Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-25

ten feet in width, the old man depicted i
glowing terms the contest, and told us no,
they had hurled great rocks from the wa
!, upon the heads Of tie invaders of their homes
{ how the great chief himself had been feile
to the earth by one of them, and of blood aow
ing like water.
Indeed, the old man seemed never to tire O
the subject; and as we slowly made our wa,
up the difficult path, listening to the earnes
and impressive traditions regarding I'll,
valor of his ancestors, I could but sympa
thize with him when he said, 1.-THE Zuni
were a happy and prosperous people unit
the Spaniards came amoug them; they warre<
for the protection of their homes and for tn
honor Of their women, it is true, but tn
strife was never of their own seek
ing; they only fought when obliged to
then they fought honestly, man to man; Their,
was no nation that could stand against tn,
Zunis.
"Montezuma had protected them since thu
creation of the earth. Had he not instructed
them how to manufacture their own clothing
to raise their food out of the ground, to rails,
flocks and herds, to build houses to live in;
Were they not more prosperous than the wild
tribes who wandered over the country but t<
destroy and lay waste?
"They had always prospered until the
Spaniards came. Then all was changed
From the day that those people came they
had been cursed. Montezuma no longer re.
garded them with his former love; the
Spaniards had made his heart cold
towards them; but the Great Spirit would
again kindle the fame in his heart. It must
be a punishment that he had sent upon them,
because they, his children, had permitted the
sacret flame to burn dimly that he had
kindled with his own hands upon the altar of
the estufus; but they relied upon the promise he
had made them, that he would one day re-
turn and lead them, as of old-for was not
MonteZuma the very embodiment OF truth g.
In this g%arrulous, simple manner the old
man entertained us as we toiled up tho steep,
precipitous sides Of the mesa, enchanting our
attention so completely, that we gave heed to
but little else, and had actually assembled the
highest of the three terraces before I was
aware that we were standing upon a narrow
shelf scarcely twelve inches in width,
although 500 feet above the plain.
When I at length realized the fact, I wa7
indeed startled at the novel and perilous
situation in which we found ourselves; nor
were my fears in the least allayed by noticing
the nervous and excited maner with
which Don Rafael, who seemed ever
on the alert for our safety, called our atten-
ton to the fast growing darkness, as ha
urged us to at once commence the descent.
Upon our left was a huge wall of rock and
earth, towering nearly 800 feet above our
heads, and apparently SO smooth as not to
afford footing for a living creature, while
upon our right for nearly 500 feet below was
empty space.
The dizzy heights at which we stood, the
narrow path before us, the vast abyss below,
the growing darkness, the danger of the de-
scent, all seemed to have been forgotten in
the desire to hear the old man, who still kept
on in his low monotone, utterly oblivious of
everything save the Zunis and their history:
when, carelessly stepping upon a small stone
which rolled under my foot, before l could
possibly recover myself, l was p~recipitated
over the bluff, and in a moment found my
self sliding down its almost perpendicular
side, feet foremost.
In the %twinkling Of an eye I was far beyond
the reach of my companions, who. upon hear
ing the noise made by my fall. turned towards
me, and stood aghast, but powerless to aid
me. My first thought was that l should be
dashed to pieces upon the rocks at the foot of
the bluff; the next that l might possibly
manage to save myself upon ole OF the ter. !
races beneath.
All this time I was acquiring greater mo-
mentum, until it seemed US though I was |
fairly flying into the very arms of the horri-
bic death which stood staring me 60 steadily
in tie face. Not a bush or shrub could l seq
upon the PERCEPTIONS sides; there was
nothing, absolutely nothing, for me to cling
to, and the stones and earth which ] disturbed
in my descent were falling in q shower around
Convinced that death was inevitable, l be.
came perfectly reconciled to the thought. Nv
min comprehended in a moment the acts Of
, lifetime. Transactions of q most trivial
character, circumstances the remembrance of
which had been buried deep in memory's vault
Tor years, stood before me in bold relief: nv
recalled with the rapidly of lightning.
md yet retained a distinct impression Of every
I seemad to DO gliding swiftly and surely
,at Of tho world, but felt no fear, experienced
40 regret at the thought; on the contrary.
that l was SO soon to see WITH nv
eyes the great mystery concealed behind
veil; that I Yves to cross the deep waters
md be at rest.
! thought I heard tie sound of many voices.
n wonderful harmony, coming fresh from
ne far-of distance, though from what di.
ection I could not tell.
My momentum had become 60 great that I
to experience much difficulty II
'reathing; and I remember that l was try.
cg to explain to my own satisfaction why
bis should be so, when tho heel of Eay right
'oos struck the corner Of q snail store that
HANGED to be firmly imbedGed in the earth,
therefore offered SO much resistance to
y descent th:t upcn striking it I was
brown forward upon my face. The stone
doubt saved my life.
l have a clear recollection that, as I was
brown forward, I instinctively threw nv
ms out, whether to act as a protection to
y face, or to enable me to grasp something.
not know; but one of my hands struck
yalnst the sharp edge of something, and I {
rasped it and chung to it with a tenacity that {
dying man only can understand. {
l nave always, since that day, understood {
'rfectly the feeling that induces a drowning t
to catch at a straw that he sees floating t
Ear him. {
How it was that l succeeded in grasping it. 6
holding it, or managing to make it afford q
e a kind of support, I have no idea.
1 remember of thinking that 1 had stopped:
being aware that l was bleeding badly:
wondering if I was dead, and why d
Oh an eternity of time had elapsed since nv o
OF had slipped; and then darkness closed u
ound me. r
l was aroused by a sharp pain in my left 5
m, and opening my eyes saw two or three q
rsons standing around me whom l did not 81
though I realized the fact that I II
IS not dead, and Immediately relapsed once >
ore into a state of insensibility, to be again y
oused by a terrible twinge of pain in my arm. y
my eyes, I saw the doctor with a -
ir of scissors, which 1 recognized as my = -
n, in his hand, with which he seemed to be y
gagged in cutting my coatsleeve, while a
Infused mass of something seemed above and
'und him on all sides. At first l could not &,
m to understand what it meant, then I
NY rna'n To ue human faces. aud tneu-I