The relief from danger and the joy of success are great. When he who has
been chained by wounds to a hospital cot, until his canvas tent seems
like a dungeon cell, until the groans of those who lie about, tortured
with probe and knife, are piled up, a weight of horror on his ears that
he cannot throw off, cannot forget, and until the stench of festering
wounds and anaesthetic drugs has filled the air with its loathsome
burthen, at last goes into the open field, what a world he sees! How
beautiful the sky; how bright the sunshine; what "floods of delirious
music" pour from the throats of birds; how sweet the fragrance of earth
and tree, and blossom! The first hour of convalescent freedom seems rich
recompense for all--pain, gloom, terror.
Something like this are the feelings we experience to-night. Ever before
us has been an unknown danger, heavier than immediate peril. Every
waking hour passed in the Grand Canon has been one of toil. We have
watched with deep solicitude the steady disappearance of our scant
supply of rations, and from time to time have seen the river snatch a
portion of the little left, while we were ahungered. And danger and toil
were endured in those gloomy depths, where ofttimes the clouds hid the
sky by day, and but a narrow zone of stars could be seen at night. Only
during the few hours of deep sleep, consequent on hard labour, has the
roar of the waters been hushed. Now the danger is over; now the toil has
ceased; now the gloom has disappeared; now the firmament is bounded only
by the horizon; and what a vast expanse of constellations can be seen!
The river rolls by us in silent majesty; the quiet of the camp is sweet;
our joy is almost ecstasy. We sit till long after midnight, talking of
the Grand Canon, talking of home, but chiefly talking of the three men
who left us. Are they wandering in those depths, unable to find a way
out? are they searching over the desert lands above for water? or are
they nearing the settlements?
_August 30._ We run two or three short, low canons to-day, and on
emerging from one, we discover a band of Indians in the valley below.
They see us, and scamper away in most eager haste, to hide among the
rocks. Although we land, and call for them to return, not an Indian can
be seen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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