New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-11-05
1HRrLI1Ha CAVE ADVENTURE.

| the event which am going to narrate, was in a |
narrow valley lying close TO tne 100. q penppea
bare sides neither grass nor shrub was to be seen
and scarcely any inequality was visible wherein
the foot Of the climber might find resting place.
in fact il was considered unscalabe for distance
81 tn miles, when it sunk down gradually at either
end to the level of the plain. Ascending the cliff,
one beheld on the summit wide plain, stretching
on in the distance from the sharp edge Of the pre-
cipice, and from that dizzy point could look down
upon the works Of the miners below, close under
its sides.
Upon the top of the cliff which have been de-
scribing, was strolng listiessiy, late one Sunday
afternoon, thinking Of a strange and sad circum-
stance which had happened about year ago in
our family. My only brother. q lad OF itteen had
gone ont early one summer morning to shoot piover
on the nights, and from that hour had never heeh
| heard of. When last seen, he was mounting the
\ cliff from the eastern side, and though (when
alarmed at his long delay we made Immediate
search and INQUIRY We W never g,ea ses and my
| own heart grieying for my weh6eiovea young
4 brother, is not now my purpose put u was tIe
only subject of my thoughts On aa y. aaee summer e
4 hushed and the stiffness seemed tenfola by
contrast. ra. r
was now at its steepest part. and looking down its
smooth Sides thought how terrible the fall would
be; but my brother could not have fallen down.
4 In that case, his mangled body, at least, would
4 have been found.
4 Twas returned to myself by strange sinking of
my feet. Ny first confused idea was that the soil
| had given way from the edge OF the, elf, upon
4 whose utmost verge stood, and that was about
/ to be precipitated TO the bottom. became dizzy
with horror, for felt at once that could not re-
cover myself, so sudden was the caving in OF the
/ earth beneath me. l made one stumble forward,
in wild struggle to save myself felt ringing and
crushing in my ears, and then lost all further SEN
4 sation.
It must have been many hours before was suffi-
GENTLY conscious to know that still existed Sick
lonu tnr
/ the PROSTATE position in which became aware at
/ last that was living. 1t was quite dark, and
every portion of earth stone that touched was
| wet, and smell Of damp salt pervaded the close
4 atmosphere, l thought i had fallen into an ex-
/ hausted salt mine but soon remembered that had
4 been standing on the edge OF the cliff. 1t was an
/ mpossiblity. Then came the idea that must have
fallen to the bottom and the loose earth and stones
had fallen over That, too, Isoon found equally
unlikely, and, after cropping about some time on
my hands and knees (eyery moment one OF intense
! agony,) became sure that my prison was cave
OF some extent. Too weak to move further, lay
) down and endeavored to think OF my position. ~
seemed a hopeless one ! was certainly IN one OF
/ those caves formed in the salt rocks, ana some
: times found by miners running far below the
earth's surface. had no idea how far mad fallen;
, it might be but few feet; it might be many hun
! dred AS yet could find no trace Of the passage
through which / had dropped, but remembered
J that had case of matches in my pocket, and it
was not long before | succeeded in dragging them
out, though it was excrueiatng pain to my bruised
limbs to move them.
n Having no taper, determined to be very care
full of the matches, and to improve the short mo-
, nent of light during which one would last, rub
bed it very carefully against the sole of my boot
then harder then fnriously, but woull not ignite
Then tried another with no better success. They
J were too damp everything was damp; the matches
!! were useless. With a faint hope OF drying them
in time, put the box into my breast, and but
, toned my vest over it. What with my failure in
> procuring light, and the pain Of my bruises,
. added to my terror and bewilderment Of mind l
suffered intensely. Through all, it became clear
, to me that instead Of falling over, had fallen
! through the cliff, strange as it was that hollow
ground should occur SO near the edge without the
external wall Of the cliff caying 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. Oh! for light to examine bet
ter into my position; but, after all, did not feel
without hope. could lose the idea that was to
r hit upon some means or way of escape, only
could get the matches to ignite, and show me the
9 size and form OF the cave.
Worn out with pain and thought must have
6 slept. awoke with raging thirst, and. almost
J, at the same time, i became sure that heard the
\ dropping of water. dragged myself towards the
i sound. stretched out my hand, and drops from
!, above fell upon it; eagerly swallowed few
which burned my throat they were distilled brine
:, salt as any impregnation OF water could posi-
bly, be!
E This disappointment crushed me terribly. :
should die Of thirst ere had found mode Of exit
thought of the matches, and tried them again il
, vain; this time, however, they gave forth ligh
:. smoke. In time the heat of my breast would dry
i them-that was hope. l had no idea of time
save that my watch had run down while slept.
wound it up again, knowing that when it agar
I stopped eight-and-twenty hours would have gone
$ by. Again, on my hands and knees, I creep
around, feeling by the damp walls and as con
r tinually approached and receded from the spot
. where the salt water dropped from a projecting
t rock, discovered that the cave must be nearly
! round and not many yards square Having dis
I m cO1|actnA and regolnfp
and forced myself to q calm review Of my position
r had to acknowledge to myself, that my only
chance of escape seemed the hole or crack through
. which had fallen; but no ray Of light betrayed
that spot-earth and stones must have fallen in
choked it mp. Parching with thirst, and faint from
bodily injuries Twas almost at the point of despair
when q distant sound fell upon my ear. listened
I, with intense attention. Soon, more and more dis
tinctly, l recognized the voice of machinery, thu
rumbling Of carts, and the voices of men; then
bell rung, and, with throb of joy, recognized i
works. night only could have passed since my
leaving the outer world. Had they missed me
Alas! there was nothing to lead them to suspec
the spot of my captivity thought Of the strang'
bereavement would kill my poor mother; bu
still was comforted Ply the knowledge that only
t partition of rock separated me from my fellow
men. Now I could almost distinguish their voices
felt that it was vain to hope that my calls AM
shouts could be heard by them, vet l could no
forbear shouting till Twas quite exhausted.
Then reflected on the means C0ulu ma OF dig
ging away the barrier of rock. 1t could not b.
thick knew that by my facility in hearing sound
and concluded that, as | had fallen close to tn
, edge of the cliff, had sunk straight down to TIL
level of the valley at its foot, and possibly the wal
of my prison was not more than two or three fee
in thickness. But had no implement, save my
knife, and that was slender one quite inadequate
7 to cutting passage through even the soft an,
damp salt-rock which formed the partition. Sud
denly remembered having picked up heavy iror
a OK shoe on the wagon road, during my Sunda.
' walk. 1t was still in my pocket. With what joy
pulled it out, and commenced eagerly my work.
will not detail the agonies of those days an
IL nights, when | worked on in the darkness, some
# times encouraged. sometimes nearly hopeless.
f could not find that made any visible progress: tn
!. sounds were nearer than at first and was growing
hourly more exhausted from fatigue and burnn!
thirst. The salt air of the cave infamed my eyes
J. parched my skin, and eXcorated my throat, am
often had a horrible idea that should go mad
a but worked on. | had wound up my watch tiv,
: times, therefore it must have been the sixth day
!. delverance as far off as ever / had been tryin
~ to loosen fragment of rock which seemed some
), what detached from the strata, (this could onl
Judge of by feeling.) If l succeeded, | shoul
r much reduce the thickness of the barrier at tina
. point, but had to stop and rest before the tina
a trial. again tried my matches. had constant
done SO hitherto, but without success, and few re
NAMED; but now the third one that | tried CAV
forth light smoke, then blue fame, and finally
clear red light. held it carefully, and beheld til
y cavern in which was immured. 1t was sma
at one, and sparkling from the saline crystals, as
40 In,