The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3

CHAPTER 24

ON the twentieth of the month, finding it altogether impossible tosubsist any longer upon the filberts, the use of which occasioned us themost excruciating torment, we resolved to make a desperate attempt atdescending the southern declivity of the hill. The face of theprecipice was here of the softest species of soapstone, although nearlyperpendicular throughout its whole extent (a depth of a hundred andfifty feet at the least), and in many places even overarching. Aftera long search we discovered a narrow ledge about twenty feet belowthe brink of the gulf; upon this Peters contrived to leap, with whatassistance I could render him by means of our pocket-handkerchiefs tiedtogether. With somewhat more difficulty I also got down; and we then sawthe possibility of descending the whole way by the process in which wehad clambered up from the chasm when we had been buried by the fall ofthe hill--that is, by cutting steps in the face of the soapstone withour knives. The extreme hazard of the attempt can scarcely be conceived;but, as there was no other resource, we determined to undertake it.

Upon the ledge where we stood there grew some filbert-bushes; and to oneof these we made fast an end of our rope of handkerchiefs. The other endbeing tied round Peters’ waist, I lowered him down over the edge of theprecipice until the handkerchiefs were stretched tight. He now proceededto dig a deep hole in the soapstone (as far in as eight or ten inches),sloping away the rock above to the height of a foot, or thereabout,so as to allow of his driving, with the butt of a pistol, a tolerablystrong peg into the levelled surface. I then drew him up for about fourfeet, when he made a hole similar to the one below, driving in a peg asbefore, and having thus a resting-place for both feet and hands. I nowunfastened the handkerchiefs from the bush, throwing him the end, whichhe tied to the peg in the uppermost hole, letting himself down gentlyto a station about three feet lower than he had yet been that is, to thefull extent of the handkerchiefs. Here he dug another hole, and droveanother peg. He then drew himself up, so as to rest his feet in the holejust cut, taking hold with his hands upon the peg in the one above. Itwas now necessary to untie the handkerchiefs from the topmost peg, withthe view of fastening them to the second; and here he found that anerror had been committed in cutting the holes at so great a distanceapart. However, after one or two unsuccessful and dangerous attempts atreaching the knot (having to hold on with his left hand while he laboredto undo the fastening with his right), he at length cut the string,leaving six inches of it affixed to the peg. Tying the handkerchiefsnow to the second peg, he descended to a station below the third, takingcare not to go too far down. By these means (means which I should neverhave conceived of myself, and for which we were indebted altogether toPeters’ ingenuity and resolution) my companion finally succeeded, withthe occasional aid of projections in the cliff, in reaching the bottomwithout accident.

It was some time before I could summon sufficient resolution to followhim; but I did at length attempt it. Peters had taken off his shirtbefore descending, and this, with my own, formed the rope necessaryfor the adventure. After throwing down the musket found in the chasm, Ifastened this rope to the bushes, and let myself down rapidly, striving,by the vigor of my movements, to banish the trepidation which I couldovercome in no other manner. This answered sufficiently well for thefirst four or five steps; but presently I found my imagination growingterribly excited by thoughts of the vast depths yet to be descended, andthe precarious nature of the pegs and soapstone holes which were my onlysupport. It was in vain I endeavored to banish these reflections, and tokeep my eyes steadily bent upon the flat surface of the cliff before me.The more earnestly I struggled _not to think, _the more intensely vividbecame my conceptions, and the more horribly distinct. At length arrivedthat crisis of fancy, so fearful in all similar cases, the crisis inwhich we began to anticipate the feelings with which we _shall _fall--topicture to ourselves the sickness, and dizziness, and the last struggle,and the half swoon, and the final bitterness of the rushing and headlongdescent. And now I found these fancies creating their own realities, andall imagined horrors crowding upon me in fact. I felt my knees strikeviolently together, while my fingers were gradually but certainlyrelaxing their grasp. There was a ringing in my ears, and I said, “Thisis my knell of death!” And now I was consumed with the irrepressibledesire of looking below. I could not, I would not, confine my glances tothe cliff; and, with a wild, indefinable emotion, half of horror, halfof a relieved oppression, I threw my vision far down into the abyss. Forone moment my fingers clutched convulsively upon their hold, while, withthe movement, the faintest possible idea of ultimate escape wandered,like a shadow, through my mind--in the next my whole soul was pervadedwith a longing to fall; a desire, a yearning, a passion utterlyuncontrollable. I let go at once my grasp upon the peg, and, turninghalf round from the precipice, remained tottering for an instantagainst its naked face. But now there came a spinning of the brain;a shrill-sounding and phantom voice screamed within my ears; a dusky,fiendish, and filmy figure stood immediately beneath me; and, sighing, Isunk down with a bursting heart, and plunged within its arms.

I had swooned, and Peters had caught me as I fell. He had observed myproceedings from his station at the bottom of the cliff; and perceivingmy imminent danger, had endeavored to inspire me with courage by everysuggestion he could devise; although my confusion of mind had been sogreat as to prevent my hearing what he said, or being conscious that hehad even spoken to me at all. At length, seeing me totter, he hastenedto ascend to my rescue, and arrived just in time for my preservation.Had I fallen with my full weight, the rope of linen would inevitablyhave snapped, and I should have been precipitated into the abyss; asit was, he contrived to let me down gently, so as to remain suspendedwithout danger until animation returned. This was in about fifteenminutes. On recovery, my trepidation had entirely vanished; I felt a newbeing, and, with some little further aid from my companion, reached thebottom also in safety.

We now found ourselves not far from the ravine which had proved thetomb of our friends, and to the southward of the spot where the hill hadfallen. The place was one of singular wildness, and its aspect broughtto my mind the descriptions given by travellers of those dreary regionsmarking the site of degraded Babylon. Not to speak of the ruins of thedisrupted cliff, which formed a chaotic barrier in the vista to thenorthward, the surface of the ground in every other direction was strewnwith huge tumuli, apparently the wreck of some gigantic structures ofart; although, in detail, no semblance of art could be detected.Scoria were abundant, and large shapeless blocks of the black granite,intermingled with others of marl, {*6} and both granulated with metal.Of vegetation there were no traces whatsoever throughout the whole ofthe desolate area within sight. Several immense scorpions were seen,and various reptiles not elsewhere to be found in the high latitudes. Asfood was our most immediate object, we resolved to make our way to theseacoast, distant not more than half a mile, with a view of catchingturtle, several of which we had observed from our place of concealmenton the hill. We had proceeded some hundred yards, threading our routecautiously between the huge rocks and tumuli, when, upon turning acorner, five savages sprung upon us from a small cavern, felling Petersto the ground with a blow from a club. As he fell the whole party rushedupon him to secure their victim, leaving me time to recover from myastonishment. I still had the musket, but the barrel had received somuch injury in being thrown from the precipice that I cast it asideas useless, preferring to trust my pistols, which had been carefullypreserved in order. With these I advanced upon the assailants, firingone after the other in quick succession. Two savages fell, and one,who was in the act of thrusting a spear into Peters, sprung to his feetwithout accomplishing his purpose. My companion being thus released,we had no further difficulty. He had his pistols also, but prudentlydeclined using them, confiding in his great personal strength, which farexceeded that of any person I have ever known. Seizing a club from oneof the savages who had fallen, he dashed out the brains of the three whoremained, killing each instantaneously with a single blow of the weapon,and leaving us completely masters of the field.

So rapidly had these events passed, that we could scarcely believein their reality, and were standing over the bodies of the dead in aspecies of stupid contemplation, when we were brought to recollection bythe sound of shouts in the distance. It was clear that the savages hadbeen alarmed by the firing, and that we had little chance of avoidingdiscovery. To regain the cliff, it would be necessary to proceed in thedirection of the shouts, and even should we succeed in arriving atits base, we should never be able to ascend it without being seen. Oursituation was one of the greatest peril, and we were hesitating in whichpath to commence a flight, when one of the savages _whom _I had shot,and supposed dead, sprang briskly to his feet, and attempted to make hisescape. We overtook _him, _however, before he had advanced many paces,and were about to put him to death, when Peters suggested that we mightderive some benefit from forcing him to accompany us in our attempt toescape. We therefore dragged him with us, making him understand thatwe would shoot him if he offered resistance. In a few minutes he wasperfectly submissive, and ran by our sides as we pushed in among therocks, making for the seashore.

So far, the irregularities of the ground we had been traversing hidthe sea, except at intervals, from our sight, and, when we first had itfairly in view, it was perhaps two hundred yards distant. As we emergedinto the open beach we saw, to our great dismay, an immense crowd of thenatives pouring from the village, and from all visible quarters ofthe island, making toward us with gesticulations of extreme fury, andhowling like wild beasts. We were upon the point of turning upon oursteps, and trying to secure a retreat among the fastnesses of therougher ground, when I discovered the bows of two canoes projecting frombehind a large rock which ran out into the water. Toward these wenow ran with all speed, and, reaching them, found them unguarded, andwithout any other freight than three of the large Gallipago turtlesand the usual supply of paddles for sixty rowers. We instantly tookpossession of one of them, and, forcing our captive on board, pushed outto sea with all the strength we could command.

We had not made, however, more than fifty yards from the shore before webecame sufficiently calm to perceive the great oversight of which we hadbeen guilty in leaving the other canoe in the power of the savages,who, by this time, were not more than twice as far from the beach asourselves, and were rapidly advancing to the pursuit. No time was now tobe lost. Our hope was, at best, a forlorn one, but we had none other. Itwas very doubtful whether, with the utmost exertion, we could get backin time to anticipate them in taking possession of the canoe; butyet there was a chance that we could. We might save ourselves if wesucceeded, while not to make the attempt was to resign ourselves toinevitable butchery.

The canoe was modelled with the bow and stern alike, and, in place ofturning it around, we merely changed our position in paddling. As soonas the savages perceived this they redoubled their yells, as well astheir speed, and approached with inconceivable rapidity. We pulled,however, with all the energy of desperation, and arrived at thecontested point before more than one of the natives had attained it.This man paid dearly for his superior agility, Peters shooting himthrough the head with a pistol as he approached the shore. The foremostamong the rest of his party were probably some twenty or thirty pacesdistant as we seized upon the canoe. We at first endeavored to pull herinto the deep water, beyond the reach of the savages, but, finding hertoo firmly aground, and there being no time to spare, Peters, with oneor two heavy strokes from the butt of the musket, succeeded in dashingout a large portion of the bow and of one side. We then pushed off.Two of the natives by this time had got hold of our boat, obstinatelyrefusing to let go, until we were forced to despatch them with ourknives. We were now clear off, and making great way out to sea. The mainbody of the savages, upon reaching the broken canoe, set up the mosttremendous yell of rage and disappointment conceivable. In truth, fromeverything I could see of these wretches, they appeared to be the mostwicked, hypocritical, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and altogether fiendishrace of men upon the face of the globe. It is clear we should have hadno mercy had we fallen into their hands. They made a mad attempt atfollowing us in the fractured canoe, but, finding it useless, againvented their rage in a series of hideous vociferations, and rushed upinto the hills.

We were thus relieved from immediate danger, but our situation was stillsufficiently gloomy. We knew that four canoes of the kind we had wereat one time in the possession of the savages, and were not aware of thefact (afterward ascertained from our captive) that two of these hadbeen blown to pieces in the explosion of the _Jane Guy. _We calculated,therefore, upon being yet pursued, as soon as our enemies could getround to the bay (distant about three miles) where the boats wereusually laid up. Fearing this, we made every exertion to leave theisland behind us, and went rapidly through the water, forcing theprisoner to take a paddle. In about half an hour, when we had gainedprobably five or six miles to the southward, a large fleet of theflat-bottomed canoes or rafts were seen to emerge from the bay evidentlywith the design of pursuit. Presently they put back, despairing toovertake us.