The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1867-08-01
From the Pen and Pencil.1 ,s
\ Terrible Adventure with Wild
ReaStS .f-J..


where chance had carried me.
NV horse devoured space, leap
ed torrents and ravines without
troubling myself about my horse
AT length the noble steed, utterly
exhausted, stopped on it's trembling
knees, and fell on the sarid.
Where am / p / mentally said,
as tried to discover my wherea-
bouts.
But the moon, concealed by
clouds, shed no light; the wind blew
violently; the branches Of the trees
clashed ogether, and in the depths
of the desert the howling of the wild
beasts began to mingle the deep
notes of their voices, with tt e hoarse
mewlings of the wild cats.
My eyes sought in vain to pierce
the ohscurity. l went up to my
horse, which was lying on the ground
and painting heavily: moved with pity
for the companion of my adventur-
Gus journeys, I bent over it, placed
in my waist-belt the pistols that
were in the holsters, and unfast-
ening gourd of rum hanging
from my saddle bow, began washing
the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth
OF the poor beast. whose sides quiv
cred. and and which this seemed to re-
store to life. Half an hour passed
in this way; the horse, somewhat
refreshed and got on it's legs, and
with instinct that distinguishes the
race had discovered q spring close
by where it quenched it's thirst.
But deep roar broke forth a
short distance away, repeated almost
immediately from four different
quarters. The horses hair stood on
end with terror. I trembled.
"Malediction!" l exclaimed, 81
am at watering place of the cou-
gouars. ..8t
AT this moment / saw, about ten
PAGES from me two ewes that shcne
like live Goals, and looked at me
with strange fiXedness.
was man Of tried courage au
dicious, and even rash on occasions
but alone in the gloomy solitude in
the midst Of the black night, sur
rounded by ferocious beasts, I fell
fear assail me against my will;
breathed with difficulty; my teeth
were cEenched, an icy perspiratlon
poured down my whole person and
[ was on the point Of abandoning
myself to my fate. This sudden
discouragement disappeared before
powerful Will. and l, sustained by
the instinct of self preservation, and
that the hope which springs eternal
in the human breast, prepared for
an unequal struggle
The horse burst into snort OF
terror, and ran off.
"All the better" I thought, ''per-
haps it will escape" .'aa
A frightful concert Of howls and
roars broke out on all sides at the
sound of the horses fight, and huge
shadows bonded along past me-
A violent blast swept the sky, and
the moon lit up the desert with its
mournful, sickly rays
Not far off the Rio Negro ran be-
tween two scarped banks, and / saw
all round me the compact masses OF
a virgin forest, an inextricable chaos
of rocks piled up pell nell, and OF
fissures out of which clumps oftrees
grew. Here and there creepers
were interwined describing the wild
est curves, and only stopped theil
ramifcations at the river The sol
composed Of sand and that detritus
which abounds in South American
forests, gave way beneath the foo
[ now discovered where I was.-
more than fifteen leagues from any
habitation, on the outskirts Of al
immense forest, the only one in Pat
agonia which no ranger had as We
been bold enough to explore. sucf
horror and mystery did it's gloomy
depths appear to reveal. Neal
the edge OF the forest a limpic
stream burst through the rocks
whose banks were trampled by nu
merous traces of the claws Of wilc
beasts This stream served them
in fact, as watering place, wheI
they left their dens after sunset, anC
went in search Of food and drink
AS a living testimony Of this sup
position, two magnificent tigers
male and female. were standing or
the bank, and watching with anxious
eyes the sporting of their cubs.
Hum said 1, These are dan
gerous neighbors." F"
And l mechanically turned my
eyes away. A panther, stretched
out on rock in the position of {
watchful cat, fixed it's inflamed eyes
upon me. / who was well armed
according to the South American
fashion, bad rifle Of wonderous ac
curacy, which, l had leant against :
rock close to me.
Good" ! said, cit will be tougi
fight at any rate"
I raised my gun, but at the mo
ment when / was about to fire, {
plaintive mewing made me raise my
head. A dozen wild cats of grea
size, perched on branches of trees
were looking down at me, while sew
eral red wolves were crouching il
front.
A number of vultures, urubus, ,ant
caracas. with half closed eyes, Were
seated on the surrounding rocks ant
apparently awaiting the hour 70
their meal.
Jumped up on a rock, and then
by the help of my hands and knees
gained, after extraordinary difllcul
ties, a sort Of natural terrace sit
uated about twenty feet above tn
ground. The frightful concer
formed by the denizens of the forest
whom the subtletv of their scent at
tracted one after the other, increaset
more and more, and overpoweret
the very sound of the wind whicl