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THE ATHENS GEORGIAN : JANUARY 30, 1877.
LOST IN A JUNGLE.
In the year 1*54,1 belonged to the
United States North Pacific Survey
ing and Exploring Expedition. For
some months we had worked dili
gently in Gaspar Straits, and along
the Malaysian Islands, and at last
had brought .our arduous labors to a
close. One delightful morning, while
anchored near the island of Banco,
most of the crew went ashore to en
joy the pleasures of the day on land
myself among the number. There
was a beautiful beach of sand and
shell reaching down into the playful
waters, and stretching along for
miles; and, just beyond this, a belt
of greensward, like the bright lawn
of artificial grounds, with mighty
trees reaching lar heavenward, and
which seemed as if standing Rentries
over the thick, dark jungle that
formed the background of the ro
manlio scene. The air was soft and
balmy, and we anticipated rare pleas
ure in strolling over this unknown
region of beauty, and now and then
perhaps venturing into its mysterious
depths and challenging the perils
which we knew abounded there in
the shape of wild beasts and reptiles.
I know not why, but there seems to
be a certain charm in concealed dan
ger, if surrounded with a kind of ro-
mautic mystery, which will oftentimes
lure forward the most timid, and the
day and the scene before us were
well calculated to exercise this influ
ence upon us. We were cautioned
by the prudent not lo venture far
from the beach, nor become separated
from each other, but all to be con
stantly within cal!, that in the event
of being assailed by either man or
beast, we might all be quickly united
against a common foe. This was
good advice, and had I been one who
followed it, I might have been saved
a good deal of alarm and suffering.
In company with a shipmate,
named John Halleck, I moved leis
urely along up the smooth, shiny
beach, stopping now and then to pick
up some beautiful shell, or cast a
Stone into the water, or drink in the
beauties of as lovely a scene as I ever
gazed upon. In this way, we two
gradually became separated from the
rest of our companions, and; in the
course of a couple of hours, found
ourselves far from our boat and en
tirely alone. This, however, gave ns
no uneasiness, as each was armed
•with a carbine, a brace of pistols, and
s sheath knife, and considered our
selves equal to any probable assailant.
We came to a running stream of
limpid water, that tumbled down
over its rocky bed from a romantic
elevation, beneath a thick canopy of
leaves, shrubs and vines; and the
temptation to explore its banks for a
short distance, beneath the cool
shade, was too great to be resisted.
“We won’t go far, Butler,” said
xny companion to me, “and there’s
no danger of our getting lost, be
cause the stream will always guide
ns back.’’
I d’d not need any persuading, and
so we plunged into the, tangled
thicket at once. At first, we pushed
our way forward with considerable
caution, and I confess I cast my eyes
around me in the heavy gloom with
not a little of timidity; and more
than once, when I heard a stick snap
loudly, or the bushes rustle witlf the
hurried departure of some animal
whose solitude we had encroached
upon, I grasped my carbine with a
nervous hand, and held my ground
vrith rather questionable courage;
but finding, us we advanced, that
nothing molested us, and discovering
that one at least of our wild beasts
was a very pretty little deer, we re
gained confidence, and felt the bold
spirit of the eager hunter take
possession of us, and urge us forward
in quest of game.
“It wouldn’t he a bad idea, Ned,
to have a little fresh meat,” suggested
xny companion.
“ I was just thinking of the same
thing,” I replied; “ and though our'
carbines cannot bo depended on for
any distance, we may be lucky enough,
if we keep a sharp watch, to put iu
an effective shot at close quarters.”)
We had pushed our way up the 1
stream for perhaps half a mile, wheu
we came to a spot that, for wild,
gloomy beauty, was equal to anything
that we had ever seen in any part of
the world. For some time we had
heard th«s steady, solemn sqund of
roaring water, and were prepared to
find our : progress- checked by a cas
cade; but.tho scene we suddenly
came upon,'.(hr exceeded onr antici
pations in picturesqe sublimity. An
immense wall of black, rugged rocks
stretched itself upward before us to
a height of from seventy-five to an
hundred feet, either side of ’which
was buried in a dense jangle so heavy
with foliage that the eye could not
pen ctrate it. Over this precipice came
rushing, foaming and roaring, the
little stream that we had been tracing
upward, its whitened waters.falling
into a kind of basin, of considerable
depth, and some fifty feet in circum
ference, where they whirled and bub
bled and grew calm, and then moved
steadily outward, through nn almost
level channel, till they renched the
uext gradual descent, when they
started off with a gentle ripple, to
increase in both sound and speed on
their laughing journey down the
mountain to the briny deep below.
Around the basin ol this waterfall
grew gigantic trees of enormous
height, with imnteusebranches spread
ing out in every direction and inter
locking, and so thickly covered with
leaves and vines, and interwoven
with long, green, shiny moss, that
not a single ray of the hot, vertical
sun could find its way to the pool
below, which, even at midday, car
ried on its face the deep shade of a
northern twilight.
While looking at this picturesque
gem of the forest, I was suddenly re
minded of being in a land of peril—
for, with a startled cry v my compan
ion bounded back several feet, and,
impulsively, I imitated his example.
In Heaven’s name, what is it
I exclaimed, bringing forward my
carbine with tremulous bauds.
Look,’’ he answered, pointing to
a lead-colored, fiat-headed snake, of
a venomous species, which was coiled
around a bush, and swinging in the
air, not more than one or two feet
front where his face had been at the
moment of making the discovery, i
felt a chill of horror at the narrow
escape he had made from being bit
ten ; and approaching the reptil?
with great caution, I cut it down with
my knife, and succeeded in crushiug
its poisonous head with the breach of
m,y carbine. Scarcely had I done so,
when my companion called to me to
keep quiet, and immediately brushed
from my person an enormous spider,
whose bite, for aught I know, might
have been as deadly as that of the
snake.
Come,” said I, with a shudder of
fear, “let us leave this place at
once.”
We resolved, however, to climb
the percipice, if there were any way
of reaching the top, and cautiously
pushed into the jungle for this pur
pose. In the course of half an hour
we had succeeded in our design;
and when at length we stood upon
the rocks above the cascade, we
were rewarded for our labor l»y a
splendid view of the sea, and a large
portiou of the island.
A deer, moving through the bushes
below, on the other side of the eleva
tion, now attracted our attention,
and revived the notion of our having
a fine steak for dinner, and forthwith
we sot off on a regular hunt, with the
idea that, should we miss our ani
mal, we might find another of the
same kind.
This led to all our future trouble;
for, by our careless venture, we soon
became completely lost in the jungle;
and when at last we set out, as we
supposed, for the beach, it turned
out that we took the opposite course,
and pushed deeper into the mazes of
the forest. At first, supposing our
selves going right, wc felt no unea
siness ; but when, after walking a
couple of hours, without getting a
glimpse of the sea, we found our
selves oti the margin of a large,
stagnant pool, and the general ap
pearance of the rank vegetation such
as belonged to the depths of an un
explored forest, we stopped and
looked inquiringly at eadt other,
while the blood gradually retreated
from onr flushed faces, and left them
pale with a strange kind of fear.
While we thus stood, looking
silently at each other, and each busy
with thoughts that he was ahn'ost
afraid to express, a sleek little doer
stole out of the bushes quite near
us, and timidly thrnst his nose down
toward the water. I saw him first;
making a sign to my companion not
to stir, I quietly raised my piece, took
a steady aim, and fired. The animal
dropped in his tracks; but before ]
could utter'"an exclamation of tri
nmpb, the wild, horrid roar of some
furious beast- rung through the jun
gle, and fairly made me treiuble-with
terror.
“ My God! what is it ?” exclaim
ed my companion, pressing to tny
side.
A tiger, undoubtedly,” I answer
ed.
“ Then we are lost!”
“Not yet awhile, man alive!” I
rejoined, with reassuring boldne s,
though I doubt not I was, in reality
as much frightened as himself.
Keep a sharp look-out while 1^.re
load my peace! and remember, if
assailed, we are not to die like ’cow
ards !” We put onrselves in as good
a defensive position as the circum
stances would permit, with onr
backs l raced against a large • tree,
and watched and waited for half an
hour; when, finding nothing appear
ed to molest us we resolved upon
having a dinner off onr game, even
should it prove to be our last meal;
so we kindled a fire, cut off some ten
der steaks and toasted them, and
really ate quite heartily for men
placed in our perilous situation. Our
dinner served to refresh us and
give us nerve; and feeling there
was no more time to be lost, we now
struck off vigorously through the
dense jungle, in the hope of getting 4
baok to the beach before dark.
We were c ODined, however, to a
sad disappointment. We traveled
miles on miles; and when the shades
of night began to gather around
there we’were, in the depths of an
awful wilderness, with no sign of ever
being able to find the way out of it.
Wc now heard another loud roar,
apparently not far off, and onr hearts
sunk with dispair—for if assailed by
a ferocious tiger now, what chance
would we have of preserving our
lives?
“ I can think of nothing better
than climbing a tree, and passing a
’night in its branches,” I said to my
companion. He assented, with trem
ulous anxiety, and we soon found
one to answer our purpose; but as
we hurriedly ascended it, we both
shuddered at the idea of coining in
contact with some of the thous*
ands of poisonous reptiles with
which the whole horrid region
abounded. I shall never forget that
night, which was literally one of
horror. We succeeded in getting a
a pretty safe position among thick
branches ; but we dared* not close
our eyes in sleep, for fear of falling
to the ground; and all through the
long tedious hours, we heard, at in
tervals, the snarling, growling, fight
ing and roaring of the prowling wild
beasts, sometimes afar off, and some
times quite near us, In fact, on
two or three occasions, the bushes
were rustled immediately below us;
and peering down from our leafy
covert, we more than once caught" a
glimpse of the fiery eyeballs of some
night monster, as he looked up at us
and uttered a lew, savage growl.
When the light of another day
enabled ns to see our way, we cau
tiously descended to the ground, and
again set forward at a venture, no
longer presuming to calculate whether
we were going right or wrong. It
proved a terrible day to us, full of
new dangers, great fatigue, and not
a little suffering, and night again
overtook us in the depths of an awful
jungle, from which we now despair
ed of ever finding our way out. We
had eaten nothing since the meal of
the proceeding day, with the excep
tion of a single biscuit divided be
tween us, and we not only felt faint
and weak, but we were so power
fully inclined to sleep that we believ
ed not eveu the dangers surrounding
us would keep us awake through
another night. Wc sought out anoth
er tree, climbed into its branches,
and there, by tearing up some of
our clothing, and lashing ourselves
to the limbs, we managed to sleep
off a portion of the second night, and
notwithstanding our more critical
situation, passed through it with even
less horror than the first.
The third day proved one of great
suffering and no less peril, in the
same • interminable jungle, with its
ferocious beasts and venomous rep
tiles; but just before night, to our
unspeakable joy, we came to a clear
ing, and saw before us a small Malay
village, with a part of the houses
built on posts, and the rest on the
ground. At any other time this
village might have been an alarming
sight to ns—for we knew some of the
Malays to be robbers, pirates, and
cannibals—but just then we felt that
any change from the miseries of that
jungle would be a relief; and rather
than starve to death there, or be
poisoned by snakes, lizards, and spi
ders, or be torn to pieces by wild
beasts, we would have boldly ven
tured into a village of the worst sav
ages on earth.
We proved to be objects of great
curiosity, and were soon surrounded
by men, women and children, whose
kindly faces and genial manners con
vinced us we had nothing to fear.
We tried to tell them by signs that
we had come from a vessel, had got
lost in the jungle, and we were
almost starved. They seemed to un
derstand us; and one, who appear
ed to be a chief among them, took
us into his dwelling, and gave ns hot
tea and food, -and treated ns with
true Christian hospitality. Tji.t
same night, most of the crew of our
vessel, who been two days searching
for it-, arrived at the village, and we
were again among our friends. I
shall never forget the joy of that
meeting, nor the horrors of tny ad-
veniure on the island ofBanca.
A Hew Mammoth Establishment.
NOW OCCUPY THEIR NEW STORE.
f - K | •• i S IJ i; ? ft r \ ■ ! | | i s
Wholesale Department
Flour a Specialty.
We are Agents for Two of the Best Mills in th^ Country, nnd Guarantee every Sack Sold.
-0-
Corn, Meat, Molasses and Sugars,
AT WHOLESALE PRICES.
FERTILIZERS.
NOW (S THE TIME TO MAKE YOBR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE COMING CROP.
THe Best is tile Clieapest!
CASH OR COTTON OPTION AT 15c.
WE HANDLE ONLY STRICTLY FIRST-CUSS
Como and so© for
- .. .. JT- .
Yonrsolves.
j£,i< oi t v •/. r <
The Virginia City (Nov.) Enter-
Use relates the following anecdote j u The proof of the pudding is the chewing of the bag-”
ot the late Senator Nye: : —- — ----- ——- —— —— —
-Nye went to Sccretai^r Stauton PLANTERS’ HOTEL,
once to make a petition for some
dead soldier’s orphans. It was in
the darkest days of the war. Stan
ton said, 1 1 have not time, Mr. Nye,
to see to what yon want.’ • Suppose
you take time, Mr. Secretary,’ said
Nye. ‘ You are unreasonable, Mr.
Nye, in pressing such a thing at this
time,’ said Stanton. ‘ Permit me to
say that you are the unreasonable
man,’ answered Nye. * If you were
not a United States Senator I should
say you were very impel tinent, said
Stanton, hautily • If you were not
a great Secretary of War I
should be tempted to say you are
making a d—d fool of yourself,’ re
plied the old Gray Eagle, with his
eyes blazing. Stanton looked at him
a moment, and then softening said :
‘Maybe I am, Jim—who knows—
come inside and tell me all about it.’
‘Now, Ned, tny boy, you arc grow
ing sensible,’ said Nye, and the busi
ness was quickly arranged,”
Her Weapons.—A very heavy
womon about forty years old was
making some purchases in a Wood
ward avenue store yesterday, and,
while moving across the store, her
spectacle case fell from her pocket to
the. floor. It was picked up by a
cash-boy, who handed it to her with
the remai k:
. “ Here’s your revolver.”
“ Tis eh V” she remarked as she re
ceived the case—“ well that’s my
hand?”
The “ box ” received by the lad on
the ear echoed all over the store,
and when he rosef up on the other
side of the counter he seemed to
have been settled in favor of the old
lady. She looked after him, pawed
over the calicoes and mused:
“ I wasn’t brought up to stand sass
from children, and I don’t believe I
can evfer get used to it.”—Detroit
Free Press,
What would you expect to find on
a litterary man’s breakfast table?
Bacon’s Remains, Final Memorials of
Lamb, if in season, and Shelly’s frag
ments.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA;
NEW AR.R.AI^G*ESM]ES]NrT.
Slates Reduced to $3 per Day.
HAVING LEASED THIS WELL KNOWN HOTEL, I enter
upon its management by Reducing Rates, and asking of the Travel
ing Public, especially my friends of Carolina and Georgia, a continu
ance of that liberal support they have always given it.
B. F. BROWN,
jan23-5m FORMERLY OF CHARLESTON, PROPRIETOR.
John Merryman & Co.’s,
AMMONIATED DISSOLVED BONE
AND ACID PHOSPHATE,
The Cheapest and most popular Fertilizers in use.
Prices i~n Attiens, Georgia =
Ammoniated Dissolved Bone, cash.... * $50 00
bone,time with 16c cotton option 72 00
Acid Phosphate, cash 40 00
Acid phosphate, time with 15c cotton option (30 00
Time Sale Payable by First November,
Without interest, with option of paving in cotton of a grade not below middling at 15c., de
livered incur Warehouse in Athens, Ga. gEAVES dr NICHOLSON,
j an 23 • Agents, Athens, Ga.
CUMBERLAND GUANO.
We are now prepared to furnish this excellent Fertiliser. It is a new Guano in this market,
never having been sold here until lost year, bnt it at once takea its stand as one of the best, If
not the very best
FERTILIZER EVER SOLD IN ATHENS.
Every man who used it will testify to its merit?. Below sea certificates voluntarily tendered
ns by men of high character, and among tbo best formers in the oonntry.
MESSRS. ORE & CO.—Gents: I used Cumberland under cotton the past year, and found h
the best Guano I have ever tried. Wont more certain next year. Mnftw[iy> county.
ORR & CO.—Gents: I used Cumberland iact year under under cotton and corn, and can un
“ It make ’
it daring
say it gave entire satisfaction.
« hot dry season.
C3 an abundance of fruit on cotton, and hold.
J. P. LEE, C cones County, Georgia.
MESSRS. ORB * CO.-In reply toyonr inquiry, I unhesitatingly Bay that the Cumberlai^l
nano, sold by you. is the beat 1 have ever used on my place. j <*£n1£ Gtoigta,
too. for liiif,
OBS & CO-
Gnano, sold by you,
Price 1/2 per Ton, Bo freight-
jan!6-3m