Golden Dreams and Leaden Realities

by George Payson

In my cooler moments I should have shrunk at once from so perilous an undertaking; but I was now possessed with a sort of stupid, unreasoning courage that prevented me from seeing the full extent of the danger, and probably actually diminished it in the same proportion.

The first part of the way was by no means difficult; I discovered on closer inspection a narrow shelf descending steeply along the face of the precipice, affording barely room for my feet, so that in order to preserve my balance I was obliged to advance in a sidling direction with my face to the rock, and my fingers constantly thrust into the narrow seams that mapped its surface. The shelf terminated abruptly about fifty feet from the summit, and for a moment I saw no way of continuing my descent. Creeping slowly back the path I had just travelled, I came in a few steps to a sort of fissure in the rock about two feet in width and penetrating deeper than my eye could follow. By bracing my feet against the opposite sides of this hollow, I thought I would descend in the same manner in which a sweep works his way up and down a chimney.

It was a peculiarity of the state of mind I was then in that the moment any plan presented itself I hastened to put it in execution. In a few minutes I found myself far below the point at which I had started, the numerous hollows and projections in the sides of my chimney affording an excellent foothold; but now a new difficulty presented itself. The chasm had insensibly widened, till now, with my feet planted firmly against one side, and my hands braced against the other, I found it no easy matter to maintain my position. To ascend seemed an effort wholly beyond my strength, yet another step downward might plunge me headlong on to the rocks below. The little light that found its way into the mouth of the chasm did not enable me to see the bottom, but I naturally concluded that the depth was considerable.

Cautiously sliding my hands a little lower, and then stretching out one foot as far as possible, I found to my utter consternation, that the wall retired so rapidly at this point that it was entirely beyond my reach. My limbs which had been before as rigid as iron, now seemed weaker than a child's, but it was only for a moment. The next my hope revived, and I resolved, desperate as it seemed, to make an attempt to return. But just then a stone detached by my foot fell into the chasm. I listened to hear it strike with the same sort of curiosity as if I had been in perfect safety; but to my great surprise no sound followed. Could it be that the hollow was so deep, or had it,—and I trembled at the thought,—fallen so short a distance as to make no noise? It would be easy to determine the fact by another trial, but on making the effort I could not find a single stone that was loose. I succeeded however, by a violent effort, in getting my hand into my pocket; and taking out my knife dropped it carefully in the middle of the chasm and the same moment heard it strike just at my feet. A single step placed me on the level ground at the bottom, which had been all the while scarcely an inch beyond my reach. I groped about till I had found my knife; and following the slender ray of light that streamed from a short distance, soon felt the cool breath of the river on my burning brow.

Our camp, it fortunately happened, was not far off, where my sudden arrival astonished my companions almost as much as if I had fallen from the moon. I was too much exhausted, however, to satisfy their curiosity, and lost no time in stretching myself out on my bed of rocks with a far keener sense of rest and enjoyment than the bridal chamber of the St. Nicholas could ever bestow.

I dreamed all night of rolling down hill in a barrel stuck full of nails; and in the morning, when I came to feel my bruises and look at my torn and bleeding hands, I almost believed my dream to be real; hardly a spot in my body but was as black and blue as if I had been hunted by a legion of fairies through every forest in Christendom.

In less than a week our raft was completed; it was much larger than the other, with an opening at one end, over which we erected a stout triangle or tripod to assist in raising and lowering the diver. For more than a month we continued to struggle against a series of delays and vexatious such as must necessarily attend an undertaking of so great magnitude in a new country; but after all, the thing itself was the chief obstacle,—all others were finally surmounted, but we were apparently as far as ever from attaining our object. The diver was almost entirely helpless in his moving prison; he was unable to remain under water more than a few hours a day, and came out dripping with perspiration and trembling as if he had the ague.

More than once he was overtaken by the same fit or faintness that had so alarmed us before, and we were thus kept in a state of constant apprehension. He found it nearly impossible to use a pick or shovel under water, but contrived by means of a small scoop to fill an iron pot we lowered down to him; and though it contained little gold, this trifling achievement raised considerably the spirits of the more sanguine of our party.

I had for some time, however, ceased to feel any lively faith in our success, and, on consulting with my brothers, we all agreed that there was little hope of doing anything that season, and determined to sell our share without further delay. An opportunity soon offering, I disposed of our quarter of the armour for four hundred and ninety-five dollars, to be paid two days after at Coloma; and thus ended six weeks of the severest labour I ever encountered.