Buntline, an American aoasaMonal writer, whoee real name ia Judson, hs4 a row with a man named Pbrterfleld abont the latter’s wife. Porterfield shot at Judson three times, and wm about to fire again, when Judson said, “ If you do that again, t’ll put a bullet through your head.” Porterfield fired the fourth time, the bullet, like all the others, going wide of the mark. Judson raised his elbow to a level with his face, and resting his pistol upon it took aim and fired, The ball penetrated Porterfield’s brain and he fell dead to the ground. The mob caught Judson and resolved to hang hili. Taking him to a house which wm in process of oon- • •traction, they threw a rope over the raften and strung him up. Thrice he wm strung up in succession and cut down under the impression that he wm dead. His leg was broken by the last fall, and he wm tlnoom scious. The mob left him for dead and friends succeeded in restoring "him. He told a friend the momenta he hung each time were the most deliriously delightful of his life—beautiful lights dancing before his eyes, of all hues and shades, many of them like those produced by the chemical burning ofM watch-springs. The most gorgeous pane- w rams passed in review before him, each more entrancingly beautiful and distinct than the hat. The following extract from a letter received by Mrs. W, Cleveland, of Launceston, from one of her sons, dated from the s.s. Rotorua, off the Bay of Islands, on the north-eeat roost of New Zealand, is published by the “Launceston Examiner:"—“At 5 a.tn. I went on deck for the day,. and found we were running down within a mile of » high . and striking coMtline, presenting deep oUm * to the sea, and crowned with green but storm-swept scrub and herbage. While looking shorewards a striking spectacle presented itself. I suddenly saw, about a quarter of a mile distant, a huge brown form rear itself out of the sea, and fall into it again with a tremendous splash that sent huge bodies of foam high in the air. I called out to the captain, who, on seeing it a moment after, said it wm a * thrasher,’ ths large oetsnsan whose practice it is to hunt the whale in company with the swordfish, the latter driving his sword into the whale and forcing it to the surface, while the thresher launches itself into the air and comes down with a crash on the hunted creature. I cannot learn whether they actually succeed in killing the whale and then est him, but probably they do so. For a long time, till out of sight astern, w6 saw this monster spring out of the , sea with awful suddenness, sometimes quite out of the water, and in his descent the mass of foaming water that sprang upwards testified to his immense nnlk and weight. When I first saw him he wm only rearing himself half out, and m he suddenly appeared t.o view he bore somewhat the appearance ot a huge wild boar, minus the legs. AH the other cetaceans when they come to the sur- i face to breathe bend their backs and roll * headforemost under the surface agala. but this fearful-looking creature shot out at an angle of 45 degrees, and fell forwards st the same angle.”
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBS18830201.2.16
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1264, 1 February 1883, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
564Untitled Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1264, 1 February 1883, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.