El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-07
CHAPTER xxx,
4 New PerpleXity

The disappearance of the boom and
of Toms old striped shirt, which had
waved from it like a banner, excited
considerable speculation and some
thing of alarm.
If simply overturned by the wind, it
must have lain where it fell; at all
events, it could not have rolled far
from the cairn, or pile of stones, in
the center of which we had wedged
it. By what agency had this disap-
pearance come to pass?
That it was the work of wild ami
mails could not for a moment be con-
ceived; so the event filed us with
vague, but very alarming conjecture.
With his Ratchet, Probart the car
penter cut down and prepared long
and slender tree to replace the lost
boom on the top of the Devils noun
tain, as we now termed it; and while
one portion of us assisted him in this,
the other set about the capture of
some of the wild goats with which the
woods abounded, as we were anxious
to procure the milk of the females, and
the flesh of their kids.
This was a most arduous task, as
they were SO fleet of foot; and when
pursued, or when in search of chose
bitter and astringent plants of which
they are so fond, they could gain the
most dangerous pinnac1es and lodges
of rock that overhung the sea. In such
places there grew a kind of wild labur-
mum, and Hislop did not fail to re-
mind me that Theocritus described 1t
as the favorite food of the goat.
We otter saw these agile quadru-
peds spring, without pause, fear or
hesitation, from pinnacle to pinnacle,
or from ledge to ledge of rock, where,
had they missed footing, they must
have fallen a thousand feet or more,
either into the ocean on one side, or
some ravine on the other, and there,
perched far aloft, they would remain.
looking at us quietly, and reminding
me of the couplet:
High hung in air the hoary goat re
clined,
His streaming beard the sport of every
wind"
By great industry, and the exertion
of incredible labor and activity, we
succeeded in capturing five, by isolat
ing them from their fiocks, and chas-
ing them into chasms and corners
cape, and then we secured them by
the running rigging of the long boat.
Some of the females afforded milk, "A
rarity and nourishment to us who had
been so long at sea. The flesh of a kid
we thought delicious, and lest we
should tire of roasted and broiled, Jack
Burnet, the ships cook, contrived to
boil some pieces of goat in its own
skin, stretched upon sticks, with fire
underneath, salt for a spice, and sliced
pumpkin for vegetables.
Of the horns, when carefully scraped
and cleaned, we made very efficient
drinking cups, in which our rum,
duIv mixed with water, was doIed out
to us by Hislop, the keeper of our pro
vision store.
The eggs of the sea birds were a
constant object of search, and being
an expert climber, 1 frequently collect
ed great numbers of those laid in the
crevices of the rocks by the sea gull
storm-finch.
Our life was one of perpetual expos
ure and daily activity. Though over
hot at noon, the atmos-
phere of the morning and evening was
delightful, and, as these portions of
the day were spent in hunting for
food, the time passed rapidly, but His
lop's chief fear was that if we were
not taken off by some ship before the
rainy season set in, our discomfort AMI
danger from agues would become very
great.
BY the time we had been fourteen
days on the island he was recovered
so far as to be able to join me in