The Sunday globe., 1901-08-11

lGtI, WHO spent StNtlul eNbI n NAANl'
with her husband, I'm the following
paragraphs narrates a dreadful eNpe-
rience she once had there. ShWebo
was in ancient times, goldproducing
country, and here and there are re-
mains of large excavations centuries
Old, and in these are spots of bog-lfke
QuicksaRd, the surface OF which is not
distingui shable from the surrounding
soil But this Mrs Wood learned later.
She whites:
"One morning. after = very hot, sal
try night during which | had scarcely
slept, | arsse for a brisk walk before
the sun got up. My husband was asleep
I'm the verands, so ! did not disturb
him, but slipped quietly out Of the
house, loosed my dog, young terrier
and then together we struck away
across the plain before it was dawn,
no one knowing i'm which direction |
had gone. / shaped my course along
by the main water course or nullah,
which passed our house only few
hundred yards away. intending TO cross
presently when it got lighter, and walk
over to the bank of a large lage about
a mile and a hak away on the oth@
side. with the view of enjoying the cool
breezes off the water while taking my
constitutional along the bank which
formed the lake,
Descending the uullah. had to walk
some distance along the bed of it to
find am easy opening for the ascent Of
the opposite bank. Presently my atren-
tion was attracted by some fresh open
ings which I did not remember having
seen before They We're succession Of
vrs1 90 ,gf,El gYavr4 aga- Ir4rlI8iTr ID
into several directions-deep indenta-
tions running back for a distance Of
80 or 40 feet from the bank and about
10 feet deep, evidently caused by the
recent heavy rains Curiosity made me
scramble up into one Of these cracks
and explore them I passed on from
one branch to tho other until brought
to a halt at the end of one hy an
abrupt ledge, below which appeared
another crack at right angles To- the
one l was following but differing from
all the others by having level surface
at the bottom 1t was shaped some
what like an oval saw-DIt the floor be-
ing some ID feet below the ledge
was standing on. 7 caught sight of
pretty feather lying al the bottom. "G
viii take that with m.I anyhow. I re-
ground, ] vaulted into the pitt
"The moment my feet touched the
sandy bottom the surface cradled like
an egg shell. and I was at once knee
deep in some horrible composition the
like Of which I had never seen before.
secured tbs feather, however, and
stuck It in my solar hat. thinking I
shall need both hands to scramble up
out of this mess In jumping down
had sprung we'll out from the bank,
which / could now Just reach with my
fnger.tips, but not sufficiently well to
get any grip Of it. 7 tried TO step near
er to it, when to my horror I found
| could not move either of my feet.
tugged and pulled with all my might.
almost dislocating my knees and
ankles in my frenzied endeayOTs to free
myself, while my dog, who had jumped
down Immediately after me, was tear
ing at my skirt in his endeavOr to drag
himself out I was by this time embed
aed to quite one-third of my height.
and the whole horror of the situation
suddenly dawned upon me. I soon
found myself engulfed almost to the
hips, and ooziug up all around me was
a thick yiscid. black substance. a sort
of smdmud, Crumbly, yet clinging
with a glue-like tenacity All this time
my dog was stll tearing at my cloth.
ing. ! managed TO reach over and
with difficulty released him, picked
him up and threw him on the bank
where he set mp q continuous barking
tried TO send him home. thinking that
he might thus raise am alarm, but he
had not been trained and only contin
ued to yap and bark, this reminded
me that IL was time ] began to raise
am alarm myself and ] added my
screams TO his yelps tin the place
echoed again But as soon as the
echoes had died away down the canon
au was still as death again and de-
spair seemed TO grasp my heart as
noticed that ! was still sinking still
giukng-slOwly- wly-but Oh. 500
surely. belng sucked down as it seemed
into the very bowels of the earth !
was now over my waist in the ooze,
sud calculated that in another hour I
should be past help. ! dared not think
Of the torture of the gradual suffOca
ton. but the horror Of my situation
soon seized me again and ] struggled
and screamed again and again until ]
was utterly exhausted only TO find that
was deeper and yet deeper in the
UITe.
Then ! noticed that the skirt of my
dress. a white drill costume had float
cd out and that the greater part Of IL
was still on the surface. but was be.
ginning 10 drag down at me wait
spread 10 out wider. and found that II
retarded my sinking n was now about
10 o'clock. and the sun was ferCely
Irat4ro ON me Presently z swish
swish. sounding over my head made
me look up, when ] 1eheld a huge yul-
tIra Circling round and round, coming
closer and closer. until it alIghted on
the bank Just above me- Then another
and another came and waited around,
until the bank was crowded with them,
and crows. Presently a yulture, In
aIghting. struck me with IT'S wing;
then 80 flashed across my mind that
they were already looking on me as
carriJn and would a5suredly attack me
81 should lose consciousness. The
very thought made me scream i'm an
agony Of dread.
was not sinking nearly so fast
now the skirt was certainly holding
me up, but I was embedded right 10
my armpits The clamor raised boy my.
self ard tAe dog had the effect of scar.
ing the hOrrid monsters away. they
SCARED alOft, wheeling round and
round high I'm the air, waiting for that
! dared not think Of ] red0ubled Day
shrebs. hoping TO make some one hear
&c Looking up presently ] was given
heart again by seeing that the yuturC
wore disappearing, from which / 60,
cluded that help must be- appr0achin