The Portland daily press., 1870-12-02
w. w.

PERILoUs ADVENTURE OF A YOSEMITE
TRAvELER.-The California papers furnish
an exciting story OF the terrible experience of
an Englishwoman, the famous Mrs. Yelyer-
on,-the victim, it will be remembered, of
one of those false marriages by an English
brute of an aristocrat, which have so shamed
and shocked the world of modern society
there and here,-in coming out from the Yo-
semitic Valley about three weeks ago, after
winter weather set in among the mountains.
She was to join, in making the return Jour-
ney, some English gentlemen, Lord Harvey,
Mr.. Strut and Mr.. Flower, members of Par
Lament, but through some delay in her pre-
parations, they went on ahead, and promised
to wait for her at Inspiration point, eight
miles out. Before she got there, however,
terrible storm of hail, rain and snow set in,
which further delayed her, and also drove the
gentlemen on without waiting for her to come
up. So here she was at a height of 5000 feet
among the mountains, alone, in fearful win
try storm, eight miles back to the valley,
down very rough descent, and near twenty
miles forward to Carke's rancho, the trail
thereto covered with snow, winding among
hills and woods and through open mountain
meadows. But she pushed forward, blindly
and uncertain, till her horse, panic-stricken
gave out, and she was finally left, after many
vain struggles to get forward, to spend the
night alone, in the storm among the noun
tains. Almost with the last RAYS of the de-
parting day she perceived an old cedar tree,
hollow with age. Into this she .crept, and,
clad in her thin riding habit, sat there
through the night, holding her horse by the
bride. The wretchedness OF such night
needs no description. The morning brought
with it little hope. The horse was useless
utterly demoralized-his rider was numb with
cold, faint with hunger-having eaten moth
ing for twenty-four hours-and desparing OF
finding the track. Abandoning the animal,
which was now worse than useless she set
out on loot through the deep snow on a last
search Tor the homeward path, knowing well
that fallnre meant Death. As she proceeded
on her way along the edge OF steep declivity
she heard noise like the snort of a horse.
"HumpW came the sound again. She hurried
round the rock from behind which the sound
proceeded, aud found herself face to face with
grizzly bear. He made no attempt to mo-
lest her, being almost, if not quite, as aston
ished as she was. The sudden apparition,
however, forced, from her cry of horror. and,
starting back, she lost her footing and rolled
over and over down the declivity, and finally
found herself lying bruised and bleeding in a
guch. Desperation expedited recovery and
urged her to further efforts, and once more
she started ON her almost hopeless search
She was rewarded by a view of the valley in
the distance beneath her, and she found the
trail, but it was the Hights Cove trail-not
one that would be of any use to her. Boldly
she then resolved to descend the precipitous
rocks, and she commenced her descent A
false step, a slip, and down she went sheer
forty feet. Some bushes at the bottom saved
her from death, but the fall brought the blood
gushing from her nose and mouth, and for
some time, how long is not known, OF course
she lay insensible. Oft defeated, but not
vanquished Mrs. Yelverton once more started
through the snow to renew her descent. Dur
ing the time that she lay insensible, her
clothes had frozen stiff upon her. She came
to very long tree, which had fallen
down the steep decvity, and, leaning on its
smooth trunk, she slid perhaps $50 feet down
the slope, and then fell again. The struggle
was over, she could do no more, and she lay
lnsensible where she fell. BY wonderful CO.
incidence, MIR. Leidig, who keeps a hotel in
iosemlte, had chosen that day and that trail
Tor leaving the valley. In passing along, he
hotlced the track of Mrs. Yelverton's slide
oown the tree. Struck with curiosity, he ap-
PIoacned 1t; and, to his astonishment, saw
whac was evidently the print of a woman's
ioot III the snow. He dismounted made his
way down the slope, and there he found her.
lie carried her up, placed her on his horse,
ana LOOK her back to Hutchines hotel in the
valley, where restoratlves were applied and
she recovered, badly bruised, but after all
not seriously injured, a monument to her own
courage and good luck.