The Osceola times., 1880-06-05
PR0T0PLASM.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.

I ~ .
| Wave sailed from San Francisco, bound
| for the North Pacific. there TO shoot sea
otters and seals. The souls on board
were few, consisting only Of the captain,
Richard Williams by name and an En-
rlishman by birth although he had be-
come natuialized citizen of the United
States, three sailors, cook and two
sharp-shooters, one named Seth Mitchell,
a rative of Connecticut, and the other
called Hans Jorgensen, IA Swede. The
| White Wave was built TO stand weather,
and was rs taut craft as ever came oil
| the New Haven stocks, but she had oc-
casionally 10 own that the elements were
her superior. The up trip was made in
good time, and the fishing, or rather
sporting grounds off the Island OF st.
George were reached without accident
or even encountering rough day.
About the last of the month, however, a
furious gale sprang up suddenly from
the southwest and drove the schooner
across to within a few leagues OF the
Aleutian Islands. According to the cap
tain's log-book, which has been placed
at the disposal of a Chronicle reporter, 1t
appears that on the 2Sth of September,
being then IT, or about ~ uegrees north
latitude and l6S degrees west longitude,
he sent q boat on shore to one of the is
lands which was quite new to him, to
look for water. the boats crew consisting
IF two sailor and Hans Jorgensen.
Whilst on shore the Swede, who had
his rifle with hiIi started to chasa OIL
fox. The gale was now blowing due
west, and as the captain found himself
drifting, he made urgent signale for the
return of the boat. Jorgensen had not
come back, and the sailors, after dellv-
Grafton, rowed Ia the schooner with
some difficulty, to acquaint Capt Will
liams of the fact. The captain was, as
may be imagined, excessively irritated,
and was in much doubt what to do when
the wind settled the difficulty by raising
In sudden fury and driving the schooner
still further westward.
Four DAYS yassed before Capt. Williams
was enabled to return to the spot where
Jorgonsen had been left, and it was with
much pleasure that the Swede was found
alive and well, although changed in ap-
pearance to an extraordinary degree.
Jorgensen had strange story to tell.
The fox had escaped notwithstanding
the Swede's craftsmanship, but so ex-
citing was the chase that he must have
wandered miles in pursuit before he
gave up the bushy.tailed lame and
thought of returning TO the boat. The
country was of the most bleak and desc
late description, chaotic masses of vol
canic rock lay around in confusion, and
not q shrub or tree of any description
broke the desoation. Here and there
were crevices, or rents in the earth, at
the dark bottoms OF which small but
rapid streams worked tortuous course
along their rocky beds, and beside these
streams there grew bugh masses of lich-
en-, such as Jorgensen had never seen
before. From other ravines or cracks in
the earth's crust there arose heavy vol
umes of steam, which impregnated the
air with a sulphurous smell. Jorgensen
was man OF limited imagination, al.
though good shot, yet so impressed was
he with the horrible anC dismal charac-
ter of his surroundings that he declared
it seemed TO him as il he We're looking
upon piece of the earth rs it must have
been before ever living creature wasput
thereon. Progress even of matter had
not visited this spot, which retained the
CHASTITY desolation OF the pre- Adamite
world. II was not surprising that among
the irregularities of such country he
should find some difficulty in keeping
his way, ior, though by climbing to the
height of some escarpment he was en-
abled to see the sea, almost rs soon rs
he descended from his lookout he be-
came lost in Il maze of bowlder-strewn
canyons. When at length he reached
the shore, struggling against the gale
that shrieked over both land and sea, he
saw the White Wave, with shortened
sail, flying to the westward. He took in
the situation at once, and was confident
that Captain Williams would return tor
him rs soon as the storm abated.
There was nothing to do but wait; and
when, after Il supperess nights camping
out, he awoke to find no sign of the
schooner, and gnawing at the stomach,
it became necessary to look for some
thing to eat. To search on the near
land was entirely fruitless, and he did
not dare to 20 far from the shore for fear
of missing the schooner. Shore and sea
seemed alike unproductiye in the desc
late region, and Jorgensen was beginning
to fear death by starvation when a
strange chance provided him with food.
Weakly crawling to the summit of an
eminence which rose about half mile
IN shore, and which he had been accus-
toned to use as lookout, he was over
come with something like faintlng fit,
and fell backward, rolling down a gulch
which Law on the land side. When he
recovered consciousness he found that
the stock of his rifle which he had in
voluntary retained hold of, had struck
against one of a number of peb1le-look-
ing objects which lay around, and in so
striking had broken it, The broken OBJ
ject Law within few inches of Jorgen-
sens head, and he could see that the
pebble was i'm reality but slight she'll
of lime or sulphur or somethIng-he was
not geologist enough TO say what-cover-
ing a quantity OF Jelly. II looked like
Jelly anyhow, to the furnished man, and
raising himself on his hands and knees
he took up fragment of the broken OBJ
ject and examined 1t closely. This clos
er inspection of the contents of the lime
shell showed the Jelly to be of the con.
sistency of melted glue, to be of light
rose color, and to be possessed Of a rath-
er acid smell. What surprised Jorgen-
sen was, 10 notice that although at first
sight the Jelly looked to be a plain, uni
form body. the substance was in reality
'OulD VI an llihillAN VI iiiuutt NNliS,
like, he thought, the roe of a fish. whilst
throughout its body stretched number
of ligament like the soitest floss silk.
The Swede touched the gelatinous mat
ter with his finger, took up a small
quantity put it first to his nose then to
his mouth, and, preierrlng the chances
of succor or death by starvation TO the
possibilities of death by poisoning, very
. 4 Il. II