Chapter XI: Part 11

In this way it continued till past noon; at intervals, as the sky lighted up, I took a firebrand and set fire to the bushes on the beach, and then hoisted the flag again, walking wearily to and fro till the storm ceased and the sky became clear. The chief concealed himself in a clump of bushes, and sat watching with cat-like vigilance the movements of the islanders. After some time he said a boat was coming; I scarcely durst look in the direction indicated, lest I should experience a fresh disappointment; but I did look, and saw, to my great joy, a boat launched, with four or five men on board, and pushing off the shore. On they came; the chief reported his discovery, and the rest of the Indians came to the beach, where I was still walking backward and forward. The boat approached, not directly off where I was, but an eighth of a mile, perhaps, to the windward, and there lay on her oars.

The Indians hereupon ordered me to return to the camping-ground, but, without heeding them, I set off at a full run towards the boat. They hotly pursued, I occasionally turning and telling them to come on, that I only wanted to see the boat. "Stop! stop!" they bawled. "Now, my legs," said I, "if ever you want to serve me, this is the time." I had one advantage over my pursuers: my shoes, though much the worse for wear, protected my feet from the sharp stones, which cut theirs at every step; but, under all disadvantages, I found they made about equal speed with myself. As I gained a point opposite the boat, the Indians slackened their speed and looked uneasily at me; the man in the stern of the boat hailed me, inquiring what Indians these were, what number of them, and how I came among them. I replied in as few words as possible, and told him we wished to cross to the island. He shook his head; they were bad fellows, he said; he could not take me with the Indians. They began to pull away. I made signs of distress and waved them to return, shouting to them through my hands. The boat was again backed within hailing distance. "Will you look out for me if I come by myself?" "Yes," was the prompt reply.

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.

INDEX.

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 274 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 THERESE 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 Esquimaux WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY 200

Mammoth Cave, In the THERESE 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 THOMAS L. NICHOLS 94 OLMSTED, FREDERICK LAW From New Orleans to Red River 104

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 104 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, THERESE In the Mammoth Cave 83

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the authors' words and intent.