Litchfield enquirer., 1860-04-05
From Bentley's Miscellany. THE SAPPHIRE CATERERS STORY.
BY ARTHUR HUME pLUNKErr.

1 SIOR1.
 1 BY ARTHUR HUME PLUNKETT
 :" It was here, sir, that Mr. Clements d,
 scended."
 How fearful 1" I exclaimed, scarcel
 venturing to look down precipice at leas
 six hundred feet in depth.
 To repeat in few words what had occr
 pied nearly hour, and emitting his numerou
 digrcssions, the samphire gatherer's tale "a
 thus :-
 At the close of the last century he an his father, samphire gatherers by trade, ha
 assisted in. lowering one MT. Clements dowl
 the cliff under rather extraordinary circum stances. Mir Clements was returning hom
 along the Downs, from the then retired, bu
 now fashionable town of -, when h. recognized boat about q mile from thu shore, strongly resembling one in which hi wife and sister were in the frequent habit 0 passing hours, in q little bay or irlet of tn, sea near his house. He hastened home on ly to have all doubts removed as to thei identy; and, hurrying back to the spot where he had first observed them, found. tt his extreme terror, that the boat had bee, deserted by its occupants, who had been seer wandering on the rocks un0er the cliff T, approach them by the sea on either side il time to rescue them from their impendire danger was impossible The tide was rising fast, aud their destruction appeared to bt inevitable. In this emergency the samphire gathercrs were thought of aud sought for and, declining all their offers, Clements in sisted upon descending the cliff, in the hope of placing his wife upon some rock or spot where she might remain in safety till the arrival of tine boats from -. Thus ia, had the samphre gatherer got in his story which he was relating to ue as 1 was stroll ing along the cliffs, when he paused, as have already mentioned, and pointed to the spot wh"re Mr. Clements descended.
 Following his example, and taking a scat on the grass near him, the old man contin ued his tale. give it in his own words.
 "Well, sir when we found We could not persuade him to let one of us go down in his place, father, as usual, secured crow bar into the earth, few feet from the edge of the cliff and thei, twining & rope once round it, in order to give us the -stcadicr hold Oil Mr. Clements, fastened it under his arms. We then made him change his coat for one of our frccks, such as you sec the common people wear in these parts and taught him how to put his feet steadily against the side of the cliG-as it were thus :; and made him take the rope between his hands just above the knot, and told him to lean out from the rock as far as he could, ard to work downwards with his feet, and to look up, aud keep watch out for the stones and rubbish which the rope might dislodge. We told him all this sir and bade him not be frightened at the birds, as they would not harm him ;---the sun had set, ng IT rtlrt gu e,bw,r de tss. htrrid- Srg,e,.l- gone to roost ;--and, that after he altered his mind, aud wished to come back, he had only to give the rope couple of pulls, and that we'd haul him up directly. No--no," says Mir. Clements, Y" there's no necessity for that. When get to the bottom, Wait for 8 quarter of an hour if at the end of that time, l give no signal for you to pull me up, you will know that the ladies are safe, and thsn make what haste you can, and get |. boat from -. l am ready now,' says he, in faint voice, and his teeth all the while chattering with fear. Never was . man so frightened as he was at that mo ment. Well, sir, father and 1 once more lifted the rope, and Mr. Clements leaned back over the edge of the cliff Down he went. We soon lost sight of him.
 Working with his feet, as father had told him, We slowly supplying out rope as he required it, he moved safely down for H bit /; then he rested on jutting rock. All this time he kept his eyes fixed on the sky. Pressing cautiously with his feet against the chalk his body almost at right auglcs with the cliff his hands grasling the rope, or shelterng his face from the shower of stones and dirt which it dslodgrd. He had got about hundred feet from the top, when, suddenly slipping from the cliff, his chest and face were flung violently against it. He cndeavored to regain his footing against the rocks, and in so doing broke through resolution which he had formed aud looked beneath him. It is rare sight that for the first time. Well do remember
 how my head swan as looked at the water far far below and the waves that one could see, but not hear, as they broke over the shingles. Prescl.ce of mind, on which Mr. Clements so vaunted himself, where was it then? He was about to pull the rope but he thought of his poor wife. and one thought of her was enough. Oa he went To regain footing was impossible Father and kept gradually lowering the rope and, with his face to the cliff his hands outstretched, catching at each object as he passed envoIoped in shower of chalk and stones, which he had not the strength to avoid gasping and panting for breath, poor Mr. Clements slided down fol about another hundred feet. Here the cliff arched nwards, forming all immense hollow like yonder rock, sir and, swinging to and fro, and round and round, as it were betwix, heaven and earth, dow,, he went At on.
 moment the wide ocean met his dizzy gaze at another, Hocks of the startled birds flew around his head, utteriny their shril ant angry cries. Again, sir, he found himseI sliding down against the ride of the cliff
 his flesh all sore and torn, and his body ant arms in absolute torture from the pressur,
 of the rope. Again in agony he made |
 frantic effort to regain a footing but, il
 so doing. fastened one of his legs in Q mar
 TOW Assure, or opening in the rock. Vai'
 was the struggle to release it, sir MT. Gle
 ments was either too weak and faint, or th'
 limb too firmly secured in the rock. All hl
 efforts were useless and, l shudder at th
 bare recollection while tell it, zee eon't'nue'
 to supply tho rope! Hanging by his leg
 head downwards, there he lay the como