Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-07-28
A Lady Lost i'm the Woods OF Cali.
fOrnin-BtOry of Her Adventures.

From the Alta California, July H.
A young lady, Miss Matilda Steen, left
San Francisco six or seven weeks ago
to join her brothers, who are engaged in
making tan-bark in the neighborhood OF
the Garcia river, Point Arena, Mendo-
cino county. She had been living with
them some weeks. when one morning
she discovered thds she had forgotten to
put knives in their lunch-basket; SO she
determined to take them to the spot
where her brothers were working. She
did so with great difficulty, the forest be-
ing like those of many parts Of Oregon
and British Columbia dense mass OF
underground, immense fallen logs, etc,
and very mountainous country. She
then started to return one of her broth
ers offering to accompany her. This
she declined, saying that as she had
found her way in, she surely could get
out again. 1t was at this time she got
lost. Hear her story:
When / first found | was lost / was
badly frightened. | run through the
brush as fast as could, bowling at every
step, but after while | cooled down and
confined my locomotion to fast walk.
About an hour, / should think, after ]
left my brother l heard the sound of an
ak, and | halloed to the chopper, and
plainly heard him answer. If 1 had
kept on halloing and had remained
where / was, the chopper would soon
have come to me, as / have learned
since / got in, but thought that could
surely follow up the sound of the ak
and | tried it. Alas / was following the
echo. | was going down deep cahon
and the sound died away and | was left
alone. Great God alone in such a
placel For while my very sight grew
dim-all things reeled around me. What
would become Of me if should never
find my way out2 All bright thought
flashed through my mind-a thought
which gave me JOY in an instant; there
is God who is able to savel From
this time forward | was perfectly re-
signed to my fate, feeling that if il
was Gods S good pleasure to save me, he
would do SO in good time. All day
travelled, now pulling myself up steep,
brushy mountains, now rolling, sliding
tumbling down into the deepest canons
l ever beheld. Sometimes the noun
tains were SO steep that it was utterly
impossible for me to walk down them,
and | was forced to wrap my dress
around my feet and actually slide down
on my back. The first night found me
on the side of mountain, about half.
way to the top. looked around me to
| find level place where | could rest
through the night, but no such place
could / find, so ] just placed my feet
against tree to keep from sliding down
the mountain, and in this attitude | re
mained during the night. Occasionally
| would wake, and whenever l awoke
would halloo at the top of my voice
thinking that perhaps some one might
hear me. Vain hopel / had no fear oi
any wild beast
As soon as morning dawned | resumed
my toilsome journey up, up, up, down
down, down. The bright sun seemed tC
greet me with smile, and beckoned mt
to him as he loomed grandly above the
distant mountains, and | wondered
whether his bright face looked upor
another human being in all the
wide world so utterly lost, los
as poor me. The second day
came to two or three mountains covered
with chapperel and with thorn, and wal
obliged to crawl through it like snake
When / would get through, all torn ant
bleeding, l would involuntrrily exclaim
as / looked behind me, how in tn,
name of God did | ever get through
that AS l was going down mountain
| heard step behind me, and lookin
around, discovered that 1t was dee
following me, and when | picked up
stick and threw at it, it ran off, and
saw it no more. tried often, the frs
day, to retrace my steps, but ever.
time / failed, finding by shred OF m.
dress, broken twig, or something o
other, that l was only going round an,
round. | have been asked why
didn't follow the streams, as, if could
they would have led me out. But
could not; there was so man,
large logs and rock in them that |
was impossible. had gold watch ant
bunch of keys with me, and as an evi
dence that | didn't go crazy, as man.
supposed would, didn't lose either
i deeply regretted that didn't have thu
| KEY Of my watch with me. On Thurs
day, about noon, / suddenly came ou
to a trail, and, like Robinson Crusoe,
saw human track The track glad
dened my heart as never track did be
fore. | followed the track and saw {
fence, and next house, Thank God
am saved When | got close to th'
house stopped and halloed, and som'
gentlemen came out and invited me in
! went in and told them that ! was thu
lost woman. They said that they haC
heard of my being lost the night before
and were on the lookout for me. Thel
prepared some food for me, and were
very much afraid / would eat too much
ate very little. Somehow | was no
hungry. When / had finished my mea
| told them that ! wanted to 60 home
but they would not hear Of it, TheJ
said / was to much fatigued to attemp
it that night, and one Of them got on {
horse and went to the Garcia mill tC
bear the news. One Of my brothers
came out that evening as soon as hC
heard the news, and ! rode home on
Friday morning.
A Young Americans Filtration I'm
Turkey.
A lady writes from Constantinople: