124 
CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED. 
the most perilous imaginable. I was in the middle of the stream 
on the very brink of the precipice, the water up to my shoulders, 
and the stones tumbling from beneath my feet; my only support 
being the limb, to which I clung as if for life. It required almost 
superhuman effort to keep from being swept from my hold by 
the strength of the current. After feeling a little more secure, 
I felt below the surface and found another limb to which I 
clung, taking one step in the direction of the shore; after grop¬ 
ing about, I found another and the last. I had now almost 
gained the upper side of a rock which rested on the brink just 
below the surface of the water. It was a crisis; it was ex¬ 
tremely doubtful whether I could throw myself with sufficient 
force to catch the upper side of the rock. If I missed, the 
chances of life were against me, as I had no doubt some, if not 
all of my companions had already found a watery grave. It was 
no time for deliberation, and straining every nerve, I made one 
desperate struggle and gained the rock. I still had fifteen feet 
of the strength of the current to overcome, but by dexterous 
movements I succeeded in reaching the shore. 
I immediately went in search of my friends ; fortunately, we 
had two sailors with us, Billy and Charley, before spoken of. 
The boat ended over in passing down. Charley and Billy found 
their way to the shore, but Mr. Byram was dashed along 
among the rocks, apparently lifeless. They rushed in again 
and succeeded in dragging his body to the shore; we then hur¬ 
ried on to learn the fate of the others. On reaching the bend of 
the river we found the boat drifted against the rock, they cling¬ 
ing to its sides; they threw the hawser, and we drew the boat 
to the shore. Mr. Byram recovered, and we congratulated our¬ 
selves upoii the auspicious termination of the adventure. They 
had been purchasing a quantity of provisions—flour, sugar, cof¬ 
fee, &c., all of which were “ turned over” to tempt the appetite 
of the fishes. 
Their encampment was a mile above, and as it was impossible 
to recross the river here, I went with them, in hopes of being able 
to ferry over in a small boat they owned, but on arriving, found 
it had been carried away by the freshet. The evening was 
chilly; I was drenched; I had left things in an unsafe condi¬ 
tion at the store, and as my friends imagined me drowned, I de- 
