Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet
Page 20
CHAPTER TWENTY.
Happily for me and my two companions, there still remained two or threegentlemen in San Antonio. These were Colonel Seguin and Messrs.Novarro, senior and junior, Mexican gentlemen, who, liberal in theirideas and frank in their natures, had been induced by the falserepresentations of the Texians not to quit the country after itsindependence of Mexico; and, as they were men of high rank, by so doingthey not only forfeited their rights as citizens of Mexico, but alsoincurred the hatred and animosity of that government.
Now that they had discovered their error, it was too late to repair it;moreover, pride and, perhaps, a mistaken sense of honour, would notpermit them to remove to Mexico, although severed from all those tieswhich render life sweet and agreeable. Their own sorrows did not,however, interfere with their unbounded hospitality: in their house wefound a home. We formed no intimacy with the Texians; indeed, we had nocontact whatever with them, except that one day Roche thrashed two ofthem with his shillalah for ill-treating an old Indian.
Inquiries were made by Colonel Seguin as to where the Comanches might befound, and we soon ascertained that they were in their great village, atthe foot of the Green Mountain, upon the southern fork of thehead-waters of the Rio Roxo.
We made immediate preparations for departure, and as we proposed to passthrough Austin, the capital of Texas, our kind entertainers pressed fivehundred dollars upon us, under the plea that no Texian would ever giveus a tumbler of water except it was paid for, and that, moreover, it waspossible that after passing a few days among the gallant members ofCongress, we might miss our holsters or stirrups, our blankets, or evenone of our horses.
We found their prediction, in the first instance, but too true. Sixmiles from Austin we stopped at the farm of the Honourable Judge Webb,and asked leave to water our horses, as they had travelled forty milesunder a hot sun without drawing bit. The honourable judge flatlyrefused, although he had a good well, besides a pond, under fence,covering several acres; his wife, however, reflecting, perhaps, that herstores were rather short of coffee or silt, entered into a rapiddiscussion with her worse half, and by-and-by that respectable couple ofhonourables agreed to sell water to us at twenty-five cents a bucket.
When we dismounted to take the bridles off our horses, the daughtersarrived, and perceiving we had new silk sashes and neckerchiefs and somefine jewels, they devoured us with their eyes, and one of them, speakingto her papa, that most hospitable gentleman invited us to enter hishouse. By that time we were once more upon our saddles and ready tostart. Roche felt indignant at the meanness of the fellow, who hadreceived our seventy-five cents for the water before he invited us intothe house. We refused, and Roche told him that he was an old scoundrelto sell for money that which even a savage will never refuse to his mostbitter enemy.
The rage of the honourable cannot be depicted: "My rifle!" hevociferated, "my rifle for God's sake, Betsey--Juliet, run for myrifle!"
The judge then went into the house; but, as three pistols were drawnfrom our holsters, neither he nor his rifle made their appearance, so weturned our horses' heads and rode on leisurely to Austin.
In Austin we had a grand opportunity of seeing the Texians under theirtrue colours. There were three hotels in the town, and every evening,after five o'clock, almost all of them, not excluding the president ofthe republic, the secretaries, judges, ministers, and members ofCongress, were, more or less, tipsy, and in the quarrels which ensuedhardly a night passed without four or five men being stabbed or shot,and the riot was continued during the major portion of the night, sothat at nine o'clock in the morning everybody was still in bed. Soburied in silence was the town, that one morning, at eight o'clock, Ikilled a fine buck grazing quietly before the door of the Capitol. Itis strange that this capital of Texas should have been erected upon thevery northern boundary of the state. Indians have often entered it andtaken scalps not ten steps from the Capitol.
While we were in Austin we made the acquaintance of old Castro, thechief of the Lepan Indians, an offset of the Comanche tribe. He is oneof the best-bred gentlemen in the world, having received a liberal andmilitary education, first in Mexico, and subsequently in Spain. He hastravelled in France, Germany, England, and, in fact, all over Europe.He speaks and writes five or six languages, and so conscious is he ofhis superiority over the Texians, that he never addresses them but withcontempt. He once said to them in the legislature room ofMatagorda--"Never deceive yourselves, Texians. I fight with you againstthe Mexicans, because betwixt them and me there is an irreconcilablehatred. Do not then flatter yourselves that it is through friendshiptowards you. I can give my friendship only to those who are honourableboth in peace and in war; you are all of you liars, and many of youthieves, scoundrels, and base murderers. Yes, dogs, I say true; yelpnot, bark not, for you know you dare not bite, now that my two hundredwarriors are surrounding this building: be silent, I say."
Castro was going in the same direction as ourselves to join his band,which was at that moment buffalo-hunting, a few journeys northward. Hehad promised his company and protection to two foreign gentlemen, whowere desirous of beholding the huge tenant of the prairies. We allstarted together, and we enjoyed very much this addition to our company.
The first day we travelled over an old Spanish military road, crossingrich rolling prairies, here and there watered by clear streams, thebanks of which are sheltered by magnificent oaks. Fifteen miles fromAustin there is a remarkable spot, upon which a visionary speculator hada short time before attempted to found a city. He purchased an immensetract of ground, had beautiful plans drawn and painted, and very soonthere appeared, upon paper, one of the largest and handsomest cities inthe world. There were colleges and public squares, penitentiaries,banks, taverns, whisky-shops, and fine walks. I hardly need say, thatthis town-manufacturer was a Yankee, who intended to realise a millionby selling town-lots. The city (in prospective) was called Athens, andthe silly fellow had so much confidence in his own speculation, that heactually built upon the ground a very large and expensive house. Oneday, as he, with three or four negroes, were occupied in digging a well,he was attacked by a party of Yankee thieves, who thought he had a greatdeal of money. The poor devil ran away from his beloved city andreturned no more. The house stands as it was left. I even saw near thewell the spades and pickaxes with which they had been working at thetime of the attack. Thus modern Athens was cut off in the bud, whichwas a great pity, as a few Athenian sages and legislators are sadlywanted in Texas.
Early one morning we were awakened by loud roars in the prairie. Castrostarted on his feet, and soon gave the welcome news, "The Buffaloes."On the plain were hundreds of dark moving spots, which increased in sizeas we came nearer; and before long we could clearly see the shaggybrutes galloping across the prairie, and extending their dark, compactphalanxes even to the line of the horizon. Then followed a scene ofexcitement. The buffaloes, scared by the continual reports of ourrifles, broke their ranks and scattered themselves in every direction.
The two foreigners were both British, the youngest being a youngIrishman of a good family, and of the name of Fitzgerald. We had beenquite captivated by his constant good humour and vivacity of spirits; hewas the life of our little evening encampments, and, as he had travelledon the other side of the Pacific, we would remain till late at nightlistening to his interesting and beautiful narratives of his adventuresin Asiatic countries.
He had at first joined the English legion in Spain, in which he hadadvanced to the rank of captain; he soon got tired of that service andwent to Persia, where he entered into the Shah's employ as an officer ofartillery. This after some time not suiting his fancy, he returned toEngland, and decided upon visiting Texas, and establishing himself as amerchant at San Antonio. But his taste for a wandering life would notallow him to remain quiet for any length of time, and having one dayfallen in with an English naturalist, who had come out on purpose tovisit the north-west prairies of Texas, he resolved to accompany him.
The other stranger was an English savant, one of the queerest fellows inthe world. He wished also to take his share in the buffalo-hunt, buthis steed was a lazy and peaceable animal, a true nag for a fat abbot,having a horror of any thing like trotting or galloping; and as he wasnot to be persuaded out of his slow walk, he and his master remained ata respectable distance from the scene of action. What an excellentcaricature might have been made of that good-humoured savant, as he saton his Rosinante, armed with an enormous double-barrelled gun, loadedbut not primed, some time, to no purpose, spurring the self-willedanimal, and then spying through an opera-glass at the majestic animalswhich he could not approach.
We killed nine bulls and seven fat calves, and in the evening weencamped near a little river, where we made an exquisite supper ofmarrow and tongue, two good things, which can only be enjoyed in thewild prairies. The next day, at sunset, we received a visit from animmense herd of mustangs (wild horses). We saw them at first ascendingone of the swells of the prairie, and took them for hostile Indians; buthaving satisfied their curiosity, the whole herd wheeled round with asmuch regularity as a well-drilled squadron, and with their tails erectand long manes floating to the wind, were soon out of sight.
Many strange stories have been related by trappers and hunters, of asolitary white horse which has often been met with near the CrossTimbers and the Red River. No one ever saw him trotting or galloping;he only canters, but with such rapidity that no steed can follow him.Immense sums of money have been offered to any who could catch him, andmany have attempted the task, but without success. The noble animalstill runs free in his native prairies, always alone and unapproachable.
We often met with the mountain goat, an animal which participates bothof the deer and the common goat, but whose flesh is far superior toeither. It is gracefully shaped--long-legged and very fleet. One ofthem, whose fore-leg I had broken with a rifle ball, escaped from ourfleetest horse (Castro's), after a chase of nearly thirty minutes. Themountain goat is found on the great platforms of the Rocky Mountains,and also at the broad waters of the rivers Brasos and Colorado. Thoughof a very timid nature, they are superlatively inquisitive, and can beeasily attracted within rifle range, by agitating, from behind a tree, awhite or red handkerchief.
We were also often visited, during the night, by rattlesnakes, who likedamazingly the heat and softness of our blankets. They were unwelcomecustomers, to be sure; but yet there were some others of which we werestill more in dread: among them I may class, as the ugliest and mostdeadly, the prairie tarantula, a large spider, bigger than a good-sizedchicken egg, hairy, like a bear, with small blood-shot eyes and littlesharp teeth.
One evening, we encamped near a little spring, two miles from theBrasos. Finding no wood to burn near to us, Fitzgerald started to fetchsome. As I have said, his was a small wild horse; he was imprudentenough to tie to its tail a young tree, which he had cut down. Thepony, of course, got angry, and galloped furiously towards the camp,surrounded by a cloud of dust. At this sight, the other horses began toshow signs of terror; but we were fortunate enough to secure them allbefore it was too late, or we should have lost them for ever.
It is astonishing to witness in the prairies how powerfully fear willact, not only upon the buffaloes and mustangs, but also upon tame horsesand cattle. Oxen will run farther than horses, and some of them havebeen known, when under the influence of the estampede, or sudden fright,to run forty miles without ever stopping, and when at last they halted,it was merely because exhausted nature would not allow them to gofurther. The Texian expedition, on its way to Santa Fe, once lostninety-four horses by an estampede. I must say that nothing can exceedthe grandeur of the sight, when a numerous body of cattle are under itsinfluence. Old nags, broken by age and fatigue, who have been desertedon account of their weakness, appear as wild and fresh as young colts.As soon as they are seized with that inexplicable dread which forcesthem to fly, they appear to regain in a moment all the powers of theiryouth; with head and tail erect, and eyes glaring with fear, they rushmadly on in a straight line; the earth trembles under their feet;nothing can stop them--trees, abysses, lakes, rivers, or mountains--theygo over all, until nature can support it no more, and the earth isstrewed with their bodies.
Even the otherwise imperturbable horse of our savant would sometimeshave an estampede after his own fashion; lazy and self-willed,preferring a slow walk to any other kind of motion, this animal showedin all his actions that he knew how to take care of number one, alwaysselecting his quarters where the water was cooler and the grass tender.But he had a very bad quality for a prairie travelling nag, which wascontinually placing his master in some awkward dilemma. One day that wehad stopped to refresh ourselves near a spring, we removed the bridlesfrom our horses, to allow them to graze a few minutes, but the savant'scursed beast took precisely that opportunity of giving us a sample ofhis estampede. Our English friend had a way, quite peculiar to himself,of crowding upon his horse all his scientific and culinary instruments.He had suspended at the pommel of the saddle a thermometer, a rumcalabash, and a coffee boiler, while behind the saddle hung a store ofpots and cups, frying-pan, a barometer, a sextant, and a long spy-glass.The nag was grazing, when one of the instruments fell down, at whichthe beast commenced kicking, to show his displeasure. The more hekicked, the greater was the rattling of the cups and pans; the brute wasnow quite terrified; we first secured our own steeds, and then watchedthe singular and ridiculous movements of this estampedero.
He would make ten leaps, and then stop to give as many kicks, then shakehimself violently and start off full gallop. At every moment, somearticle, mathematical or culinary, would get loose, fall down, and betrampled upon. The sextant was kicked to pieces, the frying-pan andspy-glass were put out of shape, the thermometer lost its mercury, andat last, by dint of shaking, rolling, and kicking, the brute got rid ofhis entire load and saddle, and then came quietly to us, apparently verywell satisfied with himself and with the damage he had done. It was amost ludicrous scene, and defies all power of description; so much didit amuse us, that we could not stop laughing for three or four hours.
The next day, we found many mineral springs, the waters of which werestrongly impregnated with sulphur and iron. We also passed by thebodies of five white men, probably trappers, horribly mangled, andevidently murdered by some Texian robbers. Towards evening, we crosseda large fresh Indian trail, going in the direction of the river Brasos,and, following it, we soon came up with the tribe of Lepans, of whichold Castro was the chief.