With the World's Great Travellers, Volume 1

by Unknown

The Indians all this time had kept within ten or fifteen feet of me, with their hands on their knives, and reiterating their commands to come back, at the same time edging towards me in a threatening manner. “Yes, yes,” I told them, “in a moment; but I want to look at the boat,”—taking care, however, to make good my distance from them.

At the instant of hearing the welcome assurance that I should be cared for, I drew out the watch (which I had brought, according to promise, to have a new crystal inserted at Holland), and threw it into the bushes; the salt water would spoil it, and, if I should be retaken, the spoiling of that would be an aggravation which might prove fatal. At the same moment I gave a plunge headlong into the river; my clothes and shoes encumbered me, and the surf, agitated by a high wind, rolled in heavy seas upon the shore. The boat was forty or fifty yards off, and, as the wind did not blow square in shore, drifted, so as to increase the original distance, unless counteracted by the crew. Whether the boat was backed up towards me I could not determine; my head was a great part of the time under water, my eyes blinded with the surf, and most strenuous exertion was necessary to live in such a sea.

As I approached the boat I could see several guns, pointed, apparently, at me. Perhaps we had misunderstood each other; perhaps they viewed me as an enemy. In fact, they were aimed to keep the Indians from following me into the water, which they did not attempt. My strength was fast failing me; the man at the helm, perceiving it, stretched out a rifle at arm’s length. The muzzle dropped into the water and arrested my feeble vision. Summoning all my remaining energy, I grasped it, and was drawn towards the boat; a sense of relief shot through and revived me, but revived, also, such a dread lest the Indians should give chase, that I begged them to pull away, I could hold on. The man reached down and seized me by the collar, and ordered his men to ply their oars. They had made but a few strokes when a simultaneous cry broke from their lips, “Pull the dear man in! Pull the dear man in!” They let fall their oars, laid hold of me, and, in their effort to drag me over the side of their whale-boat, I received some injury. I requested that they would let me help myself, and, working my body up sufficiently to get one knee over the gunwale, I gave a spring with what strength was left me, and fell into the bottom of the boat.

They kindly offered to strip me and put on dry clothing; but I told them, if they would only work the boat farther from the shore, I would take care of myself. They pulled away, while I crawled forward, divested myself of my coat, and put on one belonging to one of the crew. Conversation, which was attempted, was impossible. It was one of the coldest days in a Patagonian winter. I was chilled through, and could only articulate, “I ca-n’t ta-lk now; I’ll ta-lk by a-nd by.” Some liquor, bread, and tobacco, which had been put on board for my ransom, on supposition that this was what the signal meant, was produced for my refreshment. The sea was heavy, with a strong head-wind, so that, though the men toiled vigorously, our progress was slow. I was soon comfortably warmed by the stimulants provided, and offered to lend a hand at the oar, but the offer was declined. The shouts and screams of the Indians, which had followed me into the water, and rung hideously in my ears while struggling for life in the surf, were kept up till distance made them inaudible. Whether they found the watch, whose mysterious tick at once awed and delighted them, and restored it to its place of state in the chief’s lodge, or whether it still lies rusting in the sands by the sea-shore, is a problem unsolved.

The boat at last grounded on the northern shore of the island. Mr. Hall, the gentleman who commanded the party, supported my tottering frame in landing, and, as we stepped upon the shore, welcomed me to their island. I grasped his hand and stammered my thanks for this deliverance, and lifted a tearful eye to heaven in silent gratitude to God. I was then pointed to a cabin near by, where a comfortable fire was ready for me. “Now,” I heard Mr. Hall say, “let us fire a salute of welcome to the stranger. Make ready! Present! Fire!” Off went all their muskets, and a very cordial salute it appeared to be.

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INDEX.

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		PAGE
A Hunter’s Christmas Dinner	J. S. Campion	[124]
Alaska, A Summer Trip to	James A. Harrison	[239]
Alligators, Among Florida	S. C. Clarke	[74]
Arctic Seas, Fugitives from the	Elishe Kent Kane	[210]
Bacon, Alfred Terry	A Colorado “Round-Up”	[133]
Bourne, Benjamin F.	An Escape from Captivity	[274]
Bradford, Louis C.	Among the Cow-boys	[141]
Bryant, Henry G.	The Grand Falls of Labrador	[189]
Buffalo, Hunting the	Washington Irving	[147]
Campion, J. S.	A Hunter’s Christmas Dinner	[114]
Canadian Woods, Hunting Scenes in the	B. A. Watson	[178]
Captivity, An Escape from	Benjamin F. Bourne	[247]
Carver, Jonathan	The Fort William Henry Massacre	[249]
Clarke, S. C.	Among Florida Alligators	[74]
Clarke, William	The Great Falls of the Missouri	[168]
Collis, Septima M.	The Muir Glacier	[230]
Colorado Round-Up, A	Alfred Terry Bacon	[133]
Country of the Sioux	Meriwether Lewis	[157]
Cow-boys, Among the	Louis C. Bradford	[141]
Darwin, Charles	Valparaiso and Its Vicinity	[265]
Death, Rescued from	W. S. Schley	[220]
Down the Ohio and Mississippi	Thomas L. Nichols	[94]
Escape, An, from Captivity	Benjamin F. Bourne	[274]
Esquimaux, Life Among the	William Edward Parry	[200]
Featherstonhaugh, G. W.	Winter on the Prairies	[114]
Florida Alligators, Among	S. C. Clarke	[74]
Fort William Henry Massacre, The	Jonathan Carver	[249]
Fugitives from the Arctic Seas	Elisha Kent Kane	[210]
Gaucho, The and His Horse	Thomas J. Hutchinson	[257]
Glacier, The Muir	Septima M. Collis	[230]
Grand Falls of Labrador, The	Henry G. Bryant	[189]
Great Falls of the Missouri	William Clarke	[168]
Harrison, James A.	A Summer Trip to Alaska	[239]
Horse, The Gaucho and His	Thomas J. Hutchinson	[257]
Hunter’s Christmas Dinner, A	J. S. Campion	[124]
Hunting Scenes in the Canadian Woods	B. A. Watson	[178]
Hunting the Buffalo	Washington Irving	[147]
Hutchinson, Thomas J.	The Gaucho and His Horse	[257]
In the Mammoth Cave	Thérèse Yelverton	[83]
Irving, Washington	Hunting the Buffalo	[147]
Kane, Elisha Kent	Fugitives from the Arctic Seas	[210]
Labrador, the Grand Falls of	Henry C. Bryant	[189]
Latham, Henry	From New York to Washington in 1866	[39]
Leigh, Oliver H. G.	New Dependencies of the United States	[9]
Lewis, Meriwether	In the Country of the Sioux	[157]
Life Among the Equimaux	William Edward Parry	[200]
Mammoth Cave, In the	Thérèse Yelverton	[83]
Massacre, The Fort William Henry	Jonathan Carver	[249]
Mississippi, Down the Ohio and	Thomas L. Nichols	[94]
Missouri, The Great Falls of the	William Clarke	[168]
Muir Glacier, The	Septima M. Collis	[230]
Natural Bridge and Tunnel of Virginia	Edward A. Pollard	[49]
New Dependencies of the United States	Oliver H. G. Leigh	[9]
New England, Winter and Summer in	Harriet Martineau	[22]
New Orleans to Red River, From	Frederick Law Olmsted	[104]
New York to Washington in 1866	Henry Latham	[39]
Niagara Falls and the Thousand Islands	Charles Morris	[31]
Nichols, Thomas L.	Down the Ohio and Mississippi	[94]
Ohio and Mississippi, Down the	Nichols, Thomas L.	[94]
Frederick Law Olmsted	From New Orleans to Red River	[39]
Parry, William Edward	Life Among the Esquimaux	[200]
Plantation Life in War Times	William Howard Russell	[62]
Pollard, Edward A.	Natural Bridge and Tunnel of Virginia	[49]
Prairies, Winter on the	G. W. Featherstonhaugh	[114]
Red River, From New Orleans to	Frederick Law Olmsted	[114]
Rescued from Death	W. S. Schley	[220]
Round-Up, A Colorado	Alfred Terry Bacon	[133]
Russell, William Howard	Plantation Life in War Times	[62]
Schley, W. S.	Rescued from Death	[220]
Sioux, In the Country of the	Meriwether Lewis	[157]
Summer Trip to Alaska, A	James A. Harrison	[239]
Thousand Islands, The, and Niagara Falls	Charles Morris	[31]
United States, New Dependencies of the	Oliver H. G. Leigh	[9]
Valparaiso and Its Vicinity	Charles Darwin	[265]
Virginia, Natural Bridge and Tunnel of	Edward A. Pollard	[49]
War Times, Plantation Life in	William Howard Russell	[62]
Washington in 1866, From New York to	Henry Latham	[39]
Watson, B. A.	Hunting Scenes in the Canadian Woods	[178]
Winter and Summer in New England	Harriet Martineau	[22]
Winter on the Prairies	G. W. Featherstonhaugh	[114]
Yelverton, Thérèse	In the Mammoth Cave	[83]

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