THE WILD HORSE.
Thedeparture of the unfortunate Warden, who had fallen a victim to passions which had not been held in restraint at an early age, was very painful to me, and the evenings, which I generally spent alone, grew very long, as I had before gossiped half the night away with him. Hence I went to bed early, and followed my old habit of rising before daybreak, I generally took my rifle, went with Trusty across the river to the forest and watched for game. At that hour the wood was most beautiful; the coming day drove the darkness before it through the mighty masses of foliage, the birds aroused one another from their sleep, owls, blinded by the morning light, darted like the last shadows of night into the densest thickets, and deer returned home from their nocturnal excursions through the dewy grass; the bear, startled by the rapidly-increasing light, trotted with hoarse growls towards its secret hiding-place, while the herons, bearing the first golden sunbeams on their silver plumage, rose from the tall trees and passed with flapping wing through the refreshing morning breeze.
I was cautiously walking one morning along this my favourite spot, and inhaling the thousand perfumes which had filled the recesses of the forest during the tranquil night, avoiding every dry branch for fear of startling its denizens, while Trusty followed at a short distance all my windings round the bushes and fallen trees. It had become tolerably light, when I fancied I heard a rustling at an open spot, in the centre of which stood several very large pecan-nut trees. I stood still for a moment and listened, holding my breath, fora repetition of the noise. I heard it again, like the breaking of twigs ahead of me, but in spite of my utmost efforts could not perceive that even a leaf was moving.
Once again the same breaking and rustling reached me, and on looking up accidentally I saw a thick black lump shining among the foliage of the pecan-trees. I soon distinguished a young bear busily engaged in drawing to it with its long paws the thin branches of the nut-tree, and putting the unripe nuts in its mouth, I quickly sprang under the tree, so as to make sure of the bear, which was about the size of a sheep; but I remembered its mamma, who might be in the neighbourhood, and easily come up to fetch her pet home. I stationed myself under the tree on which the cub was, and made Trusty lie down by my side, as he was beginning to growl, and pressing his nose against the tree.
The bear saw me, and became greatly alarmed; sprang from one branch to the other, and looked timidly down to me. I did not move, but listened carefully to every sound in the vicinity, while my neighbour came down to the first floor, above my head; and, sitting among the lowest branches, produced a cry like that of little children. It soon repeated its wail, and I heard far away in the forest a hob, hob, hob, hob, coming towards me. I sprang up, and placed myself behind the trees, after again forcing Trusty's head into the grass. I distinctly distinguished by the leaps that it was an old bear hastening to the help of her cub. I pointed my rifle in the direction whence it was coming, and suddenly it parted the foliage in front of me with its broad shoulders, whereupon I gave a loud "pst." In a second the bear sat up on its hind-quarters, and as the fire flashed from my barrel it made a couple of leaps towards me, but was rolled over by a second bullet through the head, while I shouted a "Down, sir!" to Trusty, who was on the point of springing up. I drew a revolver, ran up to the old bear, and sent a bullet through her brain, as she was still furiously hitting out with her terrible paws.
I next reloaded my rifle, and looked up at my neighbour, who had fled to the top of the tree, and was swinging with the branches. I called Trusty away from under the tree, bade him lie down in the grass behind me, and gave the cub something which brought it down like a ball, crashing through the foliage to the ground, when I put the other barrel to its forehead, and stopped its young bearish existence. After reloading, I broke it up, to give Trusty his share of the spoil—the kidneys, the only bear-meat he ever touched, unless he was very hungry. I then hastened home, and after breakfast I went back to the forest with one of my men and three mules, when we broke up the old bear, and carried the meat home on two of the animals, and the cub entire on the third.
Thus several weeks passed, during which I went little beyond the immediate vicinity of my house, in order to lay in our stock of meat either in the morning or evening, when the heat was less oppressive. During the day we were cutting steps in the perpendicular river-bank, out of which a very strong spring gushed about ten feet from the top, and in building a small dairy over it. We led the spring through wooden troughs, in which we kept the milk and butter sweet; while we hung up on the walls meat which remained fresh for several days. The dairy was on the north side, so that it was very slightly exposed to the sun, whose effects we also neutralized by a thick layer of overhanging reeds. This spot was most agreeable in the midday heat, at which time the atmosphere in the houses was most oppressive, while here it always remained cool and refreshing through the ice-cold water. The spring, however, was not so pleasant for drinking as the one I had on the side of the prairie near the garden, from which we fetched our drinking water.
After finishing my job, most of my stores were nearly expended, and I required a number of new tools. Hence I went myself to the nearest settlement, sold there my stock of hides, honey, wax, and tallow, and took home the articles I needed on my pack animals. While at the settlement I met,at the store-keeper's with whom I was bargaining, a Mexican lad, sixteen years of age, who had accompanied a brace of mules brought here from Mexico for sale, and had remained as waiter at the hotel. His name was Antonio, and he offered to go with me and stop. He was recommended to me by an acquaintance as a first-rate horseman and lassoer, and as he pleased me in other respects, I accepted his offer, and he rode with me home.
Antonio's skill in riding was extraordinary; it was all the same to him whether he had a bridle or not—whether he sat in a saddle or bare-backed; once on the animal's back, no rearing or kicking could throw him. I have often seen him go up to mules grazing on the prairie, and approach them quietly, lounging round them as if seeking something in the grass, till he was near enough to them, when with a spring he was on the back of one of them, and the terrified creature made all sorts of bounds and leaps to get rid of him. But it was all in vain. Antonio responded to the mule's efforts with his monstrous spurs, which he dug into its flanks at every volley, till he grew tired of riding, and sprang off again with the same lightness.
He also threw the lasso with a master hand. I have frequently seen him at full gallop catch a mule by the foot which I indicated. One day he lassoed by the fore leg a wild cow which had joined my milch kine on the prairie, hurled it to the ground, and so bound its four feet together that we dragged it along to the enclosure where my cows passed the night. Then we fastened it up to an old tree, and on the next morning Antonio leaped on its back, cut away the rope round its head, and galloped off into the prairie, where the cow leapt about as if mad. At last, after a lengthened contest, she threw herself on the ground; but Antonio stood by her side, gave her laughingly a cut with his whip, and the awfully terrified creature galloped away to the forest.
Between the fort and the mountain spring there were always a great number of wild horses, especially in the vicinityof a considerable elevation on the prairie, whose highest point was covered with a small very thick wood, where a white stallion resided with his harem. Owing to his beauty and noble blood, the Indians revered this animal with superstitious fear. The hunters had tried for years in vain to capture him, and the bards of America had raised him to immortality in their ballads and narrations. Very numerous are the wondrous tales which spread at that day about the noble animal over the continent of America, and even distant Europe. He was described in them as "the star of the prairie," as "the light of the steppe," or "the white spirit of the desert." While his titles varied so, the statements as to the position of his kingdom varied equally. But all these were merely traditions of the hunters of the Far West, the existence of the horse was still half fabulous, and I believe that I am the only man capable of saying anything on the subject from personal observation.
I have seen and admired this horse a countless number of times, as my hunts so frequently passed in his region, and quite as often I have yearned to possess, and revolved the means to get, him into my power. This was one of the reasons why I took Antonio into my service, as through him alone I had a prospect of attaining my wish. I have frequently crawled up to the animal for miles through the tall grass with the utmost exertions, and lain down on a small mound near him, with the resolution of creasing him, as the hunters call it—that is to say, sending a ball through the skin of a horse's neck, upon which it falls as if struck dead, and you have time to hobble it before it recovers. But when I raised the rifle on the noble creature, and had my finger on the trigger, it seemed to me to be murder, and I could never make up my mind to fire. I have often ridden up to him, and, so soon as he noticed me, he came toward me, proudly raising his graceful head in the air, with his white silky tail erect, and with a coat as white and tender as the finest alabaster or the plumage of the silver heron, with whose flight I have often seen him compete.He frequently came within fifty yards of me, looking round pretty often at his flying harem, then stopped and snorted through his dilated purple nostrils; then he trotted round me, and would fly like an arrow over the grass to his friends, at such a pace that no rider in the world would have made the attempt to catch him up.
In the past winter I went to his domain with the intention of capturing one of his children, and gave one of my men who accompanied me my rifle and revolver, in order to make myself as light as possible. I had got no great distance from the troop, ere the stallion noticed me, and when the others fled, he as usual trotted toward me. I gave Czar his head, and galloped towards him. The wild stallion reared, then turned, and dashed after his troop and past it, in order to assume the leadership. At the end of five miles I caught up the troop again, which consisted of about fifty head, and selected an iron-grey mare with black mane and tail, which appeared to be between a two and three-year old.
Had I possessed any great skill in using the lasso, I was near enough to the mare to noose her; but as it was I could only take advantage of my horse's greater endurance, and remained close behind the troop, up hill and down dale, while the stallion flew from one side to the other, as if encouraging his relatives to persevere, and this race was merely play to him. The animals became covered with foam, their breathing grew gradually shorter, and several left the ranks on either side, in order to seek safety in an altered direction.
At last only four old mares and the iron-grey followed the stallion, who as yet displayed no signs of fatigue; when suddenly the grey turned off into a hollow, fell into a walk, and at last stopped; so that I could ride up and throw the lasso over her head. She was so exhausted that she could hardly breathe, and stood motionless, while the perspiration ran down her in torrents. It was nearly a quarter of an hour ere she so far recovered as to be able to struggle against the fetters laid on her. The noose round her neck tightened;she fell to the ground, trembling all over; and I leapt from my horse to open the noose, before she was quite throttled. My companion now came up, hobbled his own horse and Czar, and helped me to convince the mare by repeated strangulation, that she must yield to her captivity: we made a halter out of a second lasso, while still keeping the noose round her neck, and I dragged her after my horse, while my companion urged her on. We thus reached home in the evening; and in a few weeks the mare was so tame that she could be treated precisely like my other horses: she was handsomely built, displayed all the signs of Arab blood, and became one of my best horses.
As I said, the possibility of capturing this stallion—the pride of the western deserts—was the reason of my engaging Antonio; and we at once set about our preparations to carry out the task. I owned a thorough-bred mare, Fancy, who belonged to the best blood that ever ran on American soil. Her sire was the renowned Waggoner, who was never beaten in speed either north or south, and for fourteen years won all the great stakes at American races. Her dam, Blossom, was an English thoroughbred, and had been imported to the United States from England: she won all the stakes she was entered for in the Southern States, and was purchased by one of the first breeders for a very large sum, that he might become owner of her noble progeny. Fancy, then, as regards breed, was as fine and noble as any horse that ever trod an American course, and defeated all her rivals until I purchased her. I bought her as a four-year old when I bade farewell to civilization, and took her with me into the desert, where I frequently rode her, when I went out into the prairie with greyhounds to hunt deer or kill wolves. On my ordinary hunting trips, however, she could not take the place of Czar or the cream-colour, as she was not so attached to me by constant riding or so trained and familiar with a thousand dangers as they were.
The mare was now treated with very great attention, both asregards food, and cleanliness, and exercise; she had no more grass, and the corn given her was previously sifted. She was ridden every morning by Antonio, and the distance she had to gallop was daily increased. Then she was led about for half an hour, and when brought back to her stall rubbed down till she was quite dry and cool. Toward evening she was taken out again for half an hour's walk, and before she went to rest had a douche or a swim in the river. In a fortnight she hardly turned a hair after galloping several miles; she had grown thinner, but her flesh was firmer, and her golden-brown hair so fine that every vein could be traced under the skin. In the meanwhile, Antonio had been practising with the lasso, and had horribly tormented my mules with this disagreeable instrument.
The preparations lasted three weeks; after which, on a cool morning, we left the fort: Antonio riding a mule and leading Fancy, one of my colonists on the cream-colour, and I on Czar—in order to seek the stallion, and, if possible, deprive him of liberty. It was one of those days—not rare in our country—when the sky is covered with a thin stratum of clouds, which deprive it of its glorious azure, and which, though it does not conceal the sun, breaks the power of its beams. At the same time there was a breeze, so that the day was more like autumn than summer. We rode down the river, and soon saw the height emerge from the prairie, in whose vicinity the stallion usually had his head-quarters. Our horses were very active; Czar coquetted by the side of his lady friend, Fancy, in his most elegant prancing movements; shook his bit, and snorted through his moist nostrils; while turning his dark large eyes toward the lady, Fancy, conscious of her noble breed, walked delicately along, and carefully selected the footpaths.
While still some distance off, I noticed to the side of the wood on the knoll a dark patch, which I recognised through my glass as horses, but could not make certain whether it was our stallion's family. We approached slowly, and from everynew height distinguished more clearly the shape of the animals. I had no doubt about it being the troop we were in search of, although I could not yet notice the stallion. A broad valley still lay between us, when we halted, and I saw through my glass the snow-white creature rise from the grass and look across at us, while many horses of the troop still lay on the ground around him. We rode down into the valley, the stallion stood motionless, and gazed at us; but when we reached the bottom, he suddenly trotted about among his troop. All the horses lying on the grass leapt up, looked at us, formed into a body, and dashed at a gallop over the heights.
Antonio now sprang into Fancy's saddle, gave his mule to our companion, took the lasso in his right hand, and only waited for my signal to give his horse her head. The stallion came toward us at a swinging trot, while we moved forward at a fast pace and bent low over our horses' necks. A finer picture could not be painted. He carried his small head high, long white locks floated over his broad forehead, and his long mane danced up and down at every step, while he raised his tail straight out, and its long curling milk-white hairs fluttered in the breeze. His broad back glistened as if carved out of Carrara marble, and his powerful shoulders and thighs were supported on graceful little feet.
I rode behind Antonio. The stallion was not fifty yards from us when I shouted to the Mexican "Forward!" and Fancy flew at such a pace toward the stallion that she came within five yards of him ere he recovered from his terror. The moment for his fate to be decided had arrived. He turned round and made an enormous leap ahead, that showed me the flat of his hind hoofs, while he held his head aside and looked back after his pursuer. The lasso flew through the air, the noose fell over the stallion's head, but it hung on one side of his muzzle, and the next instant the lasso was trailing on the ground behind Fancy. The stallion seemed to know that it was a fetter which had touched him, for he shot away fromthe man like lightning. Antonio coiled up the lasso again, and followed him over hill and vale, over grass and boulders, at full gallop, just as the tornado darts from the mountain into the plain. Czar was beside himself at the idea of being last, but I purposely held him back, partly not to excite the mare, partly to save his strength. There was still a hope that the stallion, living as he did on grass, would not keep his wind so long as our horses, and though he was now several hundred yards ahead, we might be able to catch him up. Up to this point, however, we had not gained an inch upon him, and our horses were covered with foam, though both still in good wind.
We had been following the stallion for about two hours, when he turned off to the mountains, and flew up them with undiminished speed. The ground now became very stony and unsafe, but he seemed to be as much at home on it as on the soft grass-land he had just left. He reached the summit between two steep mountains, and disappeared from our sight behind them. We dashed past the spot where we had seen him last, but the noble creature had reached the steep wall on the other side of the valley when we dashed down into it.
I saw plainly that he had a difficulty in keeping at a gallop on this steep incline. We gained a deal of ground down hill and through the grassy valley, and reached the wall before the stallion was at the top of it. Full of hope I could no longer remain in the background. Digging both spurs into Czar I flew on, past Fancy, and reached the summit to find the stallion trotting scarce fifty yards ahead of me. Fancy was close behind me, and I shouted to Antonio to follow me. But my cry seemed to have poured fresh strength through the brave fugitive's veins, for he dashed down into the valley, leaving behind the white foam with which he was covered at every bound he made on the rocky ground. Once again I drew nearer, and was only forty yards from him, when I saw ahead of us a yawningcañon, out of which the gigantic dry arms of dead cypresses emerged. Here the stallion must turn back and fall our prey while ascending the hill again.
But he went straight towards the abyss—it was not possible, he could not leap it. I remained behind him, and in my terror for the noble creature's life, held my breath. One more bound, and he reached thecañon, and with the strength of a lion, and that desperation which only the threatened loss of liberty can arouse, he drew himself together and leapt high in the air across the gap which was more than forty feet wide.
I turned Czar round toward the hill, and kept my eyes away from the fearful sight, so that I might not see the end of the tragedy; but Antonio uttered a cry, and I heard the word "over." I looked round and saw the stallion rising on his hind legs upon the opposite deeper bank, and after a glance at us he trotted off quite sound down the ravine, and disappeared behind the nearest rock.
We stopped, leapt from our horses, and looked at each other for a long time in silence; then I solemnly vowed never to make another attempt to deprive this princely animal of liberty. Our horses were in a very excited condition; the water poured down them in streams, and the play of their lungs was so violent that they tottered on their legs. We let them draw breath a little, and then led them slowly back to the mountain springs, where we intended to give them a rest ere we returned home. In the afternoon we reached the spot, excessively fatigued, and found there our comrade, who greeted us with a regretful—"that was a pity;" and had already spread our dinner on a horse-cloth.
We stopped here till the evening, and then started for the fort, which we reached late at night. For several days after this chase I could not shake off the excitement which had overpowered me, and even now I feel a cold shudder when I think of the chasm, and see the noble stallion, the pride of the prairie, hovering over it. I had now given up once for all all thoughts of capturing him, but I should have felt sorry had he at once left my dangerous neighbourhood, because his presence always caused me great pleasure, and I might have an opportunity of getting hold of some of his offspring.I sought him in vain during my hunting excursions the whole of the summer, and it was not till autumn, when the vegetation probably began to fail in the mountains, that he returned, to my great delight, to his old station; but whenever I approached him he did not trot towards me, but always took to flight as soon as he noticed my horse.
THE PRAIRIE FIRE.
Thesummer passed away amid sporting pleasures which, though they always consist of very monotonous events and results, still do not lose their charm for the man who feels a true passion for the chase. Otherwise how could a veteran sportsman, who in his time has shot so many thousand partridges, still feel a pleasure whenever he brings one down, and always find something new, something peculiar in the fact? How much greater and more permanent is this attraction in sports, where a thousand dangers offer themselves to the hunter, as is the case in hunting the larger animals of prey! I gratefully saluted every new day as the offerer of fresh joys: disregarding difficulties and fatigue, I constantly seized my good rifle again, and merrily followed the same routes.
The summer was at an end, and colder nights set in. On an autumn morning I was riding through the prairie about five miles from the fort; the grass was very high, and had been perfectly dried up by the burning summer sun, while the newly springing up grass grew splendidly in the shadow of the old. I had reached a bottom which was covered with a forest of sunflowers, which raised their golden disks high above my head, and whose long stems were girdled with bright varied creepers. I had not left this gleaming forest of flowers far behind when a very large deer got up from the grass just before me, arched its back, and then lay down again as if it had not seen me; while I noticed several old deer lying about in the grass.
Czar at once drooped his head as I raised the rifle to myshoulder. I shot the deer, but a little too far behind. It darted ahead, and Trusty looked up at me so imploringly, while showing the tip of his blood-red tongue, that I could not refuse him leave to follow the deer. I gave him a sign, and he shot through the grass along the blood-stained track. I loaded my rifle, while keeping my eye on the deer, which disappeared no great distance off in a small clump of low elms. I had just put on the cap when I heard Trusty's deep bass. I felt certain it was not the deer he was barking at, for he would have made but slight ceremony in that case, so I gave Czar his head, and in a few minutes reached the thicket.
I leapt down, ran in a stooping posture under the pendant elms, and saw Trusty lying on the ground defending himself with widely opened jaws against a tremendous panther, which was leaping over him, and every time it came down lacerated the dog's back with its tremendous hind claws. Trusty recognised the superiority of this savage foe, but defended himself as well as he could. But he hardly saw me arrive ere he leapt up with one bound, pinned the panther by the throat, and wrestled with it, while the latter dug its terrible fore claws into either side of his collar.
At the first moment I could not fire for fear of hitting the dog. The panther saw me, and tried to get away, but Trusty clung to it like a burr. The animal now turned, and my bullet passed through its heart and laid it lifeless. Trusty was terribly maltreated, and the wounds on his back were of the width of a finger, and I believe that his strong collar had alone saved his life. I sewed up his wounds, washed them with water, and then broke up the deer. Then I stripped the panther, and packed the game on both sides of my saddle, laid the skin over it, and placed Trusty on the top of all. I told him that he must lie quiet, and started homewards, leading Czar by the bridle. Trusty cut the most absurd face, but for all that did not stir, and after he had ridden a few hundred yards he helped me with his hind legs,when he slipped a little on one side, and I believe he would not have fallen off at a gallop. It was a week ere I could draw the threads out of the wound, and during that period Leo had to accompany me when hunting. At the end of a fortnight my faithful comrade had so far recovered that he was able to accompany me on short trips.
About this time I was riding, when the sun was rather low, up the river to the bank of a small stream, which joined the Leone a few miles above the fort, and slowly wound between its level banks through the prairie. It was here and there covered with bushes and groups of trees, while every now and then its bed widened and formed small pools. On this stream there were always a great many turkeys, and indeed the banks were visited by game of every description at all seasons. I rode down the quiet bright stream, and on coming out of a thicket on to a small clearing bordered at the other end by tall pecan-trees, I saw a flock of turkeys stealing away from me among the bushes on the bank. I ordered Trusty on, who had his nose already to the ground sniffing; he was among the fugitives like the wind; they ran, noisily and loudly pursued by Trusty, and settled on the trees. I rode close up to the wood, for so long as the turkeys see the dog springing about under them they are terrified, and look timidly at their pursuer, stretching out their long neck in all directions instead of flying away. I dismounted, shot an old cock on a tree growing close to the water, and saw it flutter down. I then turned with the other barrel to a second, which was standing on an oak farther in the thicket, and fetched it down also. I now looked round and missed Trusty. I had no reply to my shout, and the agitation in the pond aroused a fear that he had leapt in, and that an alligator, for such are always concealed in the deeper water of these streams, had seized and dragged him down.
I waited a good half-hour, it grew dark, and yet no sign of poor Trusty. Beside myself with grief at this irreparable loss I hung the turkey on the saddle, and mounted myhorse, as longer waiting would be of no use. At this moment I suddenly saw Trusty at the head of the wood, lying down to rest by the side of the gigantic cock turkey. My delight knew no bounds. I galloped up the stream, dashed through it, and found my favourite on the other bank. I leapt from my horse and took him in my arms, whereon he gave vent to his joy by a widely echoing howl, and lashed his tail. I hung the turkey, which weighed over twenty pounds, and which he had carried Lord knows how far, to my saddle, and the faithful dog leaped up to my horse and barked in the utmost delight as we proceeded homeward.
We were busily engaged for a week in making some machinery on the river by which to employ the water power in turning a mill to grind the maize. A raft was fastened to the bank. A roller was placed on it, from one end of which a rather large wheel hung down into the water, while the mill was fastened to the other, whose hopper we enlarged so that we might not have to put in maize so frequently. It worked famously, and we all rejoiced at a successful operation which saved us a fatiguing job.
Owing to this I had not gone out much, and we were all longing for good fresh meat. As there were a good many buffaloes in the very neighbourhood, I resolved to hunt them on the morning after our mill was finished, as one of my men had seen large herds during the day on the prairie across the river. The morning arrived, but with it sprang up a very violent westerly wind, and a few light straggling clouds proved that it would not sink in such a hurry. In doubt whether to ride out or wait another day, my men persuaded me to the former course, as the chase would probably be soon over. Hence I rode off, but left Trusty at home, as on these prairies the dry grass was extraordinarily high and it would tire him too much to force his way through it, especially if we had to go quickly. I was soon across in the wood where, though the wind did not meet me, still it shook the tall trees so terribly that the dry wood constantlywhizzed round my head. I reached the prairie on the other side of the forest, and saw several herds of buffalo in the distance.
Binding my hat firmly under my chin, I rode through the tall grass in a northern direction toward them. The storm grew more violent, and laid the grass so flat on the ground that I could not think of putting my horse beyond a walk in any other direction than with the wind, as, when the wind is blowing fiercely all game is usually more cautious than in calm weather, as it has to make up by the sight for what it loses in smell. The buffaloes noticed me and my horse, which was brilliantly illumined with the sun, a long distance off, and took to flight. I turned toward another herd, but with the same result, and saw at last that in this way I should not get within shot. After several hours of useless exertion I turned to the east, toward a spot on which some scattered oaks grew. Here I fancied it would be easier to approach the game.
The distance to the first tree-covered hill was about five miles, and I saw through my glass at the elevations behind a great number of buffaloes, which, however, seemed to be in a strange state of excitement. My horse found it hard walking owing to the dry grass, in which Czar was compelled to part the sharp tangled stalks at every step. I looked constantly toward the highland, and remarked, while the storm howled past my ears, that the sky was growing obscured and that the sunshine was not so bright as it had been a few moments previously. I looked around me, the heavens appeared to be veiled by a grey mist, and grew darker behind me, and on the edge of the prairie were perfectly black. I felt a cold shudder, for I knew the fearful element which had become allied with the storm, and would roar over the plain scattering ruin around. The prairie was on fire. It is true that I could not yet see the fire, but the black smoke clouds rose higher and higher on the horizon, and the storm soon bore them past me over the last blue patch of sky. Onlyone chance of escape remained. I must reach a knoll where the grass was shorter, and without reflecting I gave Czar the spurs and his head, and flew in rivalry of the storm-wind over the grassy plains before me.
I looked round; the whole black expanse behind me was gloomy and obscure as if night were setting in, and beneath the dark rising smoke-clouds the deep red glowing flames stretched out their long forks and cast their fearful light over the outlines of the cloudy columns of smoke. The whole plain seemed to grow alive. Far as eye could see, it was covered with flying herds of the denizens of the desert, whose black forms were surrounded by a fiery halo as they pressed over the plain. It was like the picture of the last judgment, which my fancy had frequently depicted.
Czar ran with long leaps through the tall grass, looking neither to the right nor left. With every moment it grew darker around me, and the reflection of the spreading sea of flame more and more tinged my horse's snow-white neck. It was not his ordinary strength that urged the horse to reach the knoll, but the force which desperation imparts to men and animals, but soon wears them out and ends in utter exhaustion. The sharp spurs and the thunder behind him urged my horse constantly on at a mad speed, but I felt his bound gradually lose its lightness and force.
I was not far from the hill in front of me; once more the spurs and my shrill hunting-cry, and I flew up the knoll, and hobbled my trembling, snorting horse on the bare table-land, which was covered with pebbles and thin patches of grass. I ran back to the tall grass with a lucifer in my hand, lit it, and in an instant the flames rose, struggling wildly against the storm, and darted round my hill, till they joined on its eastern side, and dashed along like an avalanche with the howling storm. I now looked back for the first time, holding my brave horse by the bridle, at the fearfully animated plain, and watched the dark living forms hurrying past on either side of the knoll. The whole animal world seemed assembledhere, and to be exerting their last strength in escaping a death by fire. On both sides beneath me thundered past in wild confusion herd after herd—buffaloes, horses, deer, and antelopes were pressed together, and between them rushed bears, tigers, panthers, and wolves, one after the other, with their faces averted from the glow, which the storm blew with a thick black cloud of ashes over the land. Dark, black night now encompassed me; only a pale reddish glare gleamed through the dense ashes; while the hurricane developed its highest fury, and blended its howling with the hollow, earth-shaking thunder of the flying masses of animals below me.
The sea of fire was scarce half a mile from me, when the ashes passed over my head, and granted me a full look at it. The flames right and left, far as eye could see, lay obliquely over the ground and stretched out their quivering tongues for at least fifty feet over the grass. They darted forward with frightful rapidity, and caught up countless animals flying before them, whose wearied limbs could no longer carry them along quickly enough. Three old buffaloes collected their last strength to reach my knoll, but at the foot of it the flames closed over them, I saw them rear, fall back, and disappear. The heat was stifling; I and my horse,—who, trembling all over, yielded to his fate—turned our backs to it, and the stream of fire passed us on both sides, crackling and hissing.
Gradually daylight returned, and the sky became blue over my head. Thousands of large and small predaceous birds followed the flames, and fell now and then in them. On all sides lay the black carcases of the countless victims which this prairie fire had destroyed, and many animals struggling with death were rolling in their agony on the plain. Czar and I were completely covered with ashes. I now mounted my horse to get away as quickly as possible from this scene of destruction and death, and reach the green forests of the Leone by the straightest line. I rode down to the three buffaloes, two of which were not dead and strove torise, but fell back powerless on the earth. It was a fearful sight offered by these burned monsters, and their frightened snapping for air and blind rolling of their heads induced me to put an end to the pain of the poor tortured creatures. I put a bullet through each of their flat foreheads, and after reloading, I rode in a southern direction towards the Leone.
I saw many animals still wrestling with death on both sides of the road, and might have expended the whole of my ammunition in trying to help them out of their agony. Most of the burnt animals were buffaloes and deer, but I also saw a bear and a horse and a number of wolves lying lifeless on the ground.
My road over the black, bare, burnt fields of desolation was tiring, and my horse was so worn out that I frequently dismounted and led him: although the wind was no longer so violent, it brought with it a quantity of fine ashes, and rendered both seeing and breathing difficult. I frequently came across birds of prey, whose wings only displayed the bare quills, the feathers being burnt off: they sate helpless and wretched on the ground, and tried in vain to rise into the air when I approached them. These birds regularly follow the prairie fires in large numbers, in order to eat its countless small four-footed denizens, after the fire has passed over them, and either rendered them helpless or killed them. They looked at me in terror with their large rolling eyes, spread out the quills of their wings, and uttered a complaining cry. I went past them as I could not help them.
About a mile from the wood on the Leone I saw, to my great surprise, on my right hand a very large deer and a horse walking together across the plain to the wood. They tottered along slowly side by side, and seemed not to notice me at all. I rode up to them: I fancied they had been blinded by the fire, but it was not so; for they now stopped and gazed at me with their bright eyes, as if imploring me not to prevent them from reaching the wood. Both were slightly scorched, though the horse had lost mane and tail: theyappeared to have suffered more from excessive exertion, and to be yearning for the water of the Leone. I could easily have killed the deer, but I pitied the creature, and besides did not care to eat its hunted flesh or put a further load on Czar. Hence I quitted the poor creatures, and reached the wood, which is not very broad here; and soon after the river, where Czar refreshed himself for a long time in the cool waters.
Annually nearly all the western prairies are burnt by the Indians, towards spring: when they leave the south and go north to hunt they fire the old grass, so that when they return in autumn they may find on these extensive plains fresh food for their large troops of horses and mules. They have, however, I fancy, another motive. If these plains were not singed with fire, a perfectly different vegetation would arise on them within a few years. Trees and bushes would rapidly grow up and convert the prairies into an impenetrable chapparal or forest, which would be very troublesome to the horse Indians, in their hunts and journeyings. In this way, however, fire destroys every growth but that of grass. If a sapling springs up in spring from seed borne thither by the wind or by animals, it is burnt down in autumn. Prairie fires are generally dangerous neither to men nor beasts, as the fire, with an ordinary wind, advances very slowly, and over a limited region. If you arrive at very tall grass where the fire would kill, you have always time to get away from it; and when the grass is not unusually high, you can always find a spot to leap over the flames. If the storm is accompanied by rain the grass does not burn at all, hence, only a hurricane with a clear sky, as is not rare among us in autumn, produces in alliance with the fire such destruction among the occupants of the steppe.
It was evening when I reached home, tired and without booty. My people had seen, by the smoke which covered the sky over them, that the prairie was on fire, and they were very anxious about me on account of the violent storm.I soon sought my bed, and slept till the sun rose. Czar would not get up when I went into his stall; while my other horses and mules, with the exception of Fancy and the cream-colour, who stood in the large enclosure round the fort, had been grazing for some time outside, fastened to their long lassos. I made Czar rise, led him down to the river, where I gave him a good swim, and then led him back to the rich grass, where, however, he soon lay down again in the shade of an elm.
The day was fine and perfectly calm, and as we had no fresh meat, I determined to procure some, without tiring myself excessively. The prairie hens had already collected in large coveys, and I had lately seen very many of these pretty birds in the neighbourhood of the fort. Hence I resolved to try my fortune with them; saddled the cream-colour, took my shot gun, and rode out with Tony, a spaniel.
These hens are very like our heath-powts in size, shape, and manner of life, save that they have golden red plumage, and the cocks are ornamented with a yellow and black collar, like the golden pheasant. They are extraordinarily shy, and fly off in a straight line when approached. If you follow them they sit closer, and after being put up a few times, they settle down separately in the tall grass, where they hide themselves till the dog puts them up with its nose.
I had not ridden very far when a covey of about fifty got up before my dog, and settled again about half a mile farther on the prairie. I rode up to them, leapt from my horse, followed the dog, and again the covey got up at a long distance. I fired both barrels among them, but was too far off to hurt them much with my rather small shot; they flew some distance, and I saw them settle on a mosquito-tree, so I reloaded and rode slowly towards it, when the dog stood; I leapt off, went up to it, and ordered it on: the hens rose, and I brought down seven of them with my two barrels, while I looked after the rest, and saw them settle separately not far from me. I now hobbled my horse andsought the hens concealed in the grass, and in half an hour shot some twenty of them.
This sport affords much pleasure through the ease with which it is performed, and the very delicate game most amply rewards the sportsman for the slight trouble. I was home again by noon, when we had some of the birds for dinner; a number of the others were hung up in the dairy to keep fresh, while the rest were cut in pieces, boiled in water with laurel leaves, spice, and isinglass, vinegar poured over them, and the whole set to cool in a large earthenware pot, in which the liquid soon becomes a jelly. Game preserved in this way remains for several weeks good and tasty.
THE DELAWARE INDIAN.
Oneday after dinner, when we had drunk coffee, my sentry shouted that a party of Indians were coming up the river, and I perceived through my telescope that they must belong to one of the civilized tribes, as they were not armed with lances, and bows and arrows, but with firearms, and wore clothes, if we may call them such, consisting of leathern breeches and jackets, and a coloured handkerchief wound round the head like a turban. There were ten Indians, who halted at the great gate of the palisade which enclosed my fort, in a large semicircle, with both its ends joining the river. They shouted "Captain," and then gave me to understand that they wished to speak with me. I went out, accompanied by Trusty, with my large gun loaded with slugs on my arm, and found that the men belonged to a tribe of friendly Delaware Indians, whose chief I knew, and who had several times camped in the very neighbourhood and paid me a visit.
They told me they had encamped several miles down the river, where they had arrived on the last evening; their chief had sent them to tell me that the prairie fire on the previous morning had been caused by the negligence of his men, but that it had spread against their will, and had not been purposely caused. Then they asked whether the chief would be allowed to visit me, and rode back to camp after I had appointed his visit for the morrow.
The next morning at about seven o'clock the chief of the Delawares duly rode up with three of his men. They bound their horses by lassos to pickets which they drove into the ground, carried their baggage into the fort, and accepted myinvitation to enter the house, where our parlour and kitchen were. Delawares have always been on the most friendly terms with the United States Government, fought on their side against England in the War of Liberation, and have assumed a number of customs from the whites. They have, as their property, a district of land on the Kansas, where their villages are situated, and their squaws, children, and old people carry on agriculture and cattle breeding, while the men, with some of the squaws, hunt in the desert for nine months of the year.
The Delawares are generally good-looking; the men tall and well-built, with expressive, marked features, aquiline noses, large dark eyes, long black hair, and not a very reddish-brown complexion. The women are small, but neat and pretty, and in spite of their darker hue, produce a pleasing impression through their regular sharply-cut features, dark curly hair, and brilliant coal-black eyes. They dress themselves with some degree of taste. Their clothes consist of gaily-painted deer-hide, ornamented with beads, and the gayest calicoes, which they obtain from the Government trading posts by bartering peltry for them.
After our guests had taken their places, I lit a pipe, and handed it to the chief, who, after taking some twenty pulls at it, passed it to his next man, and so it went from hand to hand, or rather, from mouth to mouth, till it returned to me. During this ceremony of the pipe of peace not a word was spoken, but the chief now broke the silence. After puffing out a portion of the swallowed smoke in a dense cloud from his lips and nostrils, he told me they were the best friends of the white men, and would remain so, and intended to stay for some weeks in the neighbourhood for the purpose of hunting. I assured them that we entertained the same feelings toward them, and that I intended to pay them a return visit at their camp.
After this dinner was served up, which they greatly enjoyed. They behaved with great propriety at it, were acquainted with the use of knives and forks, and it could be seen by their conduct that they frequently came into contact with white men. After dinner the chief imparted to me, that his people wished to have a deal with me, and swap tanned deer and antelope skins for powder, lead, and flints. I told him I should be delighted, and should expect them in the afternoon. One of them, who called himself "Black Tiger," pleased me remarkably. He was a young, good-looking man, of about eighteen, tall, thin, with an open, kindly face, and displayed great animation and conversational powers for an Indian. He spoke English very well, and seemed much attached to me, which he repeatedly told me, and at last displayed more fully by expressing a wish to remain with me. I took it for a joke, laughed, and told him that in that case I would build him a house for himself and give him everything he wished to have.
They then rode away, after indicating the position of the sun when they intended to return in the afternoon for the purpose of making the barter. At about 4P.M., some twenty Delawares dismounted in front of the fort, and displayed their wares on the prairie. No tribe prepares hides so finely as this one, and I was very glad to obtain a number of them for use by myself and my men, as we made our clothes out of them, and were unable to prepare them so handsomely ourselves. The exchange was soon arranged to mutual satisfaction, although I had given but little powder, lead, flints, and pressed tobacco in proportion. The chief was presented with a small portion of the above articles, as is the custom on such occasions, and then the whole party followed me into the fort, where I regaled them with coffee and bread.
When they prepared to depart, the chief told me that one of his men, Black Tiger, would stop with me, as I had offered to build him a house and give him everything he required. He would in return be a very good friend to me, and he (the chief) would hear on his return in the following year whether he remained a Delaware. I saw now that it was no jest, and replied that I would be a good friend to him as to all the Delawares. On parting I gave him the assurance that I wouldvisit them next morning at their camp. Black Tiger remained behind in great delight, carried his saddle and pack into the fort, placed his long rifle and hunting pouch in the parlour, and then came to me begging I would build him the promised house. I intimated to him that this would take some time, but in the meanwhile I would give him a handsome tent. I fetched a very large white and red striped marquee and asked him where I should put it up for him. He pointed out a spot at the eastern end of the fence under an elm-tree on the slope over the river, and when I told him that I locked the fort gate at night, he laughed, and replied that in that case he would shut up his house too.
He was quite beside himself with joy when the handsome tent was up, and the long red, white, and blue American pennant floated over it. He now refused to have another house, as this one was much finer than mine. A trench was dug round the tent to carry off the rain water, and the ground inside was covered with some buffalo hides, after which Tiger carried in his baggage and weapons, quite delighted with his house. In order to delight him even more, I hung upon the tent-post a looking-glass, put in a chair, and gave my young friend a gay coloured silk handkerchief, with which he bound his fine black hair on the right side of his head, and let the end hang over his shoulder. After supper my new guest went to his tent, and when we closed the fort, a merry fire was still blazing before it, behind which he sat on his stool and smoked a short pipe which I had also given him.
The next morning, almost before sunrise, I went to Tiger and saw him turning some spits at the fire, on which he had placed the breast of a turkey, while by his side lay another young cock which, as he said, he had fetched for me. He had been hunting on the other side of the river, to which he had crossed in my canoe. An hour after he came to breakfast with me, and enjoyed it heartily, especially the milk and bread. Then he went to his tent, and slept till I called him to ride with me to the camp of his tribe.
I had mounted Czar, and one of my men the cream-colour, when my young Tiger rode up to us in full costume. The lower part of his face, from the corners of his mouth to the ear-tips, was painted pure red with vermilion; from this a black stripe ran to the eyes, while the edges of the eyelids were again thickly daubed with vermilion. His hair, fastened with the silk handkerchief, hung over his shoulders, and in front of his chest he had hung from a leathern thong the looking-glass from his tent, which completely covered it. He glowed with pride and joy, and was of opinion that his brothers in camp would stare when they saw him with these splendid things.
Tiger was mounted on a magnificent piebald, with an enormous black mane and tail. The saddle was of wood, and home manufacture, and from it hung two large wooden stirrups by leathern straps. Over the saddle lay a shaggy buffalo hide, under which the tomahawk, fastened to the saddle bow, and a rolled-up lasso peeped out. The bridle was composed of leathern straps fastened under the horse's jaw with a slipknot, and vermilion dyed strips of deerhide were plaited in the mane. The long single rifle hung downwards over Tiger's left shoulder, while he laid his powerful forearm on the stock. A small medicine bag of beaver skin hung on his right side, and on the strap passing over his right shoulder a number of strips of shaggy buffalo hide were fastened as a rest for the rifle. The young rider's dress consisted of leathern breeches adorned on the sides with a delicate fringe of the same material, and fastened at top by a strap to the short leathern petticoat that was gathered round his hips, and decorated with very long fringe. On his feet he had deerhide mocassins, round his neck was a collar of very large white beads, very finely cut out of shells, and round his arms was a number of polished brass rings. He sat his horse nobly, and turned his flashing black eyes in all directions.
We soon reached the Delaware camp, hobbled our horses in the grass close by, and went up to the chief, who waslying at his fire, in front of his great buffalo hide tent, and being served with food by his two young squaws. Without rising, he invited us to sit down by his side and smoke the pipe of peace with him, while he silently gazed in admiration at Black Tiger. The camp consisted of some forty tents, of white buffalo hides, erected under clumps of trees on the river bank, and before which an equal number of fires was burning. From the trees around hung a number of skins of every description, stretched out to dry in the sun, while men, women, and children lay round the fire and were eating their dinner. A heap of dogs were running about the camp, while some hundred horses and mules were grazing around. We sat down on a buffalo hide by the chief's fire, and he at once told us about his journey which he had made in spring in the Rocky Mountains; he wished to remain during the winter in the south, and next spring pay a visit to his home on the Kansas. He described in a very animated way the hunts he had made there, and the bloody fights with hostile tribes; gave me a very attractive description of the mountains, rivers, and valleys of those parts, and remarked, with a slightly jealous look, that I occupied the best land. I answered him that this land was free as before to friendly Indians like the Delawares: the latter could sleep the more tranquilly, because I only pursued the foes of my Indian friends, and had cast my bullets solely for them. This speech produced a very good effect upon my red friend, and with a cordial laugh, he took my hand in his two and shook it with an expression of the most hearty and sincere friendliness. Soon after he said a few words to one of his squaws, and one of his little ones, about four years of age, came out of the tent soon after, dragging an enormous tanned, exquisitely painted buffalo hide, which he presented to me, while his father nodded kindly.
While we were sitting thus cosily together, several of the Indians in the other tents prepared to go hunting, mounted their horses, called their dogs, and rode off; while others gottheir fishing tackle ready, or sported with the girls at the fire. Two young squaws went out in front of the camp followed by several youths, and stood side by side to try their speed in running. They were sixteen or seventeen years of age, gracefully built and really pretty; they only wore their leathern fringed petticoat, a couple of long red strips of leather round their hanging black hair, with beads on their neck and brass rings round their pretty arms. With their brilliant fiery eyes they waited, dancing on their little feet, laughing and teasing each other, for the signal to start, and the two goddesses of the desert glided like lightning through the short grass, scarce touching the ground with the tip of their feet, while their long hair, with the red streamers, flew out behind them. Far away on the prairie stood the tree, which they touched almost simultaneously, and they darted back with a laugh that displayed their pearly teeth. I involuntarily rose at the sight of these pretty creatures, and was surprised at myself, for years had elapsed since a female glance had melted the ice of my heart. I looked for a long time at these graceful little savages, as they teased each other and bounded about with the most pleasing movements; then I once more assured the chief of my friendship, and rode back to the fort.
The young Indian was already quite at home and always in good spirits. I was thoroughly acquainted with the character of these men, who had grown up in a state of independence, and knew that my only way of keeping him was by gradually accustoming him to the minor pleasures of civilized life, while at the same time avoiding everything that might lessen his liberty, such as he enjoyed in the nomadic life of his tribe. Eating played a great part in this—coffee, milk, bread, eggs, cheese, and butter were delicacies which he heartily enjoyed, and he soon grew accustomed to them. Whenever his hunting permitted it, he was rarely absent from meals. At times he disappeared, struck his tent, and we saw nothing of him for several days; at others, he stopped at home, and hardly crossed the river to shoot aturkey or deer. It was an incalculable advantage to have a trustworthy Indian with me, as any hostilities against me affected him and consequently his tribe, and would be avenged by the latter. The Delawares are the most respected among the savage western hordes, as they have better weapons and more weight with the United States Government than all the rest. Hence, I regarded this chance enlistment as very fortunate, and was resolved to make every effort to retain my guest as long as I could. Among other amusements, which I strove to procure him, was chessplaying, which he soon learnt and passionately loved. He became so excited that he would spring up and dance about as if mad, and would frequently play far into the night.
If by chance any of my horses or mules got loose and bolted, Tiger was soon galloping after them, and drove them home; it was the same with my milch kine when they did not come to be milked at the regular hour. In smoking meat, plaiting lassos, tanning hides, &c., he was very useful to me, and he very often accompanied me on my hunting excursions, when he proved a pleasant companion and famous adjunct. Shooting with shot guns was something new to Tiger, and afforded him great amusement; and as the clouds of passenger pigeons had arrived to devour our abundant mast crop, we frequently went across to the forest in the evening when the birds were settling, sent our shot among them, and brought down hundreds.
It is incredible in what countless numbers these pigeons fly, I remember on several occasions watching from the fort their flight over the forest, when they flew in a line from one end of the horizon to the other, almost uninterruptedly for two hours. In the woods where they settle to devour the mast, in a few weeks not an acorn is literally to be found, and at the spots where they rest at night many trees do not retain a single leaf on their branches, because the latter are broken by the birds settling on them in masses. In those parts of America where pig breeding is carried on extensively, thesebirds are regarded as a plague, as they entirely eat up the mast in a very short time. The pigeons are very good eating, but we who had such an abundance of large game only followed these smaller varieties for fun, and it is a rarity to find a shot gun on the border.
Our horses had enjoyed a rather long rest, when I one morning rode across the river with Tiger to the northern prairies for the purpose of procuring fresh meat. We had been an hour under way when we reached a stream, which winds through the prairie to the Leone and is densely overgrown on both banks with birch bushes. The stream through its windings forms here almost an island, as it flows past again only a few yards from its own bed. I saw from a distance a remarkably fat buffalo in the young fresh grass of this island, and on the other side in the prairie a herd of about four hundred of these animals. I dismounted behind the birches, and left Tiger with the horses; then I sprang through the stream, and crawled on my stomach through the grass toward the buffalo, Trusty following me exactly in the same way. The buffalo continued to graze, and did not seem to notice me at all. The sun burnt fiercely, although the breeze was very fresh, and I became frightfully hot on this march. The buffalo was one of the largest bulls in the herd, and seemed to have selected this luxuriant spot for itself; it frequently looked across to its friends, and drove away with its huge fat tail and horns the flies which on this day were most troublesome. Not far from it grew an old mosquito-tree, the only one on this round, rather large meadow, and a very long, strong, but withered branch grew horizontally out of its trunk about four feet from the ground.
I was near enough to shoot with certainty, but the buffalo was turned from me, and I was obliged to wait till it moved before I could kill it. I lay for a long time motionless with Trusty behind me, whose head I pressed down to the ground. At last the bull started round, as the flies hadprobably given it too fierce a sting, and exposed its whole enormous side to me. I aimed just behind the shoulder-blade, and as soon as I had fired laid myself flat on the ground. The buffalo darted round several times looking for its enemy, but then tottered against the tree, where it leant against the withered branch to keep itself from falling, while it burst into a fearful roar and rolled its enormous head. I gave Trusty a nod, and with a few leaps he was in front of the buffalo and pinned it by the nose. I had just reloaded when the bushes parted on the other side of the meadow at a hundred points, the whole herd of buffaloes dashed through and galloped towards me. They had heard the complaints of their lord and Trusty's furious barking, and hurried up to help their comrade. I stood quite exposed, and expected that on seeing me they would take to flight, but they dashed on straight towards me. The foremost of the herd were only thirty paces from me when I took out my white pocket-handkerchief and waved it in the air. The ranks now broke, and the terrified animals dashed past me on the right and left; upon which I sent two bullets after them, which certainly went home, but were carried away by the wounded. Tiger at this moment came through the bushes with the horses, and said to me, laughingly, that if I had not had the handkerchief the herd would certainly have run over me. We went up to the shot buffalo, while our horses grazed near us, paunched it, and then put up a number of white rags we had brought for the purpose, and fastened to sticks, and laid a white cloth over it to keep off the carrion crows. Then we mounted our horses for the purpose of riding home and fetching the meat in the mule cart.
We were in our saddles when a herd of about 400 buffaloes appeared on a rise in the prairie, halted in a long point, and stared at us in amazement. The distance was scarce 300 yards. Tiger looked at me with a smile, and cried "Alligator Creek," while pointing to the herd. I made him a sign to ride on, and we were soon galloping behindthe flying buffaloes, which pressed close together and thundered on ahead of us in a cloud of dust. Tiger's clear hunting yell urged the terrified monsters to a more rapid flight, and in ten minutes we approached a swampy stream which crossed the prairie obliquely, and which we had christened "Alligator Creek," from the number of those animals in it. The banks were very steep and above twelve feet high, the water almost dried up, and the deep bed only contained black thick mud.
The dense mass hastened before us towards the banks of the river bed, and rushed down into the swampy bottom with deafeningroars and grunts. Buffalo after buffalo fell into the ravine till we pulled up on the bank above them and laughed at their confusion and the efforts with which they ascended the other bank all coated with mud. I fancied that at least one half must break their necks, but not one of them remained in the mud. They forced their way to the other bank atop of each other, and sprang, apparently at least, quite unhurt up it. I had dismounted and shot a fat cow, which had borne a calf this year and hence was very plump. The cows only drop one calf every two years, and for this reason it is the more inexplicable that the number of these animals is not more rapidly reduced by the great destruction that takes place among them. The cow followed the herd but a short distance, and then fell dead on the prairie. We were obliged to go a long way up the bank before we could find a low path by which to cross, but soon reached the cow, put up rags round it, but left the paunching to my people, as we did not care to dirty ourselves with the mud that covered it.
We now rode the shortest way to the forest on the Leone, and again crossed the stream on which I had shot the bull about three miles below the spot where it lay. We passed through the thick bushes out into the prairie, but Trusty did not follow us. He trotted down the stream, stopped every now and then, looked up to me and gave his deep bark. I looked at him curiously, for I knew that he was onsome track, when all at once he disappeared in the bushes and stopped. I gave Czar, whom the well-known voice had rendered impatient, his head, and soon reached the bushes among which Trusty was baying, with a revolver in my hand. I turned Czar into a gap between the bushes, when suddenly the shaggy head of a furious buffalo rose above the bank within a yard of me. My startled horse swerved, and cleared the bushes by a tremendous leap, while the monster dashed past me with a roar and galloped across the prairie. I soon got out of the bush, however, and went after it, while Tiger came to meet me. I was close behind the bull, when Tiger flew past it and gave it a bullet from his long rifle near the neck. The buffalo followed the piebald with terrible fury, dyeing the prairie with its blood, when I darted past it and gave it a bullet from my revolver behind the shoulder-blade, which lamed its left fore leg. Trusty now attacked it in the flank, and it stood at bay, holding its head close to the ground, with its nose between its fore feet, and holding one of its short sharp horns against the dog. The buffalo stood motionless with its tail erect, while Trusty sprang barking before it, waiting for the moment when it should raise its head. But its hour had arrived. I rode within twenty yards, and shot it through the heart: it fell lifeless.
It was one of the bulls I had wounded in the morning, when they hurried to the assistance of their comrade: feeling bad it had gone to the water to cool itself, and Trusty had followed its trail to the spot. We put up rags round this one too, and rode sharply to the fort, whence I sent off two of my men with the cart and two mules, accompanied by Tiger. They returned late at night, and brought a heavy load of meat home, which we cut up and salted the next morning. Of the three hides, they only brought the one shot first, which was employed in making a very long lasso.
Hunting occupied us pleasantly through the autumn, and Tiger grew more and more used to our mode of life: it became rare for him to remain away several days without ourknowing what had become of him; he also took greater pleasure in domestic jobs, and applied himself to them more frequently than at the first period of his stay with us. He learned to milk the cows, and readily helped in it as he was so fond of milk, as well as in making vinegar, which he also liked much, and which is made of the large wild grapes with which the prairie thickets are covered. For this purpose I had two large empty whisky casks fetched from the settlement, and this year our vinegar turned out first-rate. Previously we had made it in smaller quantities of mulberries, plums, or honey, which was not half so agreeable as that made of grapes.
Tiger was able to make butter and cheese, and at a pinch cook. Our table was now always well covered, as we had a superabundance of the finest vegetables. The potato crop had turned out very well, and we had more especially an extraordinary quantity of sweet potatoes, as they are called. This is a tuber like the potato; the plant itself consists of tendrils, which spread flat and thick over the soil, and can be easily multiplied in spring. The shoot bears in autumn an extraordinary number of tubers, which are employed precisely like potatoes, except that they have a much more agreeable flavour, resembling the chestnut. A small, most prolific bean, which we plant between the maize, and which spreads over the whole field, had produced us a large stock, while the less hardy vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach, and cabbage, covered the garden all the winter through.
The winter in this region is very mild, and may fairly be termed the pleasantest season of the year. We have no lasting rainy season, although rain falls more frequently then than in the summer months, but it rarely lasts longer than a day, and then the cloudless blue sky gleams pleasantly over us again. Frost is rare and trifling; but sometimes it sets in towards morning, and will last a whole day if accompanied by a wind blowing down from the northern Rocky Mountains. These Northers are usually called somethingterrible in the whole of the United States, but in reality they do not at all merit this reputation. Certainly the cold is felt much more among us than elsewhere; because, as men accustomed to warm weather, we rarely lay in a stock of winter clothes. The houses, too, are not calculated for cold, as they are built very airily and lightly, and have no stoves—only fireplaces. When the Northers blow the people fly to these fires, while the cattle seek bottoms and dense thickets, where they conceal themselves.
I remember on a splendidly warm forenoon the sky becoming overcast from the north, and it began to blow and rain, which caused the whole country to be covered with ice in a short time. If such a storm assails a traveller in his light summer dress, he is certainly in an unpleasant position, and if he is a stranger it easily happens that he tells a terrible story about it when he gets home. These disagreeable storms from the north, however, are infrequent; we have perhaps six or eight in a winter, and they rarely last longer than four-and-twenty hours, and are then driven away by very bright warm days. The winter proper—which may bring cold weather—does not begin till January, frequently later; hence we have a very long delicious autumn. The days are no longer oppressively hot, and the nights become so cool that we are glad to snuggle under a buffalo robe or a woollen blanket. This is the season when we recover from the exhausting continuous summer heat, and the body regains its energy.