The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-09-05
THE GREAT DROUGHT.

4HE cnEAA VNVuSRk<
Paulett himself was shaken more
than he knew, though he was as
energetic as ever; but Charles was
vigorous and advanced beyond his
y ears. md took more than his share
il aiding and in comforting. They
came at last to what had been sea
coast, and to that part of the road
which ran along the face of the cliff
overlooking the SEQ; and here they
paused upon the strange and wild
view before them. Where the sea
had stretched ali glorious in motion,
expanse and color, there was now q
deep valley, the bottom of which was
rough with rocks, black for the most
part, but in places glittec; ;ng with the
white salt from which the water had
evaporated and which the winds had
rolled together. Further out from
the coast, where the sea had been
deepest, there seemed tracks Of sand;
and far away over this newly exposed
desert rose other hills, clearly seen
through the unclouded atmosphere
and which they knew to be rocks of
France; if they should arrive there,
what was the hope they offered?
Scarce any-nothing but more
pilgrimage. Further wandering, Pau
Lett and Ellen sat apart while the
children lay sleeping, side by side,
Cor an hour or two, at this point of
their journey, and talked over the
desolation before them.
'.Yet," said Paulett, "the more
terrible is the appearance which
material things put on, the greater I
feel the triumph of the spirit to be.
The worse it looks, the more immor-
tai I feel; and when perishing world
shows itself most perishable, I exult
most that you and I, Ellen. have
borne it so far
eyes, am glad too," said Ellen;
your strength strengthens me. In
the midst of this desolation the mind
rises, for an hour at least, higher,
perhaps, than it would have ever
done if we had been prosperous.
''Yet we might have used our pros
perit. to the same good end" said
Paule,r. ''It is not necessary to be
miserable in order to be noble. Mil
lions have died before us-some in
agony; some before the struggle be-
gan; some hardly; some at ease; they
had ell their chances; all had their
occasions of virtue, if they used
them, and some used them, some
failed; ours is not over yet; we have
to struggle on still; and let US do it.,
dear Ellen, and be ready for the good
day when we, too, may be allowed to
die" And thus talking for while,
they rested themselves in the sight of
the desert they had to traverse; then,
with renewed strength and steadfast
resolution, when the children woke,
descended the cliffs, and prepared to
trace path through what had been
the bottom of the sea. The first part
Of the journey was infinitely difficult;
the rocks over which the foot of man
had never passed; the abrupt preci-
pices over which had flowed the even
surface Of the ocean, and then the
height to climb again, again to find
themselves on lodges and shelves of
rock; oil these seemed, at times,
hardly passable impediments. And
when they got to distance from
what had been the shore, the unna-
tural place where they found them
selves pressed upon the imagination.
There was q plain of sand, about
which, at irregular distances, rose
rocks, which, North and South,
stretched out beyond the reach of the
eye; and this sdnd, which had been at
such depth that it never felt the
influence of the waves, was covered,
in places, Eiith shells, the inhabitants
OF which had perished when the wa
ters gradually died away. There lay,
cl;xed with these, somo skeletons of
hshes; here huge heap, and there
small bones, which looked less terri
pie; and masses of sea-weed, dried
and colorless, under which. as Il
seemed, the creeping things of the
ocean had sheltered for while. and
some had crawled to the surface when han
about to perish. But it was not onJv
the brute creation which had d;e?l
here; there was, in the middle. q nile
OF rocks, on one side of which thev
came suddenly TO pit, so deep and
dark that they perceived no bottom !:
and here, probably, there had been
sea-water longer than elsewhere, for
there were human bones about it. and
skulls Of men, and human earbs.
which The sun had fadaJ hr< ~yI,; ~