CHAPTER NINETEEN.
UNEXPECTEDLY REACH THE BANK, AND LAND IN SAFETY--MY CLOTHES ARE INTATTERS--AFTER MAKING A LONG JOURNEY FIND THAT I HAVE RETURNED TO THEVERY SPOT I LEFT--ENCOUNTER A HUNGRY WOLF--SUFFER FROM WANT OF WATER--MEET A LYNX, BUT FIND NO LIQUID--GO TO BED AMONG SOME NESTS OFRATTLESNAKES--SLAUGHTER A HOST OF SNAKES AND SIP THE DEW OF THEMORNING--MORE RATTLESNAKES--MY ONWARD JOURNEY CONTINUED--MY CRY IS STILLFOR WATER--OBTAIN A LARGER SHARE THAN I REQUIRE--I SWIM DOWN THE STREAM,AND ON LANDING AM RECEIVED BY A HUGE GRIZZLY.
There was only one way I conceived by which, humanly speaking, I couldpossibly have been saved. I was whirled furiously down the current. Isaw, a short distance before me, the commencement of the rapid which ledto the cataract, when I felt the raft turn slightly round, and halfstop, as it were, and by the appearance of the water I was convincedthat it had got into an eddy. I darted down my pole. It speedilystruck the bottom. I shoved on with all my might. New energy returnedto me. I sprang to my feet. The raft no longer advanced towards therapid, but I found that I could urge it surely and steadily towards theshore. A shout of joy, and an exclamation of thankfulness escaped mylips as it reached the bank, and, by the aid of my pole, I leaped on tothe dry land a dozen feet at least from the edge. I was preserved fromimmediate death. But where had I drifted to? Where were my friends?What prospect had I of obtaining food to sustain life till I could findthem? All these were questions which I asked myself, but to which Icould give no satisfactory answer. Scarcely had I reached the shorethan my raft, which I had not secured to it, began to drift away.Onward it went down the stream. I could not recover it; so a verynatural impulse made me follow its course along the banks. I ran on fortwo or three hundred yards, when I arrived at the edge of a roaringcataract, some forty feet deep at least. First, there was a foamingrapid, with here and there black rocks appearing amid the sea of froth,and then came a dark treacherous mass of water, which curled over andfell downwards in a broad curtain into a deep pool, out of which therearose a cloud of dense spray with a deafening roar; and then the riverwent gliding away, dark and smooth, in innumerable eddies, showing therapidity of the current, till it was concealed by thick woods and rocks.I now felt more than ever how deeply grateful I ought to be for the wayI had been preserved, for not an instant longer could I have existed hadI once reached the edge of the cataract.
I had, however, no time to lose, so, shouldering my rifle and pole, Istruck off at a right angle from the course of the river, hoping thus toacross the track of my late companions. I had, it must be remembered,but two charges of powder remaining, and as at that season of the yearthere were no fruits ripe, my existence depended on my making aneconomical use of them.
I had another source of anxiety. I had left the camp in a pair of thinold shoes, and they were now so worn-out and coming so completely topieces, that they no longer afforded any protection to my feet, whichwere already cruelly cut. My only resource, therefore, was to tear offthe sleeves of my jacket, with which I bound them up. This afforded mesome relief; but the ground near the river was in many places rocky, sothat these bandages quickly again wore out. The sky, too, becamecloudy, and the wind changed constantly, so that when I got into ahollow where I could not see any distant object by which to guide mycourse, I was often uncertain in which direction I was going. I foundalso, after I left the river, a great scarcity of water; the heat haddried-up all the water-holes and rivulets, and I thus began to suffermuch from thirst. The pangs increased as I walked on. I might havekilled a bird, or some animal, and quenched my thirst with their blood;but as I might require their flesh for food, I did not wish to expend acharge of powder till my present stock of meat was expended. It wasgetting dark. I was more thirsty than hungry; so on I went in the hopesof reaching a spring before it was quite dark. I looked about me.After a time, I could not help fancying that the features of the countrywere very similar to those through which I had passed some hours before,and at length the disagreeable fact forced itself on me that I hadreturned back on my own track, and that all my late exertions had beencompletely thrown away. For an instant I felt very much inclined todespair of reaching my friends, but I quickly recovered myself, and theclouds clearing away in the west, the glow of the setting sun showed methe right direction to take. I therefore determined to push on as longas the least glimmer of light enabled me to find my way.
I had not gone far, however, when I heard a rustling noise in a copseclose to which I was passing, and presently out of it stalked a hugegaunt wolf, and planted himself before me in a threatening attitude,some twenty paces in advance, as if he had resolved to dispute my onwardprogress. My first impulse was naturally to fire, but I recollectedthat if I did, I might not possibly kill him, as I had only small shot,and that though I did kill him, his flesh would be far from pleasantfood. I knew that if I showed the slightest symptoms of fear he mightfly at me, so I faced him boldly, as I had faced many of his brethrenbefore, and tried to look somewhat braver than I felt. I waved my longpole towards him, and advanced a pace or two, on which he retreated,still keeping his piercing eye fixed savagely on me. Again I advanced,and began shouting as loud as I could, hoping thus to frighten him away,but instead of this he set up the most terrific howls, which I could nothelp interpreting as invitations to his comrades to assemble from farand near, in order to make a meal on my carcase. The more he howled thelouder I shouted, and the odd idea occurring to me that if I shouted outreal names the wolf would be more alarmed, I called by name on all theRaggets, and Short, and Noggin to come to my assistance, and lookedround, pretending that I expected them to appear. The wolf, I thought,winked his wicked eye, as much as to say, "That's all gammon; don'tsuppose you can do an old soldier like me;" but I cannot say positively,as it was growing dark. Still he would not move, and I had no wish toget nearer his fangs. I continued shouting, and he went on howling, anda sweet concert we must have made, for I had bawled till I was hoarse.I have an idea that my shouts kept his friends away. Perhaps itprevented them from hearing what he was saying.
At length, much to my relief, I saw him turn his head, first on one sideand then on the other, and then about he went, as if he had given up allhopes of his expected supper, and away he skulked into the wood. Onseeing this my courage rose to the highest pitch, and after him I went,shaking my pole and shouting and shrieking and hallooing at the very topof my voice to expedite his movements; and it is my belief that he wasso frightened that he did not stop again to look round till he had gotmany a mile from where he met me; though I own that, when we first seteyes on each other, I was much the more frightened of the two.
The shades of evening were now approaching, and I was anxious to find aplace in which I could spend the night in tolerable safety. Scarcely,however, had the wolf disappeared, than an old lynx, followed by a youngone, trotted up close to me. I got my rifle ready, but rather than fireI began shouting and shrieking as before, and they continued theircourse without molesting me. My great wish was now to find water. Adraught of the pure liquid would have appeared like the richest nectar.Hurrying on, I saw a green spot with some rushes growing near.
"There must be water," I exclaimed, rushing on with eager haste, likethe pilgrim in the desert, towards the longed-for oasis, even fancyingthat I saw the shining surface through the trees. I reached the spot; Ilooked about; there were the rushes sure enough, and there had been thewater, but it was dried-up. Oh, how thirsty I felt! I thought I mightfind some moisture at the roots of the rushes. I pulled them up andsucked eagerly at them, but they afforded no moisture to my parchedlips. I had no resource, therefore, but to go liquidless to bed. Itwas rapidly getting dark, so I had no time to lose. I saw a large stoneat a little distance, and thinking that it would afford me someprotection if I slept beside it, I began to pull up some rushes withwhich to form my bed. Having collected as many as I could carry, I tookthem to the spot and threw them on the ground. I went back for more,and having scattered them about and piled up a few for a pi
llow, wasabout to throw myself on this quickly-formed couch when I saw, justunder the stone, what I at first took for a stick, but which thenbeginning to move, exhibited itself to me as a monstrous rattlesnake,with its body coiled up and its head erect, its fierce eyes glittering,and its forked tongue moving rapidly to and fro as if eager to bite me.I had disturbed it from its slumbers, and it was naturally excessivelyangry. I did not stop to let it bite me, but sprang back several feetbefore I recovered my usual coolness. I felt sadly conscious that I wasnot like myself, and that my nervous system was very much upset.Regaining my self-possession pretty quickly, however, I once moreadvanced, and settled the creature with a blow of my stick.
The strokes I gave the ground soon roused up several other rattlesnakes,and I found that a whole brood were collected under the stone. As theyare slow-moving creatures, I was able to kill every one of them beforethey could escape. They would have been somewhat unpleasant companionsto me during my nocturnal slumbers. Scarcely had I despatched myrattle-tailed enemies than, turning over with my foot some smallerstones near the big one, out wriggled a number of other snakes, black,brown, and yellow, twisting and turning amid the grass, many makingdirectly towards me. To be surrounded, even in daylight, by suchcreatures would have been especially unpleasant, but in the dusk, when Icould scarcely see them, the sensations I experienced were scarcelybearable. I felt inclined to shriek out at the top of my voice, but Irestrained myself, and began slashing away right and left with my stick.Some I killed, but the others being more nimble than the rattlesnakes,escaped. Still I could not venture to proceed in the dark, nor could Istay on my legs all night; but I had no fancy to sleep near where I hadkilled the snakes. I looked about, therefore, for another suitablespot, and having selected it, I lashed about in every direction with mystick, so that any lurking serpent must of necessity be killed or put toflight. Then I collected more rushes, and taking a suck at a piece ofdry duck for my supper, threw myself at my length on them and tried togo to sleep. It was no easy matter to do this, as I could not helpremembering that I was surrounded by venomous creatures and wild beastsof all sorts, who might find me out during my slumbers and rouse me upin a very unpleasant way.
At last, however, I closed my eyes, and so tightly did they remainsealed that the sun had arisen before I awoke. I started up and lookedaround me. Neither venomous serpents nor wild beasts were near, but thebodies of the snakes I had killed lying about showed me the reality ofwhat had occurred. I started to my feet, and a few shakes completed mytoilet. I had hoped to awake before daylight, that I might have time tocollect the dew from the branches of the trees and from the long grass,that I might at least moisten my lips. I felt as if all the liquidwould be dried-up before it got down my throat. But, alas! when Ilooked round, so hot was the sun, and so dry the atmosphere, thatscarcely a drop could I find, even in the shade, sufficient to wet mytongue. I however plucked some cool grass and chewed it, and thencontinued on my journey. I was now able to proceed with more certaintythan on the previous day.
As I walked on, my glance was turned on every side for the sort ofvegetation which might indicate the vicinity of water. Every height Icame near I ascended, that I might enjoy a wider range of vision. I wasall this time suffering dreadfully from my feet. Sometimes I passedover a wide extent of ground covered with small sharp stones, whichspeedily wore out all the bandages which I had fastened round my feet.That was bad enough; but soon afterwards I came to a tract overgrownwith stunted prickly pears, or _cacti_ as they are called. It was verymuch as if the ground were planted thickly with short swords, daggers,dirks, and penknives. Walk as carefully as I could, my feet and legswere constantly striking against them, and from my shins to the soles ofmy feet I was covered with wounds and blood. My jacket was soon usedup, and I then had to begin on the lower part of the legs of mytrousers, off which I tore shreds as I required them. At last I satdown on a stone to apply fresh bandages to my feet, and what with theheat, and thirst, and hunger, and weakness, and sickness, and pain, andanxiety, I felt more inclined to cry than I had ever in my life before;but I did not cry. I was too much dried-up for that, I suppose. Mynext impulse was to throw myself down on the ground and give up thestruggle.
However, I did not remain long in that mood. It is the worst mood toencourage. I had always belonged to the "try" school. "No, I will notgive in," I exclaimed suddenly; "I will trust to Providence to carry meout of my difficulties." Still I was so weak and I felt so helplessthat I sat and sat on till I was about to fall into a sort of lethargy,from which I might have had no power to arouse myself. Suddenly,however, my ears caught the well-known and justly-dreaded sound of therattlesnake's rattle. I sprang up all alive in a moment, and saw thecreature half a dozen paces from me, approaching through the grass. Ablow with my long stick, however, soon stopped his rattle, andremembering how much time I had lost, I hurried on. I bethought me as Idid so, that I had offered but an ungrateful return to the poor snakefor the service he had rendered me, for had it not been for him I mightnever have stirred from the stone on which I was sitting till I hadfallen off into the arms of death.
I now walked on more rapidly than before, and in about an hour sawbefore me a more thickly-wooded country than I had yet passed. Ipressed forward towards it. I should find shade, and perhaps--what I soearnestly wished for--water. The wood was extensive, and looked gloomyenough when I first entered it, though I felt the shade most gratefulafter the glare of the open prairies. The sun, also, found its waysufficiently through the foliage, only now bursting forth, to enable meto steer my course as before. I have described the silence of the snowmountains. I might now speak of the language of the woods. I sat downto adjust my feet coverings, and when my feet ceased to tread on thegrass and dead leaves, I became conscious that I was surrounded by a lowrustling noise. At first I thought that the sound was caused by thewind among the dry leaves, but I was soon convinced that it was made bythe young buds breaking forth from the cases which had shielded themduring the cold of early spring--that I literally heard the treesgrowing!
I did not rest long, for I was afraid of falling into my former state.On I limped--unable to help uttering every now and then complaining"Oh!" as my foot trod on a thorn or knocked against a stone. I grewfaint and more faint--"Water! water! water!" I ejaculated. Howdreadful is thirst! "I cannot stand it longer," I cried out; but I feltit would be suicide to stop as long as I could move, and the nextinstant a low, murmuring, rushing sound reached my ears. I thought itwas fancy, but still I dragged on as fast as I could my weary steps.The noise increased--it was that of a waterfall--I was certain of it. Itried to hurry on my feet, and scarcely felt the pricks and cuts theywere receiving. I caught sight of the glittering spray through anopening in the woods. I fancied that I felt the coolness of the airpassing over it. On I went. There was the water rushing, gurgling,foaming away; but as I sprang on, forgetting my weakness, I found myselfon the top of a rock, over which I very nearly toppled into thesought-for stream, twenty feet or more below me.
I looked about for a path to lead me down to it. I saw, a little wayhigher up the stream, a part of the bank less steep than the rest. Iran towards it. I slid down; but what was my dismay to find that Icould not stop myself, and into the water I plunged, with my rifle andpowder-flask at my back! I had now more of the element I had been soeagerly desiring than was pleasant. My feet, however, touched thebottom, and stooping down, I let the water run into my mouth and wash mydried-up face. Oh, how delicious it was! It revived me and restored mystrength; and then I began to consider how I was again to get out of thestream. The current was so strong that I dare not let go the bank, lestI should be carried off my feet. I could not hope to climb up that downwhich I had come, and those on each side were still steeper. The matterwas soon settled for me, for suddenly I felt myself taken off my feet,and down the stream I drifted. I kept as close to the bank as I could,grasping at the rocks as I passed, and endeavouring to climb up by themout of th
e water. My anxiety was to ascertain whether or not I wasabove the waterfall. If above it, I might be carried down, and fallinto the very danger I had before escaped. I tried to make out by thesound, but could not tell, nor could I see the spray which I had beforeobserved. Still I hoped that I was below it. On I went, drifting downthe stream just as I have seen a dog carried along a river when he istrying to climb up on a steep bank. Some bushes appeared. I caught atthem--several broke in my grasp. I caught eagerly at others. Mystrength was failing me. At length I seized one which held. Close toit I saw that there was a resting-place for my feet. I was about todraw myself out of the water when, on looking up, what should I see onthe top of the bank but a huge bear gazing intently down on me, andlicking his jaws as if in contemplation of a pleasant repast.
Dick Onslow Among the Redskins Page 19