<p><SPAN name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"></SPAN></p>
<h2> CHAPTER 21 </h2>
<p>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 last 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.</p>
<p>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
position. I firmly believed 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.</p>
<p>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 yet be 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.</p>
<p>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 the
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.</p>
<p>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 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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