was to
hit upon some means or way of escape, if |
only could get the matches to ignite, and show
me the size and form Of the cave.
Worn out with pnin and thought, must
have slept. awoke with raging thirst, and
almost at the same time became sure that
self towards the sound, stretched out nv
hand, and drops from above fell upon it -
eagerly swallowed few, which burned my
throat: they were distilled brne-salt as any
impregnatiOn Of water could possibly be.
This disappointment crushed me terribly
should die Of thirst ere had found n mode
Of exit thought of the matches, and tried
them again, in vain; this time, however, they
gave forth light some. In time the heat of
my breast would dry them-that was hope
| had no idea Of time, save that my watch
had run down. while ! slept. | wound it up
again, knowing that when it again stopped
cight-and-twenty hours would have gone BY
Again, on my hands and knees, crcpt around
feeling by the damp walls, and as continu
ally approached ard recedcd from the spot
where the saltwater dropped from n project.
ing rock, discovered that the cave was near
ly round, and not many yards square. IIav.
ing discovered this, became more collected
and rcsolute and forced myself to calm re-
view of my position. had to acknowledge
to myself that my only chance of escape
seemed tho hole or crack through which
had fallen; but 10 ray Of light betrayed that
spot-carth and stones must have fallen in
and choked it up. Parching with thirst, and
faint from bodily injuries, ! was almost at the
point Of despair, when 9 distant sound fell up.
on my car. listened with intense attention.
Soon, moro and more, distinctly, recognized
the noise Of machinery, the rumbling of carts,
and the voice Of men; then bell rung, and,
with throb of joy, recognised it as the
morning summons to the laborcrs in the
works. A night only could have passed since