As soon as I could collect my scattered senses, I found myself nearly
suffocated, and grovelling in utter darkness among a quantity of loose
earth, which was also falling upon me heavily in every direction,
threatening to bury me entirely. Horribly alarmed at this idea, I
struggled to gain my feet, and at length succeeded. I then remained
motionless for some moments, endeavouring to conceive what had happened
to me, and where I was. Presently I heard a deep groan just at my ear,
and afterward the smothered voice of Peters calling to me for aid in
the name of God. I scrambled one or two paces forward, when I fell
directly over the head and shoulders of my companion, who, I soon
discovered, was buried in a loose mass of earth as far as his middle,
and struggling desperately to free himself from the pressure. I tore
the dirt from around him with all the energy I could command, and at
length succeeded in getting him out.
As soon as we sufficiently recovered from our fright and surprise to be
capable of conversing rationally, we both came to the conclusion that
the walls of the fissure in which we had ventured had, by some
convulsion of nature, or probably from their own weight, caved in
overhead, and that we were consequently lost for ever, being thus
entombed alive. For a long time we gave up supinely to the most intense
agony and despair, such as cannot be adequately imagined by those who
have never been in a similar situation. I firmly believe that no
incident ever occurring in the course of human events is more adapted
to inspire the supremeness of mental and bodily distress than a case
like our own, of living inhumation. The blackness of darkness which
envelops the victim, the terrific oppression of lungs, the stifling
fumes from the damp earth, unite with the ghastly considerations that
we are beyond the remotest confines of hope, and that such is the
allotted portion of _the dead_, to carry into the human heart a degree
of appalling awe and horror not to be tolerated--never to be conceived.
At length Peters proposed that we should endeavour to ascertain
precisely the extent of our calamity, and grope about our prison; it
being barely possible, he observed, that some opening might be yet left
us for escape. I caught eagerly at this hope, and, arousing myself to
exertion, attempted to force my way through the loose earth. Hardly had
I advanced a single step before a glimmer of light became perceptible,
enough to convince me that, at all events, we should not immediately
perish for want of air. We now took some degree of heart, and
encouraged each other to hope for the best. Having scrambled over a
bank of rubbish which impeded our farther progress in the direction of
the light, we found less difficulty in advancing, and also experienced
some relief from the excessive oppression of lungs which had tormented
us. Presently we were enabled to obtain a glimpse of the objects
around, and discovered that we were near the extremity of the straight
portion of the fissure, where it made a turn to the left. A few
struggles more, and we reached the bend, when, to our inexpressible
joy, there appeared a long seam or crack extending upward a vast
distance, generally at an angle of about forty-five degrees, although
sometimes much more precipitous. We could not see through the whole
extent of this opening; but, as a good deal of light came down it, we
had little doubt of finding at the top of it (if we could by any means
reach the top) a clear passage into the open air.
I now called to mind that three of us had entered the fissure from the
main gorge, and that our companion, Allen, was still missing; we
determined at once to retrace our steps and look for him. After a long
search, and much danger from the farther caving in of the earth above
us, Peters at length cried out to me that he had hold of our
companion's foot, and that his whole body was deeply buried beneath the
rubbish, beyond a possibility of extricating him. I soon found that
what he said was too true, and that, of course, life had been long
extinct. With sorrowful hearts, therefore, we left the corpse to its
fate, and again made our way to the bend.
The breadth of the seam was barely sufficient to admit us, and, after
one or two ineffectual efforts at getting up, we began once more to
despair. I have before said that the chain of hills through which ran
the main gorge was composed of a species of soft rock resembling
soapstone. The sides of the cleft we were now attempting to ascend were
of the same material, and so excessively slippery, being wet, that we
could get but little foothold upon them even in their least precipitous
parts; in some places, where the ascent was nearly perpendicular, the
difficulty was, of course, much aggravated; and, indeed, for some time
we thought it insurmountable. We took courage, however, from despair;
and what, by dint of cutting steps in the soft stone with our Bowie
knives, and swinging, at the risk of our lives, to small projecting
points of a harder species of slaty rock which now and then protruded
from the general mass, we at length reached a natural platform, from
which was perceptible a patch of blue sky, at the extremity of a
thickly-wooded ravine. Looking back now, with somewhat more leisure, at
the passage through which we had thus far proceeded, we clearly saw,
from the appearance of its sides, that it was of late formation, and we
concluded that the concussion, whatever it was, which had so
unexpectedly overwhelmed us, had also, at the same moment, laid open
this path for escape. Being quite exhausted with exertion, and, indeed,
so weak that we were scarcely able to stand or articulate, Peters now
proposed that we should endeavour to bring our companions to the rescue
by firing the pistols which still remained in our girdles--the muskets
as well as cutlasses had been lost among the loose earth at the bottom
of the chasm. Subsequent events proved that, had we fired, we should
have sorely repented it; but, luckily, a half suspicion of foul play
had by this time arisen in my mind, and we forbore to let the savages
know of our whereabouts.
After having reposed for about an hour, we pushed on slowly up the
ravine, and had gone no great way before we heard a succession of
tremendous yells. At length we reached what might be called the surface
of the ground; for our path hitherto, since leaving the platform, had
lain beneath an archway of high rock and foliage, at a vast distance
overhead. With great caution we stole to a narrow opening, through
which we had a clear sight of the surrounding country, when the whole
dreadful secret of the concussion broke upon us in one moment and at
one view.
The spot from which we looked was not far from the summit of the
highest peak in the range of the soapstone hills. The gorge in which
our party of thirty-two had entered ran within fifty feet to the left
of us. But, for at least one hundred yards, the channel or bed of this
gorge was entirely filled up with the chaotic ruins of more than a
million tons of earth and stone that had been artificially tumbled
within it. The means by which the vast mass had been precipitated were
not more simple than evident, for sure traces of the murderous work
were yet remaining. In several spots along the top of the eastern side
of the gorge (we were now on the western) might be seen stakes of wood
driven into the earth. In these spots the earth had not given way; but
throughout the whole extent of the face of the precipice from which the
mass _had_ fallen, it was clear, from marks left in the soil resembling
those made by the drill of the rock-blaster, that stakes similar to
those we saw standing had been inserted, at not more than a yard apart,
for the length of perhaps three hundred feet, and ranging at about ten
feet back from the edge of the gulf. Strong cords of grape vine were
attached to the stakes still remaining on the hill, and it was evident
that such cords had also been attached to each of the other stakes. I
have already spoken of the singular stratification of these soapstone
hills; and the description just given of the narrow and deep fissure
through which we effected our escape from inhumation will afford a
further conception of its nature. This was such that almost every
natural convulsion would be sure to split the soil into perpendicular
layers or ridges running parallel with one another; and a very moderate
exertion of art would be sufficient for effecting the same purpose. Of
this stratification the savages had availed themselves to accomplish
their treacherous ends. There can be no doubt that, by the continuous
line of stakes, a partial rupture of the soil had been brought about,
probably to the depth of one or two feet, when, by means of a savage
pulling at the end of each of the cords (these cords being attached to
the tops of the stakes, and extending back from the edge of the cliff),
a vast leverage power was obtained, capable of hurling the whole face
of the hill, upon a given signal, into the bosom of the abyss below.
The fate of our poor companions was no longer a matter of uncertainty.
We alone had escaped from the tempest of that overwhelming destruction.
We were the only living white men upon the island.