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Show 164 PERSONAL ADVENTURES out effect.. His companion was only stunned, and we bad no difficulty in securing him. This little affair was scarcely over before my services were claimed in the most piteous accents, and, looking about me, I discovered one of our party so painfully entangled in the adjacent bushes, that to advance or to retreat without assistance was alike itnpossible. He had endeavoured, whilst in hot pursuit of the two Yakees in question, to clear at a leap some bushes, the width of which he had not calculated, and being encun1bered with his heavy accoutrements, arms, and amn1unition, had, in the attempt, fallen short, and plunged into a hollow covered by the brushwood; amongst 'vhich he got fast stuck, his body being inextricably bound by coils of brambles and thorny bushes, which had lacerated hin1 in the most cruel manner. I soon released him; and we set off' again, shouting, at the top of our voices, to attract the atten· tion of our comrades. In the course of another hour, during which we had several smart chases, and wounded a IN CALIFORNIA. 165 number of Y akees and Spaniards, as they made off, we came up with several of our party, and finally emerged from this forest of jungle, all of us most deplorably cut and mangled by the thorns, our clothes torn to rags, the blood and the perspiration streaming from our hands, faces, and legs, and our persons completely encased in a covering of dirt and sand. We had left our horses and mules at the entrance of the forest, so 've .h ad now to walk a considerable distance in search of them. Thanks to the activity and watchfulness of our guides, we soon recovered them ; and, having clambered the heights to which I have already alluded, advanced towards the town. Every Californian had fled except two, and they wisely lost no time in following the example of their brethren. The hindrnost man we recognised as one of our late guides, and the other fugitive a large, bulky Yakee. The latter made for the crags at the very top of his speed, and escaped the three first shots that were fired at him-the fourth struck him: he leaped up, then dropped, writhed, |
