the upper world, is known only to
themselves. One of the Indians made fast the
raft, another seized White roughly and
dragged him up the bank, and began to
tear away the remains of his shirt, and was
doing the same by his trousers, when a
third interfered. White could not speak,
but pointed to his mouth, and they gave him
some meat and roasted mesquit beans. He
stayed with them all night; next morning,
having found out by signs that he might
reach the dwellings of the white men in
about " two suns," by the river, he once
more pushed off. He had still a revolver
left tied on to the logs, with which he
purchased half a dog and some more
beans. In spite of good resolutions, the
temptation of food was too great, and
he ate all he had, on the first day. For
three more days he floated on; the prison
walls must now have been gradually
expanding and lowering, but he had grown so
weak that he lay utterly exhausted,
indifferent to life and death, having given up
all hope. On the third day, however, from
leaving the Indians, and the fourteenth from
first starting, he heard voices and the plash
of oars. He understood the words he heard,
though he could not reply; he found
himself lifted into a boat, he had reached the
open world, and the battle of life was won.
The people of the Mormon settlement of
Colville treated " this waif out of the
bowels of the unknown cañon " with the
greatest kindness; but he was long in
recovering; they declared that they had never
seen such a wretched-looking creature: his
feet, legs, and body were literally flayed from
exposure to the scorching rays of the sun,
when drenched with wet. His reason at first
seemed almost gone, his eyes were hollow
and dreary, and though a great strong fellow
of thirty, he stooped like an old man. It was
calculated that he had floated above five
hundred miles along this hitherto
unexplored chasm: thereby solving a curious
geographical problem, the great missing
link between the Upper and Lower
Colorado. It is not likely, at least at present,
that any one will be bold enough to
repeat the voyage. His story was taken
down from his own lips by a Dr. Parry,
who had himself been occupied in
surveying the district, in order to discover
"minerals," and to try to find a level
route through the country. It is a
curious proof of the close proximity in which
these utterly wild districts are found in
Ameiica, with the latest inventions of the
nineteenth century, that the account of
Colville in the following chapter mentions
that " steamers come four hundred miles
up the river from the Pacific," as high as
this Mormon town.
Dr. Bell's work contains much curious,
new, and interesting information, and well
merits reading.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER ON THE
LATIN POETS.
IN our former paper we brought the
catalogue of the Latin poets down to Pheedrus.
The next poet, Lucan, has a high reputation
among Latin authors. He was a
native of Corduba (now Cordova) in Spain,
and born A.D. 37, and was the son of a
Roman knight, the brother of Seneca, who
married Caja Acilia, the daughter of Acilius
Lucanus, from whom the poet took his
name. His education was carried on in
Rome, from the age of eight months, and
he was instructed in languages by Palæmon,
the learned grammarian. Flavius Virginius,
the most eloquent rhetorician of his time,
and Cornutus, the Stoic sage, were his
masters in oratory and philosophy. When
but fourteen years of age, he was able to
declaim in Greek and Latin. He finished
his studies at Athens, whence Seneca sent
for him, and had reason to be proud of his
nephew.
Seneca was at this time the tutor of Nero,
and Lucan apparently made advances in
his favour, for he was prematurely
instituted questor, and admitted a member of
the college of Augurs, on which occasion
he composed some verses in honour of his
patron. He likewise married a senator's
daughter, Polla Argentaria, a lady of much
wit and learning, and of great beauty.
Lucan's good fortune did not last long.
He was too ambitious for Nero not to
become jealous of his merits. The vain
emperor, not content with being regarded
as the father of his country, affected the
characters of player, musician, and poet
and would endure no competition in either.
But Lucan entered into the lists with him,
by contending for the prize in poetry.
Nero, at the celebration of the
Quinquennalia, recited his Niobe, and Lucan
his Orpheus. The latter obtained the prize.
Nero showed his resentment by prohibiting
Lucan from repeating any of his compositions
in public, and daily ridiculing and
depreciating his talents.
The tyranny of Nero provoked Piso's
conspiracy, and Lucan, stung by ill-treatment,