Santa Fe, Texas - Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition, Comprising a Description O (part 4 of 9)

After the mustangs left us we passed two hours very agreeably in a shade which completely screened us from the hot, noonday sun. In the cool of the evening we once more saddled our horses and continued the march in close order. Deer and antelope were seen in every direction, but as they were at too great distance to be shot from the ranks, not one of them was killed. Our party was small, and as Indians were seen several times during the day, watching us from the different swells of the prairie, it was deemed prudent to keep close and in a body. The Indians seen were to the right of our line of march ; that bodies of them were also watching us from the timber on the left was more than probable, as there they could find secure hiding-places. At nightfall we encamped upon the banks of the river, and were obliged to drink the brackish water or none, as no fresh spring could be found. An abundance of the finest catfish were caught in the stream, the bed of which was here nearly a hundred yards in width.

Again a strong position was chosen for our camp, and the guard had strict orders to keep a good lookout at night, to prevent a surprise from the Wacoes. It was evident that they were watching us at every turn, and while their fears prevented them from attacking us openly in a body, they were still, as is their custom, looking out for an opportunity to stampede our horses and cattle, or cut off any little straggling party that might wander from camp in search of water or to hunt. The night passed, however, without a visit from them, and the only inconvenience occasioned by their proximity fell upon our horses, for we were compelled to hobble them well and stake them inside the lines of sentinels, where the grass was soon cropped close to the ground.

For three days after leaving the village of the Wacoes our route was along the wide and fertile bottoms of the river. Our course, as already mentioned, was a little south of west, but being confident that we were on the banks of Red River, it was thought from day to day that the stream would soon turn off more to the north.

destroy its sameness except here and there a light fringing of trees bordering the banks of the small creeks and rivulets, which, rising in the prairies to the north, found their way to the river after flowing many miles along cool and secluded courses. Rack fancy to the utmost, and it is still impossible to draw a picture of more enchanting, sylvan loveliness, than some of the beautiful arches formed over these murmuring streamlets. In many places the limbs of the trees which decked either bank would cross over as if to commune and shake hands, one with the other. Along these the wandering grape-vines would creep, lock themselves, as it were, in each other's embrace on meeting, and thus form a cool and delicious arbour, so closely interwoven that not a solitary ray from the sun could reach the recess below. Under these natural arches the deer would while away the hot, mid-day hours, slaking his thirst from the gently-flowing waters which were gliding with sweet music at his feet ; there, too, we saw the solitary white heron, standing tall and erect, like some elfin spirit. Our approach would frighten him from his secret place, only to seek some other lonely dell of equal beauty, coolness, and seclusion. Such scenes of rural beauty - of soft, pure, unsophisticated nature, are clearly, brightly painted upon my memory - but I am utterly wanting in the power to delineate them.

Our encampment on the banks of the river we left early in the morning, the spies starting so: - e hour in advance in search of fresh water and the best route for the wagons. We had travelled but a few miles when the country before us appeared more rough and broken, and by mid-day the hills and gullies we encountered almost prevented the farther progress of the wagons. The spies finally were fortunate in finding a fresh-wa- ter river, running into the larger and brackish stream, and after much fatigue and trouble a crossing-place was discovered, which we were able to reach with our wagons. The banks, on the side at which we approached, were high and steep, offering serious obstacles ; on the opposite side of the river, a gradual ascent from the water led to a pleasant valley. Carlos, the Mexican, at once pronounced it the Rio Utau, or Eutaw, a stream upon which he said he had often trapped ; and to give his story greater plausibility, he said that at the very point where we made the passage the Mexican hunters had frequently crossed with carts laden with dry buffalo meat.

There really was every appearance of an old wagon road when we reached the opposite side of the river, and if any one had previously doubted the statements of Carlos, those doubts were now set at rest. He said that he was as well acquainted with the country in the vicinity as with his mother's door-yard, and spoke of the country beyond with a plausibility that convinced all of his being now " perfectly at home." He said that the angosturas, or narrows of Red River, were distant only some seventy miles, and that the same distance beyond would bring us to the Mexican ranches, or farms, in the immediate vicinity of the frontier town of San Miguel.

Placing confidence as we did in his reports, it is needless to say that all was joy and congratulation in camp that evening. Our beef, the only thing we had in the shape of provision, was now becoming extremely poor from the fatiguing marches and want of grass and water. Our sugar was all gone, and although our coffee still held out, we were too near the end of that great luxury to expect that it would last much longer. Inde- pendent of this, many of us began to think, in earnest, that bread, if not the staff of life, offered at least a very comfortable support. We still had our regular allowance, three pounds of beef a day, but it was greatly inferior in comparison with the same allowance we had in the earlier stages of our journey, and this inferiority began to be felt seriously. Nevertheless, all was joy and gladness in camp at the good news of our near approach to settlements, and it was thought that twenty days, at farthest, would bring us to the rich wheat and corn fields, as wrell as the sheepfolds of New Mexico. Far different would have been our feelings had we anticipated the sufferings yet in store for us.

Had we known that four or five hundred miles of dreary travelling were still before us, and that hunger and thirst were to weaken our frames and destroy our spirits ; had we been aware that hostile Indians in great numbers were in our paths, and treacherous friends - if it is not a solecism - in our very midst, far different would have been our expectations and our feelings that night, on betaking ourselves to our earth, our blankets, and our sky.

Scarcely had we finished our scanty and homely supper, and quietly nestled ourselves each on the spot he had chosen for his lodging-ground, when a drizzling rain set in, which, before sleep had visited our eyelids, deepened into a heavy shower. Our encampment was in a grove of small timber, within some thirty yards of the river. A flock of hooting, screeching owls had engaged a cotton- wood tree, almost directly over our heads, for the purpose of giving a grand concert, while a pack of sneaking wolves were howling a horrible accompaniment in the edge of the prairie near us. In the very midst of this discord, our oxen, which had been quietly feeding in a neighbouring prairie, took a stampede, and came rushing madly towards us. The earth fairly trembled as they bounded along, many of them with their yokes still on, and all impelled by an indescribable panic. I took to a tree at once, or rather clambered up a small sapling hand over hand, to place myself out of harm's way, for I well knew that no human obstacle could check the onward career of a drove of fearstricken oxen. Fortunately the steep bank of the river on the opposite side, or some other cause, stopped them in their headlong flight. The guard were unable to collect and herd them that night, yet they were all found without much trouble the next morning. What could have given them the " scare" no one could divine. The cattle-guard declared that they suddenly started off in a body, as if impressed by a common fear, and that in the hurry-scurry they had no time except to look to their own personal safety. Some of the old campaigners hinted that the cries of owls and wolves, heard a short time before the stampede, were but imitations of these birds and beasts by Indians in the vicinity, and that some lurking savage had frightened the oxen. Whatever the cause, I knew the effect well enough ; and in my half-asleep, half-awake condition, felt well satisfied that I had not been run over and trodden under foot.

Our start on the ensuing morning was late, several hours having been occupied in drying our blankets and collecting the scattered beeves. We had marched but a short distance before it was evident to all that the stream we had been following up - the same we had crossed at the Waco village - now bore more to the northward, and that from the appearance of the country before us we should be compelled to recross it. This troublesome labour was effected in the afternoon with no little difficulty, and night found us once more encamped near its banks, with no other than its brackish waters to drink.

By this time both buffalo and Indian " sign" had become extremely scarce, and the little seen appeared to be months old. The general impression among our older hunters, whose opinions we all looked upon as law and gospel, was that the buffalo had all gone north and the Indians with them ; for although natural enemies, they are seldom seen except in company.

The next day we made but six or seven miles, the country in every direction becoming more and more broken. Ahead we saw nothing but chains of steep and rugged mountains ; low, but of sufficient height to render our farther advance extremely problematical, at least in the right course. At night we found a small spring of fresh water within a mile of the river, and in the luxury of a cool, sweet draught, forgot the hardships and privations of the previous twenty-four hours.

Carlos still insisted that he was acquainted with the country, and that he could extricate us, in a day or two, from the labyrinth of difficulties by which we were surrounded. An early start was made the next morning, and near half the day was spent in climbing steep and abrupt hills, so rocky that the feet of the oxen suffered severely, and many of them had to be unyoked and turned loose. I thought I had previously seen a country in a state of nature, but this was the roughest part of " out doors" it had ever been my unfortunate lot to traverse. It appeared to have been just got out rough hewn, without a single finishing stroke in any quarter. Rough and misshapen hills, formed of rocks and sand, were piled up here and there without system or order,

Lost On The Prairie

By noon we had partially extricated ourselves from the maze of hills on which our feet had been stumbling during that morning's march. Seeing what appeared to be a level and grassy prairie, a mile or a mile and-a half to the left of our line of march, which seemed as though it might afford pasturage for a stray deer or antelope, myself and " Old Paint" rode off in that direction. As the old hunter expected, we quickly saw a drove of some fifteen deer; but they happened to see us first, and set off on a run. My companion was well enough versed in their " ways" not to think of following them ; for after having once seen an enemy, the deer seldom allows him to come within gunshot.*

My experience, in comparison with that of the veteran borderer, was limited, and I was simple enough not to resist the temptation of following the herd over a roll of the prairie, in the vain hope of obtaining a shot. They halted, as I supposed they would, but were on the look- .out, and before I was within three hundred yards again bounded off across the prairie. Hope induced me to give one more trial, which terminated like the first. I now reluctantly gave up the chase and cast my eyes about for my fellow-hunter, but he was nowhere in sight. I tried hurriedly to ascertain the direction in which I had left him ; but the result of my reflections convinced me that I was, to use a common expression, thoroughly " turned round" - lost. I put spurs to my horse and galloped to the highest roll of the prairie, with the hope of obtaining a sight of my companion or companions, but without success.

A sickening feeling of loneliness came over me on finding myself in that worst of all situations upon a prairie - lost ! The sun was still high in the heavens, and I could not tell which was north or which south. I had my rifle and pistols with me, was well mounted, and had a sufficiency of ammunition, but I was not well enough acquainted with a prairie life to steer a course, even if I had known what course to start upon, neither was I hunter enough to feel confident that I could kill a sufficiency of meat in case I should be unsuccessful in finding my companions. Another thing : I had already found out, what every hunter knows, that the more hungry a man grows upon the prairies the more unlikely he is to find game, and the more difficult it is to shoot it. There, then, I was, without a companion and without experience - starvation staring me in the face, or even if I was fortunate in obtaining meat, I still was almost certain to be killed and scalped by the Indians or end my days in vain efforts to reach the settlements. I thought of home, and made up my mind firmly that if ever I was fortunate enough to reach it, I should be in no particular hurry to leave it again.

I dashed off to what appeared a still higher prairie swell than the one I now stood upon - nothing could I see except a solitary wolf, trotting stealthily along in the hollow below me : I even envied this most contemptible of the brute creation, for he knew where he was. I strained my eyes as though to penetrate beyond the limits of human vision ; but all was a waste, a blank. I leaped from my horse and sat upon the ground for a moment ; it was only for a moment, for in my uneasiness I could not remain motionless. I tried to reflect, to reason ; but so fast did thoughts of starvation and of Indian perils crowd on my mind, that I could come to no definite conclusion as to my present position with reference to that of my companions. I tried to follow my own trail back to the point where I had so foolishly left " Old Paint," but the ground was so hard that my horse's hoofs had made little or no indentation, and I was too impatient to examine the face of the prairie with that searching scrutiny which might have resulted in success.

Yet I resolved to make one desperate effort, at least, to find the command. I knew enough of my situation to feel convinced that by circling about, from prairie roll to prairie roll, I might gallop my horse for hours, and at last find myself at the point I started from, " with confusion worse confounded" - travelling in a straight line alone might save me. Here was another difficulty; for the course I might adopt, even were I successful in keeping it, might leave me at a still greater distance from my friends. How I wished for the presence of Tom Hancock - the presence even of the greatest dullard in the command would have assisted in removing the mountain of torturing uncertainty that pressed upon my mind. Man never knows the full weight of hopelessness until he is made to bear it alone, with no human intelligence near from whose resources he can hope to draw something for his relief when he is too consciously aware that his own are exhausted. Even sympathy imparts something of hope. I felt that even my horse was some company to me : I patted him kindly on the neck and told him so, aloud.

"But," the reader will perchance inquire, "why did you not give your horse the reins and trust to his natural instinct for regaining his and your companions ?" And again, " Why did you not wait until the sun was low in the western heavens, then reflect, for one moment, in what direction the command was travelling and the side on which you had left it? You knew that the sun would set in the west, and that as you faced it, north was to the right and south to the left - surely you could then steer a course, even if you could not while the sun was vertical."

Gentle reader, you have never been lost on a wide ocean of prairies, unskilled in border life, and little gifted with the power of first adopting a course to follow and then not deviating from it. You must recollect that there, as on the wide ocean, you find no trees, no friendly landmarks, to guide you - all is a wide waste of eternal sameness. To be lost, as I and others have experienced, has a complex and fearful meaning. It is not merely to stray from your friends, your path, but from yourself. With your way you lose your presence of mind. You attempt to reason, but the rudder and compass of your reflective faculties are gone. Self-confidence, too, is lost - in a word all is lost, except a maniacal impulse to despair, that is peculiar and indescribable.

In my case fate, fortune, good luck - call it by what name you may - stepped in to my assistance. While upon one of the highest rolls of the prairie I resolved to proceed in a certain direction, and, if possible, to keep it without variation. Whether I did so or not I am unable to say - I only know that after travelling at a rapid pace, it may be some five miles, I suddenly found myself upon the brow of a high and steep declivity, overlooking a narrow but beautiful valley, through which a small creek was winding. I had examined the prairies in every direction, during my short ride, until my eyes ached from over-straining, yet had not for a moment allowed my horse to slacken his pace. I now paused to examine the valley before me. The reader may judge my feelings when, after a hasty glance, I discovered the white tops of the wagons, far off in the distance to the right, slowly winding their way down a gentle slope into the valley. Never was the sight of friendly sail more welcome to the eye of a shipwrecked mariner than was the appearance of those wagons to me, and I fairly laughed aloud at my good fortune.

Immediately in front of the spot where I had made this truly fortunate discovery the declivity was steep, amounting almost to a precipice, with craggy rocks jutting out in every direction. A few steps beyond, the descent, although rough, appeared less steep, and in such haste was I once more to reach the command that I put spurs to my horse and dashed headlong down. Scarcely had I proceeded twenty steps ere my horse snorted and jumped furiously aside, frightened by, a rattlesnake lying almost directly in the path. Blind at the time, in all probability, it being in August, the snake did not give the well-known and frightful alarm until the feet of my horse were close upon him. Numbers of these poisonous reptiles, coiled among the rocks immediately around, soon joined in the alarm, and at the same time emitted an odour which was disagreeable in the extreme.* If I had been frightened while lost upon the prairies, it was now my horse's turn to share a panic with me. With quick yet tremulous leaps he dashed down the craggy steep, and I was unable to restrain or check him until he had reached the smooth, grassy bottom in safety. How many snakes there were in this imme-

* Every animal, with the single exception of the hog, has an instinctive fear of the rattlesnake, can scent them easily, and will fly at their approach with terror. The hog cares nothing for the reptiles, but on the contrary has been known to attack, kill, and devour them with avidity and impunity.

diate neighbourhood is more than I can tell - I did not stop to count or calculate ; but if the lot had been purchased at five hundred, I honestly think the buyer never would have had reason to find fault with the reckoning. On looking back, I discovered a large hole or cave among the rocks, and near the path I had taken, which I had not seen before. This was probably the den or dwelling-place of the reptiles, and at the time when I passed along they were all out airing themselves in the sun. Half an hour's brisk trot brought me up with the command, which I found my companion had already rejoined. He did not know even that I had been lost until I informed him of my adventure. I said little about it, but inly resolved never to be caught out of sight of the command again.

Two or three rattlesnakes had been killed that night within our lines, stragglers, probably, from the den I had passed, and belated, or else too blind to find their way back. After falling asleep at night my dreams partook of anything but the agreeable. At one time I thought myself, like Mazcppa, beset on every side by ravenous wolves, grinning and snapping at me at every step. Next, I was suffering horribly from both hunger and thirst - my powder had all become spoiled by rain, and the clouds gave down no other than bitter water. Soon I was chased by a gang of bloodthirsty Indians, and to increase my fright my faithful horse suddenly lost half his speed. Anon, the prairie was covered in every direction with rattlesnakes, and at the next moment it was on fire, myself standing on a small unburned knoll, the flames rapidly approaching me in every direction. From these dreams I would awake with a start, the horrors of the night even exceeding those of the day which had preceded it. Right glad was I

After proceeding a short distance on our journey that morning, we encountered even a worse road than any over which we had travelled, if my memory serves me. We boxed the compass for several hours, going some ten or twelve miles to gain three on our course, but were finally fortunate enough to reach a high piece of table-land where the mesquit* grass was fresh, and far better than, any we had previously found. To this spot Carlos said the Mexicans frequently brought their sheep, on account of the superiority of the pasturage, and he also pointed in the direction of a large spring and creek of fresh water, which he said emptied into Red River a few miles to the north. Although no sign could be seen indicating water in the direction he assigned, his assertion proved correct ; for after a travel of five or six miles a spring was found in the precise situation which he had described. More singular than this, he had frequently informed the men where plum-patches were to be found in the vicinity of our journey, and he was almost invariably correct. With all these corrob-

* Whether this is a Mexican or Indian name for a particular kind of grass, found in great abundance on the great prairies of the West, I am unable to say. Cattle and horses are extremely fond of it, and it is very nourishing. There is a small, brambly bush of the same name, and also a tree about the size of a cherry or peach tree. The latter bears a pod containing beans, which are greedily devoured by horses and cattle, and are said to fatten them as well as grain. The Camanches make a species of meal from the beans, very palatable and nutritious, and the Mexicans also use them in making beer as well as sugar. When our provisions and coffee fell short, the men ate them raw in immense quantities, and also either roasted or boiled them. The wood makes the best of charcoal, throws out a great heat, and lasts a long time. The tree, as well as the small bush, has a long, sharp thorn. I have spelled the word mesquit, believing that to be the Spanish mode - it is pronounced meskeet. West of San Antonio there are immense groves of mesquit-trees, and the grass is also found there in several varieties.

On encamping at night, fully convinced as the commissioners were of the truth of the statements made by Carlos, who said that San Miguel was not more than seventy-five or eighty miles distant, they determined upon sending Messrs. Howland, Baker, and Rosenberry forward to procure sugar, coffee, and breadstuffs, and consult with the inhabitants, more particularly with some of the principal men, as to the reception the expedition would probably meet. Howland had lived several years in Santa Fe and the vicinity, spoke Spanish fluently, and was well acquainted with all the leading inhabitants. He was a man of great intelligence, brave, and at the same time cautious. The party took with them but three days' provisions, and as large numbers of hostile Indians were known to infest the borders of New Mexico, they were to travel only by night, lying concealed during the day.

Had it not been for this circumstance alone, I should most certainly have accompanied this party ; but I had a pack-mule with no inconsiderable wardrobe to take along, and to travel through an Indian country with such an encumbrance was deemed not only unsafe, but impracticable. So anxious was I to hasten my journey, that I was almost tempted to leave my mule, and take such articles only as I could carry on my horse ; but my friends so strongly advised me to continue with the command that I relinquished the idea of accompanying them, much against my wishes. After circumstances proved, almost beyond a doubt, that the fact of my being compelled to remain with the command saved my life.* I was particularly anxious to hasten forward on more than one account. In the first place, the season was becoming far advanced, and I was in no little anxiety to prosecute my journey through the interior of Mexico, so as to reach the United States by the early part of winter ; in the next place, I had passed about time enough, I will not say lived, on weak coffee without sugar, and a rather short allowance of beef, anything but good ; and I was extremely solicitous to change my diet. To sum up all, " / had seen the elephant."

The whole of August llth we remained in camp, partly to repair some of the wagons, but principally to rest the oxen, many of their feet having been worn to the quick by the rough and stony roads. In the evening, Howland and his unfortunate friends left for the settlements, and were never seen again save by four of us. On the ensuing morning we made an early start, under the guidance of Carlos, who now was stationed with the advance-guard, as the spy company had been broken up. The day was extremely hot and sultry ; yet our guide found a smooth and level prairie, and we were enabled to make some twelve miles in a northwest course before the middle of the afternoon. The advance-guard had by this time arrived at the brow of a small hill, overlooking a cool and shady dell, when a fine buffalo cow was seen lying under a large mesquittree, and apparently fast asleep.

* Afterward I saw Howland and Baker shot, like dogs, in the plaza at San Miguel. Rosenberry was also killed, although I was not present at his death. My fate would, in all human probability, have been the same had I accompanied them.

while two of us disencumbered our horses of saddlebags and all superfluous articles, handed our rifles to some of the men, with a request that they would take charge of them, and then closely examined our pistols to see that they were in order. My comrade's name was Torry, and we felt determined on giving the buffalo a hard chase should the first hunter not succeed in killing her.

He was successful in creeping within sixty yards of the unconscious animal, but unfortunately his rifle hung fire, throwing the ball wide of the mark. The buffalo rose at the report, and turned her head until her eye caught a glance of us, when she immediately set off in a westerly direction and at a lumbering gallop. Myself and companion were instantly in pursuit at a brisk canter, not intending to push our horses to the utmost until we were close upon our prey. After climbing the acclivity, on the opposite side from where the buffalo was first seen lying, we had a level plain before us, miles in extent, and presenting no other obstacles to a fair race than an occasional patch of small and tangled mesquit bushes. As we were some little distance from the hunter when he fired, the buffalo had a good half mile the start of us ; yet before we had been two miles in chase, we were within fifty yards of her. With full confidence that we should soon be alongside, we now spurred our horses to their utmost speed. At almost every stride a deer would start in affright from his covert under the larger mesquit-trees,* and with a few jumps place himself out of harm's way. Never have I

* It should be understood that the larger class of these trees, and the only ones which afford a shade on the prairies, never grow close together, but are generally found fifteen or twenty feet apart. At a short distance, a grove of them resembles a peach-orchard.

An Escape

seen the deer so plentiful as they were during that exciting chase, and so close did we come to them before they started, that we could easily have shot them with our pistols.

We were almost up to the buffalo as we neared a large patch of the smaller mesquits, and had already cocked our pistols, when the affrighted animal dashed directly into the thickest part of the matted thicket. Many of the bushes were dry, yet breaking and crashing through, she rushed madly on, utterly regardless of the long and sharp thorns with which they were covered. Not so with our horses ; their chests and shoulders were not shielded by the long, shaggy hair found upon the buffalo, and as the thorns entered their flesh, they shied, bolted, and ran so unkindly that we could hardly spur them through. This gave the cow every advantage, and enabled her to gain some fifty yards while going twice that distance ; but on emerging from the thicket the race was our own again. Once more we were nearly up with the flank of the huge and unwieldy animal, and about to discharge our pistols, when another tangled thicket intervened to cut us oft'. A third and a fourth time we were nearly up with our prey, and considered her in our very hands ; but just in the very nick of time another tangled patch would present itself as a shelter and protection to the hunted beast. In this way the race continued some five or six miles, and until our nags gave manifest symptoms of distress. Had the prairie been smooth and clear of thickets, we should have at least discharged every pistol we had, and in all probability brought our noble game to the ground ; as it was, with jaded animals and every prospect of farther obstacles ahead, we reined in and gave up the chase - reluctantly enough on my part.

We immediately dismounted from our horses to give them an opportunity of recovering their wind and resting, and in the mean time watched the still retreating animal we had vainly endeavoured to kill. She never appeared to check her heavy, lumbering gallop until lost to view on the distant prairie. The ridge upon which the chase had taken place ran nearly east and west, on the side along which the buffalo led us there appearing to be a slight gradual slope towards the south. In that direction, and running parallel with the ridge, we could see the dim outline of what appeared to be a heavy belt of timber - the bottoms, as we then thought, of a large river. Having noted well the points from which this timber could be seen, we once more mounted our horses, and slowly retraced our steps. The deer, which, as we sped along after the buffalo, had jumped almost from under the very feet of our horses, were now nowhere to be seen - gone with our hopes of a meal of the fat cow, and affording another specimen of the luck of hungry hunters.

We found the command encamped near the spot where we had first seen the buffalo, although there was barely water enough for the men, and our animals stood in the utmost need. We mentioned the circumstance of our having seen a long line of timber to the southward, with every appearance of a large stream in that direction ; but Carlos said that such could not be the case, and he spoke with a confidence that gained belief even over the testimony of our senses. He admitted, however, that there might be a creek or small stream, but thought it could not run in a parallel course with the river north of us, the bottoms of which we could see on every day's march. Here, for the time, the matter of a southern watercourse rested.

Another Trial For Game

With the result of our buffalo hunt I was far from satisfied. I had fully made up my mind to have a meal of wild meat that night ; and now that visions of the cow, with her delicious marrow-bones, had faded, my mind was led to investigate the chances of obtaining at least a fat buck for our mess. We had seen enough during our hard chase to convince us that they were not only exceedingly numerous, but very tame. The main body of those we had frightened from their noonday rest, as we galloped along, had gone in the direction of a beautiful valley scarcely a mile from our camp. Confident that I could find some of these feeding in this valley, I shouldered my rifle and hobbled off, as well as my lame ankle would allow me, in that direction.

The sun was just setting as I crossed a little roll which overlooked this retreat. So far from being disappointed in my expectations of finding deer in the quiet dell, I was agreeably surprised on seeing a large drove of them feeding upon the short, sweet grass. They saw me, too, for they lifted their heads on high, gave the well-known whistle, and stared with their mild, large eyes directly towards the spot where I was standing ; but instead of leaping hurriedly away, as is their wont when worried and hunted by either whites or Indians, they soon bent their heads to the ground again, and unconcernedly resumed their evening meal.

I could have shot the nearest, from the spot where I first discovered them, and without, to borrow one of the comedian Hackett's expressions, running any great risk of straining my rifle ; but they were so exceedingly tame that I thought I would creep directly into their very midst, where I could have my choice of the largest and fattest buck. It seemed hardly necessary, so little did the naturally timid animals regard my approach, to seek the cover afforded by some scattering mesquittrees ; yet I made use of them, and in five minutes was in a position where I could make my selection from among at least fifty, and the farthest was not seventy yards from me. I soon selected a victim, a noble buck whose plumpness and lightish blue colour betokened an exceeding degree of fatness. Sitting upon the ground, I raised my rifle across my knee -as a half rest, took a sight which I thought close and deliberate, and " blazed away." The light blue smoke curled slowly upward in fleecy wreaths upon the still evening air, and as it partially dispersed I saw my deer staring me full in the face, somewhat astonished, perhaps, but far from frightened at the report of my rifle. He hoisted his tail, made five or six bounds, and then stopped to give another inquiring look in the direction where I was sitting. Supposing, of course, that I had given him a mortal wound, I quietly began to reload my rifle with the intention of sacrificing another buck, for not one of the gang had moved ten steps ; but what was my astonishment, after having driven well home a bullet and put on a percussion cap, to see the buck I had shot at absolutely nipping the grass with as good a relish as any of the herd. I knew that I had hit him - I could not, by any possibility, miss him at so short a distance ; but there he stood, a living witness that if I had hit I had at least not hurt him much.

I could easily, from the spot where I was sitting, have selected a victim for my second shot much nearer than was my first love by this time ; but having certain misgivings that he might not have received a mortal wound, I determined upon paying my respects to him a second time - it was my duty to " put him out of his misery" as quickly as possible. With these intentions

Great Shooting

I again rested my rifle across my knee, again pulled the trigger, again the rifle went off with a good, sharp, and as I thought killing crack, and again the deer went off, too, some half a dozen jumps across the prairie. If I thought I had given a mortal wound the first time, I was sure of it now - it could not be otherwise - there was no such thing as missing a vital part twice at a distance which was absolutely short enough for putting out a squirrel's eye without spoiling his skin.

But to be ready for another, I again commenced reloading. Once or twice, while handling the powder and lead, I cast a glance at the buck to which I had already dedicated two shots, every moment expecting to see him totter - to see his legs give way - yet there he stood, as firm on his pins as ever, and what was stranger than all, again commenced a supper from which he had been twice interrupted. Still, there was no necessity of wasting more lead upon him - he could not get away - and I therefore commenced a survey of the herd for the next biggest. There was no difficulty in making a choice, for by the time my rifle was ready for a third discharge another large buck had fed along until he was within forty steps of me. I waited until he presented a fair broadside, and then fired. The result was precisely the same as on the first two discharges - the buck I had last shot at jumped off as did the first : his bounds may have been a trifle longer, and there may have been a few more of them. That he was a dead or dying deer there was no question.

Once more I commenced loading my rifle. Some of the deer, in my more immediate vicinity, had, after the three shots, placed a few yards more of ground between us ; but others had taken their places, and I was still within half rifle-shot of at least twenty of them. By the time I had reloaded, and was ready to renew the destruction I had commenced, the dark shades of evening had fallen upon the more distant prairie swells, yet it was still light enough for me to see distinctly every object in my neighbourhood. Deeply did I regret the lateness of the hour, as with a little more light I was sanguine in the belief that I could strew the prairie with trophies of my skill as a hunter. Often, while in the settlements, had I remained patiently at a stand, hour after hour, watching for a pack of hounds to drive some affrighted deer within gunshot, and had even considered myself in some way rewarded if, during a long day's hunt, I had a glimpse of a buck dashing madly through the bushes at a distance of three or four hundred yards, and had heard the exciting bay of the hounds while in hot pursuit. If, by any chance - and such accidents had happened two or three times in my life - I was fortunate enough to bring down a deer, the exploit would furnish me with food for thought and speech for a twelvemonth - now, look in what direction I would, the animals were staring me in the face within a stone's throw, and seemed coaxingly to ask me to shoot at them : surely, never before were deer seen so tame.

Anxious to make the most of my time before it was yet too dark, I drew up my rifle a fourth time and discharged it at still another buck. He followed in the footsteps of his shot-at predecessors, evincing astonishment or alarm no otherwise than by bounding off a few jumps and then stopping to gaze at me. Of the two I was probably the most astonished - astonished that he did not fall instantly to the ground.

What was the matter ? It might be that my rifle, " sighted" for a distance of one hundred and twenty-five yards, carried too high at forty or fifty. But then, if I ft did not shoot them directly through the heart, the ball could not have passed far above it - the animals must be badly, if not mortally wounded.

After having poured a charge of powder into my rifle, I found that I had but a single ball left - for not anticipating such luck, I had started with only five. The confidence I at first felt, that the deer I had shot at must soon full, was now sensibly diminishing, although lingering hopes were still harboured in my mind that the more tender portions of some one of them, at least, would furnish the raw material for my supper. I had finished loading, and on looking over the little valley I noticed that the deer, with the daylight, had become scarce. There was one buck, however, close by me - not sixty yards distant. Determined to make sure of this one, if the others were really unhurt, I crept up until I verily believe he was not thirty steps from me. The motion of placing my rifle across my knee, for I made each shot sitting upon the ground, attracted the animal's attention so much that he absolutely advanced several steps towards me. He fairly seemed bent upon his own destruction - to meet me half way in my desire to make my last shot certain.

The dimness of night by this time rendered it impossible to " draw a fine bead," in hunter's parlance ; but then at a distance at which I could have killed him with a brickbat, what was the necessity of being too particular about my aim ? I fired.

The buck did not bound off as the others had done, but, on the contrary, advanced towards me with looks of inquiry ! I knew that the severest and most mortal wounds are frequently unattended with pain or a sense of injury - I must have given the buck one of this description. I jumped from the ground and hobbled to- wards him as fast as my lameness would permit. He turned and scampered off after his comrades. By a fair mathematical calculation the animal went at least twenty yards while I went one ; yet I continued the pursuit with the hope that his race would soon be run. Until his broad, white tail was lost in the dim twilight of evening did I press forward, and only gave up the chase when I could see nothing to pursue.

Thus ends a long but veritable account of an adventure with a herd of deer on the Western prairies. To account for their exceeding tameness and approachability, I can offer no other solution than that they had never before met either the white or red man. The narrow space of country which afforded them food was bounded by sterile wastes, and their natural enemies, the red men, had never visited their peaceful dell.

I slowly picked my way back to camp, out of humour and out of conceit with myself, my rifle, my powder, and more especially my bullets. On reaching my comrades, I ascertained that Tom Hancock had shot three noble bucks, and had gone out some time after me. Nothing, he said, save the want of light, had prevented him from killing twenty. I was asked if I had seen any deer. I merely remarked that I had seen several, and here the conversation dropped. I was not disposed to be communicative.

And what, the reader will probably ask, was the reason of my want of success ? In all frankness, and with a desire to answer his question fairly, and to the best of my knowledge, belief, and ability, I will here state that there is a very common disease prevalent among young and inexperienced hunters in Texas, which is known as the " buck ague" It manifests itself whenever the subject is suddenly brought in close proximity with game of the larger class, and more difficult to kill, and its effects are to give a hurriedness of action, a tremulousness of the nerves, and an unwonted excitableness to the feelings generally. It strikes me forcibly, and I have little doubt the reader's impressions are closely akin to mine, that I underwent a severe attack of the " buck ague" while on the little hunting excursion of which I have just given a description - in plain English, that I was too nervous even to hit a barn door at twenty steps.

Brackish Water. - Los Cuervos, or The Crows. - Carlos and his Speculations. - Stream on our Left visited. - Opinion of " Old Paint." - Startling Surmises. - No Water. - Endurance of the Mule. - Singular Valley. - Water seen in the Distance. - Perilous Descent of a Bluff. - Arrival at the River. - More Brackish Water. - An Alarm. - Fire in Camp. - Terrific Spread of the Flames. - Explosion of Cartridges. - Night Ascent of the Bluffs. - Ravages of the Fire. - Extent of our Loss. - Magnificent night Scene. - Our Camp by Daylight. - Coffee too much burned. - Compelled to fall back upon First Principles. - Again on the March. - Intolerable Suffering from Thirst. - A .Beautiful Camp. - Disappearance of Carlos and Brignoli. - Horrors of our Situation. - Lost, and without a Guide upon the Prairies. - Shower on the Espy Principle. - Party sent out to Explore. - Rough Travelling. - Gloomy Prospects. - Return to Camp. - Ten Miles for a Draught of Water. - "Doing" our Washing. - Company of Spies sent out. - Death of Doctor Brashear. - Bitter Water. - Rations reduced. - Sufferings now commencing. - Return of one of the Spies. - Again on the March. - Visit to a Commonwealth of Prairie Dogs. - Description of these singular Animals.

THE 13th of August was an eventful day with us - > one which few of the party can ever forget. The night previous we encamped without water for our cattle or horses, and the little we obtained for our own use was of the worst quality, and swallowed only to allay the intolerable thirst brought on by a long day's march under the hot sun. The hard buffalo chase had jaded my P 2

We had proceeded but a short distance, on the morning of the 13th, before the blue tops of several mountains were seen, far in the distance to the west. Carlos was the first to discover them, and remarked that they were Los Cuervos, or The Crows, three high mountains in the chain through which the supposed Red River has cut its way. The place where the stream winds its course through the mountains is called the Angosturas, or Narrows, and The Crows stand out in bold relief to guide the distant traveller to that point.

Our route, at the present time, was along a high prairie which appeared to be a dividing ridge between two large streams. During the morning, Captain Caldwell visited the stream which my companion and I had discovered the day previous, while chasing the buffalo. On returning, about noon, he said that the stream was a large one, and that he believed it to be the Brazos ! This river was supposed by all to be a long distance to the south. Captain C. also, for the first time, declared his conviction that the stream we had been following up from the Waco village was the Wichita, and that the Red River was some seventy-five or a hundred miles to the north. All were startled at this report ; but still, so strong was the reliance placed in the assertions of Carlos, few could be induced to give it credit.

We continued our journey until the middle of the afternoon, altering our course somewhat to the north to avoid the bad travelling we found more immediately on our route. Small parties of men were out in every direction in search of water, but they met with no success. By this time the want of the reviving element was plainly seen in our horses ; their wild and glaring eyes, with their broken, nervous, and unsteady action, showing the intensity of their suffering. The mules, too, suffered much from the want of water, but nothing in comparison with the horses and oxen. The endurance of the mule is never so well tested as on a journey where both water and grass are scarce.

I have said that we continued our journey until the middle of the afternoon. About that time, and without seeing any sign ahead that could lead us to expect there was so great a change in the face of the country, we suddenly reached the brow of a precipitous bluff, some two or three hundred feet in height, which overlooked a large valley of broken and rugged appearance. This valley was four or five miles in width, a ridge of rough hills bounding it on the northern side, and not only the descent to the valley from the bluff on which we stood, but the whole surface below, was covered by dry cedars, apparently killed the previous year by fire. The spot upon which we stood was a level plain, covered with rank and coarse grass several feet in height. This grass, no rain having fallen for weeks, had become as dry as tinder. While consulting as to what course we should pursue, some one of our party discovered water at a distance of three or four miles across the valley below, a turn in the river bringing it to viewT. We immediately determined, if possible, to effect the descent of the steep and ragged bluff before us, and at least give our suffering animals a chance to quench their thirst, even if the water should prove too brackish for our own use.

Some thirty-five or forty of the advance-guard instantly determined upon undertaking the toilsome and dangerous descent, and, to give my horse the earliest turn at the water, I accompanied this party. After winding and picking our way for a full hour, pitching down precipices that were nearly perpendicular, and narrowly escaping frightful chasms and fissures of the rocks, we were all enabled to reach the valley with whole bones ; but to do this we were frequently obliged to dismount from our horses, and in some places fairly to push them over abrupt descents which they never would have attempted without force. I have said that this bluff was some two or three hundred feet in height - we travelled at least a mile to gain this short distance, so devious and difficult was our path. The side of the bluff was formed of rough, sharp-pointed rocks, many of them of large size, and every little spot of earth had, in former years, given nourishment and support to some scraggy cedar, now left leafless and desolate by fire. Shoots of young cedars, however, were springing up wherever they could find root-hold ; but they were not destined to attain the rank and standing of their sires.

After reaching the valley, we soon found the sandy bed of what had been a running stream in the rainy season. Immediately on striking it, our tired nags raised their heads, pricked up their ears, and set off at a brisk trot, instinctively knowing that water was in the vicinity. The horse scents water at an incredible distance, and frequently travellers upon the prairies are enabled to find it by simply turning their horses or mules loose.

us to the river. On reaching its banks, nothing could restrain our nags from dashing headlong down. Equally thirsty ourselves, we had fondly hoped that the waters might prove fresh and sweet ; but they were even more brackish than any we had yet tasted. Repulsive as it was, however, we swallowed enough to moisten our parched lips and throats, and ten minutes after were even more thirsty than before. Our horses, more fond of this water than any other, drank until apparently they could swallow no more.

While some of our party were digging into the sand at the edge of the stream, with the hope of finding water more fresh, and others were enjoying the cooling luxury of a bath, a loud report, as of a cannon, was heard in the direction of the camp, and a dark smoke was seen suddenly to arise.

" An Indian attack !" was the startling cry on all sides, and instantly we commenced huddling on our clothes and bridling our horses. One by one, as fast as we could get ready, we set off for what we supposed to be a scene of conflict. As we neared the campingground it became plainly evident that the prairie was on fire in all directions. When within a mile of the steep bluff, which cut off the prairie above from the valley, the bright flames were seen flashing among the dry cedars, and a dense volume of black smoke, rising above all, gave a painful sublimity to the scene.

On approaching nearer we were met by some of our companions, who were hurriedly seeking a passage up the steep. They had heard, from those on the prairie above, that the high grass had caught fire by accident, and that with such velocity had it spread that several of the wagons, and among them that of the commissioners, had been consumed. This wagon contained, in addition to a large number of cartridges, all the trunks and valuables of the mess to which I was attached, making me doubly anxious to gain the scene of destruction and learn the worst. It afterward proved that the explosion of the cartridges in the wagon

With redoubled exertions we now pushed forward towards the camp, but before we could reach the base of the high and rugged bluff the flames were dashing down its sides with frightful rapidity, leaping and flashing across the gullies and around the hideous cliffs, and roaring in the deep, yawning chasms with the wild and appalling noise of a tornado. As the flames would strike the dry tops of the cedars, reports, resembling those of the musket, would be heard ; and in such quick succession did these reports follow each other, that I can compare them to nothing save the irregular discharge of infantry - a strange accompaniment to the wild roar of the devouring element.

The wind was blowing fresh from the west when the prairie was first ignited, carrying the flames, with a speed absolutely astounding, over the very ground on which we had travelled during the day. The wind lulled as the sun went down behind the mountains in the west, and now the fire began to spread slowly in that direction. The difficult passage by which we had descended was cut off by the fire, and night found our party still in the valley, unable to discover any other road to the table-land above. Our situation was a dangerous one, too ; for had the wind sprung up and veered into the east, we should have found much difficulty in escaping, with such velocity did the flames extend.

If the scene had been grand previous to the going down of the sun, its magnificence was increased tenfold as night in vain attempted to throw its dark mantle over the earth. The light from acres and acres, I might say miles and miles, of inflammable and blazing cedars, illuminated earth and sky with a radiance even more lustrous and dazzling than that of the noonday sun. Ever and anon, as some one of our comrades would approach the brow of the high bluff above us, he appeared not like an inhabitant of this earth. A lurid and most unnatural glow, reflected upon his countenance from the valley of burning cedars, seemed to render still more haggard and toilsome his burned and blackened features.

I was fortunate enough, about nine o'clock, to meet one of our men, who directed me to a passage up the steep ascent. He had just left the bluff above, and gave me a piteous recital of our situation. He was endeavouring to find water, after several hours of unceasing toil, and I left him with slight hopes that his search would be rewarded. By this time I was alone, not one of the companions who had started with me from the river being in sight or hearing. One by one they had dropped off, each searching for some path by which he might climb to the table-land above.

The first person I met. after reaching the prairie, was Mr. Falconer, standing with the blackened remnant of a blanket in his hand, and watching lest the fire should break out on the western side of the camp ; for in that direction the exertions of the men, aided by a strong westerly wind, had prevented the devouring element from spreading. Mr. F. directed me to the spot where our mess was quartered. I found them sitting upon such articles as had been saved from the wagon, their gloomy countenances rendered more desponding by the reflection from the now distant fire. I was too much worn down by fatigue and deep anxiety to make many inquiries as to the extent of our loss ; but hungry, and almost choked with thirst, I threw myself upon the blackened ground and sought forgett'ulness in sleep. It was hours, however, before sleep visited my eyelids. From the spot on which I was lying, a broad sheet of flame could still be seen, miles and miles in width, the heavens in that direction so brilliantly lit up that they resembled a sea of molten gold. In the west, a wall of impenetrable blackness appeared to be thrown up as the spectator suddenly turned from viewing the conflagration in the opposite direction. The subdued yet deep roar of the element could still be plainly heard as it sped on as with the wings of lightning across the prairies, while in the valley far below, the flames were flashing and leaping among the dry cedars, and shooting and circling about in manner closely resembling a magnificent pyrotechnic display - the general combination forming a scene of grandeur and sublimity which the pen shrinks from describing, and to which the power of words is wholly unequal.

Daylight the next morning disclosed a melancholy scene of desolation and destruction. North, south, and east, as far as the eye could reach, the rough and broken country was blackened by the fire, and the removal of the earth's shaggy covering of cedars and tall grass but laid bare, in painful distinctness, the awful chasms and rents in the steep hillside before us, as well as the valley spreading far and wide below. Afar off, in the distance, a dense black smoke was seen rising, denoting that the course of the devastating element was still onward. Two of our wagons only had been entirely consumed, but nearly all had suffered. A part of the baggage in the commissioners' wagon had been saved by the extraordinary exertions of some of the men, and just as they had relinquished the work the explosion of cartridges, which had first alarmed the party in the valley, scattered the burning fragments of the wagon in every direction. My friend Falconer was so disfigured that I hardly knew him. His hair and eyebrows were scorched completely off, his face was in a perfect blister, his clothes burned from his back, and, without a hat, he seemed as though some insurance office had met with a heavy loss. Object of pity, however, as he appeared to be, I still could not help smiling at the sad and wo-begone figure he presented. Among the few trunks saved I fortunately found mine, containing nearly all my money, clothing, watch, and other valuables. The loss of a carpet-bag, which contained my boots and the rough articles I wore upon the road, was all I had to regret in the way of private property. Not so with the mess to which I was attached. The remnant of coffee we still had left was burned entirely too much ; our pots, pans and kettles, knives and forks, were converted into old iron - everything was gone. We had nothing to eat, however, except half rations of miserably poor beef, and the necessity of falling back upon first principles, or, in other words, eating with our fingers, annoyed us but little.

The wagon of the commissioners contained, besides our private baggage, a quantity of jewelry, blankets, cartridges, rifles, muskets, &c. These were all destroyed. The other wagon which was consumed was loaded with goods, and from this nothing was saved. At one time the ammunition wagon, containing a large quantity of powder, was on fire, and only saved by the daring exertions of some of our men. It may appear singular to some of my readers that so much damage could be caused by the burning of grass alone, for on the spot where the wagons were drawn up there was nothing else ; but it should be remembered that this grass was very high, had been killed by dry weather, and flashed up and spread almost with the rapidity of a train of powder on being ignited. It is very easy, when a fire upon the prairies is seen coming towards a party, to escape its dangers by kindling the grass immediately about and taking possession of the newly-burned ground before the distant flames come up ; but in this instance the fire commenced on the windward side, and with a frightful rapidity flashed directly along our line of wagons. The only wonder at the time was, how anything had been saved from the furious element that roared and crackled around.

We packed up and arranged our baggage as well as we could, hunted up and drove in our cattle, and late in the forenoon made a start. Our course was nearly west, and along the level prairie that overlooked the large valley upon our right. The mountains that we had seen the day previous gradually opened to the view, and as they became more visible, did not so well answer the description Carlos had given of The Crows. But few, however, felt disposed to doubt the man's words. We are slow in giving credence to any story, however plausible, that runs counter to our desires and hopes.

Our road was a good one this day, and we journeyed on with unusual rapidity. The men suffered incredibly from thirst, and were constantly seen eating the pods from the mesquit-trees, drawing the little moisture they possessed to relieve their parched tongues and throats. A bullet has considerable virtue in relieving thirst, and a piece of raw hide imparts much moisture to the mouth, as I have proved by sad experience.

At night we encamped in a beautiful dell, covered with the larger mesquit-trees and excellent grass. This encampment appeared to be near the termination of the valley of cedars, and the face of the country onward was now entirely changed, being broken and mountainous. The only water we could find in thejricinity of this camp, which would otherwise have been one of the finest on our route, was entirely too brackish for use. The cattle and horses were fond of it ; the men, however, could not swallow it without great nausea, and it did not in the least quench their thirst. That evening Carlos left camp, in company with an Italian named Brignoli, as they said, in search of water and the best route for our wagons on the ensuing day. Late at night they returned, Brignoli showing some specimens of quicksilver he had found, which were said to be very rich by those who pretended to any knowledge on the subject. He had joined the expedition as a volunteer, but was known to be constantly in search of precious minerals.

In the mean time every one in camp who spoke Spanish was questioning Carlos as to our position and prospects. Those who doubted his knowledge or mistrusted his faith did not hesitate to declare their misgivings aloud. No threats were offered, but Carlos understood just enough of English to know that they were talking of him, and not saying anything complimentary either to his knowledge of the country or his honesty. The next morning early he was missing, and, on looking about the camp, Brignoli, too, was found absent This circumstance created the greatest excitement among all ; yet Carlos had many believers and friends - =and they still insisted that he had only left the camp for a short time, to hunt. The oxen were yoked and hitched to the wagons, and every preparation made for resuming our journey, but Carlos was yet missing.

worse and more pitiable situation than the one in which we now found ourselves. The hope that we were within some sixty miles of the frontier settlements vanished with Carlos, for we knew that he would not have left so long as there was a probability of his leading us safely through the difficulties in which we were involved. He had been offered inducements too strong for frim thus to desert us, unless he himself was lost and feared the consequences of leading us farther astray. We were suffering, too, from the want of fresh water, and knew full well that there was none on the road we had come short of three days' march over a prairie rendered desolate by the great fire. Our only hope was in going ahead, and when nine o'clock came we pushed on without rudder or compass, the melancholy truth plainly visible in almost every face that we were lost among the wilderness prairies of the West.

As we pursued our melancholy journey, there were still a few among us who thought that Carlos would come up and honestly account for his absence. They even declared their belief that we had now arrived within sight of the Angosturas, or Narrows of Red River, and that if Carlos had really left us it was because he feared that some of the leading men in New Mexico, inimical to the Texans, might blame him for guiding us directly to their homesteads. About noon we were fortunate enough to find a cool and delicious spring of fresh water, and near it a pond large enough to water all our horses and cattle. After drinking deeply at the fountain-head, and fervently hoping for a continuance of such good fortune, we filled our gourds and canteens, and resumed our march. Whenever we looked back we could see an immense smoke in the east, plainly denoting that the prairie fire which had broken out two days previous was still raging. Early in the afternoon a heavy, black cloud was noticed directly over the spot, from which rain was descending apparently in torrents ; beyond, and in fact all around this cloud, the sky was clear and without a speck. Here was a shower got up on the Espy principle, although at a heavy cost to our party.

Our course was now nearly west. On our left, and running in nearly a northwest and southeast direction, a range of mountains was plainly visible - the chain which, it was now evident enough, Carlos had mistaken for The Crows. I say mistaken, for up to the morning of his departure I believe the fellow's intentions were honest, and that he really supposed the party to be on Red River. The water in the Wichita, for that the river we were on undoubtedly was, resembled in every way that of the former, while the country around bore the same appearance ; and as Carlos had trapped on both streams, probably without noticing either carefully, and knew but little of them even as low down as Coffee's Station, and was unacquainted with the American name of the river, the mistake might easily occur.

I have mentioned the appearance of the country to the left ; on our right it was much broken, and evidently impassable for wagons. A party of some thirty of us, all well mounted, left the command to explore thoroughly this latter section, and our leader, Captain Caldwell, declared that he would not return until he had satisfactorily ascertained whether we were in the neighbourhood of the Narrows or not. Captain C. was the first man to suggest that the stream up which we had been so long journeying was not the Red River, and also to express doubts whether Carlos really knew as much of the country as he pretended. Q2

After working our way through a succession of rugged hills, cedar-brakes, and ravines, for a distance of some ten miles, we at length reached the stream upon our right. It had dwindled down to a small brook, and the head spring was evidently somewhere in the mountains in our vicinity.* The water was extremely salt, and unfit for use. Several trails were found leading along the banks, made by Indians and mustangs, and in one place mule and horse tracks were seen, together with the print of a white man's shoe in the sand, evidently made either by Carlos or his companion, or by one of Rowland's men. Being satisfied that we were not in the neighbourhood of the Narrows, and that it was impossible to take the wagons by the road we had travelled, we started back for the spring we had found in the morning, and arrived there at sunset, ourselves and horses completely worn down with fatigue.

Captain Caldwell had shot a fat buck during the day, which had been dressed, and by the side of the cool spring we made a delicious meal. At dark, we resaddled our horses, and after finding the trail of the wagons with some difficulty, pushed on and reached the command about ten o'clock, encamped without water, and extremely solicitous for our return.

Early the next morning spies were sent forward to seek water and a passage through the mountains, myself, with three or four companions, going back to the spring, a distance of some ten miles, for a draught of water ! It may seem a long distance, ten miles, to go for a draught of fresh water, but at that time I would have gone fifty. After allowing our horses a rest of two or

* I have little doubt that we were now among the Wichita Mountains. They have never, I believe, been laid down upon any map, but old trappers and campaigners often speak of them.

Death Op Dr. Brashear

three hours, and doing our washing - for at this time every man was his own washer-woman - we set off to rejoin the command. It may not be amiss to say that our washing was very light, consisting only of a checked shirt and a pair of coarse stockings or socks.

Late in the afternoon we reached the camping-place of the previous night, and found that the command had moved forward. A brisk trot brought us up with our companions at dark, encamped by a small spring and creek of bitter water, strongly impregnated, to judge from the taste, with copperas and magnesia. Whatever the substances held in solution by this water may have been, it operated as a powerful cathartic ; but the men, unable to find any other, partook of it in large quantities.

On the following morning a council of officers was held, at which it was determined to send a party of fifty of our best-mounted men in a northerly direction, with orders not to return until they had found Red River. Orders were also given to the commander of the party, Captain Caldwell, to send guides back from day to day, as a good wagon road could be found, in order that the expedition might get on as fast as possible.

The party left on the 17th of August, and on the same day Doctor Brashear, our assistant surgeon, died of a liver complaint, and was buried with military honours. He was a native, if I recollect right, of Kentucky, much respected by all who knew him.

Another council was held after the spies had left, and at this meeting it was resolved to reduce our rations of beef. Where we were was problematical ; our distance from the settlements no one could even calculate, and as we might still be months in reaching them, it was evident enough that our beef would not hold out. The regular ration of three pounds a day to each man was cut down to one pound and a half, and this at a time when the beef had become extremely poor and destitute of nutriment, and more than the former rations was really required to support men worn down and exhausted by long and fatiguing marches, and weakened by the effects of bad water and no water at all. Prudence justified this reduction, however, and the men submitted to it with a cheerfulness that showed they felt the necessity of the course. In the mean time regular hunting parties were detailed for the purpose of adding to our scanty stock of provisions as much as possible ; yet, although deer and antelope were far from scarce, nothing like a sufficiency of meat could be procured for our wants. Buffalo were seldom seen, only one being killed during the four days we passed at the camp of the bitter waters.

Much to our joy, a guide returned on the evening of the 20th, and reported that a passage had been found through the mountains. Many of us were unwell and extremely weak from the effect of the strong purgative waters ; but the news that we were again to be on the move was of the most welcome kind, and every preparation was made for an early start the next morning.

Learning, from the guide who had returned, that there was a large city or commonwealth of prairie dogs directly on the route the command would take, with two companions I went on to visit these neighbours. We were induced by a double object - first, by a desire to examine one of the republics about which prairie travellers have said so much ; and secondly, to obtain something to eat, for the flesh of these animals was said to be excellent.

Prairie Dog8

the summit we found a beautiful table-land spread out before us, reaching miles in every direction. The soil appeared to be uncommonly rich, and was covered with a luxurious growth of mesquit-trees. The grass was of the curly mesquit species, the sweetest and most nutritious of all the different kinds of that grass, and it was told me that the dogs seldom establish their towns and cities unless on sites where this grass is found in abundance.

We had proceeded but a short distance, after reaching this beautiful prairie, before we came upon the outskirts of the commonwealth. A few scattering dogs were seen scampering in, their short, sharp yelps giving a general alarm to the whole community.

The first brief cry of danger from the outskirts was soon taken up in the centre of the city, and now nothing was to be heard or seen in any direction but a barking, dashing, and scampering of the mercurial and excitable denizens of the place, each to his burrow. Far as the eye could reach the city extended, and all over it the scene was the same.

We rode leisurely along until we had reached the more thickly-settled portion of the place. Here we halted, and after taking the bridles from our horses to allow them to graze, we prepared for a regular attack upon the inhabitants. The burrows were not more than ten or fifteen yards apart, with well-trodden paths leading in different directions, and I even fancied I could discover something like regularity in the laying out of the streets.

We sat down upon a bank under the shade of a mesquit, and leisurely surveyed the scene before us. Our approach had driven every one to his home in our immediate vicinity, but at the distance of some hundred yards the small mound of earth in front of each burrow was occupied by a dog, sitting erect on his hinder legs and coolly looking about for the cause of the recent commotion. Every now and then some citizen, more adventurous than his neighbour, would leave his lodgings on a flying visit to a friend, apparently exchange a few words, and then scamper back as fast as his legs would carry him.

By-and-by, as we kept perfectly still, some of our near neighbours were seen cautiously poking their heads from out their holes, and looking craftily, and, at the same time, inquisitively about them. Gradually a citizen would emerge from the entrance of his domicil, come out upon his observatory, perk his head cunningly, and then commence yelping somewhat after the manner of a young puppy - a quick jerk of the tail accompanying each yelp. It is this short bark alone that has given them the name of dogs, as they bear no more resemblance to that animal, either in appearance, action, or manner of living, than they do to the hyena.

We were armed, one with a double-barrelled shot-gun, and another with one of Colt's repeating rifles of small bore, while I had my short, heavy rifle, throwing a large ball, and acknowledged by all to be the best weapon in the command. It would drive a ball completely through a buffalo at the distance of a hundred and fifty yards, and there was no jumping off or running away by a deer when struck in the right place - to use a common expression, " he would never know what had hurt him."* Hit one of the dogs where we would, with a small ball, he would almost invariably turn a peculiar somerset, and get into his hole - but by a ball from my rifle, the entire head of the animal would be knocked off, and after this there was no escape. With the shotgun, again, we could do nothing but waste ammunition. I fired it at one dog not ten steps off, having in a good charge of buckshot, and thought I must cut him into fragments - I wounded him severely, but with perhaps three or four shot through him he was still able to wriggle and tumble into his hole.

For three hours we remained in this commonwealth, watching the movements of the inhabitants, and occasionally picking off one of the more unwary. No less than nine were got by the party, and one circumstance I would mention as singular in the extreme, and showing the social relationship which exists among these animals, as well as the kind regard they have one for another. One of them had perched himself upon the pile of earth in front of his pole, sitting up and exposing a fair mark, while a companion's head was seen poking out of the entrance, too timid, perhaps, to trust himself farther. A well-directed ball from my rifle carried away the entire top of the former's head, and knocked him some two or three feet from his post perfectly dead. While reloading, the other boldly came out, seized his companion by one of his legs, and before we could reach the hole had drawn him completely out of sight. There was a touch of feeling in the little incident - a something human, which raised the animals in my estimation, and ever after I did not attempt to kill one of them, except when driven by extreme hunger.

The prairie dog is about the size of the common wild rabbit of the United States, heavier, perhaps, more compact, and with much shorter legs. In appearance it closely resembles the woodchuck, or groundhog, of the Northern and Middle States, although not more than two thirds as large. The colour is the same, being a dark, reddish brown, while the formation of the head and teeth is the same as in all the different species of squirrels, to which family it belongs. In their habits they are clannish, social, and extremely convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over each other's affairs - at least so their actions would indicate. When they find a good location for a village, and there is no water in the immediate vicinity, old hunters say, they dig a well to supply the wants of the community. On several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of his neighbours it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor, or chief - at all events, he was the " big dog" of the place. For at least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community. During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him a few moments, and then run off to their domicils. All this while he never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a gravity in his deportment not discernible in those by which he was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of the village ; but it certainly apaUEER CAPERS. 193

If a person is fortunate enough to gain the immediate vicinity of one of their villages unobserved - a very difficult matter, for their sentinels are always on the alert - he will discover the inhabitants gambolling, frisking, and running about the well-trodden paths, occasionally stopping a moment as if to exchange a word with a neighbour, and then hurrying back to their own lodges. Should he chance to discover some quiet citizen, sitting gravely at his doorway, he has but to watch him for a short time ere he will notice some eccentricity of conduct. His manner of entering his hole will remind the spectator of the antics of Pantaloon in a pantomime ; for, instead of walking quietly in, he does it with an eccentric bound and half somerset, his hind feet knocking together as he pitches headlong into the darkness below ; and before the aforesaid spectator has yet fairly recovered from the half laugh caused by the drollery of the movement, he will see the dog slowly thrust his head from his burrow, and with a pert and impudent expression of countenance peer cunningly about, as if to ascertain the effect his recent antic had caused.

A singular species of owl is invariably found residing in and about the dog-towns. It has a longer body and smaller head than the common owl of the settlements, yet possesses all the gravity of deportment and solemnity of mien which distinguish the genus.

One would suppose that a constant intercourse with neighbours of such comic temperaments as the dogs possess would destroy his austerity of demeanour ; yet the owl of the dog-village sits upon the earthen mound in front of the hole, and surveys the eccentricities of his friends without a change of countenance. He joins them not in any of their sports, yet still seems to be on the best of terms ; and as he is frequently seen entering and emerging from the same hole, this singular bird may be looked upon as a member of the same family, or at least a retainer whose services are in some way necessary to the comfort and well-being of the animal whose hospitality he shares.

Rattlesnakes, too, and of immense size, dwell in the same lodges \vith the dogs ; but the idea that has been entertained of their living upon sociable terms of companionship is utterly without foundation. The snakes I look upon as loafers, not easily shaken off by the regular inhabitants, and they make use of the dwellings of the dogs as more comfortable quarters than they can find elsewhere. We killed one a short distance from a burrow, which had made a meal of a half-grown dog ; and although I do not think they can master the larger animals, the latter are still compelled to let them pass in and out without molestation - a nuisance, like many in more elevated society, that cannot be got rid of.

The first town we visited was much the largest seen on the entire route, being some two or three miles in length by nearly a mile in width at the widest part. In the vicinity were smaller villages - suburbs of the larger town, to all appearance. After spending some three hours in the very heart of the settlements, and until not an inhabitant could be seen in any direction, we resaddled our horses and set off in search of the command. Thus ended my first visit to one of the numerous prairie-dog commonwealths of the Far West.

Prairie-Dog Meat

A Meal of Prairie Dogs. - Arrival at another brackish Water Camp. - Shower at Night, with fresh Water in the Morning. - Return of the Spy Company. - A regular " Northeaster." - Report of the Spies. - Disagreeable Bivouac. - Indians in Camp. - Horses stolen. - A bad Bargain. - Daring of the Indians. - Fine Weather again. - Once more on the Road. - Dog Towns. - Meeting with a Party of Indians. - Horse Meat far from being bad Eating. - Wolves about. - A dreary Desert. - Delicious fresh-water Stream. - Latitude and Longitude again taken. - Pleasant Prospects. - Again encompassed with Difficulties. - A Passage out found. - Steppes. - Mesquit Prairie and Prairie Dogs. - Mountains in the Distance. - Singing Birds, and Thoughts of Home. - Delusive Hopes. - More Horses stolen. - Bed of Large River crossed. - Arrival at the Quintufue. - Large Indian Camp discovered. - Caygiiason all Sides. - Indian Provisions - A Party sent out. - Farther Advance impossible. - A Night without Water. - Preparations for taking a back Track. - Exciting News. - Firing of Guns heard. - Lieutenant Hull and four Men killed by Caygiias. - A Chase after Indians. - Return to the Quintufue. - Determination to divide the Command. - Description of the Caygiias.

WE had scarcely travelled three miles, after leaving the large dog-town, before we descried the white tops of our wagons at some distance in our rear. Finding a dry mesquit, we broke off some of the larger branches, kindled a fire, and cooked for each man a dog. The meat we found exceedingly sweet, tender, and juicy - resembling that of the squirrel, only that it was much fatter. Our meal over, we next wasted three or four hours in vainly endeavouring to shoot a deer or antelope. Numbers of them were seen ; but the hunting parties had scoured their range, killed several of them, and rendered the animals unusually shy. Late in the afternoon we sought the trail of our wagons, and on finding it set off at a pace which brought us up with the command ere nightfall, encamped near a large, reddish-coloured hill or mountain, and close by a small creek of brackish water - a tributary, doubtless, of the Wichita, or else the main stream.

Scarcely had we finished a scanty supper of poor beef, and hastily rolled ourselves in our blankets, when it commenced raining in torrents - pouring down without intermission for hours, and drenching us completely. Little did we care for this, however, as we had the satisfaction in the morning of getting fresh and pure water in abundance - the first for a week.

After devouring the last of the prairie dogs we had killed the preceding day, wringing our blankets, and drying our clothes as well as we were able, we pursued our joui-ney in a course nearly northwest. We had no little trouble in crossing the creek before us, swollen by the heavy rain of the night previous ; but in a couple of hours wagons and all were safely on the opposite side.

After toiling across the soft and muddy prairie a distance of ten miles, we at length reached another running stream, the point at which our guide had left the spy company. Here we halted to await the return of the latter, or until another guide should be sent back. During the night the wind veered round into the northe^rt, bringing with it a cold, drizzling, and extremely disagreeable rain, which continued the next day. In the mean time the spy company returned, reporting that they had found a large stream to the north, which they confidently believed to be Red River, or one of its main tributaries.

Night came, the cold rain and raw wind still continuing. We were encamped immediately upon the stream, the banks of which were high, and flanked by a narrow skirting of timber. Under this bank I led my horse at dusk, and tied him fast to a small tree. Here he was protected from the piercing northern blasts, and to afford the same shelter, Doctor Brenham led thither his horse, a noble white animal of the best blood, and confined him to the same tree with mine.

Several of our horses were tied under this bank, the poorer animals being allowed to rough it upon the prairie in front of our encampment, hobbled, and many of them staked, to prevent the storm from driving them off during the night.

On awaking in the morning, it was ascertained that the horse of Doctor B. had been stolen by Indians. The lariat was cut, and part of it still fast to the tree. My horse was standing quietly where I had left him, his colour probably preventing the daring robbers from seeing him. Some half dozen horses were taken with Doctor B.'s, among them Mr. Falconer's. Generally the Indians selected the best horses in camp, dark as was the night ; but they took themselves in in taking Mr. Falconer's, for he was continually performing some unseemly antics, had frequently caused much fright among our other horses, and was worth but little, even setting his tricks aside.

To show how daring the Indian horse-thieves were, 1 have but to mention that Doctor Brenham's horse was tied within six yards of the spot where we were sleeping ; and after passing the guard, by no means an easy matter, the rascals were compelled to creep within a few feet of us before they could reach their prey. An Indian bow was found in the vicinity of our camp, which the thieves had left in their haste, and one of the artillery mules was shot through with an arrow, the animal probably not being able to move fast enough when the Indians withdrew from our vicinity.