Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  upon us, and, turning a short bend, we found ourselves in another

  lofty chamber, similar to the one we had left in every respect but

  longitudinal form. Its general figure is here given. (See figure 2.)

  {image}

  The total length of this chasm, commencing at the opening a and

  proceeding round the curve _b_ to the extremity _d_, is five hundred

  and fifty yards. At _c_ we discovered a small aperture similar to the

  one through which we had issued from the other chasm, and this was

  choked up in the same manner with brambles and a quantity of the

  white arrowhead flints. We forced our way through it, finding it

  about forty feet long, and emerged into a third chasm. This, too, was

  precisely like the first, except in its longitudinal shape, which was

  thus. (See figure 3.) {image}

  We found the entire length of the third chasm three hundred and

  twenty yards. At the point _a_ was an opening about six feet wide,

  and extending fifteen feet into the rock, where it terminated in a

  bed of marl, there being no other chasm beyond, as we had expected.

  We were about leaving this fissure, into which very little light was

  admitted, when Peters called my attention to a range of

  singular-looking indentures in the surface of the marl forming the

  termination of the _cul-de-sac_. With a very slight exertion of the

  imagination, the left, or most northern of these indentures might

  have been taken for the intentional, although rude, representation of

  a human figure standing erect, with outstretched arm. The rest of

  them bore also some little resemblance to alphabetical characters,

  and Peters was willing, at all events, to adopt the idle opinion that

  they were really such. I convinced him of his error, finally, by

  directing his attention to the floor of the fissure, where, among the

  powder, we picked up, piece by piece, several large flakes of the

  marl, which had evidently been broken off by some convulsion from the

  surface where the indentures were found, and which had projecting

  points exactly fitting the indentures; thus proving them to have been

  the work of nature. Figure 4 {image} presents an accurate copy of the

  whole.

  After satisfying ourselves that these singular caverns afforded

  us no means of escape from our prison, we made our way back, dejected

  and dispirited, to the summit of the hill. Nothing worth mentioning

  occurred during the next twenty-four hours, except that, in examining

  the ground to the eastward of the third chasm, we found two

  triangular holes of great depth, and also with black granite sides.

  Into these holes we did not think it worth while to attempt

  descending, as they had the appearance of mere natural wells, without

  outlet. They were each about twenty yards in circumference, and their

  shape, as well as relative position in regard to the third chasm, is

  shown in figure 5. {image}

  ~~~ End of Text of Chapter 23 ~~~

  CHAPTER XXIV

  0N the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible to

  subsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us

  the most excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate

  attempt at descending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of

  the precipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although

  nearly perpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a

  hundred and fifty feet at the least), and in many places even

  overarching. After a long search we discovered a narrow ledge about

  twenty feet below the brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived

  to leap, with what assistance I could render him by means of our

  pocket-handkerchiefs tied together. With somewhat more difficulty I

  also got down; and we then saw the possibility of descending the

  whole way by the process in which we had clambered up from the chasm

  when we had been buried by the fall of the hill-that is, by cutting

  steps in the face of the soapstone with our knives. The extreme

  hazard of the attempt can scarcely be conceived; but, as there was no

  other resource, we determined to undertake it.

  Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to

  one of these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The

  other end being tied round Peters' waist, I lowered him down over the

  edge of the precipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight.

  He now proceeded to dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as

  eight or ten inches), sloping away the rock above to the height of a

  foot, or thereabout, so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of

  a pistol, a tolerably strong peg into the levelled surface. I then

  drew him up for about four feet, when he made a hole similar to the

  one below, driving in a peg as before, and having thus a

  resting-place for both feet and hands. I now unfastened the

  handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, which he tied to

  the peg in the uppermost hole , letting himself down gently to a

  station about three feet lower than he had yet been that is, to the

  full extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and drove

  another peg. He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the

  hole just cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one

  above. It was now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the

  topmost peg, with the view of fastening them to the second; and here

  he found that an error had been committed in cutting the holes at so

  great a distance apart. However, after one or two unsuccessful and

  dangerous attempts at reaching the knot (having to hold on with his

  left hand while he labored to undo the fastening with his right), he

  at length cut the string, leaving six inches of it affixed to the

  peg. Tying the handkerchiefs now to the second peg, he descended to a

  station below the third, taking care not to go too far down. By these

  means (means which I should never have conceived of myself, and for

  which we were indebted altogether to Peters' ingenuity and

  resolution) my companion finally succeeded, with the occasional aid

  of projections in the cliff, in reaching the bottom without accident.

  It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to

  follow him; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his

  shirt before descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope

  necessary for the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in

  the chasm, I fastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down

  rapidly, striving, by the vigor of my movements, to banish the

  trepidation which I could overcome in no other manner. This answered

  sufficiently well for the first four or five steps; but presently I

  found my imagination growing terribly excited by thoughts of the vast

  depths yet to be descended, and the precarious nature of the pegs and

  soapstone holes which were my only support. It was in vain I

  endeavored to banish these reflections, and to keep my eyes steadily

  bent upon the flat surface of the cliff before me. The more earnestly

  I struggled _not to think, _the more intensely vivid became my


  conceptions, and the more horribly distinct. At length arrived that

  crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis in which

  we began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall _fall-to

  picture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last

  struggle, and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing

  and headlong descent. And now I found these fancies creating their

  own realities, and all imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I

  felt my knees strike violently together, while my fingers were

  gradually but certainly relaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in

  my ears, and I said, "This is my knell of death!" And now I was

  consumed with the irrepressible desire of looking below. I could not,

  I would not, confine my glances to the cliff ; and, with a wild,

  indefinable emotion, half of horror, half of a relieved oppression, I

  threw my vision far down into the abyss. For one moment my fingers

  clutched convulsively upon their hold, while, with the movement, the

  faintest possible idea of ultimate escape wandered, like a shadow,

  through my mind -in the next my whole soul was pervaded with a

  longing to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterly

  uncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turning

  half round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instant

  against its naked face. But now there came a spinning of the brain; a

  shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky,

  fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me; and,

  sighing, I sunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged within its

  arms.

  I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed my

  proceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and

  perceiving my imminent danger, had endeavored to inspire me with

  courage by every suggestion he could devise; although my confusion of

  mind had been so great as to prevent my hearing what he said, or

  being conscious that he had even spoken to me at all. At length,

  seeing me totter, he hastened to ascend to my rescue, and arrived

  just in time for my preservation. Had I fallen with my full weight,

  the rope of linen would inevitably have snapped, and I should have

  been precipitated into the abyss; as it was, he contrived to let me

  down gently, so as to remain suspended without danger until animation

  returned. This was in about fifteen minutes. On recovery, my

  trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a new being, and, with some

  little further aid from my companion, reached the bottom also in

  safety.

  We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved the

  tomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill

  had fallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect

  brought to my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those

  dreary regions marking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of

  the ruins of the disrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in

  the vista to the northward, the surface of the ground in every other

  direction was strewn with huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some

  gigantic structures of art; although, in detail, no semblance of art

  could be detected. Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks

  of the black granite, intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both

  granulated with metal. Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever

  throughout the whole of the desolate area within sight. Several

  immense scorpions were seen, and various reptiles not elsewhere to be

  found in the high latitudes. As food was our most immediate object,

  we resolved to make our way to the seacoast, distant not more than

  half a mile, with a view of catching turtle, several of which we had

  observed from our place of concealment on the hill. We had proceeded

  some hundred yards, threading our route cautiously between the huge

  rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning a corner, five savages sprung

  upon us from a small cavern, felling Peters to the ground with a blow

  from a club. As he fell the whole party rushed upon him to secure

  their victim, leaving me time to recover from my astonishment. T

  still had the musket, but the barrel had received so much injury in

  being thrown from the precipice that T cast it aside as useless,

  preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefully preserved in

  order. With these I advanced upon the assailants, firing one after

  the other in quick succession. Two savages fell, and one, who was in

  the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his feet without

  accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released, we had

  no further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudently

  declined using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which

  far exceeded that of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club

  from one of the savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of

  the three who remained, killing each instantaneously with a single

  blow of the weapon, and leaving us completely masters of the field.

  So rapidly bad these events passed, that we could scarcely believe in

  their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in a

  species of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection

  by the sound of shouts in the distance, It was clear that the savages

  had been alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of

  avoiding discovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to

  proceed in the direction of the shouts, and even should we succeed in

  arriving at its base, we should never be able to ascend it without

  being seen. Our situation was one of the greatest peril, and we were

  hesitating in which path to commence a flight, when one of the

  savages _whom _I bad shot, and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his

  feet, and attempted to make his escape. We overtook _him, _however,

  before he had advanced many paces, and were about to put him to

  death, when Peters suggested that we might derive some benefit from

  forcing him to accompany us in our attempt to escape. We therefore

  dragged him with us, making him understand that we would shoot him if

  he offered resistance. In a few minutes he was perfectly submissive,

  and ran by our sides as we pushed in among the rocks, making for the

  seashore.

  So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hid

  the sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had

  it fairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards distant. As we

  emerged into the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense

  crowd of the natives pouring from the village, and from all visible

  quarters of the island, making toward us with gesticulations of

  extreme fury, and howling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of

  turning upon our steps, and trying to secure a retreat among the

  fastnesses of the rougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two

  canoes projecting from behind a large rock which ran out into the

  water. Toward these we now ran with all speed, and, reaching them,

  found them unguarded, and wit
hout any other freight than three of the

  large Gallipago turtles and the usual supply of paddles for sixty

  rowers. We instantly took possession of one of them, and, forcing our

  captive on board, pushed out to sea with all the strength we could

  command.

  We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before

  we became sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which

  we had been guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the

  savages, who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the

  beach as ourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No

  time was now to be lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we

  had none other. It was very doubtful whether, with the utmost

  exertion, we could get back in time to anticipate them in taking

  possession of the canoe; but yet there was a chance that we could. We

  might save ourselves if we succeeded, while not to make the attempt

  was to resign ourselves to inevitable butchery.

  The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place of

  turning it around, we merely changed our position in paddling. As

  soon as the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as

  well as their speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We

  pulled, however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at

  the contested point before more than one of the natives had attained

  it. This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting

  him through the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The

  foremost among the rest of his party were probably some twenty or

  thirty paces distant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first

  endeavored to pull her into the deep water, beyond the reach of the

  savages, but, finding her too firmly aground, and there being no time

  to spare, Peters, with one or two heavy strokes from the butt of the

  musket, succeeded in dashing out a large portion of the bow and of

  one side. We then pushed off. Two of the natives by this time had got

  hold of our boat, obstinately refusing to let 90, until we were

  forced to despatch them with our knives. We were now clear off, and