The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XX.

  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 their ideas andfrank in their natures, had been induced by the false representations ofthe Texans not to quit the country after its independence of Mexico;and, as they were men of high rank, by so doing they not only forfeitedtheir rights as citizens of Mexico, but also incurred the hatred andanimosity 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 Texans; 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 Texan would ever give usa 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 salt, entered into a rapiddiscussion with her worse half, and by-and-bye that respectable coupleof honourables 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 severity-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 formy rifle!"

  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 Texans 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. It isstrange 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. Hespeaks and writes five or six languages, and so conscious is he of hissuperiority over the Texans, that he never addresses them but withcontempt. He once said to them in the legislature-room of Matagorda--

  "Never deceive yourselves, Texans. I fight with you against theMexicans, because betwixt them and me there is an irreconcilable hatred.Do not then flatter yourselves that it is through friendship towardsyou. I can give my friendship only to those who are honourable both inpeace and in war; you are all of you liars, and many of you thieves,scoundrels, and base murderers. Yes, dogs, I say true; yelp not, barknot, for you know you dare not bite, now that my two hundred warriorsare 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 realize 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, which wasa 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." Onthe plain were hundreds of dark moving spots, which increased in size aswe came nearer; and before long we could clearly see the shaggy brutesgalloping 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 our rifles,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.

  Always ready for
any adventure, Fitz. rushed madly among the buffaloes.He was mounted upon a wild horse of the small breed, loaded withsaddlebags, water calabashes, tin and coffee-cups, blankets, &c.; butthese encumbrances did not stop him in the least. With his bridlefastened to the pommel of his saddle and a pistol in each hand, he shotto the right and left, stopping now and then to reload and then startinganew. During the hunt he lost his hat, his saddlebags, with linen andmoney, and his blankets: as he never took the trouble to pick them up,they are probably yet in the prairie where they were dropped.

  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, but hissteed was a lazy and peaceable animal, a true nag for a fat abbot,having a horror of anything 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 doubled-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; heonly racks, but with such rapidity that no steed can follow him. Immensesums of money have been offered to any who could catch him, and manyhave attempted the task, but without success. The noble animal stillruns 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. The pony,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 Texan expedition, on its way to Santa Fe, once lost ninetyfour horses by an estampede. I must say that nothing can exceed thegrandeur 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 cool 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 which thebeast commenced kicking, to show his displeasure. The more he kicked,the greater was the rattling of the cups and pans; the brute was nowquite terrified; we first secured our own steeds, and then watched thesingular 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 the bodiesof five white men, probably trappers, horribly mangled, and evidentlymurdered by some Texan robbers. Towards evening, we crossed a largefresh Indian trail, going in the direction of the river Brasos, and,following it, we soon came up with the tribe of Lepans, of which oldCastro was the chief.