The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-27

canoe and no cable to drag her up streah
again. In this emergency decided that t,'t
other craft were certainly awaiting us Ut t,1'
head of the rapid, or that at least, neiore a..
sccnding, we ought to be sure If they were
above or below. u,o .,,od Il
But could we ascend again? we uleu !.
strained every muscle till 1t gave way, auo
wore forced back to our Judgment on III,
rocks inst then we caught sight OF one "
the canoes being hauled up along the rl'. !.
y,,,rcin IN our relief. They had seen us III
o,,r ner;Io,,s rosition, and had set on 20 heit
ne r nossible. Vain hope! they could no.
r,ascb ne nv n thousand feet +; and there the.
hailed. II was growing dark; every ino'
mont lost made matters worse. iheie AZ
n,a;ned Int one ci,oice-a forlorn chance.
looked ut Ross. my companion. he was
cool h,,t s,id nothing. 1t was evident tnat
bo fyl,y realized the situation. "We must
RIM the desperate chance OF crossing the nrs'
ranid, and; said /, pointing TO the moaning
whirlpool just beyond, reach the shore IL
we cam | gave the order to the captain
and the men. They looked at me IN vacant
chastity manner. rs if had read their aeatsi
sentence. had to repeat the command, anu
with force.
We pushed off from our rock. Like liash
the current caught and whlrlcd us onward.
Montenegro and his crew, from their poSlIioh'
could sec the rapid better than we. IheS
raised long, wild shout, and madly waved
| their hats for us to so to the lett. gave III,
orders TO the captain to steer III the diicc.ion
constantly indicated by Montenegro, put nc
| was completely dcmorallzcd; 1or II looheu ~
| If such a course would send us 10 etefil'l!
over the main fall, only Il hundred yaroS ,ti-
i Their down stream. Ross and were staiiuins
| on seat front of our palm-leaf caoin, anu Tue
| captain behind it could not he reached. Ihe
canoe now lcaped forward like race-ioIse.
| caught sight of a fall not Il hundrea leeI III
advance. The foan dancing along us eose
| now and then showed black Spot. LII was
the rock! l glanced at Montenegro nov
near us. Tie gave his last wave OF ms na'
and his last shout "To the left !" then threw
mo both hands. turned pale as ghost, and
looked. if he did not cXclaim, Cost" AZ
that moment we struck the edge of the fall
with n crash that threw us forward. Inc
tough little craft rode upon it for half her
length. poised herself for moment, thcn,
impellcd by the waves astern to the leap,
plunged bow under, surged heavily forward,
and faced the main cataract, into whose cur
rent she was rushing like rocket.
Our men appeared stupified-not one OF
them dipped a paddle. / grasped my revol-
yer, shouting: "Who disobeys an order re- {,
ceiyes bullet Paddle! and you, captain"
rs | aimed the pistol at him, steer for the
Shore The crew bent to their work. We
barely escaped the great fall that would have
dashed us to pieces. The canoe touched the
shore, and by the time the baggage was ont
upon the rocks she was nearly full OF water,
her bottom badly torn to pieces.
That night, as the moon broke through a
mass Of murky clouds, and trallcd her
shadows across the islands in the Madeira
and through the foliage above us, tall and
stately Blojo Indian, Captain FellcE'no,
arose, relating the narrow escape from death;
A half Il hundred of his comrades listened
attentivelv to his laconic but impressive
speech. Then, after bending their knees in
prayer they made the forests echo to long
low Chant of thanks to God for safety from
the perils of the day.
On the 1st of November we broke ground
upon the Madeira and Mamorc railway at the
San Antonio terminus.