NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. CLXXXIV.-SEPTEMBER, 1865.-VOL. XXXI. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by Harper and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis trict Court for the Southern District of New York. VOL. XXXI.-No. 184.-EE At eve, cool shadows fall And on the clustered grapes to purple turning, Along the eastern sky Where the broad harvest-moon is redly burning. Ah, soon on field and hill The winds shall whistle chill, And patriarch swallows call their flocks together To fly from frost and snow, And seek for lands where blow The fairer blossoms of a balmier weather. The pollen-dusted bees Search for the honey-lees That linger in the last flowers of September, Coo sadly to their loves Of the dead summer they so well remember. The cricket chirps all day, "O, fairest summer, stay!" The squirrel eyes askance the chestnuts browning; The wild-fowl fly afar Above the foamy bar And hasten southward ere the skies are frowning. Now comes a fragrant breeze And round about my temples fondly lingers, In gentle playfulness Like to the soft caress Bestowed in happier days by loving fingers. Yet, though a sense of grief Comes with the falling leaf, And memory makes the summer doubly pleasant, In all my autumn dreams A future summer gleams Passing the fairest glories of the present! A TRIP TO BODIE BLUFF AND THE DEAD SEA OF THE WEST. [Second Paper.] T the town of Bodie I witnessed one of those their hands, and urging on the yelling cur, Amrosive Sunday exhibitions which seem whose grand object seemed to be to get away. A favorable turn enabled him to break loose. Panting, whining, and with bleeding mouth, he sneaked off amidst the jeers of the crowd. "Here's a dog that 'll settle his hash!" said the owner of a bull-terrier; "let him in!" "No, no!" cried a chorus of voices. "Hold back! Don't kill him yet! Try the other dogs first!" A vicious-looking black dog, part wolf, was next let loose. The badger had meantime crept close up to a bank of earth, against which he fortified his rear. The wolfish cur surveyed the prospect warily, smelled the badger at the distance of a few feet, peered into his eyes, and quietly walked away. The crowd drove him back. "Fight, you durned coyote!" shouted his master, catching him by the back of the neck and dragging him close up to the badger. "Now fight!" Wolf looked as if he'd rather not; but there was no help for it. With hair erect and a wolfish bark he flew savagely at the to be the popular mode of recreation in this country-a badger fight. Some Indians from Mono Lake came in during the forenoon with a remarkably large badger, which they offered for sale to the miners. The price demanded was ten dollars. As that amount of ready cash did not seem to be within the resources of the multitude, the diggers, upon consultation, agreed to take three, which was finally made up by some enterprising members of the community. The usual mode of digging a hole in the ground, as a fortification for the badger, was deemed unnecessary, owing to the formidable proportions and ferocious temper of the animal on hand: and it was decided that there should be a pitched battle in the open valley. All who had dogs were invited to bring them forward and enter the ring gratis. In about ten minutes there were about half a dozen dogs brought to the scratch, and the battle opened cautiously on both sides. The badger was fresh and vigorous. Long experience in the noble art of self-enemy; jumping first to one side and then the defense had taught him skill in the use of his natural weapons. He lay close down to the ground, flattening himself as the rattlesnake flattens his head prior to the fatal dart. With a keen and wary eye he watched the dogs. First a large, ill-favored, yellow cur was let loose upon him. The badger never moved till the mouth of his enemy was within an inch of his tail, when, with a motion as quick as lightning, he had him by the under-lip, and a fierce struggle ensued. The dog howled, the badger held on, the dust flew up from the dry earth, over and over the combatants rolled; the spectators crowded in, laughing, shouting, clapping other; back and at him again; snapping, barking, snarling, and howling; but to no purpose. The badger seemed to be all head; there was not a vulnerable point about him that did not show a head and a sharp row of teeth the moment it was assailed. During some of the dog's gyrations Mr. Badger got him by the hind leg. and then there was a very pretty scene of howling and running. Wolf flew all over the ground; badger held on; dust, shouts, shrieks, yells, oaths, and clapping of hands were the natural consequences of this achievement. Badger-stock ran up fifty per cent.; dog-stock was rapidly declining. "Tell you what, gents," cried the Committee on the Badger, "we'll fight him agin all six of yer dogs for ten dollars!" "No, no!" shouted every body; "give him a fair show; his mouth's full of dust; 'tain't fair-six to one. "Then come on with yer bull-terrier!" cried the Committee, exultingly; "here's the boy for him!" He Incredible as it may seem, the six dogs, large and small, were next let loose, and for over an hour they fought that poor badger without doing him any material damage. While some attacked him in front, others picked him up behind, gave him a shake, and then dropped him. He seemed to possess more lives than a cat. bit back a dozen bites for every one he received; and at every respite faced his enemies with that peculiar fixed and indomitable eye which had at first attracted my attention. It was almost human in its expression, and seemed to say, "Shame! shame! Cruel as you are you can not make me quail: I die game to the last!" Some such thought must have entered the heads of the by-standers, two or three of whom now rushed in with clubs and attempted to batter his brains out. Even then he fought fiercely, biting at the clubs, and in his dying throes glaring with undaunted eyes at his assailants. I am free to confess that I turned away with a strong emotion of pity. The fight had lasted two hours. When I next looked back and saw the crowd move away, dragging after them the dead body of the badger, I could not but feel that there was something about the whole business very much like murder. Bull was let loose-a white, clean-made little fellow, with massive jaws, thin flanks, and a sharp, hard tail, that stood out from his body like a spike. There was neither growl nor bark about him; it was all serious work, in which he evidently delighted; and he went at it with a will-straight, quick, fierce, like a well-trained bruiser who meant blood. He had been accustomed, as was evident from the many scars on his head and face, to enemies of his own species. He could get hold of a fellow-dog, however large, and throttle him. Getting hold of a badger was quite another thing. Both animals were nearly of the same size. The dog perhaps had the advantage in muscular strength; but the badger was the quicker with his head and teeth. The moment Bull's mouth was within reach the badger had him by the under jaw, fast and firm as a vice. Now commenced the grand tussle-teeth against teeth, neck against neck. Thick dust covered the combatants; to and fro, over and over, they rolled, in their scarce visible struggle; the crowd pressing close in; not a word spoken; for this was a genuine fight at last-earnest and thrilling-a fight to the death. Sunday as it was, I could not but pushing in the hills, and there was some difficulty in in closer and look on. I was getting profoundly interested in the fate of the badger. In fact, I don't know but I might have made a bet had any body bantered me at the moment. I would have bet on either side, no matter which, as many a man does who gets excited and has no definite opinion on the subject at issue. "Stand back! give him a chance!" shouted some of the men in front. "Take him to water! he's choking with dust!" cried others; and I must say a pang of regret shot through me at what I supposed to be the fate of my badger friend. But it was not the badger that suffered most. The dog was dragged out, his mouth full of hair and dust, gasping for breath. I looked again when the dust cleared away. Bleeding and torn, but dauntless as ever, with the same fixed and wary eye, the badger awaited the next assault. "Too bad! too bad!" remonstrated several voices. "That's murder in the first degree!" Sympathy seemed to lean toward the side of the poor animal which was making so gallant a struggle for life. "Kill him! kill him with a club!" "No ye don't, gents!" shouted the exultant Committee, who had paid their three dollars for a Sunday forenoon's sport. "We'll fight him against all the dogs first; if he don't whip 'em then you can kill him." My friend the Judge was obliged to return to Aurora from this point. I was committed to the charge of a very pleasant and intelligent young man, one of the owners of the Bodie Bunker, who kindly volunteered to procure horses and accompany me on my proposed expedition to Mono Lake. The horses were rang finding them. In due time we were mounted and on our way. The road crosses a hill back of Bodie, and thence down through a cañon into Cotton-wood Valley. For a distance of some five or six miles the country is rolling and barren. Rocks and sage-brush, with desolate mountains in the distance, are the principal features. During the trip my companion entertained me with many interesting reminiscences of his experience in the country, his adventures as a police-officer during the Vigilance Committee excitement at Aurora, his mining speculations, and many other matters which to me possessed all the charms of romance. From him also I obtained the particulars of a very singular and tragical occurrence which had taken place about two months previously on the road to the Big Meadows, not far from where we were traveling. I had heard of this on my first arrival at Aurora, and had seen some account of it in the newspapers. Subsequently I crossed the cañon in which the disaster occurred, and made a sketch of it. Some time in the month of July two men, with their wives and three children, belonging to one of the parties, started from Aurora in a small wagon for the Big Meadows. The distance is twenty-eight miles. When about halfway, as they were passing through a rocky cañon, unsuspicious of danger, they observed some signs of rain, but thought it would be nothing more than a casual shower. Suddenly the sky darkened, and they heard a loud roaring noise behind them. Mr. Glenn, one of the men, and his comrade, who were sitting on the front seat, finding the horses become unmanageable from fright, jumped out to see what was the matter. The lead horses had swung round, and were making frantic efforts to break loose from their traces. Scarcely had the two men touched the ground when they saw sweeping down toward them a solid flood of water about six or eight feet high, presenting a front like a prodigious wave of the sea as it breaks upon the beach in a storm. They attempted to force the horses up on one side, so as to haul the wagon out of the channel. Before any thing could be done the torrent burst upon them, carrying all before it. The wagon was capsized and dashed to pieces among the rocks. BURSTING OF A CLOUD IN THE CANON. When the news of this sad event reached Aurora the most intense excitement and sympathy prevailed. Parties went out immediately to afford what assistance they could. The unfortunate men who had suffered so strange and sudden a bereavement were provided with such aid as their suffering condition required. Search was made for the bodies of the women and children. Their mutilated remains were found scattered among the rocks from one to three miles below the scene of the disaster, and were taken in and buried amidst the sympathizing tears of relatives, friends, and strangers. The screams of the women and chil- | disappeared. Such was the force of the torrent dren rose high above the wild roar of the that rocks and trees were carried away like feathflood; and for a moment they were seen strug-ers. I saw myself prodigious boulders of solid gling amidst the shattered wreck of the wagon, stone, six or seven feet in diameter, which had but were soon dashed out and whirled against been rolled for miles through the cañon. the rocks. One of the men, by superhuman efforts, succeeded in getting a foothold a short distance below, and, grasping an overhanging bush, caught his wife as she was swept along on the raging current. He had dragged her nearly out of the water when she was struck by a heavy piece of drift-wood and torn from his grasp. The next moment she was whirled away beyond reach, and her body, maimed by the jagged rocks, was buried in the current a shapeless mass. Meantime the other man was disabled by his struggles amidst the wreck, and barely escaped with his life. The shrieks of the poor children were heartrending. "Oh, father! father! save me! Oh, mother, save me!" were all that could be heard; but soon their tender limbs were crushed amidst the boiling surges of drift and flood, and they were swept beyond all human aid. In less than a minute nothing was left to mark the tragedy. Women, children, wagon, horses, and all, had An interesting circumstance connected with this sad event was mentioned to me by Mrs. Sanchez, a highly intelligent lady of Aurora, who happened that day to be out riding on horseback, accompanied by her husband and a party of friends. They had reached the summit of Mount Braley, when the attention of the party |