iMM' 
 
f' 
 
 3tl)aca, Nem fork 
 
 BERNARD ALBERT SINN 
 
 COLLECTION 
 NAVAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 BERNARD «. SINN, 97 
 
 1919 
 
Cornell University Library 
 F 1438.R67 
 
 The story of the <ili''"s*ers. 
 
 3 1924 020 382 648 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020382648 
 
"Adventures are to the Adventurous.' 
 
 Beaconsfield. 
 
■/ir7h 
 
 aX/{2^' 
 
 (Aftc} an Ejic^yavins h' J- C. I'.uttrk, 0/ A'cic York 
 
m^ THE STORY OF THE 
 FILIBUSTERS. BY JAMES 
 JEFFREY ROCHE miMi 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED THE LIFE 
 OF COLONEL DAVID CROCKETT 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 1. 1. 1'Whl U 
 UWlVt !■ .it ■' 
 i I i I ,M ; ~' 
 LONDON : T. FISHER UNWIN. NEW 
 
 YORK : MACMILLAN & CO. MDCCCXCI 
 
^J^' 
 
 A4s(o^^ I 
 
 Copyright by James Jeffrey Roche, 1891 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 
 4 
 
L. I. G. 
 
 " The best condition'd and unwearied spirit 
 In doing courtesies." 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
PEEFACE TO "THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 ^HE rise and fall of the American Fili- 
 busters belong to the history of the 
 Nineteenth Century. From time to 
 time their deeds have been recounted 
 by actors in the stirring scenes, by con- 
 temporary observers, and, incidentally, 
 by travellers in Spanish America who lingered for a 
 moment over the romantic legend of the modern Vikings. 
 
 Among the works consulted in the preparation of this 
 volume are : " A History of Miranda's Attempt to Effect a 
 Eevolution in South America," by one of his officers ; 
 Yokum's " History of Texas " ; Green's narrative of the 
 Mier Expedition, and Kendall's of that to Santa Fe ; 
 Henri de la Madelaine's " Life of Eaoussett-Boulbon " ; 
 Well's account of Walker's expeditions to Sonora and 
 Nicaragua ; Walker's " History of the War iu Nicaragua " ; 
 and the several works relating to the latter country of 
 Squier, Scherzer, Stout, Captain Pim, Chevalier Belly, 
 M. Nicaisse, and many other travellers. 
 
 From such sources, as well as from the periodicals and 
 official documents of the day, and from, the lips or pens of 
 living comrades in the more recent of those tragedies, have 
 been gathered the facts told in the following pages. It has 
 been no easy task to sift the grains of truth from the 
 mountain of myth, prejudice, and fiction under which the 
 9,ctual deeds of the Filibusters long lay buried. 
 
X PBEFACE. 
 
 Thirty years ago it would have been well-nigh impossible, 
 in the heated atmosphere of the slavery conflict, to view 
 such a subject with philosophical impartiality. To-day we - 
 may study the Filibuster dispassionately, for he belongs 
 to extinct species. The speculator has supplanted him 
 without pereejptibly improving the morality of the world. 
 Even the word " filibuster," transformed to a verb, is 
 degraded to the base uses of politics. It is time to write 
 the history and the epitaph of the brave, lawless, generous 
 anomaly on civilization. 
 
 Boston, U.S., March, 1891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 PAQE 
 
 Etymology of the word Filibuster — Norse AdventurersT— The Buccaneers 
 — Miranda — Services under the Directory — First Expedition from 
 the United States — Dr. Jenner and the King of Spain— Miranda's 
 second expedition and death . . , 1 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Aaron Burr — Mina's expedition and fate— The Alamo massacre — Travis, 
 Bowie, and Crockett — The tragedy of Goliad — Houston and Santa 
 Ana — Victory of San Jacinto — The Sante Fe and Mier expeditions 10 
 
 - CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The Lopez Expedition — Landing at Cardenas — Pickett's Fight — An 
 Exciting Chase — Last Expedition — Execution of Lopez and Crit- 
 tenden 22 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Count Eaoussett-Boulbon — A father " de la vieille roohe" — Eaous- 
 sett's contract to garrison Sonora — Proclamations and pronunoia- 
 mientos — Battle of HermosiUo — Negotiations with Santa Ana — 
 Expedition to Guaymas — Engagement and defeat— Last words of a 
 noble adventurer — Death of the Count 29 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 William Walker — Boyhood and education — Doctor, Lawyer, Journalist 
 — Goes to California — Personal appearance and characteristics — 
 Departure of the Sonora Expedition — A government proclaimed — 
 Stern discipline — Eetreat from Sonora— Bad news at San Vinoente 
 — The. adventurers cross the boundary— Walker resumes the pen . 40 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Nicaragua — " Mahomet's Paradise " — Buccaneering visitors — Eingrose 
 and De Lussan— Nelson defeated by a girl— The apocryphal heroine 
 . of San Carlos 53 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 British intrigues on tlie Isthmus— Morazan and the Confederacy— The 
 Mosquito Dynasty— Bombardment of San Juan— Castellon calls in 
 the foreigner— Doubleday and his free lanees— Cole's contract 
 approved by Walker. . . 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 Purchase of the Vesta— May 4th, 1855, sailing of the " Immortal Fifty- 
 six "—The American Phalanx— First battle of Kivas— Punishing a 
 desperado— Trouble in Castellon's Cabinet— Battle at Virgin Bay- 
 Death of Castellon 72 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 A Servile victory in the North — Walker in the enemy's stronghold — 
 Negotiations for peace — ^Exeoution of Mayorga — Eivas chosen Pro- 
 visional Director — Corral's treason and punishment — Newspaper 
 history 84 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Filibusterism abroad — Kinney's Expedition — The Filibusters and their 
 allies — An aristocracy of leather — Pierce and Marcy — A rupture 
 with the United States — Costa Eica declares war — Schlessinger's 
 fiasco — Cosmopolitan adventurers — Steamers withdrawn — History 
 of the Transit Company — Vanderbilt plans vengeance — The printing- 
 press on the field 92 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 The Costa Eicans invade Nicaragua — Second battle of Eivas — The 
 enemy meet a new foe — Eivas orders an election — Walker a candi- 
 date — Treason of Eivas — Murder of Estrada — Coalition of the 
 
 Northern States against Nicaragua — Walker chosen President 
 
 Inauguration and recognition by the United States minister 
 
 Trp,dition of the " Gray-eyed Man " , 105 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Administration of President Walker — The Allies advance towards 
 Granada — Naval victory — Eeview of the filibuster army— Fili- 
 busters and their allies — Assault on Masaya — Civil government 
 
 The slavery decree — Antiquated logic •.'.... 115 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Henningsen — Early service with Zumalacarregni — Campaigning with 
 the Prophet of the Caucasus — Joins Kossuth — Arrival in America 
 — Omotepe— A gallant defence- Watters carries the barrica4es . 126 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTBB XIV. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Vanderbilt joins issue— Titus outwitted— Siege of Eivas— Death in the 
 Falange — Desertion — Captain Fayssoux and Sir Robert MoOlure — 
 Battle of San Jorge — Allies assault Eivas — Famine and devotion — 
 Oommander Davis as a peacemaker 134 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Ultimatum of Captain Davis — Evacuation of Rivas — Statistics of the 
 campaign — Henningsen's opinion of his men — Characteristic anec- • 
 dotes — Frederick Ward — A filibuster's apotheosis .... 146 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Walker returns to the United States — Crabbe's expedition — Renewed 
 attempts of Walker — The expedition to San Juan del Norte . . 159 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Walker's " History of the War " — Lands at Ruatan and takes Trujillo — 
 Retreats before the English forces — Surrender — Trial and execution 
 of the last of the Filibusters 169 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Character of Walker — A private's devotion — Anecdote — After-fate of the 
 filibusters — Henningsen's epitaph — Last Cuban expedition — The 
 Virginius tragedy — An Englishman to the rescue — Finis . . 179 
 
 LIFE OF COLONEL DAVID CEOCKETT. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 (1) PoETEAiT OF WiLLiAM Walkbe. (After an Engraving 
 
 by J. C. Buttre, of New York) Frontispiece 
 
 (2) Map of Centbal Amebic a To face p. 1 
 
 (3) FiLiBusTBEs' Flag Eaised, September 27, 
 
 1856 ... To face p. 116 
 
 (4) Volcano op Omotepb. (After a Pen-and- 
 
 ink Sketch) Tofacep.129 
 
 (5) Geneeal Chablbs Fbedbeic Hbnningsbn. 
 
 (From a Photograph) To face p. 150 
 
 (6) Five Dollae Bill issued by the Cuban 
 
 Republic To facep. 189 
 
ofta IS.Antonh o 
 U e A t"o A 
 C Balcalar^ 
 
 85 
 
 SKETCH MAP 
 OF 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICA 
 
 at the time of the 
 
 FILIBUSTERS 
 
 1850 to i860 
 
 Long-itiide West 85 from Greenwich 
 
 T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON, E.G. 
 
THE STOEY OF THE FILIBUSTEES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Etymology of the word Filibuster— Norse Adventurers— The Bucca- 
 neers.— Miranda— Services under the Directory— First Expedition 
 from the United States— Dr. Jenner and the King of Spain— 
 Mu-anda's second expedition and death, 
 
 ■^^S 
 
 1 
 
 ^HE difference between a filibuster and a 
 freebooter is one of ends rather than of 
 means. Some authorities say that the 
 words have a common etymology; but 
 others, including Charlevoix, maintain 
 that the filibuster derived his name from 
 his original occupation, that of a cruiser in a " flibote," or 
 " Vly-boat," first used on the river Vly, in Holland. Yet 
 another writer says that the name was first given to the 
 gallant followers of Dominique de Gourgues,' who sailed 
 from Pinisterre, or Pinibuster, in Prance, on the famous 
 expedition against Port Caroline in 1567. 
 
 The name, whatever its origin, was long current in the 
 Spanish as "filibustero" before it became adopted into the 
 English. So adopted, it has been used to describe a type 
 of adventurer who occupied a curious place in American 
 history during the decade from 1850 to 1860. 
 
 The citizen or subject of any country, who makes war 
 upon a state with which his own is at peace, with intent 
 to overrun and occupy it, not merely for the piratical ends 
 of rapine and plunder, is a fihbuster in the true sense of 
 
 2 
 
2 TBB 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 the term. Such, act of war is, by the law of nations, a 
 crime against both countries. Its morality, before the 
 meaner court of popular judgment, will rest upon the 
 measure of its success alone. So judged, as all invaders 
 are judged at last, the bold adventurer draws but few 
 prizes in the lottery of fame. Cortez and Houstou are 
 among the few successful filibusters of modern times. 
 
 In the shadowy chronicles of the Norsemen we find the 
 first trace of that adventurous spirit which, during twelve 
 centuries, gave the dominion of the ocean to the seafaring 
 people of Northern Europe. The bold Vikings who, 
 without chart or compass, sailed over unknown and 
 dangerous seas, crossed the Atlantic and swept the 
 Mediterranean, were the worthy fathers of the Drakes 
 and Ansons of later years. History bespeaks them cruel, 
 rapacious, daring; pirates when, as Wheaton says, the 
 occupation of a pirate was considered not only lawful, but 
 honourable. But they were not wholly destructive. 
 Borrowing a lesson in natural history from their own 
 lemming, they solved the troublesome problem, how to 
 get rid of a surplus population, by sending the superfluous 
 members forth to seek a new field. The lemming eats his 
 way to the sea, in which he finds his grave ; but his human 
 imitator more wisely found there a pathway to fortune. 
 They went forth mainly to conquer, incidentally to 
 colonize and settle. Among themselves they were primi- 
 tive republicans, though harsh tyrants to their vanquished 
 foes. "Who is your king or leader?" asked the herald 
 of King Charles the Simple, before the decisive battle on 
 the banks of the Eure in a.d. 898. " We have no king, 
 no chief, no master ; but ' Eolf, the Walker,' leads us in 
 war and on the day of battle," was the proud answer of 
 Eolf's comrades and peers. That this was no idle boast, 
 Eolfs own descendant, King John of England, learned to 
 his sorrow when the sons of the sturdy Norse filibusters 
 met him face to face at Runnymede. The Magna Charta 
 
THE STOBT OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 3 
 
 is the written code of that fierce democracy, dreaded alike 
 by its serfs and its kings. The Vikings stand alone as a 
 race of warriors whose hardihood overcame even their 
 native superstition, in leading them to defy the gods 
 themselves. They were sceptics, because they knew not 
 fear. Love was as yet an unknown power in their 
 religion. 
 
 The Norsemen were suppressed only by absorption. 
 Owing no fealty to their native land, they took possession 
 of the conquered countries, in which they proved to be the 
 strongest barrier against further aggressions from the 
 dreaded North. But before this degree of safety was 
 gained, all Europe had felt the scourge of the terrible 
 Vikings, who had burned or put in vassalage London, 
 Cologne, Treves, Paris, Tours, and Marseilles ; carried their 
 victorious arms to Portugal, Spain, Sicily, and Constanti- 
 nople; and given dynasties of Norse blood to England, 
 Eussia, and France. Eolf married a natural daughter of 
 King Charles, whence came the Norman dukes and the 
 royal line of England. In brief, the Vikings held the 
 western world at their mercy, overturning thrones, 
 founding kingdoms, stabling their horses in the palaces 
 of princes, and upholding on their hireling spears the 
 crown of the fallen Caesars. 
 
 With the rise of the powerful maritime nations of 
 Europe filibusterism slumbered for several centuries. 
 The immortal expedition of Cortes being, in so far as 
 it lacked the sanction of his king, wholly that of a 
 filibuster, needs but passing mention here. Its success 
 has lifted it into the realms of history and made it a 
 household story. Filibusterism was to awake on a new 
 field and lead the van in the long warfare which, in two 
 hemispheres and during three centuries, has followed the 
 meeting of Northman and Southron. England, and also 
 France, looked with jealous eyes upon the grasping policy 
 of Spain in the New World. The fortune of discovery had 
 
i THE STOBY OP TSE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 given to the two former the apparently barren lots of 
 Canada and the British colonies. -Spain had drawn the 
 rich prize of El Dorado. Not content with the spoils of 
 Mexico and Peru, she grudged to the hardy hunters of the 
 West Indies their petty trade with her colonies. She 
 claimed the Mississippi. The epitaph of Columbus .was 
 read as a veritable bequest by Spanish greed. But avarice 
 overreached itself. The persecutions heaped upon the 
 "boucaniers" ot the West Indies aroused a spirit of 
 opposition, which success fanned into aggressive fires, 
 and which the governments of England and France did 
 nothing to extinguish. The cumbrous galleon with its 
 golden freight was no match for the swift Vly-boat, 
 manned by reckless adventurers in whom the~ appetite for 
 gold was whetted by the memory of countless wrongs. 
 
 From unexpected successes by sea the Buccaneers made 
 bold to attack the rich towns on the Spanish Main, which 
 they held for heavy ransoms, or sacked with all the 
 attendant cruelty of their ancestral Berserkers. Panama, 
 Granada, Gibraltar, every town or fort of note, fell before 
 the resistless buccaneers, until the names of Morgan, 
 Portugues, Dampier, and Lolonois became words of terror 
 to the Spanish colonists. Yet it must be borne in mind 
 that the buccaneers were not pirates. They warred against 
 one enemy, the same which had for years oppressed them 
 and their brethren, while the countries to which they 
 owed allegiance were too weak or too indifferent to 
 protect their distant sons. When the buccaneer de- 
 generated into the mere pirate, none were more prompt 
 than his late comrades to follow up and punish the 
 Ishmaelite. Buccaneer Morgan, -knighted and made 
 governor of Jamaica, was* the terror of the West India 
 pirates, though the virtue of his motives may fairly be 
 questioned. 
 
 To her buccaneers England owes the birth of her great 
 navy, whose first fame was won in the rout of the Spanish 
 
THE STORY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 5 
 
 Armada. They M'ere buccaneers who first sailed around 
 the world; they founded the East India Company, and 
 were Britain's sword and shield for the defence of her 
 nascent colonies. Neglect and indifference rewarded their 
 deeds, until they had grown strong enough to protect 
 themselves. Spain had her paid servants in the very 
 cabinets of England and France, a policy which she has 
 not forgotten how to employ in other lands and later days. 
 
 Because of a growing respect for the law of nations, 
 filibusterism, during the grave changes of the eighteenth 
 century and the lull before the storm of the American 
 revolutions, slumbered once again. 
 
 The American revolution meant the people defending its 
 rights ; the French revolution meant the people avenging 
 its wrongs. Each was successful ; both taught an undying 
 lesson to humanity. Free America, with wise selfishness, 
 aimed to assure and bequeath her liberty; Eepublican 
 France, with loftier if less practical aims, sought to carry 
 the gospel of freedom to all nations. She failed only when 
 she yielded her dearly won liberty to the seduction of 
 martial glory. Napoleon, the child of the people, became 
 a parricide, and usurped the place of the fallen trinity — 
 Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. 
 
 Among the ardent friends of liberty who rallied around 
 the flag of the Directory was Don Francisco Miranda, a 
 native of Venezuela, of which province his grandfather had 
 been governor. He was well educated, and owned a large 
 private fortune. On account of his revolutionary sentiments 
 he was forced to fly his native conntry and the military 
 service of Spain, in which he had gained the rank of 
 colonel. The bulk of his property was made forfeit. 
 With what he could save from the wreck he fled to the 
 United States in 1783. He afterwards visited several 
 European countries. The French revolution found him 
 in Eussia, whence he at once set out to offer his sword to 
 the Directory. He held a command under Dumourier in 
 
6 THE STORY OF THE FIL1BV8TEBS. 
 
 the Holland campaign of 1783, in which he won a brave 
 name but no serviceable laurels. The campaign was a 
 failure. Dumourier deserted the cause, and Miranda was 
 arrested and tried for treason. Although undoubtedly 
 innocent, his political intrigues had aroused against him 
 powerful enemies who procured his banishment from 
 France. He removed to England, a country whose 
 ministry he interested in his life-long scheme for the 
 revolution of his native land. New York was chosen as 
 the point of departure. With bills of exchange on London 
 he bought there the ship Leander, with a formidable arma- 
 ment. On the 2nd of February, 1805, the first filibustering 
 expedition from the United States, consisting of about two 
 hundred men, " some of them gentlemen and persons of 
 good standing in society, though mostly of crooked for- 
 tunes," set sail for Venezuela on a crusade of liberty. 
 When eleven days at sea they were brought to by H.B.M. 
 ship Cleopatre, and nineteen of the adventurers were 
 impressed, in the ungracious fashion of the British navy 
 of the period. The Leander was detained, notwithstanding 
 her American clearance, until General Miranda produced 
 some private papers, at sight of which the British captain 
 not only allowed her to proceed unmolested, but also gave 
 her a " protection paper," forbidding all other English 
 cruisers to detain or search her. Apart from the Leander' s 
 questionable mission, this remarkable permit to travel on the 
 high seas throws a striking light upon the construction of 
 international law at the beginning of the nineteenth century. 
 Miranda received material aid and comfort from 
 Admiral Cochrane, commanding the British squadron 
 on the West India station, but although his force was 
 swelled by two small vessels, it was, from its first advent 
 on the Spanish Main, a wretched failure. Differences 
 among the invaders, aggravated by the wayward temper 
 of the leader, together with a total apathy or active 
 hostility on the part of the very Venezuelans whom the 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBVSTEBS. 1 
 
 filibusters had come so far to deliver, brought all their 
 fond hopes to nought. Such of the adventurers as were 
 not captured by the Spaniards surrendered to an English 
 frigate and were carried to the West Indies, whence 
 they made the best of their way home, ■ 
 
 Whilst lacking in the heroism and splendid audacity 
 of kindred later crusades, Miranda's expedition was a 
 painful prototype in its ill fortune for subsequent 
 ventures. The inevitable defeat, with its ghastly epi- 
 logue -of butchery or lingering captivity; the rescue of 
 the wretched survivors by a pitying English or American 
 vessel of war ; the world's merciless verdict upon the 
 failure : such has been the dismal tragedy as acted on 
 different stages, from the days of Miranda to that " last . 
 appearance " in Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 Of the prisoners taken, ten were hanged ; some fifty 
 others were condemned to terms of imprisonment varying 
 from eight to ten years. Among the latter was Major 
 Jeremiah Powell, whose father visited Spain in a vain 
 effort to procure his release. Eeturning, in despair, by 
 way of London, he bethought him of a novel expedient. 
 It was that of getting a letter of introduction to the 
 Spanish monarch from the great Doctor Jenner. Armed 
 with this he returned to Madrid and presented himself 
 before the Court. The student of Spanish, and notably 
 of Spanish-American history, will find few instances of 
 generous or tender instinct in its bloody annals. Let 
 it be written, as a bright line on the dark page of 
 Spanish cruelty, that the appeal of humanity's bene- 
 factor was not made in vain. Major Powell was at 
 once set free. The conquest of deadly pestilence was 
 hardly a greater victory than that won over the heart 
 of a merciless despot. Two half-pay officers of the 
 British army, an ex-colonel of the United States service, 
 a chevalier of the Austrian Empire, and several ad- 
 venturous young men of good families in the United 
 
8 TEB STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 States formed the circle from which Miranda chose his 
 officers. Among the latter was a youth named Smith, 
 grandson of President Adams. It was rumoured that he 
 was among the prisoners taken at Caracas. The Spanish 
 minister at Washington, the Marquis de Casa Yrujo, 
 fancying that he saw a good chance of serving his 
 government, and, at the same time, getting credit for 
 an humane act, wrote to a friend of young Smith's 
 father at New York, offering to interest himself on 
 behalf of the prisoner, who otherwise would probably be 
 condemned to die with his companions. Eespect for 
 the exalted character of Mr. Adams, he said, prompted 
 this step, but he must nevertheless stipulate that Colonel 
 Smith should impart to him full and complete informa- 
 tion about the plans of Miranda, and a list of the Spanish 
 subjects who were concerned in them. The father, yet 
 ignorant of the fact that his son was not among the un- 
 fortunate prisoners, at once replied thanking the noble 
 Marquis for the interest he had shown, but adding with a 
 dignity and fortitude worthy a Eoman : " Do me the favour, 
 my friend, to inform the Marquis, that were I in my son's 
 place I would not comply with his proposals to save my 
 life; and I will not cast so great an indignity on that 
 son, my family, and myself, as to shelter him under the 
 shield of disgrace." 
 
 What sympathy, if any, was given to the undertaking 
 by the administration of President Jefferson, it is hard 
 to determine. Miranda always claimed to have been in 
 the confidence of the American Government, as he un- 
 doubtedly was in that of Great Britain. It is certain 
 that the people of the United States already looked with 
 brotherly feeUngs upon the misgoverned peoples of 
 Spanish America. Some of the leaders were tried before 
 the United States courts upon their return, but, defended 
 with burning eloquence by Thomas Addis Emmett, himself 
 an exiled patriot, they were promptly acquitted. 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 9 
 
 Failing in his attempt to free Venezuela from without, 
 Miranda returned to the country in December, 1810, and 
 was "favourably received by the semi-independent colonial 
 government. Obtaining a seat in the republican congress 
 he soon rose to the vice-presidency of that body, and 
 organized a more formidable scheme of revolution. On 
 the 5th of July, 1811, he signed the act of independence, 
 and was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces. 
 On his staff was Simon Bolivar, who was destined to 
 play a more fortunate part than that of his chief in the 
 destinies of South America. For a time Miranda was 
 successful in the field, but reverses were soon followed 
 by treachery, and when, in pursuance of the authority 
 of Congress, he signed the treaty of Victoria, restoring 
 Venezuela to Spanish rule, on July 25, 1812, he was 
 denounced as a traitor by his fellow revolutionists, 
 who, with little consistency, delivered him up to the 
 enemy in whose interest they pretended he had acted. 
 His after fate sufiiciently establishes his innocence of 
 treason to the revolutionary cause. The Spaniards sent 
 him a prisoner to Cadiz, where he lingered for four 
 years, dying in a dungeon, with a chain around his 
 neck. 
 
 Of all his deeds fame has preserved but one enduring 
 memento, his name, carved with those of the other great 
 soldiers of the Directory, on the Arc de Triomphe in 
 Paris. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 A.aron Burr — Mina's expedition and fate— The Alamo massacre — 
 Travis, Bowie, and Crockett — The tragedy of Goliad-^Houston 
 and Santa Ana — Victory of San Jacinto — The Sante Fe and 
 Mier expeditions. 
 
 WHILE Miranda's ambitious schemes were drawing 
 the notice of the State department towards the 
 seaboard, a more serious filibustering scheme was quietly 
 hatching in another quarter, in the brain of one of the 
 boldest and ablest adventurers known to American history. 
 The imperial crown of the Montezumas was the prize for 
 which an ex-vice-president of the United States risked 
 fame, fortune, everything — and lost ! The story of Aaron 
 Burr is a matter of familiar history. His demoralized 
 forces surrendered at Bayou. Pierre, on the Mississippi, 
 on January 17, 1807. Acquitted of the charge of treason, 
 for which he was tried, but condemned by the unanimous 
 opinion of his contemporaries, the sober judgment of 
 history must pause before endorsing either verdict. The 
 relations of Spain and the United States were in a 
 hopelessly tangled state. Burr proposed to settle the 
 disputed question of territorial rights by conquering the 
 whole of Spanish North America, a scheme which his 
 countrymen might not have severely rqjjuked or dis- 
 couraged ; but, unfortunately for his fame. Burr's ambition 
 was personal and selfish. He would conquer, but not for 
 his country's sake — a distinction, even then, sufficient to 
 constitute a grave offence against the sovereign people. 
 
 What are now known as the Gulf States — Florida, 
 Louisiana, and Texas — were then held under the colonial 
 
THE 8 TOBY OF TEE FILIBVSTEBS. 11 
 
 sway of Spain. The first and second became absorbed by 
 purchase. Texas, as early as 1812, had begun to invite 
 the notice of the restless filibustering element, but its 
 more immediate importance lay in its convenience as a 
 field of operations for the Mexican revolutionists. Hidalgo 
 and his compatriots unfurled the standard of independence 
 in September, 1810. Their first attempt to enhst outside 
 aid was made six months later, when Bernardo Guttierez 
 de Lara, a native Mexican, was sent as a commissioner 
 to Washington to invoke recognition for the new Eepublic. 
 His mission failing, Guttierez went to New Orleans and 
 began recruiting adventurers, with such success that he 
 was able in February, 1812, to lead a force of 450 men 
 across the border into Texas. 
 
 His success was brilliant from the outset, and, in spite 
 of some serious reverses, he succeeded in making himself 
 master of Leon and Texas. -Then came into play the 
 unfailing ally of tyranny, corruption. Alvarez de Toledo, 
 who had been appointed the successor of Guttierez as 
 commissioner to Washington, made use of his position 
 to negotiate with the Spanish minister for the betrayal 
 of his compatriot. Eeturning to Texas, he incited mutiny 
 among the troops of Guttierez, who deposed their com- 
 mander and appointed Alvarez to succeed him. Personal 
 ambition, rather than treason to his country, must have 
 been the motive influencing the latter ; for when the 
 Royalist general, Arredondo, marched with an overwhelm- 
 ing force against the patriots at San Antonio de Bexar, 
 Alvarez boldly gave him battle. Guttierez, with noble 
 patriotism, fought in the ranks of his late command and 
 did not survive the defeat. His heroic devotion was 
 imitated on the same spot by Barrett Travis, twenty-two 
 years afterwards. The defeat and death of Guttierez 
 occurred on March 15, 1814. 
 
 Among the Americans who took service under Guttierez 
 was Augustus W. Magee, of Massachusetts, who laid down 
 
12 THE STORY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 his commission as a lieutenant in the United States army 
 to join the filibusters. His fate was- peculiar. After 
 several successes he found • himself, as he supposed, so 
 beset by Governor Salcedo that he made terms for the ' 
 surrender of himself and followers and their transportation 
 to the United States. But the men boldly refused to abide 
 by the timid measures of their leader, disavowed the con- 
 tract, and actually assailed and routed the enemy, who 
 was awaiting their surrender. Magee, overcome with shame 
 at the success of those whom h.& had proved himself un- 
 worthy to lead, blew out his brains on the night of the victory. 
 
 Eeuben Kemper, of Virginia, was another of the 
 American adventurers of a widely different type. He is 
 described as a man of gigantic proportions, with a voice 
 and a heart to match his stalwart frame, and a profanity 
 that attracted attention even on that Homeric field. As 
 early as 1808 he made an attempt to capture Baton Rouge, 
 and was kidnapped for his pains by the Spaniards, who 
 would have cut short his career summarily but for the 
 intervention of the Uni-ted States commander at Points 
 Coupee. On attaining his liberty, Kemper vowed to devote 
 his life to the extirpation of Spanish rule in America. In 
 1812 he led an abortive attempt to capture Mobile, but was 
 more successful on receiving from Guttierez the command 
 of six hundred Americans with whom he gained several 
 victories. Dissensions in the patriot ranks at last sent 
 him home in disgust. He afterwards served with dis- 
 tinction under Jackson at New Orleans, and survived to 
 witness the final extinction of Spanish rule on the American 
 continent. 
 
 Another stormy petrel blown from Europe to Mexican, 
 seas was Don Francisco Javier Mina, who managed to 
 compress a world of adventure into his brief life. Born 
 at Idocin in Spain in 1789, he won fame while a mere 
 youth by leading his hardy mountaineers in many a 
 guerrilla fight against the French. In his twenty-first 
 
TEE STORY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 13 
 
 year he had gained the rank of colonel, and was on the 
 high road to preferment when the blind policy of King 
 Ferdinand drove him into rebellion, along with his uncle, 
 the brave General Espoz y Mina. A well-planned scheme 
 of revolution having failed, he fled the country and made 
 his way to England, where he was warmly welcomed. His 
 talents and courage inspired the government of that 
 country, which for reasons of its own wished to foment 
 insurrection in Spanish America, to equip him for a renewal 
 of warfare against Ferdinand on his transatlantic territory. 
 He arrived in the United States well supplied with money 
 and letters to the friends of the Mexican revolutionists, and 
 on April 15, 1817, he landed a force of 270 men from New 
 Orleans at Soto la Marina. Defeating a superior force of 
 Eoyalists in several engagements, he made a junction with 
 the revolutionary army, and speedily drove the enemy out 
 of the Northern provinces. 
 
 It was a far harder task, however, to overcome the 
 jealousy and incompetence of Torres, then in chief com- 
 mand ; and Mina, betrayed by his allies, fell into the hands 
 of Viceroy Apodaca, who had him immediately executed, 
 with twenty-five of his followers, on November 11, 1817. 
 Mina was but twenty-eight years old when he ended his 
 career, but he had given proofs of rare worth as a soldier 
 and a patriot. 
 
 Among the Americans who shared his fortunes was 
 Colonel Perry, of New Orleans. Despairing of success, 
 as soon as he discovered the worthlessness of the 
 native leaders, he abruptly withdrew from the army 
 and undertook, with only fifty followers, to cut his way 
 back to the United States by land. In this attempt they 
 partially succeeded, but were soon overtaken and sur- 
 rounded by an overwhelming force. Perry rejected all 
 demands to surrender 'until, the last of his band having 
 fallen by his side, he put a pistol to his head and blew out 
 his brains. 
 
14 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 When Mexico at last won her freedom, her most 
 northerly state, Texas, held an anomalous position. A 
 large proportion of its people was made up of Americans 
 who had borne their share in the battle for liberty. By 
 birth and associations they were more closely allied with 
 their Northern than with their Southern neighbours. 
 It did not take them long to learn that Mexico, in changing, 
 her government had not changed " her nature. The 
 intolerance of the new rulers differed little from that of 
 the old, while civil government was far less stable under 
 the Eepublic than it had been while swayed by the 
 Spaniard. 
 
 Upon the declaration of Texan independence in Sep- 
 tember, 1835, General Cos marched a large army into the 
 rebellious state, determined to drive the rash intruders out 
 of the country. In the first engagement, at Gonzales, the 
 Texans routed their foes, and General Cos was forced to 
 take refuge behind the walls of the Alamo, in San Antonio 
 de Bexar. But the Texan blood was now fairly up, and 
 General Burlison, with only 216 men, laid siege to the 
 fortress. The garrison numbered 1,700, but in spite of 
 the fearful odds, the Texans stormed the place and sent 
 General Cos under parole to his astonished brother-in-law, 
 the redoubtable Santa Ana. Colonel James Bowie, who 
 had just defeated another large Mexican force, at the 
 Mission Conception, joined Colonel Travis at the Alamo. 
 Let Bowie live in story as the inventor of the celebrated 
 " Bowie knife," though he had other and nobler claims to 
 fame. At the battle of Gonzales he broke his sword while 
 engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter; but fought 
 desperately with the broken stump, and thence, it is said 
 (having killed his man), drew the idea of the terrible blade 
 that bears his name. The story, as well as the invention, 
 may be apocryphal, but there is no doubt that Bowie was 
 one of the bravest and coolest men that ever lived,' even in 
 Texas. To the Alamo presently also came David Crockett, 
 
TEE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 15 
 
 of Tennessee, hunter, soldier. Congressman, unique in 
 history. 
 
 Colonel Barrett Travis had 144 men with him in the 
 Alamo when Santa Ana and 4,000 Mexicans sat down 
 before it, demanding an unconditional surrender on 
 February 23, 1836. Cos, heedless of his parole, was with 
 the besiegers. Travis answered with a cannon shot, and 
 the enemy hoisted the red flag, signifying " no quarter." 
 In no spirit of bravado, but with a sincerity which the 
 event only too fully confirmed, the Texan commander 
 issued the following proclamation : — 
 
 " To the People of Texas and all Americans in the World. 
 
 " COMMANDANCY OF THE AlAMO, BeXAE, 
 
 " February 24, 1836. 
 " Fellow Citizens and Compatkiots, — I am besieged 
 by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa 
 Ana. I have sustained a continual bombardment and 
 cannonade for twenty-four hours and have not lost a 
 man. The enemy have demanded a surrender at 
 discretion ; otherwise the garrison is to be put to 
 the sword if the fort is taken. I have answered the 
 summons with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves 
 proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or 
 retreat. Then I call on you in the name of liberty, 
 patriotism, and everything dear to the American character, 
 to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy ar« 
 receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase 
 to three or four thousand in four or five days. Though 
 this call may be neglected, I am determined to sustain 
 myself as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never 
 forgets what is due to his own honour and that of his 
 country. Victory or death ! 
 
 " (Signed), W. Baerett Teavis, 
 
 "Lieut.- Col. Com't." 
 
16 TEE STORY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 Houston, to whom Travis addressed an urgent call for 
 reinforcements, could do nothing. On the 3rd of March, 
 with death staring the little garrison in the face, Travis 
 sent a despatch to the Eevolutionary committee, calmly 
 stating his position, reiterating his determination never to 
 surrender, and dwelling with almost impersonal interest 
 on the beneficial effect to follow such determined resistance 
 as he and his men were making. "I will do the bestj can 
 under the circumstances," he says, " and I feel confident 
 that the determined valour and desperate courage here- 
 tofore evinced by my men will not fail them in the last 
 struggle ; and although they may be sacrificed to the 
 vengeance of a Gothic enemy, the victory will cost the 
 enemy so dear that it will be worse for him than a 
 defeat." 
 
 Day by day the toils were drawn closer around the 
 doomed walls. Day by day the little garrison was thinned 
 by wounds and sickness. Vainly they gazed northward 
 across the plain for the invoked aid. The hungry eye 
 beheld only a long train of Mexican yecruits hastening Hke 
 vultures to the feast of blood. Once they were gladdened 
 by the sight of a little band of countrymen spurring 
 towards the walls. But they were no forerunners of a 
 relieving army. Thirty-two gallant Texans threw them- 
 selves into the fort, cutting their way through the besiegers, 
 simply and solely that they might fight with their com- 
 rades ; that they might be found, living or dead, by the 
 side of David Crockett and Barrett Travis. Each morning 
 a dwindling garrison answered to the roll-call, and the thin 
 ranks were stretched a Httle wider apart along the 
 crumbling ramparts which it had needed thrice their 
 numbers to defend. They husbanded their scanty stores. 
 They never wasted a shot. During that Irng and terrible 
 fortnight it is said that nearly ten victims fell to each 
 American rifle. With a thousand of his men shot down, 
 and trembling in baffled wrath, Santa Ana on the four- 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBVSTEBS. If 
 
 teenth day, ordei;ed another general assault. His officers 
 drove their men to the breach at the sword's point. 
 
 When the smoke of battle had rolled away there was 
 silence in the Alamo. The dead and dying strewed the 
 ground. Santa Ana entered the fort. On the rampart, 
 dead at liis post, lay the commander, Travis, shot through 
 the head. Beside him was the body of a Mexican officer, 
 pierced to the heart by the sword still clutched in the dead 
 hero's hand. They found Bowie in his own room. He 
 was sick in bed when they broke into it, but his trusty 
 rifle was with him, and four Mexicans died before he was 
 reached. A fifth fell across his dead body, pierced through 
 and through by the terrible knife. At the door of the 
 magazine they shot Evans, ere he could touch a match 
 and wreak a Samson vengeance on the foe. 
 
 Santa Ana stepped into the court-yard. There were six 
 
 \ prisoners. His orders were that none should be taken. 
 
 ' Nevertheless, David Crockett and five others had stoutly 
 resisted, until his clubbed rifle broken in his sinewy hands, 
 the dauntless backwoodsman listened to the promise of 
 quarter. Santa Ana paused a moment before his un- 
 moved captives. It was but for a moment. The next his 
 hand sought the hilt of his sword. Crockett, divining his 
 purpose, sprang at the traitor, but he was too late ; a 
 dozen blades had flashed at the sign and the hapless 
 prisoners fell dead, the last of all the garrison. 
 
 These men of the Alamo were volunteers, simple 
 citizens, bound by no tie save that of fealty to cause and 
 comrades. Unsung of poet, all but unnamed in history, 
 the brave men of the Alamo went to their certain death, 
 with a sublime fortitude, beside which the obedient immo- 
 lation of Balaklava's Six Hundred is but the triumph of 
 disciplined machines. A monument raised to their memory 
 bears the magnificent inscription : — 
 
 "Thermopylse had its messenger of defeat; the Alamo had none." 
 
 3 
 
18 THE STOBY OF THB FlLlBtlSTEBS. 
 
 It needs more than judicial impartiality to question the 
 right of the Texan revolution while telling the story of the 
 Alamo. Right and wrong are barred from consideration 
 in recalling the tragedy of Goliad. Colonel Fannin and 
 330 of his men, who had surrendered to Santa Ana as 
 prisoners of war, under a solemn promise that they should 
 be returned to the United States, were marched out of the 
 fort, on the morning of Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, 
 and, without a moment's warning, fired upon and mur- 
 dered in cold blood. The outlaws to whom this fearful 
 penalty was dealt out, without even the mockery of a 
 Spanish trial, were all young men or lads, " the oldest 
 not over thirty years of age." The world, freely as its 
 soil is saturated with human blood, stood sCghast at this 
 horrible slaughter. Texas trembled at the Mexican's 
 vengeance. Houston alone, husbanding his scanty means, 
 animating his raw levies, working, planning, providing for 
 all, laid his trap with such shrewd forethought, that in less 
 than two months he had sprung it upon Santa Ana and 
 all his army, and on the banks of the San Jacinto, 
 dictated terms of peace to his captive, the butcher of the 
 Alamo and Goliad. The victory was unstained by a 
 single act of revenge. Thenceforth the world knew that 
 Texas was free. The men who could use success with 
 such forbearance were men worthy of self-government. 
 
 Texas striving for independence was to the nations of 
 the world an object of keener interest than Texas, sending 
 her heroic filibusters to nameless graves. Lord Palmer- 
 ston, anticipating with literal exactness the policy of a 
 later administration dealing with Central America, 
 threatened to send a ship of war to Texas "to demand 
 payment of certain claims against the republic." The 
 United States, with a similar foreshadowing of its future 
 policy, at once took measures to insure the independence 
 of Texas against all European meddlers. As usual, the 
 people were in advance of their government, and Texas 
 
THE STORY Off THM FlLIBVSTEBS. 19 
 
 became a state of the American union, Mexico's attempt 
 to hold it costing her the fairest part of her domain. 
 
 Before this happy end was reached, more than one 
 bloody tragedy had been added to the gloomy history of 
 Texas. In June, 1841, General McLeod led from Austin 
 a party of 320 men, bound for Santa Fe, New Mexico, 
 upon the ostensibly peaceful mission of opening up trade 
 with that place. His real aim was to foment insurrection 
 against the Mexican Government and annex the territory 
 to Texas. After a long and painful journey through woods 
 and desert, being attacked by Indians, and lost on the 
 then mysterious waste of the " Llanos Estacados," the 
 expedition reached the frontier in scattered parties which 
 were promptly captured by Governor Armijo. It was not, 
 however, until after they had given up their arms, under 
 the false representations of a traitorous comrade and the 
 promise of friendly treatment from Armijo, that they 
 found out how grievous had been their error in trusting 
 to the word of the Mexican. The whole party, with the 
 exception of three or four who had been put to death in 
 pure wantonness, were sent under a strong guard to the 
 city of Mexico, making the long and painful journey on 
 foot, exposed to the grossest outrages from their brutal 
 guard. Many died on the way, and the survivors were 
 .thrown into prison, where they lingered for months, until 
 ■the miserable remnant were at last set free at the motion 
 of the British and American ministers. 
 
 Liberty was granted at the same time to the survivors 
 of the Mier Expedition — an ill-starred band who, in 
 December, 1842, had crossed the Eio Grande in pursuit of 
 Mexican raiders. Colonel William Fisher headed the 
 party, numbering about five hundred, their general, 
 Somerville, having declined to lead them over the border. 
 At the town of Mier they met and repulsed over two 
 thousand Mexicans under General Ampudia, but their 
 leader was wounded in the fight, and, against the protests 
 
20 THE 8T0BY OF TUB FILIBVBTEBS. 
 
 of his chief officers, agreed to a conditional surrender. 
 The terms, of course, were broken by the victor, and the 
 unfortunate prisoners were hurried into the interior and 
 buried in dungeons with the lowest convicts. Captain 
 Ewin Cameron, one of the boldest in the band, foreseeing 
 the fate before them, organized an attack on the guard 
 before reaching their prison. They overpowered their 
 armed escort, and made their way to the mountains, 
 whence a few managed to reach Texas, but the greater 
 part were recaptured, including their courageous leader. 
 Santa Ana ordered them to be decimated. Cameron was 
 lucky enough to draw a white bean in the fatal lottery, but 
 it did not avail him . He was shot the next day. Few men 
 would be found willing to increase the risks against them 
 in such a terrible game of hazard ; but there was one, a 
 youth named George Bibb Crittenden, who, drawing a 
 'white bean, gave it to a comrade, with the self 'Sacrificing 
 words, "You have a wife and children; I haven't, and I 
 can afford to risk another chance." He did so, and fortu- 
 nately again drew a safe lot. Crittenden survived to par- 
 ticipate gallantly in the Mexican War, and attained the 
 rank of brigadier-general on the Southern side in the Civil 
 War. He was a son of the Kentucky statesman, John J. 
 Crittenden. 
 
 The prisoners were scattered amongst various strong- 
 holds, where many sank under disease, starvation, and 
 cruelty. The survivors when freed were turned adrift, 
 penniless, to make the best of their way home to the 
 United States. General Thomas J. Green was one of 
 those who escaped by tunnelling the walls of the castle 
 of Perote ; the story of which exploit, with his subsequent 
 adventures, he has told in a book little known but of vast 
 interest. 
 
 It needs a Scott to tell to the world the story of our 
 border romance, though no fiction ever surpassed the 
 thrilling facts which were then of almost daily occurrence. 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS, 21 
 
 Fame is a curious gift of the gods. Colonel Crockett, the 
 daring soldier, is all but forgotten, while the -whimsical, 
 semi-fabulous " Davy " Crockett, hero of a hundred wild 
 stories, seems likely to live for ever. Pew remember how 
 heroically he " went ahead," to the last extremity, after 
 first making sure of what was " right " and fit in a patriot. 
 Knightly scutcheon never bore a nobler device than that of 
 the simple backwoodsman,' nor lived there ever a preux 
 chevalier who set a higher value upon his plighted word. 
 
 There were brave men, too, before Agamemnon. Mexier 
 and Perry and Nolan, names well known on the border, 
 lived and fought, and died, alas, in vain, before the adopted 
 son of an Indian, sturdy Sam Houston, crowiied the long 
 struggle with victory. Filibusters all, if you will, but 
 every one a man, in an age when manliness is none too 
 highly prized, and a country which is belied as the choseri 
 home of dollars worshippers merely. 
 
CHAPTER III.. 
 
 The Lopea Expedition— Landing at CardenaB^Piekett's Fight — A^n 
 Exciting Chase — Last Expedition — Execution of Lopez 9,nd 
 Crittenden. 
 
 FILIBUSTEEI8M under that name, however, was un- 
 known to the people of the United States, until the 
 famous descents of Lopez upon Cuba in 1850 and 1851. 
 Narciso Lopez was a countryman of Miranda, and, like 
 him, an officer in the Spanish service. Born at Caracas in 
 1799, he entered the royal army at an early age, attained 
 the rank of colonel in his twenty-first year, and distin- 
 guished himself so well in the first Carhst war that he was 
 promoted to the rank of major-general, and made Governor 
 of Valencia, He went • to Cuba in 1843 with Governor- 
 General Valdes, who took him into high favour, and loaded 
 him with honours. But O'Donnell, the successor of Valdes, 
 did not continue the vice-regal favours, and Lopez conse^ 
 quently retired to private life, and ere long was discovered 
 to be conspiring against the Government. He fled to the 
 United States, where he found hundreds of adventurous 
 spirits ready and eager for any undertaking that bade fair 
 to be spiced with danger. 
 
 His first attempt at invasion, in August, 1849, was 
 checked at the outset-by President Taylor, whose marshals 
 captured the whole expedition as it was on the point of 
 departure from New York. Nothing daunted by this mis- 
 hap, Lopez travelled throughout the Southern and South- 
 western States, secretly enlisting men and making pro- 
 vision for their transportation to Cuba, At New-Qrlean 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 28 
 
 he chartered a steamer and two barks and assembled his 
 forces. Prom the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi and 
 the Gulf States they came, a hardy band of adventurers, 
 three-fourths of whom had served -in the Mexican War, 
 the officers being men of known courage and ability. 
 Colonel Theodore O'Hara commanded the first detach- 
 ment, numbering 250, which sailed on the bark Georgiana, 
 on the 25th of April, 1850, under orders to rendez- 
 vous at the island of Mujeres. Their colonel had won an 
 honourable fame in the Mexican War and was not without 
 greater distinction in the world of letters. He wrote the 
 "Bivouac of the Dead,"- a lyric which will live at least as 
 long as the memory of those whom it celebrated. Three 
 weeks after their departure they were joined at the island 
 of Contoy (for the Georgiana had not been able to make 
 the rendezvous) by the steamer Creole, carrying Lopez and 
 his fortunes and 450 followers. The whole command was 
 then transferred to the Creole and sailed away for the 
 shores of Cuba. 
 
 The little army was reviewed by their general, who made 
 them a stirring harangue in Spanish (for he did not speak 
 the tongue of his motley followers) promising them the 
 co-operation of the Cubans the moment they should unfurl 
 the Lone Star flag on the island, and the undying gratitude 
 of a liberated people. More substantial rewards were also 
 held out, in a bounty of four thousand dollars to every 
 private soldier at the end of the first year's service, or 
 sooner if the revolution should succeed within that time. 
 In the meanwhile they were to receive the same pay, 
 according to rank, as that of the army of the United 
 States. It is not extravagant to say that hardly a man in 
 the expedition gave a second thought to the money advan- 
 tages contingent on success. The reckless dare-devils were 
 content to enjoy a vagabond campaign seasoned with danger 
 and hard fighting, while those of higher aims thirsted for 
 the fa^nie of Liberators. Among the men of education and 
 
24 TBE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBU8TBBS. 
 
 lofty sentiments were Colonels O'Hara and John T. Pickett; 
 the latter a bold and fertile'organizer, who enjoyed the 
 distinction of having a reward of 25,000 dollars offered 
 for his head by the Captain-General of Cuba. The 
 Adjutant-General, Gonzales, was a native Cuban, who had 
 forsaken a promising career in the university to join the 
 revolutionists. Many there were, too, of whom we shall 
 hear again in Central America — Wheat, Titus, Kewen, 
 Allen, and others. 
 
 Matanzas had been chosen as the first point of attack, 
 but as they rightly judged that the Spaniards had been 
 advised of their movements, it was decided to land at 
 Cardenag, whither the Creole's bow was pointed, every eye 
 turning to catch the first sight of the promised land. 
 They entered the harbour about midtiight, unchallenged 
 by the over-confident enemy. So little were they expected 
 by the good people of Cardenas, that not a boatman nor 
 wharf watchman could be seen to take a line ashore, and 
 the steamer lay a few '.yards from the pier until the first 
 officer, Fayssoux, leaped overboard with a rope between his 
 teeth and made her fast. 
 
 Pickett, upon landing, marched rapidly with fifty men 
 of the Kentucky battalion through the city and seized the 
 station of the railroad which connected Cardenas and 
 Matanzas. The main body, consisting of four companies, 
 formed upon the pier and marched towards the plaza, 
 intending to surprise the garrison. Before reaching the 
 plaza they were challenged and. fired upon by a patrol. 
 Instantly the alarm was sounded in the garrison, and 
 volleys of musketry began to play about the ears of the 
 invaders. Colonel O'Hara was wounded at the first 
 discharge, but his men fought with cool bravery under the 
 ' leadership of Lopez, who was constantly in the foremost 
 rank, seeking to make himself known to the defenders. 
 He was sure that upon recognizing him they would at 
 ppce fraternize with the invaders. But the gai^rison mad? 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 25 
 
 a stubborn resistance until their quarters were carried by 
 assault, when they threw down their arms and shouted 
 " Vivas ! " for Lopez and Liberty. The governor, whose 
 house was opposite the barracks, held out until it was in 
 flames, when he surrendered, and the filibusters, after a 
 three hours' battle, had won Cardenas. 
 
 Now was the time for the legions of revolutionists to fall 
 in beside their liberators, and Lopez issued a strong appeal 
 for volunteers. Not one native responded ! Whether from 
 apathy or cowardice, they showed no desire to risk their 
 lives in the cause of liberty. The situation was becoming 
 grave. Already the alarm had gone forth and the lancers 
 of the enemy were beginning to appear in formidable 
 numbers in the streets. Lopez saw that the capture of 
 Cardenas was a barren victory. To carry out his intention 
 of proceeding by rail to Matanzas in the face of the whole 
 Spanish army, and without a single native adherent to 
 welcome his appearance, would have been madness. 
 Eeluctantly he gave orders to embark, and recalled the 
 detachment which had been guarding the railroad. The 
 enemy seeing them retreat grew bolder, and made several 
 determined efforts to prevent the embarkation, but the 
 filibusters threw up a barricade of empty hogsheads and 
 easily repelled the attack. After a final attempt to cut off 
 the detachment from the railroad, in which Pickett drove 
 them back with heavy loss, they offered no further opposi- 
 tion to the retreat. Cardenas had been won and lost within 
 twelve hours. The Creole steamed out of the harbour at 
 nine o'clock in the evening, but stuck fast on a sand-bank 
 and lay there for five hours, until sufficiently lightened of 
 her cargo to float again. 
 
 A council of war was held, and it was declared that no 
 further attempts at a landing on the island were practic- 
 able, owing to the indecision of the native population. 
 Lopez strove in vain to gainsay this determination, and 
 even begged to be put ashore alone, or with the thirty 
 
26 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 
 
 Spanish soldiers who had just joined his cause. His mad 
 request being refused he resigned command, and the 
 steamer was headed for Key West, coming to anchor at 
 nightfall within forty miles of that port. 
 
 In the meantime, the authorities of Cuba had despatched 
 a war steamer in search of the filibusters, and offered a 
 reward of 50,000 dollars for the capture of Lopez. The 
 Pizarro sped into Key West while the Creole was lying 
 at anchor, and set out again in quest of her at daybreak. 
 The people of the town were apprised of her mission and 
 thronged the piers and hills to behold the issue. Soon 
 they descried on the horizon the smoke of a steamer, 
 which, as it drew near, was recognized as the Creole. Not 
 far in her wake they also saw the huge Pizarro throwing 
 out volumes of smoke and rapidly closing with her prey. 
 As the pursued steamer approached the coast it was seen 
 that her fuel was giving out, while the Pizarro was crowd- 
 ing on every pound of steam that her boilers could carry. 
 A few minutes more and the guns of the Spaniard would 
 have opened upon the devoted vessel^ but at the critical 
 moment the funnel of the Creole began to belch forth 
 clouds of smoke and hex wheels to revolve, as the wheels 
 of a steamboat can when her Mississippi river captain 
 begins to levy contributions on his cargo. The filibusters 
 rolled barrels of bacon into the furnace-room, tore up the 
 dry wood-work of the boat, and pulled the red shirts off 
 their backs to feed the flames. Be-tter a magnificent 
 explosion and sudden death than capture and torture by 
 the merciless Spaniard. The device succeeded. The 
 Creole gallantly rounded the point, a few hundred yards 
 ahead of her pursuer, and dropped anchor under the guns 
 of Key West as the Pizarro, without even saluting the fort, 
 came ploughing behind her and halted a few rods away, with 
 port-holes open and broadsides grinning like the fangs of a 
 bloodhound baulked of his prey. Her gunners stood by 
 their pieces, ma,tch in hand, and reader at a word to blow 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBVSTEBS. 27 
 
 the Creole to destruction. For a time it looted as though 
 the word would be spoken ; but, if such was the Spaniard's 
 desire, he prudently forbore its gratification when he saw 
 the United States officers take possession of the steamer, 
 and a grim-looking array of filibusters swarm in the em- 
 brasures of the fort and sight the huge guns which were 
 trained upon his deck. 
 
 Lopez and his followers made the best of their way from 
 Key West ; they to their homes and he to the custody of a 
 United States marshal. The expedition had suffered a loss 
 of fourteen killed and thirty wounded.. Among the killed 
 was their chaplain ! The list of the enemy's loss was not 
 officially published, but is supposed to have reached a 
 hundred killed and as many wounded. Lopez was tried for 
 his violation of the neutrality laws, but escaped conviction, 
 and immediately set about preparing another- expedition. 
 His faith in the devotion of his American friends was better 
 founded than the reliance which he placed on the promises 
 of his native adherents. 
 
 In the following year, Aug. 12, 1851, he landed a force 
 of 450 men at Bahia Honda, with the greater part of 
 which he marched into the country, where he had been led 
 to expect a general uprising the moment he should appear 
 among the Creoles. Colonel W. S. Crittenden, a brave 
 young soldier of the Mexican War, remained with the 
 smaller body, awaiting reinforcements. But Lopez, as 
 usual, ha^ misjudged the spirit of his countrymen, who 
 were not yet ripe for revolt. With his little band of 323 
 men he repulsed 1300 of the enemy, killing their general, 
 Enna ; but being forced to retreat into the interior, his 
 forces dwindled away and the leader was at last captured 
 and carried in chains to Havana. Fifty of his followers 
 were shot at once. Lopez was strangled by the garrote on 
 Sept. 1st. It pleased his enemies to add this pang of an 
 ignominous death. The old hero met it without flinching. 
 Spain had honoured him for facing death upon many a 
 
28 TUB STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTBBS. 
 
 bloody field, and she could not dishonour him while dying 
 for the adopted country which was not worthy of his love. 
 
 Meanwhile Crittenden and his detachment had been cap- 
 tured at sea and conveyed to Havana, where they were 
 allowed the merest mockery of a trial. But one verdict was 
 possible, where sentence had been already passed. Only a 
 few hours elapsed between the trial and execution. The 
 crowds of Havanese who flocked to the show, as to a 
 national bull-baiting, saw them die with stoical fortitude. 
 They saw Crittenden, with but twenty-eight years of life 
 behind him, stand and face death with unflinching mien. 
 They bade him kneel in the customary attitude, with his 
 back to the firing party. " An American kneels only to his 
 God," he answered, and so met his death. 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Count Eaoussett-Boulbon — A father " de la vieille roche " — 
 Baoussett'a contract to garrison Sonora — Proclamations and 
 pronunciamientos — Battle of Hermosillo — Negotiations with 
 Santa Ana^Expedition to G-uaymas — Engagement and defeat^ 
 Last words of a noble adventurer — Death of the Count. 
 
 TO Mexico the gift of liberty was as the boon of eternal 
 life to the wandering Jew. Freed from the exactions 
 of a despotic master, absolved by the bounty of nature 
 from the stern, ceaseless struggle for physical life, stirred 
 no longer by the warlike spirit of the conquerors, the Latin 
 races in America seemed for a time to have fallen into a 
 condition of hopeless lethargy. To those causes of decay 
 must furthermore be added the amalgamation with inferior 
 races. The Spaniard married with the Indian, the Indian 
 with the Negro, the offspring of the hybrids intermarrying 
 and each cross begetting a lower type, with all of the vices 
 and few of the virtues of either parent. 
 
 To redeem this fair land, with its boundless mineral and 
 agricultural wealth, from the hands of its slothful owners, 
 was a dream which fired the ambition and, it may be added, 
 the cupidity of many daring minds. With the decline and 
 final overthrow of Spanish power the richest mines of 
 Northern Mexico were abandoned for lack of strength to 
 repel the never-subdued and ever-hostile Indian tribes. 
 Mexico was weak, torn by strife, and disorganized. In her 
 feeble hands the mines of Sonora and Arizona were literally 
 " treasure hoarded in the ground." 
 
 There was in California, in 1852, a man of high birth 
 and humble calling, a day labourer, with the proudest 
 French ancestral blood in his veins— 'a soldier of Algiers, 
 
30 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 a count by birth and rank. Kaousset-Boulbon, or, to give 
 him his full name and title, Count Gaston Eaoulx de 
 Baousset-Boulbon, was a prodigal. He had squandered his 
 substance in the riotous living of Paris and come to the 
 land of gold to mend his fortunes. Unhappily for his 
 peaceful aspirations, California, in 1862, offered a poor 
 field to the man whose only gifts were education, the use of 
 arms, nobility of soul, and a patrician title. Such endow- 
 ments were neither rare nor deemed precious in that 
 primitive community. The poet has sung, and- the novelist 
 painted, the wild contrasts of that marvellous period, but no 
 flight of fancy could exaggerate the picture. San Francisco, 
 the seaport, was a truly cosmopolitan city. There were two 
 French newspapers published daily, so great were the 
 attractions of El Dorado to the rarely migrating Gaul. 
 Among the hundreds of his countrymen who, like himself, 
 had failed to find a fortune in the golden state, Gaston 
 judged that he might easily enroll a band of adven- 
 turers for any bold undertaking. He was not mistaken 
 when the occasion offered itself. In the indescribable 
 human medley of California the Count Eaousset-Boulbon 
 cannot be said to have been out of place. Nobody, nothing 
 was that. He was discontented with a career hitherto 
 fruitful only in misfortune. 
 
 He was the son of an emigre of the old stamp, a self- 
 \villed, fantastic old man, who carried the sternest rules of 
 obedience into the most trifling domestic affairs, and might 
 have adopted the motto, "L'etat, c'est moi." His scheme 
 of government may be inferred from a brief anecdote 
 recounted by the biographer of Gaston. The latter, 
 returning from Paris, appeared at home with two things 
 distasteful to his sire — a beard and a cigar. " Madam," 
 said the father to his wife, the stepmother of Gaston, " it 
 would give me pain to argue with my son, and I could not 
 • brook opposition. The cigar I can overlook ; but pray tell 
 him that it pleases me not to see one of his age wear a 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 31 
 
 beard like a 'moujik,' and that 1 shall be obliged to 
 request its sacrifice." Gaston grudgingly obeyed the royal 
 edict, for which he was formally thanked. Some days 
 after the sire spoke again, " Madam, I authorize you to 
 say to my son that he may let his beard grow again. Upon 
 second thoughts I do not find it unbecoming." Compliance 
 followed as before ; but the tardy efforts of nature did not 
 satisfy the old count, who gravely decided that "a beard 
 does not become Gaston. Madam, I beg you to tell him 
 once more that he must shave." Gaston, instead of 
 - obeying, packed his portmanteau and fled to Paris, and was 
 forthwith disowned by his irate parent. 
 
 His life in Paris was that of a Bohemian, until the death 
 of his father, in 1845, enabled him to carry out a dear 
 ambition, that of founding a colony in Algiers; but the 
 revolution of 1848. recalled him to France and to a poHtical 
 career. He conducted a newspaper, La Liberie, and was 
 twice elected to the Assembly. Beaten in a third candi- 
 dacy he forsook politics in disgust, and turned his eyes 
 towards California. Paris in 1850 counted as many as 
 twenty Californian societies for organized emigration. 
 Gaston, restless, weary, and yet fired with the longing for 
 some great deed, was almost penniless when, in his thirty- 
 second year, he took a third-class passage for California, 
 along with a dozen compatriots of various ranks. 
 
 Beaching the wondrous city, which his biographer aptly 
 calls "the modern Babel, with the confusion of tongues," 
 Gaston, with a manliness little to be expected in one of 
 his training, betook himself to the stern duty of earning a 
 livelihood by hard labour. He tried fishing, which barely 
 earned him bread. As a lighterman he did better, until 
 the building of a wharf ruined his business. A speculative 
 enterprise for importing cattle from Lower California 
 proved "more" picturesque than profitable." At this junc- 
 ture when, in his own words, " a gendarme would have 
 charged on me at full gallop," so wretched was his appear- 
 
32 THE STOBT OF THE FiLIBUSTEBS. 
 
 ance, his friend, .M. Dillon, the French Consul at Ban 
 Francisco, procured him letters of introduction to Senor 
 Arista, President of Mexicfl, and Gaston repaired to the 
 capital of that country, full of enthusiasm. The banking- 
 house of Jecker, Torre and Co. acting as agents of the 
 Government, signed a contract with Gaston, whereby the 
 latter pledged himself to land at Guaymas, in Lower ^ 
 California, a company of five hundred French immigrants, 
 armed and equipped for military duty, ostensibly and im- 
 mediately for the protection of the Eestauradora Mining 
 Company against the incursions of the Arizona Indians, 
 but really intended to serve as the nucleus of an extensive 
 French colony, to be used as a barrier against the supposed 
 encroachments of their American neighbours. Already the 
 expansion of the United States in the direction of Mexico 
 and the Pacific coast had aroused the jealousy of Europe. 
 There is no doubt that Gaston's scheme for the protection 
 of Mexico, befriended as it was by the representative of 
 France in California and the French minister in Mexico, 
 M. Levasseur, was not without substantial aid from the 
 home government. The banker Jecker played a leading 
 part, years afterwards, in the ill-starred attempt of Napo- 
 leon III. to found an empire in Mexico. 
 
 As a present reward for his services in protecting the 
 Arizona mines, Gaston was to have a share in all their 
 profits. He was yet to learn, as the royal Maximilian did 
 later, that a bargain needs more than - two parties to 
 ensure its fulfilment, in Mexico. Arista was President of 
 Mexico, but Governor Blanco ruled in Arizona. Arizona 
 is a state of boundless mineral wealth, and little else. 
 " Euins of houses, ruins of churches, ruins of towns, andj 
 above all, ruins of crouching men and of weeping women," 
 is Gaston's graphic summary of Sonora and Arizona as 
 he found them in 1852. Two hundred aiid sixty gallant 
 Frenchmen landed at Guaymas on the 1st of June, and 
 were warmly hailed as deliverers by the fickle popu- 
 
THE stohy op the FILIBUSTEHS. 3S 
 
 lace. Governor Blanco, however, showed himself strangely 
 lukewarm towards his new allies, whom he peremptorily 
 forbade to leave- Guaymas. The reason of his opposition 
 was simple. He was interested in a rival company to the 
 Eestauradora. Vexatious delays followed. The recruits 
 lost heart and hope. Gaston, chafing at the delay, had 
 gone forward to Hermosillo, whither he brought his 
 followers, after vainly awaiting the governor's leave to 
 set out for Arizona. Blanco thereupon decided to offer 
 these alternatives : " The Frenchmen shall renounce their 
 nationality, or I shall compel them to leave the coun- 
 try." Gaston protested vainly in a letter to the French 
 minister, and kept on his march to Arispe. He wrote 
 also to Governor Blanco, who temporized and offered 
 new conditions, denationalization of the company, their 
 reduction to a maximum force of fifty, or a guaranty that 
 they should not violate an ancient Mexican law forbidding 
 foreigners to own real estate, mines, or other such property. 
 These propositions were laid before the company by Gaston, 
 who, at the same time, offered the means of departure to 
 any who wished to avail themselves of them. Not a man 
 was found willing to accept the opportunity. Gaston then, 
 in a firm but temperate note, declined to accede to Blanco's 
 terms, claiming for himself and his followers the fulfilment 
 of their contract with the government of Mexico. Blanco 
 threatened to treat the strangers as pirates and outlaws. 
 To some of them he made secret offers of rich rewards if 
 they would betray their comrades. 
 
 In these straits, harassed also by the savage Apaches, 
 Gaston took up the line of march back to Hermosillo. On 
 the 30th of September they encamped at the pueblo of La 
 Madelaine. Here, as elsewhere in Mexico, the national 
 gallantry of the adventurers, "half-heroes, half-bandits," 
 as they were, won them immense favour with the fair 
 Sonoriennes, though it is doubtful if the latter's graver 
 brethren took so kind a view of "fenetres escaladees, des 
 
 4 
 
84 fni! StOBT OP THJE FtLlSjJSTPBS. 
 
 maris infortunes, des duels, des processions, des bats, des 
 representations theatrales," and the other exploits faithfully 
 chronicled by the light-hearted chief. 
 
 A sterner welcome met them in another summons from 
 Blanco: "Surrender your arms, or prepare to be treated 
 as outlaws." Gaston, feeling that either choice promised 
 little of mercy, proceeded to force the issue at once by 
 hastening his march upon Hermosillo. By striking there 
 a decisive blow he expected to rally around his standard 
 the always numerous body of disaffected citizens, and so 
 prepare the way for the independence of Sonora. De- 
 spatching an emissary to California for recruits, he set 
 out, on the 6th of October, by the southerly road for 
 Hermosillo. Fifty leagues from that city Blanco lay at 
 Arispe, uncertain of his enemy's plans. Gaston's force 
 numbered two hundred and fifty-three men, including 
 forty-two horsemen and twenty-six marine veterans de- 
 tailed to serve the four small cannon of the little army. 
 Among them were many old soldiers of Africa and barri- 
 cade veterans of Paris. Four or five months of sojourn in 
 the Arizona deserts had not improved their looks. But 
 with a good-natured patience truly French they made light 
 of their troubles, jested at their sorry attire, and when 
 their boots gave out made sandals of hides, or trudged 
 along barefoot. In such guise and manner they marched 
 to Hermosillo, but a few hours too late, for Blanco had 
 distanced them by forced journeys, and thrown a body of 
 twelve hundred men into the town. Gaston, without wait- 
 ing to rest his weary followers, gave orders to attack. In 
 less than an hour he was master of the place, and General 
 Blanco was flying with the remnant of his command to 
 Ures. Yet the latter could better spare his two hundred 
 killed and wounded than the little band of adventurers 
 could afford their loss of forty-two. To the filibuster there 
 are no reserves. 
 
 But a greater calamity awaited the expedition. Gaston 
 
THE STOitY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 35 
 
 was stricken down with sickness in the hour of victory, 
 and, feeling the insecurity of his position, gave reluctant 
 orders to march to Guaymas. His malady, dysentery, 
 grew worse as they advanced. Within three leagues of 
 Guaymas they halted at the rancho Jesus Maria. Envoys 
 from Blanco met them there and treated for a parley be- 
 tween the two commanders, of which nothing came but a 
 short-lived truce. That evening Gaston was delirious, nor 
 were suspicions of poison wanting. The French camp 
 became panic-stricken, so that M. Calvo, Vice-Consul of 
 France at Guaymas, and himself a partner in Blanco's 
 rival mining company, easily persuaded the subordinates 
 to sign a treaty resigning the contract and agreeing to 
 leave the country. Gaston awoke from a three-weeks' 
 stupor to find himself without an army. He was permitted 
 to leave the country, and returned to San Francisco with 
 his ambition only whetted by his late trials. 
 
 There was to be no mistaking the nature of his future 
 operations. The next expedition should be made up solely 
 of Frenchmen and soldiers, its avowed end the indepen- 
 dence of Sonora. " These men shall be fully warned that 
 they go to Sonora to fight ; that their fortunes rest on the 
 points of their bayonets ; that if they be conquered they 
 shall infallibly perish as pirates ; that it is for them a 
 matter of victory or death." 
 
 His friend. President Arista, had resigned his office, in 
 the face of civil war, on the 6th of January, 1853. Mexico 
 was in worse than its normal state of anarchy. A dictator- 
 ship was proclaimed, and Santa Ana recalled to govern 
 the wretched country. One of his first acts was to send 
 for De Boulbon, who, upon promise of a safe conduct, 
 visited the capital. 
 
 The interview was dramatic between the old, crafty, and 
 cold-blooded butcher of the Alamo, and the young, romantic, 
 hot-headed conqueror of Hermosillo. The latter was in the 
 prime of manhood, of medium size, well-proportioned and 
 
36 TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBU3TEBS. 
 
 graceful, erect, broad-browed, witb open, fraak eyes, and 
 fair hair and beard. Santa Ana, versed in the thousand 
 wiles of Mexican diplomacy, and rightly appreciating the 
 skilled courage of his guest, would have enlisted his talents 
 in the dictator's personal service. Gaston steadily besought 
 a confirmation of the original contract. Four months were 
 spent with all the tardiness of Spanish negotiation in 
 realizing that object. At last a treaty was prepared, bind- 
 ing the Count to garrison Arizona with five hundred French 
 soldiers, who were to receive a total compensation of 
 90,000 francs, the Government advancing 250,000 francs 
 for outfit and other expenses. The treaty was solemnly 
 signed, attested, and annulled within a fortnight ! Gaston 
 was furious. The dictator blandly repeated his offer of a 
 regiment and personal service at the capital, an offer which 
 the Count spurned as an insult. " You offer me," he said, 
 " a favour that is personal, when I ask for justice to myself 
 and my brave men. Should I accept, what would be your 
 opinion of me ? what the opinion of those whom I should 
 command ? General, I have the honour to be a French- 
 man. When I pledge my word I keep it." So the two 
 adventurers parted in the halls of Montezuma. 
 
 Gaston, burning with indignation, easily fell into sym- 
 pathy with some of the ever-ready malcontents plotting 
 against the new government. The plot was found out, but 
 Gaston received warning in time to put fifty miles of hard 
 riding between -him and the fatal anger of Santa Ana. 
 
 He returned to San Francisco, his old sense of wrong 
 aggravated by this new grievance. With singular incon- 
 sistency we find him writing to a correspondent in France, 
 in bitter complaint of the apathy shown towards his scheme 
 by the "intelligent and rich" Americans, at the same time 
 that he warns his compatriots against the designs of the 
 United States on the territory 'of Mexico and the world at 
 large. His gloomy forebodings must awaken a smile, in 
 view of the actual results, yet they speak a sen iment 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 87 
 
 which was powerful enough, ten years later, to work out 
 the imperial tragedy of Maximilian. 
 
 " Europeans," he says, " are disturbed by the growth 
 of the United States, and rightly so. Unless she be dis- 
 membered, unless a powerful rival be built up beside her, 
 America will become, through her commerce, her trade, 
 her population, her geographical position upon two oceans, 
 the inevitable mistress of the world. In ten years Europe 
 dare not fire a shot without her permission. As I write, 
 fifty Americans prepare to sail for Lower California, and 
 go perhaps to victory. Voila les Etats-Unis ! " 
 
 On the 2nd of April, 1854, three hundred French military 
 colonists sailed from San Francisco, upon a formal invita- 
 tion from the Mexican consul, to perform the duty formerly 
 allotted to De Boulbon ; the latter had been declared an 
 outlaw by the Government. Nevertheless he resolved to 
 hazard a descent upon Arizona, counting on the fidelity 
 of those colonists and the moral support of the French 
 Government, still uneasy over the ambitious designs of the 
 United States. On the 24th of May he sailed from San 
 Francisco on the little schooner Belle. His departure was 
 hurried, as the United States authorities, warned of his 
 purpose, had taken steps for his arrest and detention. In 
 his haste he was forced to leave behind a small battery 
 which he had bought for the expedition. The captain of 
 the Belle, an American, hesitated to put to sea, but Gaston 
 (so says his biographer) promptly put him in irons and 
 took command of the vessel himself. His avowed object was 
 the carrying out of the original contract of 1852, namely, 
 the protection of the_ mines of Arizona ; but Arizona had 
 meanwhile become American territory, under the Gadsden 
 treaty of 1853. Hence the present attempt of Gaston was 
 filibustering, pure and simple, if not something worse. 
 
 The voyage was long and tedious, lasting thirty-five 
 days. On the 27th of June they came in sight of Guaymas. 
 Landing at Cape San Jose, he sent two of his men to the 
 
88 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS.. 
 
 city to prepare the three hundred Frenchmen there for his 
 coming, and to concert a plan of action. The envoys were 
 recognized and thrown into prison by General Yanes, who 
 had succeeded Blanco in the governorship of Sonora. An 
 amicable but fruitless parley followed between the com- 
 mandant and Gaston. They arranged a sort of armed 
 truce, which lasted until the 8th of July; but it needed 
 only a small spark to explode magazines of such fiery 
 material as formed the two rival garrisons of Guaymas. 
 The French company, overweening, vain, and quick- 
 tempered, met and jostled the dark-browed peons, jealous, 
 revengeful, and. proud. Both were armed, both quarrel- 
 some as gamecocks. The French put faith in their national 
 valour, the Mexicans in their national odds of eight to one. 
 At the first outbreak, some petty street brawl, the native 
 soldiers sounded the general alarm. The French rushed 
 to their quarters, whence they sallied, fully armed, and met 
 the irregular attack of the enemy with a resistance as 
 unmethodical as intrepid. For three hours the battle 
 raged on the rocky streets of Guaymas. Gaston, always 
 a gentleman by instinct, refused the proffered leadership, 
 as that honour belonged to Desmarais, the commissioned 
 chief of the three hundred. He commanded a company, 
 however, and fought with splendid courage, until, twice 
 wounded, his men in retreat and everything lost, he broke 
 his sword over his knee, and led the remnant of his force 
 to the French Consulate, where they formally surrendered 
 to their country's representative. An hour later they gave 
 up their arms, upon the pledge of M. Calvo, backed by the 
 promise of General Yanes, that their lives should be spared. 
 Gaston was thrown into prison. Ten days later he was 
 taken before a court-martial, tried, and condemned to death 
 as a traitor and rebel. " Mark that they did not name me 
 once as a filibuster," he wrote home. 
 
 The American consul, Major Eoman, pleaded earnestly, 
 hut vainly, for mercy. M. Calvo would not interfere, 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 39 
 
 Gaston in the hour of trial bore himself with manly 
 fortitude, begging only, and not in vain, to be spared 
 the indignity of dying with bound hands and bandaged 
 eyes. The faith of his childhood returned to him, and his 
 lifelong unrest shaped itself into perfect peace and resig- 
 nation. The " old nobility," too, spoke out in his farewell 
 letter to his brother, a curious blending of worldly pride, 
 Christian humility, and philosophic fatalism. "It is my 
 loyalty to my word that has dag my grave. . . . A mysterious 
 chain, beginning at the cradle, leads to the tomb, and life 
 is but a link thereof. . . . M. Calvo will bear witness that I 
 died as became a gentleman. . . . To-morrow morning I shall 
 have burned my last cap and fired my last cartridge. . . . 
 Tell your children that Uncle Gaston died with a priest 
 at his side, and that yet Uncle Gaston was a brave man. 
 ... If any wonder that I submit to this death, you may 
 say that I look upon a suicide as a deserter. ... I go to 
 death a gentleman, and I die a Christian." The philo- 
 sophy of this dying chevalier throws a little light upon 
 his strange character. He died with touching and simple 
 bravery, on August 12, 1854, at the age of thirty-six. 
 Eleven years afterwards another and more imposing 
 filibuster, lured to Mexico, partly by the intrigues of the 
 same commercial house which had held the glittering 
 bait before the eyes of poor Gaston, died with equal 
 firmness at the hands of his executioners. Maximilian 
 of Austria, Erim of Spain, and Napoleon of France, all 
 played with fire like the ill-fated Count Gaston Eaoulx 
 de Eaousset-Boulbon, and all, like him, suffered. 
 
 But another and stranger being had witnessed the 
 bootless expedition to Guaymas in 1852, and drawn his 
 own false moral from the example before him — with 
 what results will be told hereafter. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 William Walker . — Boyhood and .education — Doctor, Lawyer, 
 - Journalist — Goes to California — Personal appearance and 
 characteristics — Departure of the Sonora Expedition — A 
 government proclaimed — Stern discipline — Eetreat from Sonora 
 — Bad news at San Vincente — The adventurers cross the boundary 
 — Walker resumes the pen. 
 
 WHILE De Boulbon, resting upon his fruitless victory 
 of Hermosillo, awaited at San Francisco a chance 
 to profit by the turn of the cards in Mexico, he was offered, 
 and declined, a subordinate command in an expedition 
 planned and conducted by the greatest of modern fili- 
 busters. 
 
 William Walker was the son of a Scotch banker who 
 emigrated to Tennessee in 1820, marrying there a Ken- 
 tucky lady named Norvell. William, their eldest son, 
 was born in the city of Nashville, on May 8, 1824. His 
 parents intended to give him a profession, preferably that 
 of the ministry, and though his taste led him otherwise 
 the gravity of the kirk always pervaded his manner, and 
 theological speculations interested him through life. His 
 boyhood was marked by a reserved and studious dispo- 
 sition, yet romantic and venturesome withal. His name 
 appears in the graduating class of 1838 of the University 
 of Nashville. The curriculum of that institution covered 
 a wide course of study, including, besides the branches 
 of common education, mathematics, astronomy, chemislry, 
 navigation, belles-lettres, geology, moral and mental 
 philosophy, logic, political economy, international and 
 constitutional law, oratory, natural theology, the classics, 
 
THE STORY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 41 
 
 and mp,ny other studies. It was not the fault of his alma 
 mater if he failed to prove as eminent in statesmanship 
 as he was in arms. Duelling, the carrying of arms, and 
 all wrangling were prohibited by- the rules of the college. 
 Cock-fighting was " especially forbidden." The cost of 
 tuition and board was between two hundred and fifty and 
 three hundred dollars a year. Altogether there is no 
 reason to doubt that the University of Nashville, 
 " authorised to grant all the degrees which are or may 
 be granted by any college or university in Europe or 
 America," was quite able to teach a young and ambitious 
 student the elements of a sound education. The moral 
 guidance of youth seems to have been well provided for, 
 and a healthy desire to check extravagance in personal 
 outlay is particularly noted in the regulations. 
 
 Having a liking for the medical profession, young 
 Walker was sent to Edinburgh, where he attended a 
 course of lectures. He afterwards visited and studied 
 in France, Germany, and Italy, spending two years in 
 travel, and gaining, together with his medical education, 
 a fair knowledge of the languages and laws of those 
 countries. 
 
 Of his professional experience we know little, save that 
 he practised for a time in Philadelphia and Nashville, but, 
 finding the profession urisuited to his health, he went to 
 New Orleans and studied law. He was admitted at the 
 bar in that city, but did not devote himself long to his 
 new pursuit. He obtained a place on the Crescent news- 
 paper, and gave himself up to the fascinating business 
 of journalism with all the ardour of a novice. That a 
 man should have tried three professions so different as 
 those of medicine, law, and journalism, before reaching 
 his twenty-fifth year is not remarkable in our country. 
 It was equally in keeping with the character of the man 
 of 1849, that he forsook this latest fancy to join the 
 host of restless spirits bending their steps towards 
 
42 TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 
 
 California. Arriving there in 1850, he became an editor 
 on the San Francisco Herald and took sides with the 
 faction of which David C. Broderick was the leader. His 
 literary style was not ill-adapted to the journalism of the 
 day and place, and ere long Walker the advocate found 
 occasion to defend Walker the editor upon a charge for 
 contempt of court. The lawyer failed to save the writer 
 from the penalty of a brief imprisonment and a fine of 
 five hundred dollars. The same pugnacious qualities 
 involved him in a more serious quarrel with a Phila- 
 delphian, named William Hix Graham, and appeal was 
 taken to the court of honour. The combatants met on 
 a sandy lot outside of the city limits. Shots were ex- 
 changed, apparently without damage to either man, and 
 the seconds were about to give the signal for another 
 fire, when one of them perceived a pool of blood at 
 W^alker's feet. The doughty fighter had received a wound 
 in the foot, and, in order to gain another shot, had 
 tried to hide it by throwing sand over the spot with his 
 other foot. The seconds, however, decided that honour 
 was satisfied by the flow of blood, and the duel went no 
 further. After this Walker retired from journalism, and 
 practised law for a time in Marysville, with success 
 enough to satisfy the ambition of anybody who aimed at 
 law-expounding rather than law-making. 
 
 Walker was now (in 1852) only twenty-eight years of 
 age. Nature had not dealt lavishly with this man, whose 
 ambition grasped at no less a prize than the conquest of 
 an empire. His figure was slight, though shapely ; he 
 stood about five and a half feet high, and never weighed 
 over one hundred and thirty pounds. His closely-cut, 
 sandy hair was thin and almost whitish ; his face was 
 freckled and beardless, giving him a boyish appearance. 
 The lower half of his visage was plain, almost commonplace, 
 but his large, rounded forehead and keen gray eyes were 
 strikingly fine. When his usually cold nature gave way 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 43 
 
 to emotions of anger or excitement the eyes dilated and 
 kindled with a greenish light, like those of a bird of prey ; 
 the thin, short upper lip became compressed, and the 
 slow, quiet voice rose sharp and short. He never showed 
 other sign of emotion ; but, says one who knew him well, 
 " those were sufficient to awe the most truculent desperado 
 into a submission as abject as that of the maniac before 
 his keeper." Add to these a rare frugality of speech, a 
 morality ascetically pure, and a temperance equally 
 patent in speech and action, and we know as much of 
 the outward man as did the thousands of men who 
 feared and loved him and died for his sake. 
 
 The Ishmaelite nature urging him to travel again, his 
 " destiny," as he called it, carried him to Sonora, at the 
 moment when De Boulbon's first expedition was nearing 
 its vain catastrophe. No longer a lawyer, a doctor, or 
 an editor, he returned to California with dreams of 
 martial glory, crude as yet, but, to a man of his un- 
 yielding courage, full of unlimited promise. People now 
 spoke of " Colonel " Walker. The conferring or the 
 assumption of military titles solely by the grace of 
 popular courtesy, was a curious foible of the Southern 
 gentleman of the old school. Whether this unwritten 
 commission prececlgdhis assumption of a serious military 
 career, or w^i ^oeval _3 ith it, is uncertain and of little 
 consequence. There was no examination of titles or 
 antecedents among the pioneers of California. The 
 claimant of a military title could best defend it by deeds 
 of daring, and by such William Walker was to prove 
 himself. De Boulbon's short-lived success prompted 
 Walker and a few friends to turn their eyes towards 
 the same field. An agent, named Frederic Emory, was 
 sent to Sonora in 1852 to treat for a contract such as 
 had been granted the French company. Upon the 
 failure of the latter. Walker and a partner, Henry P. 
 Watkins, renewed the negotiations in person. It does 
 
44 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 not appear that they succeeded or received any encourage- 
 ment from the jealous natives. Nevertheless, Walker and 
 a few of his friends set themselves to the task of conquer- 
 ing the Western States of Mexico, in the face of difficulties 
 which might have daunted even more daring spirits. The 
 A merican Governm ^nt-Jjvfl r a a ctiv el^bo&lLi le to all filib uster- 
 ^ng movements. Sonora certainly did not offer a welcome 
 to her unsought liberators. The singular unwillingness 
 (already noticed by De Boulbon) of American capitalists 
 to furnish the sinews of illegal warfare, no doubt continued 
 to mark that unromantic class. On the other hand, 
 Walker had many warm personal friends, chiefly among 
 the natives of the Southern states. He was actually a 
 sincere, even fanatical, believer in glavery. To conq uer 
 new terr itory, aud th u s to "extend the area " of slavery, 
 ■was 'a scheme certain to meet with sympathy throughout 
 the South. The admission of new Northern territories 
 ah'eady threatened to overcome the supremacy of the 
 South in the national government. Sectional and party 
 bias, personal interest, and political , prejudice moved the 
 citizens of the slave states to withstand this new and 
 growing menace. Like feelings, intensified through years 
 of political minority, stirred the North. So far as the 
 South was concerned in the maintenance of slavery, her 
 interests called for its extension ; otherwise, the growing 
 movement for its abolition, aided by the approaching 
 change of political power, would soon compass' its over- 
 throw. So, at least, and not without foresight, reasoned 
 the upholders of slavery in that dark and bitter 
 era. 
 
 The impending conflict was well styled " irrepressible." 
 Years of angry debate had made compromise impossible, 
 but the wiser and better heads in either party shunned 
 the wager of battle. Disunion was scarcely considered as 
 a theory, among the mass of the people, ere it sprung 
 into being, a fact. Doughty-tongued zealots alone tailked 
 
THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBU8TEBS. 45 
 
 of war, and they were those who kept on talking after men 
 of cooler courage had begun to fight. 
 
 Walker, then, could confidently invoke the sympathy of 
 the rich and influential slave-holders in a crusade for the 
 extension of their favourite system. He could appeal 
 to the daring and adventurous of every class by the 
 dangerous fascination of his scheme, and to the Cali- 
 fornian, especially, through his native hostility and 
 contempt towards his Mexican neighbour. For the rest, 
 he offered as inducements to immigrants in Sonora five 
 hundred acres of land to each man, and four dollars 
 daily pay for military services. Arms and ammunition 
 were procured. Emigrants of strangely unpastoral 
 bearing offered themselves at the rendezvous. A brig 
 was chartered and the day of departure set. At this 
 point the United States marshal seized the vessel. This 
 was in July, 1863. Three months afterwards, the 
 emigrants, learning caution from experience, took their 
 steps so secretly that forty-five of them, including Walker 
 and Emory, sailed in the bark Caroline, and arrived at 
 Cape San Lucas, in Lower California, on October 28th. 
 Here they made a brief stay before continuing their 
 voyage to La Paz. They captured that town, together 
 with the governor, Espanosa, on November 3rd. Three 
 days later a vessel arrived with the Mexican colonel, 
 Kobollero, appointed to supersede Espanosa ; him also 
 they took prisoner. Walker, being now in possession of 
 the government and the archives, called an election, 
 which resulted in bis being chosen president. His re- 
 port does not state whether or not he had any rival for 
 the honour. Ten others of the adventurers were chosen 
 to fill the several offices, civil, military, and "naval." 
 Thirty-four remained mere citizens, as there were not 
 " offices enough to go around." " Our government," 
 wrote the President, " has been formed upon a firm and 
 sure basis." , However absurd the proceedings seem to 
 
46 fE:S StOBY OP TSE FlLtSUSTBBS. 
 
 us, in the light of the sequel, to him they appeared the 
 solemn inception of free institutions and a glorious future. 
 A high-sounding proclamation was issued, including a 
 declaration of independence. Two months afterwards 
 Walker annexed, on paper, the neighbouring province of 
 Sonora, and changed the name of the Eepublic to 
 " Sonora," comprising the State of that name and Lower 
 California. As yet he had not set foot upon the new 
 half of his domain. 
 
 His friends in California were active in the meanwhile. 
 Recruiting offices were opened in San Francisco, to which 
 flocked the desperate, the adventurous, the reckless from 
 every land. The Federal Government could not, at least, 
 it did not, take active steps to check them. Between 
 two and three hundred men were enlisted, and their 
 passage engaged on the bark Anita. The name of the 
 vessel and the date of her departure were kept secret 
 from all but the leaders of the party. 
 
 On the appointed evening, December 7, 1853, they 
 gathered at " head-quarters." Horses and waggons were 
 in readiness, and in a brief time the ammunition and 
 supplies were on the deck of the Anita. Before midnight 
 the embarkation was made, and the ship swung into the 
 stream. A tow-boat carried her out of the harbour in 
 safety. Before casting loose the lines several of the 
 Anita's sailors secretly stole on board the tow-boat, their 
 desertion not being perceived until the bark was beyond 
 hail and ploughing the waves of the Pacific. The adven- 
 turers have been described by a friendly writer as " a hard 
 set." They observed their departure by a merry carouse, 
 the while the good bark tossed on the ocean swell and 
 her captain cursed his recreant crew and his boisterous 
 freight. Then the wind arose. A sea swept the decks, 
 carrying overboard a dozen barrels of pork and making 
 a clean breach through her starboard bulwarks. The 
 adventurers awoke next morning, sobered and sick. A 
 
TSM STOHY OF' TS:^ FILIBUSTEHS. 47 
 
 few of them who had heen sailors volunteered to aid in 
 working the vessel. The relief came none too soon, as it 
 was found that the ship had heen dragging her anchor and 
 several fathom of cable all night,' the deserters having 
 failed to make it fast. The filibusters grimly consoled 
 themselves with the reflection that they had not been born 
 to be drowned. 
 
 Arrived at San Vincente, the reinforcements went into 
 camp, amusing themselves, while they awaited orders to 
 march, by foraging on the scattered ranches. Horses 
 were procured by forced levies, and paid for in the 
 promissory notes of the " Eepublic." Here for the first 
 time Walker displayed the traits of stern command which 
 afterwards made his name a word of terror in the ears of 
 men who feared nothing else, human or divine. Half a 
 score of the boldest desperadoes in camp formed a plot to 
 blow up the magazine at night and desert with what 
 plunder they might be able to seize in the confusion of the 
 moment. To carry out their plan involved the risk of 
 killing many of their comrades, as the ammunition was 
 kept in the middle of the camp. Notice of the plot reached 
 Walker, who had two of the ringleaders tried by court- 
 martial and summarily shot. Two others were publicly 
 whipped and drummed out of camp. Walker then ordered 
 a muster of the troops, and after making a stirring appeal 
 to them, called upon all who were willing to abide by his 
 fortunes to hold up their hands. All of the original forty- 
 five, and a few of the Anita's passengers, responded ; the 
 others shouldered their rifles and prepared to march. 
 Walker confronted the recreants, and quietly ordered them 
 to stack their arms, a command which, after some hesita- 
 tion, they obeyed. They were then suffered to leave the 
 camp. Less than a hundred men now formed the army of 
 the republic. He gave orders to march to Sonora by the 
 mountain paths, around the head of the Gulf of California. 
 They buried the arms and ammunition of. the deserters in 
 
48 THE STORY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 caches. Two men deserted on the march and joined the 
 Indians, who harried the little band at every step. 
 
 The river Colorado was crossed on rafts. Disease and 
 desertion thinned the ranks. The wounded died for lack 
 of proper treatment, as there was not a case of surgical 
 instruments in the army. They extracted arrows-heads 
 from their wounds with probes improvised from ramrods. 
 Every morning's roll-call showed a dwindling force. Beef 
 was the only food left. Two men quarrelled over a handful 
 of parched corn, and one shot the other dead. They were 
 in rags. The President of Sonora, wearing a boot on one 
 foot, a shoe on the other, fared no better than his followers. 
 Those followers soon numbered less than fifty. A 
 council of war was held, and it was decided to return to 
 San Vincente. The Mexicans hung upon their flanks and 
 rear, cutting off every straggler. Eecrossing the moun- 
 tains, they narrowly escaped annihilation in a gorge which 
 widened out at the middle to a plateau of half a mile 
 across, with a narrow opening at either end. Half way 
 across the plains the Indians appeared on flank and front 
 and opened a galling fire. Walker here showed coolness 
 and generalship. Leaving twelve men hidden in a clump 
 of bushes under command of Lieutenant P. S. Veeder, a 
 cool young soldier, afterwards distinguished in Nicaragua, 
 he retreated with the rest of the command towards the 
 entrance of the valley. That passage had already been 
 closed by the enemy's forces, who met the retreating party 
 with an ill-aimed volley of arrows and bullets. At the 
 same time those guarding the other pass joined their 
 friends on the flanks in charging the Americans, As they 
 passed the thicket where Veeder and his men lay in 
 ambush, they received a deadly volley at short range. 
 Every bullet struck down its man. Walker at the same 
 time turned and delivered an equally well-aimed fire, 
 which put the enemy to full flight. The two detachments 
 then passed unmolested through the further defile before 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 49 
 
 the astonished natives could be rallied to the charge. No 
 bribes of aguardiente, with which the Mexicans were wont 
 ,t6 ply their Indian allies could thenceforth induce the 
 natives to face the deadly American rifles. They hung 
 upon the line of march like coyotes, prowling about the 
 late scene of each encampment, and robbing -each new- 
 made grave of its tenant's blanket, the only shroud of the 
 poor filibuster who fell in the waste places of Sonora. 
 
 At San Vincente, where Walker had left in March a party 
 of eighteen men to guard the barracks, he found not one 
 remaining. A dozen had deserted, and the rest, unsus- 
 picious of danger, had been swooped upon by a band of 
 mounted Mexicans, - who lassoed and tortured them to 
 death. So many successive reverses sealed the fate of 
 the expedition. To wait for reinforcements, even could 
 they have come, from California was hopeless. Walker 
 had but thirty-five men remaining. They were destitute 
 of everything but ammunition and weapons ; of these they 
 had more than enough. At various places they had buried 
 boxes of carbines and pistols. Eight guns were spiked at 
 San Vincente. A hundred kegs of powder were cached on 
 the banks of the Rio Colorado. Ye^rs afterwards the peon 
 herdsman or prowling Cucupa Indian stumbled, in the 
 mountain by-paths, over the bleaching skeleton of some 
 nameless one whose resting-place was marked by no cross 
 or cairn, but the Colt's revolver rusting beside his bones 
 bespoke his country and his occupation — the only relic of 
 the would-be Conquistadores of the nineteenth centuiry. 
 
 The stolid native who had sworn fealty to the mushroom 
 republic, under pain of imprisonment for refusal, easily 
 forgot his oath when the accursed " Gringo " had turned 
 his back. The rancherio, whose sole mementos of vanished 
 horses and cattle were the bonds of the Eepublic of Sonora, 
 vainly proffered those securities at the cock-pit and the 
 monte-table. The American of the North had come and 
 gone like a pestilence, or like his ante-type of buccaneering 
 
50 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 days; nought remained save disappointed ambition with 
 the one, and a bitter memory with the other. 
 
 The invasion was every way inexcusable. That his 
 interference was unwelcome to the natives Walker soon 
 found out; nor was he slow to learn that nothing less 
 formidable than an army of occupation, backed 'by a 
 strong power, could push his cherished dream of a new 
 conquest of Mexico beyond the unsubstantial realms of 
 fantasy. 
 
 With sinking heart, but bearing the calm front which 
 never failed him, he led his starving, travel-worn band 
 toward the California frontier. The natives made a feeble 
 show of opposing their retreat. A host of ill-trained 
 soldiery, formidable only in numbers, held the mountain 
 heights ; their Indian allies were drawn up on, the plain 
 to contest the passage. Colonel Melendrez, commanding 
 the Mexican forces, sent four Indians with a flag of truce 
 into the filibuster camp, bearing an offer of protection and 
 free passage across the American border to all except the 
 leader ; Walker, with all the arms of the company, must 
 be first given up. Such an offer would have been rejected, 
 in the face of certain death, by men familiar as these were 
 with the Punic faith of the Spaniard. Made as it was to 
 men who had followed their chieftain through hunger and 
 want, battle and defeat, up to this moment, when they 
 could see their country's flag waving over the United 
 States military camp across the border, it was treated with 
 scornful laughter. Melendrez then begged the United 
 States commander to interfere and compel the surrender, 
 a request which, as it could not have been granted without 
 a violation of Mexican territory, was properly refused. 
 Three miles of road lay between the filibusters and the 
 boundary line. Walker, resorting to strategy, left half a 
 dozen men concealed behind some rocks to cover his^ 
 retreat. The natives, with a wholesome dread of the 
 American rifle, followed him at what seemed a safe 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBXJSTEES. 31 
 
 distance and rode straight into the ambush. • Half a 
 dozen rifles emptied as many saddles, whereupon Melen- 
 drez and his Mexicans galloped off at full speed, leaving 
 their Indian allies to follow as best they might. The 
 filibusters lost one man, a victim to his own indiscretion 
 in having borrowed a leaf from the enemy's tactics and 
 fortified his courage with too much aguardiente. 
 
 So ended the last battle of the Eepublic of Sonora — if it 
 be not a travesty to call by the name of battle a fruitless 
 fight between a score of men on one side and a hundred 
 ignorant savages on the other. Four and thirty tattered, 
 hungry, gaunt pedestrians, whimsically representing in 
 their persons the president, cabinet, army and navy of 
 Sonora, marched across the line and surrendered as 
 prisoners of war to Major Mckinstry, U.S.A., at San Diego, 
 California. It was the 8th of May, 1854; and so Walker 
 kept his thirtieth birthday. 
 
 A parole, pledging the prisoners to present themselves 
 for trial to General Wool, at San Francisco, was signed by 
 all, after which they were allowed to depart. 
 
 Of those starving, wounded, battle-scarred survivors of 
 several months' accumulated miseries the names signed to 
 the parole contain at least six of men who had love for 
 their leader, or enough of unconquerable daring, to send 
 them, twelve months later, in search of fresh dangers and 
 glories under the same commander. 
 
 Walker came back from Sonora, defeated but not 
 disheartened. He had proved himself a leader of men, 
 even in so small an arena. Thenceforth, until his star 
 of "destiny" was eclipsed in death, his name was worth 
 a thousand men wherever hard fighting and desperate 
 hopes might call him. It must be said in his favour that 
 he sought popularity by none of the tricks of the dema- 
 gogue. In camp or field he was ever the same cold, 
 self-contained, fearless commander, inflexible in discipline, 
 sparing of speech, prodigal of action. He won the devoted 
 
52 TEE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 obedience of the wildest spirits by governing himself. His 
 word of command was not "Go," but "Come" — the 
 Napoleonic talisman. Only to the youngest of his 
 followers would he ever unbend his solitary dignity. 
 One of them, whose name, William Pfaff, appears on the 
 San Diego parole, was a youth of fifteen. He was with 
 difficulty restrained from following his leader to Nicaragua.. 
 He lived through four years of service in our Civil War, but 
 no dangers or hardships could erase the memory of his 
 experience in Sonora. " The rebellion was a picnic to it," 
 said he, in the fine hyperbole of California. 
 
 The trial of the filibuster leader for breaking the 
 neutrality laws of the United States ended in a prompt 
 acquittal. Walker resumed the editorial chair, supporting 
 Broderick in the San Francisco Commercial, the personal 
 organ of that ill-fated politician. Let us leave the filibuster 
 in his Elba,. and visit the country which was destined to 
 become the scene of his dazzling but brief career of glory, 
 defeat, and death. 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Nicaragua — " Mahomet's Paradise "—Buccaneering visitors — Kingrose 
 and De Lussan — Nelson defeated by a girl — The apocryphal heroine 
 of San Carlos. 
 
 NATURE in lavishing her favours on Nicaragua, left 
 little for man to add. It is a tropical country with 
 a temperate climate, one half of its territory having a 
 mean elevation of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 In that favoured land the primeval curse is stayed ; 
 where nature forestalls every necessity, no need for man 
 to toil or want. Fruits grow in the reckless profusion of 
 the tropics, and clothing is a superfluity wisely counted as 
 such. Two hundred and fifty thousand children, young 
 and old, occupy a domain as large as New England. They 
 are poor in accumulated wealth as the poorest peasantry 
 of Europe ; they are rich, knowing no want unsatisfied, 
 as a nation of millionaires. But Nicaragua is a country 
 in which to study with doubt the doctrine of the survival 
 of the fittest. The early discoverers called it "Mahomet's 
 Paradise," an apt name for a land of sensuous happiness. 
 The Nicaraguan sees in his country no past, no present, 
 no future. He lives from day to day, secure in the pos- 
 session of food, raiment, and shelter. He cares not for 
 to-morrow, for he knows that to-morrow will be as to-day, 
 as to-day is the copy of yesterday ; that next week, next 
 year, next century, . as they come and go, shall find him 
 and his heirs, frijole-esitmg, Jiste-drinking, hammock- 
 lolling, ignorant, ill-governed, revolutionary, without 
 energy for either large virtues or large vices. To him the 
 
54 TEE STOnt OF THE FILIBUSfEB^. 
 
 earth gives everything, without toil or sweat. When his 
 hour comes to die, his bones enrich a few feet of the good 
 mother's bosom, and the account is balanced. The jaguar 
 and the boa do as much • for the world's avail. Man, 
 relieved from the struggle for existence, the fight against 
 nature in her cruel moods of hunger and cold, which were 
 half of the battle in our northern life, might be expected 
 to grow up into the full perfection of body and soul. But, 
 lite his own forest trees; the native of the tropics is 
 strangled and warped by the rank growth of a host of 
 parasites, idleness, ignorance, falsehood, and anarchy, 
 the Nessus legacy of despotism. 
 
 The awful equity with which nature deals out good 
 aud ill alike is rarest seen in Nicaragua. Other tropical 
 lands have fair flowers in whose fragrant cups nestle 
 deadly insects, luscious fruits which poison tbe lip that 
 tastes them, and soft airs that carry disease upon their 
 wings. In other lands beneath the sun the crystal 
 wave is cut by the' sha-rk's fin, the tiger and the cobra 
 lurk in Paphian bowers; but though the wild beast 
 and the noxious serpent are not unknown in Nicaragua, 
 yet they are few and timid and fly the footstep of man. 
 Insects alone abound and annoy — the highest and the 
 lowest forms of life are the plagues of Nicaragua. 
 
 There man reaps without sowing, and the harvest never 
 fails. He has but to stretch forth his hand and feast 
 on dainties such as seldom grace the tables of kings ; 
 the citron, the lemon, the orange (with often 10,000 on a 
 single tree), the banana, the mango, the papaya, the 
 cocoa, the tamarind, . the milk-tree, the butter-tree, and 
 a spontaneous perennial growth of coffee, cacao, sugar, 
 tobacco, and everything that grows or can be grown in 
 any tropical or temperate clime. Half the year he may 
 sling his hammock beneath the shady trees. In the 
 rainy season a few stakes and a thatch of palm, leaves 
 afford him ample shelter. Medicinal trees and herbs 
 
THE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 55 
 
 abound everywhere, for the relief of the few ills to which 
 his flesh is heir. Birds of gayest plumage, flowers of 
 loveliest hue, greet his eyes on every side. In the noble 
 forests, where the pine and the palm grow beside the 
 ceiba, the mimosa, and the stately cactus, the splendours 
 of the rainbow are rivalled in the plumage of parrots, 
 macaws, humming-birds, toucans, and the beautiful winged 
 creature that bears the imperial nanie of Montezuma. 
 It is the latest and the fairest land of earth, and the 
 heavenly radiance of youth is on its face. So young, that 
 the fires of nature's workshop have not yet died out. The 
 volcano, towering thousands of feet towards heaven, still 
 smoulders or flames, and the earth is shaken ever and anon 
 by the engines of the Titans. Ometepe the glorious 
 lifts his cloud-capped head five thousand feet out of the 
 placid bosom of Lake Nicaragua ; Madera, his neighbour, 
 is but eight hundred feet less lofty. Momotombo and 
 Mombacho and El Viejo, and the twin peaks which watch 
 the mouth of Fonseca Bay, are flaming swords guarding 
 the Eden to which the serpent has come, as of old, with 
 a human tongue. 
 
 Little note takes the Nicaraguan of the lavish favours 
 of nature, whose grandest mystery but awakens a languid 
 Quien Sale ? and whose most winning plea extorts only 
 a more languid Poco tievipe — the eternal by and by 
 of indolence. One per cent, of the whole population 
 makes a show of studying the elements of knowledge. 
 Why should they vex their souls in search of education, 
 when all that life needs can be had for the asking ? Not, 
 surely, to heap up wealth. Nature takes care even of that, 
 for money grows upon the trees of Nicaragua — that is to 
 say, the fractional currency of the people is nuts, one 
 cacao-nut being equal to a fortieth of a medio in value, 
 and passing current as such in all the smaller affairs 
 of trade. Nor is it worth the trouble of mastering letters 
 where illiteracy is no bar to civil or military advancement, 
 
56 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 and where, especially if the " Serviles " be in power, an 
 unlettered bandit ranks almost as high as a rascally 
 advocate. In the days of President Chamorro the most 
 notorious ruffians held high office, the revenues of the 
 state were farmed out on the system which prevails to-day 
 only in the more barbarous parts of Asia, so that it was 
 a saying in the .neighbouring states, where, too, glass- 
 houses are not scarce, that " the calf was not safe in the 
 cow, from the thieves of Nicaragua." 
 
 It was not always so in. Nicaragua. Years before the 
 mail-clad Spaniard brought the curse of civilization across 
 the western ocean, the simple Aztec built his altars to 
 the sun on every hill-top from sea to sea. Centuries ere 
 the Aztec, there flourished a semi-civilized race whose 
 history is written in hieroglyphics of a language utterly 
 dead and forgotten, and who have left no lineal descen- 
 dants. Even such fragments of Aztec lore as survived the 
 fanaticism of the Conquistadores in Mexico are wanting 
 to the annals of the earlier Central American civilization. 
 It was a culture of rich growth in its day and place, 
 destined like that of the contemporary Eoman Empire, to 
 tempt the cupidity of a hardier race, and after an unavailing 
 struggle, to fall before the might of numbers and superior 
 physique. Howbeit, the Aztec Goths and Vandals overran 
 the isthmus, and when the Spanish invasion came, it met 
 only the late subjects of Montezuma's widespread, ill- 
 governed kingdom. 
 
 The religion of Nicaragua before the conquest was a 
 gloomy idolatry. The predecessors of the Aztec are con- 
 jectured to have been a gentle race, but no match in 
 prowess for their conquerors. The Spaniards found a 
 people of sun-worshippers degraded by human sacrifice 
 and attendant cannibalism. Between them and distant 
 Anahuac, to which they owed allegiance, lay the dense 
 forests and trackless swamps of Yucatan. The journey by 
 land at this day is long and toilsome. Cortes, nevertheless, 
 
THE STORY OF THE EILIBUSTEBS. 57 
 
 projected and carried out an exploration as far as Hon- 
 duras, until his appalled veterans refused to go further 
 southward. 
 
 Don Pedrarias d'Avila, Governor of Panama, undertook 
 its exploration from the south in 1514. Nine years later 
 he was encouraged to send a fojce for its subjugation, under 
 command of Francisco de Cordova, who secured the sub- 
 mission of its cacique, Nicarao or Nicaya. The conquerors 
 gave that chieftain's name to his country. They founded 
 Leon and Granada, which have remained the leading 
 cities of the country. Nicaragua gave a few recruits to 
 Pizarro. Philip II., with narrow-minded foresight, sent a 
 commission to survey the isthmus and judge of the feasi- 
 bility of cutting a ship canal. The report was favourable, 
 the route by way of Panama being chosen. It was too 
 favourable, as it pointed out the advantages of such a 
 passage to international commerce. Spain did not want 
 such broad liberality, and Philip decreed the punishment 
 of death to any one who might thereafter propose to wed 
 the two oceans together. But, as high tariffs encourage 
 smuggling, so prohibited commerce takes refuge in 
 privateering. The Buccaneers arose to dispute with Spain 
 the monopoly of her American trade. The isthmus 
 suffered most from their ravages. Panama, then as now, 
 the most important city on the coast, was the depot for 
 the royal treasure gathered at the adjacent mines of Cana. 
 Drake paid it a predatory visit in 1586. It was afterwards 
 taken and sacked at different times by Morgan, Sharpe, 
 Eingrose, and Dampier. It was burned three times 
 between 1670 and 1680. Finally it was abandoned for 
 the new town, three miles inland. 
 
 Perfect discipline, combined with boundless courage, was 
 the key to the buccaneers' success. Strict justice governed 
 their conduct towards one another. All spoil was divided 
 impartially, according to the member's rank or the number 
 of his wounds. They could afford to be generous as well 
 
58 THB STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 as just. Sir Francis Drake captured one galleon which, if 
 we may belieYS a buccaneering biographer, was laden with 
 twelve score tons of plate and 720 bowlfulls of coined 
 money. 
 
 A strange spirit of morality, and even of piety, finds 
 frequent expression in the narratives of those outlaws. 
 Captain Sawkins, an English buccaneer, had a veritable 
 tender reverence for the Sabbath, and would throw the 
 dice overboard if he found them in use on that day. Sir 
 Francis Drake built and endowed a church at Eio Loa 
 with the proceeds of the sack" of Porto Bello. In minor 
 matters th'ey were perhaps less scrupulous, as when " at 
 Chepillo it was deemed convenient," by Captain Eingrose 
 and his comrades, to massacre their Spanish prisoners in 
 cold blood. Eoche Brasiliano is honourably mentioned by 
 his biographer, writing two hundred years ago, as one who, 
 while but a private mariner, behaved himself so well that 
 he was beloved and respected by all his fellow pirates — 
 this, too, notwithstanding that his inveterate prejudice 
 towards the Spaniards took the unpleasant form of 
 " roasting them on wooden spits, for not showing him 
 h/)g-yards where he might steal swine." 
 
 Not less edifying and instructive are the memt)irs of the 
 Sieur Eaveneau de Lussan, a French ensign, who served 
 three years as a freebooter, and carried home a liberal 
 share of what he euphemistically calls his "purchase." 
 in atmosphere of pious moralizing pervades his narrative. 
 He sees the protecting hand of Providence in all their 
 dctories, which were usually preceded by prayer and 
 jelebrated with thanksgiving, with as much trust in the 
 goodness of their cause as is felt by warriors who have 
 I parliamentary declaration of war and the " God of 
 )attles" on their side. Notably does this spirit find 
 jxpression in his account of their distress at finding so 
 nany of their company deficient of weapons while crossing 
 he Isthmus of Panama, until, by the providential cap- 
 
TBy STOnY OF TBE FILIBUSTERS. S9 
 
 sizing of their, canoes on the Eio Grande, " God was 
 pleased to dispo^j of some of us, who left their arms to 
 those who har" lost their own." Further on, the worthy 
 Sieur is forced to marvel at their success against a superior 
 force of Spanish vessels, "which, I must say, without 
 exasperating the matter, was a strange thing and almost 
 a mirac'e." Perhaps the most ludicrous religious quarrel 
 ever rscorded — which is saying much — occurred in the 
 dissensions (purely sectarian) which agitated and ulti- 
 nr.ately separated the French and English buccaneering 
 jieets. De Lussan and his compatriots went North to 
 Nicaragua, meeting such welcome as they deserved from 
 their Spanish co-religionists. 
 
 Nicaragua, though liable to predatory forays, had not 
 wealth enough to tempt the buccaneers from richer prey. 
 Cape Gracias a Dios, on its north-eastern boundary, was a 
 rendezvous of the freebooters ; but the Atlantic coast was 
 even less inviting to the plunder- seekers than the Pacific. 
 The narratives of the buccaneers touch lightly on it. Its 
 name of the Mosquito Coast appears to have been well 
 deserved. De Lussan speaks with lively horror of the 
 pestiferous little insect which " is sooner felt than seen." 
 
 The buccaneers passed away, but left a legacy. Great 
 Britain in 1742 laid claim to the Bay Islands, which had 
 been captured by English buccaneers just a century before. 
 A war with Spain ensued, without material gain to either 
 party. By the treaty of 1763, England renounced her 
 claim on Central America, and evacuated all the disputed 
 territory,- except the Island of Euatan, on the Atlantic 
 coast of Honduras, a shirking of her obligations which 
 awakened a renewal of hostilities. In 1780 Colonel Poison 
 was sent to invade Nicaragua. Landing a force of two 
 hundred sailors and marines at San Juan del Norte, he as- 
 cended the river in boats, carrying with little trouble the 
 half-dozen fortified positions on its banks. At the head of 
 the river, where it receives the waters of Lake Nicaragua, 
 
60 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 the expedition was confronted by the fro ming batteries of 
 Port San Carlos, then, as now, guardii-o; the mouth of 
 the lake. 
 
 At this point in the narrative, history and tradition 
 part company, the former averring, upon hiftorical and 
 biographical English authority, that Horatio Nelson, then 
 a simple unknown captain commanding the navd forces, 
 reduced the fort, inflicted a severe chastisement u^ion the 
 enemy and returned victorious to his ships. Tradition 
 tells a prettier story. 
 
 As the flotilla neared the shore in line of battle, tho 
 stillness was unbroken, save by the plash of their oars and 
 the music of the surf. Not a soldier was visible on the 
 ramparts, for the cowardly varlets of tl^e garrison, taking 
 advantage of the Commandante's sickness, had fled to the 
 woods at the first sight of the enemy. The gallant hidalgo 
 in command was left without a single attendant, save his 
 lovely daughter. But she was a true soldier's child, with 
 the spirit of a heroine. The boats drew rapidly near 
 the shore, their oars flashing in the morning sun, the 
 gunners awaiting with lighted matches the order to fire. 
 Nelson stood up to ■ bid his men give way, and at the 
 instant a flash was seen in one of the embrasures of the 
 fort; the next moment the roar of a cannon broke the 
 stillness of lake and forest. Immediately gun after 
 gun echoed the sound, but the first had' done the work of 
 an army, by striking down Horatio Nelson. The boats 
 pulled rapidly out of range and down the river, beaten 
 and discouraged. Nor did they escape heavier losses ; for 
 the Spaniards so harassed and plagued them on the retreat 
 that, of the two hundred men who had started from San Juan, 
 but ten returned in safety. Nelson's wound cost him the 
 loss of an eye ; and he who had never turned his back on a 
 foeman fled from the guns of San Carlos, served by a girl 
 of sixteen. It was the Commandante's daughter, Donna 
 Rafaela Mora, who had fired the battery and saved 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 61 
 
 Nicaragua. The heroine of Port San Carlos was deco- 
 rated by the King of Spain, commissioned a colonel in the 
 rojai service, and pensioned for life. 
 
 Such is the tradition, accepted as authentic by the 
 natives and supported by the testimony of several trust- 
 worthy travellers. None of Nelson's biographers make 
 mention of the heroic maiden. According to those 
 historians. Nelson ascended tlie river as far as Fort San 
 Juan — probably Castillo Viejo — which he reduced after a 
 somewhat protracted siege and a heavy loss to his forces. 
 They place the scene of the accident by which he lost his 
 eye at the siege of Calvi, in the Island of Corsica. Yet 
 Captain Bedford Pim, of the Eoyal Navy, in his book of 
 Nicaraguan travel, gives unquestioning credence to the 
 legend of the country ; which has also been accepted by 
 other English writers who may be supposed to have a 
 familiar acquaintance with the life of Nelson. So firmly 
 is it believed in Nicaragua that, upon the strength of his 
 inherited glory. General Martinez, a grandson of the 
 heroine, was chosen President of the state in 1857, 
 although there was at the time a regularly-elected Presi- 
 dent claiming and lawfully entitled to the office — a fact 
 which should suffice to silence the most captious critic. In 
 an iconoclastic age it were needless cruelty to rob the poor 
 Nicaraguan of the only bit of heroic history he possesses. 
 Possibly Nelson's biographers suppressed an incident which 
 did not redound to the glory of their hero; perchance, 
 his Catholic Majesty was imposed upon, or the tradition of 
 the Maid of San Carlos may be but another transplanted 
 solar myth. Quien sahe ? 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 British intrigues on the Isthmus — Morazan and the Confederacy — 
 The Mosquito Dynasty — Bombardment of San Juan— Castellon 
 calls in the foreigner — Doubleday and his free lances — Cole's 
 contract approved by Walker. 
 
 SO long as Central America remained a province of 
 Spain, England's policy was one of peaceful words 
 md hostile deeds. Binding herself, by treaty after treaty, 
 io the renunciation of all claims upon the country, she 
 steadily maintained and extended her hold upon various 
 objective points — Euatan, Belize, and the Bay Islands 
 ivhich command the Gulf of Mexico, being her favourite 
 spoils. Some equivocal clause in a treaty, a frivolous 
 pretence of avenging some imaginary dishonour, a buc- 
 caneer's legacy, a negro king's grant, if no better offered, 
 ;vas put forward as the excuse for armed occupation. 
 Spain's ill-gotten possessions were beginning to bear the 
 isual fruit. At length, in 1821, the colonies of the 
 sthmus heard the cry of liberty from the North echoed 
 3y a responsive one from the South. " Spanish America 
 jhook the chain fretted and worn in the friction of cen- 
 iuries, snapped the frail links asunder, and stood up 
 imong the nations, free. But the iron had done its work. 
 The cramped limbs refused their offices; the eyes, wont 
 ;o peer half closed in dungeon light, blinked and were 
 Jazed in the sudden noon of liberty. The body was that 
 )f a freeman, but the soul was the soul of a slave. When 
 iberty comes to a nation prematurely, she must be born 
 igain in pain and travail ere the boon be valued by its 
 :eceiver. 
 A disunited union of a few years' duration, a travesty of 
 
THB 8T0BT OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 63 
 
 power under Iturbide's pasteboard crown, secession, re- 
 union, discord, revolution — the annals of Central America 
 are the Newgate Calendar of history. Yet, among the 
 ignoble or infamous names of Central American rulers, 
 there is one worthy of a brighter page, as its owner was of 
 a better fate. Don Francisco Morazan, first president of 
 the five united states, hardly deserved the title given him 
 of the "Washington of Central America." He was an 
 able, brave, and patriotic man, but cruel and vindictive 
 towards his opponents. He was chosen to the presidency 
 in 1831, and filled the office nine years ; at the end of 
 ■which time the natives had grown heartily tired of the 
 civilized innovations, which were as unfitted to their in- 
 ferior nature as the stiff garments of fashion to their 
 supple limbs. Morazan had neither the grace nor the 
 wisdom to accept philosophically the people's choice of 
 a reactionary demagogue who catered to their tastes, and 
 so he began to intrigue against the government of his 
 successor, failing in which he was forced to fly to South 
 America. Two years afterwards he landed with only 
 three hundred followers in Costa Eica, and made himself 
 master of the capital. But the President of that state 
 soon rallied a force of five thousand and besieged the 
 invader, who, after a gallant resistance of two days, was 
 compelled to surrender. He was tried and found guilty of 
 conspiring against the confederated states, and was put 
 to death, together with his chief adherents, on the 15th 
 of September, 1842. Guatemala ended the troublesome 
 question of representative government in 1851 by elect- 
 ing Carrera, a half-breed, to the office of president for life. 
 
 » 
 The states of Central America, torn by internal strife, 
 wasting their scant resources in fruitless wars and sad 
 faction fights, were fast lapsing into a barbarism below 
 that of Nicarao when he bowed to the Spanish yoke. 
 Untainted by foreign blood, the independent native tribes 
 
64 THE 8T0BT OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 proved themselves superior to the mongrel descendants of 
 Cordova and D'Avila. The Indians of Darien and the Eio 
 Frio region and the mountains of northern Costa Eica to 
 this day preserve their freedom, whilst Nicaragua and 
 Costa Eica have been wrangling, year after year, for the 
 empty honour of being called their sovereign. 
 
 To this man -cursed land nature had given a noble 
 heritage, coveted by many a powerful nation, though none 
 dared clutch it single-handed. It is the lake, or inland 
 sea, which covers five thousand square miles of the state, 
 elevated one hundred and seven feet above the mean tide- 
 level of the ocean, a natural reservoir, with an outlet 
 ninety miles long — the San Juan river. By making this 
 outlet navigable for large vessels, a comparatively easy 
 work, and by cutting a canal sixteen and one-third miles 
 in length, across the neck of land lying between the Lake 
 and the Pacific Ocean, a highway could be opened to the 
 commerce of the world, whose benefits it would be hard to 
 over-estimate. It was a noble scheme, appealing to the 
 enterprise of the civilized world and to the enlightened 
 statesmanship of men like Bolivar and Morazan. Hum- 
 boldt advocated it. Louis Napoleon beguiled his prison 
 hours at Ham by writing a pamphlet showing its feasibility 
 and need. As a commercial undertaking, its value was 
 beyond question : the eye of national aggrandizement saw 
 in it even more alluring features.* The nation that should 
 3ontrol that canal might be the dictator of America. Such 
 nation was not, and could not be, that which, like the 
 aerveless Ottoman, holds a point of vantage by the right 
 )f geographical position and by that alone. The power 
 ivhich held the key to the Mediterranean, and stood ready 
 io seize the Isthmus of Suez, looked wistfully towards 
 !^icaragua. Many and plausible were the dormant claims « 
 )f England upon the territory of her weak enemy. For 
 
 * An American company at the present writing is engaged in the 
 rork, with every prospect of success in fuUy completing it. 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 65 
 
 years she had exercised a nominal protectorate over the 
 eastern coast known as the Mosquito kingdom. 
 
 The monarchs of Mosquito were ignorant negroes, ruling 
 a scattered tribe, the savage descendants of a slave cargo 
 wrecked upon the coast in the seventeenth century. They 
 were appointed at various times by British man-of-war 
 captains, being installed or dethroned at the will of their 
 masters. Nicaragua, while never acknowledging this autho- 
 rity, lacked power to assert her own over the comparatively 
 worthless tracts of her eastern coast, holding possession 
 only of the river and town of San Juan. In 1839, the 
 reigning king of Mosquito, His Majesty Robert Charles 
 Frederick the First, cancelled a debt contracted for sundry 
 liquors and other royal supplies, by making a grant of 
 territory amounting to twenty-two and a half million acres 
 or more. The grantees, Peter and Samuel Shepard, trans- 
 ferred the grant to the Central American Colonization 
 Company, an American Association. This was the founda- 
 tion of what became afterwards known as the Kinney 
 Expedition. 
 
 The royal line of Mosquito may be classed among the 
 unfortunate dynasties of the world. The first monarch, 
 whose name is lost to history, was killed in a drunken 
 brawl; his half-brother and successor was dethroned by 
 a British captain, who placed a distant scion, George 
 Frederick by name, on the vacant throne. The reign 
 the latter was short. His son, Eobert Charles Frederick 
 the First, was a merry monarch, " scandalous and poor," 
 who sold his birthright to the Shepards for a mess of 
 Jamaica rum and sundry pairs of cotton breeches. His 
 son, George William Clarence, was reigning in 1850. 
 
 The superior swiftness of American ships had enabled 
 the United States to forestall their English rivals in 
 seizing California; whereupon the latter took the bold 
 step, in 1848, of occupying at the same time Tigre Island, 
 on the Pacific coast of the isthmus, and San Juan del 
 
 6 
 
66 TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 
 
 Norte, on the Atlantic, which latter place they christened 
 Greytown, in honour of a governor of Jamaica. England 
 thus had the keys of the isthmus in her hands ; the canal, 
 worthless without a safe entrance and exit might fall to 
 the lot of him who chose the barren glory of building it. 
 But, strange to say, the United States possessed at that 
 time a useful diplomatic servant in their minister to Central 
 America, the Honourable E. G. Squier, one, moreover, 
 whose claim to honour rests upon a broader basis than the 
 thankless triumphs of public service. He promptly seconded, 
 the protest of Honduras against the utterly indefensible 
 robbery of her territory, Tigre Island. His government 
 took up the question, and the island was reluctantly given 
 up. 
 
 At the same time, the United States formally protested 
 against the seizure of San Juan. Long and wordy nego- 
 tiations ensued, ending in the so-called Clayton- Bui wer 
 Treaty. It was a practical victory for Great Britain, as 
 it entrapped the American Government into an obligation 
 to refrain from " ever holding any exclusive control over 
 the said ship canal, erecting or maintaining any fortifica- 
 tions commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof, 
 occupying, fortifying, colonizing or assuming or exercising 
 any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Eica, the Mosquito 
 Coast, or any part of Central America." Great Britain, 
 with apparent fairness, bound herself to equal neutrality. 
 The difference was that the United States promised to 
 abstain from ever taking any steps to control the only 
 avenue then available between the Eastern and the 
 Western States of the Union, thus being placed upon the 
 same footing with distant European nations which could 
 have no such vital interests in the isthmus. Great Britain 
 agreed to refrain from acts which were not only dangerous 
 and inexcusable, but of very doubtful feasibility. Another 
 difference : the United States kept the pledge ; Great 
 Britain broke it within fourteen months, The treaty was 
 
TBB STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 67 
 
 signed by both parties, and proclaimed on the 5th of July, 
 1850. In August of the following year, Captain Jolly, of 
 the Eoyal Navy, solemnly annexed the island of Ruatan 
 to the colony of Belize, .which, notwithstanding the treaty, 
 had remained a nominal dependency of England. In- 
 July, 1852, Augustus Frederick Gore, Colonial Secretary 
 of Belize, proclaimed that "Her Gracious Majesty, our 
 Queen, has been pleased to constitute and make the islands 
 of Euatan, Bonacca, Utilla, Barbarat, Helene, and Morat 
 to be a colony to be known anjd designated as the Colony 
 of the Bay Islands." It was the buccaneer's legacy 
 redivivus. 
 
 Now, if ever, was a favourable time for the application 
 of a theory set forth by a President of the United States 
 nearly thirty years before : " That the American Con- 
 tinents, by the free and independent position which they 
 have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be 
 considered as subjects for future colonization by any Euro- 
 pean power." So reads the extract from President Monroe's 
 seventh annual message, dated the 2nd December, 1823, 
 and known as the " Monroe Doctrine." This bold assump- 
 tion of a protectorate over two continents was nothing 
 more than the expression of its author's private opinion, 
 unsupported by official action, either at home or abroad. 
 But it fell like a bombshell into the diplomatic circles of 
 the world. It was criticized, derided, repudiated by every 
 nation of Europe.; but it was secretly feared and not 
 openly disobeyed by any, even in the much-vexed dis- 
 cussion of the Central American question. England care- 
 fully based her claim to the coveted territory upon the 
 alleged facts of long possession and colonization. It is 
 needless to say that the "Monroe Doctrine," even had it 
 been incorporated in the American constitution, could not 
 have been entertained for a moment in the high court of 
 nations, save after the manner that such doubtful claims 
 are always conceded to the. right of might. 
 
68 THE STOBY OF THE- FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 The British no longer claimed for themselves or their 
 royal puppets of Mosquito authority over the port of San 
 Juan. Nevertheless, the traditional British man-of-war 
 within a day's sail of anywhere continued to haunt the 
 Carribean Sea. The Transit Company's steamers sailed 
 regularly between New York and San Juan. In May, 
 1854, a captain of one of them shot a negro in the streets 
 of San Juan, and fled from arrest to the United States 
 Consulate. The American minister, Borland, refused to 
 surrender the fugitive to the officers of justice. A mob 
 surrounded the consulate, and during the fray which 
 ensued the minister was hit on the cheek by a bottle 
 thrown by some rioter. Consul Fabens, then on board 
 the steamer Northern Light, sent a boat ashore to take 
 off the minister and his criminal guest. Captain Smith. 
 Before the steamer sailed with the minister on board, a 
 guard of fifty Americans was armed and left behind to 
 protect the Transit Company's property at Puntas Arenas, 
 a point of land opposite the town of San Juan. The boat 
 which carried Minister Borland to the steamer was fired 
 upon by the natives, but, as it appears, not with fatal 
 results. Still the indignity offered to the representative of 
 a great nation must be atoned for. The United States 
 sloop-of-war Cyane was sent out as soon as the matter 
 was reported at Washington. Her commander, Captain 
 Hollins, on arriving off the town, found the inevitable 
 British man-of-war lying between him and the shore. He 
 promptly notified 'the Nicaraguan authorities of his inten- 
 tion to bombard the town, which was thereupon hastily 
 evacuated. The captain of H.B.M. ship Express refused 
 to move out of range, until the guns of the Cyane had 
 been trained to rake his decks, when he reluctantly dropped 
 astern, after prjotesting that the American superiority of 
 armament alone saved the dispute from being settled by 
 the last argument of kings and captains. The disparity is 
 to be regretted, in view of the' wearisome and vain diplomacy 
 
THE BTOBY OF THE FILIBVSTEBS. 69 
 
 afterwards spent upon a question which" force alone, or the 
 show of it, could finally settle. 
 
 While the guns of the Gyane were squandering powder 
 on the frail huts of San Juan in lieu of a worthier target, 
 Nicaragua was too deeply engrossed in her usual inter- 
 necine strife to resent the outrage from abroad. Don 
 Frato Chamorro, who succeeded Pineda as president in 
 1851, found himself towards the close of his term, am- 
 bitious of another lease of power. Chamorro was the 
 leader of the Legitimist, or Servile party, as it- was called; 
 Don Francisco Castellon was the choice of the Liberal or 
 Democratic party. At the biennial election in 1853, both 
 parties claimed the victory, and, as is usual in such dis- 
 putes, possession was the strongest point of law. Chamorro 
 proclaimed himself duly elected, and was installed in 
 office at Granada, the chief city of the Servile faction. 
 Leon, the larger and more prosperous city, favoured the 
 cause of Castellon, whereupon Chamorro promptly arrested 
 his rival with several of his adherents, and banished them 
 from the country. They took refuge in Honduras, whose 
 president. Cabanas, received them hospitably. Chamorro, 
 to make his position niore secure, had himself, on April 
 30, 1854, proclaimed president for two- terms or four 
 years. A usurpation so bold was calculated to defeat its 
 own object. 
 
 Castellon landed at Eealejo within a week after its 
 declaration, with only thirty-six followers. The Leonese 
 rallied to his support, and drove Chamorro out of the 
 department and into the Servile stronghold, the city of 
 Granada. Soon after they obtained control of the lake 
 and river and laid siege to Granada. The siege lasted 
 nine months without material advantage on either side. 
 Castellon was proclaimed Provisional Director by his 
 party. Chamorro dying on the 12th of March, 1855, was 
 succeeded by Senator Don Jose Maria Estrada, a weak 
 substitute for his brave, papular, and ambitious pre- 
 
70 TEE STOBY OF THE FILISUSTEBS. 
 
 decessor. Each party had now a de facto president. 
 General Jose Trinidad Munoz, a veteran of Santa Ana's, 
 and like that luckless hero, fully impressed with the 
 delusion that he was a physical and mental counterpart 
 of the great Napoleon, commanded the army of Castellon. 
 The Serviles were headed by Don Ponciano Corral, a 
 clever, unscrupulous man, who relied upon the. military 
 assistance of adjacent states to strengthen the . arms of 
 his party. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs in Nicaragua in August, 
 1854, when an American, named Byron Cole, presented 
 himself before Castellon with a novel offer. Cole, who 
 had been formerly a Boston editor, was proprietor of the 
 newspaper which we left under the editorial management 
 of the late President of Sonora. His faith in the military 
 genius of his editor was in nowise abated by the disastrous 
 end of the Sonora expedition. Arriving in the camp of 
 the Democrats when their earlier conquests were gradually 
 slipping from their hands, and the long siege of Granada 
 had been raised in despair, Cole's offer of aid was eagerly 
 embraced by Castellon and his party. 
 
 They had already known and rated the value of the 
 American rifleman as an auxiliary. At an early period 
 of the civil war, an adventurous Californian pioneer, 
 named C. W. Doubleday, found himself at the port of 
 San Juan del Sur, the Pacific terminus of the Transit. 
 He was homeward-bound after years of absence, but being 
 thrown into the society of some Democratic leaders, he" 
 did not require much persuasion before deciding to 
 abandon his cabin passage already paid to New York, and 
 become an apostle of Democratic principles among his 
 fellow passengers. He worked with such good effect that 
 thirty of them volunteered under his lead and marched to 
 the aid of the army investing Granada. They were reck- 
 less fighters, who looked upon Central American warfare 
 as holiday pastime. Nevertheless, although reinforced 
 
THE STOBY OF -THE FILIBUSTEMS. 71 
 
 from time to time by occasional American recruits, who 
 had drifted into -the country on their way to or from 
 California, ere the siege*was raised they had been reduced 
 by war and disease to the number of four. Doubleday 
 then organized from the flower of the native army a corps 
 of sharpshooters with whom he covered the retreat to Leon, 
 losing nearly all his company, but impressing the native 
 soldiery with a favourable opinion of the Americans as 
 bold and reckless fighters. 
 
 Cole's plan to bring in a formidable American contin- 
 gent to aid the Democratic cause, came at a time when 
 foreign help was doubly welcome. Castellon's Honduran 
 allies had been abruptly recalled to meet an invasion of 
 their own country by Guatemala. The Serviles, now in 
 possession of lake and river, were slowly but surely 
 advancing on Leon. The strength which the Leonese 
 might have received from the Democratic states adjoining 
 was needed by these at home to protect themselves against 
 their aristocratic enemies, and against the alert, wily 
 intrigues of European agents. 
 
 Therefore, in October, 1854, Byron Cole made a con- 
 tract with the government of Castellon to supply to the 
 Democratic army three hundred American " colonists 
 liable to military duty." The settlers should be entitled 
 to a grant of 52,000 acres of -land, and should have the 
 privilege of becoming citizens upon a formal declaration 
 of that intention. Cole took his contract and sailed for 
 California to receive his chief's ratification. 
 
CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Purchase of the Vesta— May 4th, 1855, saiUng of the " Immortal 
 Fifty-six "— The American Phalanx— First battle of Eivas— 
 Punishing a desperado — Trouble in CasteUon's Cabinet — Battle 
 at Virgin Bay— Death of Oastellon. 
 
 WALKEE submitted the contract, worded with legal 
 precision, to the civil and military authorities at 
 San Francisco, and was gratified to learn that it in nowise 
 threatened to violate the neutrality laws of the country. 
 General Wool, to whom Walker had surrendered on his 
 return from Sonora, professed himself satisfied ; the 
 district attorney of the United States found- no flaw: but 
 everybody in San Francisco knew that Walker was about 
 to colonize Nicaragua with filibusters, and smiled at the 
 peaceful fiction. The legal difficulties overcome, there 
 remained the graver question of funds. To add to his 
 embarrassments, Walker fell sick. It was late in April 
 before he had succeeded in getting the few thousand 
 dollars needed to charter and fit out a vessel. Meanwhile 
 General Jerez, commanding the Democratic army at 
 Leon, had made one or two contracts with other Ameri- 
 cans, unknown to his superiors. The Granadinos, too, 
 not to be behind their Democratic rivals, had sent Don 
 Guadalupe Saenz to California to drum up recruits for 
 their side. But nothing came of either venture, and the 
 Leonese, now hemmed in their own department by the 
 victorious Legitimists, looked wistfully for the coming of 
 Walker. He at last succeeded in collecting the barely 
 necessary amount of money, and cast about him .for a 
 suitable vessel to carry the new Argonauts. 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEliS. 73 
 
 In the shipping intelligence of the day is chronicled 
 amongst the clearances at the San Francisco Custom House, 
 on April 21st, the brig Vesta, Captain Briggs, for Kealejo, 
 forty-seven passengers. She did not sail, however, though 
 some fifty or sixty passengers had taken their quarters on 
 board. For at the last moment a new obstacle arose. Walker 
 had bought her outright, though she was a slow, unsea- 
 worthy craft, some thirty years old, as nothing better 
 offered, and found out, when too late, that she was liable 
 for several debts incurred by the former owners. The 
 sheriff seized her and, for security, had her sails stripped 
 off and stored on shore. New creditors with old claims 
 also appeared, ready to serve other attachments as soon 
 as the first should be dissolved. Everybody who held a 
 claim, real or fictitious, against the luckless craft, hastened 
 to present it, knowing that Walker must pay their demands 
 or incur a delay of tedious litigation, and delay meant 
 death to his hopes. A revenue cutter drew up alongside 
 the brig, ready to prevent a possible attempt at departure. 
 The expeditionists grew restive, but Walker quieted them 
 with the promise of a speedy departure. Seeking out the 
 creditor who had attached the vessel. Walker persuaded him 
 to grant a release on easy terms, but it took his last dollar 
 to defray the sheriff's extravagant fees of three hundred 
 dollars. The last charge was paid on the 3rd of May, and 
 Walker was authorized to ask the revenue cutter's aid in 
 having the brig's sails bent on, which was rapidly and 
 noiselessly done at night. But though out of the hands 
 of the Government officers, the Vesta was still liable to 
 detention by civil process, and a sheriff's keeper remained 
 on board. The captain fearing to risk illegal steps, a new 
 commander, M. D. Eyre, was hastily engaged. He went 
 on board about midnight, having hired a tugboat to carry 
 the brig out to sea, and about the hour of one on the 
 morning of May 4, 1855, the legal functionary was 
 put on board the tow-boat, the lines cast off, and fifty-six 
 
74 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBTJSTEBS. 
 
 filibusters embarked on a voyage of 2,700 miles in a crazy 
 brig bound for a hostile port. A story is told that just 
 before putting to sea, Walker invited the sheriff's officer 
 into the cabin and addressed him briefly as follows : 
 " Here, sir, are wine and cigars ; also handcuffs and irons. 
 Please make choice of which you will have. This vessel 
 is going to sea." The officer, according to this rather 
 apocryphal story, was a man of the world, and the Vesta 
 put to sea. 
 
 Walker breathed more freely as the Golden Gate closed 
 behind him, and the tug-boat Resolute, fading to a smoky 
 speck on the water, loosened the last tenacious tentacle of 
 the polypus — law.' Harassed like Cortez by petty trials, 
 he was, like him, sailing with a few chosen followers to a 
 new destiny. .He confided in the superiority of civiliza,tion 
 over barbarism, and the certainty that he would receive 
 his country's support the moment that success should 
 first crown his arms : success which condones even greater 
 faults than illegal warfare. The cost of fg,ilure he did not 
 count. The stout-hearted hunter who enters a lion's den 
 does not ask what will happen if nerve or steel fail him 
 confronting his angry foe. Despite the result, there is 
 something thrilling in the story of the fifty-six men who 
 stole out of a harbour by night to conquer an empire — 
 and all but succeeded ! For not by numbers nor resources 
 should such enterprises be judged, but by the deeds of the 
 adventurers. As Prescott says, " It is not numbers that 
 give importance to a conflict, but the consequences that 
 depend upon it ; the magnitude of the stake, and the skill 
 and courage of the players — the more limited the means, 
 even, the greater may be the science shown in the use of 
 them." 
 
 They sailed down the Pacific coast — a long and stormy 
 voyage — and, after touching at Tigre Island for a pilot, 
 cast anchor in the port . of Eealejo, Nicaragua, on the 
 16th day of June. Old Realejo, at which the Vesta's 
 
THE STOBY OF TEE FiLlBUSTBjiS.. 75 
 
 voyage ended, was the site of a once prosperous Spanish 
 town with a good harbour and deep tide-water ; but so 
 ofteii had the buccaneers ravaged it, that the inhabitants 
 had abamdoned it and built a new town of the same name 
 five miles further up the river, accessible only to boats of 
 light draught. The strangers re-embarked in; several, 
 canoes, or bongoes, hollowed from the ceiba tree, and by 
 four o'clock that day arrived at New Eealejo. Castellon 
 and his cabinet were at Leon, the Democratic capital, 
 whither Walker and Major Crocker set out the next day 
 escorted by Colonel Eamirez and Captain Doubleday of 
 the native army. The Provisional Director warmly 
 received his new ally, and promptly and formally accepted 
 the immigrants into the military service of Nicaragua. 
 They were organized as a separate corps, under the name 
 of " La Palange Americana,'* or American Phalanx, and 
 placed under the immediate command of their own 
 officers. Commissions were issued on the 20th of June to 
 Walker as colonel, Achilles Kewen as lieutenant-colonel, 
 and Timothy Crocker as major. Orders were given them 
 at once to proceed by water to Eivas, a city of 11,000 
 inhabitants, in the Meridional department, which was 
 held by the enemy. Colonel Eamirez, with two hundred 
 natives, was detailed to help • the Falange, but only half 
 that number answered the roll-call, when the Vesta weighed 
 anchor at Eealejo, on the 23rd of June. 
 
 Walker had seen enough of his new friends to convince 
 him that his ambition had nothing to fear from such 
 rivals. Castellon was an amiable and irresolute gentle- 
 man ; Munoz was ambitious and vain, but incapable. The 
 native soldiery were ill-trained and fickle-minded. Paction 
 had stifled any faint sparks of patriotism in their breasts. 
 A few hundred of them who bore the proud title of 
 veteranos, had smelt powder and could face an enemy after 
 a march of forty miles under a tropical sun. They wore 
 a tasteful uniform and carried muskets and knapsacks. 
 
76 TEE STOBT OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 But the hundred recruits of Eamirez were a Falstaffian 
 corps of indolent, good-natured rascals, who devoted all 
 the intervals between skirmishing to gamking and gossip. 
 As their country's proverb hath it, "they would gamble 
 away the sun before sunrise." In striking contrast with 
 those children of nature were the men of California, with 
 iron nerves and dauntless courage, in whose characters 
 vice lost half its evil by losing, if not its grossness, all 
 its meanness ; men who " deemed no crime, or curse, or 
 vice as dark as that of cowardice." Their manliness was 
 incapable of treachery, falsehood, or the meaner passions, 
 born of a society in which law, the only remedy for wrong, 
 too easily becomes the strongest shield of the wrong-doer. 
 Having summed up their virtues in the comprehensive 
 ones of courage and loyalty, there is little else to be said 
 in their favour. For themselves they would have asked 
 no higher praise, and strict justice can accord them little 
 beyond. 
 
 It was a bold move to attack the enemy in his strong- 
 hold. Rivas and the adjoining country are the most 
 densely populated parts of Nicaragua. The city of Eivas 
 contains eleven thousand inhabitants, while the depart- 
 ment of that name and the adjacent Oriental department 
 number respectively, twenty thousand and ninety-five 
 thousand. Four days after leaving Eealejo, the party, 
 to the number of one hundred and sixty-five, landed at 
 a point on the coast near the town of Brito, and im- 
 mediately began a forced march to Rivas. Midnight and 
 a severe fain storm overtook them in the midst of a 
 strange country, but they trudged patiently along, ankle- 
 deep in mud, shielding their precious ammunition from the 
 falling torrents. On the second night of their march the 
 weather proved a useful' ally, enabling them to surprise 
 and overpower a picket of the enemy at the village of 
 Tola. Next morning they were rewarded by a first sight 
 of Lake Nicaragua in all its matchless beauty. Walker, 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 77 
 
 who had beheld the glories of Switzerland, Italy, and 
 California, pauses in the recital of his dangerous ad- 
 ventures to note the charms of the earthly paradise upon 
 which he had come to launch the horrors of war. Between 
 him and the lake six hundred Legitimists troops lay at 
 Eivas, awaiting the attack. 
 
 No time was lost in forming the plan of assault. To 
 the Falange was awarded the post of honour, the native 
 command of Eamirez being reserved to support them. 
 Kewen and Crocker led the Americans, who, at the word 
 of command, advanced steadily, receiving the enemy's 
 fire with the coolness of veterans, and reserving their 
 own until it could tell most effectively. Then after 
 pouring in a volley they charged with a yell, and drove 
 the advance guard of the Serviles down the narrow streets 
 to the plaza. A' stubborn resistance was made at this 
 point. Crocker was dangerously wounded in two places, 
 his right arm was broken by a musket shot, but he 
 . carried his pistol in his left hand and continued to fire 
 it into the faces of the enemy, until a third shot laid' him 
 dead. -Walker, who had joined his countrymen in the 
 charge, now called for the native reserves to decide the 
 issue ; but they were nowhere to be seen. The poltroons 
 had fled at the first shot. The enemy perceived the 
 defection and pressed the abandoned Falange so hard 
 that they were driven for shelter to some adobe huts, 
 behind whose walls they held their own for three hours. 
 It was a losing game with so small a force, for every 
 man lost was equal to thrice the number of enemies 
 added. Achilles Kewen was the next officer to fall. The 
 hardy pioneer, Doubleday, was shot in the head, though 
 not fatally. Seeing six of his men dead, and twice as 
 many wounded, Walker ordered a sortie. The enemy had 
 lost a hundred and fifty in killed and wounded, and 
 General Boscha, their commander, deemed it wiser to 
 offer no opposition to the departure of the Americans. 
 
•78 THE STOBY OP THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 The Serviles, with cowardly ferocity, killed the wounded 
 men who. had been left on the plaza, and celebrated their 
 victory by burning the bodies. The ghastly bonfire lit 
 up the city as the weary filibusters halted on their retreat 
 near the Transit road to San Juan del Sur. The follow- 
 ■ ing morning they resumed the march to that city, where 
 they arrived" about sunset, on June 30th, in a most 
 deplorable plight. Some were hatless, some shoeless, 
 and all exhausted with battle and travel, as they marched 
 into the town. There is a whole epitome of filibustering 
 in the fact that at such a time two recruits were found 
 to join the ranks of the Falange. " The- Texan, Harry 
 McLeod, and the Irishman, Peter Burns," deserve mention 
 for this characteristic piece of hardihood. 
 
 The Vesta was cruising oif the coast, awaiting orders 
 from Walker, who therefore impressed a Costa Eican 
 schooner, the San Jose, for the purpose of carrying his 
 command to Eealejo, defending his action upon the 
 ground that the same vessel had already been used to 
 carry General Guardiola from Honduras to Nicaragua 
 upon a hostile mission, thus forfeiting her neutral rights. 
 The schooner was confiscated a year afterwards, by 
 Walker, for sailing under a false register, and, being 
 converted into a man-of-war and renamed the Granada, 
 played quite an important part in the climax of this 
 tragedy. 
 
 In this critical hour of his fortunes, Walker's firmness 
 was put to a severe test. A couple of dissolute Americans, 
 who had been living for some time at San Juan, either 
 through drunken folly or private spite, or for the purpose 
 of plunder, set fire to the barracks on shore, for a time 
 placing the whole town in danger of destruction. Walker, 
 foreseeing that the act would be at once attributed to his 
 men, took measures to punish the offenders. One of them 
 escaped from the party detailed to execute him. The 
 other, a gambler named Dewey, took refuge in the hold 
 
THE 8T0B7 OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 79 
 
 of a small boat attached to the stern of the San -Jose. 
 The desperado was well armed, and any attempt to 
 capture him would have proved fatal to one or more of 
 his assailants. So all the night Walker and a guard of 
 men kept watch over the boat, ready to shoot or seize 
 the villain if he tried to escape. At daybreak the schooner 
 put to sea, towing astern the boat in which Dewey lay 
 sheltefed behind a poor native wDman, his wretched 
 mistress. The gambler, as everybody on board knew, 
 was a dead shot, while his guard lay under the dis- 
 advantage of fearing to injure the woman if they fired. 
 At last he rose to cut the boat's painter, and at that 
 moment a rifle ball ended his career. The poor woman 
 was wounded also, but not mortally. Walker takes pains 
 to recount minutely the details of this incident, in order 
 to vindicate the character of his followers. So severe a 
 punishment was not lost upon those of his men who 
 might be inclined to take a baser view of filibusterism 
 than their leader did. 
 
 On the same day they met the Vesta at sea, and em- 
 barking on board the old brig, arrived at Realejo on July 
 1st. Walker was justly incensed at the defection of his 
 native allies at Eivas, and positively refused to continue 
 in the Democratic service without better guarantees of 
 support on emergency than the jealousy of the native 
 commanders seemed likely to allow.. The Falange re- 
 mained several days at Leon, where the firmness of their 
 leader alone averted a collision between them and the 
 troops of Munoz, who had set the example of hostility and 
 distrust towards the new-comers. At last, finding the 
 Cabinet unable to agree upon a fixed policy (though a 
 modified contract had been drawn up, by the terms of 
 which the Falange were to be enlisted in the army of 
 Nicaragua to the number of three, hundred, and receive 
 one hundred dollars a month per man, and five hundred 
 acres of land each at the close of the war). Walker with- 
 
80 TEE STOBY OF THB FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 drew his men from Leon to Eealejo. There he embarked 
 them on the Vesta, with the pretended purpose of depart- 
 ing for Honduras, and entering the service of President 
 Cabanas. Nothing, however, was farther from his intention. 
 The Meridional department, commanding the Transit route, 
 was the point at whose acquisition he steadily aimed. To 
 maintain his foothold in Nicaragua he well knew he must 
 keep open his communication with the United "States 
 and the recruits who were sure to -flock thence to his 
 standard. . 
 
 Castellon was perplexed, fearing equally to part with 
 his valuable allies and to displease Munoz by retaining 
 them. The fortune of war decided the question. The 
 Legitimists under Corral and his Hondureno ally, 
 Guardiola, were drawing close to Leon. Santos Guardiola 
 (his name is still muttered with a curse throughout the 
 length and breadth of the isthmus) was a native of Hondu- 
 ras, who joined the Guatemalan enemies of his coiintry, 
 and, by his unparalleled cruelties to young and old, men 
 and women alike, acquired the dread name of " The Tiger 
 of Honduras." He was sprung from the stock which pro- 
 duces nine-tenths of the murderers and thieves of Central 
 America, the offspring of Indo-African amalgamation 
 known as " Sambos." 
 
 A deadlier foe, the cholera, was also beginning to 
 ravage the Democratic department. To meet Corral 
 and his forces, Munoz went forth with six hundred men, 
 and a sharp engagement occurred at Sauce, in which the 
 enemy was repulsed, but Munoz was slain. The loss of 
 that commander influenced Castellon more than the 
 temporary victory, and he continued to beg Walker to 
 return. But Walker had already secured the co-operation 
 of an influential partisan, Don Jose Maria Valle, who 
 readily enlisted a hundred and sixty men for the enter- 
 prise against the Meridional department, and, with the 
 easy loyalty of his nation, proposed that Walker should 
 
Me 8T0BY OF 'IJHE FtLI^USfEliS. SI 
 
 pronounce against Castellon and set up an independent 
 government. Walker was honourable .enough to reject 
 the ungrateful suggestion, although he did not hesitate to 
 disobey the Provisional Director's commands when, they 
 crossed his own policy. Accordingly, on the 23rd of 
 August the Vesta sailed once more for the Meridional 
 department, and arrived at San. Juan del Sur on the 
 29th. The Legitimists fled at his approach. While the 
 Americans were there" the steamer from San Francisco 
 arrived and departed, carrying back with her, as a recruit- 
 ing agent, the afterwards notorious Parker H. French. 
 
 After a stay of four days Walker set out for Eivas, where 
 Guardiola and six hundred Serviles lay waiting to regain 
 the laurels lost at Sauce. The Americans, after a few 
 hours' march, halted for breakfast at Virgin Bay, on thie 
 lake, and were at once attacked by Guardiola's whole force, 
 who had made a forced march towards San Juan, and 
 then, doubling, followed the Americans to Virgin Bay. 
 Attacked on front and flank, Walker made a good dispo- 
 sition of his little force. Previous experience had taught 
 him that no superiority of discipline, skill, and courage 
 sufficed to counterbalance the numerical odds of eight 
 to one on an open field. He was now to try the 
 effect of pitting the same against a proportion of only 
 five to one, with the ground in his favour. The Falange, 
 as usual, bore the brunt of battle ; but the natives, 
 being better officered than before, fought well. Guardiola 
 was driven back at every point, notwithstanding that his 
 men showed desperate courage, as sixty of their dead 
 bodies attested. But no courage could withstand the 
 deadly marksmanship of the Americans, who, with rifle 
 or revolver, always engaged at close quarters and never 
 wasted a shot. The combat, which hardly deserves the 
 name of a battle, lasted only two hours ; sufficiently long 
 to inflict on the enemy a loss of sixty killed and a hundred 
 wounded. At its conclusion Guardiola withdrew his de- 
 
 7 
 
82 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTES8. 
 
 moralized forces and fled to Eivas. Walker, Doubleday, 
 and a few others were wounded, but none of the Americans, 
 and but three of their native allies, were killed. 
 
 Walker now returned to San Juan, where he picked up 
 a few recruits from among the ranks of homeward-bound 
 Americans on the steamer from California. Here also he 
 learned of the death of Castellon, who had fallen a victim 
 to the cholera. His successor, Don Nasario Escoto, wariply 
 congratulated Walker on his success at Virgin Bay, and 
 promised further aid. Learning from intercepted letters 
 of the authorities at Granada that the city was in an 
 almost defenceless condition, he determined to attack the 
 Legitimist stronghold without awaiting the advance of 
 Corral, who had replaced Guardiola in the command of 
 the enemy. To show his contempt of the latter, he sent 
 the intercepted correspondence to the Legitimist head- 
 quarters, and was not a little surprised at receiving a 
 polite acknowledgment of the courtesy, and a hieroglyphic 
 document from Corral, which proved to consist of Masonic 
 signs. A freemason in the Falange, De Brissot, in- 
 terpreted them to mean an overture for confidential 
 negotiations. No reply was made to the proposition. 
 
 Kecruits continued to flock to the Democratic standard. 
 Colonel Charles Gilman, a one-legged veteran of Sonora, 
 came down with thirty-five men from California. The 
 native allies now numbered about two hundred and fifty. 
 Two small cannon were procured and mounted. By the 
 11th of October Walker had everything in readiness for his 
 most audacious stroke, the capture of Granada, a city as 
 dear to the Legitimist cause, and especially to its proud 
 inhabitants, as was its namesake to the Moors of old 
 Spain. 
 
 Corral was massing his forces at Eivas, hoping, yet 
 fearing, to meet his enemy on the Transit road. No 
 suspicion of an attack on the capital seems to have entered 
 his mind. Dissension was rife in the Legitimist camp 
 
TSE STOMY OF THE FtLlBUSTEBS, 83 
 
 Guardiola and Corral quarrelling for the supreme com' 
 mand. 'The native Democrats on the other side, whatever 
 of jealousy they may have felt towards their foreign allies, 
 carefully veiled their feelings and made a show of the 
 utmost cordiality. Walker enforced absolute discipline 
 without distinction of nationality, a spice of grim humour 
 sometimes seasoning his decisions. Two native officers, 
 having quarrelled all night over some old or new feud, 
 were ordered to settle the affair by going out and fighting 
 a duel next morning, but their courage had oozed away by 
 daybreak, and the trouble was heard of no more. 
 
 At last, on the morning of October 11th, the Democratic 
 army, about four hundred strong, took the line of march 
 over the white Transit road to Virgin Bay. The Falange 
 were in good spirits as" they marched gaily along the dusty 
 highway. They were nearly all in the prime of life — tall, 
 robust, and spirited. Their only distinctive uniform, if it 
 might be called such, was the red ribbon which they wore 
 tied around their black "slouch" hats. They wore blue 
 or red woollen shirts, coarse trousers tucked into heavy 
 boots, with a revolver and a bowie knife in each belt, and 
 a precious rifle on every man's shoulder. Many new faces 
 were in the ranks, and some old ones were missing which 
 could ill be spared from a service of trust and danger. 
 Ten of the original fifty-six had fallen in battle — Kewen, 
 a brave veteran of Mexico and Cuba, Crocker, Mclndoe, 
 Gotham, Bailey, Hews, Wilson, William and Frank Cole, 
 and Estabrook. Sonle were absent on leave, amongst 
 therh the pioneer, Doubleday, who had returned home 
 piqued by an untimely rebuke from his commander. The 
 estrangement did not last long. Doubleday soon wearied 
 of a peaceful life, and was welcomed back by Walker on 
 his return to active service. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 A Servile victory in the North-^ Walker in the enemy's stronghold — 
 Negotiations for peace — Execution ef Mayorga — Bivas chosen 
 Provisional Director — Corral's treason and punishment — Nevi^s- 
 paper history, 
 
 COEEAL lay with the main body of the Lpgitimist 
 army at Eivas, keeping, through his scouts and spies, 
 a close watch on the movements of his enemy. One of 
 those spies, having been caught within the Democratic 
 lines, "was tried by court-martial and summarily shot. 
 Corral fancied that he had his foes in a trap, and he 
 accordingly devoted all his efforts to prevent their retreat 
 to San Juan, as well as to cut off reinforcements from 
 California. Matters, indeed, looked desperate with the 
 Democrats. On the North the Leonese had just been 
 routed in battle by General Martinez at Pueblo Nuevo, 
 and the victor had only halted for. a time at Granada to 
 receive a triumphal ovation before coming down to Eivas 
 to join in the extermination of the filibusters. 
 
 It had been a gala day in the city of Granada. From 
 early dawn to midnight her ten thousand citizens filled 
 the streets and plazas with revelry and congratulations. 
 Salvos of artillery thundered a welcome to the victors, joy 
 bells rang all day, and homhas and rockets wasted precious 
 powder in their honour. Aguardiente flowed freely as 
 water, until the valiant soldiers prayed that Walker might 
 be spared destruction long enough to meet the heroes 
 of Pueblo Nuevo. Far into the night lasted the grand 
 fiesta, till the last drunken reveller had hied him home or 
 
THE STOBY OF THE PILIBU8TEB8. 85 
 
 lain down in the street to dream of reiiewed happiness on 
 the morrow. The tardiest lover had tinkled his farewell 
 on the guitar. In the grand plaza the guard nodded 
 around the watch fire, while from distant pickets came at 
 intervals the long-drawn nasal " Alerte ! " of the sentinels. 
 It was a melodious cry, equally unlike the sharp challenge 
 of the Frenchman or the stern English monosyllables. 
 
 Granada slept, the while a little steamer, with lights 
 cloaked and furnaces hidden, steamed slowly along the 
 shore. Not a sound broke the stillness of the lake, save 
 the lap of surf or the plash of the startled saurian. The 
 jaguar prowling among the orange trees on the shore 
 challenged the unfamiliar noise, and the night birds passed 
 along the cry of warning which was lost upon the ears of 
 the sleepy sentinels. They drowsed over their waning 
 fires until the gray of morning broke on the mountains, 
 and from convent and church tower the joy-bells renewed 
 the merry peals. Here and there a straggling sentry 
 discharged his piece in response. Another and- another 
 shot were heard ; then, suddenly, a short, sharp volley 
 such as never came from the mouth of smooth-bore 
 musket. The joy-bells changed to a loud alarm as a 
 terrified sentinel rushed in from the South suburb, 
 crying, " The enemy are on us ! the Pilibusteros ! " Close 
 upon his heels came the broken and demoralized picket, 
 with the advanced guard of Americans under Walker and 
 Valle galloping on their track. 
 
 The surprised garrison, after the first panic, rallied and 
 made a short stand on the plaza, until an impetuous 
 charge of the invaders swept them away, In less time 
 than has been taken to tell it one hundred and ten 
 filibusters had taken by assault the city of Granada, 
 without losing a man — literally, for a drummer-boy was 
 the only victim on their side. 
 
 The surprise was complete, and the consequence of 
 supreme importance to Walker, who, from the chief city 
 
86 THE STOBY OF THE F1LXBU8TEE8. 
 
 of -the Servile party, might dictate terms to Central 
 America. Corral had been completely outgeneralled, 
 nobody but Walker himself and his trusted aids, Valle 
 and Hornsby, having been acquainted with the object of 
 the expedition when it set out from Virgin Bay. 
 
 Walker, as soon as he had organized a provisional 
 government and convinced his native allies by vigorous 
 measures that the conquered city was not to be .subjected 
 to the usual treatment of plunder and violence, sent a' 
 delegation to negotiate with Corral. The envoys were met 
 with a' polite negative, while the United States minister, 
 Mr. Wheeler, who had accompanied them in the character 
 of a peacemakerj was thrown into prison and threatened 
 with other punishments, whence ensued much diplomatic 
 correspondence and official shedding of ink. 
 
 Meanwhile the hope of a peaceable understanding was 
 seriously jeopardi25ed by the folly of one of Walker's new 
 recruits, Parker H. French. He had come to San Juan 
 with a body of new men from California, and after crossing 
 the Transit had seized one of the lake steamers, with the 
 intention of capturing Fort San Carlos, at the head of the 
 San Juan Eiver, the same stronghold which in its days of 
 power had been the key to the Transit route and to lake 
 navigation. French was easily repulsed, and made his 
 way to Granada to report his misadventures. Tidings of 
 bis deeds reaching Eivas in the ineantime, some Legitimist 
 soldiers, by way of reprisal, attacked and killed six or 
 seven Californian passengers who were awaiting at Tii'gin 
 Bay a chance of passage to the Atlantic coast. Shortly 
 afterwards the commandant of Fort San Carlos fired into 
 a westward-bound steamer, killing some passengers who 
 were as innocent of complicity with French or the filibusters 
 as had been the other victims at Virgin Bay. The protest 
 of the American minister being treated with contempt, 
 Walker, with questionable justice,' retaliated by ordering 
 a court-martial on the Legitimist Secretary of State, Don 
 
THE STORY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 87 
 
 Mateo Mayorga, who had heen captured at the taking of 
 Granada. Such a method of holding a cabinet minister 
 responsible for the acts of his government was enforcing 
 the principles of constitutional rule with a vengeance. 
 The court was composed of the secretary's countrymen, 
 who brought in a verdict of. guilty, and Mayorga was 
 promptly executed. Although personally refraining from 
 interfering in the case, and only reluctantly sanctioning 
 the sentence of death, it is evident that Walker had begun 
 to learn the Central American method of conducting war- 
 fare. But the execution, if morally unjustified, proved to be 
 a wise act politically. Corral at once agreed to treat for 
 peace, and a meeting between him and Walker was 
 arranged to take place at Granada on the 23rd of October. 
 
 Again the bells of Granada rang out in joy, and the 
 light-hearted populace welcomed the festival whether of 
 peace or of war. The Falange, now some tenscore strong, 
 joined with the native soldiery in a military welcome to 
 their late enemies. 
 
 At the approach of Corral, Walker, attended by his staff, 
 rode out of the suburbs to meet him. The commanders 
 saluted one another with grave cordiality, and re-entered 
 the city side by side, proceeding to the grand cathedral, 
 where Padre Vijil, the curate of Granada, offered up a 
 High Mass, and Te Deunis of thanksgiving were sung. 
 Nor did the good father fail in his sermon to show the 
 advantages to his beloved country attending the presence 
 of the strange American of the North. Unlike many of 
 his cloth, the father was a fervent Democrat, and remained 
 through life a warm friend of the Americans. He was a 
 man of singularly broad and far-seeing mind, who placed 
 country before party, and human brotherhood above the 
 differences of birth or creed — a type of character suffi- 
 ciently rare even among colder and less impulsive nations. 
 
 Handsome Corral was the darling of the Granadinos. 
 lie had the superficial traits which draw popularity — 
 
88 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 
 
 dash, openhandedness, physical beauty, and a sunny 
 disposition ; but he was weak, vain, and untrustworthy, 
 for all that. We have seen how he coquetted with Walker, 
 while in command of the Legitimist forces, treating for 
 peace and imprisoning its envoys. Having come to 
 Granada to complete the negotiations, he now betrayed 
 the rights of his principal, the President, so caUed, 
 Estrada, and entered into a sacred compact with the 
 Leonese, whose acts were sanctioned by their nominal 
 President. 
 
 By the terms of the agreement Don Patricio Eivas was 
 appointed President pro tempore, with the following cabinet : 
 Mazimo Jerez, Minister of Eelations ; Firmin Ferrer, 
 Minister of Public Credit ; Parker H. French, Minister of 
 Hacienda, Ponciano Corral, Minister of War. Walker was 
 appointed generalissimo of the army, which consisted of 
 twelve hundred men, distributed throughout the country in 
 small garrisons. Five hundred men were stationed at 
 Leon, and the remainder at Virgin Bay, Granada, Eivas, 
 and other fortified positions. The general in chief received 
 a salary of five hundred dollars a month, and his subordi- 
 nates were awarded correspondingly liberal pay, or promises 
 to pay. There were seven surgeons and two chaplains 
 attached to- the forces; the former held no sinecure. 
 
 During the progress of the negotiations Corral, with the 
 small subtlety of miniature politics, had sought to entrap 
 Walker in various ways, such as requiring him to take tbe 
 oath upon "the Crucifix, and similar ceremonial punc- 
 tilioes, to which Walker, as a Protestant, might have been 
 expected to object, but, like a man of sense, did not. He 
 rightly judged that the keeping of an oath was of more 
 importance than the form of taking it ; and therein he 
 differed from Corral, who was detected, a few days after 
 the formation of the government, in treasonable cor- 
 respondence with the neighbouring states. A native 
 courier deceived the traitor, and placed in Walker's hands 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 89 
 
 the fatal letters containing indisputable proofs of the 
 writer's guilt. 
 
 To Xatruch, a Legitimist refugee, he had written, nine 
 days after the signing of the treaty, begging him to 
 foment hostility against the new administration. In a 
 similar strain he wrote to Guardiola, the Honduran 
 Servile leader, conjuring him to arouse the Legitimist 
 element everywhere against the American intruders : 
 " Nicaragua is lost, lost are Honduras, San Salvador, 
 and Guatemala if they let this thing prevail. Let 
 them come quickly, if they would meet auxiliaries." 
 General Martinez, commanding at Managua, was also 
 implicated in the -treason, but received warning in time 
 to fly the country. 
 
 Walker at once requested the President and Cabinet to 
 meet him, and laid before them the evidence of Corral's 
 guilt. A court-martial was convened, the members of 
 which were all Americans, such, it is said, being the wish 
 of the accused, who knew that he could expect no mercy 
 from his countrymen. From the same motive, he did not 
 deny his guilt, but threw himself on the mercy of his 
 judges, relying, as it proved, overmuch on the magna- 
 nimity which the Americans had heretofore displayed. He 
 was sentenced to die by the fusillade at noon of the 
 next day, November the 7th. The time of execution was 
 subsequently postponed two hours. The friends of the 
 condemned made earnest appeals for mercy in his behalf, 
 being seconded by the leading public citizens, and par- 
 ticularly by Padre Vijil, the gentle apostle of peace; but 
 Walker, though much moved and fully aware of the odious 
 construction which his enemies would put upon the act, 
 firmly refused the petition. The treason was too flagrant, 
 the example unfortunately too necessary, and mercy to 
 such a traitor would have been injustice to every loyal man 
 in the state. 
 
 Corral died at the appointed hour, and the lesson was 
 
90 THE STOBY OF THE PILIBU8TEJR8. 
 
 not wholly lost upon his accomplices. Walker has been 
 bitterly censured for this piece of stern justice, especially 
 at home in the United States, where the act was mis- 
 represented as that of a suspicious tyrani who thus rid 
 himself of a dangerous rival. But there is not the 
 slightest reason for regarding Corral's death as aught but 
 the well-merited punishment of an utterly unscrupulous 
 villain. His whole conduct in connection with the late 
 war was consistent with his last and fatal treachery. Even 
 the morality of Nicaragua, loose as it was in matters of 
 public faith, while lamenting the fate of Handsome « 
 Ponciano, confessed that he was well-named " Corral," 
 the beautiful but deadly serpent of the country. 
 
 That. impartial justice governed the action of Walker is 
 evident from an incident which occurred on the very day 
 on which Corral was indicting his treason to Xatruch and 
 Guardiola. Patrick Jordan, a soldier of the Falange, 
 while intoxicated, shot and mortally wounded a native 
 boy. Jordan was tried by court-martial and sentenced to 
 death. Padre Vijil and many others, including the mother 
 of the murdered boy, begged in vain for leniency to the 
 culprit. On the 3rd of November, two days after the 
 commission of his crime, Jordan was shot at sunrise. 
 Walker's detractors commented characteristically upon 
 this execution, picturing the impartial judge as another 
 Mokanna, delighting in the suffering of friend as of foe. 
 The historian, groping in the darkness of contemporaneous" 
 journalism for facts of current history, wherever those 
 facts bear upon the so-called political issues of the time, 
 finds himself floundering at every step in sloughs of false- 
 hoods or quicksands of misrepresentation. The evil, 
 unhappily, is confined to no party or epoch. Walker 
 being a champion, and a bigoted one, of a certain party, 
 paid the inevitable penalty, that of being equally over- 
 praised and underrated, according to the political preju- 
 dices of his critics, 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUmtLii^- 91 
 
 To Don Buenaventura Selva was given to^&e vacant 
 portfolio of war. The representative of the United^iates 
 recognized the new administration. The neighbouring 
 states of Liberal tendencies sent assurances of hearty 
 friendship ; those in which the Servile party was supreme 
 maintained a diplomatic silence. Peace reigned through- 
 out the length and breadth of Nicaragua, the peace of her 
 own slumbering volcanoes. 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Pilibusterism abroad — Kinney's Expedition — The filibusters and their 
 allies — An aristocracy of leather — Pierce and Marey — A rupture 
 with the United States — Costa Eica declares war— Sehlessinger's 
 fiasco — Cosmopolitan adventurers — Steamers withdrawn — His- 
 tory of the Transit , Company — Vanderbilt plans vengeance — 
 The printing-press on the field. 
 
 IN the United States, particularly in California, 
 Walker's amazing success gave an impulse to fili- 
 bustering of a different, because more sanguine, nature 
 from that produced by the first expeditions of Lopez to 
 Cuba. Prance and England also awoke to behold with 
 dismay this solution of the Central American problem. 
 Not less alarmed was the Conservative element in Spanish 
 America, the more reactionary part of which talked wildly 
 of calling in a European protectorate- and of breaking off 
 commer6ial intercourse with the North Americans. Mexico, 
 Cuba, Ecuador, and Central America were threatened by 
 invading expeditions, while Nicaragua was made the objec- 
 tive point of an actual invasion from the Atlantic coast 
 It will be remembered that the Mosquito king's grant to 
 the Shepards had been transferred to a colonization com- 
 pany in the United States ; upon the strength of which 
 Henry L. Kinney, of Philadelphia, proceeded to occupy 
 his property. But there were many difficulties in the way. 
 The grant had been revoked by his Majesty in a lucid 
 interval. Great Britain, as guardian of the kingdom, 
 repudiated the contract. Nicaragua steadily declined to 
 recognize the rights of either party to her territory ; and, 
 
THM 8T0BY OP TSE PILIBVSTSbB. 93 
 
 to complete the adventurer's misfortune, the Federal 
 authorities arrested him when about to lead his first 
 detachment of colonists to his tropical possessions. Not 
 to rehearse the tedious litigation which followed, it sufSces 
 to say that the Kinney Expedition, having succeeded in 
 embarking, was shortly afterwards wrecked on Turk's 
 Island, finally reaching San Juan del Norte in a most 
 forlorn plight. There new misfortunes overtook them. 
 Most of the military colonists sailed up the river to share 
 the more promising fortunes of Walker, to whom Kinney 
 himself, despairing of success unaided, at last made over- 
 tures for an alliance offensive and defensive. But the 
 messenger found Walker firmly entrenched in power and, 
 as a member of the government, bound to consider all 
 foreign claims on the Mosquito coast as mere usurpations. 
 Had it been otherwise, he might perhaps have returned a 
 less peremptory answer than the brief threat : " Tell Mr, 
 Kinney, or Colonel Kinney, or whatever he calls himself, 
 that if I find him on Nicaraguan soil, I will most assuredly 
 hang him." The new element in Nicaragua did not fail to 
 uphold the sovereign independence of the country with 
 zeal, even if it may have sometimes lacked discretion. 
 Walker was a stickler for dignity, and never failed to exact 
 the respect due to himself, his office, and his flag. An 
 English merchant, of Eealejo, who had resisted a Govern- 
 ment levy, and, with the sublime assurance of his race, 
 had hoisted the Union Jack over his house, was caustically 
 invited by Walker to lower the emblem or produce his 
 Government's license to display the flag of a representa- 
 tive. " If he refuses," said Walker, " tear it down, 
 trample it under foot, and put the fellow in irons." The 
 Englishman knew enough of law to see that he had 
 no authority for the display of bunting, which he 
 accordingly furled, paid the requisition, and cursed the 
 Yankee lawyer who had taught him a lesson. Walker was 
 versed in the law of nations, but he unfortunately over- 
 
94 TEE STOSY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 looked the fact that those wise statutes are framed for the 
 control of strong nations dealing with their peers. It is 
 not enough to be right, or to know one's rights, unless the 
 power to maintain them accompany the knowledge. A 
 touch of the lawyer's weakness for technical rights always 
 marked this curious outlaw. 
 
 In the dazzling success of the Falange, the disasters of 
 Kinney were forgotten, and many a band of hardy adven- 
 turers was tempted to rival their deeds. For a time it 
 seemed as though the spirit of the Vikings had been 
 revived in the land discovered by Eric the Eed. On the 
 Pacific coast those incursions sometimes assumed, as we 
 have seen, formidable proportions. Sonora, Arizona, 
 Lower California, and even the Sandwich Islands, were the 
 various goals of ambitious adventurers, some of whom 
 never carried their schemes into effect ; others, like Colonel 
 Crabbe, made a really imposing campaign fOT a brief space, 
 only to die fruitless deaths, the victims of Spanish cruelty. 
 
 The filibusters were by no means impelled to risk life 
 and liberty through an abstract love of freedom or dis- 
 interested affection for their oppressed allies. They were, 
 on the contrary, rather prone to turn to their own 
 advantage the fruits of hard-won victory. Their extenu- 
 ation lies in the worthless character of their allies, who 
 invariably deserted them in extremity, and left the 
 foreigner to save himself. It was so in Cuba, in Sonora, 
 in Nicaragua, though there were honourable exceptions 
 everywhere. A contempt and mistrust of the native 
 character, often but ill-concealed, did not serve to make the 
 alliance any more sincere. In Nicaragua, for the present 
 at least, gratitude was stronger than prejudice, and the 
 party favouring the Americans was powerful and enthu- 
 siastic. The common people remained faithful through- 
 out ; it was the calzados, the middle and upper classes 
 composing the Conservative party, who hated the foreigner 
 because they felt his superiority, and his still more galling 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FIL1BUSTEB8. 95 
 
 eonseiousness thereof. The calzados were those who 
 wore shoes, as distinguished from the barefoot rabble. 
 Aristocracy, based on such inherent merit, is naturally 
 jealous of its prerogatives. 
 
 Almost every steamer from California brought down a 
 squad, greater or less, of recruits. Amongst the earliest 
 was a brother of the Achilles Kewen killed at the first 
 battle of Eivas. E. J. C. Kewen was one of the most 
 valuable of Walker's staff, on which he served throughout 
 the war. Quite characteristic of the time and place is 
 the matter-of-fact way in which the San Francisco papers 
 state that Colonel Kewen participated as second in a duel 
 at that place on the day preceding his departure for 
 Nicaragua. Business before pleasure. 
 
 During the four months which followed the formation of 
 the new government, Walker gathered about him a force of 
 Americans and other foreigners numbering twelve hundred. 
 They came from all parts of the Union, but chiefly from 
 the Southern and Pacific states. Kecruiting offices were 
 opened in San Francisco, whose agents penetrated the 
 mining camps and interior towns, unnoticed or unhindered 
 by the Government authorities. Whenever any opposition 
 was offered, the volunteers frequently bought through 
 tickets to New York, and stopped at Nicaragua to enjoy a 
 little filibustering. In the east more stringent precautions 
 were taken by the authorities, though without much effect, 
 as the colonists were responding to the invitation of the 
 Nicaraguan Government, and could not be legally hindered. 
 Among the adventurers were many idle and desperate 
 characters attracted by visions of beauty and booty, with 
 the broad license of a freebooter's camp. To such the 
 reality proved a terrible revelation ; they found, instead of 
 a free lance's easy discipline, a system of military govern- 
 ment emulating in its stringent laws that of the great 
 Frederick. Walker's abstemiousness was supplemented 
 by the virtue, much rarer in men of his class, of absolute 
 
96 fHE STOBY OF THE PiLIBUSTEiltS. 
 
 personal chastity in thought, word, and deed. Drunken- 
 ness, debauchery, and profanity were vices which he 
 abhorred. The man who was detected selling liquor to a 
 soldier was punished by a fine of 250 dols. ; the drunkard 
 was sent to the guard-house for ten days. With whisky 
 of a vile quality selling at 2|- dols. a bottle, and the 
 terrors of punishment before the eyes of both buyer and 
 seller, drunkenness was rare in Granada. On the outposts 
 discipline was more lax, officers and men availing them- 
 selves of secrecy to evade their general's stern commands. 
 The well-behaved, on the other hand, were treated with 
 the greatest favour, receiving their regular pay of a hundred 
 dollars a month, according to some — a quarter of that sum, 
 according to others — and a contingent title to five hundred 
 acres of land. 
 
 The assurance of peace alone was needed to make 
 Nicaragua, the veritable " Mahomet's Paradise" which its 
 discoverers'had named it. But there was no such assurance 
 or prospect in view. Even had Walker been willing to rest 
 content with his present wonderful success, he would 
 not have been permitted so to curb his ambition. His 
 enemies were too many and too powerful and implacable. 
 Great Britain, which had been trespassing, secretly 
 or openly, for half a century, on the rights of the weak 
 Spanish-American republics, could not allow so rich a 
 prize to pass into the hands of the hated "Yankee." 
 Money, men, and arms were furnished to the neighbouring 
 states, and every pretext was made use of to stir up a 
 crusade against the Americans. 
 
 Enemies as bitter, though less powerful to injure openly, 
 influenced the administration at Washington. The Sec- 
 retary of State, William L. Marcy, was a politician who 
 is best remembered by his enunciation of the notorious 
 political maxim, "To the victors belong the spoils." Marcy 
 had no personal ill-will towards Walker or his political 
 friends, he was not the man to indulge a wanton grudge, 
 
THE STORY OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 97 
 
 but he carried into the great office which he filled the 
 aims, sympathies, prejudices, and alliances of a thorough 
 politician. To him the traditions of his country, the 
 dignity of his high position, the honour of the republic were 
 secondary ideas. What his party would .say, how his acts 
 would be criticized at Albany or on Wall Street, these 
 were the thoughts which swayed his mind and governed 
 his conduct. Like master, like man, Franklin Pierce was 
 mentally as small as his secretary. So when a minister 
 plenipotentiary from Nicaragua presented his credentials 
 at Washington, and the other resident ministers protested 
 against his being received, a terrible consternation fell 
 upon the minds of President and Secretary. Mr. 
 Marcolletta, the former minister, though recalled by the 
 Government of Nicaragua, stoutly refused to resign. The 
 other foreign ministers espoused his cause, and the secre- 
 tary had the amazing stupidity to argue the case gravely 
 with those officious gentlemen. Colonel Wheeler, the 
 ininister to Nicaragua, being appealed to, confirmed the 
 de facto and de jure claims of the Eivas Government, 
 adding, as a proof of the country's tranquility, the striking 
 fact, that " not a single prisoner, for any offence, is now 
 confined in the Eepublic — a circumstance unknown before 
 in the country." 
 
 Mr. Marcy had now no choice but to acknowledge the 
 credentials of the new representative, when the discovery 
 of a grave blunder of Walker's saved him the humiliation. 
 No official objection could be urged against the minister, 
 but unfortunately for him, there were pronounced personal 
 objections strong enough to warrant the district attorney 
 in New York in ordering his arrest on a criminal process. 
 The individual, Parker H. French, was the same one- 
 armed hero whose fiasco before Fort San Carlos had 
 brought the Falange into disrepute and provoked the 
 Virgin Bay massacre. Walker discovered when too late 
 the unworthy antecedents of his envoy, whose conduct 
 
 8 
 
98 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUBTEB8 
 
 in Nicaragua should have been enough to disqualify him ; 
 but regarding his arrest as a violation of diplomatic pri- 
 vilege, he had him recalled, dismissed the American 
 minister to Nicaragua, and suspended diplomatic inter- 
 course with the United States. Some months later, and 
 after the United States had declined to receive a second 
 minister, Don Firmin Ferrer, Walker sent a third repre- 
 sentative, in the person of the good Padre Yijil, who 
 proved acceptable at Washington, as much on account 
 of his high character as for the news which he brought 
 with him, that Walker had routed his Costa Eica enemies, 
 and frightened back the Serviles of the North. Franklin 
 Pierce was not the man to turn his back upon a friend 
 in prosperity, though his good will was not shared by 
 Mr. Marcy. The Nicaraguan minister was received in 
 form, but met with such studied discourtesy from the 
 Secretary of State and his underlings that the cultured 
 and amiable gentleman was glad to return, after a brief 
 sojourn, to the better- mannered society of Nicaragua. 
 
 But the fickle conduct of President Pierce and his 
 cabinet had exposed the weak joint in Walker's armour 
 to his quick-eyed enemies in Central America and in 
 Europe. The filibuster, so far from having the support 
 of his native country, was apparently without a friend 
 there. English consuls and men-of-war captains saw that 
 they might crush out with impunity this adventurer and 
 restore the supremacy of European infiuence on the 
 isthmus. All the Servile partisans in the neighbouring 
 states and the disaffected Legitimists of Nicaragua united 
 to expel the foreign element. The Costa Eican consul- 
 general in London wrote to his President, Don Juan 
 Eafael Mora, in a letter which feU into Walker's hands, 
 that the British Government would sell to Costa Eica two 
 thousand army muskets, at a nominal price, for the 
 purpose of "kicking Walker and his associates out of 
 Nicaragua." British friendship was not purely disin- 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 99 
 
 terested nor did it proceed solely from hatred of Americans. 
 Seventeen million dollars invested by English capitalists 
 in Costa Eican bonds were the substantial basis of that 
 interest. It is painful to reflect upon the fact that those 
 bonds were afterwards defaulted to the last dollar. 
 
 A deputation sent from Nicaragua to negotiate a 
 treaty of peace with Costa Eica was ignominiously 
 expelled the latter country. Guatemala, San Salvador, 
 and Honduras also declined to recognize the new adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 On the 26th of February, 1B56, Costa Eica declared war 
 against Nicaragua, for the expressed purpose of driving the 
 foreign invaders from the soil of Central America. Distant 
 Peru sympathized with the crusaders by advancing a loan 
 of ^150,000 to aid the righteous campaign. President Mora 
 at once collected a force of nine thousand men, and prepared 
 to march on Guanacaste. A counter declaration of war 
 was immediately issued by President Eivas. Walker, as 
 general-in-chief, summoned his men to meet him on the 
 plaza of Granada, and, having had the proclamation of 
 hostilities read to them, made a stirring address, con- 
 cluding with a peroration well suited to his hearers : " We 
 have sent them the olive branch ; they have sent us back 
 the knife. Be it so. We shall give them war to the knife, 
 and the knife to the hilt." 
 
 Unfortunately the of&cer chosen to lead the advance on 
 Costa Eica proved to be a knife more dangerous to the 
 hand which held than to the breast before it. Colonel 
 Louis Schlessinger was given the command, partly by way 
 of compensation for the ill-treatment which he had received 
 from the Costa Eicans when he went thither as one of the 
 peace commissioners. Another of the commissioners named 
 Arguello had deserted to the enemy. The third, Captain 
 W. A. Sutter, son of the famous discoverer of gold in 
 California, alone showed himself possessed of ability and 
 honesty. Walker was not happy in his choice of civil 
 
100 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 ofScers, but it must be remembered that the supply of 
 such material was limited. Heaven-inspired statesmen do 
 not flock to the support of a cause so dangerous and 
 and unpromising as his. 
 
 If Schlessinger was a poor diplomat, he was a worse 
 soldier. Starting with a force of two hundred men, he 
 crossed the border of Guanacaste on the 19th of March. 
 Five companies, of forty men each, had been divided, 
 according to their nationalities or origin, into a French 
 company, under Captain Legaye, a German under Prange, ' 
 a New Orleans under Thorpe, a New York under Creighton, 
 and a Oalifornian under Rudler. The American companies 
 comprised men of every English-speaking nation, " blown 
 from the four parts of the earth." This division, which a 
 skilful commander might have turned to account by ex- 
 citing a generous rivalry, was but a source of weakness in 
 the hands of the incapable Schlessinger, himself a foreigner 
 and little popular with his men. 
 
 Their first and only engagement occurred at the Hacienda 
 of Santa Eosa, twelve miles within the boundary of Guana- 
 caste. Schlessinger allowed himself to be surprised, the 
 enemy under a skilful officer, the Prussian Baron von 
 Bulow, attacking him with a force of five hundred regulars, 
 and winning an easy victory. Schlessinger did not even 
 make a show of resistance, but ran away at the first shot, 
 followed by the German and French companies. CaptaiiV 
 Eudler and Major O'Neill made a brave stand with the 
 New York and California companies, until some fifty of 
 their command were killed, when the survivors made the 
 best of their way off the field and across the border. Only 
 a poor drummer -boy remained beating his drum with 
 childish glee until shot down at his post. The wounded 
 and the prisoners were all put to death by order of Presi- 
 dent Mora, who had proclaimed no quarter to every fili- 
 buster taken in arms. So ended the battle of Santa Eosa, 
 on the 20th of March. 
 
TSE StOtlY OF THE FlLlSUSfEBS. 161 
 
 Schlessinger was court-marshalled on his return, found 
 guilty of cowardice, and sentenced to death, but he escaped 
 punishment by breaking his parole during the trial and 
 fleeing to Costa Eica. More than twenty years afterwards 
 he reappears in the courts of that country, claiming reward 
 for the service rendered the state on the occasion just 
 narrated. 
 
 The heterogeneous character of the filibusters, even at 
 this early date, may be seen from a list of the prisoners 
 butchered after the battle of Santa Eosa, of whom six 
 were natives of the United States, three of Ireland, three 
 of Germany, one of Italy, one of Corfu, one of Samos, one 
 of France, two of Prussia, and one of Panama. 
 
 So unexpected was the rout that the victors, fearing a 
 ruse, did not pursue their advantage. The demoralized 
 fugitives returned in straggling parties, some without 
 arms, some in rags, and all crest-fallen and disgraced. 
 To cover their shame they exaggerated the numbers and 
 prowess of the enemy, who, indeed, had behaved with 
 great skill and courage, proving a formidable foe when 
 well led. 
 
 For some days a panic prevailed in the Democratic 
 headquarters. Matters were in a critical condition. The 
 Legitimists in the State, always secretly disaffected, 
 hastened to spread the news of the defeat among their 
 friends in the North. Honduras and the neighbouring 
 republics grew firmer in their refusal to recognize the 
 Eivas Government, and Guardiola began to mass his 
 savage troops on the border of Leon. The demoralization 
 spread among the Americans themselves. Faint-hearted 
 of&cers, erstwhile thirsting for glory, suddenly began to 
 long for a return home, and to send in applications for 
 furlough. Walker lay tossing on a bed of fever, the while 
 his enemies conspired against him and fair-weather friends 
 deserted him. But he had many a stout heart among his 
 trusty veterans, men who welcomed danger as a gambler 
 
102 THE StOBt OP TSE ElLtBJjStEBS. 
 
 courts his risks, and who bade good-bye to their shrinking 
 comrades with a fine scorn worthy of Pizarro's old lieu- 
 tenant, CarTajal, who sang : 
 
 " The wmcl blows the hairs off my head, mother — 
 Two by two it blows them away." 
 
 Another misfortune at this moment overtook the ad- 
 venturers. The steamers of the Transit Company were 
 suddenly withdrawn, and all communication with California 
 was suspended. Though it stopped desertion, this isolation 
 also cut off the coming of recruits. This action of the 
 company was the result of a misunderstanding of long 
 date. By the terms of its charter it was bound to pay to the 
 Government of Nicaragua ten thousand dollars annually, 
 and 10 per cent, of its net profits. The company claimed, 
 and the Government denied, that the ten thousand dollars 
 had been paid with some regularity ; but by a process of 
 bookkeeping, well known to financiers, the accounts never 
 showed a balance of net profit upon which to -levy the 
 additional tithe. Against this deception the weak and 
 ephemeral administrations of Nicaragua had at times 
 feebly protested. The agents of the company bullied, 
 deceived, or bribed them into silence, and went on reaping 
 a golden harvest, until the installation of the Eivas ad- 
 ministration. Cornelius Vanderbilt was then managing the 
 company's affairs in New York, while its Western business 
 was conducted by Morgan and Garrison at San Francisco. 
 Vanderbilt, a man of boundless ambition and no weak 
 scruples, soon made himself master of the company's 
 resources. Nicaragua had never challenged the Wall 
 Street autocrat until Walker took the country's affairs 
 in hand. One of his first steps was the appointment 
 of a commission to examine the Transit Company's 
 books. The commission reported that the Government 
 had been defrauded flagrantly and systematically for 
 
TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 103 
 
 years, and that a' balance, amounting to over ^250,000 
 ■was lawfully due to it. Vanderbilt peremptorily declined 
 either to acknowledge or liquidate the debt, repeating the 
 vague threats with which he had been used to awe the 
 little officials of former days. 
 
 Thereupon the ex-lawyer of California simply directed 
 the authorities to seize the company's property as security, 
 revoking at the same time the old charter and granting a 
 new one to Messrs. Randolph and Crittenden. This occurred 
 on the 18th of February. The last act of the old company 
 had been the transportation of two hundred and fifty recruits 
 from San Francisco, the draft for whose passage money was 
 paid by Vanderbilt, some days afterwards, while he was 
 yet ignorant of the sequestration of his property. The 
 Wall Street dictator was very angry, but bided his time 
 and quietly despatched a draft for a much larger sum, 
 payable to the order of Juan Eafael Mora, President of 
 Costa Eica. He then made a formal protest and appeal to 
 Secretary Marcy, invoking the help of the United States. 
 Marcy, however, was too old a politician to identify himself 
 openly with the unsavoury interests of the Transit Company, 
 a corporation whose history is summed up by Minister 
 Squier, as " an infamous career of deception and fraud." 
 He quieted his friend Vanderbilt with promises which were 
 only too well kept. The vengeance of the money king was 
 not contented with abetting Walker's enemies. Nothing 
 short of the filibuster's ruin would suffice to soothe the 
 wounded pride of Vanderbilt. The man of millions was 
 no mean power in affairs commercial and political at home. 
 When he undertook to use his resources against an almost 
 penniless adventurer abroad, the might of money proved 
 to be air but omnipotent. 
 
 In December Kewen was sent to California to di-spose of 
 a million dollars' worth of the bonds of the State of Nica- 
 ragua. He was instructed to sell no bonds below a minimum 
 of 90 per cent, of the face value, and it does not appear 
 
104 THE BT0B7 OP THB FILIBU8TEM. 
 
 that he did dispose of any below that price — few, indeed — 
 at or above it. 
 
 Another feature of a stable government appeared about 
 this time. In the early Spanish invasions the outward 
 adjuncts of religion always followed in the wake of the" 
 army. It was in keeping with the changed condition, of 
 affairs that the printing-press should accompany the 
 filibuster. Two newspapers were already in full play in 
 Nicaragua. El Nicaraguense, of Granada, and the Herald, 
 of Masaya. Like the occasionally militant churchmen of 
 Ferdinand, the editors and printers of Nicaragua were not 
 strictly men of peace, but were wont, when occasion served, 
 to exchange the pen for the sword. On this account their 
 war despatches ought to have been most authentic, being 
 commonly written and published on the field. John Tabor, 
 the editor and proprietor of El Nicaraguense, was twice 
 wounded in the pursuit of his novel duties, but lived to 
 accompany Walker on his second invasion, in 1857, when, 
 alas ! his ready press was not called upon to -chronicle any 
 glorious victories. 
 
CHAPTEE XL 
 
 The Costa Eicans invade Nicaragua — Second battle of Eivas — The 
 enemy meet a new foe — Eivas orders an election — Walker a 
 candidate — Treason of Eivas — Murder of Estrada — Coalition of 
 the Northern States against Nicaragua — Walker chosen Presi- 
 dent — Inauguration and recognition by the United States minister 
 —Tradition of the " Gray-eyed Man." 
 
 WALKER was less concerned about his enemies in the 
 United States than those nearer home, though he 
 never committed the mistake of undervaluing a dangerous 
 foe or the weakness of forgiving him. Three thousand 
 Costa Eicans had crossed the border and overrun the 
 southern part of Eivas. It was no time for fever of body 
 or mind. Walker arose from his bed and suramoned his 
 forces to strike a vigorous blow for his rights. Eivas, the 
 President, was at Leon, watching and waiting; he had 
 placed the southern departments under martial law, and 
 given absolute power to the commander-in-chief. Walker 
 no longer opposed the enemy's march on Eivas, as his 
 object in holding the Transit had been lost with the with- 
 drawal of the steamers. All the American troops at Eivas 
 and Virgin Bay were accordingly removed to Granada, with 
 the ostensible purpose of retreating at once to Leon. When 
 the enemy entered Virgin Bay they found . there only the 
 native inhabitants and a few foreign employes of the 
 Transit Company. Without a word of warning, they 
 opened fire on the latter, killing some nine or ten unarmed 
 servants of Mr. Vanderbilt, and with a zeal for which that 
 gentleman would have been far .from grateful, burned all 
 of the company's property in wharves and warehouses 
 
106 THE STOBT OF THB FILIBU8TEB8. 
 
 which they could find. After completing the work of de- . 
 struction, they marched to Eivas, where President Mora 
 took up his abode and cautiously awaited the movements 
 of Walker. The latter kept his counsel so well that no 
 one knew whether he intended retreating to Leon or aban- 
 doning the country entirely. The latter course seemed the 
 more probable, as the lake steamer, San Carlos, had been 
 for some days engaged in carrying men and munition 
 acro'ss the lake and down the river to Forts San Carlos 
 and Castillo Viejo. A sidelight was thrown on these 
 movements, when Lieutenant Green, with only fifteen men, 
 surprised a Costa Eica force of two hundred at the mouth 
 of the Serapiqui, killing twenty-seven of them and putting 
 the rest to flight. 
 
 At last, on the morning of April 9th, Walker rode out 
 of Granada at the head, of five hundred men, four-fifths 
 of them Americans, and pressed rapidly southward towards 
 Eivas, where Mora lay encamped, with Prussian von Bulow 
 and three thousand regulars. There were several English, 
 French, and Germans acting with the Costa Eicans, some 
 as volunteers and many as mercenaries. At eight o'clock, 
 on the morning of the 11th, Walker's forces entered Eivas 
 in four detachments by as many different routes. The 
 order of battle was that of a simultaneous assault, the 
 several detachments to unite at the centre of the town. 
 It was faithfully carried out, although the Costa Eicans, 
 soon recovering from their surprise, behaved gallantly, 
 using their firearms with precision and coolness, and 
 picking off the American leaders with fatal accuracy. The 
 combat lasted through four hours. At its termination 
 Walker had gained possession of the plaza and cathedral, 
 but at a cost of fifty killed and wounded. About two 
 hundred of the enemy were killed and twice as many 
 wounded. They were receiving reinforcements, but did 
 not venture from behind their adobe walls to renew the 
 contest. Setting fire to the houses near the plaza, they 
 
THE STOLlY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 107 
 
 kept up a desultory sharp - shooting from the adjacent 
 buildings. The Americans improvised a temporary hos- 
 pital within the cathedral, -whence at daybreak the wounded 
 were deported, well guarded by their comrades. Mora did 
 not oppose their departure, being well content to be rid of 
 his troublesome visitors. 
 
 Walker's loss in officers was severe. Early in the fight 
 Colonel Machado, commanding the native soldiers, fell 
 mortally wounded. Five captains and six lieutenants also 
 perished, and there were twelve other ofiicers among the 
 wounded. Of Walker's staff Captain Sutter alone survived. 
 This mortality was due not more to the marksmanship of 
 the enemy than to the reckless courage of the victims, 
 who made it a point of honour to volunteer for every 
 .desperate adventure. Ten of them at one time had 
 charged, armed only with revolvers, on a barricade, 
 whence they dislodged over a hundred of the enemy's 
 riflemen. 
 
 By this time the aspect of affairs had changed mate- 
 rially, and the situation of the invading army had become 
 extremely perilous. The Legitimists, whom Mora had 
 expected to unite with him in expelling the American 
 usurpers, he found to be few and faint of heart, while the 
 wanton insolence of his own men had tended to alienate 
 whatever of sympathy they might have found among the 
 poorer classes. In a word, the repulse of Walker at Eivas, 
 if that can be called a repulse which was an unhindered 
 withdrawal, was to Mora the signal of defeat. Unable to 
 conquer an enemy of one-sixth his strength, and not daring 
 to lessen his odds in the hazard of a pitched battle — much 
 less in a siege of Granada — he lay at Eivas exhausted and 
 impotent. It needed but one other enemy to complete his 
 overthrow. That enemy, always a potent one beneath the 
 tropic sun, appeared. 
 
 The bodies of two hundred Costa Eicans had been thrust 
 heedlessly into the vaults and wells of Eivas, along with 
 
108 THE STOBY OF TRM FIL1BVSTMB8. 
 
 some fifty dead filibusters. Hundreds more lay in the 
 wretched hospitals, with festering wounds and scant nur- 
 sing. Cleanliness and good living did not distinguish the 
 Costa Eican soldier. A strict discipline was maintained, 
 but one day an Enemy passed the outpost, unchallenged 
 of the watchful sentinel. The patrol crying " Alerte ! " 
 was stricken dead by a silent hand. The soldier at the 
 monte table, the officer in his hammock, the camp follower 
 in the slums, and the staff-officer in the palace — all ages, 
 all ranks, all valour succumbed before the dread foe. The 
 Cholera was in Eivas, that malady more terrible than a 
 legion of filibusters. With the cholera, desertion. Presi- 
 dent Mora set the example, news of trouble at home 
 hastening his flight southward. General Canas remained 
 in command until he heard of the arrival at Granada of 
 some hundreds of recruits, whom the veteran Hornsby had 
 gathered in the United States and brought to the country 
 by way of the river San Juan. 
 
 Anticipating justly that Walker would soon resume an 
 offensive attitude, Canas hastily abandoned his wounded 
 and fled to Guanacaste. The march thither was long and 
 painful ; the fugitives could be traced for leagues by the 
 bones of their dead comrades. Whom the cholera struck 
 down no brotherly hand stayed to lift up. About five 
 hundred worn stragglers entered Costa Kica, the remnant 
 of the gallant host that had marched forth to drive the 
 filibusters into the sea. With them they carried the seeds 
 of the pestilence, which being sown broadcast in the country, 
 swept off ten thousand of its inhabitants. 
 
 Nor was Walker exempt from trouble during this period. 
 Many of his most cherished friends were carried off by the 
 plague, among others his young brother, James, whom he 
 loved, in his undemonstrative way, very tenderly. The 
 condition of political affairs was unsatisfactory. President 
 Eivas, who had remained with his cabinet at Leon, seems 
 
TEE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 109 
 
 to have dreaded an invasion from the North more than he 
 did that of the Costa Eicans. He was a weak man, easily 
 played upon by designing persons who had succeeded in 
 imbuing him with a jealousy of Walker, which, so far at 
 least, was entirely groundless. The north-eastern districts 
 of the State had been for some time harassed by roving 
 bands of freebooters, pretended and real Legitimists, whose 
 depredations become a serious annoyance. Against these 
 guerillas Walker sent a body of cavalry, under Domingo 
 Goicouria, who speedily restored order in the district.* 
 
 An election for President held in May had been con- 
 ducted with such irregularity that it was decided by 
 President Eivas to order one to be held anew in June. 
 In this decision the opposing candidates, Salazar and 
 Jerez, acquiesced. Both of them were, like Eivas, of the 
 Leonese, or Liberal party ; so the Granadinos, or 
 Legitimists, dreading the influence of their rivals, cast 
 about them for a strong candidate to represent their 
 interests. No Legitimist of sufficient popularity being 
 available, they chose Walker, preferring a neutral foreigner 
 to a hostile countryman. It was therefore understood, in 
 political parlance, that Walker was the " first choice " of 
 the still powerful Legitimist party. The effect was at once 
 to unite the opposing Leonese leaders. Eivas, supported 
 by Salazar and Jerez, delayed issuing the call for a new 
 election, and entertained with favour the suggestion that 
 the American auxiliaries be reduced to the number of two 
 hundred, at the very time when that number of new 
 recruits were disembarking from the California steamer. 
 The steamers had resumed their trips under the manage- 
 ment of a company favourable to " immigration." 
 
 Walker proceeded to Leon to confer with Eivas, receiving 
 on the way a popular ovation which encouraged him to 
 maintain his rights with firmness. To the proposition of 
 
 * Goicouria was a devoted Cuban patriot, who was executed many 
 years afterwards by the Spaniards at Havana. 
 
110 THE 8 TOBY OF THE FILIEUSTEBS. 
 
 disbanding his forces he replied that the men were ready 
 to leave the country as soon as they should receive their 
 stipulated pay, a claim which he knew that the Government 
 exchequer was in no condition to defray. Not to embarrass 
 the resources of the republic, however, he arrested Don 
 Salazar on a charge of having defrauded the Government 
 of the duties upon some valuable Brazil wood, and of 
 having sold the same wood to the Government, with a 
 profit to himself seldom overlooked by contractors. The 
 act was an offence against an old and seldom enforced law 
 of the country. The arrest was doubtless meant to warn 
 Salazar that he could not conspire with impunity against 
 his vigilant ally, as he was not immediately brought to 
 trial. Eivas, J.erez, and Salazar now decided to pronounce 
 against their formidable rival, but with native duplicity 
 they concealed their design, the President, on the 10th of 
 June, issuing a decree for a general election to take place 
 on the fourth Sunday of the month. Next day Walker 
 departed for Granada, and Eivas and Salazar immediately 
 fled from Leon, proclaiming that Walker was a traitor. 
 They took refuge in Guatemala, where General Oarrera 
 was preparing a force with which to invade Nicaragua. 
 
 Walker, as general in chief of a state disturbed by a 
 revolution within and threatened with invasion from 
 without, was, of course, the head of the government in 
 the absence of the civil ruler. At least, there was 
 nobody to dispute that proposition. He accordingly 
 appointed a provisional director, Don Firmin Ferrer, 
 pending the election which was to occur in a few weeks. 
 
 In the election, when it was held, all the districts took 
 part except the north-eastern, which was disturbed by the 
 presence of an invading army on its border and two pre- 
 tenders to the presidency within its precincts. One of 
 them was Eivas ; the other the almost forgotten Legitimist 
 puppet of Corral, Don Jose Estrada. Estrada did little of 
 an of&cial character save issue proclamations which nobody 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. Ill 
 
 heeded ; still, as a pretender is always a potential element 
 in monarchy or republic, whom a cunning invader might 
 use to his own advantage, the partisans of Eivas feared to 
 leave to Carrera that poor excuse for betraying their 
 interests. Estrada was murdered in cold blood by a band 
 of ruffians from Leon. With him perished the last of the 
 strictly Legitimist claimants. To further insure their 
 personal interests, Eivas and his friends appointed 
 General Eamon Belloso commander-in-chief of the army 
 of invasion. The allied forces were from Guatemala, 
 Honduras, and San Salvador, and it was from the last 
 and smallest state that it was deemed wise to choose the 
 commander, as the one least likely or able to usurp power 
 after victory. 
 
 The lack of representation in the election of the north- 
 eastern district was of little consequence, as it was the 
 least populous part of the state, and its vote would have 
 had no influence to change the result. The voting was 
 entirely free and unaccompanied by disturbance. In 
 Nicaragua every male inhabitant over eighteen years old, 
 criminals excepted, is entitled to the suffrage. Eepre- 
 sentatives, senators, and president, are all chosen by a 
 college of electors who are themselves elected by popular 
 vote. Such, at least, was the law at this period. 
 
 When the votes were counted it was found that 23,236 
 ballots had been cast, of which Walker had received more 
 than twice as many as all his rivals, viz., 15,835, Eivas 
 having 867, Salazar 2,087, and Ferrer 4,447. Walker was 
 accordingly declared elected, and, on the 12th of July, 1856, 
 he was formally inaugurated Pjresident of Nicaragua. It 
 is worth noting that he was chosen by the largest vote 
 ever polled in the country, and that his actual tenure of 
 office was longer than that of any of his predecessors in 
 the presidency with the exception of two, Pineda and 
 Chamorro. The former held office for four months — the 
 latter for one month — longer than did Walker. In six 
 
112 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 years there had been no less than fifteen presidents 
 inaugurated. Eeform, even through filibusterism, was 
 sadly needed in Nicaragua. 
 
 So far as legality was concerned, Walker's title was as 
 sound as that of any prince or president in the world. It 
 only remained for the world to acknowledge it. The first 
 recognition came, unwittingly enough, from his enemy. 
 Secretary Marcy. That statesman, after much considera- 
 tion of the case, had sent instructions to the United 
 States minister, Colonel Wheeler, whose suspension had 
 been but temporary, to recognize the existing government 
 of Nicaragua, under the supposition that the Eivas 
 administration still held office. Thus much had been 
 conceded to the reasonable demands of Padre Vijil. Mr. 
 Wheeler, with a possible appreciation of the humour of the 
 situation, yet with a strict obedience to the letter of his 
 instructions, thereupon tendered to President Walker the 
 good wishes and felicitations of the United States Govern- 
 ment. But Mr. Marcy never forgave the instrument of his 
 blunder, and one of his last official acts was to beg of 
 President Pierce, as a personal favour, the dismissal of 
 Minister Wheeler, a request which the dying administration 
 was contemptible enough to grant. 
 
 We now behold Walker at the zenith of his fame, the 
 lawful ruler of a country whose position and resources 
 made it a prize worth the ambition of all Europe and 
 America to possess. Besides a powerful native party, he 
 had an army of his countrymen at his back numbering 
 over a thousand men, a line of steamers under his. control 
 — for the California agents of the Transit Company were 
 his friends as long as their interests and his were the 
 same— and a strong party in the United States in 
 sympathy with his cherished project for the extension 
 of slavery. The tradition vouched for by Crowe in his 
 " Gospel in Central America," as current among the 
 Indians of Nicaragua — " that a grey-eyed man would 
 
TSE STOBJ OF THE PILIBUSTEHS. 113 
 
 conae from the far North to overturn the Spanish domi- 
 nation and regenerate the native race " — seemed likely to 
 be confirmed, in .part, at least. 
 
 The ceremony of inaugurating the new President was 
 perfornied with great pomp at the. capital on the 12th of 
 July. The acting provisional director, Don Pirmin Ferrer, 
 administered the oath of office, Walker kneeling to make 
 the solemn affirmation. The President-elect was dressed 
 in his customary civilian costume of decorous black, in 
 manner and attire a striking contrast to the gaily decked 
 natives who flocked to the ceremony. The inauguration 
 was celebrated on a large staging erected in the plaza, 
 which was festooned with the flags of Nicaragua, the 
 United States, France, and the unborn republic of Cuba. 
 The text of the oath which Ferrer administered, with a 
 highly eulogistic address, was as follows : 
 
 "You solemnly promise and swear to govern the free 
 Eepublic of Nicaragua, and sustain its independent and 
 territorial integrity with all your power, and to execute 
 justice according to the principles of republicanism and 
 religion." 
 
 "I promise and swear." 
 
 " You promise and swear, whenever it may be in your 
 power, to maintain the law of God, the true profession of 
 the Evangelists, and the religion of the Crucifixion." 
 
 " I promise and swear." 
 
 " In the name of God and the sainted Evangelists, you 
 swear to comply with these obligations and to make it 
 your constant guard to fulfil all that is herein promised," 
 
 "I swear." 
 
 " And for this the succession is committed to you firmly, 
 by these presents, by authority of the Secretary of the 
 Government charged with the general despatches." 
 
 At the end of this ceremony Walker delivered an 
 inaugural address of the usual character pertaining to 
 Buch prosaic compositions. The President was not 
 
 9 
 
114 TSB STOni OP THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 without hopes of establishing friendly relations with the 
 Great Powers, and among his first acts was the sending 
 of ministers to England and France. The envoys either 
 never reached the fields of their missions or failed to 
 receive ofiicial recognition, as the Blue-books of those 
 governments make no mention of diplomatic intercourse 
 between the filibuster cabinet and their own. The nations 
 of Europe, in their blind jealousy of American influence, 
 would, or could not, understand that the aims of 
 Walker were, if successful, likely to prove an unsurmount- 
 able obstacle to the very American expansion which they 
 feared. To build up a strong confederacy of slave states, 
 which should antagonize the powerful free states of the 
 North, was the prime, if not the sole, object which.won for 
 Walker the sympathy and aid of the Southern States. By 
 opposing and frustrating this scheme, Great Britain un- 
 wittingly lent herself to the service of the party of union 
 in the United States, thereby weakening the cause which 
 she afterwards favoured, of Southern secession. 
 
 The shrewd English observer, Laurence Oliphant, 
 writing, in 1860, his personal recollections of " Patriots 
 and Filibusters," shows the mistake into which his 
 Government fell, as he frankly says, through ." no . mere 
 considerations of morality," but through a mistaken notion 
 of self-interest. Walker never intended that "Central 
 America should become a part of the Union. Like Aaron 
 Burr, he wished to keep all the fruits of conquest for his 
 personal glory and aggrandisement ; but .he was sincere in 
 representing to his countrymen that the effects of estab- 
 lishing a powerful slave empire south of the United States 
 would be of incalculable advantage to the pro-slavery party 
 at home. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Administration of President Walker — The Allies advance towards 
 Granada — Naval victory — Beview of the filibuster army — Fili- 
 busters and their allies — Assault on Masaya — Civil government^ 
 The slavery decree — Antiquated logic. 
 
 WALKEE wisely gave the most important places in his 
 cabinet to his native adherents. His faithful friends, 
 Don Eirmin Eerrer and Mateo Pineda, were appointed 
 respectively Ministers of Eoreign Affairs and of War. Don 
 Manuel Carascossa received the Treasury portfolio, and 
 that of Hacienda was given to the Cuban, Don Domingo 
 Goicouria. Hundreds of recruits continued to pour in from 
 California and the Atlantic states. In the Northern 
 departments the Allies also received strong reinforce- 
 ments, and by the 1st of July they had undisturbed 
 possession of Leon, whence they soon spread over the 
 country, annoying the foraging parties sent out of 
 Granada to collect cattle in the district of Ghontales. 
 A detachment of cavalry which Walker sent against them 
 was repulsed near the river Tipitapa, and one of the 
 leaders, Byron Cole, was slain. Cole was the early friend 
 of Walker, and the negotiator of the contract under which 
 the filibusters had come to Nicaragua. Belloso, reinforced 
 by a strong body under command of General Martinez, 
 was now emboldened to advance to Masaya, which he for- 
 tified and made the base of operation against Granada, 
 fifteen miles distant. 
 
 Xatruch, -Jerez, and Zavala were acting with the enemies 
 of their country. Eivas was of little importance among 
 
116 THE STOBY OP THE FILlBTJSTEBS, 
 
 his dubious friends. Salazar, wlio had been so prominent 
 in inciting the invasion, was captured on the coast of 
 Nicaragua by Lieutenant Fayssoux, and carried a prisoner 
 to Granada, where he was tried for treason, found' guilty, 
 and executed. 
 
 Fayssoux, the only commander in the navy of the 
 ephemeral republic, was a splendid specimen of the 
 sailor-filibuster. A native of Louisiana, he had seen 
 service in Cuba with Lopez and Pickett. Walker, having 
 confiscated the schooner San Jose for carrying a false 
 register, had her fitted out with some guns and placed her 
 under the command of Fayssoux. Her first exploit was an 
 engagement with the Costa Eican brig. Once de Abril, 
 carrying thrice the armament and six times the crew 
 of the Granada, as the - San Jose was now christened. 
 The Costa Eican was blown out of the water after a 
 two-hours' fight, and the Granada remained mistress of 
 the Pacific waters until a heavier antagonist came upon 
 the scene. 
 
 The position of the Allies at Masaya was well chosen. 
 It is an eagle's nest, hung high a thousand feet, on the 
 crest of a volcanic upheaval. Half-way down its sides lies 
 the Lake of Masaya, imprisoned within its walls of 
 adamant. To the south lies the lava desert, well named 
 "the Hell of Masaya," barring the road from Granada. 
 
 Belloso from his eyrie was wont to swoop down on 
 detached parties of foraging filibusters, or to strike with 
 quick and deadly blow the solitary hamlets whose people 
 might be suspected of a leaning towards the liberal 
 cause. Walker did not need control of the northern 
 districts, and would have been content to leave Masaya 
 and its barren crags in undisturbed possession of Belloso's 
 rough riders, but for the daily waspish annoyance to his 
 foragers and the loss of prestige in the eyes of the 
 conquered Leonese. Characteristically he chose the 
 bold plan of attacking the enemy in his stronghold 
 
TEB STORY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 117 
 
 regardless of the enormous odds against him. At the 
 head of only eight hundred men he rode out of Granada, 
 on the morning of October 11th, and took the high road 
 for Masaya. 
 
 There :was a gallant review of the little army, proud in 
 the bravery of new uniforms and waving banners, and 
 under the eyes of wives, sisters, and sweethearts, of whom 
 not a few had followed the flag down to the seat of war. 
 For the filibusters had " come to stay," they boasted. What 
 further ambition they dreamed may not be known ; but 
 something was hinted in the device upon the flag of the 
 First Eifle battalion, the corps of one-legged Colonel 
 Sanders, a grim and hard-fighting old colonel withal. 
 It bore, in place of the old-time five volcanoes and pious 
 legend, the filibuster's five-pointed red star, and the 
 motto, in sword-cut Saxon, " Five or None " — a hint 
 to the allied states of new and stronger alliance yet to be. 
 
 The march was leisurely and uninterrupted. By ten 
 o'clock at night they halted near the suburbs of Masaya, 
 threw out pickets, and went into camp. It was a glorious 
 tropical night. The early evening had been misty, but night 
 fell without the laggard twilight of temperate zones, and 
 the full moon shone in all her splendour upon a scene 
 worthy the pencil of Salvator Eosa. Before the fili- 
 busters' bivouac lay the Lake of Masaya, reflecting the 
 watch-fires of the town. In the distance rose the towering 
 cone of Mount Masaya, clouded in dense volumes of smoke, 
 and grandly indifferent to the puny preparations of the 
 insects about to bring their mimic thunders into play on 
 the morrow. The filibusters lay in groups around their 
 fires, the very flower and perfection of that lost race called 
 the " 49-ers." They smoked their pipes tranquilly; they 
 took an occasional sip of aguardiente — but it was a 
 temperate potation, for the General was at hand, and 
 woebetide the luckless wretch who unfitted himself for 
 duty in that dread presence on the eve of battle. 
 
118 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 They talked of the past much, of the present little, and 
 of the future not at all, save in connection with mining 
 prospects. For it was, a religious belief with those queer 
 adventurers that in coming to Nicaragua they had been 
 governed by a mar.vellous inspiration of good sense. It 
 was to them a question of practical business, they believed ; 
 and if its pursuit involved a little incidental fighting, why, 
 that was to be reckoned among the taxes to fortune. 
 Hence they had not wasted their hours in Nicaragua, but 
 had difigently, as their duties would allow, visited every 
 rivulet and hill, and talked knowingly of " indications," 
 and " colour," and other technical lore. Eegarding 
 themselves as industrious, if rather enterprising, men 
 of business, they would have resented any intiniation of 
 romance or recklessness in their present occupation. 
 
 They spoke in a short, terse way which it was the 
 despair of their allies to understand. Ollendorf had 
 furnished the Spanish student with no equivalent for the 
 wondrous vocabulary of California. The Nicaraguan, who^ 
 uses not over one-fifth of the words in his glorious Castilian 
 inheritance, was at the verbal mercy of the man who 
 possessed a whole mine of phrases imknown to the lexico- 
 graphers, and who pitied with a fine scorn the ignorant 
 wretch, native or foreign, who knew not -the patois of the 
 mining camp. He even improved upon the language of 
 the country, when he condescended to use it, changing 
 such household words as " nigua " or "jigua," into the 
 more expressive "jigger," nor omitting to prefix it with 
 the Anglo-Saxon shibboleth known to all mankind — the 
 watchword which, hundreds of years ago, gave to English 
 soldiers in foreign towns the charming sobriquet of the 
 " Goddams." The prefix was not inapt, for the "jigger " 
 is the most pestiferous parasite of all his race, and a living 
 thorn in the flesh of his victim. Spanish verbs, like 
 "buscar," " pasear," &c., masqueraded with English 
 ^terminals and marvellous compound tenses, a woijdex of 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 119 
 
 philology. Nor did the sonorous native names come forth 
 unrefined from the furnace of California speech. "Don 
 Jose de Machuca y Mendoza " was a style of nomenclature 
 altogether too lofty for democratic tongues, which found it 
 easier and much more sociable to pronounce " Greaser 
 Joe." Whatever was to come of the incongruous alliance, 
 for the present there was a touch of nature, a community 
 of courage, which made the parties kin in thought and 
 action. The native, whether friend or foe, was no coward. 
 In endurance he was the peer of his northern rival, though 
 he lacked the physical strength and wild hardihood of the 
 pioneer. The bivouac before Masaya was but one of a 
 score of such. 
 
 The enemy, who had kept up a desultory firing through 
 the night, appeared in force at daybreak a few hundred 
 yards away. Walker began the engagement by a general 
 advance on the town under cover of a well-directed fire 
 from his battery of howitzers. In a short time the First 
 Eifles had driven the enemy out of the main plaza, which 
 was immediately occupied by the whole force of the 
 assailants. The position was excellent as far as it went, 
 but the enemy still held two other plazas and the inter- 
 vening houses, and to dislodge them would have entailed 
 a heavier loss of life than could be afforded. The artillery 
 was accordingly brought up, and sappers were detailed to 
 cut passages through the adobe house walls. Slowly but 
 steadily the work proceeded, the besieging lines converging 
 towards the enemy's stronghold. The day was thus con- 
 sumed in engineering, with an occasional skirmish in the 
 narrow streets. 
 
 While the combatants lay on their arms that night 
 awaiting the morrow which was to see the city in the 
 possession of the invaders, what was happening in 
 Granada? Zavala and eight hundred swarthy Serviles, 
 making a forced march from Diriomio, had entered the 
 Jalteva at noon of the 12th. A scant garrison of a 
 
120 TEE STOBT OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 
 
 hundred and fifty men, mostly invalids, was all that re- 
 mained to oppose them ; and Zavala, feeling sure of an 
 easy victory, divided his forces so as to surround the little 
 band. The latter were distributed in the church, armoury, 
 and hospital, whither also repaired -all the civilians who 
 could, having little confidence in the security of their 
 neutral position. General Fry, commanding the garrisbn, 
 hastily prepared for a desperate resistance. He had two 
 or three field pieces, which were placed to best advantage 
 and managed by Captain Siringle, an ingenious experi- 
 menter, with an enterprising eye to church bells and such 
 raw material. 
 
 Zavala found himself, to his great astonishment, re- 
 pulsed at every point after several hours' hard fighting. 
 In his rage, he wreaked vengeance on the neutral residents 
 who had trusted to the peacefulness of their character or 
 the protection of their government rather than to the 
 rifles of the filibuster garrison. The American minister's 
 house was assaulted, though unsuccessfully. Three of his 
 countrymen, a merchant and a couple of missionaries, 
 were murdered in cold blood. Padre Eossiter, the army 
 chaplain, knew his countrymen, and boldly took up a 
 musket in defence of his life, as did also Judge Basyeof 
 the Supreme Court. Honest Padre Vijil took a middle 
 course by discreetly flying to the swamp until the storm 
 was over. Nor did the civilizing mission of the worthy 
 editor of El Nicaraguense prevent him from seeking liberty 
 under the sword. He went back to his desk, the wiser for 
 a broken thigh. 
 
 So for twenty-one long hours the siege lasted, while 
 recruits flocked to the side of the assailants, and the little 
 garrison struggled bravely against the fearful odds. To 
 the threats and the promises alike of the enemy thev 
 returned but defiances and the cry, " Americans never 
 surrender ! " Eenegade Harper, acting as interpreter, 
 assured them that Walker had been annihilated at Masaya 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 121 
 
 and that Belloso, with four thousand men, was on the 
 road to Granada. No quarter was the penalty if they 
 delayed longer to surrender. But they did delay. The 
 hospital patiients limped to the windows and rested their 
 rifles there. The women and children stood by to supply 
 them with cartridges. At night a courier was despatched 
 in hot haste to Masaya. Eluding the enemy's pickets, he 
 made his way along the road, only to meet the advance 
 guard of Walker's returning forces. The news of Zavala's 
 movement had already reached Masaya, putting the loyalty 
 of an ambitious soldier to as severe a test as well might 
 be. To abandon his assured victory for the safety of a 
 hundred or two non-combatants was something of a 
 sacrifice, but Walker did not hesitate a moment. The 
 sacred ties of comradeship were strong in the hearts of 
 those wild men, who, almost without awaiting the word of 
 command, took up the march for Granada. 
 
 In a few hours they arrived in the Jalteva, where they 
 were confronted and for a time repulsed by a strong 
 battery placed to bar the way, and well handled by the 
 enemy. The advance guard fell back, as well they might, 
 for the position was skilfully chosen for the defence of a 
 narrow roadway. In tlie moment of confusion Walker 
 rode up, and pointing to the Lone Star flag which still 
 floated over the church, called for volunteers to succour 
 their beleaguered comrades. The response was a cheer and 
 a fierce charge, led by the commander in person, before 
 which the enemy was scattered like chaff. Following up 
 this advantage, the Americans paoved upon the plaza 
 .before the church, where stood Zavala and his forces, now 
 themselves on the defensive. But the intrepid resistance 
 of the garrison, followed by the capture of the battery, 
 had utterly demoralized the .Serviles, who scarcely struck 
 a blow in their own defence. In mad panic they fled 
 through the city, only to be met in the suburbs by a de- 
 tacliment placed to intercept them, 
 
122 TEE STOBY OF THE FILIEV8TEBS. 
 
 Barely half of Zavala's army escaped capture or death. 
 Masaya had not been taken, but Walker had achieved a 
 greater victory and inflict'ed a heavy loss upon the allies. 
 Four hundred of them had fallen in the battle of Masaya, 
 and an equally large number was supposed to have perished 
 before Granada. Walker's loss was less than a hundred 
 killed and wounded in both engagements. Lieutenant- 
 colonel Laine, a young Cuban aid of the general, was 
 made prisoner at Masaya and shot by his captors, who 
 refused an exchange. Walker was so incensed at this, 
 that, in reprisal, he had two of his prisoners, a colonel 
 and a captain, shot next day, and sent word to Belloso 
 that a heavier reckoning would follow any future acts of 
 atrocity. 
 
 With those engagements active hostilities ended for a 
 time. The enemy grew more wary in his movements. 
 
 Civil government had not been neglected during the 
 prosecution of military enterprises. An elaborate revision 
 of the constitution and laws of the country was perfected ; 
 changes of a most serious nature being introduced. Wal- 
 ker reviews with complacency the laws of his government, 
 especially those affecting the rights of property and the 
 more vital right of liberty. Whether we look with 
 approval or blame upon his course up to this point, it 
 is impossible to excuse acts which in his eyes were not 
 only just but even , praiseworthy. A law was passed 
 making " all documents connected with public affairs 
 equally valuable, whether written in Spanish or in 
 English." The American residents who knew both lan- 
 guages could here find an opportunity of outwitting the 
 natives with the purpose, which Walker commends, of 
 having the " ownership of the lands of the state fall into 
 the hands of those speakmg EugHsh." To further the 
 same end, the military scrip of the republic was made 
 receivable for Government lands sold under forfeit. Still 
 further to aid the same purpose, he passed a law requiring 
 
TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 123 
 
 a registry of all deeds ; a thing heretofore unknown in the 
 country, as "it gave an advantage to those familiar with 
 the habit of registry." The Spaniards of California have 
 had reason to regret that familiarity in their American 
 neighbours. There is no pretence in all these acts of any 
 higher or worthier purpose than that avowed by their 
 author, viz., the practical confiscation of the lands of the 
 Government for the benefit of his adherents. Finally, 
 on the 22nd of September, " the President of the Eepublic 
 of Nicaragua, in virtue of the power in him vested," 
 decreed that " Inasmuch as the act of the Constituent 
 Assembly, decreed on the 30th of April, 1838, provides 
 that the Federal decrees given previous to that date shall 
 remain in'force, unless contrary to the provisions of that 
 Act ; and inasmuch as many of the decrees heretofore 
 given are unsuited to the present condition of the country, 
 and are repugnant to its welfare and prosperity as well as 
 to its territorial integrity ; therefore : — 
 
 " Article I. All acts and decrees of the Federal Con- 
 stituent Assembly, as well as of the Federal Congress are 
 declared null and void. 
 
 " Article 2. Nothing herein contained shall affect rights 
 heretofore vested under the acts and decrees hereby re- 
 pealed." 
 
 The principal decree which this was intended to repeal 
 was an Act of the Federal Constituent Assembly of the 
 17th of April, 1824, abolishing slavery and indemnifying 
 the slave-owners in the then confederated states of Central 
 America. 
 
 Thus the institution of slavery, without any restriction, 
 was reimposed on Nicaragua. Walker, so far from denying 
 that this was the object of the decree, expressly avows it, 
 saying, " By this Act must the Walker administration be 
 judged. If the slavery decree, as it has been called, was 
 unwise. Cabanas and Jerez were right when they sought to 
 uge the Americans for the mere purpose of raising one 
 
124 THM STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 native faction and depressing another. Without such 
 labour as the new decree gave, the Americans could have 
 played no other part in Central America than that of the 
 Pretorian guard at Eome or of the Janizaries in the East, 
 and for such degrading service as this they were ill suited 
 by the habits and traditions of their race." He admits 
 that annexation to the United States was no part of the 
 programme of the American adventurers > in Nicaragua, 
 knowing that it could not be constitutionally effected after 
 the passage of a slavery law. 
 
 To-day it seems strange to read such arguments as 
 Walker used to defend the institution of slavery. But by 
 the lurid light of his sentences we can see something of 
 the bitter conflict which then raged between the friends and 
 the enemies of slavery. His contempt for the Abolitionist 
 party speaks in every line, whilst his defence of the now 
 obsolete system of unspeakable wrong seems as puerile as 
 the solemnly sincere essays, of a Mather on the evils of 
 witchcraft. He admires the " wisdom and excellence of 
 the Divine economy in the creation of the black race," 
 and the providence of letting Africa lie idle until the dis- 
 covery of America gave a chance of utilizing the raw 
 material of slavery. No self-appointed theological drago- 
 man to the court of Heaven ever showed more readiness 
 in interpreting the sentiments of Providence than he does 
 when he piously asks, "And is it not thus that one race 
 secures for itself liberty with order, while it bestows on the 
 other comfort and Christianity ? " 
 
 Did the author of such views look at his subject through 
 a moral single-convex lens which presented every object 
 inverted ? Was he colour-blind to right 'and wrong, or 
 did he wilfully and deliberately present the side which he 
 knew to be ignoble and the opposite' of true ? He was per- 
 fectly sincere. Walker was no worse, and no better, than 
 nine-tenths of his fellow citizens in the Southern States, 
 who honestly believed in the divine right of slave-holding, 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 125 
 
 and testified to their conviction by the willing sacrifice 
 of their blood and treasure. A wrong defeated, dead 
 and buried, is a wrong which becomes visible to the 
 blindest eyes. Whether we, who pass prompt sentence 
 on it, might perceive its . enormity so plainly, had the 
 "leaded dice of war" turned up differently, is a specu- 
 lation as idle as any other on the might-have-beens of 
 history. 
 
 ■ The severe punishment inflicted on the allies at Masaya 
 and Granada had the effect of keeping them for a time in 
 check. A few days after those engagements, Walker 
 received a most valuable ally in the person of General 
 Charles Frederic Henningsen, an. able officer, who had 
 seen service and achieved distinction in many lands. 
 
CHAPTER Xllt. 
 
 Henningsen — Early service with Zumalaoarregui — Campaigning witk 
 the Prophet of the Caucasus — Joins Kossuth — Arrival in America 
 — Omotepe — A gallant defence — Watters carries the barricades. 
 
 HENNINGSEN was an Englishman, of Scandinavian 
 descent, with all of the old Norse daring and fire. 
 At the age of nineteen he left his home to take service 
 under Don Carlos, in 1834. He was assigned to duty on 
 the staff of the sturdy old partisan, Zumalaoarregui, from 
 whose rough school of war he graduated with the rank of 
 colonel and an honour of nobility, the only rewards left in 
 the power of the Bourbon to bestow. Not so generously 
 did his rival reward the devotion of poor Narciso Lopez, 
 whose valour and wisdom had contributed so much to the 
 defeat of the Carlists ; upon him a grateful sovereign 
 seventeen years afterwards conferred the order of the iron 
 collar of the garrote, in the market-place of Havana. 
 Henningsen, on his return to England, published a couple 
 of volumes of personal recollections, which still hold a 
 place in literature. His story was told in a simple and 
 direct style, which showed marked literary ability. But 
 the world was then too full of doing for an active mind 
 to content itself with thinking or saying. Schamyl the 
 Prophet had unfurled his sacred banner, lit the fires of 
 revolution on the Caucasus, and thrown the gauge of battle 
 to the mighty Czar himself. His cause was just enough, 
 his case was desperate enough, to enlist the* sympathies of 
 the young English knight-errant, who soon found himself 
 battling beside wild mountaineers in Caucasian snows and 
 
THU 8T0BY OP THE FtLlBVBTEBS. 127 
 
 completing the education begun on the vine-clad hills of 
 Spain. That campaign over, he improved his leisure in 
 writing two or three books on Eussian life, which in- 
 creased his literary reputation without inducing him to 
 take up a life of letters. The restraints of civilization 
 were two irksome, and he fled to the wilds of Asia Minor, 
 where the news of Hungary's revolt against Austrian and 
 Eussian despotism found him. He arrived on the scene 
 of action too late to take part in anything but the sorrowful 
 ending. Gorgey's treason, if such indeed it were, had 
 turned the scale against- the patriots. Henningsen sub- 
 mitted a plan of operations to Kossuth, who decided that 
 it was now too late for offensive action. All that remained 
 was to offer his sword to the forlorn hope. The offer was 
 gladly accepted. He joined Bem in the last ditch at 
 Komorn, aiding not a little in the stout defence of that 
 place. 
 
 When the pitiful collapse came, Henningsen was one 
 of the chieftains who were outlawed and had a price set 
 upon their heads. He narrowly escaped capture and its 
 inevitable consequence, death. Once he was saved by the 
 tact of a lady, a relative of Kossuth, who, when the police 
 were searching for a likeness of the fugitive, allowed them 
 to find a portrait of some stranger, upon which she had 
 hastily written the words; " From your friend, C. P. 
 Henningsen." Being questioned, she averred that the 
 likeness was not Henningsen's, but with so much apparent 
 confusion as to make them disbelieve her. Copies of it 
 were accordingly printed and distributed with the hue and 
 cry, to the manifest benefit of the fugitive. Again, upon 
 the very border of Turkey, he was chased so closely by a 
 party of Haynau's bloodhound troop that capture seemed 
 inevitable, and he had prepared a dose of poison, which 
 he always carried with him, to be swallowed at the 
 moment of arrest. "• His Caucasian experience had taught 
 him that mercy was not to be expected of Cossack victors. 
 
128 THE STOBH OF TSE FILIEVSTSRS. 
 
 More fortunate than many of his comrades, he managed 
 to elude his foes and escape across the boundary, to join 
 Kossuth. With him he crossed the Atlantic, never to 
 return. In the United States he shared the social and 
 political distinction of his leader. 
 
 Henningsen at this period was thirty years old, tall 
 and strikingly handsome, with the polish and breeding of 
 a man of the world and a scholar. In Washington he 
 met and loved a Southern belle, at the time when Southern 
 society ruled in the national capital. The lady, who was 
 a widow, was a niece of Senator Berrien, of Georgia. 
 She returned his affection, and they were married after 
 a brief courtship. 
 
 It was a critical period in American politics. It was 
 the reign of King Pierce the Irresolute, to be followed 
 shortly by that of King Buchanan the Unready. Hen- 
 ningsen by his matrimonial alliance was thrown into the 
 society of those who favoured slavery, wherein he imbibed 
 opinions in harmony with the upholders of that institution. 
 The adherents of slavery felt that in the political field they 
 were fighting a losing battle. The more farsighted saw 
 that the success of their cause could be promoted only by 
 "extending the area of freedom," as they phrased it. 
 Thus the filibusters acquired new importance in the eyes 
 of friend and of foe at home. 
 
 Henningsen's wife, with the spirit of a Eoman matron, 
 acquiesced heroically when her knight volunteered to go 
 forth and do battle for a cause which would have won his 
 sympathy for its very danger alone. His reputation as a 
 soldier was well established. He had introduced ' the 
 Minie rifle into the United States service, and was an 
 authority upon his speciality, the use of artillery. Nor 
 did he come empty-handed to Nicaragua; but brought 
 with him military stores, arms, and ammunition, to the 
 value of thirty thousand dollars, the contribution of him- 
 self and his wife, besides an equally liberal offering from 
 
'■-4^^ 
 
TSE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 129 
 
 George Law and other sympathisers with the cause. 
 Walker immediately placed him on active service, with 
 the rank of brigadier-general. 
 
 Henningsen had scarcely assumed his command before 
 he was sent to clear the Transit road of marauding bands 
 of Costa Eicans,-a large body of whom had landed at San 
 Juan del Sur, under General Canas. Henningsen scattered 
 them promptly, and admitted a force of recruits from 
 California, who had arrived on the steamer Cortes. The 
 reappearance of the Costa Eicans on the Transit was too 
 dangerous a menace to the communication with the United 
 States, however ; and Walker saw that to preserve his 
 case of supplies, and at the same time to garrison the 
 large city of Granada, was a task too serious for his 
 slender forces. But as he did not wish to let the laiiter 
 important stronghold fall into hostile^ hands, with the 
 moral and material benefits accruing from the possession 
 of the seat of government, he resolved to destroy the city. 
 Previous to evacuating Granada he made another attack 
 on Masaya, in order that the enemy might remain on the 
 defensive, and not suspect his intended movement of re- 
 treat southward. A trifling engagement took place, in 
 which the artillery was well handled. On the 19th of 
 November the sick and wounded were transported in the 
 lake steamer to the island of Omotepe, where they, were 
 placed in charge of Colonel Fry and a corps of medical 
 attendants. 
 
 This island is one of the healthiest places in the country, 
 being a volcanic upheaval, with a mountain towering from 
 its centre to a height of five thousand feet. A few families 
 of native Indian fishermen, rude and savage, are its only 
 inhabitants, and their frail huts dot the margin of the 
 lake. In the interior a dense jungle bars the road to the 
 mountain top. The rank growth of the tropics hides the 
 ruined monuments of a civilization which preceded Con- 
 quistador and Aztec. The traveller who cuts his way 
 
 10 
 
130 THE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 through the rank vegetation finds himself, here and there, 
 in the presence of quaintly sculptured, hideous idols over- 
 turned. In remoter nooks, whither his Indian guide cares 
 not to lead him, he would see the gods whom the Christians 
 threw down, reinstated on their pedestals ; and the good 
 folk of Granada say in whispers, that thither, at stated 
 times, flock silent, dusky worshippers, to offer up unholy 
 rites and pray for the return of the gods of their fathers, 
 who fed on human victims, and spoke to their people in 
 the awful accents of the volcano. Little knew or recked 
 the bold filibusters, quarantined beneath the frowning . 
 peak of Omotepe, of the alleged idolatrous practices or 
 the evil repute in which the islanders were held by their 
 mainland neighbours. They nursed their wounds with 
 scant patience, recovered, and sought a chance to get 
 new ones, or died and were forgotten, as though their 
 passports to the realm of Death had been vised by the 
 most legitimate of all lawful war-makers. 
 
 Walker, having entrusted to Henningsen the duty of de- 
 stroying Granada, set out for Eivas. Upon his departure, 
 many of the men and some of the officers, feeling that 
 the severe restraints of discipline were withdrawn, plunged 
 into a wild debauch. Henningsen, with the aid of such as 
 were in decent condition, began the work of firing the 
 town. As the smoke o'f the burning houses arose in the 
 air the enemy's pickets saw and reported it to General 
 Belloso, who rightly surmised the cause and ordered an 
 immediate attack. The miserable debauchees awoke from 
 their stupor to find that they had aroused a formidable 
 foe. Five thousand furious Serviles were pouring into the 
 city, and had already secured a strong strategic point in 
 church of the Guadaloupe, whence their sharpshooters 
 were keeping in play the useful men whom Henningsen 
 could gather about him. 
 
 Under a fierce fire Henningsen continued the work of 
 destruction until almost the entire town was reduced to 
 
, THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 131 
 
 ashes. His position, encumbered as he was with sick and 
 wounded, was so perilous that he determined to capture 
 the Guadaloupe church at any cost, as that important 
 position commanded the passage to the lake. That end 
 was not attained without the loss of many valuable lives 
 and two days of hard fighting. Finally, on the 27th of 
 November, the church was carried by assault, and all the 
 American force, with their supplies, ammunition, and non- 
 combatants, were safely transferred to the new quarters. 
 A guard of thirty men, detailed to protect the wharf on 
 the lake, three miles away, had been betrayed and captured 
 two days before. Henningsen, in order to secure commu- 
 nication with the lake, began throwing up a line of 
 earthworks along the whole distance, the enemy contest- 
 ing every inch of the road. To keep the latter in check, 
 Captain Swingle and his howitzers were employed night 
 and day. When ammunition ran short the ingenious 
 gunner made balls from scraps of iron piled in a mould 
 of clay and soldered together with lead. 
 
 As soon as they had effected coifimunication with some , 
 adobe huts halfway to the lake, Henningsen removed the 
 sick and wounded to the more healthful land near the 
 water. It was none too soon, for over a hundred men 
 had perished from the ravages of cholera, and typhus in the 
 crowded quarters of the Guadaloupe. Lieutenant Sumpter 
 with seventy men was left to garrison the church. Mean- 
 while the enemy had not been idle ; they had thrown up 
 earthworks between the lake and Henningsen's defences, 
 and gathered a strong force to prevent the advance of 
 relief from that direction. 
 
 For three weeks the unequal fight lasted, until of the 
 four hundred men who had remained to burn Granada, 
 less than one hundred and fifty answered to the roll-call 
 on the 13th of December. To Zavala's demand for their 
 surrender Henningsen sent back word that he would 
 parley only at the cannon's mouth. Their position, never- 
 
132 THE SrOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 theless, was so critical that many of the men talked openly 
 of forsaking their helpless comrades and cutting their way 
 to the lake. Finding that the first sign of such a pro- 
 ceeding would he greeted with a volley of grape, for 
 Henningsen had learned from his chief the way to deal 
 with insubordination, a few of the malcoiitentB deserted 
 to the enemy. The rest imitated the heroic fortitude of 
 their officers, and all shared together their sorry rations 
 of mule and horse meat as long as they lasted. That was 
 not long ; they had reached the limit of their supplies on 
 the 12th of December, and Henningsen sent a message to 
 Walker begging immediate relief. A native boy of the 
 Sandwich Islands, who had come to Nicaragua on the 
 Vesta, and who was known in the army as " Kanaka 
 John," volunteered to carry the note. It was given to 
 him sealed and enclosed in a bottle. The boy made his 
 way unperceived .through the enemy's lines, and reached 
 the water in time to see the lake steamer. La Virgen, 
 lying beyond the line of surf, with lights shrouded and 
 not a sign of life on board. The amphibious Kanaka 
 swam out and boarded the steamer, where he found 
 Walker and three or four hundred new recruits from the 
 States. 
 
 Colonel John Watters, with a hundred and sixty men, 
 was at once ordered to relieve the beleaguered force under 
 Henningsen. Watters on landing was met by a stout 
 resistance from a large body of Allies guarding the wharf 
 and adjacent earthworks ; but the Calif ornians rushed 
 upon the barricade with a yell and carried it by storm. 
 Henningsen heard the distant firing, and, recognizing the 
 sharp note of the Anierican rifle, made a sortie against 
 the nearest post of the enemy. The firing lasted all night, 
 for Belloso was frantic at the thought that the prey for 
 which he had hungered so long was about slipping from 
 his paws. Watters, finding the enemy s^ strong, made a 
 detour so as to enter Granada by the north-eastern road, 
 
THE STOBY OV TBE FILIBUSTEMS. 133 
 
 and sent a courier to notify Henningsen of his approach. 
 It was daybreak ere the relief reached the city, having 
 carried four strong lines of barricades on the march, and 
 routed thrice their number of Allies. The enemy, as 
 soon as the junction was effected, abandoned further 
 opposition to the retreat of the filibusters and withdrew 
 from the lake road. The evacuation of the Guadaloupe 
 was completed in peace on the morning of December 14, 
 1856. 
 
 When the Allies entered the place they found only a 
 wilderness of smouldering ruins to mark the site of the 
 city beloved by the Serviles and hated by the Leonese. 
 The latter rejoiced secretly, the former mourned aloud, 
 over the loss of the proudest city of the isthmus. In the 
 Plaza they found a scornful souvenir of the destroyer, a 
 lance stuck in the earth and bearing a raw hide, upon 
 which was inscribed the legend, " Aqui fue Granada " — 
 " Here was Granada ! " 
 
 Three hundred men, including Watters' command, em- 
 barked on the lake steamer and sailed to Virgin Bay. 
 Three-fourths of the garrison of Granada had died in the 
 three weeks' siege. The Allies had suffered more severely. 
 Of the six thousand who joined their standard at Masaya 
 only two thousand now remained ; but they received new 
 strength in the arrival of General Canas with the Costa 
 Eicans who, on the appearance of Walker and Henningsen 
 at Virgin Bay, had evacuated Eivas and marched north- 
 ward. Belloso and Zavala were constrained to turn the 
 command of the Allied forces over to Canas, as the success 
 of the Costa Eicans in another quarter had given them a 
 moral superiority over their less fortunate friends. The 
 importance of that success can be estimated only by 
 narrating its effect on the fortunes of Walker. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 Vanderbilt joins issue — Titus outwitted — Siege ofEivas — Death in the 
 Falange — Desertion — Captain Fayssoux and Sir Eobert McClure 
 — Battle of San Jorge — Allies assatilt Eivas — Famine and 
 devotion — Commander Davis as a peacemaker. 
 
 PEESIDENT PIERCE had recognized the government 
 of Eivas and Walker, as a cheap concession to the 
 friends of the filibusters in the United States, for president 
 Pierce was looking to a re-nomination in the forthcoming 
 convention. No party so weak but the average Pre- 
 sidential candidate will scatter his bait before it. The 
 nomination was not given him, but it was too late to recall 
 the friendly act. The recognition of Walker's adminis- 
 tration was, as we have seen, an accidental courtesy which 
 Mr. Marcy would not hesitate to retract if occasion offered. 
 The friends of Walker saw that to establish his power 
 firmly he must be aided liberally and without delay. The 
 bonds of the republic were accordingly offered for sale, 
 and freely disposed of in many places. Thousands of 
 dollars were collected in the Southern cities and expended 
 in the purchase of munitions of war, and for the trans- 
 portation, of recruits. Every steamer carried out large 
 numbers of enlisted men and consignments of war 
 material. For the former, California could always be 
 relied on, but the latter had to be procured in "the 
 States." Vanderbilt saw a chance to revenge himself by 
 cutting off the base of supplies, and cast about him for an 
 able tool. 
 
 He found willing instruments in the persons of Webster 
 
THE 8T0BY OP THE FILIBUSTEHS. ISS 
 
 and Spencer, two adventurers of daring character and 
 questionable antecedents. Webster drew up a plan of 
 operations which met the approval of Vanderbilt, and 
 Spencer was entrusted with its execution. This Spencer 
 was a man of good family. His father had been Secretary 
 of War. His brother was hanged for mutiny at the yard- 
 arm of the frigate Somers in 1842, the only American 
 officer who ever achieved that infamy. Spencer went to 
 San Jose, the capital of Costa Eica, whence he set out, 
 with one hundred and twenty picked men, for the head 
 waters of the Eiver San Carlos, which flows into the 
 San Juan. Arrived there, they constructed rafts and 
 floated down to the mouth of the Serapiqui. There 
 they surprised a force of Americans, and continuing the 
 descent to San .Juan del Norte, soon made them- 
 selves masters of the Transit Company's steamers. 
 With them and a reinforcement of eight hundr.ed Costa 
 Eicans, commanded by a brother of President Mora, they 
 speedily captured all the fortified positions on the river 
 and both of the lake steamers. Lake and river being thus 
 secured, it only remained for Mora to cross the district 
 of Chontales and effect a junction with the Allies at 
 Granada. 
 
 The enemy had effectually cut off Walker's communi- 
 cation with the Atlantic states. California remained open 
 to him just so long as the agents of the line in San 
 Francisco, whose friendship for him was, of course, 
 secondary to their self-interest, should consider it profit- 
 able to continue running their steamers. 
 
 Vanderbilt had triumphed. We may anticipate events 
 so far as to say that President Mora's indebtedness to the 
 Wall Street magnate taught him respect for the absolute 
 power of money. But ere many years his confidence in 
 another rich friend was repaid by treachery, which drove 
 him from power into exile, disgrace, and death. Eighteen 
 days after the execution of Walker at Trajillo, Juan Eafael 
 
136 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTBBS. 
 
 Mora and General Canas perished by the fusillade, after an 
 abortive attempt to regain their lost power. It is recorded 
 of the wealthy ingrate who had betrayed Mora that he died 
 not long after his victim, and of a strange disease — 
 ossification of the heart. 
 
 Many attempts to recover control of the lost river route 
 were made during the months of January, February, 
 March, and April, 1857. Various expeditions from New 
 Orleans and New York landed at San Juan del Norte, 
 where eight British men-of-war were concentrated to watch 
 the operations. The interference of the latter, though 
 annoying, was not openly hostile, yet it was marked 
 enough to affect seriously the fortunes of the expeditions. 
 The English commander incited desertion by spreading 
 among the men rumours of the terrible dangers they must 
 risk in attempting the passage of the river. Many 
 Europeans were thereby induced to claim British pro- 
 tection, which was gladly granted, though the loss of such 
 deserters may have been a questionable calamity. A 
 strong- force, under the command of a certain Colonel 
 Titus, a windy "Border ruffian" from Kansas, succeeded 
 in ascending the river as far as Castillo Viejo, and were 
 on the point of capturing that key to the situation, when 
 their leader weakly allowed himself to be hoodwinked and 
 Defooled by its commandant. The latter, finding himself 
 sore pressed, begged for a twenty-four hours' truce before 
 surrendering ; which being granted, he sent for reinforce- 
 ments, and by the time the truce had expired was prepared 
 to laugh at the simplicity of his antagonists. 
 
 The mistake was irreparable. Through the incom- 
 petence of Titus and Lockridge, the key to Nicaragua was 
 lost, perhaps for ever. With the Transit- route in his 
 power. Walker could have brought a host of recruits into 
 the country and bidden defiance to all Spanish America.^ 
 Without it, the labour of years was wasted . and the con- 
 queror thrown on the defensive. Knowing naught of the 
 
TEE STOBT OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 187 
 
 disasters which had befallen his arms on the river, Walker 
 waited and watched through the long weeks for the relief 
 which was never to come. 
 
 Towards the end of January the Allies had advanced to 
 Obraje, nine miles from Eivas, and soon occupied San Jorge, 
 within a league of the American outworks. Eivas, em- 
 bowered in her orange groves and cocoa palms, was slowly 
 being encircled by the entrenchments of the Allies, now 
 numbering some seven thousand. They held those points, 
 in spite of repeated attempts- to dislodge them. Walker, 
 not desiring to waste his men's lives in useless attacks, 
 contented himself with occasional forays, while Hen- 
 ningsen prudently strengthened the fortifications and was 
 careful of his scanty ammunition. Aided by the ingenious 
 Captain Swingle, he cast round-shot from all sorts of old 
 iron, and gathered together the bronze and silver bells of 
 the churches to melt into cannon balls. 
 
 The Transit road between San Juan del Sur and Virgin 
 Bay still was theirs, and nearly every steamer from San 
 Francisco brought down a little band of recruits whose 
 arrival was hailed with joy. But the advantages resulting 
 from such additions to the garrisons were more than offset 
 by the losses from desertion and death. The latter had 
 made sad havoc in the ranks of the tried veterans. In 
 February, Major Calvin O'Neill died in a skirmish with the 
 Allies. He was a favourite soldier of the commander, 
 having distinguished himself in almost every engagement 
 during the campaign. His brother was slain in the 
 evacuation of Granada, and the survivor had grown 
 reckless of life thereafter. He was only twenty-one years 
 old at the time of his death, but the Irishman's instinctive 
 military bias and courage made up for the inexperience of 
 youth. Other brave officers fell during the next few 
 months, Conway, Higby, Dusenberry, and a score of 
 veterans who were the flower of the army. The surviving 
 members of the Falange found themselves surrounded by 
 
138 THE STOBY OF THE FlLlBUSTEBS. 
 
 strange faces. The brave men died, and the cravens 
 deserted. Unfortunately the . evil did not end with the 
 loss of worthless deserters ; their example had a baneful 
 effect upon good but reckless men, who otherwise would 
 have remained faithful. It was not in weak human 
 nature to content itself with scant rations of mule meat 
 and plantains, while snug treason flaunted itself across 
 the picket lines, boasting of rich fare and no duty. The 
 hungry sentry was tempted by the sight of his late com- 
 rades and taunted by the sound of a brass band, which had 
 deserted en masse one night, and now drew from the 
 instruments bought with the money of the republic, 
 seductive daneing tunes and Servile melodies, instead of 
 the loyal strains of the "Blue, White, and Blue," which 
 they had been hired to play. On his confused mind, per- 
 chance, dawned the suspicion that the Nicaragua which he 
 had come thousands of miles to see and enjoy was to be 
 found rather in the fleshpots of the Allied army than in 
 the hungry camp of the filibusters. Small wonder if the 
 poor fellow forgot his duty and elected to follow the 
 example before him. 
 
 ' Early in February the monotony of the siege was broken 
 by the arrival at San Juan del Sur of the American man- 
 of-war St. Mary's, Commander C. H. Davis. Promptly in 
 her wake came the British steamer Eslc, Captain Sir Eobert 
 McClure. The two formidable ships lay not many cable 
 lengths apart in the harbour. The day after his arrival 
 Sir Eobert sent a boat's crew aboard a small schooner 
 lying near the shore to ask the meaning of the ensign 
 which she was flying at the masthead. It was a handsome 
 flag, composed of three horizontal stripes, blue, white, 
 and blue ; in the middle stripe, which was twice the width 
 of either of the outer ones, was a five-pointed red star. 
 The ensign was that of the new republic of Nagaragua, 
 and the vessel, as her commander, Fayssoux, politely 
 replied, was the Nicaraguan schooner-of-war Granada. 
 
THE STOHY op TEH FlLlBTlSTEnS. 139 
 
 Sir Robert then ordered him to come on board the Esk, 
 and bring his commission with him ; to which the plucky 
 Louisianian, with the blood of revolutionary ancestors 
 boiling at the impertinence, replied that he would do 
 nothing of the kind ; and when the English captain 
 threatened a broadside, the Nicaraguan commander beat 
 to quarters — he had a score of men — loaded his two six- 
 pound carronades, and awaited destruction as calmly as if 
 he had the deck of a seventy-four under his feet. But .Sir 
 Robert, either fearing to exceed his authority, or labouring 
 under the delusion that the St. Mary's captain might not 
 relish the idea of seeing his fellow-countrymen annihilated 
 before his eyes, softened the demand into a request for a 
 friendly visit, which Captain Fayssoux thereupon paid him. 
 A nobler motive may have actuated Sir Robert, for he was 
 a sailor, and had traditions of his country's honour, which 
 it were worth an American officer's commission to enter- 
 tain. The latter has never forgotten the awful example 
 handed down from the early days of Commodore Porter, 
 who was court-martialled and forced out of the service 
 because he exacted an apology from some Spanish 
 vagabonds who had imprisoned an American officer 
 visiting Porto Rico under a flag of truce. 
 
 When Sir Robert went to Rivas, some days afterwards, 
 to demand an explanation of Fayssoux's conduct, he was 
 met by Walker, at the outset of the interview, with the 
 stern inquiry : " I presume, sir, you have come to 
 apologize for the outrage offered to my flag and the com- 
 mander of the Nicaraguan schooher-of-war Granada." 
 And the gallant sailor actually forgot his wrath in his 
 wonder, and made a suitable apology to the wounded 
 dignity of the chief of a thousand men and one schooner. 
 " If they had another schooner," said he, " I believe they 
 would have declared war on Great Britain." Had he 
 known the mission of the St. Mary's at San Juan, he 
 might have come to a different conclusion ; for the in- 
 
140 TEE 8T0BT OF THS FILIBV8TEBS. 
 
 structions of Commander Davis, which he faithfully 
 obeyed, directed him to aid the Allies in forcing Walker 
 and his men to capitulate.* Why ? Walker says, because 
 Commodore Mervin, who had given the orders, was a 
 bosom friend of Secretary Marcy — a possibly sufficient 
 reason, since Marcy's power was absolute in the conduct 
 of the minor foreign relations. Davis says, because the 
 interests of humanity prompted him to save Walker in 
 spite of himself — a reason perhaps as good as the other. 
 The reader must guess at the true motive, as Blue-books 
 do but fulfil their mission in confusing the truth. 
 
 The enemy receiving large reinforcements, was enabled 
 to mass about two thousand men at San Jorge", where 
 they were a constant danger and annoyance. Walker 
 determined to dislodge them. On the 16th of March 
 he t,ook personal command of four hundred men, and 
 marched out to meet the enemy, two .thousand five 
 hundred strong. Henningsen, with two six-pounders, one 
 twelve-pounder, and four mortars, went ahead to clear 
 the way. Swingle and the rest of the battery remained to 
 guard Eivas ; and it was well that they did so, for a large 
 force of Costa Eicans made a determined assault as soon 
 as Walker was out of sight, and were not repulsed until 
 after a fight of some hours' duration. They fell back on 
 the road to San Jorge, a couple of himdred of them taking 
 up a position behind the adobe walls of a planter's house, 
 and there lying in wait for the return of Walker and his 
 command. 
 
 The latter arrived before daybreak at the suburbs of San 
 Jorge and at once opened a brisk fire on the town ; but 
 the enemy wer« on the alert, and gwarmed like angry bees 
 out of their streets and lanes, pressing on the battery and 
 throwing out lines of skirmishers on either side, who 
 opened a galling fire on the American cavalry. Henningsen 
 thereupon threw a shower of grape and canister among the 
 plantain fields on the right and left, driving in the skir- 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 141 
 
 mishers, while Walker led the main body of his men 
 towards the centre of the town. The enemy con- 
 tested every inch of the ground, until driven to within 
 three hundred yards of the plaza, where their immense 
 superiority of numbers and the shelter afforded by the 
 adobe walls and church towers gave them a position of 
 impregnable strength. Walker, nevertheless, called for 
 forty volunteers to storm the place. But fifteen re- 
 sponded, and with that handful he charged boldly into the 
 plaza, fighting with desperate but vain courage against the 
 tremendous odds. Two horses were killed under him, and 
 a spent ball struck him in the throat. His men were 
 brave to madness, but they were worn out with the long 
 day's service, their ammunition was running short, and 
 Walker at last gave order to retire to Eivas. They left the 
 field on which they had fought from daybreak almost to 
 sunset in good order, Walker riding at the head of the 
 column, and Henningsep covering the rear with his guns. 
 No opposition was made to their departure, and not until 
 the head of the column came abreast of the planter's 
 house at Cuatros Esquinas did they learn of the presence 
 there of the 200 Costa Eicans who had been repulsed by 
 Swingle in the morning. 
 
 As Walker and his staff rode by the dark and silent 
 house, a blaze of musketry lit up its front, not thirty 
 yards away. Fortunately the marksman's aim was bad, 
 and not over half a dozen saddles were emptied ; but the 
 column was thrown into temporary confusion, and some 
 of the men fell back, while others stood panic-stricken, 
 until another volley sent them galloping in dismay. 
 Walker, with the invincible calmness which never deserted 
 him, reined in his horse, drew his revolver and fired its six 
 shots into the house ; then putting spurs to his steed, he 
 rode by, erect as if on parade, while the musket balls fell 
 like hail around him. A long-haired Californian, Major 
 Dolan, who was riding behind him, deliberately imitated 
 
142 TEE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 his commander, emptying his pistol to the last shot, then 
 hurling the empty weapon at the house, with an impre- 
 cation, as he dropped from his saddle, riddled with bullets. 
 His clothing caught in the trappings of his horse, and he 
 was thus dragged out of "the melee, to survive and fight 
 another day. The rest of the force ran the gauntlet as 
 best they could. Many were killed in a vain attempt to 
 carry the house by storm. The rear guard with the 
 artillery made a detour, and losing their way, did not 
 arrive at Eivas until the next morning. To the poor 
 marksmanship alone of the enemy can be charged the 
 small loss of the filibusters before San Jorge and in the 
 ambuscade at Cuatros Bsquinas, the total number in 
 killed and wounded being only some sixty or seventy. , 
 
 A week afterwards, the whole Allied force, led in by 
 a deserter, made a concerted attack on Eivas, at daybreak, 
 from four different directions. They were beaten off with 
 dreadful slaughter, leaving six hundred dead on the field. 
 The attack was most serious on the north side of the city, 
 where a small battery was placed in a position to rake 
 the American lines. It was handled well and bravely by 
 an Italian gunner who, though exposed to a galling fire 
 from the American sharpshooters, continued to load and 
 fire with the utmost deliberation, advancing his piece a 
 little nigher after each discharge. Henningsen, an adept 
 in the same branch of warfare, stood upon the parapet 
 of the low wall, rolling and smoking cigarettes, as he 
 watched with admiration the actions of his cool adversary, 
 and directing the management of a small gun which the 
 American artillerymen were serving with less than their 
 usual skill. At last, losing patience with his men, he 
 leaped into the embrasure, and sighting the gun himself, 
 threw a six-pound ball straight into the enemy's piece, 
 which it dismounted, killing four of the gunners and 
 wounding the Italian captain. The latter being made 
 prisoner, the hostile batteries ceased to annoy the besieged 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 143 
 
 for some time, until the gallant gunner, escaping from 
 his captors, was enabled to resume his' duties. 
 
 In this assault the besieged suffered but a trifling loss, 
 as the shelter of the adobe walls ensured them safety 
 against any force which it was in the power of the enemy 
 to bring against them. When the latter pushed their 
 barricades too close to the walls of Eivas, the besieged 
 fired hot shot into them and burned the swarming hordes 
 out of their nests. Mora cared nothing for the lives 
 of his wretched conscripts, whom he could afford to lose 
 by hundreds, as long as the Americans fell by dozens 
 and were not reinforced, and while the Allies could cut 
 off supplies of food and ammunition from the beleaguered 
 city. Unfortunately for Walker, a more dangerous enemy 
 than death or hunger assailed Eivas. Desertion, which 
 had begun with the weak-hearted new men, gradually 
 spread like a pestilence, until he hardly knew in whom 
 to trust. Whole companies deserted at a time ; pickets 
 abandoned their posts ; foraging parties sent out to col- 
 lect food for the hungry garrison never came back. As 
 early as October, a company of rangers sent into the 
 Chontales district had deserted with their equipments, 
 on a wild attempt to reach the Atlantic by way of the 
 Blewfields river. They never reached the coast, for some 
 French settlers whom they had attempted to plunder fell 
 upon them and slew them to a man. 
 
 Famine threatened Eivas. There was not an ounce 
 of bread in the city ; ihe men were living on scanty rations 
 of horse and mule meat, seasoned with sugar in lieu of 
 salt; the hospital was filled with wounded and fever 
 patients. Henningsen said jestingly that, rather than 
 surrender, they would devour the prisoners. Once it was 
 whispered in the ranks that Walker and Henningsen, in 
 anticipation of a successful assault on the town, had pre- 
 pared a magazine with which to blow up the citadel in 
 the moment of defeat, and with it friend and foe together. 
 
144 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBV8TEB8. 
 
 The rumour was a silly falsehood, but so much impression 
 did it make upon some of the hardier spirits that, as 
 General Henningsen told the author, seven of them came 
 to him, each begging for the privilege of firing the train. 
 Walker was not reduced to any such straits; he had 
 yet three forlorn hopes ; the arrival, by the San Juan 
 river of Lockridge with reinforcements ; assistance from 
 California, and, as a last resource, flight to the north 
 on board his schooner Granada. The first never came,, 
 because Lockridge, defeated before Castillo Viejo, had 
 given up the hopeless task. The second failed when 
 Morgan refused to co-operate with his partner, Garrison, 
 in continuing to run the steamers from San Francisco. 
 On the Granada, then, depended the only hope of retreat 
 with honour. Walker, however, did not as yet know that 
 the first and second hopes had failed him. 
 
 On the 10th of April, the Allies made another attack 
 on the town, and were again repulsed with even greater 
 loss than on the previous occasion. Commander Davis, 
 who had been negotiating with the Allies, sent word to 
 Walker, on the 23rd of April, offering a safe .convoy to 
 the women and children from Eivas to San Juan del Sur, 
 an offer which was thankfully accepted. 
 
 On being relieved of his non-combatants. Walker felt 
 that no obstacle now stood in the way of his evacuation 
 of the city, whenever he deemed it proper, and a safe 
 withdrawal on board of the schooner. Fayssoux had 
 continued to keep a close watch of the enemy's movements 
 • in San Juan, preventing them throwing up fortifications 
 or doing anything which should embarrass the occupation 
 of the town by Walker. Commander Davis, acting as a 
 peace-maker between the belligerents, but finding his 
 office one of perilous delicacy for a raw diplomat, and 
 being governed apparently by secret instructions, which 
 new orders from Washington might nullify at any moment 
 if he delayed too long, now brought matters to an unex- 
 
fHS STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEM. i4g 
 
 pected crisis, by demanding Walkeir's surrender to the 
 United States authorities. Such an astonishing demand 
 had never before been made by a subordinate naval officer 
 upon the President of a friendly government. It was 
 indignantly and promptly rejected. Davis then assured 
 Walker of the truth of two rumours which had reached 
 Eivas ; the first, that Lockridge had given up his attempt 
 to retake the Transit route ; the second, that no more 
 steamers were to come from San Francisco. Accepting 
 both statements, which were true, Walker replied that he 
 purposed holding the city as long as his supplies lasted, 
 after which he intended carrying his command on board 
 the Nicaragua schooner-of-war Granada, and removing 
 whithersoever he pleased. To which Davis responded, that 
 it was his "unalterable and deliberate intention" to take 
 possession of the schooner before he sailed from San Juan ; 
 that his instructions on that point were clear and impera- 
 tive ; and nothing but a countermand of his orders should 
 induce him to depart from that intention. The enemy had 
 previously made Payssoux an offer of five thousand dollars 
 to surrender the schooner ; but what could not be won by 
 force or bribe was more cheaply gained through the ex- 
 traordinary action of an officer holding the commission 
 and authority of the United States. Walker has been 
 accused of ingratitude because he protested against the 
 interference of Commander Davis. It was said that the 
 United States had saved the filibusters from extermin- 
 ation ; but there was not a man in Rivas who did not 
 spurn the spurious claim. Ungrateful step-children, they 
 had cherished a different ideal of a mother country ! 
 
 11 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Ultimatum of Captain Davis — Evacuation of Eivas — Statistics of tie 
 campaign — Henningsen's opinion of his men — Cliaracteristio 
 anecdotes — Prederick Ward — A filibuster's apeothosie. 
 
 THE ultimatum of Davis, backed by the power at his 
 command, destroyed Walker's last hope of retaining 
 his hold in Nicaragua ; this, too, at a time when the tide 
 of fortune had begun to show signs of turning. In 
 despair of ever taking the city by assault, the Allies had 
 sat down to besiege it with scant patience. The formid- 
 able army of seven thousand which had invested Eivas in 
 January had decreased within two months, through death 
 and defection, to a comparatively small force of less than 
 two thousand, two-thirds of them Costa Eicans and other 
 foreigners. These were, moreover, short of powder, 
 threatened with cholera and the rainy season, and so 
 reduced as to be unable to man effectively the investing 
 works, through which the American scouts penetrated 
 freely when they pleased. With the garrison, desertion 
 had done its worst. Walker had still with him 260 of his 
 best fighting men, with plenty of arms and ammunition 
 and two or three days' provisions. To cut his way through 
 the hostile lines and reach his schooner would have been 
 a much less difficult feat than Henningson's evacuation 
 of Granada. Capitulation had never been discussed or 
 thought of by Walker, nor had Commander Davis hinted 
 at his intention of seizing the Granada, until her pos- 
 session had become of vital importance to the besieged. 
 The Leonese in the North had begun to murmur at the 
 
TSE STOMY op THM FtLtBTlSTEUS. 14? 
 
 cost and misery of this prolonged, fruitless war, whose 
 advantages, should it end favourably to the AllieSj would 
 most likely be reaped by those whom they loved no better 
 than they did the Americans of the North. Walker, had 
 he been allowed to embark his lighting men in safety, 
 might expect to awaken in those old friends a new and 
 stronger friendship, and , resume the fight against the 
 Serviles from the original point at Eealejo. The pos- 
 session of over a hundred prisoners, whom he could have 
 carried with him as hostages, was a sufficient guarantee 
 for the safety of the sick and wounded whom he would 
 have been compelled to leave behind. Such, at least, 
 are the arguments embodied in Henningsen's protest, and 
 the facts conceded by all authorities justify his con- 
 clusions. But half of Walker's ammunition was on 
 board the schooner, without which it would have been 
 madness to attempt a change of base in presence of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Walker, finding that Davis was firm in his determi- 
 nation, sent General Henningsen and Colonel Wattei*s 
 to meet the naval autocrat at the headquarters of the 
 Allies and arrange terms of capitulation. An agreement 
 was drawn up and submitted to Walker, on the 13th of 
 April, but he declined to sign it, as it contained no pro- 
 visions guaranteeing the safety in person and property 
 of his native adherents who should have to remain in 
 Nicaragua. Among the latter were many devoted men 
 who had kept faithful to his fortunes throughout all, and 
 on whom the wrath of the enemy would fall as soon as. 
 the dread filibusters should leave the country. On the 
 next day an agreement was submitted and accepted by 
 both parties, the provisions of which were as follows : — 
 
 "EiVAS, Mat/ 1, 1857. 
 " An agreement is hereby entered into between General 
 William Walker, on the one part, and Commander C. H. 
 
148 THE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 Davis, of the United States Navy, on the other part; and 
 of which the stipulations are as follows :— Firstly. General 
 William Walker, with sixteen officers of his staff, shall 
 march out of Eivas, with their side-arms, pistols, horses, 
 and personal baggage, under the guarantee of the said 
 Captain Davis, of the United States Navy, that they shall 
 not be molested by the enemy, and shall be allowed to 
 embark on board the United States vessel of war, the 
 St. Mary's, in the harbour of San Juan del Sur, the said 
 Captain Davis undertaking to transport them safely, on 
 the St. Mary's, to Panama. 
 
 " Secondly. The officers of General Walker's army 
 shall march out of Eivas with their side-arms, under the 
 guarantee and protection of. Captain Davis, who under- 
 takes to see them safely transported to Panama in charge 
 of a United States officer. 
 
 " Thirdly. The privates and non-commissioned officers, 
 citizens, and employes of departments, wounded or un- 
 wounded, shall be surrendered, with their arms, to Captain 
 Davis, or one of his officers, and placed under his pro- 
 tection and control, he pledging himself to have them 
 transported safely to Panama, in charge of a United 
 States officer, in separate vessels from the deserters 
 from the ranks, and without being brought into contact 
 with them. 
 
 " Fourthly. Captain Davis undertakes to obtq,in 
 guarantees, and hereby does guarantee that all natives 
 of Nicaragua, or of Central America, now in Eivas, and 
 surrendered to the protection of Captain Davis, shall 
 be allowed to reside in Nicaragua, and be protected in life 
 and property. 
 
 " Fifthly. It is agreed that all such officers as have 
 wives and families in San Juan del Sur shall be allowed 
 to remain there under the protection of the United States 
 consul, till an opportunity offers of embarking for Panama 
 or San Francisco. 
 
THE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 149 
 
 " General Walker and Captain Davis mutually pledge 
 themselves to each other that this agreement shall be 
 executed in good faith." 
 
 Such is the text of the treaty between the representative 
 of the United States and his captive. The lenity, unheard 
 of before in Central American warfare, which the Allies 
 thus offered to the men whom they had vowed to ex- 
 terminate, shows ~ how highly they valued the services of 
 Captain Davis. That they did not keep their merciful 
 promise to the native prisoners, but harried them in the 
 good old-fashioned way as soon as the gallant captain 
 had sailed away, does not detract from the merit of their 
 promise, They would have promised anything to be rid 
 of the troublesome filibustero. 
 
 No stipulation had been made for the surrender of the 
 ammunition and weapons of the besieged. Henningsen, 
 therefore, before the evacuation began, set his gunners'to 
 work destroying all the artillery and ammunition, con- 
 sisting of one four-pound brass gun, three five-pounders, 
 two twelves, and three sixes, and four light iron twelve- 
 pound mortars, also 55,000 cartridges, 300,000 caps, and 
 1,500 pounds of powder ; no contemptible supply of salt- 
 petre for a garrison lacking in bread. 
 
 The total number of men surrendering was 463, in- 
 cluding 170 sick and wounded. One hundred and two 
 prisoners taken from the Allies were set free and sent 
 within the enemy's lines. Forty natives who had abided 
 with him to the last, bade their grey-eyed chieftain a 
 sorrowful adieu on the bright May morning that was his 
 last in Eivas. 
 
 Bravely and deliberately the fiHbusters marched out of 
 the town, Walker riding at the head, with blade on thigh 
 and pistol in belt, and the same impassive visage that 
 he would have worn in mounting a throne or a gallows. 
 After him, Henningsen, tall, martig,!, frank of face, then 
 
150 THE 8T0BY OF TBB FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 bearded like a whiskered Pandour, and not without traces 
 of powder from his morning's work. Gaunt Hornsby, a 
 Northern Quixote in face and figure, rode beside phleg- 
 matic Bruno Von Natzmer, erst Prussian cornet of hussars 
 and friend of Baron Bulow, until differences of national 
 adoption set them lustily to fighting each other; more 
 fortunate than the Costa Eican baron, he lived to fight 
 another day ; Henry and Swingle, doughty gunners, 
 rejoicing that the beloved cannon for whose dainty throats 
 they had oft compounded precious balls of church-bell 
 metal, should at least be saved from the hated Greaser's 
 clutch ; Watters — Colonel Jack — he of the relief of 
 Granada ; Williamson, West, and a dozen others, brave 
 men and true, accompanied their leader. Other brave 
 men and true, scores and hundreds, lay beneath_the orange 
 trees of Eivas and Granada and San Jorge, and a score 
 of hard-fought fields, who never again might follow a 
 filibuster's flag or awake to martial trump until that of 
 Gabriel sounds their reveilee. 
 
 Walker and sixteen of his officers were to go on board 
 the St Mary's, thence to Panama, and home. It is a 
 striking, and in its way, an heroic picture, that of the 
 filibuster chief parting from his wild, wayward,' but 
 devoted comrades. First, he must say not adieu but au 
 rcroir to 250 privates and non-commissioned officers, 
 escorted by a United States lieutenant, who curses his job, 
 to Virgin Bay, thence homeward as circuitously as may be ; 
 also to the sad contingent' of sick and wounded, homeward 
 bound by another course ; finally, he gives a look of 
 pitying scorn upon a battalion of recreant deserters whom, 
 for their own safety. Captain Davis must despatch to the 
 home which yearns not for them, by yet another route. 
 
 So fared they forth from Eivas and on to their several 
 fates ; Walker to gaze from the decks of the St Mary's at 
 his beloved schooner Granada, now captured by Davis, 
 as promised and turned over, as also (privately) promised 
 
GENERAL CHARLES FREDERIC HENNJNGSEK. 
 
TEE 8T0BT OF TEB FILIBUSTEBS. ' 151 
 
 to the Costa Eioans, and commanded, not without much 
 pomp ,and glory, by a Jamaico negro — horribly satirical 
 sequel to that slavery decree which was to have regene- 
 rated Central America. Commander Davis, most 
 respectable of naval magnates, passed from Eivas unto 
 well-earned promotion, chiefly by dint of meritorious 
 longevity, and died, in the fulness of time, an admiral, 
 having achieved nothing more important in his long life 
 than the forcible overthrow of the filibuster chief. 
 
 The "Blue, White, and Blue " has floated over Nicaraguan 
 soil for the last time, save that one brief moment when it 
 shall flutter and fall before the " Stars and Stripes " in the 
 port of San Juan del Norte. So many and such varying 
 stories have been told of the number of men who fought 
 and died under its folds, that a summary of the actual 
 force which during twenty months held possession of a 
 country may not be uninteresting. 
 
 It has been estimated by those who estimate by guess, 
 that 5,000 Americans perished in Nicaragua — that is to 
 say, five-sevenths as many Americans as were killed and 
 wounded in the Eevolutionary War. It has also been 
 guessed that Walker had from 10,000 to 20,000 men at 
 his command. These guesses have been gravely crystal- 
 lized into history, where history has condescended to 
 notice the subject at all. The actual records of the 
 adjutant-general, P. E. Thompson, show that exactly 
 2,843 men were enlisted in all the campaigns. In 
 addition to these, however, must be reckoned native 
 volunteers, civilians who volunteered, and others who were 
 impressed for temporary service — whose combined strength 
 may have swelled the total to about 3,600. 
 
 Against them_ was arrayed a force, in all, of 21,000 
 Servile Nicaraguans, Costa Eicans, .Hondurans, Guate- 
 malans and San Salvadorians, with at least 10,000 Indian 
 auxiliaries. The Allies admitted a loss of 15,000 in all 
 the campaigns. One-third, perhaps, of the Americans 
 
152 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS.- 
 
 died in Nicaragua. I take the- assertions of General 
 Henningsen, in the absence of any ofiBcial figures. Some 
 estimate of their deeds may be gathered from the surgical 
 report, which showed that the proportion of wounds 
 treated was 137 to every hundred men. Those who did not 
 shirk their duty must have carried away many a scar, 
 when they were fortunate enough to carry away their 
 lives, to average the immunity of the cowardly and the 
 false. It is not placing the proportion too high to say 
 that about one thousand five hundred was the number^ 
 of those who were steadfast and true. 
 
 These were mostly Californians, when to be Californian 
 meant to belong to that race. of giants who had come from 
 all parts of the earth in search of gold, and then journeyed 
 two thousand miles further in search of adventure. 
 Nine-tenths of them were Americans, of every rank in 
 life, from college to prison graduates, who boasted that 
 " California was the pick of the world, and they were the 
 pick of California " ; nor quarrelled with him who chose 
 to put it, " California is the sink of the world, and we 
 are the sewer of California." Young Southerners drifted 
 to Nicaragua, as naturally as young Northerners ran 
 away to sea. A son and a nephew of Senator Bayacd ran 
 away from school to join the filibusters, and might have 
 added some military glory to the family name, but that 
 the filibusters sent them home at the request of the 
 American State department. Henningsen's first aid was 
 a youth of nineteen, named Burbank, who had run away 
 from the Virginia military institute, and would have been 
 entitled, had he lived, to a fortune of 100,000 dollars, 
 which in those days was esteemed wealth. A rather 
 worthless sergeant did actually fall heir to a fortune of 
 that amount, which he was summoned home to enjoy, 
 but purposely missed the steamer and remained to die in 
 Nicaragua. 
 
 All the strange, wild natures for whom even California 
 
THE' STOBT OF THE FILIBU8TEBS. 153 
 
 had grown too tame, drifted naturally into the filibuster's 
 camp. "I have heard," says Henningsen, "two greasy 
 privates disputing over the correct reading and compara- 
 tive merits of iEschylus and Euripides. I have seen a 
 soldier on guard incessantly scribbling strips of paper, 
 which turned out to be a finely versified translation of his 
 dog's-eared copy of the ' Divina Commedia.' " 
 
 The same appreciative commander testifies to the in- 
 vincible heroism and fortitude of those men : " I have 
 often seen them marching with a broken or compound- 
 fractured arm in splints, and using the other to fire the 
 rifle or revolver. Those with a fractured thigh, or wounds 
 which rendered them incapable of removal, often (or, 
 rather, in early times, always) shot themselves, sooner 
 than fall into the hands of the enemy. Such men," he 
 adds, " do not turn up in the average of every-day life, 
 nor do I ever expect to see their like again. I was on the 
 Confederate side in many of the bloodiest battles of the 
 late war ; but I aver that if, at the end of that war, I had 
 been allowed to pick five thousand of the bravest Con- 
 federate or Federal soldiers I ever saw, and could resurrect 
 and pit against them one thousand of -such men as lie 
 beneath the orange trees of Nicaragua, I feel certain that 
 the thousand would have scattered and utterly routed the 
 five thousand within an hour. All military science failed, 
 on a suddenly given field, before assailants who came on 
 at a run, to close with their revolvers, and who thought 
 little of charging a battery, pistol in hand." Ten men, 
 all officers, did in the first battle of Eivas actually charge 
 and capture a battery manned by over a hundred Costa 
 Eieans, half of the little band being slain in the heroic 
 feat. 
 
 Their enemies testify to the splendid courage of the 
 filibusters and their indomitable sang-froid when called 
 upon to face the fusillade which almost always awaited 
 them if captured. Chevalier Belly tells of a filibuster: 
 
154 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 captured, with a broken leg, and condemned to be shot, 
 who curtly replied to the questions of an officious person, 
 as to why he had come to Nicaragua, whether he believed 
 in a future state, and so forth; until losing patience at 
 what he deemed such idle speech, he burst out : " Here, 
 we've had enough of this fooling ! If you mean to have 
 this funeral come off bring on your mourners and let us 
 get through with it." 
 
 Men who possessed the military genius, which upon a 
 broader field had earned them fame and fortune, lie in 
 unlionoured graves; because on their field bravery and 
 skill meant only increased chances of death. Men of 
 highest education, family, and wealth, lie, beside felons 
 and outcasts. Some survived to pursue their adventurous 
 career in other lands, many to die in the American Civil 
 War. One of them, Frederick Townsend Ward, descendant 
 of straitest Puritan ancestry, a native of Salem, Massa- 
 chusetts, graduated from the filibuster's school to wander 
 over to distant China, where, the Taiping rebellion occurring 
 in the nick of time^ he entered the Imperial service, in 
 which he presently attained to the chief command. So 
 well did the doughty filibuster practise the lessons learned 
 in his old school, that he soon became one of the greatest 
 men in the Celestial kingdom, and was loaded with wealth 
 and honours (two million dollars, it is said, of the former, 
 but the native executors produced no assets), and might 
 have risen to any position in that most conservative 
 kingdom, perhaps even to the very throne and office of 
 heaven's vice-gerent, had not an unlucky ball cut short 
 his career at the siege of Ning-Po, and sent him to enjoy 
 the most remarkable honours ever paid to a Yankee 
 living or dead. For the grateful Pagans have erected ,two 
 temples in his honour, and have solemnly enrolled his 
 name among those of their country's gods. Even to this 
 day there is kept perennially blooming over his tomb a 
 spotless lily, emblematic of I know not what, which , is 
 
, TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 155 
 
 constantly tended and nursed by loving hands, and shall 
 perchance be so tended centuries to come, when Taiping 
 and Filibuster shall have grown dim and hoary traditions 
 in the busy, forgetful world outside the Middle Kingdom. 
 China remembers the services of Ward. With us alter 
 tulit honores, and an Englishman wears the glory of having 
 suppressed the Taiping rebellion. Of a different type was 
 the young Californian, Joaquin Miller, who has lived to 
 embalm in heroic verse the memory of his chief — albeit, 
 Walker, simple and severe, masquerades in a garb which 
 he would have little yearned for or admired. 
 
 To the more ignorant of his followers Walker's ulterior 
 designs were naturally inexplicable. They thought that 
 his purpose was merely that of a freebooter. Hence there 
 arose a legend that he had amassed a mighty treasure 
 which, like that of Captain Kidd, still lies hidden, awaiting 
 discovery by some lucky seeker. Long years after his 
 death the following story was told by a relative of one of 
 the surviving filibusters, named Samuel Lyons : 
 
 " By his bravery and strategy Samuel became one of 
 Walker's most trusted men, and he was one of the four 
 officers who helped Walker bury his treasure. There 
 were five mule loads of it — gold and silver, money and 
 bullion, including a great deal which had been plundered 
 from the churches, the chapels, and private mansions. 
 At eleven o'clock one moonlight night Walker and four 
 officers buried the treasure under a big tree near the 
 brow of a hill. I have heard Samuel tell how they 
 scraped away the leaves on the ground before they dug 
 the pit. I have a pretty good idea of the locality myself, 
 but he knows just where it is, and can find it even if the 
 tree is removed. The treasure was buried just before the 
 two final engagements which crushed the hopes of Walker. 
 The next morning after that little moonlight excursion 
 the first of these engagements occurred, and in it two of 
 the officers who had seen the treasure buried were killed. 
 
186 THE STOBY OF THE FI'LIEUSTEBS. 
 
 After that engagement the army — if it could be called 
 one— lived on bananas alone for two weeks in a big 
 banana plantation, and had a hard time of it. Then 
 came the last engagement, in which Walker, Samuel, 
 and the rest were captured. There is only one of the- 
 four accompanying officers who is not accounted for ; but 
 as nothing was heard of him after that engagement 
 Samuel has always believed that he was killed then or 
 executed with the captives who -met death in that way. 
 He certainly was not with the party that so wonderfully 
 escaped with Samuel, and who, I think, were the sole 
 survivors of that engagement. If he be dead, or rather, 
 if he died then, Samuel alone has the secret." 
 
 Most lovers of the marvellous would be satisfied with 
 this delectable dish of treasure and gore, but another 
 " survivor," with a still more able-bodied imagination, 
 gravely corrects the first narrator, by saying : 
 
 " The writer hereof knows something of that treasure, 
 and personally examined it, and in lieu of five mule loads, 
 there were Jive tons of it. It is well known that the most 
 horrible chapter in that most horrible of wars was the 
 burning and pillaging of Granada by General Henningsen, 
 under Walker's orders, in November, 1856. The churches 
 — some twenty or more, immensely rich in plate and 
 jewels — were secretly and systematically despoiled, and 
 their great booty was safely stowed away on board a 
 Lake Nicaragua steamer before the doomed city was 
 given up to pillage. What became of that immense spoil 
 has been a mysterious secret, and was so regarded by the 
 filibusters at the time. It ivas worth millions. To allay 
 suspicion as to its true disposition Walker gave out that 
 it was shipped to New Orleans to be disposed of on account 
 of his government, and that the proceeds thereof would 
 be used in purchasing military supplies. That spoil was 
 buried, and, to my own personal knowledge, the officer 
 who hftd it in charge and commanded the squad whg 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEB8. 157 
 
 guarded it now lives in San Bernardino. He informs me 
 (and we have frequently discussed the matter) that, under 
 the immediate supervision of Walker, he and five other 
 officers and about twenty men buried that treasure in the 
 village of St. George, on Lake Nicaragua, under a room 
 in the house wherein the booty was so sacredly guarded. 
 Walker exacted the most solemn oath of secrecy, giving 
 substantial gratuities and promising future rewards to 
 the whole party if they would faithfully guard the secret 
 of the hidden church-spoil of the burned city. Inside of 
 a month the whole party who were in the secret, save my 
 friend and informant and two or three of the officers 
 therein engaged, were sent away on a feigned expedition ; 
 were given out as deserters ; were pursued by a large 
 party of cavalry, and, by Walker's order, shot to a man 
 when overhauled by the pursuing party. Soon thereafter, 
 at a desperate battle fought at St. George on January 16, 
 1857, the last man of the party who assisted in burying 
 the church spoil, save my friend of San Bernardino, was 
 killed, and in such a way as to confirm in the mind of 
 my informant the opinion that all had been killed by 
 Walker's order, and that the General intended to be the 
 only custodian of the secret of ■ the hidden treasure. 
 Although my informant was a faithful and trusted officer, 
 high in Walker's favour, still the prompt and tragic 
 ending of his comrades and sharers in the dread mystery 
 produced such an impression on his mind that he at once 
 deserted. He carried the secret with him and yet has it, 
 and he is the only man living who knows where the 
 Granada booty lies hidden, and he don't know. And why 
 not ? Well, the spoil was buried in December ; in 
 January the enemy, by a forced march, possessed them- 
 selves of St. George ; Walker took position at Eivas, three 
 miles distant, and, within the next three months, utterly 
 exhausted his army in his vain endeavours to repossess 
 himself of the insignificant village that contained' this 
 
158 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 immense wealth. In the terrific conflicts that ensued the 
 village was razed to the ground. This the writer hereof 
 knows, because he fought through all of those engage- 
 ments." 
 
 Nothing (save truth) is lacking to make this circum- 
 stantial narrative all that it should be. Like most of the 
 improbable charges made against Walker, it emanated 
 from his deserters, who have done more than any others 
 to blacken his memory. 
 
CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 Walker returns to the United States — Crabbe's expedition — Eenewed 
 attempts of Walker — The expedition to San Juau del Norte. 
 
 WALKER'S reception in New York, on his return to 
 the United States, was like that of a conqueror. 
 The city wore a holiday appearance ; tens of thousands of 
 citizens flocked to see the hero ; Broadway was decked 
 with banners as on a national festival. Public meetings 
 were called to give him welcome and sympathy. Walker 
 received the homage with dignified modesty, and resolutely 
 avowed his determination to recover his lost power at the 
 first opportunity. As the lawful President of Nicaragua, 
 he protested 'against the action of the United States, to 
 him a foreign power, in driving him from his country. He 
 went to Washington, to lay before the State Department 
 his complaint against Commander Davis, and was received 
 with diplomatic politeness ; but the case was referred to- 
 the consideration of Congress, where it was effectually 
 buried under a mountain of verbiage. Thence he made 
 a journey through the South, being welcomed and feted 
 with even more enthusiasm than he had received in the 
 North. Arriving at New Orleans, he made his first appear- 
 ance publicly in a box at one of the theatres. When the 
 audience became aware of his presence they turned with 
 one impulse from the mimic romance of the stage to gaze 
 at the living hero whose exploits made tame the wildest 
 flights of imagination, and cheer upon cheer went up from 
 pit and gallery. Walker was hailed as a hero and a 
 martyr, and his bitterest enemies were silenced for the 
 
160 THE STOBt OF THB FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 time, when Henningsen, whom they had expected, from 
 some unknown reason, to villify his commander, not only 
 disappointed that hope, but lauded everywhere the cha- 
 racter and principles of the great filibuster. He also laid 
 before Secretary Cass an indignant protest against the 
 outrage inflicted upon a friendly nation, whose only offence 
 towards the United States lay in the fact that its president 
 had the misfortune to be by birth ah American. Technically 
 the filibusters had serious reason for complaint. But the 
 demand for reparation fell upon deaf ears. The President 
 of the United States cared nothing for the fact that the 
 title of the President of Nicaragua to his office was in law 
 as good as that of James Buchanan to his. Buchanan, as 
 Walker soon saw, was not the man to add another bramble 
 to his already too painful bed of thorns ; and the bold 
 filibuster decided to seek outside the pale of law that 
 redress which was denied him within it. 
 
 While Walker and his men were battling for their lives 
 in Eivas, during the months of March and April, 1857, 
 another and a bloody scene in the tragedy of filibusterism 
 was being enacted on the stage which had witnessed the 
 failures of De Boulbon and Walker. Towards the end of 
 March one hundred and fifty men from California were led 
 across the boundary line into the northern part of Sonora 
 by Henry A. Crabbe, a former friend of Walker, and like 
 him, a man of bold and ambitious character. He had 
 been one of the most useful agents in organizing the 
 latter's expedition to Nicaragua, and through him Walker 
 had secured some of his most efficient officers, Hornsby, 
 Fisher, and De Brissot, all of whom had been concerned in 
 a contract between Crabbe and Jerez similar in its terms 
 to that afterwards made between Gastellon and Walker. 
 
 Crabbe. was an ex- Senator of the State of California ; in 
 his party were seven former members of the legislature 
 and one present senator, together with the former State 
 treasurer and State comptroller ; men who had outlived 
 
THE 8T0BT OF TEE FILIBU8TEBS. 161 
 
 their popularity, perhaps, or who had become tired of 
 humdrum life and sought a new career in. Sonera, the 
 graveyard of adventurers. Nor was the military element 
 lacking. Colonel Watkins, who had been with Walker in 
 his expedition to the same country, and a former lieutenant 
 in the regular army. Colonel T. D. Johns, superintended 
 the military department as the expedition crossed the line. 
 They marched through the country without hindrance until 
 they passed Sonoyta and approached Caborca, on the Gulf 
 of California, near Point Lobos. There for the first time 
 the Mexicans showed a hostile front. Crabbe had issued " 
 an address to the inhabitants, in which he claimed that 
 his business in the country was peaceable, his object being 
 the prosecution of a mining scheme in Sonora ; and main- 
 tained that, while his party were armed, they had come 
 so only for self-defence against the Apache Indians. The 
 truth of the matter was that Crabbe had been invited to 
 Sonora by the partisans of a political minority, .whose 
 leader, Don Ignacio Pesqueira, had meanwhile gained his 
 political ends without the aid of foreign allies, and was 
 much disturbed lest the inopportune arrival of the latter 
 should reflect upon his present loyalty. Crabbe, who 
 had at much cost and labour organized his immigrants 
 and arranged for the future immigration of nine 
 hundred more men, was not disposed to abandon his 
 project. . He was allied by marriage with some of the 
 leading families in the State, and may have cherished 
 hopes of exchanging places with Pesqueira in Sonorian 
 affairs. If he counted upon the assistance of the native 
 population he was doomed to a cruel disappointment. 
 
 On the 1st of April, when the expeditionists were within 
 six miles of Caborca, they were fired upon by an ambushed 
 party of. natives ; at the same time a strong force appeared 
 in front, drawn up to contest the road. The filibusters 
 opened fire upon them, killing at the first volley Colonel 
 Eodriguez, the commander, and driving the Mexicans 
 
 12 
 
164 THE STOItY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth, the American minister to Mexico, took 
 pains to investigate the matter, and laid before his own 
 Government and that of Mexico the results of his inquiry. 
 He pronounced the execution of the prisoners " legal 
 murder," a conclusion which apparently satisfied both 
 parties, the Americans because it was "legal," and the 
 Mexicans because it was "murder," and so the matter was 
 allowed to drop. It ended filibusterism in that country. 
 The American apostle of liberty no longer heeds the cry 
 of the oppressed of any faction. Nor is it likely, since the 
 world was shocked by the execution of the Austrian arch- 
 duke, that many Europeans will be found treading the 
 wine-press for the "regeneration " of Mexico. 
 
 With the expulsion of the filibusters terminated for a 
 time the war in Nicaragua. The Allied states formed a 
 kind of protectorate over the republic, having first rewarded 
 themselves, after the fashion of greater powers, by gather- 
 ing a goodly share of the fruits of victory. Costa Eica 
 was rewarded by the possession of Guanacaste and a strip 
 of land bordering along the lake and the southern side of 
 the San Juan river, a sufficiently small return for her out- 
 lay in the war, which had entailed a loss of four thousand 
 men, women, and children slain by cholera. The " Tiger 
 of Honduras " was given material aid in driving from 
 power at home the partisans of Cabanas. General Mar- 
 tinez, a descendant of the apocryphal heroine of San 
 Carlos, was appointed President of Nicaragua, and at once 
 sent a minister to Washington, who was received without 
 question. Mr. Buchanan thus gave himself a plausible 
 excuse for declining to recognize the claims of Walker. 
 Seiior Yrissari, the new minister, negotiated a new treaty 
 for the construction of a canal, the terms of which not 
 being considered favourable to Costa Eica, that state and 
 Nicaragua were soon again preparing to grapple each 
 other's throats. 
 
 In spite of the vigilance of the United States authorities 
 
TSE STOBY of the jPILlBUSTElES. 1^6 
 
 Walker continued planning schemes to resume the offen- 
 sive on Nicaraguan soil. Being arrested on charge of 
 organizing an unlawful expedition, he was acquitted, only 
 to ren^w his preparations. Thirteen days after his dis- 
 charge at New Orleans he appeared off the harbour of 
 San Juan del Norte on board the steamer Fashion, but did 
 not stop at that port until after he had landed Colonel 
 Anderson and fifty men at the mouth of the river Colorado, 
 a southerly branch of the San Juan. Eeturning to the 
 harbour of San Juan, the Fashion boldly came to anchor 
 under the guns of the United States frigate Saratoga, and 
 landed her cargo of war material and passengers to the 
 number of a hundred and fifty men. The officers and 
 most of the men were old veterans of Nicaragua, including 
 the tried soldiers, Hornsby, Von Natzmer, Swingle, Tucker, 
 Henry, Hoof, Fayssoux, Cook, McMuUen, Haskins, But- 
 trick, and others. Captain Chatard, of the Saratoga, sent 
 a boat on board the Fashion, but the passengers had landed 
 before the lieutenant in command could prevent them. The 
 only steps which the American officer felt himself autho- 
 rized to take were to order the filibusters to respect 
 American property on the Transit Company's ground, an 
 injunction which Walker obeyed, after protesting that it 
 was infringement of his rights as President of Nicaragua, 
 from and through whom the company held its privi- 
 leges. 
 
 Walker immediately fornied his camp and awaited the 
 reinforcements which he was daily expecting from the 
 United States. Colonel Anderson, having ascended the 
 Colorado and San Juan, suddenly appeared before Castillo 
 Viejo and captured it without difficulty, a feat which the 
 incompetent Titus and Lockridge had been unable to 
 achieve with eight times his force. He also captured three 
 or four of the river steamers, and was in a fair way to 
 obtain supreme control of the Transit route, when the 
 arrival at San Juan, on December 6th, of Comniodore 
 
166 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 
 
 Hiram Paulding and the U.S. frigate Wabash gave a new 
 turn to affairs. 
 
 Captain Chatard, not content with exercising , a kind of 
 police superintendence over the port of San Juan, began a 
 series of petty annoyances, which, had they been intended 
 to provoke Walker into a collision with the United States 
 forces, could not have been better contrived. While the 
 American captain professed to maintain a strict neutrality, 
 he nevertheless issued orders to the expeditionists, and 
 sent his boats out to practise firing where the filibusters 
 on duty were exposed to injury unless they abandoned 
 their posts. His of&cers insisted upon landing and 
 entering Walker's camp without a pass ; and when 
 Walker, with more dignity than discretion, threatened 
 to shoot anybody found trespassing within his lines, 
 Captain Chatard retorted in a note (which Walker sent 
 to Commodore Paulding), assuring him that he would 
 retaliate. " The childish follies," as Walker characterized 
 them, of Captain Chatard failing to provoke a collision, 
 Commodore Paulding, on the 7th of December, sent an 
 imperative summons to surrender. Eesistance to such a 
 demand, backed as it was by two frigates and a com- 
 plaisant British captain, who volunteered to aid Paulding 
 in annihilating the American filibusters, would have been 
 madness. On the next day Commodore Paulding landed a 
 force of three hundred and fifty men in howitzer barges 
 and formed them in order of battle, while the broadsides of 
 the Saratoga were sprung to bear on the camp. Captain 
 Engle proceeded to the tent of General Walker and pre- 
 sented the demand for surrender, adding, " General, I am 
 sorry to see you here. A man like you is worthy to 
 command better men." Walker replied briefly that the 
 virtue of his men would be apparent if their number and 
 equipments were one half those of his captors. 
 
 The flag of the filibusters was then hauled down, and 
 the prisoners were sent on board the Saratoga for trans- 
 
THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 167 
 
 portation to the United States. Walker, being offered the 
 choice of returning by way of Aspinwall, availed himself 
 of the favour and went home at his own expense. Colonel 
 Anderson, on learning of the capture, surrendered his 
 command on the river and returned to New Orleans. 
 Arriving at New York, Walker gave himself up to a United 
 States marshal, in fulfilment of his parole to Commodore 
 Paulding, and was sent a prisoner of war to Washington. 
 But President Buchanan was by no means ready to support 
 the act of his naval subordinate, and absolutely refused to 
 accept the surrender or to recognize Walker as in the 
 custody of the Government. In a message to Congress he 
 reviewed at length the action of Commodore Paulding, 
 which he pronounced unlawful, but cited the approbation 
 of the de facto government of Nicaragua as justifying the 
 proceedings. In short, Paulding had infringed the rights 
 of that country by an act of hostility towards its president 
 and upon its soil ; but, reasoned Mr. Buchanan, inasmuch 
 as the enemies of Walker now in possession of the govern- 
 ment of Nicaragua do not complain, therefore Commodore 
 Paulding's action was not reprehensible. Nevertheless, it 
 was a grave error and a dangerous precedent, should it 
 be allowed to go unrebuked. Acting upon the logical 
 sequence of that opinion, Walker demanded that the 
 Government of the United States should indemnify him 
 for his losses and, by granting free transportation to a 
 new expedition, restore the status quo ante. Needless to 
 say, the petition was not granted. He then instituted 
 civil suits against Paulding, claiming damages for illegal 
 arrest and detention, suits which lingered in the courts and 
 never arrived at a decision. 
 
 The Fashion was condemned for having sailed from 
 Mobile under a false clearance, and sold by the United States 
 marshal for twp hundred dollars. Her cargo, which was 
 brought back by the frigates Saratoga and Wabash, showed 
 that the filibusters had made ample preparations for the 
 
168 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBVSTEBS. 
 
 equipment of a force sufScient to have easily reconquered 
 the country had they been able to secure a foothold. That 
 their failure should be caused by the action oi their fellow 
 countrymen they had never dreamed. Walker, before his 
 departure, had satisfied himself that he should suffer no 
 harm if only he could get away in quiet. Least of all did 
 he dream of being molested on foreign soil. Proof came 
 readily, when it was too late to be of any service, that 
 Paulding had transgressed his powers in breaking up the 
 expedition. The cause of his enmity was not difficult to 
 fathom. Fate seems to rejoice in a certain kind of ironical 
 cruelty, whereby she sends to a Napoleon the gad-fly, 
 Hudson Lowe, and thwarts the ambition of a Walker by 
 the .pipe-clay petulance of a naval martinet. It is as 
 though Csesar had caught a cold, and died of it, in crossing 
 the Rubicon. Paulding and other petty potentates chose 
 to take offence at the disrespectful manner -in which 
 Walker, a mere uncommissioned adventurer, had dared 
 speak of Commander Davis. They resented it as an insult 
 to " the service," and when the subsequent correspondence 
 with Commander Chatard was laid before the Commodore, 
 his indignation knew no bounds. The man who would 
 threaten to shoot a naval officer for penetrating his 
 military lines without a pass could be only a pirate and 
 outlaw. As such, Paulding had the filibuster arrested, 
 although permitting him, with charming inconsistency, to 
 go to New York on parole. 
 
 But the irreparable mischief was done, and Walker 
 found slight consolation in having his persecutor sus- 
 pended from active service, or in the prosecution of endless 
 civil suits for damages, a species of vengeance which carries 
 its own punishmento 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Walker's " History of the War" — Lands at Kuatan and takes Tru- 
 jillo — Retreats before the Enghsh forces — Surrender — Trial and 
 execution of the last of the Filibusters. 
 
 DURING the following two years Walker continued his 
 efforts to regain power in Nicaragua, his friends main- 
 taining their unshaken confidence in his ability to succeed 
 and in the "destiny" which had lately played him such 
 sorry tricks. On the 30th of October, 1858, President 
 Buchanan found it necessary to issue a proclamation 
 calling attention to certain plans of emigration companies 
 intending to colonise Nicaragua, the leading promoter of 
 which was William Walker. " This person," it said, "who 
 has severed the ties of loyalty which bind him to the 
 United States, and who aspires to the presidency of 
 Nicaragua, has notified the Collector of the port of Mobile 
 that two or three hundred of those emigrants will be ready 
 to embark and sail for that port towards the middle of 
 November ; " and the president warned the intending 
 emigrants that they would not be allowed to carry out 
 their project. 
 
 In spite, however, of this proclamation a party of one 
 hundred and fifty filibusters, commanded by Colonel 
 Anderson, embarked about the 1st of December on the 
 schooner Susan at the port of Mobile. The voyage 
 terminated abruptly by shipwreck off the coast of Hon- 
 duras, whence the expeditionists were rescued by a 
 British vessel of war and carried back to their home. 
 Doubleday thus describes the ruse by which the adven- 
 
170 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBXJSTEBS. 
 
 turers deceived the Federal authorities in escaping from 
 Mobile :— 
 
 " No customs official had molested us while fast to the 
 dock, but when we had reached the open bay a shadowy 
 vessel ran athwart our bow in the semi-obscurity of the 
 night, hailing us as she passed by announcing herself a 
 United States revenue cutter, commanded by Captain 
 Morris. He had orders if we should persist in sailing 
 with our present cargo, to sink us as soon as we were a 
 marine league from the shore, that distance constituting in 
 their parlance the open sea. This we agreed among ourselves 
 was unpleasant. She carried heavy guns while we carried 
 none, and besides not even Walker was quite prepared as 
 yet to make war with the United States. 
 
 " Captain Harry Maury, who commanded our schooner, 
 was a thorough sailor, intimately acquainted with the 
 varying depths of the bay of his native Mobile, and a true 
 type of the oft-quoted chivalry of the South. He further- 
 more had a rather intimate convivial acquaintance with 
 Captain Morris of the cutter. 
 
 "We therefore readily agreed that he should try his 
 diplomatic talent, to extricate us from our unpleasant 
 situation, for he assured us that Morris was a man to 
 carry out his instructions. 
 
 " As the cutter again came around within hailing 
 distance, Maury hailed, asking permission to go aboard 
 with a friend or two, for discussion of the situation. 
 Eeceiving a cordial invitation to bring as many of his 
 friends as he pleased, Colonel Anderson and I accompanied 
 him. 
 
 " The wind being very light the two vessels kept almost 
 side by side while we were in the cabin of the cutter. 
 Maury remarked that to men who were prospectively so 
 near Davy Jones' locker, a glass of grog would not be 
 unacceptable. 
 
TEE STOBY OF THE FILIBU8TEB8. 171 
 
 "Morris, hospitably inclined, set forth champagne, 
 driniing fraternally with those whom a hard duty com- 
 pelled him to immolate, and, as bottle succeeded bottle, I 
 saw that it was to become a question of endurance. 
 
 " Perfect courtesy was sustained and s,till further tested 
 when Maury invited Morris to come aboard the schooner 
 and try our wine, pledging himself that he should be 
 returned in safety to his own vessel. Whatever Morris 
 might have decided an hour before, he now promptly 
 accepted the invitation,, following us in his own boat. 
 
 "Drinking was resumed on the schooner, and, as Morris 
 was helped into his boat, Maury told him that he would 
 not keep so good a fellow chasing us through the darkness 
 of the night, but would anchor and wait for daylight, 
 cautioning him not to run into us when our anchor went 
 down. 
 
 " The night had become exceedingly dark, and as the 
 captain of the cutter reached his deck, Captain Maury 
 called out, cautioning Morris not to run into us when we 
 should bring up. 
 
 "At the same time the order was given in a loud voice 
 to 'let go,' and by a preconcerted arrangement the anchor 
 chain rattling through one hawse-hole was pulled in at the 
 other. 
 
 "Morris, supposing he heard the chain carrying our 
 anchor down, let go his own. As he brought up we 
 shot ahead, and then came the delicate part of the 
 business. 
 
 "Maury had reckoned on the diffei:ence in draught 
 between our vessel and the cutter — about six inches — 
 together with his superior knowledge of the depths in the 
 bay, to carry us over by a short cut into the sea. He had 
 arranged his manoeuvre to coincide with our arrival at the 
 spot on which be wished to make the test. 
 
 " We therefore headed directly across the channel, and 
 ' Morris, quickly perceiving the trick we had played him, 
 
172 THE STOBY OF THE FILISUSTEBS. 
 
 followed as soon as he could pull in his anchor. Even this 
 delay gave us a start which in the thick darkness deprived 
 him of the advantage of our pilotage. We afterward learned 
 that he did not go far before he was fast on the bottom, 
 and of course had to wait for high tide to get off." * 
 
 Shortly after the sailing of the Susari, the Collector of 
 the port of New Orleans detained a steamship with a 
 party of three hundred " emigrants " who were com- 
 pelled to give up their design of colonizing in Central 
 America. No further attempt was made by Walker until 
 September, 1859, when the guns of a United States frigate 
 were brought to bear upon the steamer Philadelphia at New 
 Orleans, forcibly compelling her passengers to disembark. 
 About the same time Lord Lyons, the British minister, 
 notified the American executive that his Government had 
 resolved to interfere in repelling forcibly any future 
 attempts of Walker against Nicaragua. A fleet of English 
 vessels of war was permanently stationed at San Juan del 
 Norte, while a similarly strong force guarded the Pacific 
 gate. The United States also kept a strong force in the 
 Carribean Sea to watch the movements of the exiled 
 president. Napoleon was hardly more of a nightmare 
 to the Holy Alliance than was Walker to the two powerful 
 countries which did him the honour of this surveillance. 
 
 Meanwhile he was employing his enforced . leisure in 
 writing a history of his Nicaraguan career, which he pub- 
 lished in the spring of 1860. The book, which was written 
 in the third person, after the style of " Csesar's Commen- 
 taries," is valuable chiefly as a reflection of the author's 
 character. His modesty in alluding to his own exploits is 
 extreme ; but he makes no hesitation of avowing his 
 principles as an ardent champion of slavery, devoting 
 many pages to an exposition of arguments which were 
 never logical and are now mournful and ridiculous. That 
 * " The Filibuster War in Nicaragua.'" 
 
THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 173 
 
 he was sincere is unquestionable. He was a man who 
 would live or die in support of his convictions, and who 
 had too much sincerity of purpose ever to succeed in any 
 undertaking which required duplicity. A proof of his 
 impolitic honesty is found in the fact that at this period 
 of his career he embraced the Catholic religion, a step not 
 calculated to win him favour among either his political 
 friends or enemies. It has been incorrectly stated that he 
 joined the faith on becoming President of Nicaragua ; it 
 would have been a wise stroke of worldly policy for him to 
 have done so. But the fact is, that he stoutly maintained 
 his independence of thought until his reason was convinced, 
 even though it might injure him with the clerical party in 
 that country. In Napoleon's place Walker would never have 
 donned the turban nor sought to conciliate the Pontiff, 
 though the empire of a world rewarded the stroke. 
 Empires are neither won nor held by men of such, 
 obstinate conscience. 
 
 The evident impossibility of running the gauntlet of 
 the British and American cruisers in the Carribean Sea 
 determined him to seek a new pathway to his cherished 
 goal ; and that way, he decided, lay through the exposed 
 part of the enemy's territory, the eastern coast of Hon- 
 duras. It would seem that at that time the Island of 
 Euatan, a fertile land with a population of about 1,700 
 souls, was not under the usual -British man-of-war 
 captain's sovereignty, but owed a . nominal allegiance to 
 the Eepublic of Honduras. Upon the always ready in- 
 vitation of some of its inhabitants, Walker prepared to 
 use it as a base of operations against his former enemy, 
 President Alvarez, and as a stepping-stone to the real 
 point of attack. Accordingly, in the early part of August, 
 1860, having made arrangements for a strong body of 
 reinforcements to follow and join him at Trujillo, he sailed 
 in the schooner Clifton from Mobile with a force of about a 
 hundred men, including the veterans Eudler, Henry, Dolan, 
 
174 THE 8T0BY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 and Anderson, and landed at Euatan on the 15th of 
 the month. There he issued a proclamation to the 
 people of Honduras, which was an explicit avowal of his 
 objects and desires : > 
 
 " More than five years ago, I, with others, was invited 
 to the Eepublic of Nicaragua and was promised certain 
 rights and privileges on the condition of certain services 
 rendered the state. We performed the services required 
 of us, but the existing authorities of Honduras joined a 
 combination to drive us from Central America. In the 
 course of events the people of the Bay Islands find them- 
 selves in nearly the same position as the Americans held 
 in Nicaragua in November, 1856. The same policy which 
 led Guardiola to make war on us will induce him to drive 
 the people of the Islands from Honduras. A knowledge 
 of this fact has led certain residents of the Islands to call 
 upon the adopted citizens of Nicaragua to aid in the 
 maintenance of their rights of person and property ; but 
 no sooner had a few adopted citizens of Nicaragua 
 answered this call of the residents of the Islands by 
 repairing to Euatan than the acting authorities of Hon- 
 duras, alarmed for their safety, put obstacles in the way of 
 carrying out the treaty of November 28, 1859. Guardiola 
 delays to receive the Islands, because of the presence of a 
 few men whom he has injured ; and thus, for party pur- 
 poses, not only defeats the territorial interests of Honduras, 
 but thwarts, for the moment, a c&rdinal object of Central 
 American policy. The people of the Bay Islands can be 
 ingrafted on your Eepublic only by wise concessions 
 properly made. The existing authorities of Honduras 
 have, by their past acts, given proof that they would not 
 make the requisite concessions. The same policy which 
 Guardiola pursued toward the naturalized Nicaraguans 
 prevents him from pursuing the only course by which 
 Honduras can expect to hold the Islands. It becomes, 
 
THE STOBY OF THE F1LIBU8TEB8. 175 
 
 therefore, a common object with the naturalized Na- 
 caraguans, and with the people of the Bay Islands, to 
 place in the government of Honduras those who will yield 
 the rights lawfully required in the two states. Thus, the 
 Nicaraguans will secure a return to their adopted country, 
 and the Bay Islanders will obtain full guarantees from the 
 sovereignty under which they are to be placed by the 
 treaty of November 28, 1859. To obtain, however, the 
 object at which we aim, we do not make war against the 
 people of Honduras, but only against a government which 
 stands in the way of the interests, not only of Honduras, 
 but of all Central America. The people of Honduras may 
 therefore rely on all the protection they may require for 
 their rights, both of person and property. 
 
 " William Walker." 
 
 To capture the town of Trujillo, on "the mainland, was , 
 but the work of half an hour, only a few of the assailants 
 being wounded. Walker received a slight wound in the 
 face. Scarcely had the town been occupied when a British 
 war-steamer, the Icarus, appeared on the scene. Captain 
 Salmon, her commander, immediately notified Walker that 
 the British Government held a mortgage against the 
 revenues of the port, as security for certain claims, and 
 that he intended to protect the interests of his Govern- 
 ment by taking possession of the town. Walker replied 
 that he had made Trujillo a free port, and consequently 
 could not entertain any claims for revenues which no 
 longer existed. The captain refused to recognize any 
 change in the government of Honduras, and sent a 
 peremptory demand for surrender, promising, in case of 
 compliance, to carry the prisoners back to the United 
 States, and threatening to open fire on the town if it were 
 not surrendered. Meanwhile General Alvarez, with 700 
 soldiers, was preparing to make an assault by land. Thus 
 hemmed in, Walker determined to evacuate Trujillo, which 
 
176 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEB8. 
 
 he did the following night, retreating down the coast with 
 only seventy men. In their haste they were compelled to 
 leave behind all their heavy baggage and accoutrements, 
 carrying only thirty rounds of ammunition each ; the rest 
 they destroyed at Trujillo. When the British landed next 
 morning they were only in time to protect the sick and 
 wounded in the hospital from the ferocious Hondurians, 
 The Icarus immediately took Alvairez and a strong force 
 on board and steamed down the coast in pursuit. 
 
 At the mouth of the Eio Negro they learned that 
 Walker lay encamped at the Indian village of Lemas, 
 whither the boats of the Icarus were sent. They founS 
 the adventurers in no condition to oppose such over- 
 whelming odds. They had carried with them from 
 Trujillo only two barrels of bread, and being without 
 blankets or overcoats, many had been attacked with fever 
 from sleeping on the damp unhealthy ground. To reach 
 Nicaragua in such miserable plight would have been im- 
 possible, even had they any hope of meeting a hospitable 
 reception there. The Indians through whose territory 
 they should' have to pass were fierce and hostile to all 
 intruders, and Olancho (" Olancho, ancho para intrar, 
 angosto para salir " : " Easy to enter, hard to leave") lay 
 in the way. To Captain Salmon's demand for un- 
 conditional surrender. Walker replied with the inquiry, 
 whether he was surrendering to the British or to the 
 Hondurenos? Captain Salmon twice assured him, dis- 
 tinctly and specifically, that it was to her Majesty's 
 forces ; whereupon the filibusters laid down their arms 
 and were carried on board the Icarus. On arriving at 
 Trujillo, Captain Salmon turned his prisoners over to the 
 Honduran authorities, despite their protest and demand 
 for trial before a British tribunal. But Captain, Salmon 
 was only a young and rather pompous commander who 
 disdained to argue the case, although he so far interested 
 himself as to secure the pardon of all except the leader 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FiLIBUSTEBS. Ill 
 
 and one faithful follower, Colonel Eudler. West, Dolan, 
 and other veterans "who had joined this last forlorn hope 
 were either unknown to the Hondurenos, or not deemed of 
 sufficient importance to merit severe punishment. 
 
 Captain Salmon offered to plead for Walker, if the latter 
 would ask his intercession as an American citizen. But 
 Walker, with the bitter remembrance of all the injuries 
 which his nativity had brought upon him, thanked his 
 captor, and refused to demean himself by denying the 
 country which had adopted and honoured him. 
 
 He was arraigned before a court-martial on the 11th of 
 September, and, after a brief examination, he was con- 
 demned to die by the fusillade next morning. He heard 
 his sentence with calmness, and was remanded to prison 
 to pass the night in preparing for death. At half-past 
 seven o'clock on the morning of September 12th he was 
 led out to the place of execution. He walked unfettered, 
 with calm and firm tread. He carried a crucifix in his left 
 hand, a hat in his right. A priest walked by his side, 
 reciting the prayers for the dying. Two soldiers marched 
 before him carrying drawn sabres ; three more followed 
 him with bayonets at the charge. Upon entering the 
 hollow square of soldiery on the plaza he begged the priest 
 to ask pardon in his name of any one whom he had 
 wronged in his last expedition, -Then, mounting the fatal 
 stool, he addressed his executioners in Spanish, for none 
 of his comrades had been allowed to witness the execution, 
 and said : 
 
 "I am a Koman Catholic. The war which I made, in 
 accordance with the suggestion of some of the people 
 of Euatan, was unjust. I ask pardon of the people. I 
 receive death with resignation. Would that it might be 
 for the good of society! " 
 
 Then, calm as he had ever been, whether in peace or in 
 war, he awaited the fatal signal. The captain of the 
 
 13 
 
m THE StOBY OF TBM FILiBUStMHS. 
 
 firing party gave a sharp order, dropped the point of his 
 sabre, and, at the sign, three soldiers stepped forward to 
 within twenty feet of the condemned, and fired their 
 muskets. All of the balls took effect, but still the victim 
 was not dead ; whereupon a fourth soldier advanced, and 
 placing the muzzle of his piece at the forehead of the 
 victim, blew out; his brains. And so died the last of the 
 filibusters ! 
 
CHAPTER XVIli. 
 
 Character of Walker — A private's devotion — Anecdote — After-fate of 
 the filibusters — Henningsen's epitaph — Last Cuban expedition — 
 The Virginius tragedy — An Englishman to the rescue — JFinis. 
 
 AS Walker was the last, so he was the greatest of 
 American filibusters. He was not a great man, 
 nor by any means a good one ; hut he was the greatest 
 and the best of his class. His fault was ambition. It was 
 a fault with him because it was a failure. From such a 
 verdict there is no appeal. No apology can be offered 
 for ambition ungratified ; and successful ambition needs 
 none. But the world's estimate of his personal character 
 and actions has been needlessly severe. He was not the 
 insatiable monster of cruelty that his enemies have painted. 
 He was a man of deep, if narrow, learning, fertile re- 
 sources, and grand audacity. He was calm and temperate 
 in words and actions, and mercilessly just in exacting 
 obedience from the turbulent spirits who linked their 
 fortunes with his. He lacked worldly wisd&m ; nothing 
 could induce him to forego the least of his rights to gain 
 a greater ultimate advantage. He would maintain the 
 dignity of his office, though it cost him the office itself. 
 The lawyer belittled the lawgiver in his attempt virtually 
 to confiscate the lands of Nicaragua by the help of an 
 unworthy legal device ; while his design for the restoration 
 of slavery was as impolitic as it was futile, unjust, and 
 barbarous. The action was, doubtless, the result of an 
 honest belief in that " divine institution," as well as of a 
 desire to show his sympathy with his devoted friends in 
 
180 fHl! Stout OP THE FILISUSTEBS. 
 
 the United States ; but the effect was only to put another 
 weapon into the hands of his foreign enemies, without 
 materially strengthening him at home. It was a defiance 
 to his powerful British opponents, and a wanton outrage 
 upon the free states of Central America, alienating the 
 BylnpathieB of all who hoped from the evil of conquest to 
 extract the good of civilization. Judged, as he wished to 
 be judged, by his public policy, Walker was unequal to 
 the office of a Liberator. It would be unfair to criticize 
 the domestic administration of one who held his office by 
 the sword, yet it is true that he preserved order and 
 enforced justice with more success than any ruler of 
 Nicaragua who has filled the position since the inde- 
 pendence of the coimtry. Doctor Scherzer, the intelligent 
 German traveller, writing at a time when Walker's success 
 seemed assured, heartily rejoices in the new and grand 
 career opening before Central America. He warmly 
 commends Walker's administration of justice, without 
 palliating his errors, and sees " the morning star of 
 civilization rising in the Tropic sky." 
 
 Walker was humane in war, and allowed retaliatory 
 measures to be taken against thfe Costa Eicans only after 
 the latter had shamelessly abused his lenity by repeated 
 massacres of defenceless prisoners and non-combatants. 
 The tales of his ctuelty to his men have uniformly 
 proceeded from the lips of worthless and disgraced ad- 
 venturers, who were mainly deserters. Had he been the 
 cold and haughty tyrant painted by his enemies, the 
 infatuated devotion of his followers is unaccountable by 
 any human rule. Neither ambition nor recklessness can 
 explain the conduct of men who followed him through 
 life, with unswerving loyalty. " Private Charles Brogan " 
 s recorded among the surrendering men at the end of the 
 Sonora campaign. As " Private Brogan " his name figures 
 among the Vesta's passengers. So again, it appears on the 
 army register and in the lists of wounded, all through the 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 181 
 
 Nicaragua!! campaign. Yet again, in 1857, when the second 
 descent on Nicaragua ended ingloriously at San Juan del 
 Norte, " Private Charles Brogan " heads the list of captured 
 rank and file. Did he see his chief perish bravely at 
 Trujillo ? or had he himself gone before and escaped the 
 tragic sight ? This chronicler knows not, and history, 
 alas ! has forgotten greater men than the poor follower 
 of the half-forgotten filibuster. All honour here to thee, 
 Private Charles Brogan, whom no vision of fame or fortune 
 tempted to serve so loyally and long the ill-starred chief- 
 tain of a contraband cause ! 
 
 The truth is, Walker's attitude towards his officers of 
 high rank was one of studied formality, which the neces- 
 sities of his position made imperative. Familiarity in 
 his intercourse with such volunteers would have been 
 death to discipline. But towards his humbler followers 
 he showed the kindness and consideration of a friend, and 
 won their respect by sharing their dangers. " I have 
 known him," says Henningsen, " to get up from a sick 
 bed, ride forty miles to fight the Costa Eicans, whipping 
 soundly a force of thrice his numbers, and then, after 
 giving his horse to a wounded soldier, tramp back his 
 forty miles, without, as the boys used to say, ' taking the 
 starch out of his shirt collar.' " The men who did their 
 duty spoke well of him always ; but it was, of necessity, 
 the knaves and cowards, mainly, who survived such bloody 
 campaigns, and returned to defame their comrades. Few 
 even of these accused him of selfishness, save in his 
 ambition. For money he cared nothing ; and the soldiers 
 of fortune' complained of hard fighting and no pillage. 
 
 He had a certain grim sense of humour, which finds 
 occasional expression in the pages of his book. Of 
 Guardiola's attempt to fire the hearts of his men by 
 plying them with aguardiente before an engagement, in 
 which they were ignominously routed, he says : " The 
 empty demijohns which were picked up on the road after 
 
182 TEE 8T0BY OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 the action looked like huge cannon-balls that had missed 
 their mark." There is wisdom as well as humour in his 
 remark, that •'' the best manner of treating a revolutionary 
 movement in Central America is to treat it as a boil : let 
 it come to a head, and then lance it, letting all the bad 
 matter out at once." The pompous pretence of his native 
 friends and enemies amused the shrewd judge of men, 
 who possessed a happy knack of epitomizing a character 
 in a single phrase, as when he calls the native custom of 
 indiscriminate conscription, " an inveterate habit of catch- 
 ing a man and tying him up with a musket in his hand, 
 to make a soldier of him." Kinney " had acquired that 
 sort of knowledge and experience of human nature to be 
 derived from the exercise of the mule trade." He mentions 
 his enemy Marcy only with a contemptuous allusion to 
 the blunder of that statesman in referring to Nicaragua 
 as a country of South America, and dismisses Mora from 
 his notice with the qualified clemency : " Let us pass 
 Mora in exile, as Ugolino in hell, afar off and with 
 silence." 
 
 His sense of the ridiculous was too keen to allow him 
 ever to depart from the rigid simplicity of manner and 
 dress which was in such striking contrast with the gaudy 
 attire and pompous demeanour of his native friends. His 
 uniform consisted of a blue coat, dark pantaloons, and 
 black felt hat with the red ribbon of the Democratic army ; 
 his weapons were a sword and pistols buckled in his belt, 
 and these he carried only in battle, where they were rather 
 for use than ornament. 
 
 His character is in many respects like that of Cortes. 
 Both were unlicensed conquerors ; both were served by 
 volunteers; served well by the faithful and brave, and 
 obeyed through fear by the knavish and cowardly. Bodily 
 fatigue or danger had no terrors for either, nor were they 
 chary of demanding equal courage and endurance from 
 their followers, Cortes triumphed over his enemies in 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTERS. 183 
 
 the field ; but barely succeeded in defeating the machina- 
 tions of his foes in the Spanish Cabinet. Had Walker 
 been a Conquistador he would have conquered Mexico as 
 Cortes did. Had Cortes been a Californian filibuster he 
 might have conquered Nicaragua, but he would assuredly 
 have succumbed to Marcy and Vanderbilt. 
 
 Unquestionably Walker was carried away by his firm 
 belief in his destiny. He never doubted, until he felt the 
 manacles on his wrists a,t Trujillo, that he was destined 
 to play the part of a Cortes in Central America. He had 
 risked death a hundred times in battle and skirmish 
 without fear or doubt. Possibly he welcomed it, when at 
 last it came, and was sincere in hoping that it might be 
 for the good of society. 
 
 So died, in his thirty-seventh year, the man whose 
 fame had filled two continents, who had more than once 
 imperilled the peace of the world which remembers him 
 only in the distorted and false character of a monster and 
 an outlaw. The country which gave him birth, and little 
 besides, save injustice, forgot amid the bloody conflict 
 into which it was soon plunged, the fame and fate of the 
 filibusters. Into the vortex of civil war were swept many 
 of the restless spirits who had survived the sanguinary 
 fields of Central America, and in it perished many of the 
 bravest and ablest who had learned their first lesson in 
 that stern school. 
 
 As most of them were of Southern birth, so they 
 generally joined the ranks of the Confederacy. At the first 
 call to arms, Henningsen offered his services to the seceding 
 states, and was given a regiment in Wise's Legion of 
 Northern Virginia. Frank Anderson went with him as 
 lieutenant-colonel, and did good service for the lost 
 cause. He was one of Walker's oldest veterans, having 
 served in both the expeditions to Nicaragua. At the first 
 battle of Eivas he was wounded three times, and left on 
 the field for dead, but managed to drag himself into 
 
 \ 
 
184 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 hiding before his comrades were all massacred, and so 
 escaped to rejoin his command. 
 
 Henningsen served throughout the war ; but, in spite 
 of his experience on many fields, and the marked ability 
 with which he filled his subordinate position, he never 
 rose to distinction in the Confederacy. He was a natural 
 leader in irregular warfare, as might have been expected 
 of a pupil in the schools of Zumalacarregui, Schamyl, and 
 Walker; and the scientific campaigning of the Peninsula 
 gave no scope for his talents. But he had espoused the 
 cause with honest convictions of its justice, and he sup- 
 ported it faithfully to the end. When that end and ruin 
 came he returned to private life, a man without a career, 
 and lived quietly and unobtrusively until his death in 
 June, 1877. In his later years he was a devoted adherent 
 of the patriots who were waging a fruitless war for freedom 
 in Cuba. Once he visited the island in connection with a 
 projected uprising, but saw no promise of success "in the 
 attempt. His death was sudden. He had been ill but 
 a few days ; a faithful ^friend,. Colonel Gregg, a soldier 
 who had fought against him in the Civil War, watched 
 by his bedside; the sick man slept, while the tireless 
 brain dreained, what dreams who can say? of the 
 chequered career about to close forever. Suddenly his 
 eyes opened, and in them was something of the old fire, 
 as he half sat up in his bed, and pointing to a print on the 
 wall of the arms of " Cuba Libre," said, " Colonel, we'll 
 free Cuba yet ! " The ruling passion found voice in his 
 last words— the next instant he fell back dead. 
 
 Henningsen was considered to have been the military 
 genius of the Nicaraguan campaign by the detractors of 
 Walker, who could not deny the wonderful success of the 
 latter. But Henningsen himself always repudiated the 
 undeserved fame, and was foremost in awarding to his 
 chieftain whatever of glory was won in that profitless 
 field. He died as he had lived, a true, simple-hearted 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEB8. 185 
 
 gentleman, a knight-errant born centuries too late. 
 Colonel John T. Pickett, a kindly philosopher, and one 
 who in his heyday followed a filibuster's luckless banner, 
 has, engraved upon the tomb of Henningsen the apt motto 
 from Gil Bias : " Inreni portum. Sjics et fortuna valete I 
 Sat me lusistis. . , . Ludite nunc alios." 
 
 The filibusters whom the winds had blown from every 
 quarter of the earth to the siinny vales of Nicaragua were 
 drifted back, when the storm had broken and spent its 
 fury, to the world of peace and prose. A few only of the 
 worthier survive to recall that strange page in life's 
 romance. Eudler, who was with his leader in all his 
 campaigns, and who was sentenced to four years' im- 
 prisonment after the surrender in Honduras, returned to 
 share the fortunes of the seceding South, as did also 
 Wheat, Hicks, Fayssoux, Hornsby, and many others. In 
 the vicissitudes of American life a few, like Doubleday 
 and Kewen, even achieved wealth, which is perhaps as 
 strange a climax to the career of a filibuster as any that 
 could be conceived. The two O'Neils were men of in- 
 vincible courage. Both died in battle, Calvin, the younger, 
 at the age of twenty-one, after making a reputation for 
 heroism that was marked even among that valiant group. 
 Eeluctantly we part with the wild band, Homeric heroes 
 in more features than one ; with Henry and Swingle, the 
 ingenious gunners, Von Natzmer, the Prussian hussar, 
 Pineda, the great-hearted native of an unworthy country, 
 Hornsby, Eawle, Watters, and the Fifty-six who were 
 " Immortal " for a day. 
 
 That most entertaining cosmopolitan, Laurence Oliphant, 
 came very near adding the distinction of being a filibuster 
 to his other experiences. He did, in fact, join an expe- 
 dition which set out from New Orleans in December, 1856, 
 for San Juan del Norte, with the intention of reinforcing 
 Walker at Rivas. But the good steamer Texas reached 
 }ier destination too late, Spencer and his Costa Eicans 
 
186 TEE STOBY OP THE 'FILIBV8TEBS. 
 
 having closed the Transit. Among the adventurous spirits 
 in the company was one who had taken part in the last 
 ill-fated expedition of Lopez to Cuba, and spent a year 
 and a half in a Spanish dungeon. "The story of his 
 escape from a more serious fate," says Oliphant, " was 
 characteristic of many other stirring narratives of a 
 similar description, with which on moonlight nights we 
 used to beguile the evening hours. He had served as an 
 officer on General Lopez's staff during one of the ex- 
 peditions to Cuba. When that officer, together with 
 many of the more prominent members of the expedition, 
 after a desperate resistance, was captured by the Spanish 
 troops, my friend, who was one of the number, found 
 himself with many of his countrymen thrown into the 
 Havanna jail, and informed that he was to prepare for 
 his execution on the following day. As an act of grace, 
 however, permission was given to all the captives to indite 
 a farewell letter to their friends, informing them of their 
 approaching execution. Most of his fellow-victims could 
 think of some one belonging to them to whom such a piece 
 of information might prove interesting ; but the poor 
 captain racked in vain the chambers of his memory for 
 a solitary individual to whom he could impart the melan- 
 choly tidings without feeling that his communication would 
 be what in polite society would be called an ' unwarrant- 
 able intrusion of his personal affairs upon a comparative 
 stranger.' He could think of nobody that cared about 
 him ; revolving this forlorn state of matters in his mind, 
 ashamed to form the only exception to the general 
 scribbling that was taking place, he determined to choose 
 a friend, and then it flashed upon him, that as all the 
 letters would probably be opened, he had better choose a 
 good one. Under his present circumstances, who more 
 appropriate than the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 
 at Washington, then Daniel Webster ? Not only should 
 he make a friend of him, but an intimate friend, and then 
 
THU STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTERS. 187 
 
 the Spanish Governor might shoot him if he chose, and 
 take the risk. He accordingly commenced : ' Dan, my 
 dear old boy, how little you thought when we parted at 
 the close of that last agreeable visit of a week, which I 
 paid jou the other day, that within a month I should be 
 " cribbed, cabined, and confined " in the infernal hole of a 
 dungeon from which I indite this. I wish you would send 
 the Spanish minister a case of that very old Madeira of 
 yours, which he professes to prefer to the wines of his 
 own country, and tell him the silly scrape I have got 
 myself into, if indeed it be not too late, for they talk of 
 sending me to "the bourne" to-morrow. However, one 
 never can believe a word these rascals say, so I write this 
 in the hope that they are lying as usual, — and am, my 
 
 dear old schoolmate, your affectioijate friend, .' For 
 
 once the absence of friends proved a real blessing. Had 
 the captain been occupied by domestic considerations, he 
 never would have invented so valuable an ally as was thus 
 extemporised, and he was rewarded for his shrewd device 
 on the following morning, by finding himself the only 
 solitary individual of all the party allowed to ' stand over.' 
 In a couple of hours Lopez and his companions had gone 
 to the bourne, to which our captain so feelingly alluded ; 
 and when, at last, the trick was discovered, the crisis was 
 past, and the Spanish Government finally condemned him 
 to two years' confinement in chains in the dungeon at 
 Ceuta, which was afterwards commuted to eighteen months. 
 He had just returned from this dismal abode in time once 
 more. to gratify the adventurous propensities which had 
 already so nearly cost him his life ; and it is due to him 
 to say, that even the daring and reckless spirits by whom 
 he was surrounded, agreed in saying that he placed an 
 unusually low estimate on that valuable possession." 
 
 There is little to add to the history of filibusterism, 
 which may be ranked among the dead industries or the 
 lost arts, just as one chooses to regard it. Contrary 
 
188 THE STOBT OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 to the predictions of the prophets, the disbandment of a 
 million of men at the end of the Americal Civil War was 
 effected without trouble. The European Powers breathed 
 more freely when it was accomplished, satisfied that the 
 aggressive " Yankee " was not so grasping as he had been 
 painted. Maximilian of Mexico slept peacefully, and his 
 late unruly subjects renewed their fraternal quarrels, 
 undisturbed by interference from abroad, and finally 
 settled into uninteresting peace and prosperity. Pilibus- 
 terism died because, in sooth, it had no longer a reason 
 for being. To "extend, the area" of an abolished slavery 
 were as paradoxical as Quixotic. Nevertheless, the 
 peculiar institution chanced to prove the cause of yet 
 one final, fallacious, and ghastly episode. 
 
 Cuba, once coveted as an ally by the slaveholders of 
 the United States, was now the only spot on the civilized 
 globe afaicted with the barbarous stain. The " ever-faithful 
 isle " was trebly cursed with slavery, foreign rule, and 
 martial law. Like a spendthrift come to his last penny, 
 Spain, having squandered a continent, clung with tenacity 
 to its remaining possession in the Western world. 
 Thrones were set up and knocked down at home, republics 
 were born and strangled, but no change for the better 
 was ever felt in the wretched colony. Eather, it suffered 
 from every change, since each involved a change of 
 masters. Hungry, avaricious masters they were, spurred 
 on by the uncertain tenure of their office, to reap as rich 
 plunder as might be got out of the hapless colony, ere a 
 new turn of the cards at home should force them to make 
 room for other needy patriots. The power of the Captain- 
 General is almost absolute at the best of times. In such 
 times as those it is well-nigh omnipotent. The colony 
 was denied representation in the Cortes, while taxed 
 beyond endurance to support the government, and robbed 
 by an army of officials appointed to rule over her without 
 her consent or choice, 
 
THE STOJRY OF THE FILIBU8TES8. 189 
 
 Cuba at last rebelled. The planters who found them- 
 selves robbed of the fruits of their industry as fast as 
 they were , gathered, and who saw the system of slavery 
 develop into the most intolerable of all wrongs, the 
 wrong unprofitable, at last determined to strike for their 
 liberty. They freed and armed their slaves. They 
 burned their plantations, and in September, 1868, hoisted 
 the lone star flag in the mountains and bade defiance to 
 the Spaniard. The leading insurgents were all men of 
 wealth and influence, while their followers were neces- 
 sarily ignorant and undisciplined. But success meant 
 freedom to both classes ; and they threw themselves 
 into the unequal struggle with sublime desperation. All, 
 or mostly all, of the leaders perished during the long 
 and bloody contest, which ended only after it had lasted 
 eight years, at a cost to Spain of two hundred thousand 
 lives and over seven hundred million dollars. The flgures 
 are those of Governor-General Don Joaquin Javellar. 
 Even yet the embers smoulder, awaiting only a favorable 
 moment to be fanned into another terrible' flame. 
 
 The Junta of Cuban patriots in New York sent out 
 several cargoes of war material, and enlisted many 
 American adventurers ; but no regular expedition was 
 at any time organized. Among those who participated 
 in the guerilla conflict were Domingo de Goicouria, once 
 Minister of Hacienda in Nicaragua, and Colonel Jack 
 Allen, also not unknown to filibuster fame. Poor Goicouria 
 paid the penalty at the fatal garrote, as did also the aged 
 Santa Eosa, comrade of Lopez and Crittenden. 
 
 The culminating tragedy came to pass in October, 1873. 
 On the 23rd of that month, the steamer Virginius, a 
 former blockade-runner, cleared from Kingston, Jamaica, 
 for Port Limon, Costa Eica, with passengers to the 
 number of a hundred or more. Her true destination was 
 the island of Cuba, her mission the transportation of arms 
 and filibusters. Among the passengers were the patriot 
 
190. THE 8T0BY OI' TEE F1LIBU8TEBS. 
 
 leaders, Cespedes, Eyan, Varona, and Del Sol. The 
 steamer touched at Port An Prince, received her cargo 
 of arms, ammunition, medicines, and equipments, and 
 made sail for Cuba. She was seen and chased by the 
 Spanish gunboat Tornado, which, by a curious coincidence, 
 was also a former blockade-runner and a sister ship of 
 the Virginius — a favoured sister, since she speedily over- 
 hauled and captured her prey. 
 
 The Virginius, though flying the American flag on the 
 high seas, was made a prize and carried into the port 
 of Santiago de Cuba. Captain Fry, her commander, an 
 American citizen and former officer in the United States 
 and Confederate navies, protested in vain against the 
 outrage. He was denied communication with his consul, 
 and thrown into prison, with all his passengers and crew. 
 The four insurgent leaders were first tried by summary 
 court martial and sentenced to death. The sentence was 
 promptly executed, at sunrise on the 6th of November, 
 five days after the capture. Eyan and Varona refused 
 to kneel, and were shot as they stood. The heads of the 
 four were cut off and carried on pikes through the city 
 and before the windows of the prison, where their comrades 
 lay awaiting a similar fate. The news of the tragedy had 
 been carried to the United States, and the American and 
 English consuls interested themselves to protect - the 
 remaining prisoners ; but the sham trials went on in spite 
 of their protests. On the 7th of November, Captain Fry 
 and fifty-one companions were brutally butchered in the 
 presence of a ferocious mob, who mangled the senseless 
 remains. 
 
 There still survived ninety-three unfortunates. By this 
 time the telegraph had spread the terrible news throughout 
 the world, and awakened a tempest of indignation* every- 
 where save in Havanna and Madrid. Even in Spain, at 
 the time enjoying a government nominally republican, 
 there was some surprise at the horrible tragedy, and Senor 
 
TSE STOBY OF THB FILIBUSTERS. 191 
 
 Castelar, his humanity spurred up by a peremptory des- 
 patch from the English Foreign Office, was moved to 
 beseech of his lieutenant to be a little less hasty in his 
 action. The appeal was unheeded, and all of the hapless 
 victims were condemned to immediate execution. But 
 General Burriel had made an epicure's mistake in pro- 
 longing his feast. 
 
 There was no American vessel of war in the neighbour- 
 hood of Santiago de Cuba, but, what was more to the 
 purpose, as far as the fate of the prisoners was concerned, 
 there was the inevitable British man-of-war within a day's 
 sail. The sloop Niobe lay in the harbour of Kingston, 
 with half of her crew on shore liberty, when the news 
 of the massacre reached her commander. Sir Lambton 
 Lorraine. He sailed at once for Santiago. An English 
 captain does not need instructions in such an emerge'ncy. 
 He has standing orders and can trust to his nation for 
 support of his acts. " I am an English subject," said 
 Thompson, a sailor of the Virginius, " and they won't 
 dare lay hands on me." He knew his countrymen, but 
 he mistook the Spaniard. He and fifteen compatriots 
 were among the murdered fifty-three. 
 
 Then did the hearts of other British subjects and American 
 citizens fail them as they awaited their doom. The 
 Americans had long abandoned hope. The English were 
 giving way to despair, when a glad sight met their eyes. 
 It was the Niobe entering the harbour, with the cross 
 of St. George flying at her peak. She did not stop to 
 salute the fort, but gracefully rounded to, a few cables' 
 lengths from the Tornado and her prize, with port-holes 
 open and her crew at quarters. Ere her anchor fell, the 
 captain's gig was in the water, and soon its oars were 
 flashing spray as it sped shoreward. In the stern sheets 
 sat the young commander. 
 
 His veto of the massacres was delivered not a moment 
 too soon. Burriel demurred, questioning the Englishman's 
 
192 THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 right to interfere. Lorraine insisted on the right, claim- 
 ing that there were British subjects among the prisoners. 
 To the Spaniard's denial of that fact, he answered that 
 he would take upon himself, then, the responsibility of 
 protecting American citizens, in the absence of their own 
 defenders. The delicate points of this officious inter- 
 ference Senor Burriel might have debated, long and 
 ingeniously, with a different kind of adversary. But 
 the English sailor was no casuist. His arguments were 
 brutally direct. " Stop the murders, or I bombard your 
 town," they said in so many words. Indeed, he was a 
 very rash and impulsive young man. Under a free 
 government he would have been cashiered, without 
 benefit of clergy. Only a few months before, so the 
 rumour went, he had fired hot shot and shell into the 
 town of Omoa, Honduras ; and there was no guessing what 
 he might not be tempted to do with Santiago, upon such 
 very strong provocation. Extreme measures were averted, 
 however, by Burriel's consenting to reprieve his prisoners. 
 
 Then arose the question of reparation. Minister Sickles 
 at Madrid took high and dignified ground, insisting upon 
 the fullest apology for the insult offered to his country's 
 flag, and indemnity to the families of the murdered men. 
 Castelar assented to a treaty covering every demand of 
 Mr. Sickles, and was about to sign it formally, when he 
 received advices from Washington which made him retract 
 his concession, and made General Sickles telegraph his 
 resignation. It appeared that the Spanish minister at 
 Washington had proved himself a skilful diplomat by 
 negotiating with the American Secretary of State a pro- 
 tocol, the terms of which were as extraordinary as the 
 secret manner in which they were drawn up. 
 
 By this arrangement, which settled the question for 
 ever, the United States waived its demands for a salute 
 to the insulted flag, accepting a formal apology instead, 
 waived the question of indemnity, and did not press for 
 
THE STOBY OF THE FILIBUSTEBS. 193 
 
 the punishment of the guilty officials of Bantiago. What 
 the Government did demand and obtain, it would be hard 
 to say. The only visible reparation was the conditional 
 surrender of the captured vessel, for trial before an 
 American court of admiralty. Should it transpire that 
 she had been in lawful possession of her American 
 register, then she was to be given to- her owners ; if other- 
 wise, she was to be restored to her captors. Strangely 
 enough, there was no provision . made in the latter con- 
 tingency for the rendition and punishment of the survivors. 
 All possible dispute. on that point was happily averted by 
 the inscrutable catastrophe which befell the luckless craft. 
 She foundered, opportunely, in a g^^le off Cape Fear on 
 her voyage to the United States, to the great relief of two 
 governments. 
 
 There was much indignation in the United States over 
 the awful tragedy and accompanying insult to the national 
 flag. A vast amount of money was expended on the navy, 
 and certain commanders were ordered to review their 
 forces and manoeuvre their squadrons almost in sight 
 of the Cuban shores. Warlike talk was in the air; but 
 the sober second thought of the people was averse 
 to a war in defence of the insulted banner, when it had 
 been used to shelter adventurers in an illegal under- 
 taking. The American is slow to be angered, and has 
 none of the Englishman's sentimental reverence for 
 bunting, unless it covers a clearly just cause. Sir 
 Lambton was speedily promoted by his Government. 
 Somebody in the American Congress proposed a resolution 
 of thanks to him also, but it was promptly tabled, with 
 a perception of the fitness of things hardly to have been 
 expected in that sagacious body. More fitting and spon- 
 taneous was the gift sent to him by the miners of far 
 Nevada, a fourteen-pound silver brick, emblematic of the 
 highest expression of eulogy. 
 
 The Virginius tragedy, and the indifference with which 
 
 U 
 
194 THE STOBY OF TEE FILIBUSTEBS. 
 
 it was beheld by the American Government, were sufficient 
 warnings, had any been needed, to the Filibuster, that 
 his day was past. In unmistakable language he was 
 told that his country's flag should not and would not 
 shield him in the violation of international law. Theo- 
 retically the execution of the Virginius adventurers was 
 as much of an outrage on the dignity of the United States 
 as if it had occurred on American soil. Practically, the 
 delicate points of flag and register and high-seas neutrality 
 were dismissed from consideration, and the evidently 
 hostile mission of the vessel was held to excuse the severe 
 punishment meted out to her passengers. Whether or 
 not the lesson may be heeded when the example shall 
 have grown old, it is plain that for the present at least, 
 the race of filibusters is extinct. 
 
 They were a virile race, with virtues and vices of 
 generous growth. They played no mean part on the 
 world's stage, albeit a part often wayward and mistaken. 
 They were American dreamers. Had they been Greeks 
 or Norsemen, or free to roam the world in the days of 
 Cortes, Balboa, and Pizarro, victors like them, History 
 would have dealt more kindly by them. As it is, spite 
 of faults and failure's, they do not deserve the harshest 
 of all fates, oblivion. 
 
 THE END. 
 
THE LIFE OF 
 
 COLONEL DAVID CROCKETT. 
 
 (Abridged.). 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 3HE brief reference in the foregoing pages to David 
 Crockett, as an intrepid soldier, does but scant justice 
 to the memory of one who, taken altogether, was per- 
 haps the most picturesque figure in American border 
 life. He is entitled to remembrance, not only for his 
 heroic qualities, but also because he was the first of the 
 school of extravagant humorists to whom has been given the distinc- 
 tive name of American. 
 
 Borrowing nothing, save his inherited Celtic sense of fun, from the 
 old world, the garb of his humour is wholly native . With a naive 
 affectation of simplicity, and even of ignorance, he is in his wildest 
 flights of humour always shrewdly conscious of his own extravagance. 
 There is much in Crockett that suggests a later, and more illustrious 
 backswoodsman, the wise, kindly, story-loving Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The tragic death of Crockett is told in the story of the Alamo. In 
 the following pages will be foimd the narrative of his life, written by 
 himself in the year before his death. A spurious " life " of him had 
 been published by an anonymous scribbler, and it was in order to 
 correct its misrepresentations that he wrote his autobiography. 
 
 In this abridged narrative I have omitted many passages of merely 
 local or ephemeral nature, chiefly containing political allusions of no 
 interest to the readers of to-day. The few which are retained on 
 account of the context refer to Andrew Jackson and his quarrel over 
 the United States Bank, Crockett being a bitter political opponent of 
 the grim President who, too, could fight as stoutly as any backswoods- 
 man of them all, and who did not deserve the censures of his quondam 
 comrade in arms. 
 
 "With this preliminary explanation the reader is introduced to 
 Colonel David Crockett, who writes his own unique preface. 
 
fUEFACE. 
 
 ^SHION is a thing I care migMy little about, except 
 
 when it happens to run just exactly according to my 
 
 own notion ; and I was mighty nigh sending out my 
 
 book without any preface at all, until a notion struck 
 
 rae, that perhaps it was necessary to explain a little 
 
 the reason why and wherefore I had written it. 
 
 Most of authors seek fame, but I seek for justice — a holier impulse 
 
 than ever entered into the ambitious struggles of the votaries of that 
 
 flcTcle, flirting goddess. 
 
 A publication has been made to the world, which has done me 
 much injustice ; and the catchpenny, errors which it contains, have 
 been already too long sanctioned by my silence. I don't know the 
 author of the book — and indeed I don't want to know him ; for after 
 he has taken such a liberty with my name, and made such an effort 
 to hold me up to public ridicule, he cannot calculate on anything but 
 my displeasure. If he had been content to have written his opinions 
 about me, however contemptuous they might have been, I should have 
 less reason to complain. But when he professes to give my narrative 
 (as he often does) in my own language, and then puts into my mouth 
 such language as would disgrace even an outlandish African, he 
 must himself be sensible of the injustice he has done me, and the trick 
 he has played off on the public. I have met with hundreds, if not 
 with thousands of people, who have formed their opinions of my 
 appearance, habits, language, and everything else from that deceptive 
 work. 
 
 They have almost in every instance expressed the most profound 
 astonishment at finding me in human shape, and with the counten- 
 ance, appearance, and common feelings of a human being. It is to 
 correct all these false notions, and to do justice to myself, that I have 
 written. 
 
 In the following pages I have endeavoured to give the reader a 
 plain, honest, homespun account of my state in life, and some few of 
 the difficulties which have attended me along its journey, down to this 
 time. I am perfectly aware that I have related many small and, as 
 I fear, uninteresting circumstances ; but if so, my apology is, that it 
 was rendered necessary by a desire to link the different periods of my 
 life together, as they have passed, from my childhood onward, and 
 
200 PREFACE. 
 
 thereby to enable the reader to select suob parts of it as lie may 
 relish most, if, indeed, there is anything in it which may suit his 
 palate. 
 
 I have also been operated on by another consideration. It is this : 
 —I know, that obscure as I am, my name is making a considerable 
 deal of fuss in the world. I can't tell why it is, nor in what it is to 
 end. Go where I will, everybody seems anxious to get a peep at me ; 
 and it would be hard to tell which would liave the advantage, if I, and 
 the "Government," and "Black Hawk," and a great eternal big 
 caravan of ivild varments were all to be showed at the same time in 
 four different parts of any of the big cities in the nation. I am not so 
 sure that I shouldn't get the most custom of any of the crew. There 
 must therefore be something in me, or about me, that attracts atten- 
 tion, which is even mysterious to myself. I can't understand it, and 
 I therefore put all the facts down, leaving the reader free to take his 
 choice of them. 
 
 On the subject of my style, it is bad enough, in all conscience, to 
 please critics, if that is what they are after. They are a sort of vermin, 
 though, that I sha'n't even so much as stop to brush off. If they want 
 to work on my book, just let them go ahead ; and after they are done, 
 they had better blot out all their criticisms, than to know what opinion 
 I would express of them, and by what sort of a curious name I would 
 call them, if I was standing near them, and looking over their 
 shoulders. They will, at most, have only their trouble for their pay. 
 But I rather expect I shall have them on my side. 
 
 But I don't know anything in my book to be criticised on by 
 honourable men. Is it on my BpeUing ? — that's not my trade. Is it 
 on my grammar ? — I hadn't time to learn it, and make no pretensions 
 to it. Is it on the order and arrangement of my book ? — I never wrote 
 one before, and never read very many ; and, of course, know mighty 
 little about that. Will it be on the authorship of the book ? — this I 
 claim, and I'll hang on to it, like a wax plaster. The whole book is 
 my own, and every sentiment and sentence in it. I would not be 
 such a fool, or knave either, as to deny that I have had it hastily run 
 over by a friend or so, and that some little alterations have been made 
 in the spelling and grammar ; and I am not so sure that it is not the 
 worse of even that, for I despise this way of spelling contrary to 
 nature. And as for grammar, it's pretty much a thing of nothing at 
 last, after aU the fiiss that's made about it. In some places I wouldn't 
 suffer either the spelling, or grammar, or anything else to be touched 
 and therefore it will be found in my own way. 
 
 But if anybody complains that I have had it looked over, I can only 
 say to him, her, or them — as the case may be — that while critics were 
 learning grammar, and learning to spell, I and " Doctor Jackson, 
 LL.D.," were fighting in the wars ; and if our books, and messages, 
 and proclamations, and cabinet writings, arid so forth, and so on, 
 should need a little looking over, and a little correcting of the spelling 
 and the grammar to make them fit for use, it's just nobody's business. 
 Big men have more important matters to attend to than crossing 
 
PBEFAGE. 201 
 
 their i's — , and dotting their i'e — , and such hke small things. But 
 the "Government's " name is to the proclamation, and my name's to 
 the book ; and if I didn't write the book, the " Government " didn't 
 write the proclamation, which no man dares to deny 1 
 
 -But just read for yourself, and my ears for a heel tap, if before you 
 get through you don't say, with many a good-natured smile and 
 hearty laugh, " This is truly the very thing itself — the exact image of 
 its Author, 
 
 "DAVID CROCKETT." 
 
CHAPTEB I. 
 
 i]S the public seem to feel some interest in the history of 
 an individual so humble as I am, and as that history 
 can be so well known to no person living as to myself, 
 I have, after so long a time, and under maiiy pressing 
 solicitations from rny friends and acquaintances, at 
 last determined to put my own hand to it, and lay 
 before the world a narrative on which they may at least rely as being 
 true. And seeking no ornament or colouring, for a plain, simple tale 
 of truth, I throw aside all hypocritical and fawning apologies, and 
 according to my own maxim, just " go aheadj" Where I am not 
 known, I might, perhaps, gain some little credit by having thrown 
 around this volume some of the flowers of learning ; but where I am 
 known, the vile cheatery would soon be detected, and like the foolish 
 jackdaw, that with borrowed tail attempted to play the peacock, I 
 should be justly robbed of my pilfered ornaments, and sent forth to 
 strut without a tail for the balance of my time. I shall commence 
 my book with what little I have learned of the history of my father, 
 as all great men rest many, if not most, of their hopes on their noble 
 ancestry. Mine was poor, but I hope honest, and even that is as much 
 as many a man can say. But to my subject. 
 
 My father's name was John Crockett, and he was of Irish descent. 
 He was either born in Ireland or on a passage from that country to 
 America across the Atlantic. He was by profession a farmer, and 
 spent the early part of his life in the state of Pennsylvania. The 
 name of my mother was Bebecca Hawkins. She was an American 
 woman, born in the state of Maryland, between York and Baltimore. 
 It is likely I may have heard where they were married, but if so, I 
 have forgotten. It is, however, certain that they were, or else the 
 •public would never have been troubled with the history of David 
 Crockett, their son. 
 
 I have an imperfect recollection of the part which I have under- 
 stood my father took in the revolutionary war. I personally know 
 nothing about it, for it happened to be a little before my day ; but 
 from himself, and many others who were well acquainted with its 
 troubles and afflictions, I have learned that he was a soldier in the 
 revolutionary war, and took part in that bloody struggle. He fought, 
 according to my information, in the battle of King's Mountain against 
 the British and Tories, and in some other engagements of which my 
 
204 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 remembrance is too imperfect to enable me to speak with any cer- 
 tainty. At some time, -though I cannot say certainly when, my 
 father, as I have understood, lived in Lincoln county, in the state of 
 North Carolina. How long, I don't know. But when he removed 
 from there, he settled in that district of country which is now embraced 
 in the east division of Tennessee, though it was not then erected into 
 a state. 
 
 He settled there under dangerous circumstances, both to himself 
 and his family, as the country was fuUof Indians, who were at that 
 time very troublesome. By the Creeks my grandfather and grand- 
 mother Crockett were both murdered in their own house, and on the 
 very spot of ground where Eogersville, in Hawkins county, now 
 stands. At the same time the Indians wounded Joseph Crockett, a 
 brother to my father, by a ball, which broke his arm ; and took James 
 a prisoner, who was still a younger brother than Joseph, and who, 
 from natural defects, was less able to make his escape, as he was both 
 deaf and dumb. He remained with them for seventeen years and 
 nine months, when he was discovered and recollected by my father 
 and his . eldest brother, William Crockett ; and was purchased by 
 them from an Indian trader, at a price which I do not now remem- 
 ber ; but so it was, that he was delivered up to them, and they 
 returned him to his relatives. He now lives in Cumberland county, 
 in the state of Kentucky, though I have not seen him for many years. 
 
 My father and mother had six sons and three daughters. I was 
 the fifth son. What a pity I hadn't been the seventh ! For then I 
 might have been, by common consent, called doctor, as a heap of 
 people get to be great men. But, like many of them, I stood no 
 chance to become great in any other way than by accident. As my 
 father was very poor, and living as .he did, far back in the back woods, 
 he had neither the means nor the opportunity to give me, or any of 
 the rest of his children, any learning. 
 
 But before I get on the subject of my own troubles, and a great 
 many very funny things that have happened to me, like all other 
 historians and biographers I should not only inform the public that I 
 was born myself, as well as other folks, and that this important event 
 took place, according to the best information I have received on the 
 subject, on the 17th of August, in the year 1786 ; whether by day or 
 night, I believe I never heard, but if I did, I have forgotten. I 
 suppose, however, it is not very material to my present purpose, nor 
 to the world, as the more important fact is well attested, that I was 
 born ; and, indeed, it might be inferred, from my present size and 
 appearance, that I was pretty well horn, though I have never yet 
 attached myself to that numerous and worthy society. 
 
 At the time my father lived at the mouth of Lime Stone, on the 
 Nolachucky river; and for the purpose not only of showing what 
 sort of a man I now am, but also to show how soon I began to be a 
 sort of a little man, I have endeavoured to take the bach track of life 
 in order to fix on the first thing that I can remember. But even 
 then, as now, so many things were happening, that as Major Jack 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 205 
 
 Downing would say, they are all in "a pretty considerable of a 
 snarl," andl find it " kinder hard " to fix on that thing, among them 
 all, which really happened first. But I think it lUjely, I have hit on 
 the outside line of my recollection ; as one thing happened at which I 
 was so badly scared, that it seems to me I could not have forgotten 
 it, if it had happened a little time only after I was born. Therefore 
 it furnishes me with no certain evidence of my age at the time ; but 
 I know one thing very well, and that is, that when it happened, I 
 had no knowledge of the use of breeches, for I had never had any nor 
 worn any. 
 
 But the circumstance was this : My four elder brothers, and a well- 
 grown boy of about fifteen y^ars old, by the name of Campbell, and 
 myself, were all playing on the river's side ; when all the rest of them 
 got.into my father's canoe, and put out to amuse themselves on the 
 water, leaving me on the shore alone. 
 
 Just a little distance below them, there was a fall in the river, 
 which went slap-right straight down.. My brothers, though they were 
 little fellows, had been used to paddling the canoe, and could have 
 carried it safely anywhere about there ; but this fellow Campbell 
 wouldn't let them have the paddle, but fool like, undertook to manage 
 it himself. I reckon he had never seen a water craft before ; and it 
 went just any way but the way he wanted it.. There he paddled, and 
 paddled, and paddled — all the while going wrong — until, in a short 
 time, here they were all going, straight forward, stern foremost, right 
 plump to the falls ; and if they had only a fair shake, they would have 
 gone over as sKck as a whistle. It was'ent this, though, that scared 
 me ; for I was so infernal mad that they had left me on the shore, 
 that I had as soon have seen them all go over the falls a bit, as any 
 other way. But their danger was seen by a man by the name of 
 Kendall, but I'll be shot if it was Amos ; for I believe I would know 
 him yet if I was to see him. This man Kendall was working in a 
 field on the bank, and knowing there was no time to lose, he started 
 full tilt, and here he come like a cane brake afire ; and as he ran, he 
 threw off his coat, and then his jacket, and then his shirt, for I know 
 when he got to the water he had nothing on but his breeches. But 
 seeing him in silch a hurry, and tearing off his clothes as he went, I 
 had no doubt but that the devil or something else was after him — 
 and close on him, too — as he was running within an inch of his life. 
 This alarmed me, and I screamed out like a young painter.* But' 
 Kendall didn't stop for this. He went ahead with all might, and as 
 full bent on saving the boys, as Amos was on moving the deposites. 
 When he came to the water he plunged in, and where it was too deep 
 to wade he would swim, and where it was shallow enough he went 
 bolting on ; and by such exertions as I never saw at any other time 
 in my life, he reached the canoe, when it was within twenty or thirty 
 feet of the falls ; and so great was the suck, and so swift the current, 
 that poor Kendall had a hard time of it to stop them at last, as Amos 
 will to stop the mouths of the people about his stockjobbing. But 
 * "Painter" — South-western dialect for ^a«tter. 
 
206 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 he hung on tp the canoe, till he got it stop'd, and then draw'd it out 
 of danger. When they got out, I found the boys were more seared 
 than I had been, and the only thing that comforted me was, the belief 
 that it was a punishment on them for leaving me on shore. 
 
 Shortly after this, my father removed, and settled in the same 
 county, about ten miles above Greenville. 
 
 There another circumstance happened, which made a lasting im- 
 pression on my memory, though I was but a small child. Joseph 
 Hawkins, who was a brother to my mother, was in the woods hunting 
 for deer. He was passing near a thicket of brush, in which one of 
 our neighbours was gathering some grapes, as it was in the fall of 
 the year, and the grape season. The body of the maa was hid by the 
 brush, and it was only as he would raise his hand to pull the bunches 
 that any part of him could be seen. It was a likely place for deer; 
 and my uncle, having no suspicion that it was any human being, but 
 supposing the raising of the hand to be an occasional twitch of a 
 deer's ear, fired at the lump, and as the devil would have it, unfor- 
 tunately shot the man through the body. I saw my father draw a 
 silk handkerchief through the bullet hole, and entirely through his 
 body ; yet after a while he got well, as little as any one would have 
 thought it. What become of him, or whether he is dead or alive, I 
 don't know ; but 1 reckon he didn't fancy the business of gathering 
 grapes in an out-of-the-way thicket soon again. 
 
 The next move my father made was to the mouth of Cove creek, 
 where he and a man by the nanie of Thomas Galbreath undertook to 
 build a mill in partnership. They went on very well with their 
 work until it was nigh done, when there came the second epistle to 
 Noah's fresh, and away went their mill, shot, lock, and barrel. I 
 remember the water rose so high, that it got up into the house we 
 lived in, and my father moved us out of it, to keep us from being 
 drowned. I was now about seven or eight years old, and have a 
 pretty distinct recollection of everything that was going on. From 
 his bad luck in that business, and being ready to wash out from mill 
 building, my father again removed, and this time settled in Jefferson 
 county, now in the State of Tennessee ; where he opened a tavern 
 on the road from Abbingdon to Knoxville. 
 
 His tavern was on a small scale, as he was poor ; and the principal 
 accommodations which he kept, were for the waggoners who travelled 
 the road. Here I remained with him until I was twelve years old ; 
 and about that time, you may guess, if you belong to Yankee land, 
 or, reckon, if like me you belong to the back-woods, that I began to 
 make up my acquaintance with hard times, and a plenty of them. 
 
 An old Dutchman, by the name of Jacob Siler, who was moving 
 from Knox county to Eockbridge, in the state of Virginia, in passing, 
 made a stop at my father's house. He had a large stock of cattle 
 that he was carrying on with him ; and I suppose made some propo- 
 sition to my father to hire some one to assist him. 
 
 Being hard run every way, and having no thought, as I beheve 
 that I was cut out for a Congressman or the like, young as I was, and 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 207 
 
 as little as I knew about travelling, or being from home, he hired me 
 to the old Dutchman, to go four hundred miles on foot, with a perfect 
 stranger that I never had seen until the evening before. I set out 
 with a heavy heart, it is true, but I went ahead, until we arrived at 
 the place, which was three miles from what is called the Natural 
 Bridge, and made a stop at the house of a Mr. Hartley, who was 
 father-in-law to Mr. Siler, who had hired me. My Dutch master 
 was very kind to me, and gave me five or six dollars, being pleased, 
 as he said, with my services. 
 
 This, however, I think was a bait for me, as he persuaded me to 
 stay with him, and not return any more to my father. I had been 
 taught so many lessons of obedience by my father, that I at first 
 supposed I was bound to obey this man, or at least I was afraid 
 openly to disobey him ; and I therefore staid with him, and tried to 
 put on a look of perfect contentment until I got the family all to 
 believe I was fully satisfied. I had been there about four or five 
 weeks, when one day myself and two other boys were playing on the 
 road-side, some distance from the house. There came along three 
 waggons. One belonged to an old man by the name of Dunn, and 
 the others to two of his sons.' They had each of them a good team, 
 and were all bound for KnoxviUe. They had been in the habit of 
 stopping at my father's as they passed the road, and I knew them. 
 I made myself known to the old gentleman, and informed him of my 
 situation ; I expressed a wish to get back to my father and mother, 
 if they could fix any plan for me to do so. They told rne that they 
 would stay that night at a tavern seven miles from there, and that if 
 I could get to them before day the next morning, they would take me 
 home ; and if I was pursued, they would protect me. This was a 
 Sunday evening ; I went back to the good old Dutchman's house, and 
 as good fortune would have it, he and the family were out on a visit. 
 I gathered my clothes, and what little money I had, and put them all 
 together under the head of my bed. I went to bed early that night, 
 but sleep seemed to be a stranger to me. For though I was a wild 
 boy, yet I dearly loved my father and mother, and their images 
 appeared to be so deeply fixed in my mind, that I could not sleep for 
 thinking of them. And then the fear that when I should attempt to 
 go out, I should be discovered and caUed to a halt, filled me with 
 anxiety ; and between my childish love of home, on the one hand, 
 and the fears of which I have spoken, on the other, I felt mighty queer. 
 
 But so it was, about three hours before day in the morning I got up 
 to make my start. When I got out, I found it was snowing fast, and 
 that the snow was then on the ground about eight inches deep. I had 
 not even the advantage of moonlight, and the whole sky was hid by 
 the falling snow, so that I had to guess at my way to the big road, 
 which was about a half mile from the house. I however pushed ahead 
 and soon got to it, and then pursued it, in the direction to the waggons 
 
 I could not have pursued the road if I had not guided myself by the 
 opening it made between the tunber, as the snow was too deep to leave 
 any fart of it to be known by either seeing or feeling. 
 
208 LIFE AND ADVENTUBB8 OF DAVY CBOOKETT. 
 
 Before I overtook the waggons, the earth was covered about as deep 
 as my knees ; and my tracks filled so briskly after me, that by day- 
 light my Dutch master would have seen no trace which I left. 
 
 I got to the place about an hour before day. I found the waggoners 
 already stirring, and engaged in feeding and preparing their horses for 
 a start. Mr. Dunn took me in and treated me with great kindness. 
 My heart was more deeply impressed by meeting with such a friend, 
 and "at such a time," than by wading the snow-storm by night, or 
 all the other sufferings which my mind had endured. I warmed my- 
 self by the fire, for I was very cold, and after an early breakfast, we 
 set out on our journey. The thoughts of home now began to take 
 the entire possession of my mind, and I almost numbered the sluggish 
 turns of the wheels, and much more certainly the miles of. our travel, 
 which appeared to me to count mighty slow. I continued with my 
 kind protectors, until we got to the house of a Mr. John Oole, on 
 Eoanoke, when my impatienpe became so great, that I determined to 
 set out on foot and go ahead by myself, as I could travel twice as 
 fast in that way as the waggons could. 
 
 Mr. Dunn seemed very sorry to part with me, and used many 
 arguments to prevent me from leaving him. But home, poor as it 
 was, again rushed on my memory, and it seemed ten times as dear to 
 me as it ever had before. The reason was, that my parents were there, 
 and all that I had been accustomed to in the hours of childhood and 
 infancy was there ; and there my anxious little heart panted also to 
 be. We remained at Mr. Cole's that night, and early in the morning 
 I felt that I could not stay ; so, taking leave of my friends, the wag- 
 goners, I went forward on foot, until I was fortunately overtaken by a 
 gentleman, who was returning from market, to which he had been 
 with a drove of horses. He had a led horse, with a bridle and saddle 
 on him, and he kindly offered to let me get on his horse and ride him. 
 I did so, and was glad of the chance, for I was tired, and was, more- 
 over, near the first crossing of Boanoke, which I would have been 
 compelled to wade, cold as the water was, if I had not fortunately met 
 this good man. I travelled with him in this way, without any thing 
 turning up worth recording until we got within fifteen miles of my 
 father's house. There we parted, and he Went on to Kentucky, and I 
 trudged on homeward, which place I reached that evening. The name 
 of this kind gentleman I have entirely forgotten, and I am sorry for 
 it ; for it deserves a high place in my little book. A remembrance of 
 his kindness to a little straggling boy, and a stranger to him, has how- 
 ever a resting place in my heart, and there it wUl remain as long as I 
 live. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 HAVING gotten home, as I liave just related, I remained with my 
 father until the next fall, at which time he took it into his head 
 to send me to a hfctle country school, which was kept in the neighbour- 
 hood by a man whose name was Benjamin Kitchen ; though I believe 
 he was no way connected with the cabinet.* I went four days, and 
 had just began to learn my letters a little, when I had an unfortunate 
 falling out with one of the scholars — a boy much larger and older than 
 myself. I knew well enough that though the school-house might do 
 for a stiU hunt, it wouldn't do for a drive, and so I concluded to wait 
 until I could get him out, and then I was determined to give him salt 
 and vinegar. I waited tiU in the evening, and when the larger scholars 
 were spelling, I slip'd out, and going some distance along his road, I 
 lay by the way-side in the bashes, waiting for him to come along. 
 After awhile, he and his company came on sure enough, and I pitched 
 out from the bushes and set on him like a wild cat. I scratched his 
 face all to a flitter jig, and soon made him cry out for quarters in good 
 earnest. The fight being over, I went on home, and the next morning 
 was started again to school ; but do you think I went ? No, indeed. 
 I was very clear of it ; for I expected the master would lick me up as 
 bad as I had the boy. So, instead of going to the school-house, I laid 
 out in the woods all day until in the evening the scholars were dis- 
 missed, and my brothers, who were also going to school, came along, 
 returning home. I wanted to conceal this whole business from my 
 father, and I persuaded them not to tell on me, which they agreed to. 
 Things went on in this way for several days ; I starting with them 
 to school in the morning, and returning with them in the evening, but 
 lying out in the woods aU day. At last, however, the master wrote a 
 note to my father, inquiring why I was not sent to school. When he 
 read this note, he called me up, and I knew very weU that I was in a 
 devil of a hobble, for my father had been taking a few horns, and was 
 in a good condition to make the fur fly. He called on me to know 
 why I had not been at school ? I told him I was afraid to go, and 
 that the master would whip me, for I knew quite well if I was turned 
 over to this old Kitchen, I should be cooked up to a cracklin, in little 
 or no time. But I soon found that I was not to effect a much better 
 fate at home ; for my father told me, in a very angry manner, that he 
 
 '^ President Jackson's intimate friends and unofficial advisers, W. B. Lewis, 
 Amos Kendall, Duff Green, and Isaac Hill, were called by his enemies " the 
 kitchen cabinet." 
 
 15 
 
210 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 would whip me an eternal sight worse than the master, if I didn't start 
 immediately to the school. I tried again to beg off, but nothing would 
 do but to go to the school. Finding me rather too slow about starting, 
 ho gathered about a two-year-old hickory, and broke after me. I put 
 out with all my might, and soon we were both up to the top of our 
 speed. We had a tolerable tough race for about a mile ; but mind me, 
 not on the school-house road, for I was trying to get as far t'other way 
 as possible. And I yet believe, if my father and the schoolmaster could 
 both have levied on me about that time, I should never have been 
 called on to sit in the councils of the nation, for I think they would 
 have used me up. But fortunately for me, about this time, I saw just 
 before me a hill, over which I made headway, hke a young steamboat. 
 As soon as I had passed over it, I turned to one side, and hid myself 
 in the bushes. Here I waited until the old gentleman passed by, 
 puffing and blowing, as tho' his steam was high enough to burst 
 his boilers. I waited until he gave up the hunt, and passed back 
 again : I then cut out, and went to the house of an acquaintance a 
 few miles off, who was just about to start with a drove. His name 
 was Jesse Cheek, and I hired myself to go with him, determining not 
 to return home, as home and the school-house had both become too 
 hot for me. I had an elder brother, who also hired to go with the 
 same drove. We set out and went on through Abbingdon, and the 
 county seat of the Withe county, in the state of Virginia ; and then 
 through Lynchburgh, by Orange court-house, and Charlottesville, 
 passing through what was called Chester Gap, on to a town called 
 Uront Boyal, where my employer sold out his drove to a man by the 
 name of Vanmetre : and I was started homeward again, in company 
 with a brother of the first owner of the drove, with one horse between 
 us ; having left my brother to come on with the balance of the 
 company. 
 
 I travelled on with my new comrade about three days' journey; 
 but much to his discredit, as I then thought, and still think, he took 
 care all the time to ride, but never to tie ; at last I told him to go 
 ahead, and I would come when I got ready. He gave me four dollars 
 to bear my expenses upwards of four hundred mUes, and then cut out 
 and left me. 
 
 I purchased some provisions, and went on slowly, untU at length I 
 el in with a waggoner, with whom I was disposed to scrape up a 
 hasty acquaintance. I inquired where he lived, and where he was 
 going, and aU about his affairs. He informed me that he hved in 
 Greenville, Tennessee, and was on his way to a place called Gerards- 
 town, fifteen miles below Winchester. He also said, that after he 
 should make his journey to that place, he would immediately return 
 to Tennessee. His name was Adam Myers, and a jolly good fellow he 
 seemed to be. On a little reflection, I determined to turn back and go 
 with him, which I did ; and we journeyed on slowly as waggons com- 
 monly do, but merrily enough. I often thought of home, and, indeed 
 wished bad enough to be there ; but, when I thought of the school- 
 house, and Kitchen, my master, and the race with my father, and the 
 
OF DAVY CBOGKETT. 211 
 
 big hickory he carried, and of the fierceness of the storm of wrath that 
 I had left him in, I was afraid to venture back ; for I knew my father's 
 nature so well, that I was certain his anger would hang on to him like 
 a turkle does to a fisherman's toe, and that, if I went back in a hurry, 
 he would give me the devO. in three or four ways. But I and the 
 waggoner had travelled two days, when we met my brother, who, I 
 before stated, I had left behind when the drove was sold out. He 
 persuaded me to go home, but I refused. He pressed me hard, and 
 brought up a great many mighty strong arguments to induce me to 
 turn back again. He pictured the pleasure of meeting my mother, 
 and my sisters, who all loved me dearly, and told mo what uneasiness 
 they had abeady suffered about me. I could not help shedding tears, 
 which I did not often do, and my affections all pointed back to those 
 dearest friends, and as I thought, nearly the only ones I had in the 
 world ; but then the promised whipping — that was the thing. It came 
 right slap down on every thought of home ; and I finally determined 
 that make or break, hit or miss, I would just hang on to my journey, 
 and go ahead with the waggoner. My brother was much grieved at 
 our parting, but he went his way, and so did I. We went on until 
 at last we got to Gerardstown, where the waggoner tried to get a back 
 load, but he could not without going to Alexandria. He engaged to 
 go there, and I concluded that I would wait until he returned. I set 
 in to work for a man by the name of John Gray, at twenty-five cents 
 per day. My labour, however, was light, such as ploughing in some 
 small grain, in which I succeeded in pleasing the old man very well. 
 I continued working for him until the waggoner got back, and for a 
 good long time afterwards, as he continued to run his team back and 
 forward, hauling to and from Baltimore. In the next spring, from the 
 proceeds of my daily labour, small as it was, I was able to get me some 
 decent clothes, and concluded I would make a trip with the waggoner 
 to Baltimore, and see what sort of a place that was, and what sort of 
 folks lived there. I gave him the balance of what money I had for 
 safe keeping, which, as well as I recollect, was about seven dollars. 
 We got on well enough until we came near Ellicott's Mills. Our load 
 consisted of flour in barrels. Here I got into the waggon for the 
 purpose of changing my clothing, not thinking that I was in any 
 danger ; but, while I was in there, we were met by some wheelbarrow 
 men, who were working On the road, and the horses took a scare and 
 away they went, like they had seen a ghost. They made a sudden 
 wheel around, and broke the waggon tongue slap, short off, as a pipe- 
 stem ; and snap went both of the axletrees at the same time, and of 
 all devilish flouncing about of flour barrels that ever was seen, I 
 reckon this took the beat. Even a rat would have stood a bad chance 
 in a straight race among them, and not much better in a crooked one ; 
 for he would have been in a good way to be ground up as fine as 
 ginger by their roUing over him.- But this proved to me, that if a 
 fellow is born to be hung, he will never be drowned; and, further, 
 that if he is born for a seat in Congress, even flour barrels can't make 
 a mash of him. All these dangers I escaped unhurt, though, like most 
 
212 LIFE AND ADVBNTUBE8 
 
 of the office-holders of these times, for a while I was afraid to say niy 
 soul was my own ; for I didn't know how soon I should he knocked 
 into a cocked hat, and get my walking papers for another country. 
 
 We put our load into another waggon, and hauled ours to a work- 
 man's shop in Baltimore, having delivered the flour, and there we 
 intended to remain two or three days, which time was necessary to 
 repair the runaway waggon. While I was there, I went, one day, 
 down to the wharf, and was much delighted to see the hig ships, and 
 their sails all flying ; for I had never seen any such things before, and, 
 indeed, I didn't beheve there were any such things in all nature; 
 ■ After a short time my curiosity induced me to step aboard of one, 
 where I was met by the captain, who asked me if I didn't wish to take 
 a voyage to London ? I told him I did, for by this time I had become 
 pretty well weaned frojn home, and I cared but little where I was, or 
 where I went, or what become of me. He said he wanted just such a 
 bay as I was, which I was glad to hear. I told him I would go and 
 get my clothes, and go with him. He enquired about my parents, 
 where they lived, and all about them. I let him know that they lived 
 ill Tennessee, many hundred miles off. We soon agreed about my 
 intended voyage, and I went back to my friend the waggoner, and in- 
 formed him that I was going to London, and wanted my money and 
 my clothes. He refused to let me have either, and swore that he 
 would confine me, and take me back to Tennessee. I took it to heart 
 very much, but he kept so close and constant a watch over me, that I 
 found it impossible to escape from him, until he had started home- 
 ward, and made several days journey on the road. He was, during 
 this time, very ill to me, and threatened me with his waggon whip on 
 several occasions. At length I resolved to leave him at all hazards ; 
 and so, before day, one morning, I got my clothes out of his waggon, 
 and cut out, on foot, without a farthing of money to bear my expenses. 
 For all other friends having failed, I determined then to throw myself 
 on Providence, and see how that would use me. I had gone, however, 
 only a few miles when I came up with another waggoner, and such 
 was my situation, that I felt more than ever the necessity of en- 
 deavouring to find a friend. I therefore concluded I would seek for 
 one in him. He was going westwardly, and very kindly enquired of 
 me where I was travelling ? My youthful resolution which had brooked 
 almost every thing else, rather gave way at this enquiry ; for it brought 
 the loneliness of my situation, and every thing else that was calculated 
 to oppress me, directly to view. My first answer to his question was 
 in a sprinkle of tears, for if the world had been given to me, I could 
 not, at that moment, have helped crying. As soon as the storm of 
 feeling was over, I told him how I had been treated by the waggoner 
 but a little before, who kept what little money I had, and left me 
 without a copper to buy even a morsel of food. 
 
 He became exceedingly angry, and swore that he would make the 
 other waggoner give up my money, pronouncing him a scoundrel 
 and many other hard names. I told him I was afraid to see him, for 
 he had threatened me with his waggon whip, and I believed he would 
 
OF DAVY CEOCKETT. -213 
 
 . . 1 
 
 injure me. But my new friend was a very large, stout-looking man, 
 and as resolute as a tiger. He bid me not to be afraid, still swearing 
 he would have my money, .or whip it out of the wretch who had it. 
 
 We turned and went back about two miles, when we reached the 
 place where he was. I went reluctantly; but I depended on my 
 friend for protection. "When we got there, I had but httle to say ; but 
 approaching the waggoner, my friend said to him, " You damn'd rascal, 
 you have treated this boy badly." To which he replied, it was my 
 fault. He was then asked, if he did not get seven dollars of my 
 money, which he confessed. It was then demanded of him ; but he 
 declared most solemnly, that he had not that amount in the world ; 
 that he had spent my money, and intended paying it back to me when 
 we got to Tennessee. I then felt reconciled, and persuaded my friend 
 to let him alone, and we returned to his waggon, geared up, and 
 started. His name I shall never forget while my memory lasts ; it 
 was Henry Myers. He lived in Pennsylvania, and I found him what 
 he professed to be, a faithful friend and a clever fellow. 
 
 We travelled together for several days, but at length I concluded to 
 endeavour to make my way homeward ; and for that purpose set out 
 again on foot, and alone. But one thing I must not omit. The 
 last night I stayed with Mr. Myers, was at a place where several 
 waggoners also stayed. He told them, before we parted, that I was 
 a poor little straggling boy, and how I had been treated ; and that I 
 was without money, though I had a long journey before me, through' 
 a land of strangers^ where it was not even a wilderness. 
 
 They were good enough to contribute a sort of money-purse, and 
 presented me with three dollars. On this amount I travelled as far 
 as Montgomery court-house, in the state of Virginia, where it gave 
 out. I set in to work for a man by the name of James Caldwell, a 
 month, for five dollars, which was about a shilling a day. When this 
 time was out, I bound myself to a man by the name of Elijah Griffith, 
 by trade a hatter, agreeing to work for him four years. I remained 
 with him about eighteen months, when he found himself so involved 
 in debt, that he broke up, and left the country. For this time I had 
 received nothing, and was, of course, left without money, and with but 
 very few clothes, and them very indifferent ones. I, however, set in 
 again, and worked about as I could catch employment, until I got a 
 httle money, and some clothing ; and once more out out for home. 
 When I reached New Eiver, at the mouth of a small stream, called 
 iittle Eiver, the white caps were flying, so that I couldn't get any body 
 to attempt to put me across. I argued the case as well as I could, but 
 they told me there was great danger of being capsized, and drowned, 
 if I attempted to cross. I told them if I could get a canoe I would 
 venture, caps or no caps. They tried to persuade me out of it ; but 
 finding they could not, they agreed I might take a canoe, and so I did, 
 and put off. I tied my clothes to the rope of the canoe, to have them 
 safe, whatever might happen. But I found it a mighty ticklish busi- 
 ness, I tell you. When I got out fairly on the river, I would have 
 given the world, if it had belonged to me, to have been back on shore. 
 
214 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 But there was no time to lose now, so I just determined to do the best 
 I could, and the devil take the hindmost. I turned the canoe across 
 the waves, to do which, I had to turn it nearly up the river, as the 
 wind came from that way ; and I went about two miles before I could 
 land. When I struck land, my canoe was about half full of water, 
 and I was as wet as a drowned rat. But I was so much rejoiced, that 
 I scarcely felt the cold, though my clothes were frozen on me ; and, 
 in this situation, I had to go above three miles, before I could find any 
 house, or fire to warm at. I, however, made out to get to one at last, 
 and then I thought I would warm the inside a little, as well as the 
 outside, that there might be no grumbling. 
 
 So I took " a leetle of the creater " — that warmer of the cold, and 
 cooler of the hot — and it made me feel' so good that I concluded it 
 was like the negro's rabbit, " good any way." I passed on until I 
 arrived in SulUvan county, in the state of Tennessee, and there I met 
 with my brother, who had gone with me when I started from home 
 with the cattle drove. 
 
 I stayed with him a few weeks, and then went on to my father's; 
 which place I reached late in»the evening. Several waggons were there 
 for the night, and considerable company about the house. I enquired 
 if I could stay all night, for I did not intend to make myself known, 
 until I saw whether any of the family would find me out. I was 
 told that I could stay, and went in, but had mighty little to say to 
 any body. I had been gone so long, and had grown so much, that 
 the family did not at first know me. And another, and perhaps a 
 stronger reason was, they had no thought or expectation of me, for 
 they all had long given me up for finally lost. 
 
 After a while, we were all called to supper. I went with the rest. 
 We had sat down to the table and begun to eat, when my eldest sister 
 recollected me : she sprung up, ran and seized me around the neck, 
 and exclaimed, " Here is my lost brother." 
 
 My feelings at this time it would be vain and foolish for me to 
 attempt to describe. I had often thought I felt before, and I suppose 
 I had, but sure I am, I never had felt as I then did. The joy of my 
 sisters and my mother, and, indeed, of all the family, was such that it 
 humbled me, and made me sorry that I hadn't submitted to a hundred 
 whippings, sooner than cause so much affliction as they had suffered 
 on my account. I found the family had never heard' a word of me 
 firom the time my brother left me. I was now almost fifteen years 
 old ; and my increased age and size, together with the joy of my 
 father, occasioned by my unexpected return, I was sure would secure 
 me against my long dreaded whipping ; and so they did. But it will 
 be a source of astonishment to many, who reflect that I am now a 
 member of the American Congress— the most enlightened body of men 
 in the world — that at so advanced an age, the age of fifteen, I did not 
 know the first letter in the book. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 I HAD remained for some sliort time at home with my father, whe;i 
 he informed me that he owed a man, whose name was Abraham 
 Wilson, the sum of thirty-six dollars, and that if I would set in and 
 work out the note, so as to lift it for him, he would discharge me from 
 his service, and I might go free. I agreed to do this, and went imme- 
 diately to the man who held my father's note, and contracted with 
 him to work six months for it. I set in, and worked with all my 
 might, not losing a single day in the six months. When my time was 
 out, I got my father's note, and then declined working with the man 
 any longer, though he wanted to hire me mighty bad. The reason 
 was, it was a place where a heap of bad company met to drink and 
 gamble, and I wanted to get away from them, for I know'd very 
 well if I stayed there, I should get a bad name, as nobody could be 
 respectable that would live there. I therefore returned to my father, 
 and gave him up his paper, which seemed to please him mightily, for 
 though he was poor, he was an honest man, and always tried mighty 
 hard to pay off his debts. 
 
 I next went to the house of an honest old Quaker, by the name of 
 John Kennedy, who had removed from North Carolina, and proposed 
 to hire myself to him, at two shillings a day. He agreed to take me a 
 week on trial ; at the end of which he appeared pleased with my work, 
 and informed me that he held a note on my father for forty dollars, 
 and that he would give me that note if I would work for him six 
 months. I was certain enough that I should never get any part of 
 the note ; but then I remembered it was my father that owed it, and 
 I concluded it was my duty as a child to help him along, and ease his 
 lot as much as I could. I told the Quaker I would take him up at his 
 offer, and immediately went to work. I never visited my father's 
 house during the whole time of this engagement, though he lived only 
 fifteen miles off. But when it was finished, and I had got the note I 
 borrowed one of my employer's horses, and, on a Sunday evening, 
 went to pay my parents a visit. Some time after I got there, I pulled 
 out the note and handed it to my father, who supposed Mr. Kennedy 
 had sent it for collection. The old man looked mighty sorry, and said 
 to me he had not the money to pay it, and didn't know what he should 
 do. I then told him I had paid it for him, and it was then his own ; 
 that it was not presented for coUeetion, but as a present from me. At 
 this, he shed a heap of tears ; and as soon as he got a little over it, he 
 said he was sorry he could not give me any thing, but he was not able, 
 be was too poor. 
 
216 LIFE AND ADVENTURES , 
 
 / 
 
 The next day, I went back to my old friend, the Quaker, and set in' 
 to work for him for some clothes ; for I had now worked a year with-/ 
 out getting any money at all, and my clothes were nearly all worn 
 out, and what few I had left were mighty indifferent. I worked in j 
 this way for about two months ; and in that time a young woman from 
 North Carolina, who was the Quaker's niece, came on a visit to his 
 house. And now I am just getting on a part of my history that I know 
 I never can forget. For though I have heard people talk about hard 
 loving, yet I reckon no poor devil in this world was ever cursed with 
 such hard love as mine has always been, when it came on me. I soon 
 found myself head over heels in love with this girl, whose name the 
 public could make no use of ; and I thought that if all the hills about 
 there were pure chink, and all. belonged to me, I would give them if 
 I could just talk to her as I wanted to ; but I was afraid to begin, for 
 when I would think of saying any thing to her, my heart would begin 
 to flutter like a duck in a puddle ; and if I tried to outdo it and speak, 
 it would get right Smack up in my throat, and choke me like a cold 
 potatoe. It bore on my mind in this way, till at last I concluded I 
 must die if I didn't broach the subject ; and so I determined to begin 
 and hang on a trying to speak, till my heart would get out of my throat 
 one way or t'other. And so one day at it I went, and after several 
 trials I could say a little. I told her how well I loved her; that she 
 was the darling object of my soul and body ; and I must have her, or 
 else I should pine down to nothing, and just die away with the 
 consumption. 
 
 I found my talk was not disagreeable to her ; but she was an honest 
 girl, and didn't want to deceive nobody. She told me she was engaged 
 to her cousin, a son of the old Quaker. This news was worse to me 
 than war, pestilence, or famine ; but still I knowed I could not help 
 myself. I saw quick enough my cake was dough, and I tried to cool 
 off as fast as possible ; but I had hg,rdly safety pipes enough, as my 
 love was so hot as mighty nigh to burst my boilers. But I didn't 
 press my claims any more, seeing there was no chance to do any 
 thing. 
 
 I began now to think, that all my misfortunes growed out of my 
 want of learning. I had never been to school but four days, as the 
 reader has already seen, and did not yet know a letter. 
 
 I thought I would try to go to school some ; and as the Quaker had 
 a married son, who was liviug about a mile and a half from him, and 
 keeping a school, I proposed to him that I would go to school four 
 days in the week, and work for him the other two, to pay my board 
 and schooling. He agreed I might come on those terms ; and so at 
 it I went, learning and working backwards and forwards, until I had 
 been with him nigh on to six months. In this time I learned to read 
 a little in my primer, to write my own name, and to cypher some 
 in the three first rules in figures. And this was all the schooling I 
 ever had in my Ufe, up to this day. I should have continued longer, 
 if it hadn't been that I concluded I couldn't do any longer vnthout a 
 wife ; and so I cut out to bunt me one. 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 217 
 
 I found a family of very pretty little girls that I had known when 
 very young. They had lived in the same neighbourhood with me, and 
 I had thought very well of them. I made an offer to one of them, 
 whose name is nobody's business, no more than the Quaker girl's was, 
 and I found she took it very well. I still continued paying my respects 
 to her, until I got to love her as bad as I had the Quaker's niece ; and 
 I would have agreed to fight a whole regiment of wild cats if she 
 would only have said she would have me. Several months passed in 
 this way, during all of which time she continued very kind and friendly. 
 At last the son of the old Quaker and my first girl had concluded to 
 bring their matter to a close, and my little queen and myself were 
 called on to wait on them. We went on the day, and performed our 
 duty as attendants. This made me worse than ever ; and after it was 
 over, I pressed my claim very hard on her, but she would still give 
 me a sort of evasive answer. However, I gave her mighty little 
 peace, till she told me at last she would have me. I thought this was 
 glorification enough, even without spectacles. I was then about 
 eighteen years old. We fixed the time to be married ; and I thought 
 if that day come, I should bo the happiest man in the created world, 
 or in the moon, or any where else. 
 
 I had by this time got to be mighty fond of the rifle, and had 
 bought a capital one. I most generally carried her with me wherever 
 I went, and though I had got back to the old Quaker's to live, who 
 was a very particular man, I would sometimes slip out and attend the 
 shooting matches, where they shot for beef; I always tried, though, 
 to keep it a secret from him. He had at the same time a bound boy 
 living with him, who I had gotten into almost as great a notion of the 
 girls as myself. He was about my own age, and was deeply smitten 
 with the sister to my intended wife. I know'd it was in vain to try 
 to get the leave of the old man for my young associate to go with me 
 on any of my courting frolics ; but I thought I could fix a plan to 
 have him along, which would not injure the Quaker, as we had no 
 notion that he should ever know it. We commonly slept upstairs, 
 and at the gable end of the house there was a window. So one 
 Sunday, when the old man and his family were all gone to meetiog, 
 we went out and cut a long pole, and, taking it to the house, we set 
 it up on end in the corner, reaching up the chimney as high as the 
 window. After this we would go up stairs to bed, and then putting on 
 our Sunday clothes, would go out at the window, and climb down the 
 pole, take a horse apiece, and ride about ten miles to where his sweet- 
 heart lived, and the girl I claimed as my wife. I was always mighty 
 careful to be back before day, so as to escape being found out ; and in 
 this way I continued my attentions very closely unlil a few days before 
 I was to be married, or at least thought I was, for I had no fear that 
 any thing was about to go wrong. 
 
 Just now I heard of a shooting match in the neighbourhood, right 
 between where I lived and my girl's house ; and I determined to kill 
 two birds with one stone — to go to the shooting match first, and then 
 to see her. I therefore made the Quaker believe I was going to hunt 
 
218 LIFE AND ADVUNTUBES 
 
 for deer, as they were pretty plenty about in those parts ; but, instead 
 of hunting them, I went straight on to the shooting-march, where I 
 joined in with a partner, and we put in several shots for the beef. I 
 was mighty lucky, and when the match was over I had won the whole 
 beef. This was on a Saturday, and my success had put me in the 
 finest humour in the world. So I sold my part of the beef for five 
 dollars in the real grit,' for I believe that was before bank-notes was 
 invented ; at least, I had never heard of any. I now started on to ask 
 for my wife ; for, though the next Thursday was our wedding-day, I 
 had never said a word to her parents about it. I had always dreaded 
 the undertaking so bad, that I had put the evil hour off as long as 
 possible ; and, indeed, I calculated they knowed me so well, they 
 wouldn't raise any objection to having me for their son-in-law. I had 
 a great deal better opinion of myself, I found, than other people had 
 of me ; but I moved on with a light heartj and my five dollars jingling 
 in my pocket, thinking all the time there was but few greater men in 
 the world than myself. 
 
 In this flow of good humour I went ahead till I got within about 
 two miles of the place, when I concluded I would stop awhile at the 
 house of the girl's uncle ; where I might enquire about the family, 
 and so forth, and so on. I was indeed just about ready to consider 
 her imcle my uncle ; and her affairs, my affairs. When I went in, 
 tho', I found her sister there. I asked how all was at home ? In a 
 minute I found from her countenance sonaething was wrong. She 
 looked mortified, and didn't answer as quick as I thought she ought, 
 being it was her brother-in-law talking to her. However, I asked 
 her again. She then burst into tears, and told me her sister was 
 going to deceive me ; and that she was to be married to another 
 man the next day. This was as sudden to me as a clap of thunder 
 of a bright sunshiny day. It was the capstone of all the afflictions 
 I had ever met with ; and it seemed to me that it was more than 
 any human creature could endure. It struck me perfectly speech- 
 less for some time, and made me feel so weak, that I thought I 
 should sink down. I however recovered from my shock after a 
 little, and rose and started without any ceremony, or even bidding 
 any body good-bye. The young woman followed nae out to the 
 gate, and entreated me to go on to her father's, and said she would 
 go with me. She said the young man who was going to marry 
 her sister, had got his hcense, and asked for her ; but she assured 
 me her father and mother both preferred me to him ; and that she 
 had no doubt but that, if I would go on I could break off the match. 
 But I found I could go no further. My heart was bruised, and my 
 spirits were broken down ; so I bid her farewell, and turned my lone^ 
 some and miserable steps back again homeward, concluding that I 
 was only born for hardships, misery, and disappointment. I now 
 began to think, that in making me, it was entirely forgotten to make 
 my mate ; that I was born odd, and should always remain so, and 
 that nobody would have me. 
 
 But all these reflections did not satisfy my mind, for I had no 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 219 
 
 peace day nor night for several weeks. My appetite failed me, and 
 I grew daily worse and worse. They all thought I was sick; and 
 so I was. And it was the worst kind of sickness — a sickness of 
 the heart, and aU the tender parts, produced by disappointed love. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I CONTINUED in this down-spirited situation for a good long time, 
 until one day I took my rifle and started a hunling. While out 
 I made a call at the house of a Dutch widow, who had a daughter 
 that was well enough as to smartness, but she was as ugly as a 
 stone fence. She was, however, quite talkative, and soon began to 
 laugh at me about my disappointment. 
 
 She seemed disposed, though, to comfort me as much as she could ; 
 and, for that purpose, told me to keep in good heart, that " there 
 was as good fish in the sea' as had ever been caught out of it." 
 I .doubted this very much ; but whether or not, I was certain that 
 she was not one of them, for she was so homely that it almost 
 gave me a pain in the eyes to look at her. 
 
 But I couldn't help thinking, that she had intended what she had 
 said as a banter for me to court her I I ! — the last thing in creation I 
 could have thought of doing. I felt little inclined to talk on the 
 subject, it is true ; but, to pass off the time, I told her I thought I 
 was born odd, and that no fellow to me could be found. She pro- 
 tested against this, and said if I would come to their reaping, which 
 was not far off, she would show me one of the prettiest little girls 
 there I had ever seen. She added that the one who had deceived me 
 was nothing to be compared with hei\ I didn't believe a word of all 
 this, for I had thought that such a piece of flesh and blood as she was 
 had never been manufactured, and never would again. I agreed 
 with her, though, that the little varment had treated me so baJ, that 
 I ought to forget her, and yet I couldn't do it. I concluded the best 
 way to accomplish it was to cut out again, and see if I could find 
 any other that would answer me ; and so I told the Dutch girl 
 that I would be at the reaping, and would bring as many as I could 
 with me. 
 
 I employed my time pretty generally in giving information of it, 
 as far as I could, until the day came ; and I then offered to work 
 for my old friend, the Quaker, two days, if he would let his bound 
 boy go with me one to the reaping. He refused, and reproved me 
 pretty considerable roughly for my proposition ; and said , if he was 
 in my place he wouldn't go ; that there would be a great deal of bad 
 company there ; and that I had been so good a boy, he would be sorry 
 for me to get a bad name. But I knowed my promise to the Dutcla 
 girl, and I was resolved to fulfil it ; so I shouldered my rifle, and 
 started by myself When I got to the place, I found a large company 
 of men and women, and among them an old Irish woman, who had 
 
LIFE AND ADVBNTUBES OF DAVY CBOGKETT. Ill 
 
 a great deal to say. I soon found out from my Dutch girl, that this 
 old lady was the mother of the httle girl she had promised me, though 
 I had not yet seen her. She was in an out-house with some other 
 youngsters, and had not yet made her appearance. Her mamma, 
 however, was no way bashful. She came up to me, and began to praise 
 my red cheeks, and said she had a sweetheart for me. I had no doubt 
 she had been told what I come for, and all about it. In the evening 
 I was introduced to her daughter, and I must confess, I was plaguy 
 well pleased with her from the word go. She had a good countenance, 
 and was very pretty, and I was full bent on making up an ac- 
 quaintance with her. 
 
 It was not long before the dancing commenced, and I asked her to 
 join me in a reel. She very readily eohsented to do so ; and after we 
 had finished our dance, I took a seat alongside of her, and entered 
 into a talk. I found her very interesting ; while I was sitting by 
 her, making as good a use of my time as I could, her mother came 
 to us, and very jocularly caUed me her son-in-law. This rather con- 
 fused me, but I looked on it as a joke of the old lady, and tried to turn 
 it off as well as I could ; but I took care to pay as much attention to 
 her through the evening as I could. I went on the old saying, of 
 salting the cow to catch the calf. I soon become so much pleased 
 with this little girl, that I began to think the Dutch girl had told me 
 the truth, when she said there was still good fish in the sea. 
 
 We continued our frolic till near day, when we joined in some 
 plays, calculated to amuse youngsters. I had not often spent a more 
 agreeable night. In the morning, however, we all had to part ; and 
 I found my mind had become much better reconciled than it had been 
 for a long time. I went home to the Quaker's, and made a bargain 
 to work with his son for a low-priced horse. He was the first one I 
 had ever owned, and I was to work six months for him. I had been 
 ■ engaged very closely five or six weeks, when this little girl run in my 
 mind so, that I concluded I must go and see her, and find out what 
 sort of people they were at home. I mounted my horse and away I 
 went to where she lived, and when I got there I found her father a 
 very clever old man, and the old woman as talkative as ever. She 
 wanted badly to find out all about me, and as I thought to see how 
 I would do for her girl. I had not yet seen her about, and I began 
 to feel some anxiety to know where she was. 
 
 In a short time, however, my impatience was relieved, as she 
 arrived at home from a meeting to which she had been. There was 
 a young man with her, who I soon found was disposed to set up 
 claim to her, as he was so attentive to her that I could hardly get 
 to slip in a word edgeways. I began to think I was barking up the 
 wrong tree again ; but I was determined to stand up to my rack, 
 fodder or no fodder. And so, to know her mind a little on the subject, 
 I began to talk'about starting, as I knowed she would then show some 
 sign, from which I could understand which way the wind Mowed. It 
 was then near night, and my distance was fifteen mUes home. At 
 this my little girl soon began to indicate to the other gentleman that 
 
222 LIFB AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 his room would be the better part of his company. At length she left 
 him, and came to me, and insisted mighty hard that I should not go 
 that evening ; and, indeed, from all her actions and the attempts she 
 made to get rid of him, I saw that she preferred me all holler. But 
 it wasn't long before I found trouWe enough in another quarter. Her 
 mother was deeply enlisted for my rival, and I had to fight against 
 her influence as well as Ms. But the girl herself was the prize I was 
 fighting for ; and as she welcomed me, I was determined to lay siege 
 to her, let what would happen. I commenced a close courtship, 
 having cornered her from her old beau ; while he set off, looking on, 
 Kke a poor man at a country frolic, and all the time almost gritting 
 his teeth with pure disappointment. But he didn't dare to attempt 
 anything more, for now I had gotten a start, and I looked at him every 
 once in a while as fierce as a wild-oat. I staid with her until Monday 
 morning, and then I put out for home. 
 
 It was about two weeks after this that I was sent for to engage in a wolf 
 hunt, where a great number of men were to meet, with their dogs and 
 guns, and where the best sort of sport was expected. I went as large 
 as life, but I had to hunt in strange woods, and in a part of the 
 country which was very thinly inhabited. While I was out it clouded 
 up, and I began to get scared : and in a little while I was so much 
 so, that I didn't know which way home was, nor any thing about it. 
 I set out the way I thought it was, but it turned out with me, as it 
 always does with a lost man, I was wrong, and took exactly the con- 
 trary direction from the right one. And for the information of young 
 hunters, I will just say, in this place, that whenever a fellow gets bad 
 lost, the way home is just the way he don't think it is. This rule will 
 hit nine times out of ten. I went ahead, though, about six or seven 
 miles, when I found night was coming on fast ; but at tliis distressing 
 time I saw a little woman streaking it along through the woods like 
 all wrath, and so I cut on too, for I was determined I wouldn't lose 
 sight of her that night any more. I run on till she saw me, and she 
 stopped ; for she was as glad to see me as I was to see her, as she was 
 lost as well as me. When I came up to her, who should she be but 
 my little girl, that I had been paying my respects to. She had been 
 out hunting her father's horses, and had missed her way, and had no 
 knowledge where she was, or how far it was to any house, or what 
 way would take us there. She had been travelling all day, and was 
 mighty tired ; and I would have taken her up, and toated her, if it 
 hadn't been that I wanted her just where I could see her all the time, 
 for I thought she looked sweeter than sugar ; and by this time I loved 
 her almost well enough to eat her. 
 
 At last I came to a path, that I know'd must go somewhere, and so 
 we followed it, till we came to a house, at about dark. Here we staid 
 aU night. I set up aU night courting ; and in the morning we parted. 
 She went to her home, from which we were clistant about seven miles 
 and I to mine, which was ten railes off. 
 
 I now turned into work again ; an^ it was about four weeks before 
 I went back to see her. I continued to go occasionally, until I had 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT.. 223 
 
 worked long enough to pay for my horse, by putting in my gun with 
 my work, to the man I had purchased from ; and then I began to 
 count whether I was to be deceived again or not. At our next meeting 
 we set the day for our wedding ; and I went to my father's, and made 
 arrangements for an infair, and returned to ask her parents for her. 
 When I got there, the old lady appeared to be mighty wrathy ; 'and 
 when I broached the subject, she looked at me as savage as a meat 
 axe. The old man appeared quite willing, and treated me very clever. 
 But I hadn't been there long, before the old woman as good as ordered 
 me out of her house. I thought I would put her in mind of old times, 
 and see how that would go with her. I told her she had called me ' 
 her son-in-law before I had attempted to caU her my mother-in-law, 
 and I thought she ought to cool oil. But her Irish was up too high 
 to do anything with her, and so I quit trying. All I cared for was to 
 have her daughter on my side, which I knowed was the case then ; but 
 how soon some other fellow might knock my nose out of joint again 
 I couldn't tell. I, however, felt rather" insulted at the old lady, and I 
 thought I wouldn't get married in her house. And so I told her girl, 
 that I would come the next Thursday, and bring a horse, bridle, and 
 saddle for her, and she must be ready to go. Her mother declared 
 I shouldn't have her ; but I know'd I should, if somebody else didn't 
 get her before Thursday. I then started, bidding them good day, 
 and went by the house of a justice of the peace, who lived on the way 
 to my father's, and made a bargain with him to marry me. 
 
 When Thursday came, all necessary were made at my father's to 
 receive my wife ; and so I took my eldest brother and his wife, 
 and another brother, and a single sister 'that I had, and two other 
 young men with me, and cut out to her father's house to get her. 
 We went on until we got within two miles of the place, where we 
 met a large company that had heard of the wedding, and were 
 waiting. Some of that company went on with my brother and 
 sister, and the young man I had picked out to wait on me. When 
 they got there, they found the old lady as wrathy as ever. How- 
 ever, the old man filled their bottle, and the young men returned in a 
 hurry. I then went on with my company, and when I arrived I never 
 pretended to dismount from my horse, but rode up to the door, and 
 asked the girl if she was ready ; and she said she was. I then told 
 her to light on the horse I was leading ; and she did so. Her father, 
 though, had gone out to the gate, and when I started, he commenced 
 persuading me to stay and marry there ; that he was entirely willing 
 to the match, and that his wife, hke most women, had entirely too 
 much tongue ; but that I oughtn't to mind her. I told him if she 
 would ask me to stay and marry at her house, I would do so. With 
 that he sent for her, and after they had talked for some time out by 
 themselves, she came to me and looked at me m-ighty good, and asked 
 my pardon for what she had said, and invited me to stay. She said 
 it was the first child she ever had to marry ; and she couldn't bear to 
 see her go off in that way ; that if I would hght she would do the 
 best she could for us. I couldn't stasxd every thing, and so I agreed, 
 
224 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 and we got down, and went in. I sent off tlien for my parson, and 
 got married in a short time ; for I -vyas afraid to wait long, for fear of 
 another defeat. We had as good treatment as could be expected; 
 and that night all went on well. The next day we cut out for my 
 father's, where we met a large company of people, that had been 
 waiting a day and a night for our arrival. We passed the time quite 
 merrily, until the company broke up ; and having gotten my wife, I 
 thought I was completely made up, and needed nothing more in the 
 whole world. But I soon found this was aU a mistake — for now 
 having a wife, I wanted every thing else ; and, worse than all, I had 
 nothing to give for it. 
 
 I remained a few days at my father's, and then went back to my 
 new father-in-law's ; where, to my surprise, I found my old Irish 
 mother in the finest humour in the world. 
 
 She gave us two likely cows and calves, which, though it was a 
 small marriage portion, was still better than I had expected, and, 
 indeed, it was about all I ever got. I rented a small farm and cabin, 
 and went to work ; but I had much trouble to find out a plan to get 
 .anything to put in my house. At this time, my good old friend the 
 Quaker came forward to my assistance, and gave me an order to a 
 store for fifteen dollars' worth of such things as my little wife might 
 choose. With this, we fixed up pretty grand, as we thought, and 
 allowed to get on very well. My wife had a good wheel, and knowed 
 exactly how to use it. She was also a good weaver, as most of the 
 Irish are, whether men or women; and being very industrious with 
 her wheel, she had, in little or no time, a fine web of cloth, ready to 
 make up ; and she was good at that too, and at almost any' thing else 
 that a woman could do. 
 
 We worked on for some years, renting ground, and paying high 
 rent, until I found it wan't the thing it was cracked up to be ; and 
 that I couldn't make a fortune at it just at all. So I concluded to 
 quit it, and cut out for some new country. In this time we had two 
 sons, and I found I was better at increasing my family than my for- 
 tune. It was therefore the more necessary that I should hunt some 
 better place to get along ; and as I knowed I would have to move at 
 some time, I thought it was better to do it before my family got too 
 large, that I might have less to carry. 
 
 The Duck and Elk river country was just beginning to settle, and 
 I determined to try that. I had now one old horse, and a couple of 
 two-year-old colts. They Were both broke to the halter, and my 
 , father-in-law proposed that, if I went, he would go with me, and 
 take one horse to help me move. So we all fixed up, and I packed 
 my two colts with as many of my things as they could bear ; .and 
 away we went across the mountains. We got on well enough, and 
 arrived safely in Lincoln county, on the head of the Mulberry fork of 
 Elk river. I found this a very rich country, and so new, that game, 
 of different sorts, was very pjenty. It was here that I began to dis- 
 tinguish myself as a hunter, and to lay the foundation for all my 
 future greatness ; but mighty little did I know of what sort it was 
 
OF DAVY GBOCKETT. 225 
 
 going to be. Of deer and smaller game I killed abundance ; but the 
 bear had been muoh hunted in those parts before, and were not so 
 plenty as I could have wished. I lived here in the years 1809 and 
 , 1810, to the best of my recollection, and then I moved to Franklin 
 County, and settled on Beans Creek, where I remained till after the 
 close of the last war, 
 
OHAPTEE V. 
 
 I "WAS living ten miles below Winchester when the Creek war com- 
 menced ; and as military men are making so much fuss in the 
 world at this time, I must give an account of the part I took in the 
 defence of the country. If it should make me president, why I can't 
 help it ; such things will sometimes happen ; and my pluck is, never 
 "to seek, nor decline of&ce." • 
 
 It is true, I had a httle rather not ; but yet, if the government 
 can't get on without taking another president from Tennessee to finish 
 the work of " retrenchment and reform," why, then, I reckon I must 
 go in for it. But I must begin about the war, and leave the other 
 matter for the people to begin on. 
 
 The Creek Indians had commenced their open hostilities by a most 
 bloody butchery at Port Mimms. There had been no war among us 
 for so long, that but few, who were not too old to bear arms, knew 
 any thing about the business. I, for one, had often thought about war, 
 and had often heard it described ; and I did verily believe in my own 
 mind that I couldn't fight in that way at all ; but my after experience 
 convinced me that this was all a notion. For when I heard of the 
 mischief which was done at the fort, I instantly felt hke going, and I 
 had none of the dread of dying that I expected to feel. In a few days 
 a general meeting of the militia was called for the purpose of raising 
 volunteers ; and when the day arrived for that meeting, my wife, who 
 had heard me say I meant to go to the war, began to beg me not to 
 turn out. She said she was a stranger in the parts where we hved, , 
 had no connections living near her, and that she and our httle children 
 would be left in a lonesome and unhappy situation if I went away. 
 It was mighty hard to go against such arguments as these ; but my 
 countrymen had been murdered, and I knew that the next thing would 
 be, that the Indians would be scalping the women and children all 
 about there if we didn't put a stop to it. I reasoned the case with her 
 as well as I could, and told her that if every man would wait tiU his 
 wife got willing for him to go to war, there would be no fighting done 
 until we would all be killed in our own houses ; that I was as able to 
 go as any man in the world ; and that I beHeved it was a duty I owed 
 to my country. Whether she was satisfied with this reasoning or not 
 she did not tell me ; but seemg I was bent on it, aU she did was to 
 cry a little and turn about to her work. The truth is, my dander was 
 up, and nothing but war could bring it right again. 
 
 I went to Winchester, where the muster was to be, and a great 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CHOGKETT. 227 
 
 many people had opllected, for there was as much fuss among the 
 people about the, war as there is now about moving the deposites. 
 When the men, were paraded, a lawyer by the name of Jones addressed 
 us, and olosedrloy turning out himself, and enquiring, at the same time, 
 wlio among'us felt like we could fight Indians ? This was the same 
 Mr. Jones who afterwards served in Congress from the State of Ten- 
 nessee. He informed us he wished to raise a company, and that then 
 the men should meet and elect their own officers. I believe I was 
 about the second or third man that step'd out; but oii marching up 
 and down the regiment a few times, we found we had a large com- 
 pany. We volunteered for sixty days, as it was supposed our services 
 would not be longer wanted.' K day or two after this we met and 
 elected Mr. Jones our captain, and also elected our other of&cers. We 
 then received orders to start on the next Monday week ; before which 
 time, I had fixed as well as I could to go, and my wife had equip'd me 
 as well as she was able for the camp.- The time arrived; I took a 
 parting farewell of my wife and my two little boys, mounted my horse, 
 and set sail, to join my company. Expecting to be gone only a short 
 time, I took no more clothing with me than I supposed would be 
 necessary, so that if I got into an Indian battle, I might not be 
 pestered with any unnecessary plunder, to prevent my having a fair 
 shake with them. We all met and went ahead, till we passed Hunts- 
 ville, and camped at a large spring called Beaty's spring. Here we 
 stayed for several days, in which time the troops began to collect from 
 all quarters. At last we mustered about thirteen hundred strong, all 
 mounted volunteers, and all determined to fight, judging from myself, 
 for I felt wolfish all over. I verily believe the whole army was of the 
 real grit. Our captain didn't want any other sort ; and to try them 
 he several times told his men, that if any of them wanted to go back 
 home, they might do so at any time, before they were regularly 
 mustered into the service. But he had the honour to command all his 
 men from first to last, as not one of them left him. 
 
 Gen'l Jackson had not yet left Nashville with his old foot volunteers, 
 that had gone with him to Natchez in 1812, the year before. While 
 we remained at the spring, a Major Gibson came, and wanted some 
 volunteers to go with him across the Tennessee river and into the 
 Creek nation, to find out the movements of the Indians. He came to 
 my captain, and, asked for two of his best woodsmen, and such as w-ere 
 best with a rifle. The captain pointed me out to him, and said he 
 would be security that I would go as far as the major would himself, or 
 any other man. I wiUingly engaged to go with him, and asked him 
 to let me choose my own mate to go with me, which he said I might 
 do. I chose a young man by the name of George Hussell, a son of 
 old Major Eussell, of Tennessee. I called him up, but Major Gibson 
 said he thought he hadn't beard enough to please him — he wanted 
 men, not boys. I must confess I was a little nettled at this ; for I 
 know'd George Eussell, and I know'd there was no mistake in him ; 
 and I didn't think that courage ought to be measured by the beard, 
 for fear a goat would have the preference over a man. I told the 
 
228 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 major he was* on the wrong scent; that Eussell could go as far as h« 
 could, and I must have him along. He saw I was a Kttle wrathy, and 
 said I had the best'^hanoe of knowing, and agreed that it should he 
 as I wanted it. He told us to be ready early in the morning for a 
 start ; and so we were. We took our camp eiiuipage, mounted our 
 horses, and thirteen in number, including the major, we cut out. We 
 went on, and crossed the Tennessee river at a place called Ditto's 
 Landing ; and then travelled about seven miles further, and took up 
 camp for the night. Here a man by the name of John Haynes over- 
 took us. He had been an Indian trader in that part of the nation, 
 and was well acquainted with it. He went with us as a pUot. The 
 next morning, however, Major Gibson and myself concluded we should 
 separate and take different directions to see what discoveries we could 
 make ; so he took seven of the men, and I five, making thirteen in all, 
 including myself. He was to go by the house of a Cherokee Indian, 
 named Dick Brown, and I was to go by Dick's father's ; and getting 
 all the information we could, we were to meet that evening where the 
 roads came together, fifteen miles the other side of Brown's. At old 
 Mr. Brown's I got a half-blood Cherokee to agree to go with me, 
 whose name was Jack Thompson. He was not then ready to start, 
 but was to fix that evening, and overtake us at the fork road where I 
 was to meet Major Gibson. I know'd it wouldn't be safe to camp 
 riglit at the road ; and so I told Jack, that when he got to the fork he 
 must holler like an owl, arid I would answer him in the same way ; 
 for I know'd it would be night before he got there. I and fay men 
 then started, and went on to the place of meeting, but Major Gibson 
 was not there. We waited till almost dark, but still he didn't come. 
 We then left the Indian trace a httle distance, and turning into the 
 head of a hoUow, we struck up camp. It was about ten o'clock at 
 night, when I heard my owl, and I answered him. Jack soon found 
 us, and we determined to rest there during ihe night. We stayed also 
 next morning tUl after breakfast : but in vain, for the major didn't 
 still come. 
 
 I told the men we had set out to hunt a fight, and I wouldn't go 
 back in that way ; that we must go ahead, and see what the red men 
 were at. We started, and went to a Cherokee town- about twenty 
 miles off ; and after a short stay there, we pushed on to the house of 
 a man by the name of Eadcliff. He' was a white man, but had married ' 
 a Creek woman, and lived just in the edge of the Creek nation. He 
 had two sons, large likely feUows, and a great deal of potatoes and 
 com, and,- indeed, almost everything else to go on : so we fed our 
 horses and got dinner with him, and seemed to be doing mighty well. 
 But he was bad scared all the time. He told us that there had been 
 ten painted warriors at his house only an hour before, and if we were 
 discovered there, they would kill us, and his family with us. I replied 
 to him, that my business was to hunt for just such feUows as he had 
 described, and I was determined not to go back until I had done it. 
 Our dinner being over, we saddled up our horses, and made ready to 
 start. But some of my small company I found were disposed to 
 
OF DAVY CnOCKETT. 22§ 
 
 return. I told them, if we were to go back then, we should never 
 hear the last of it ; and I was determined to go ahead. I knowed 
 some of them would go with me, and that the rest were afraid to go 
 back by themselves ; and so we pushed on to the camp of some of 
 the friendly Creeks, which was distant about eight miles. The moon 
 wa's about the full, and the night was clear ; we therefore had the 
 benefit of her light from night to morning, and I knew if we were 
 placed in such danger as to make a retreat necessary, we could travel 
 by night as well as in the day time. 
 
 We had not gone very far, when we met two negroes, weU" momited 
 on Indian ponies, and each with a good rifle. They had been taken 
 from their owners by the Indians, and were running away from them, 
 and trying-to get back to their masters again. They were brothers, 
 both very large and likely ; and could taUi Indian as well as English. 
 One of them I sent on to Ditto's Landing, the other I took back with 
 me. It was after dark when we got to the camp, where we found 
 about forty men, women, and children. 
 
 They had bows and arrows, and I turned in to shooting with their 
 boys by a pine light. ■ In this way we amused ourselves very well for 
 a while, but at last the negro, who had been talking to the Ibdians, 
 came to me and told me they were very much alarmed, for the " red 
 sticks," as they called the war party of the Creeks, would come and 
 find us there ; and, if so, we should all be killed. I directed him to 
 tell them that I would watch, and if one would come that night, I 
 would carry the skin of his head home to make me a moccasin. When 
 he made this communication, the Indians laughed aloud. At about 
 ten o'clock at night we all concluded to try to sleep a little ; but that 
 our horses might be ready for usej as the treasurer said of the drafts 
 on the United States' bank, on '' certain contingeifcies," we tied them 
 up with our saddles on them, and every thing to our hand, if in the 
 night our quarters should get uncomfortable. We lay down with our 
 guns in our arms, and I hadrjust gotten into a doze of sleep, when I 
 heard the sharpest scresam that ever escaped the throat of a human 
 creature. It was more hke a wrathy painter than any thing else. The 
 negro understood it, and he sprang to me ; for tho' I heard the noise 
 well enough, yet I wasn't wide awake enough to get up. So the negro 
 caught me, and said the red sticks was coming. I rose quicker then, 
 and asked what was the matter ? Our negro had gone and talked with 
 the Indian who had just fetched the scream, as he come into camp, 
 and learned fiipm him, that the war party had been crossing the Coosa 
 river all day at the Ten islands ; and were going on to meet Jackson, 
 and this Indian had come as a runner. This news very much alarmed 
 the friendly Indians in camp, and they were all off in a few minutes. 
 I felt bound to make this intelligence known as soon as possible to the 
 army we had left at the landing ; and so we all mounted our horses, 
 and put out in a long lope to make our way back to that place. We 
 were about sixty-five miles off. We went on to the same Cherokee 
 town we had visited on our way out, having first called at BadclifPs, 
 who was off with his family ; and- at the town we found large fires 
 
2§0 LIFE AND ADVMTUttES OF DAVY CBOOKiiTl^. 
 
 burning, but not a-single Indian was to be seen. They were all gone. 
 These circumstances were calculated to lay our dander a little, as it 
 appeared we must be in great danger ; though we could easily have 
 licked any force of not more than five to one. But we expected the 
 whole nation would be on us, and against such fearful odds we were 
 not so rampant for a fight. 
 
 We therefore stayed only a short time in the light of the fires about 
 the town, preferring the light of the moon and the shade of the woods. 
 We pushed on till we got again to old Mr. Brown's, which was still 
 about thirty miles from where we had left the main army. When we 
 got there, the chickens were just at the first crowing for day. We fed 
 our horses, got a morsel to eat ourselves, and again cut out. About 
 ten o'clock in the morning ■We reached the camp, and I reported to 
 Colonel Coffee the news. He didn't seem to mind my report a bit, and 
 this raised my dander higher than ever ; but I knowed I had to be on 
 my best behaviour, and so I kept it all to myself ; though I was so 
 mad that I was burning inside like a tar-kiln, and I wonder that the 
 smoke hadn't been pouring out of me at all points. 
 
 Major Gibson hadn't yet returned, and we all began to think he was 
 killed ; "fend that night they put out a double guard. The next day 
 the Major got in, and brought a, worse tale than I had, though he 
 stated the same facts so far as. I went. This seepied to put our colonel 
 all in a fidget ; and it convinced me, clearly, of one of the hateful 
 ways of the world. When I made my report, it wasn't believed, 
 because I was no ofiioer ; I was no great man, but just a poor soldier. 
 But when the same thing was reported by Major Gibson ! ! why, 
 then it was all as true as preaching, and the Colonel believed it every 
 word. 
 
 He, therefore, ordered breastworks to be thrown up near a quarter 
 of a mile long, and sent an express to Fayetteville, where General 
 Jackson and his troops was, requesting them to push on like the very 
 mischief, for fear we should all be cooked up to a cracklin before they 
 could get there. Old Hickory-face made a forced march on getting 
 the news ; and on the next day, he and his men got into camp, with 
 their feet all blistered from the effects of their swift journey. The 
 volunteers therefore, stood guard altogether, to let them rest. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ABOUT eight hundred of the volunteers, and of that number I was 
 one, were now sent hack, crossing the Tennessee river, and on 
 through Huntsville, so as to cross the river again at another place, 
 and to get on the Indians in another direction. — After we passed 
 Huntsville, we struck on the river at the Muscle Shoals, and at a 
 place on them called Melton's Bluff. This river is here about two 
 miles wide, and a rough bottom ; so much so, indeed, in many places, 
 as to be dangerous ; and in fording it this time, we left several of the 
 horses belonging to our men, with their feet fast in the crevices of the 
 rocks. The men, whose horses were thus left, went ahead on foot. 
 We pushed on till we got to what was called the Black Warriors' 
 town, which stood near the very spot where Tuscaloosa now stands, 
 which is the seat of government for the State of Alabama. 
 
 This Indian town was a large one ; but when we arrived we found 
 the Indians had all left it. There was a large field of corn standing 
 out, and a pretty good supply in some cribs. There was also a fine 
 quantity of dried beans, which were very acceptable to us ; and with- 
 out delay we secured them as well as the corn, and then burned the 
 town to ashes ; after which we left the place. 
 
 In the field where we gathered the corn we saw plenty of fresh 
 Indian tracks, and we had no doubt they had been soared off by our 
 arrival. 
 
 We then went on to meet the main army at the fork road, where I 
 was first to have met Major Gibson. We got that evening as far back 
 as the encampment we had made the night before we reached the 
 Black Warriors' town, which we had just destroyed. The next day 
 we were entirely out of meat. I went to Colonel Coffee, who was 
 then in command of us, and asked his leave to hunt as we marched. 
 He gave me leave, but told me to take mighty good care of myself. I 
 turned aside to hunt, and had not gone far when I found a deer that 
 had just been killed and skinned, and his flesh was still warm and 
 smoking. From this I was sure that the Indian who had killed it 
 had been gone only a few very minutes ; and though I was never 
 much in favour of one hunter stealing from another, yet meat was so 
 scarce in camp, that I thought I must go in for it. So I just took up 
 the deer on my horse before me, and carried it on till night. I could 
 have sold it for almost any price I would have asked ; but this wasn't 
 my rule, neither in peace nor war. Whenever I had any thing, and 
 saw a fellow-being suffering, I was more anxious to relieve him than 
 
232 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 to benefit myself. And this is one of the true secrets of my being a 
 poor man to this day. But it is my way ; and while it has often left 
 me with an empty purse, which is as near the devil as anything else 
 I have seen, yet it has never left my heart empty of consolations 
 which money couldn't buy; the consolations of having sometunes fed 
 the hungry and covered the naked. 
 
 I gave aU my deer away, except a small part I kept for myself, and 
 just sufacient to make a good supper for my mess ; for meat was_ 
 getting to be a rarity to us all. We had to live mostly on parched 
 com. The next day we marched on, and at night took up camp near 
 a large cane brake. "While here, I told my mess I would again try for 
 some meat ; so I took my rifle and cut out, but hadn't gone far, when 
 I discovered a large gang of hogs. I shot one of them down in his 
 tracks, and the rest broke directly towards the camp. In a few 
 minutes the guns began to roar, as bad as if the whole army had been 
 in an Indian battle, and the hogs to squeal as bad as the pig did, when 
 the devil turned barber. I shouldered my hog, and went on to the 
 camp ; and when I got there I found they had killed a good many of 
 the hogs, and a fine fat, cow into the bargain, that had broke out of the 
 cane brake. We did very well that night, and the next morning 
 marched on to a Cherokee town, where our ofloers stop'd, and gave the 
 inhabitants an order on Uncle Sam for their cow, and the hogs we 
 had killed. The next day we met the main army having had, as we 
 thought, hard times, and a plenty of them, though we had yet seen 
 hardly the beginning of trouble. 
 
 After our meeting we went on to Eadcliff's where I had been before 
 while out as a spy ; and when we got there we found he had hid all 
 his provisions. We also got into the secret that he was the very 
 ■rascal who had sent the runner to the Indian camp, with the news 
 that the " red sticks " were crossing at the Ten Islands ; and that his 
 object was to scare me and my men away, and send us back with a 
 false alarm. 
 
 To make some atonement for this we took the old scoundrel's two 
 big sons with us and made them serve in the war. 
 
 We then marched to a place which we called Camp WiUs, and here 
 it was that Captain Cannon was promoted to a colonel, and Colonel 
 Coffee to a general. We then marched to the Ten Islands, on the 
 Coosa river, where we established a fort ; and our spy companies 
 were sent out. They soon made prisoners of Bob Catala and his 
 warriors, and, in a few days afterwards, we heard of some Indians in 
 a town about eight miles off. So we mounted our horses, and put out 
 for that town, under the direction of two jEriendly Creeks we had taken 
 for pilots. We had also a Cherokee colonel, Dick Brown, and some 
 of his men with us. When we got near the town we divided, one of our 
 pilots going with each division. And so we passed on each side of the 
 town, keeping near to it, until our lines met on the far side. We then 
 closed up at both ends, so as to surround it completely ; and then we 
 sent Captain Hammond's cor-pany of rangers to bring on the affray. 
 He had advanced near the town when the Indians saw him, and they 
 
OF DAVY OBOCKETT. 233 
 
 raised the yell, and came running at him like so many red devils. 
 The main army was now formed in a hollow square around the town, 
 and they pursued Hammond till they came in reach of us. We then 
 gave them a fire, and they returned it, and then ran back into their 
 town. We began to close on the town by making our files closer and 
 closer, and tlie Indians soon saw they v^ere our property. Bo most of 
 them wanted us to take them prisoners ; and their squaws and all 
 would run and take hold of any of us they could, and give themselves 
 up. I saw seven squaws have hold of one man, which made me think 
 of the Scriptures. So I hollered out the Scriptures was fulfilling ; that 
 there was seven women holding to one man's coat tail. But I believe 
 it was a hunting-shirt all the time. We took them all prisoners that 
 came out to us in this way ; but I saw some warriors run into a house, 
 until I counted forty-six of them. We pursued them until we got near 
 the house, when we saw a squaw sitting- in the door, and she placed 
 her feet against the bow she. had in her hand, and then took an arrow, 
 and, raising her feet she drew with all her might, and let fly at us, 
 and she killed a man, whose name, I believe, was Moore . He was a 
 lieutenant, and his death so enraged us all, that she was fired on, and 
 had at least twenty balls blown through her. This was the first man I 
 ever saw killed with a bow and arrow. We now shot them like dogs ; 
 and then set the house on fire, and burned it up with the forty-six 
 warriors in it. I recollect seeing a boy who was shot down near the 
 house ; his arm and thigh was broken, and he was so near the burning 
 house that the grease was stewing out of him. In this situation he 
 was still trying to crawl along ; but not a murmur escaped him, though 
 he was only about twelve years old. So sullen is the Indian, when 
 his dander is up, that he had sooner die than make a noise,' or ask for 
 quarters. 
 
 The number that we took prisoners, being added to the number we 
 killed, amounted to one hundred and eighty-six ; though I don't re- 
 member the exact number of either. We had five of our men kiUed. 
 We then returned to our camp, at which our fort was erected, and 
 known by the name of Fort Strother. No provisions had yet reached 
 us, and we had now been for several days on half rations. However 
 we went back to our Indian town on the next day, when many of the 
 carcases of the Indians were stiU to be seen. They looked very awful, 
 for the burning had not entirely consumed them, but given them a 
 very terrible appearance, at least what remained of them. It was, 
 somehow or other, found out that the house had a potato cellar imder 
 it, and an immediate examination was made, for we were all as 
 hungry as wolves. We found a fine chance of potatoes in it, and 
 hunger compelled us to eat them, though I had a little rather not if I 
 could have helped it, for the oil of the Indians we had burned up on 
 the day before had run down on them, and they looked like they had 
 been stewed- with fat meat. We then again returned to the army, 
 and remained there for several days almost starving, as all our beef 
 was gone. We commenced eating tlift be^hid^s, aacfTTolitihued to 
 eat every scrap we could lay our hands on. At length an Indian 
 
234 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 came to our guard one night and hollered, and said he wanted to see 
 " Captain Jackson." He was conducted to the general's markee, into 
 which he entered, and in a few minutes we received orders to prepare 
 for marching. 
 
 In an hour we were all ready, and took up the line of march. We 
 crossed the Coosa river, and went on in the direction to Fort Taladega. 
 When we arrived near the place we met eleven hundred painted 
 warriors, the very choice of the Creek nation. They then encamped 
 near the fort, and had informed the friendly Indians who were in it, 
 that if they didn't come out and fight with them against the whites, 
 they would take their fort and all their ammunition and provisions. 
 The friendly party asked three days to consider of it, and agreed that 
 if on the third day they didn't come out ready to fight with them, they 
 might take their fort. Thus they put them off. Then they imme- 
 diately started their runner to General Jackson, and he and the army 
 pushed over, as I have just hefore stated. 
 
 The camp of warriors had their spies out, and discovered us coming 
 sometime before we got to the fort. They then went to the friendly 
 Indians, and told them Captain Jackson was coming, and had a great 
 many fine horses and blankets, and guns, and everything else ; and if 
 they would come out and help to whip him, and to take his plunder, 
 it should all be divided with those in the fort. They promised that 
 when Jackson came they would then come out and help to whip him. 
 It was about an hour by the sun in the morning when we got near 
 the fort. We were piloted by friendly Indians, and divided as we had 
 done on a former occasion, so as to go to the right and left of the fort, 
 and, consequently, of the warriors who were camped near it. Our 
 hues marched on, as before, till they met in front, and then closed in 
 the rear, forming again into a hollow square. We then sent on old 
 Major Kussell, with his spy company, to bring on the battle ; Captain 
 Evans' company went also. When they got near the fort, the top of 
 it was lined with friendly Indians, crying out as loud as they could 
 roar, " How-dy-do, brother, how-dy-do?" They kept this up till 
 Major Eussell had passed by the fort, and was moving on towards the 
 warriors. They were all painted as red as scarlet, and were just as 
 naked as they were born. They had concealed themselves under the 
 bank of a branch, that ran partly around the fort, in the manner of a 
 half moon. Eussell was going right into their circle, for he couldn't 
 see them, while the Indians on the top of the fort were trying every 
 plan to show him his danger. But he couldn't understand them. At 
 last two of them jumped from it, and ran and took his horse by the 
 bridle, and pointing to where they were, told him there were thousands 
 of them lying under the bank. This brought them to a halt, and 
 about this moment the Indians fired on them, and came rushing forth 
 like a cloud of Egyptian locusts, and screaming like all the young 
 devUs had been turned loose, with the old devil of all at their head. 
 Russell's company .quit„t];i§i(: horses,^ and took. into the fort, and their 
 horses ran up to our hue, which was then m fuU view. The warriors 
 then came yelling on, meeting us, and continued till they were within 
 
OF DAVY CBOGKBTT. 235 
 
 shot of us, when we fired and killed a considerable number of them. 
 They then broke like a gang of steers, and ran across to the other 
 line, where they were again fired on ; and so we kept them running 
 from one line to the other, constantly under a heavy fire, until we had 
 killed upwards of four hundred of them. They fought with guns, and 
 also with their bows and arrows ; but at length they made their 
 escape through a part of our line which was made up of drafted 
 militia, which broke ranks, and they passed. We lost fifteen of our 
 men, as brave fellows as ever lived or died. We buried them, all in 
 one grave, and started back to our fort ; but before we got there two 
 more of our men died of wounds they had received ; making our total 
 loss seventeen good feUows in that battle. 
 
 We now remained at the fort a few days, but no provision came 
 yet, and we were all likely to perish. Tha weather also began to get 
 very cold ; and our clothes were nearly worn out, and horses getting 
 very feeble and poor. Our officers proposed to General Jackson to let 
 us return home and get fresh horses, and fresh clothing, so as to be 
 better prepared for another campaign ; for our sixty days had long 
 been out, and that was the time we had entered for. 
 
 But the general took " the responsibility " on himself, and refused. 
 We were, however, determined to go, as I am to put back the deposites, 
 if I can. With this, the general issued his orders against it, as he has 
 against the bank. But we began to fix for a start, as provisions were 
 too scarce ; just as Clay, and Webster, and myself are preparing to fix 
 bank matters, on account of the scarcity of money. The general went 
 and placed his cannon on a bridge we had- to cross, and ordered out 
 his regulars, and drafted men to keep us from crossing ; just as he has 
 planted his Globe and K. C. to alarm the bank men, while his regulars 
 and militia in Congress are to act as artillery men. But when the 
 militia started to guard the bridge, they would hoUer back to us to 
 bring their knapsacks along when we come, for they wanted to go as 
 bad as we did ; just as many a good fellow now wants his political 
 knapsack brought along, that if, when we come to vote, he sees he 
 has 3, fair shalce to go, he may join in and help us to take back the 
 deposites. 
 
 We got ready'and moved on till we came near the bridge, where the 
 general's men were all strung along on both sides, just like the office- 
 holders are now, to keep us from getting along to the help of the 
 country and the people. But we all had our flints ready picked, and 
 our guns ready primed, that if we were fired on we might fight our 
 way through, or all die together ; just as we are now determined to 
 save the coimtry from ready ruin, or to sink down with it. When we 
 came still nearer the bridge we heard the guards cooking their guns, 
 and we did the same ; just as we have had it in Congress, while the 
 " government " regulars and the people's volunteers have all been 
 setting their political triggers. But, aftei; all, we marched boldly on, 
 and not a gun was Hre^, roT a li^e Ic^-t ; jucl as I hope it will be again, 
 that we shall not be afraid of the general's Globe, nor his K. C, nor 
 his regulars, nor their trigger snapping ; but just march boldly over 
 
236 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 the executive hnUge, and take the depositee back where the law placed 
 them, and where they ought to he. When we had passed no further 
 attempt was made to stop us ; hut the general said, we were " the 
 damned'gt volunteers he had ever seen in his Ufa; that we would 
 volunteer and go out and fight, and then at our pleasure would 
 vohmteer and go home again, in spite of the devil." But we went 
 on ; and near Huntsville we met a reinforcement who were going on 
 to join the army. It consisted of a regiment of volunteers, and was 
 under the command of some one whose name I can't remember. 
 They were sixty-day volunteers. 
 
 We got home pretty safely, and in a short time we had procured 
 fresh horses, and a supply of clothing better suited for the season ; 
 and then we returned to Port Deposite, where our officer held a sort 
 of a " national convention" on the subject of a message they had re- 
 ceived from General Jackson — demanding that on our return we 
 shoiild serve out six months. We had already served three months 
 instead of two, which was the time we, had volunteered for. On the 
 next morning the officers reported to us the conclusions they had come 
 to ; and told us, if any of us felt bound to go on and serve out the six 
 months, we could do so ; but that they intended to go back home. I 
 knowed if I went back home I wouldn't rest, for I felt it my duty to 
 be out ; and when out I was, somehow or other, always delighted to 
 be in the very thickest of the danger. A few of us, therefore, deter- 
 mined to push on and join the army. The number I do not recollect 
 but it was very small. 
 
 When we got out there I joined Major EusseU's company of spies. 
 Before we reached the place General Jackson had started. We went 
 on likewise, and overtook him at a place where we established a fort, 
 called Port Williams, and, leaving men to guard it, we went ahead ; 
 intending to go to a place called the Horseshoe bend of the Talapoosa 
 river. — When we came near that place we began to find Indian sign 
 plenty, and we struck up camp for the night. About two hours before 
 day we heard our guard firing, and we were all up in little or no time. 
 We mended up our camp fires, and then fell back in the dark, expect- 
 ing to see the Indians pouring in ; and intending, when they should 
 do so, to shoot them by the hght of our own fires. But it happened 
 that they did not rush in as we had expected, but commenced a fire on 
 us as we were. We were encamped in a hollow square, and we not 
 only returned the fire, but continued to shoot, as well as we could in 
 the dark, till day broke, when the Indians disappeared. The only 
 guide we had in shooting was to notice the flash of their guns, and 
 then shoot as directly at the place as we could guess. 
 
 In this scrape we had four men killed and several wounded, but 
 whether we killed any of tne Indians or not we never could tell, for it 
 is their custom always to carry off their dead, if they can possibly do 
 so. We buried ours, and then made a large log heap over them and set 
 it on fire, so that the place of their deposite might not be known to 
 the savages, who we knew would seek for them, that they might scalp 
 them. We made some horse litters for our wounded, and took up a 
 
OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 237 
 
 retreat. "We moved on till we came to a large creek whieh we had to 
 cross ; and about half our men had crossed, when the Indians com- 
 menced firing on our left wing, and they kept it up very warmly. We 
 had left Major Eussell and his brother at the camp we had moved 
 from that morning, to see what discovery they could make as to the 
 movements of the Indians ; and about this time, while a warm fire 
 was kept up on our left, as I have just stated, the major came up in our 
 rear, and was closely pursued by a large number of Indians, who im- 
 mediately commenced a fire on our artillery men. They hid them- 
 selves behind a large log, and could kill one of our men almost every 
 shot, they being in open ground and exposed. The worst of all wag, 
 two of our colonels just at this trying moment left their men, and, by 
 a forced march, crossed the creek out of the reach of the fire. Their 
 names, at this late day, would do the world no good, and my object is 
 history alone, and not the slightest interference with character. An 
 opportunity was now afforded for Governor Carroll to distinguish him- 
 self, and on this occasion he did so, by greater bravery than I ever 
 saw any other man display. In truth, I believe, as firmly as I do 
 that General Jackson is president, that if it hadn't been for Carroll, 
 we should all have been genteely licked that time, for we were in a 
 devil of a fix ; part of our men on one side of the creek, and part on 
 the other, and the Indians all the time pouring it onus, as hot as 
 fresh mustard to a sore shin. I will not say exactly that the old 
 general was whipped ; but I will say, that if we escaped it at all, it 
 was like old Henry Snider going to heaven, " mit a tam tite squeeze." 
 I think he would confess himself, that he was nearer whip'd this time 
 than he was at any other, for I know that all the world couldn't make 
 him acknowledge that he was pointedly whip'd. I know I was mighty 
 glad when it was over, and the savages quit us, for I begun to think 
 there was one behind every tree in the woods. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 SOON after this an army was to be raised to go to Pensaeola, and I 
 determined to go again ■witli them, for I wanted a small taste of 
 British fighting, and I supposed they would be there. 
 
 Here again the entreaties of my wife were thrown in the way of my 
 going, but all in vain ; for I always had a way of just going ahead at 
 whatever I had a mind to. One of my neighbours, hearing I had 
 determined to go, came to me, and offered me a hundred dollars to 
 go in his place as a substitute, as he had been drafted. I told him I 
 was better raised than to hire myself out to be shot at ; but that I 
 would go, and he should go too, and in that way the government would 
 have the services of us both. But we didn't call General Jackson 
 " the government " in those days, though we used to go and fight 
 under him in the war. 
 
 I fixed up, and joined old Major KusseU again ; but we couldn't 
 start with the main army, but followed on, in a little time, after them. 
 In a day or two we had a hundred and thirty men in our company ; 
 and we went over and crossed the Muscle Shoals at the same place 
 where I had crossed when first out, and when we burned the Black 
 Warriors' town. We passed through the Choctaw and Chickesaw 
 nations on to Fort Stephens, and from thence to what is called the 
 Cut-off, at the junction of the Tom-Bigby with the Alabama river. 
 This place is near the old Fort Mimms, where the Indians committed 
 the great butchery at the commencement of the war. 
 
 We were here about two days behind the main army, who had left 
 their horses at the Cut-off, and taken it on foot ; and they did this 
 because there was no chance for forage between there and Pensaeola. 
 We did the same, leaving men enough to take care of our horses, and 
 cut out on foot for that place. . It was about eighty mUes off; but in 
 good heart we shouldered our guns, blankets, and provisions, and 
 trudged merrily on. About twelve o'clock the second day we reached 
 the encampment of the main army, which was situated on a hUl, 
 overlooking the city of Pensaeola. — My commander, Major EusseU, 
 was a great favourite with^Gr^n'l Jackson, and our arrival was hailed 
 with great applause, though we were a httliS after the feast ; for they 
 had taken the town and fort before we got there. — That eveising'We 
 went down into the town, and could see the British fleet lying in sight 
 «f thejlace. We got some liquor, and took a " horn " or so, and went 
 back to the camp. We remained there that night, and in the morning 
 we marched back towards. the Cut-off. ■ We. pursued this direction till 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY GBOOKETT. 239 
 
 we reached old Fort Mimms, where we remained two or three days. 
 It was here that Major Kussell was promoted from his command, 
 which was only that of a captain of spies, to the command of a major 
 in the line. He had been known long before at home as old Major 
 Eussell, and so we continued to call him in the army. A Major 
 Childs, from East Tennessee, also commanded a battalion, and he, and 
 the one Bussell was appointed to command, composed a regiment, 
 which, by agreement with General Jackson, was to quit his army and 
 go to the south, to kill up the Indians on the Scamby river. 
 
 General Jackson and the main army set out the next morning for 
 New Orleans, and a Colonel Blue took command of the regiment which 
 I have before described. We remained, however, a few days after the 
 general's departure, and then started also on our route. 
 
 As it gave-rise to so much war and bloodshed, it may not be im- 
 proper here to give a little description of Fort Mimms, and the manner 
 in which the Indian war commenced. The fort was built right in the 
 middle of a large old field, and in it the people had been forted so long 
 ■ and so quietly, that they didn't apprehend any danger at all, and had, 
 therefore, become quite careless. A small negro boy, whose business 
 it was to bring up the calves at milking time, had been out for that 
 purpose, and on coming back he said he saw a great many Indians. 
 At this the inhabitants took the alarm, and closed their gates and 
 placed out their guards, which they continued for a few days. But 
 finding that no attack was made, they concluded the little negro had 
 lied ; and again threw their gates open, and set all their hands out to 
 work their fields. The same boy was out again on the same errand, 
 when, returning in great haste and alarm, he informed them that he 
 had seen the Indians as thick as trees in the woods. He was not 
 believed, but was tucked up to receive a flogging for the supposed lie ; 
 and was actually getting badly licked at the very moment when the 
 Indians came in a troop, loaded with rails, with which they stop'd 
 all the port-holes of the fort one side except the bastion, and then they 
 fell in to cutting down the picketing. Those inside the fort had only 
 the bastion to shoot from, as all the other -holes were spiked up ; and 
 they shot several of the Indians while engaged in cutting. But as fast 
 as one would faU, another would seize up the axe and chop away, 
 until they succeeded in cutting down enough of the picketing to admit 
 them to enter. They then began to rush through, and continued until 
 they were all in. They immediately commenced scalping, without 
 regard to age or sex ; having forced the inhabitants up to one side of 
 the fort, where they carried on the work of death as a butcher would 
 in a slaughter pen. 
 
 The scene was particularly described to me by a young man who 
 was in the fort when it Happened, and subsequently went on with us 
 to PcLisacola. He said that he saw his father, and mother, his four 
 sisters, and the same number of brothers, all butchered in the most 
 shocking manner, and that he made his escape by running over the 
 heads of the crowd, who were against the fort wall, to the top of the 
 fort, and then jumping off, and taking to the woods. He was closely 
 
240 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 pursued by several Indians, until he came to a small byo, across 
 which there was a log. He knew the log was hollow on the under 
 side, so he slip'd under the log and hid himself. He said he heard 
 the Indians walk over him several times -back and forward. He 
 remained, nevertheless, still till night, when he came out and finished 
 his escape. The name of this young man has entirely escaped my 
 recollection, though his tale greatly excited my feelings. But to 
 return to my subject. The regiment marched from where Gen'l 
 Jackson had left us to Fort Montgomery, which was distant from Port 
 Mimms about a mile and a half, and there wer emained for some days. 
 
 Here we supphed ourselves pretty well with beef, by killing wild 
 cattle .which'had formerly belonged to the people who had perished in 
 the fort, but had gone wild after their massacre. 
 
 When we marched from Fort Montgomery, we went some distance 
 back towards Pensacola ; then we turned to the left, and passed 
 through a poor piny country, tUl we reached the Scamby river, near 
 which we encamped. We had about one thousand men, and as a 
 part of that number, one hundred and eighty-six Chickasaw and 
 Choctaw Indians with us. That evening a boat landed from Pensa- 
 cola, bringing many articles that were both good and necessary ; such 
 as sugar and coffee, and liquors of all tinds. The same evening, the 
 Indians we had along proposed to cross the river, and the officers 
 thinking it might be weU for them to do so, consented ; and Maj. 
 Kussell went with thsm, taking sixteen white men, of which number 
 I was one. We camped on the opposite bank that night, and early in 
 the morning we set out. We had not gone far. before we came to a 
 place where the whole country was covered with water, and looked 
 like a sea. We didn't stop for this, tho'j but just put in like so many 
 spaniels, and waded on, sometimes up to our' arm-pits, untU we 
 reached the pine hills, which made our distance through the water 
 about a mile and a half. Here we struck up a fire to warm ourselves, 
 for it was cold, and we were chilled through by being so long in the 
 water. We again moved on, keeping our spies out ; two to our left 
 near the bank of the river, two straight before us, and five others on 
 our right. We had gone in thia way about six miles up the river, 
 when our spies on the left came to us leaping the brush like so many 
 old bucks, and informed us that they had discovered a camp of Creek 
 Indians, and that we must kiU them. Here we paused for a few 
 minutes, and the prophets pow-wowed over their men awhile, and 
 then got out their paint, and painted them, all according to their 
 custom when going into battle. They then brought their paint to old 
 Major Kussell, and said to him, that as he was an officer, he must be 
 painted too. He agreed, and they painted him- just as they had done 
 themselves. We let the Indians understand that we white men 
 would first fire on the camp, and then fall back, so as to give the 
 Indians a chance to rush in and scalp them. The Chickesaws 
 marched on our left hand, and the Choctaws on our right, and we 
 moved on till we got in hearing of the camp, where the Indians were 
 employed in beating up what they called chauay briar root. On this 
 
OF DAVY OBOOKETT. 241 
 
 they mostly subsisted. On a nearer approach we found they were on 
 an island, and that we oould not get to them. While we were 
 chatting about this matterj W6 heard some guns fired, and in a very 
 short time after a keen whoopj which satisfied us, that wherever it 
 was, there was war, on a small scale. With that we all broke, like 
 quarter horses, for the firing ; and when we got there, we found it was 
 our two front spies, 'who related to us the following story : — As they 
 were moving on, they had met with two Creeks who were out hunting 
 their horses ; as they approached each other, there was a large cluster 
 of green bay bushes exactly between them, so that they were within a 
 .few feet of meeting before either was discovered. Our spies walked 
 up to them, and speaking in the Shawnee tongue, informed them that 
 General Jackson was at Pensacola, and they were making their 
 escape, and wanted to know where they could get something to eat. 
 The Creeks told them that nine miles up the Conaker, the river they 
 were then on, there was a large camp of Creeks, and they had cattle 
 and plenty to eat : and further, that their own camp was on an island 
 about a mile off, and just below the mouth of the Conaker. They 
 held their conversation and struck up a fire, and smoked together, 
 and shook hands, and parted. One of the Creeks had a gun, the 
 other had none ; and as soon as they had parted, our Choetaws turned 
 round and shot down the one that had the gun, and the other 
 attempted to run off. They snapped several times at him, but the 
 gun still missing fire, they took after him, and overtaking him, one of 
 them struck him over the head with his gun, and followed up his 
 blows tiU he killed him. 
 
 The gun was broken in the combat, and they then fired off the gun 
 of the Creek they had killed, and raised the war-whoop. When we 
 reached them, they Jiad cut off the heads of both the Indians ; and 
 each of those Indians with us would walk up to one of the heads, and 
 taking his war club would strike on it. This was done by every one 
 of them ; and when they had got done, I took one of their clubs, and 
 walked up as they had done, and struck it on the head also. At this 
 they all gathered round me, and patting me on the shoulder, would 
 call me " Warrior — warrior." 
 
 They scalped the heads, and then we moved on a short distance to 
 where we found a trace leading in towards the river. We took this 
 trace and pursued it, till we came to where a Spaniard had been killed 
 and scalped, together with a woman, who we supposei to be his wife, 
 and also four children. I began to feel mighty tickhsh along about 
 this time, for I knowed if there was no danger then, there had been ; 
 and I felt exactly like there stiU was. We, however, went on till we 
 struck the river, and then continued down it till we came opposite to 
 the Indian camp, where we found they were still beating their roots. 
 
 It was now late in the evening, and they were in a thick cane 
 brake. We had some few friendly Creeks with us, who said they 
 could decoy them. So we all hid behind trees and logs, while the 
 attempt was made. The Indians would not agree that we should 'fire, 
 but piok'd out some of their best gunners, and placed them near the • 
 
 17 
 
242 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 OF DAVY CROCKETT. 
 
 river. Our Creeks went down to the river's side, and hailed the camp 
 in the Creek language.~We heard the answer, and an Indian man 
 started down towards the river, but didn't come in sight. He went 
 hack and again commenced heating his roots, and sent a squaw. She 
 came down, and talked to our Creeks until dark came on. They told 
 her they wanted her to bring them a canoe. To which she replied, 
 that their canoe was on our side ; that two of their men had gone out 
 to hunt their horses and hadn't yet returned. They were the same 
 two we had killed. — The canoe was found, and forty of our picked 
 Indian warriors were crossed over to take the camp. There was at 
 last only one man in it, and he escaped ; and they took two squaws, 
 and ten children, but killed none of them, of course. 
 
 We had run nearly out of provisions, and Major Bussell had deter- 
 mined to go up the Conaker to the camp we had heard of from the 
 Indians we had killed. I was one that he selected to go down the 
 river that night for provisions, with the canoe, to where we had left 
 our regiment. I took with me a man by the name of John Guess, 
 and one of the friendly Creeks, and cut out. It was very dark, and 
 the river was so full that it overflowed the banks and the adjacent low 
 bottoms. This rendered it very difficult to keep the channel, and 
 particularly as the river was very crooked. At about ten o'clock at 
 night we reached the camp, and were to return by morning to Major 
 Piussell, with provisions for his trip up the river ; but on informing 
 Colonel Blue of this arrangement, he vetoed it as quick as General 
 Jackson did the bank bill ; and said, if Maj. Bussell didn't come back 
 the next day, it would be bad times for him. I found we were not to 
 go up the Conaker to the Indian camp, and a man of my company 
 offered to go up in my place to inform Major Russell. — I let him go ; 
 and they reached the Major, as I was told, about sunrise in the morn- 
 ing, who immediately returned with those who were with him, to the 
 regiment, and joined us where we crossed the river, as hereafter 
 stated. 
 
 The next morning we all fixed up, and marched down the Scamby 
 to a place called Miller's Landing, where we swam our horses across, 
 and sent on two companies down on the side of the bay, opposite to 
 Pensacola, where the Indians had fled when the main army first 
 marched to that place. One was the company of Captain William 
 Bussell, a son of the old Major, and the other was commanded by a 
 Captain Trimble. They went on, and had a little skirmish with the 
 Indians. They killed some, and took all the balance prisoners, 
 though I don't remember the numbers. 
 
OHAPTEB Vm. 
 
 VUTHEN we made a move from the point where we met- the oom^ 
 "^ panies, we set out for Chatahaohy, the place for which we had 
 started when we left Fort Montgomery. At the start we had taken 
 only twenty days' rations of flour, and eight days' rations of beef; 
 and it was now thirty-four days before we reached that place. We 
 were, therefore, in extreme suffering for want of something to eat, 
 and exhausted with our exposure and the fatigues of our journey. I 
 remember well, that I had not myself tasted bread but twice in nine- 
 teen days. I had brought a pretty good supply of coffee from the 
 boat that had reached us from Pensacola,' ou the Scamby, and on that 
 we chiefly subsisted. At length, one night our spies came in, and 
 informed us-they had found Holm's village on the Chatahachy river ; 
 and we raade an immediate push for that place. We travelled all 
 night, expecting to get something to eat when we got there. We 
 arrived about sunrise, and near the place prepared for battle. We 
 were all so furious, that even the certainty of a pretty hard fight could 
 not have restrained us. We made a furious charge on the town, but 
 to our great mortification and surprise, there was not a human being 
 in it. The Indians had all run off and left it. We burned the town, 
 however ; but, melancholy to tell, we found no provision whatever. 
 We then turned about, and went back to the camp we had left the 
 night before, as nearly starved as any set of poor fellows ever were in 
 the world. 
 
 We staid there only a Uttle while, when we divided our regiment ; 
 and Major Ohilds, with his men, went back the way we had come for 
 a considerable distance, and then turned to Baton-Eouge, where they 
 joined General Jackson and the main army on their return from 
 Orleans. Major Eussell and his men struck for Fort Decatur, on the 
 Talapoosa river. Some of our friendly Indians, who knew the country, 
 went on ahead of us, as we had no trail except the one they made to 
 foUow. With them we sent some of our ablest horses and men, to get 
 us some provisions, to prevent us from absolutely starving to death. 
 , As the army marched, I hunted every day, and would kill every hawk, 
 bird, and sq^uirrel that I could find. Others did the same ; and it was 
 a rule with us, that, when we stop'd at night, the hunters would throw 
 all they killed in a pile, and then we would make a general division 
 among all the men. One evening I came in, having killed nothing 
 that day: I had a very sick man in my mess, and I wanted some- 
 thing for hinl to eat, even if I starved myself. So I went to the fire 
 
244 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 of a Captain Oowen, who commanded my company after the promo- 
 tion of Major Eussell, and informed him that I was on the hunt of 
 something for a sick man to eat. I knowed the captain was as bad 
 off as the rest of us, but I found him broihng a turkey's gizzard. He 
 said he had divided the turkey out among the sick, that Major Smiley 
 had killed it, and that nothing else had been killed that day. I 
 immediately went to Smiley's fire, where I found him broiling another 
 gizzard. I told him, that it was the first turkey I had ever seen have 
 two gizzards. But so it was, I got nothing for my sick man. And 
 now, seeing that every fellow must shift for himself, I determined that 
 in the morning, I would come up missing ; so I took my mess and cut 
 out to go ahead of the army. We know'd that nothing more could 
 happen to us if we went than if we staid, for it looked hke it was to be 
 starvation any way ; we therefore determined to go on the old saying 
 root hog or die. We passed two camps, at which our men, that had 
 gone on before us, had killed Indians. At one they had killed nine, 
 and at the other three. About daylight we came to a small river, 
 which I thought was the Scamby ; but we continued on for three days, 
 killing little or nothing to eat ; tOl, at last, we aU began to get nearly 
 ready to give up the ghost, and lie down and die ; for we had no 
 prospect of provision, and we knew we couldn't go much further 
 without it. 
 
 We came to a large prairie, that was about six miles across it, and 
 in this I saw a trail which I knowed was made by bear, deer, and 
 turkeys. We went on through it till we came to a large creek, and 
 the low grounds were all set over with wild rye, looking as green as a 
 wheat field. We here made a halt, unsaddled our horses, and turned 
 them loose to graze. 
 
 One of my companions, a Mr. Vanzant, and myself, then went up 
 the low grounds to hunt. We had gone some distance, finding 
 nothing ; when, at last, I found a squirrel ; which I shot, but he got 
 into a hole in the tree. The game was small, but necessity is not very 
 particular; so I thought I must have him, and I climbed that tree 
 thirty feet high, without a Umb, and pulled him out of his hole. I 
 shouldn't relate such small matters, only to show what lengths a 
 hungry man will go to, to get something to eat. I soon killed two 
 other squirrels, and fired at a large hawk. At this- a large gang of 
 turkeys rose from the cane brake, and flew across the creek to where 
 my friend was, who had just before crossed it. He soon fired on a 
 large gobler, and I heard it fall. By this time my gun was loaded 
 again, and I saw one sitting on my side of the creek, which had flew 
 over when he fired ; so I blazed away, and down I brought him. I 
 gathered him up, and a fine turkey he was. I now began to think we 
 had strucka breeze of luck, and almost forgot our past sufferings, in 
 the prospect of once more having something to eat. I raised the 
 shout, and my comrade came to me, and we went on to our camp 
 with the game we had killed. WhUe we were gone, two of our mess 
 had been out, and each of them had found a bee tree. We turned into 
 cooking some of our game, but we had neither salt nor bread. Just 
 
OF DAVY OROCKBTT. 245 
 
 at this moment, on looking down the creek', we saw our men, who had 
 gone on before- us for provisions, coming to us. They came up, and 
 measured out to each man a cupfull of flour. With this, we 
 thickened our soup, when our turkey was cooked, and our friends 
 took dinner with us, and then went on. 
 
 We now took our tomahawks, and went out and cut our bee-trees, 
 out of which we got a fine chance of phoney ; though we had 
 been starving so long that we feared to eat much at a time, till, like 
 the Irish by hanging, we got used to it again. We rested that night 
 without moving our camp ; and the next morning myself and Vanzant 
 again turned out to hunt. We had not gone far, before I wounded a 
 fine buck very badly ; and while pursuing him, I was walking on a 
 large tree that had fallen down, when from the top of it a large bear 
 broke out and ran off. I had no dogs, and I was sorry enough for it ; 
 for of all the hunting I ever did, I have always delighted most in bear 
 hunting. Soon after this, I killed a large buck; and we had just 
 gotten him to camp, when our poor starved army came up. — They 
 told us, that to lessen their sufferings as much as possible. Captain 
 WiULam EusseU had had his horse led up to be shot for them to eat, 
 just at the moment that they saw our men returning, who had carried 
 on the flour. 
 
 We were now about fourteen miles from Port Decatur, and we gave 
 away all our meat, and honey, and went on with the rest of the army. 
 When we got there, they could give us only one ration of meat, but 
 not a mouthful of bread. I immediately got a canoe, and taking my 
 gun, crossed over the river, and went to the Big Warriors' town. I 
 had a large hat, and I offered an Indian a silver dollar for my hat full 
 of corn. He told me that his corn was all " shuestea" which in 
 English means, it was all gone. But he showed me where an Indian 
 Hved, who, he said, had corn. I went to him and made the same 
 offer. He could talk a httle broken English, and said to me, " You 
 got any powder? Tou got bullet? " I told him I had. He then 
 said, " Me swap my corn, for powder and bullet." I took out about 
 ten bullets, and showed him ; and he proposed to give me a hat full 
 of corn for them. I took him up, mighty quick. I then offered to 
 give him ten charges of powder for another hat full of corn. To this 
 he agreed very wniingly. — So I took off my hunting shirt, and tied up 
 my corn ; and though it had cost me very little of my powder and 
 lead, yet I wouldn't have taken fifty silver dollars for it. I returned 
 to the camp, and the next morning we stalrted for the Hickory 
 Ground, which was thirty miles off. It was here that General Jackson 
 met the Indians, and made peace with the body of the nation. 
 
 We got nothing to eat at this place, and we had yet to go forty-nine 
 miles, over a rough and wilderness country, to Fort Williams. 
 Parched corn, and but little even of that, was our daily subsistence. 
 When we reached Fort Williams, we got one ration of pork and 
 one of flour, which was our only hope until we could reach Port 
 Strother. 
 
 The horses were now giving out, and I remember to have seen 
 
246 LIFE AND ADVEN TUBES 
 
 thirteen good horses left in one day, the saddles and bridles being 
 thrown away. It was thirty-nine^miles tp Fort Strother, and we had 
 to pass directly by Fort Talladego, where we first had the big Indian 
 battle with the eleven hundred painted warriors. We went through 
 the old battle ground, and it looked like a great gourd patch ; the 
 sculls of the Indians who were killed stiU lay scattered all about, and 
 many of their frames were still perfect, as the bones had not 
 separated. But about five miles before we got to this battle ground, 
 I struck a trail, which I followed until it led me to one of their 
 towns. Here I swap'd some more of my powder and buUets for a 
 little corn. 
 
 I pursued on, by myself, till some time after night, when I came up 
 to the rest of the army, That night my company and myself did 
 pretty well, as I divided out my corn among them . The next morn- 
 ing we met the East Tennessee troops, who were on the road to 
 Mobile, and my youngest brother was with them, They had plenty 
 of corn and provisions, and they gave me what I wanted for myself 
 and rhy horse. I remained with them that night, though my company 
 went across the Coosa river to the fort, where they also had the good 
 fortune to find plenty of provisions. Next morning, I took leave of 
 my brother and all my old neighbours, for there were a good many of 
 them with him, and crossed over to my men at the fort. Here I had 
 enough to go on, and after remaining a few days, cut out for home. 
 Nothing more, worthy of the reader's attention, transpired till I was 
 safely landed at home once more with my wife and children. I found 
 them all well and doing well ; and though I was only a rough sort of 
 a backwoodsman, they seemed mighty glad to see me, however little 
 the quality folks might suppose it. For I do reckon we love as hard 
 in the backwood country, as any people in the whole creation. 
 
 But I had been home only a few days, when we received orders to 
 start again, and go on to the Black Warrior and Cahawba livers, to see 
 if there was no Indians there. I know'd well enough there was none, 
 and I wasn't willing to trust my craw any more where there was 
 neither any fighting to do, nor any thing to go on ; and so I agreed to 
 give a young man, who wanted to go, the balance of my wages if he 
 would serve out my time, which was about a month. He did so, and 
 when they returned, sure enough they hadn't seen an Indian any 
 more than if they had been all the time chopping wood in my clear- 
 ing. This closed my career as a warrior, and I am glad of it, for I 
 like life now a heap better than I did then ; and I am glad all over 
 that I lived to see these times, which I should not have done if I had 
 kept fooling along in war, and got used up at it. When I say I am 
 glad, I just mean I am glad I am alive, for there is a confounded 
 heap of things I an't glad of at all. I an't glad, for example, that the 
 " government " moved the deposites, and if my military glory should 
 take such a turn as to make me president after the general's time, I'll 
 move them back ; yes, I, the "government," will "take the responsi- 
 bihty," and move them back again. If I don't, I wish I may be 
 shot. 
 
OF DAVY CBOGEETT. 247 
 
 But I am glad that I am now through war matters, and I reckon 
 the reader is too, for they have no fun in them at all ; and less if he 
 had to pass through them first, and then write them afterwards. But 
 for the dulness of their narrative, I must try to make amends by 
 relating some of the curious things that happened to me in private 
 life, and when forced to become a public man, as I shall have to be 
 again, if ever I consent to take the presidential chair. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I CONTINUED at home now, working my farm for two years, as 
 the war finally closed soon after I quit the service. The battle 
 at New Orleans had already been fought, and treaties were made with 
 the Indians which put a stop to their hostilities. 
 
 But in this time, I met with the hardest trial which ever falls to the 
 lot of man. Death, that cruel leveller of all distinctions, — to whom 
 the prayers and tears of husbands, and of even helpless infancy, are 
 addressed in vain, — entered my humble cottage, and tore from my 
 children an affectionate good mother, and from me a tender and 
 loving wife. 
 
 It is a scene long gone by, and one which it would be supposed 
 I had almost forgotten ; yet when I turn my memory back on it, it 
 seems as but the work of yesterday. It was the doing of the Almighty, 
 whose ways are always right, though we sometimes think they fall 
 heavily on us ; and as painful as is even yet 'the remembrance of her 
 sufferings, and the loss sustained by my little children and myself, 
 yet I have no wish to lift up the voice of complaint. I was left with 
 three children ; the two eldest were sons, the youngest a daughter, and, 
 at the time, a mere infant. It appeared to me, at that moment, that 
 my situation was the worst in the world. I couldn't bear the thought 
 of scattering my children, and so I got my youngest brother, who was 
 also married, and his family to live with me. They took as good care 
 of my children as they well could, but yet it wasn't all like the care 
 of a mother. And though their company was to me in every respect 
 like that of a brother and sister, yet it fell far short of being like that 
 of a wife. So I came to the conclusion it wouldn't do, but that I 
 must have another wife . 
 
 There lived in the neigJibourhood, a widow lady whose husband 
 had been killed in the war. She had two children, a son and daughter, 
 and both quite small Kke my own. I began to* think, that as we 
 were both in the same situation, it might be that we could do some- 
 thing for each other ; and I therefore began to hint a little around the 
 matter, as we were once and a while together. She was a good 
 industrious woman, and owned a snug little farm, and lived quite 
 comfortable. I soon began to pay my respects to her in real good 
 earnest ; but I was as shy about it as a fox when he is going to rob 
 a henroost: I found that my company wasn't at all disagreeable to 
 her ; and I thought I could treat her children with so much friend- 
 ship as to make her a good stepmother to mine, and in this I wasn't 
 
LIFE -AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY OBOCKETT. 249 
 
 mistaken, as we soon bargained, and got married, and then went 
 ahead. In a great deal of peace we raised our first crop of children, 
 and they are all married and doing well. But we had a second 
 crop together ; and I shall notice them as I go along, as my wife and 
 myself both had a hand in them, and they therefore belong to the 
 history of my second marriage. 
 
 The next fall after this marriage, three of my neighbours and 
 myself determined to explore a new country. Their names were 
 Eobinson, Prazier, and Rich. "We set out for the Creek country, 
 crossing the Tennessee river ; and after having made a day's travel, 
 we stop'd at the house of one of my old 'acquaintances, who had 
 settled there after the war. Besting here a day, Frazier turned out 
 to hunt, being a great hunter ; but he got badly bit by a very poisonous 
 snake, and so we left him and went on. We passed through a large 
 rich valley, called Jones's valley, where several other families had 
 settled, and continued our course till we came near to the place where 
 Tuscaloosa now stands. Here we camped, as there were no inhabi- 
 tants, and hobbled out our horses for the night. About two hours 
 before day, we heard the beUs on our horses going back the way we 
 had come, as they had started to leave us. As soon as it was daylight, 
 I started in pursuit of them on foot, and carrying my rifle, which was 
 a very heavy one. I went ahead the whole day, wading creeks and 
 swamps, and climbing mountains ; but I couldn't overtake our horses, 
 though I could hear of them at every house they passed. I at last found 
 I couldn't catch up with them, and so I gave up the hunt, and turned 
 back to the last house I had passed, and staid there till morning. 
 From the best calculation we could make, I had walked over fifty 
 miles that day ; and the next morning I was so sore, and fatigued, 
 that I felt like I couldn't walk any more. But I was anxious to get 
 back to where I had left my company, and so I started and went 
 on, but mighty slowly, till after the middle of the day. I now began 
 to feel mighty sick, and had a dreadful head-ache. My rifle was so 
 heavy, and I felt so weak, that I lay down by the side of the trace, in a 
 perfect wilderness too, to see if I wouldn't get better. In a short time 
 some Indians came along. They had some ripe melons, and wanted 
 me to eat some, but I was so sick I couldn't. They then signed to 
 me, that I would die, and be buried ; a thing I was confoundedly 
 afraid of myself. But I asked them how near it was to any house ? 
 By their signs, again, they made me understand it was a mile and 
 a half. I got up to go ; but when I rose, I reeled about like a cow 
 with the blind staggers, or a fellow who had taken too many " horns." 
 One of the Indians proposed to go with me, and carry my gun. I 
 gave him half a dollar, and accepted his offer. We got to the house, 
 by which time I was pretty far gone, but was kindly received, and 
 got on to a bed. The woman did all she could for me with her warm 
 teas, but I still continued bad enough, with a high fever, and generally 
 out of my senses. The next day two of my neighbours were passing 
 the road, and heard of my situation, and came to where I was. They 
 were going nearly the route I had intended to go, to loo]? at the 
 
250 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 country ; and so they took me first on one of their horses, and then 
 on the other, till they got me back to where I left my company. I 
 expected I would get better, and be able to go on with them, but, 
 instead, of this, I got worse and worse ; and when we got there, I 
 wan't able to sit up at all. I thought now the jig was mighty nigh 
 up with me, but I determined to keep a stiff upper lip. They carried 
 me to a house, and each of my comrades bought him a horse, and 
 they all set off together, leading me behind. I knew but little that 
 was going for about two weeks ; but the family treated me with every 
 possible kindness in their power, and I shall always feel thankful to 
 them. The man's name was Jesse Jones. At the end of two weeks 
 I began to mend without the help of a doctor, or of any doctor's 
 means. In this time, however, as they told me, I was speechless for 
 five days, and they had no thought that I would ever speak again, — 
 in Congress or any where else. And so the woman, who had a bottle 
 of Batesman's draps, thought if they killed me, I would only die any 
 how, and so she would try it with me. She gave me the whole bottle, 
 which throwed me into a sweat that continued on me all night ; when 
 at last I seemed to wake up, and spoke, and asked her for a drink of 
 water. This almost alarmed her, for she was looking every minute for 
 me to die. She gave me the water, and, from that time, I began slowly to 
 mend, and so kept on tiHI was able at last to walk about a little. I might 
 easily have been mistake for one of the Kitchen Cabinet, I looked so 
 much like a ghost. I have been particular in giving a history of this 
 sickness, not because I believe it will interest any body much now, 
 nor, indeed, do I certainly know that it ever will. But if I should be 
 forced to take the " white house," then it will be a good history ; and 
 every one will look on it as important. And I can't, for my life, help 
 laughing now, to think, that when my folks get around me, wanting 
 good fat oflces, how so many of them wOl say, "What a good thing 
 it was that that kind woman had a bottle of draps that saved Presi- 
 dent Ckockett's life, — the second greatest and best " ! ! I ! Good, 
 says I, my noble fellow ! You take the post ofl&ce ; or the navy ; or 
 the war ofB.ce ; or maybe the treasury. But if I give him the treasury, 
 there's no devil if I don't make him agree first to fetch back them 
 deposites. And if it's even the post-of&ce, I'll make him promise to 
 keep his money 'counts without. any figuring, as that throws the 
 whole concern heels over head in debt, in little or no time. 
 
 But when I got so I could travel a httle, I got a waggoner who was 
 passing along to hawl me to where he hved, which was about twenty 
 miles from my house. I still mended as we went along, and when we 
 got to his stopping-place, I hired one of his horses, and went on home. 
 I was so pale, and so much reduced, that my face looked like it had 
 been half soled with brown paper. 
 
 When I got there, it was to the utter astonishment of my wife ; for 
 she supposed I was dead. My neighbours who had started with me 
 had returned and took my horse home, which they had found with 
 theirs ; and they reported that they had seen men who had helped to 
 bury me : and who saw me draw my last breath. I kaow'd this 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 251 
 
 ■was a whopper of a lie, as soon as I heard it. My wife had hired 
 a man, and sent him out to see what had become of my money 
 and other things ; but I had missed the man as I went in, and he 
 didn't return until some time after I got home, as he went all the 
 way to where I lay sick, before he heard that I was still in the 
 land of the living and a-kicking. 
 
 The place on which I lived was sickly, and I was determined to 
 leave it. I therefore set out the next fall to look at the country which 
 had been purchased of the Ohickesaw tribe of Indians. I went on to 
 a place called Shoal Creek, about eighty miles from where I lived, 
 and here again I got sick. I took the ague and fever, which I sup- 
 posed was brought on by my camping out. I remained here for some 
 time, as I was unable to go farther ; and in that time I became so 
 well pleased with the country about there, that I resolved to settle in 
 it. It was just only a little distance in the purchase, and no order had 
 been established there ; but I thought I could get along without order 
 as well as any body else. And so I moved and settled mj'self down 
 on the head of Shoal Creek. We remained here some two or three 
 years, without any law at all ; and so many bad characters began to 
 flock in upon us, that we found it necessary to set up a sort of tem- 
 porary government of our own. I don't mean that we made any 
 president, and called him the "government," but we met and made 
 what we called a corporation ; and I reckon we called it wrong, for 
 it wan't a bank, and hadn't any deposites ; and now they call the 
 bank a corporation. But be this as it may, we lived in the backwoods, 
 and didn't profess to know much, and no doubt used many wrong 
 words. But we met, and appointed magistrates and constables to keep 
 order. We didn't fix any laws for them, tho' ; for we supposed they 
 would know law enough, whoever they might be ; and so we left it 
 to themselves to fix the laws. 
 
 I was appointed one of the magistrates ; and when a man owed a 
 debt, and wouldn't pay it, I and my constable ordered our warrant, 
 and then he would take the man, and bring him before me for trial. 
 I would give judgment against him, and then an order for an execution 
 would easily scare the debt out of him. If any one was charged with 
 marking his neighbour's hogs, or with stealing any thing, which hap- 
 pened pretty often in those days, — I would have him taken, and if 
 there was tolerable grounds for the charge, I would have him well 
 whip'd and cleared. We kept this up till our Legislature added us to 
 the white settlements in Giles county ; and appointed magistrates by 
 law, to organize matters in the parts where I lived. They appointed 
 nearly every man a magistrate who had belonged to our corporation. 
 I was then, of course, made a squire according to law; though now 
 the honour rested more heavily on me than before. For, at first, 
 whenever I told my constable, says I—" Catch that fellow, and bring 
 him up for trial" — away he went, and the fellow must come, dead or 
 alive ; for we considered this a good warrant, though it was only in 
 verbal writing. But after I was appointed by the assembly, they told 
 me, my warrants must be in real writing, and signed ; and that I 
 
252 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 -OP DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 must keep a book, and write my proceedinp;s in it. This was, a hard 
 business on me, for I could just barely write my own name ; but to do 
 this, and write the warrants too, was at least a huckleberry over my 
 persimmon. I had a pretty well informed constable, however, and 
 he aided me very much in this business. Indeed I had so much con- 
 fidence in him, that I told him, when we should happen to be out any 
 where, and see that a warrant was necessary, and would have a good 
 effect, he needn't take the trouble to come all the way to me to get 
 one, but he could just fill out one ; and then on the trial I could 
 correct the whole business if he had committed any error. In this 
 way I got on pretty weU, till by care and attention I improved my 
 handwriting in such manner as to be able to prepare my warrants, 
 and keep my record book, without much difficulty. My judgments 
 were never appealed from, and if they had been they would have 
 stuck like wax, as I gave my decisions on the principles of common 
 justice and honesty between man and man, and relied on natural bom 
 sense, and not on law-learning to guide me ; for I had never read a 
 page in a law book in all my life. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 \ BOUT the time we were getting under good headway in our new 
 -^*- government, a Capt. Matthews came to me and told me he 
 was a candidate for the office of colonel of a regiment, and that I 
 must run for first major in the same regiment. I objected to this, 
 telling him that I thought I had done my share of fighting, and that 
 I wanted nothing to do with miUtary appointments. 
 
 He still insisted, until at last I agreed, and of course had every 
 reason to calculate on his support in my election. He was an early 
 settler in that country, and made rather more corn than the rest of us ; 
 and knowing it would afford him a good opportunity to electioneer a 
 little, he made a great corn husking, and a great frolic, and gave a 
 general treat, asking every body over the whole country. Myself and 
 my family were, of course, invited. When I got there, I found a very 
 large collection of people, and some friend of mine soon informed me 
 that the captain's son was going to offer against me for the office of 
 major, which he had seemed so anxious for me to get. I oared nothing 
 about the office, but it put my dander up high enough to see, that 
 after he had pressed me so hard to offer, he was countenancing, if 
 not encouraging a secret plan to beat me. I took the old gentleman 
 out, and asked him about it. He told me it was true his son was 
 going to run as a candidate, and that he hated worse to run against 
 me than any man in the county. I told him his son need give him- 
 self no uneasiness about that ; that I shouldn't run against him for 
 major, but against his daddy for colonel. He took me by the hand, 
 and we went into the company. He then made a speech, and 
 informed the people that I was his opponent. I mounted up for a 
 speech too. I told the people the cause of my opposition, remarking 
 that as I had the whole family to run against any way, I was de- 
 termined to levy on the head of the mess. "When the time for the 
 election came, his son was opposed by another man for major ; and 
 he and his daddy were both badly beaten. I just now began to take 
 a rise, as in a little time I was asked to offer for the Legislature in 
 the counties of Lawrence and Heckman. 
 
 I offered my name in the month of February, and started about the 
 first of March with a drove of horses to the lower part of the State of 
 North Carolina. This was in the year 1821, and I was gone 
 upwards of three months. I returned, and set out electioneering, 
 which was a bran-fire new business to me. It now became necessary 
 that I should tell the people something about the government, and an 
 
254 LIFE AND ADVENTUEE3 
 
 eternal sight of other things that I knowed nothing more about than 
 I did about Latin and law, and such things as that. I have said before 
 that in those days none of us called Gen'l Jackson the government, 
 nor did he seem in as fair a way to become so as I do now; but 
 I knowed so little about it, that if any one had told me he was " the 
 government," I should have believed it, for I had never read even 
 a newspaper in my life, or any thing else, on the subject. But over 
 all my difficulties, it seems to me I was born for luck, though it 
 would be hard for any one to guess what sort. I wiU, however, explain 
 that hereafter. 
 
 I went first into Heckman county, to see what I could do among 
 the people as a candidate. Here they told me that they wanted to 
 move their town nearer to the centre of the county, and I must come 
 out in favour of it. There's no devil if I knowed what this meant, or 
 how the town was to be moved ; and so I kept dark, going on the 
 identical same plan tliat I now find is called " non-committal." About 
 this time there was a great squirrel hunt on Duck river, which was 
 among my people. They were to hunt two days, then to meet and 
 ^ount the scalps, and have a big barbecue, and what might be called a 
 tip-top country frolic. The dinner, and a general treat, was aU to be 
 paid for by the party having taken the fewest scalps. I joined one 
 side, taking the place of one of the hunters, and got a gun ready for 
 the hunt. I killed a great many squirrels, and when we counted 
 scalps, my party was victorious. 
 
 The company had every thing to eat and drink that could be fur- 
 nished in so new a country, and much fun and good humour prevailed. 
 But before the regular frohc commenced, I mean the dancing, I was 
 called on to make a speech as a candidate; which was a business I was 
 as ignorant of as an outlandish negro. 
 
 A pubho document I had never seen, nor did I know there were such 
 things ; and how to begin I couldn't tell. I made many apologies, 
 and tried to get off, for I know'd I had a man to run against who could 
 speak prime, and I know'd, too, that I wa'n't able to shuffle and cut 
 with him. He was there, and knowing my ignorance as well as I did 
 myself, he also urged me to make a speech. The truth is, he thought 
 my being a candidate was a mere matter of sport ; and didn't think 
 for a moment that he was in any danger from an ignorant backwoods 
 bear hunter. But I found I couldn't get off, and so I determined just 
 to go ahead, and leave it to chance what I should say. I got up and 
 told the people, I reckoned they know'd what I had come for, but if 
 not, I could tell them. I had come for their votes, and if they didn't 
 watch mighty close, I'd get them too.' But the worst of all was, that 
 I could not tell them any thing about government. I tried to speak 
 about something, and I cared very little what, until I choaked up as 
 bad as if my mouth had been jamm'd and oram'd chock full of dry 
 mush. — There the people stood, hstening all the while, with then eyes, 
 mouths, and ears all open, to catch every word I would speak. 
 
 At last I told them I was Kke a fellow I had heard of not long 
 before. He was beating on the head of an empty barrel near ihp 
 
OF DAVY OBOOKETT. ■ 255 
 
 road-side, when a traveller, who was passing along, asked him what 
 he was doing that for ? The fellow replied that there was some 
 cider in that barrel a few days before, and he was trying to see if 
 there was any then, but if there was he couldn't get at it. I told 
 them that there had been a little bit of a speech in me a while 
 ago, but I believed I couldn't get it out. They all roared out in a 
 mighty laugh, and I told some other anecdotes, equally amusing to 
 them, and believing I had them in a first-rate way, I quit and got 
 down, thanking the people for their attention. But I took care to 
 remark that I was as dry as a powder horn, and that I thought it was 
 time for us all to wet our whistles a little ; and so I put off to the 
 liquor stand, and was followed by the greater part'of the crowd. 
 
 I felt certain this was necessary, for I knowed my competitor 
 could talk government matters to them as easy as he pleased. He 
 had, however, mighty few left to hear him, as I continued with the 
 crowd, now and then taking a horn, and telhng good-humoured 
 stories, till he was done speaking. I found I was good for the votes 
 at the hunt, and when we broke up, I went on to the town of 
 Vernon, which was the same they wanted me to move. Here they 
 pressed me again on the subject, and I found I could get either 
 party by agreeing with them. But I told them I didn't know whether 
 it would be right or not, and so couldn't promise either way. 
 
 Their court cornmenced on the next Monday, as the barbacue was 
 on a Saturday, and the candidates for governor and for Congress, as 
 well as my competitor and myseK, all attended. 
 
 The thought of having to make a speech made my knees feel 
 mighty weak, and set my heart to fluttering almost as bad as my first 
 love scrape with the Quaker's niece. But as good luck would have it, 
 these big candidates spoke nearly all day, and when they quit, the 
 people were worn out with fatigue,- which afforded me a good apology, 
 for not discussing the government. But I listened mighty close to 
 them, and was learning pretty fast about political matters. When 
 ' they were all done, I got up and told some laughable story, and quit. 
 I .found I was safe in those parts, and so I went home, and did not 
 go back again until after the election was over. But to cut this matter 
 short, I was elected, doubling my competitor, and nine votes over. 
 
 A short time after this, I was in Pulaski, when I met with Colonel 
 Polk, now a member of Congress from Tennessee. He was at that 
 time a member elected to the Legislature, as weU. as myself; and in 
 a large company he said to me, " WeU, colonel, I suppose we shall 
 have a radical change'of the judiciary at the next session of the Legis- 
 lature." " Very likely, sir," says I, and I put out quicker, for I was 
 afraid some one would ask me what the judiciary was ; and if I knowed 
 I wish I may be shot. I don't indeed believe I had ever before 
 heard that there was any such thing in all nature; but still I 
 was not willing that the people there should know how ignorant I 
 was about it. 
 
 When the time for meeting of the Legislature arrived, I went on, 
 and before I had been there long, I could have told what the judiciary 
 
256 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY CROCKETT. 
 
 was, and what the government was too ; and many other things that 
 I had known nothing about before. 
 
 About this time I met with 'a very severe misfortune, which I may 
 be pardoned for naming, as it made a great change in my cir- 
 cumstances, and kept me back very much in the world. I had built 
 an extensive grist mill, and powder mill, all connected together, and 
 also a large distillery. They had cost me upwards of three thousand 
 dollars,-more than I was worth in the world. The first news that I 
 heard after I got to the Legislature, was, that my mills were — not 
 blown up sky high, as you would guess, by my powder establishment 
 —but swept away all to smash by a large fresh, that came soon after 
 I left home. I had, of course, to stop my distillery, as my grinding 
 was broken up ; and, indeed, I may say, that the misfortune just made 
 a complete mash of me. I had some likely negroes, and a good stock 
 . of almost every thing about me, and, best of all, I had an honest wife. 
 She didn't advise me, as is too fashionable, to smuggle up this, and 
 that, and t'other, to go on at home ; but she told me, says she, "Just 
 pay up, as long as you have a bit's worth in the world ; and then every 
 body will be satisfied, and we will scuffle for more." This was just 
 such talk as I wanted to hear, for a man's wife can hold him devilish 
 uneasy, if she begins to scold and fret, and perplex him, at a time when 
 he has a fuU load for a railroad car on his mind already. 
 
 And so, you see, I determined not to break full handed, but thought 
 it better to keep a good conscience with an empty purse, than to get 
 a bad opinion of myself, with a full one. I therefore gave up all I had, 
 and took a bran-fire new start. 
 
CHAPTEB XI. 
 
 HAVING- returned from the Legislature, I determined to make 
 another move, and so I took my eldest son with me, and a 
 young man by the name of Abram Henry, and cut out for the Obion. 
 I selected a spot when I got there, where I determined to settle ; and 
 the nearesti house to it was seven miles, the next nearest was fifteen, 
 and so on to twenty. It was a complete wilderness, and full of Indians 
 who were hunting. Game was plenty of almost every kind, which 
 suited me exactly, as I was always fond of hunting; The house which 
 was nearest me, and which, as I have already stated, was seven mUes 
 off, and on the different side of the Obion river, belonged to a man by 
 the name of Owens ; and I started to go there. I had taken one horse 
 along, to pack our provision, and when I got to the water I hobbled 
 him out to graze, until I got back ; as there was no boat to cross the 
 river in, and it was so high that it had overflowed all the bottoms and 
 low country near it. 
 
 We now took water like so many beavers, notwithstanding it was 
 mighty cold, and waded on. The water would sometimes be up to our 
 necks, and at others not so deep ; but I went, of course, before, and 
 carried a pole, with which would feel along before me, to see how deep 
 it was, and to guard against falling into a slough, as there was many 
 in our way. When I would come to one, I would take out my toma- 
 hawk and cut a small tree across it, and then go ahead again. Fre- 
 quently my little son would have to swim, even where myself and the 
 young man could wade ; but we worked on till at last we got to the 
 channel of the river, which made it about half a mile we had waded 
 from where we took water. I saw a large tree that had fallen into 
 the river from the other side, but it did not reach across. One stood 
 on the same bank where we were, that I thought I could fall, so as to 
 reach the other ; and so at it we went with my tomahawk, cutting 
 away till we got it down ; and, as good luck would have it, it fell 
 right, and made us a way that we could pass. 
 
 When we got over this, it was still a sea of water as far as our eyes 
 cpuld reach. We took into it again, and went ahead, for about a 
 mile, hardly ever seeing a single spot of land, and sometimes very 
 deep. At last we come in sight of land, which was a very pleasing 
 thing ; and when we got out we went but a little way, before we came 
 in sight of the house, which was more pleasing than ever ; for we 
 were wet all over, and mighty cold. I felt mighty sorry when I would 
 look at my little boy, and see him shaking like he had the worst sort 
 
 18 
 
258 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 of an ague, for there was no time for fever then. As we got near to 
 the house, we saw Mr. Owens and several men that were with him, 
 just starting away. They saw us, and stop'd, but looked much 
 astonished until we got up to them, and I made myself known. The 
 m.en who were with him were the owners of the boat which was 
 the first that ever went that far up the Obion river ; and some hands 
 he had hired to carry it about a hundred miles still further up, by 
 water, tho' it was only about thirty by land^ as the river is very 
 crooked. 
 
 They all turned back to the house witii me, where I found Mrs. 
 Owens, a fine, friendly old woman ; and her kindness to my little boy 
 did me ten times as much good as any thing she could have done for 
 me, if she had tried her best. The old gentleman set out his bottle to 
 us, and I concluded that if a horn wasn't good then, there was no use 
 for its invention. — So I swig'd off about a half pint, and the young man 
 was by no means bashful in such a case ; he took a strong pull at it 
 too. I then gave my boy some, and in a little time we felt pretty 
 well. We dried ourselves by the fire, and were asked to go on board 
 the boat that evening. I agreed to do so, but left my son with the old 
 lady, and myself and the young man went to the boat with Mr. Owens 
 and the others. The boat was loaded with whiskey, flour, sugar, 
 coffee, salt, castings, and other articles suitable for the country ; and 
 they were to receive five hundred dollars to land the load at 
 McLemore's Bluff, beside the profit they could make on their load. 
 This was merely to show that boats could get up to that point. — ^We 
 staid all night with them, and had a high night of it, as I took steam 
 enough to drive out all the cold that was in me, and about three times 
 as much more. In the morning we concluded to go on with the boat 
 to where a great Jia/rrioane had crossed the river, and blowed all the 
 timber down into it. When we got there, we found the river was 
 falling fast, and concluded we couldn't get thro' the timber without 
 more rise : so we drop'd down opposite Mr. Owens' again where they 
 determined to wait for more water. 
 
 The next day it rained rip-roriously, and the river rose pretty con- 
 siderable, but not enough yet. And so I got the boatsmen all to go out 
 with me to where I was going to settle, and we slap'd up a cabin in 
 little or no time. I got from the boat four barrels of meal, and one of 
 salt, and about ten gallons of whiskey. 
 
 To pay for these, I agreed to go with the boat up the river to their 
 landing place. I got also a large middling of bacon, and killed a fine 
 deer, and left them for my young man and my little boy, who were to 
 stay at my cabin till I got back ; which I expected would be in six or 
 seven days. We cut out, and moved up to the harricane, where we 
 Stop'd for the night. In the morning I started about daylight intend- 
 ing to kill a deer, as I had no thought they would get the boat through 
 the timber that day. I had gone but a little way before I killed a fine 
 buck, and started to go back to the boat ; but on the way I came on 
 the tracts of a large gang of elks, and so I took after them. I had 
 followed them only a little distance when I saw them, and directly 
 
OF DAVY CBOGKETT. 259 
 
 after, I saw two large bucks. I shot one down, and the other wouldn't 
 leave him ; so I loaded my gun, and shot him down too, I hung them 
 up, and went ahead again after my elks. I pursued on till after the 
 middle of the day before I saw them again ; but they took the hint 
 before I got in shooting distance, and run off. I still pushed on till 
 late in the evening, when I found I was about four miles from where 
 I had left the. boat, and as hungry as a wolf, for I hadn't eaten a bite 
 that day. 
 
 I started down the edge of the river low grounds, giving out the 
 pursuit of my elks, and hadn't gone hardly any distance at all, before 
 I saw two more bucks, very large fellows too. I took a blizzard at 
 one of them and up he tumbled. The other ran off a few jumps and 
 stop'd ; and stood there till I loaded again, and fired at him. I 
 knock'd his trotters from under him, and then I hung them both up. 
 I pushed on again ; and about sunset I saw three other bucks. I 
 down'd with one of them, and the other two ran off. I hung this one 
 up also, having now killed six that day. I then pushed on till I got 
 to the harricane, and at the lower edge of it, about where I expected 
 the boat was. Here I hollered as hard as I could roar, but could get 
 no answer. I fired off my gun, and the men on the boat fired one too ; 
 but quite contrary to my expectation, they had got through the timber, 
 and were about two miLes above me. It was now dark, and I had to 
 crawl through the fallen timber the best way I could ; and if the 
 reader don't know it was bad enough, I am sure I do. For the vines 
 and briers had grown all through it, and so thick, that a good fat coon 
 couldn't much more than get along. I got through at last, and went 
 on near to where I had killed my last deer, and once more fired off my 
 gun, which was again answered from the boat, which was still a little 
 above me. I moved on as fast as I could, but soon came to water, and 
 not knowing how deep it was, I halted and hollered till they came to 
 me with a skiff. I now got to the boat, without further dif&oulty ; but 
 the briers had worked on me at such a rate, that I felt like I wanted 
 sewing up, all over. I took a pretty stiff horn, which soon made me 
 feel much better ; but I was so tired that I could hardly work my jaws 
 to eat. 
 
 In the morning, myself and a young man started and brought in the 
 first buck I had killed, and after breakfast we went and brought in 
 the last one. The boat then started, but we again went and got the 
 two I had killed just as I turned down the river in the evening ; and 
 we then pushed on and o'ertook the boat, leaving the other two hang- 
 ing in the woods, as we had now as much as we wanted. 
 
 We got up the river very well, but quite slowly ; and we landed on 
 the eleventh day, at the place the load was delivered at. They here 
 gave me their skiff, and myself and a young man by the name of 
 Flavins Harris, who was determined to go and live with me, cut out 
 down the river for my cabin, which we reached safely enough. 
 
 We turned in and cleared a field, and planted our corn ; but it was so 
 late in the spring, we had no time to make rails, and therefore we put 
 no fence around our field. There was no stock, however, nor any 
 
260 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 thing else to disturb our corn, except the wild varments, and the old 
 serpent himself, with a fence to help him, couldn't keep them out. I 
 made corn enough to do me, and during that spring I killed ten bears, 
 and a great abundance of deer. But in all this time, we saw the face 
 of no white person in that country, except Mr. Owens' family, and a 
 very few passengers, who went out there, looking at the country. 
 Indians, though, were stUl plenty enough. Having laid by my crap, 
 I went home, which was a distance of about a hundred and fifty miles ; 
 and when I got there, I was met by an order to attend a call-session 
 of our Legislature. I attended at, and served out my time, and then 
 returned, and took my family and what little plunder I had, and 
 moved to where I had built my cabin, and made my crap. 
 
 I gathered miy corn, and then set out for my Fall's hunt. This was 
 in the last of October, 1822. I found bear very plenty, and, indeed, 
 aU sorts of game and wild varments, except buffalo. There was none 
 of them. I hunted on till Christmas, having supplied -my family very 
 well all along with wild meat, at which time my powder gave out ; 
 and I had none either to fire Christmas guns, which is very common 
 in that country, or to hunt with. I had a brother-in-law who had now 
 moved out and settled about six miles west of me, on the opposite side 
 of Rutherford's fork of the Obion river, and he had brought me a keg 
 of powder, but I had never gotten, it Tiome. There had just been 
 another of Noah's freshes, and the low grounds were flooded all over 
 with water. I know'd the stream was at least a mile wide which I 
 would have to cross, as the water was from hill to hill, and yet I deter- 
 mined to go on over in some way or other, so as to get my powder. 
 I told this to my wife, and she immediately opposed it with all her 
 might. I still insisted, telling her we had no powder for Christmas, 
 and, worse than all, we were out of meat. She said, we had as well 
 starve as for me to freeze to death, or to get drowned, and one or the 
 other was certain if I attempted to go. 
 
 But I didn't believe the half of this ; and so I took my woollen 
 wrappers, and a pair of moccasins, and put them on, and tied up some 
 dry clothes and a pair of shoes and stockings, and started. But I 
 didn't before know how much any body could suffer and not die. 
 This, and some of my other experiments in water, learned me some- 
 thing about it, and I therefore relate them. 
 
 The snow was about four inches deep when I started ; and when I 
 got to the water, which was only about a quarter of a mile off, it look'd 
 like an ocean. I put in, and waded on till I come to the channel, 
 where I crossed that on a high log. I then took water again, having 
 my gun and all my hunting tools along, and waded tiU I came to a 
 deep slough, that was wider than the river itseE I had crossed it 
 often on a log ; but, behold, when I got there, no log was to be seen. 
 I knowed of an island in the slough, and a sapling stood on it close to 
 the side of that log, which was now entirely under water. I knowed 
 further, that the water was about eight or ten feet deep under the log, 
 and I judged it to be about three feet deep over it. After studying a 
 little what I should do, I determined to cut a forked sapling, which 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 261 
 
 stood near me, go as to lodge it against the one that stood on the 
 island, in which I succeeded very well. I then cut me a pole, and 
 crawled along on my sapling till I got to the one it was lodged against, 
 which was about six feet above the water. I then felt about with my 
 pole till I found the log, which was just about as deep imder the water 
 as I had judged. I then crawled back and got my gun, which I had 
 left at the stump of the sapling I had cut, and again made my way to 
 the place of lodgement, and then climbed down the other sapling so as 
 to get on the log. I then felt my way along with my feet, in the water, 
 about waist deep, but it was a mighty tiokUsh business. However, I 
 got over, and by this time I had very little feeling in my feet and legs, 
 as I had been all the time in the water, except what time I was cross- 
 ing the high log over the river, and climbing my lodged sapling. 
 
 I went but a short' distance before I came to another slough, over 
 which there was a log, but it was floating on the water. I thought I 
 could walk it, and so I mounted on it ; but when I had got about the 
 middle of the deep water, somehow or somehow else, it turned over, 
 and in I went up to my head. I waded out of this deep water, and 
 went ahead till I came to the high-land, where I stop'd to pull off my 
 wet clothes, and put on the others, which I had held up with my gun, 
 above the water, when I fell in. I got them on, but my flesh had no 
 feeling in it, I was so cold. I tied up the wet ones, and hung them up 
 in a bush. I now thought I would run, so as to warm myself a little, 
 but I couldn't raise a trot for some time ; indeed, I couldn't step more 
 than half the length of my foot. After a while I got better, and went 
 on five ncules to the house of my brother-in-law, having not even smelt 
 fire from the time I started. I got there late in the evening, and 
 he was much astonished at seeing me at such a time. I staid all 
 night, and the next morning was most piercing cold, and so they per- 
 suaded me not to go home that day. I agreed, and turned out and 
 kUled him two deer; but the weather still got worse and colder, 
 instead of better. I staid that night, and in the morning they still 
 insisted I couldn't get home. I knowed the water would be frozen 
 over, but not hard enough to bear me, so I agreed to stay that day. I 
 went out hunting again, and pursued a big Jie-hea/r all day, but didn't 
 kOl him. The next morning was bitter cold, but I knowed my family 
 was without meat, and I determined to get home to them, or die a- 
 trying. 
 
 I took my keg of powder, and all my hunting tools, and cut out. 
 When I got to the water, it was a sheet of ice as far as I could see. 
 I put on to it, but hadn't got /ar before it broke through with me ; 
 and so I took out my tomahawk, and broke my way along before me 
 for a considerable distance. At last I got to where the ice would bear 
 me for a short distance, and I mounted on it; and went ahead ; but it 
 soon broke in again, and I had to wade on till I came to my floating 
 log. I found it so tight this time, that I know'd it couldn't give me 
 another fall, as it was frozen in with the ice. I crossed over it with- 
 out much difficulty,. and worked along till I got to my lodged sapling, 
 and my log under the water. The swiftness of the current prevented 
 
262 LiFk AND ADVENfUBES OF DAVY CBOCKMTT. 
 
 the water from freezing over it, and so I had to wade, just as I di 
 when I crossed it before. When I got to my sapling, I left my gun, 
 and climbed out with my powder keg first, and then went back and 
 got my gun. By this time I was nearly frozen to death, but I saw all 
 along before me, where the ice had been fresh broke, and I thought it 
 must be a bear straggling about in the water. I, therefore, fresh 
 primed my gun, and, cold as I was, I was determined to make war on 
 him, if we met. But I followed the trail tiU it led me home, and I 
 then found it had been made by my young man that lived with 
 me, who had been sent by my distressed wife to see, if he could, what 
 had become of me, for they ah. believed that I was dead. When I got 
 home I wasn't quite dead, but mighty nigh it ; but had my powder, 
 and that was what I went for. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THAT night there fell a heavy rain, and it turned to a sleet. In 
 the morning all hands turned out hunting. My young man, and 
 a brother-in-law who had lately settled close by me, went down the 
 river to hunt for turkeys ; but I was for larger game. I told them, I 
 had dreamed the night before of having a hard fight with a big black 
 nigger, and I know'd it was a sign that I was to have a battle with a 
 bear ; for in a bear country, I never know'd such a dream to fail. So 
 I started to go up above the harrioane, determined to have a bear. I 
 had two pretty good dogs, and an old hound, all of which I took along. 
 I had gone about six miles up the river, and it was then about four 
 miles across to the main Obion ; so I determined to strike across to 
 that, as I had found nothing yet to kill. I got on to the river, and 
 turned down it ; but the sleet was still getting worse and worse. The 
 bushes were all bent down and looked together with ice, so that it was 
 almost impossible to get along. In a little time my dogs started a large 
 gang of old turkey gobblers, and I killed two of them of the biggest 
 sort. I shouldered them up, and moved on, until I got through the 
 harricane, when I was so tired that I laid my gobblers down to rest, 
 as they were confounded heavy, and I was mighty tired. While I 
 was resting, my old hound went to a log, and smelt it awhile, and then 
 raised his eyes toward the sky, and cried out. Away he went, and 
 my other dogs with him, and I shouldered up my turkeys again, and 
 followed on as hard as I could drive. They were soon out of sight, 
 and in a very little time I heard them begin to bark. When I got to 
 them they were barking up a tree, but there was no game there. I 
 concluded it had been a turkey, and that it had flew away. 
 
 When they saw me coming, away they went again ; and, after a little 
 time, began to bark as before. When I got near them, I found they 
 were barking up the wrong tree again, as there was no game there. 
 They served me in this way three or four times, ijntil I was so infernal 
 mad, that I determined, if I could get near enough, to shoot the old 
 hound at least. With this intention I pushed on the harder, till I 
 came to the edge of an open parara, and looking on before my dogs, 
 I saw in and about the biggest bear that ever was seen in America. 
 He looked, at the distance he was from me, like a large black bull. 
 My dogs were afraid to attack him, and that was the reason they had 
 stop'd so often, that I might overtake them. They were now almost 
 up with him, and I took my gobblers from my back and hung th^m up 
 in a sapling, and broke like a quarter horse after my bear, for the 
 
264 LISE AND ADVBNTVBBS OF DAVY CBO.CKBTT. 
 
 sight of him had put new springs in me. I soon got near to them, but' 
 they were just getting into a roaring thicket, and so I couldn't run 
 through it, hut had to pick my way along, and had close work, even 
 at that. 
 
 In a little time I saw the bear climbing up a large black oak tree, 
 and I crawled on until I got within about eighty yards of him. He 
 was setting with his breast to me ; and so I put fresh priming in my 
 gun, and fired at him. At this he raised one of his paws and snorted 
 loudly. I loaded again as quick as I could, and fired as near the 
 same place in his breast, as possible. At the crack of my gun here he 
 came tumbUng down ; and the moment he touched the ground, I 
 heard one of my best dogs cry out. I took my tomahawk in one hand, 
 and my big butcher-knife in the other, and run up within four or five 
 paces of him, at which he let my dog go, and fixed his eyes on me. I 
 got back in all sorts of hurry, for I know'd if he got hold of me, he 
 would hug me altogether too close for comfort. I went to my gun and 
 hastily loaded her again, and shot him the third time, which killed 
 him good. 
 
 I now began to think about getting him home, but I didn't know 
 how far it was. So I left him and started ; and in order to find liim 
 again, I would blaze a sapling every little distance, which would show 
 me the way back. I continued this until I got within about a mile of 
 home, for there I know'd very well where I was, and that I could 
 easily find my way back to my blazes. When I got home, I took my 
 brother-in-law, and my young man, and four horses, and went back. 
 We got there just before dark, and struck up a fire, and commenced 
 butchering my bear. It was some time in the night before we finished 
 it ; and I can assert, on my honour, that I believe he would have 
 weighed six hundred pounds. It was the second largest I ever saw. 
 I killed one, a few years after, that weighed six hundred and seventeen 
 pounds. I now felt fully compensated for my sufferings in going after 
 my powder ; and well satisfied that a dog might sometimes be doing 
 a good business, even when he seemed to be harhing up the wrong 
 tree. We got our meat home, and I had the pleasure to know that 
 we now had plenty, and that of the best ; and I continued through the 
 winter to supply my family abundantly with bear-meat and venison 
 from the woods. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 T HAD on hand a great many skins, and so, in the month of Peb- 
 -l ruary, I packed a horse with them, and taking my eldest son along 
 with me, cut out for a little town called Jackson, situated about forty 
 miles off. We got there well enough, and I sold my skins, and bought 
 me some coffee, and sugar, powder, lead and salt. I packed them all 
 up in readiness for a start, which I intended to make early the next 
 morning. Morning came, but I concluded, before I started, I would 
 go and take a horn with some of my old fellow-soldiers that I had met 
 with at Jackson. 
 
 I did so ; and while we were engaged in this, I met with three can- 
 didates for the Legislature. A Doctor Butler, who was, by marriage, 
 a nephew to General Jackson, a Major Lynn, and a Mr. McEver, all 
 first-rate men. We aU took a horn together, and some persons present 
 said to me, " Crockett, you must offer for the Legislature." I told him 
 I hved at least forty miles from any white settlement ; and had no 
 thought of becoming a candidate at that time. So we all parted, and 
 I and my httle boy went on home. 
 
 It was about a week or two after this, that a man came to my house, 
 and told me I was a candidate. I told him not so. But he took out a 
 newspaper from his pocket, and show'd me where I was announced. 
 I said to my wife that this was all a burlesque on me, but I was deter- 
 mined to make it cost the man who had put it there at least the 
 value of the printing, and of the fun he wanted at my expense. So I 
 hired a young man to work in my place on my farm, and turned out 
 myself electioneering. I hadn't been out long, before I found the 
 people began to talk very much about the bear-hunter, the man from 
 the cane ; and the three gentlemen, who I have already named, soon 
 found it necessary to enter into an agreement to have a sort of caucus 
 at their March court, to determine which of them was the strongest, 
 and the other two was to withdraw and support him. As the court 
 came on, each one of them spread himself, to secure the nomination ; 
 but it fell on Dr. Butler, and the rest backed out. The doctor was a 
 clever fellow, and I have often said he \«as the most talented man I 
 ever run against for any ofSce. His being related to Gen'l Jackson- 
 also helped him on very much ; but I was in for it, and I was deter- 
 mined to push ahead and go through, or stick. Their meeting was 
 held in Madison county, which was the strongest in the representative 
 
266 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 I 
 
 district, which was composed of eleven counties, and they seemed bent 
 on having the member from there. 
 
 At this time Col. Alexander was a candidate for Congress, and 
 attending one of his public meetings one day, I walked to where he 
 was treating the people, and he gave me an introduction to several 
 of his acquaintances, and informed them that I was out electioneering. 
 In a little time my competitor. Doctor Butler, came along ; he passed 
 by without noticing me, and I supposed, indeed, he did not recognise 
 me. But I hailed him, as I was for all sorts of fun ; and when he 
 turned to me, I said to him, "Well, doctor, I suppose they have 
 weighed you out to me ; but I , should like to know why they fixed 
 your election for March instead of August? This is," said I, "a 
 bran-fire new way of doing business, if a caucus is to make a repre- 
 sentative for the people !" He now discovered who I was, and cried 
 out, " D — n it, Crockett, is that you ?" " Be sure it is," said I, " but 
 I don't want it understood that I have come electioneering. I have 
 just crept out of the cane, to see what discoveries I could make among 
 the white folks." I told him that when I set out electioneering, I 
 would go prepared to put every man on as good footing when I left 
 him as when I found him on. I would therefore have me a large 
 buckskin hunting-shirt made, with a couple of pockets holding about 
 a peck each; and that in one I would carry a great big twist of 
 tobacco, and in the other my bottle of liquor ; for I knowed when I 
 met a man and offered him a dram, he would throw out his quid of 
 tobacco to take one, and after he had taken a horn, I would out with 
 my twist and give him another chaw. And in this way he would not be 
 worse off than when I found him; and I would be sure to leave him in 
 a first-rate good humour. He said I could beat him electioneering all 
 hollow. I told him I would give him better evidence of that before 
 August, notwithstanding he had many advantages over me, and 
 particularly in the way of money ; but I told him that I would go on 
 the products of the country ; that I had industrious children, and the 
 best of coon-dogs, and they would hunt every night till midnight to 
 support my election; and when the coon fur wa'n't good, I would 
 myself go a wolfing, and shoot down a wolf, and skin his head, and 
 his scalp would be good to me for three dollars, in our State Treasury 
 money ; and in this way I would get along on the big string. He 
 stood like he was both amused and astonished, and the whole crowd 
 was in a roar of laughter. Prom this place I returned home, leaving- 
 the people in a first-rate way ; and I was sure I would do a good 
 business among them. At any rate, I was determined to stand up to 
 my lick-log, salt or no salt. 
 
 In a short time there came out two other candidates, a Mr. Shaw 
 and a Mr. Brown. We all ran the race through ; and when the 
 election was over, it turned out that I beat them all by a majority 
 of two hundred and forty-seven votes, and was again returned as a 
 member of the Legislature from a new region of the country, without 
 losing a session. This reminded me of the old saw — " A fool for luck, 
 and a poor man for children." 
 
Of Davy gbocrett. 267 
 
 I now served two years in that body from my new district, which 
 was the years 1823 and '24. At the session of 1823, I had a small 
 trial of my independence, and whether I would forsake principle for 
 party, or for the purpose of following after big men. 
 
 The term of Col. John Williams had expired, who was a senator 
 in Congress from the State of Tennessee. He was a candidate for 
 another election, and was opposed by Pleasant M. Miller, Esq., who 
 it was believed, would not be able to beat the Colonel. Some two or 
 three others were spoken of, hut it was at last concluded that the only 
 man who could beat him was General Jackson. So, a few days before 
 the election was to come on, he was sent for to come and run for the 
 Senate. He was then in nomination for the presidency ; but sure 
 enough he came, and did run as the opponent of Colonel WiUiams, 
 and beat him too, but not. by my vote. The vote was, for Jackson, 
 thirty-five ; for Williams, twenty-five. I thought the Colonel had 
 honestly discharged his duty, and even the mighty name of Jackson 
 couldn't make me vote against him. 
 
 But voting against the old chief was found a mighty up-hill business 
 to all of them except myself. I never would, nor never did, acknow- 
 ledge I had voted wrong ; and I am more certain now that I was right 
 than ever. 
 
 I told the people it was the best vote I ever gave ; that I supported 
 the public interest, and cleared my conscience in giving it, instead of 
 gratifying the private ambition of a man. 
 
 I let the people know as early as then, that I wouldn't take a collar 
 around my neck. * 
 
 During these two sessions of the Legislature, nothing else turned up 
 which I think it worth while to mention ; and, indeed, I am fearful 
 that I am too particular about many small matters ; but if so, my 
 apology is, that I want the world to understand my true history, and 
 how I worked along to rise from the cane-brake to my present station 
 in life. 
 
 Col. Alexander was the representative in Congress of the district I 
 lived in, and his vote on the tariff law of 1824 gave a mighty heap of 
 dissatisfaction to his people. They therefore began to talk pretty 
 strong of running me for Congress against him. At last I was called 
 on by a good many to be a candidate. I told the people that I couldn't 
 stand that ; it was a step above my knowledge, and I know'd nothing 
 about Congress matters. 
 
 However, I was obliged to agree to run, and myself and two other 
 gentlemen came out. But Providence was a little against two of us 
 this hunt, for it was the year that cotton brought twenty-five dollars 
 a hundred; and so Colonel Alexander would get up and teU the 
 people, it was all the good effect of this tariff law ; that it had raised 
 the price of their cotton, and that it would raise the price of every 
 thing else they made to sell. I might as well have sung sahns over 
 a dead horse, as lo try to make people believe otherwise ; ' for they 
 know'd their cotton had raised, sure enough, and if the colonel hadn't 
 done it, they didn't know what had. So he rather made a mash of 
 
268 LIFE AND ADVENTVBE8 OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 me this time, as he beat me exactly two votes, as they counted the 
 polls, though I have always believed that many other things had been 
 as fairly done as that sam.e count. 
 
 He went on, and served out his term, and at the end of it cotton 
 was down to six or eight dollars a hundred again ; and I concluded I 
 would try him once more, and see how it would go with cotton at the 
 common price, and so I became a candidate. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 BUT the reader, I expect, would have no objection to know a little 
 about my employment during the two years while my com- 
 petitor was in Congress. In this space I had some pretty tuff times, 
 and will relate some few things that happened to me. So here goes, 
 as the boy said when he run by himself. 
 
 In the full of 1825, I concluded I would build two large boats, and 
 load them with pipe staves for market. So I went down to the lake, 
 which was about twenty-five miles from where I lived, and hired 
 some liands to assist me, and went to work ; some at boat building, 
 and others to getting staves. I worked on with my hands till the 
 bears got fat, and then I turned out to hunting, to lay in a supply of 
 meat. I soon killed and salted down as many as was necessary for 
 my family ; but about this time one of my old neighbours, who had 
 settled down on the lake about twenty-five miles from me, came to 
 my house and told me he wanted me to go down and kill some bears 
 about in his parts. He said they were extremely fat, and very plenty; 
 I know'd that when they were fat they were easily taken ; for a fat 
 bear can't run fast or long. But I asked a bear no favors, no way, 
 further than civility, for I now had eight large dogs, and as fierce as 
 painters ; so that a bear stood no chance at all to get away from them. 
 So I went home with him, and then went on down towards the 
 Mississippi, and commenced hunting. 
 
 We were out two weeks, and in that time killed fifteen bears. 
 Having now supplied my friend with plenty of meat, I engaged occa- 
 sionally again with my hands in our boat building, and getting staves. 
 But I at length couldn't stand it any longer without another hunt. 
 So I concluded to take my little son, and cross over the lake, and take 
 a hunt there. We got over, and that evening turned out and killed 
 three bears, in little or no time. The next morning we drove up four 
 forks, and made a sort of scaffold, on which we salted up our meat, 
 so as to have it out of the reach of the wolves, for as soon as we would 
 leave our camp, they would take possession. We had just eat our 
 breakfast, when a company of hunters came to our camp, who had 
 fourteen dogs, but all so poor, that when they would bark they would 
 almost have to lean up against a tree and take a rest. I told them 
 their dogs couldn't run in smell of a bear, and they had better stay 
 at my camp, and feed them on the bones I had cut out of my meat. 
 I left them there, and cut out ; but I hadn't gone far, when my dogs 
 took a first-rate start after a very large fat old he-hemr, which run 
 
270 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 right plump towards my camp. I pursued on, but my other hunters 
 had heard my dogs coming, and met them, and killed the bear before 
 I got up with him. I gave him to them, and out out again for a creek 
 called Big Clover, which wa'n't very far off. Just as I got there and 
 was entering a cane brake, my dogs all broke and went ahead, and in 
 a little time, they raised a fuss in the cane, and seemed to be going 
 every way. I listened a while, and found my dogs was in two com- 
 panies, and that both was in a, snorting fight. I sent my little son to 
 one, and I broke for t'other. I got to mine first, and found my dogs had 
 a two-year-old bear down, a-wooling away on him ; so I just took out 
 my big butcher, and went up and slap'd it into him, and killed him 
 without shooting. There was five of the dogs in my company. In 
 a short time, I heard my little son fire at his bear ; when I went to 
 him he had kiUed it too. He had two dogs in his team. Just at this 
 moment we heard my other dog barking a short distance off, and all 
 the rest immediately broke to him. We pushed on too, and when we 
 got there, we found he had still a larger bear than either of them we 
 had killed, treed by himself. We killed that one also, which made 
 three we had killed in less than half an hour. We turned in and 
 butchered them, and then started to hunt for water, and a good place 
 to camp. But we had no sponer started, than our dogs took a start 
 after another one, and away they went like a thunder-gust, and was 
 out of hearing in a minute. We followed the way they had gone for 
 some time, but at length we gave up the hope of finding them, and 
 turned back. As we were going back I came to where a poor fellow 
 was grubbing, he looked like the very picture of hard times. I asked him 
 what he was doing away there in the woods by himself? He said he 
 was grubbing for a man who intended to settle there ; and the reason 
 why he did it was, that he had no meat for his family, and he was 
 working for a little. 
 
 I was mighty sorry for the poor fellow, for it was not only a hard, 
 but a very slow way to get meat for a hungry family ; so I told him 
 if he would go with me, I would give him more meat than he could 
 get by grubbing in a month. I intended to supply him with meat, 
 and also to get him to assist my little boy, in packing and salting up my 
 bears. He had never seen a bear killed in his life. I told him I had 
 six killed then, and my dogs were hard after another. He went off 
 to his Uttle cabin, which was a short distance in the brush, and his 
 wife was very anxious he should go with me. So we started and went 
 to where I had left my three bears, and made a camp. We then 
 gathered my meat and salted, and scaffled it, as I had done the other. 
 Night now came on, but no word from my dogs yet. I afterwards 
 found they had treed the bear about five miles off, near to a man's 
 house, and had barked at it the whole enduring night. Poor fellows ! 
 many a time .they looked for me, and wondered why I didn't come, 
 for they knowed there was no mistake in me, and I know'd they were 
 as good as ever fluttered. In the morning, as soon as it was light 
 enough to see, the man took his gun and went to them, and shot the 
 bear, and killed it. My dogs, however, wouldn't have any thing to 
 
OF DAVY OBOCKETT. 271 
 
 say to this stranger; so they left him, and came early in the morning 
 back to me. 
 
 We got our breakfast, and cut out again ; and we killed foiu: large 
 and very fat bears that day. We hunted out the week, and in that 
 time we killed seventeen, all of them first-rate. When we closed our 
 hunt, I gave the man over a thousand weight of fine fat bear-meat 
 which pleased him mightily, and made him feel as rich as a Jew. I 
 saw him the next fall, and he told me he had plenty of meat to do 
 him the whole year from this week's hunt. My son and me now 
 went home. This was the week between Christmas and New Year 
 that we made this hunt. 
 
 When I got home, one of my neighbors was out of meat, and 
 wanted me to go back, and let him go with me, to take another hunt. 
 I couldn't refuse ; but I told him I was afraid the bear had taken to 
 house by that time, for after they get very fat in. the fall and early 
 part of the winter, they go into their holes, in large hollow trees, or 
 into hollow logs, or their cane houses, or the harricanes ; and lie there 
 tUl spring, like fi-ozen snakes. And one thing about this will seem 
 mighty strange to many people. From about the first of January 
 to about the last of April, these varments lie in their holes altogether. 
 In all that time they have no food to eat ; and yet when they come 
 out, they are not an oiince lighter than when they went to house. 
 I don't know the cause of this, and still I know it is a fact; and I 
 leave it for others who have more learning than myself to account for 
 it. They have not a particle of food with them, but they just lie and 
 suck the bottom of their paw aU the time. I have killed many of 
 them in their trees, which enables me to speak positively on this 
 subject. However, my neighbour, whose name was McDaniel, and 
 my little son and me, went on down to the lake to my second camp 
 where I had killed my seventeen bears the week before, and turned 
 ■ out to hunting. But we hunted hard all day without getting a single 
 start. We had carried but little provisions with us, and the next 
 morning was entirely out of meat. I sent my son about three miles 
 off, to the house of an old friend, to get some. The old gentleman 
 was much pleased to hear I was hunting in those parts, for the 
 year before the bears had killed a great many of his hogs. He 
 was that day killing his bacon hogs, and so he gave my son some 
 meat, and sent word to me that I must come in to his house that 
 evening, that he would have plenty of feed for my dogs, and some 
 accommodation for ourselves ; but before my son got back, we had 
 gone out hunting, and in a large cane brake my dogs found a big 
 bear in a cane-house, which he had fixed for his winter-quarters, as 
 they sometimes do. 
 
 When my 'lead dog found him, and raised the yeU, all the rest broke 
 to him, but none of them entered his house until we got up. I 
 encouraged rny dogs, and they knowed me so well, that I could have 
 made them seize the old serpent himself, with all his horns and heads, 
 and cloven foot and ugliness into the bargain, if he would only have 
 come to light, so that they could have seen him. They bulged in, and 
 
272 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 in an instant the bear followed them out, and I told my friend to 
 shoot him, as he was mighty wrathy to kill a bear. He did so, and 
 killed him prime. We carried him to our cam^p, by which tinie my 
 son had returned ; and after we got our dinners we packed up, and 
 cut for the house of my old friend, whose name was Davidson. 
 
 We got there, and staid with him that night ; and the next morning, 
 having salted up our meat, we left it with him, and started to take a 
 hunt between the Obion lake and the Bed foot lake ; as there had 
 been a dreadful harricane, which passed between them, and I was 
 sure there must be a heap of bears in the fallen timber. We had 
 gone about five miles without seeing any sign at all ; but at length we 
 got on some high cany ridges, and, as we rode along, I saw a hole in 
 a large black oak, and on examining more closely, I discovered that a 
 bear had clomb the tree. I could see his tracks going up, but none 
 coming down, and so I was sure he was in there. A person who is 
 acquainted with bear-hunting, can tell easy enough when the varment 
 is in the hollow ; for as they go up they don't slip a bit, but as they 
 come down they make long scratches with their naUs. 
 
 My friend was a little ahead of me, but I called him back, and told 
 him there was a bear in that tree, and I must have him out. So we 
 lit from our horses, and I found a small tree which I thought I could 
 fall so as to lodge against my bear tree, and we fell to work chopping 
 it with our tomahawks. I intended, when we lodged the tree against 
 the other, to let my little son go up, and look into the hole, for he 
 could climb like a squirrel. We had chop'd on a little time and 
 stop'd to rest, when I heard my dogs, barking, mighty severe at some 
 distance from us, and I told my friend I knowed they had a bear ; for 
 it is the nature of a dog, when he finds you are hunting bears, to 
 hunt for nothing else ; he becomes fond of the meat, and considers 
 other game as " not worth, a notice," as old Johnson said of the 
 devil. 
 
 We concluded to leave our tree a bit, and went to my dogs, and 
 when we got there, sure enough they had an eternal great big fat 
 bear up a tree, just ready for shooting My friend again petitioned 
 me for liberty to shoot this one also. I had a little rather not, as the 
 bear was so big, but I couldn't refuse ; and so he blazed away, and 
 down came the old fellow like some great log had fell. I now missed 
 one of my dogs, the same that I before spoke of as having treed the 
 bear by himself sometime before, when I had started the three in the 
 cane break. I told my friend that my missing dog had a bear some- 
 where, just as sure as fate ; so I left them to butcher the one we had 
 just killed, and I went up on a piece of high ground to listen for my 
 dog. I heard him barking with all his might some distance off, and I 
 pushed ahead for him. My other dogs hearing him broke-to him, and 
 when I got there, sure enough again he had another bear ready treed ; 
 if he hadn't, I wish I may be shot. I fired on him, and brought him 
 down ; and then went back, and help'd finish butchering the one at 
 which I had left my friend. We then packed both to our tree where 
 we had left my boy. By this time, the little fellow had cut the tree 
 
OF DAVY OBOOKETT. 273 
 
 down that we intended to lodge, but it fell the wrongvway ; he had 
 then feather'd in on the big tree, to cut that, and had -found that it 
 was nothing but a shell on the outside, and all doted in the middle, as 
 too many of our big men are in these days, having only an outside 
 appearance. My friend and my son cut away on it, and I went off 
 about a hundred yards with my dogs to keep them from running 
 under the tree when it should fall. On looking back at the hole, I 
 saw the bear's head out of it, looking down at them as they were 
 cutting. I hollered to them to look up, and they did so ; and 
 McDaniel catched up his gun, but by this time the bear was out, and 
 coming down the tree. He fired at it, and as soon as it touoh'd the 
 ground the dogs were all round it, and they had a roll-and-tumble 
 fight to the* foot of the hUl, where they stop'd him. I ran up, and 
 putting my gun against the bear, fired and killed him. We now had 
 three, and so we made our scaffold and salted, them up. 
 
 19 
 
OHAPTEE XV. 
 
 IN the morning I left my son at the camp, and we started on towards 
 the harrioane ; and when we had went about a mile, we started a 
 very large bear, bnt we got along mighty slow on account of the 
 cracks in the earth occasioned by the earthquakes. We, however, 
 made out to keep in hearing of the dogs for about three mUes, and 
 then we come to the harricane. Here we had to quit our horses, as 
 old Nick himself couldn't have got through it without sneaking it 
 along in the form that he put on to make a fool of our old grand- 
 mother Eve. By this time several of my dogs had got tired and come 
 back ; but we went ahead on foot for some little time in the harricane, 
 when we met a -bear coming straight to us, and not more than _ twenty 
 or thirty yards off. I started my tired dogs after him, and MoDaniel 
 pursued them, and I went on to where my other dogs were. I had 
 seen the track of the bear they were after, and I knowed he was a 
 screamer. I followed on to about the middle of the harricane, but my 
 dogs pursued Viim so close, that they made him chmb an old stump 
 about twenty feet high. I got in shooting distance of him and fired, 
 but I was all over in such a flutter from fatigue and running, that I 
 couldn't hold steady ; but, however, I broke his shoulder, and he fell. 
 I run up and loaded my gun as quick as possible, and shot him again 
 and killed him. When I went to take out my knife to butcher him, I 
 found I had lost it in coming through the harricane. The vines and 
 briers was so thick that I would sometimes have to get down and 
 crawl like a varment to get through at all ; and a vine had, as I 
 supposed, caught in the handle and pulled it out. While I was 
 standing and studying what to do, my friend came to me. He had 
 followed my trail through the harricane, and had found my knife, 
 which was mighty good news to me ; as a hunter hates the worst in 
 the world to lose a good dog, or any part of his hunting- tools. I now 
 left MoDaniel to butcher the bear, and I went after our horses, and 
 brought them as near as the nature of the case would allow. I then 
 took our bags, and went back to where he was ; arid when we had 
 skin'd the bear, we fleeced oflf the fat and carried it to our horses at 
 several loads. We then packed it up on our horses, and had a heavy 
 pack of it on each one. We now started and went on till about 
 sunset, when I concluded we must be near our camp ; so I hollered 
 and my son answered me, and we moved on in the direction to. the 
 camp. We had gone but a little way when I heard my dogs make a 
 warm start aga;in ; and I jumped down from my horse and gave him 
 
LIF^ AlfD ADVENTUitJElS OF DAVY CBOCltET^l^. 2l6 
 
 up to my friend, and told him I would follow them. He went on to 
 the camp, and I went ahead after my dogs with all my might for a 
 considerable distance, till at last night came on. The woods were 
 very rough and hiUy, and all covered over with cane. 
 
 I now was compelled'to move on more slowly ; and was frequently 
 falling over logs, and into the cracks made by the earthquakes, so that 
 I was very much afraid I would break my gun. However I went on 
 about three miles, when I came to a good big creek, which I waded- 
 It was very cold, and the creek was about knee- deep ; but I felt no 
 great inconvenience from it just then, as I was all over wet with sweat 
 from running, and I felt hot enough. After I got over this creek and 
 out of the cane, which was very thick on all our creeks, .1 listened for 
 my dogs. I found they had either treed or brought the bear to a 
 stop, as they continued barking in the same place. I pushed on as 
 near in the direction of the noise as I could, tiU I found the hill was 
 too steep for me to climb, and so I backed and went down the creek 
 some distance till I came to a hollow, and then took up that, till 
 I came to a place where I could climb up the hill. It was mighty 
 dark and was difficult to see my way or any thing else. When I got 
 up the hUl, I found I had passed the dogs ; and so I turned and went 
 to them. I found, when I got there, they had treed the bear in a 
 large forked poplar, and it was setting in the fork. 
 
 I could see the lump, but not plain enough to shoot with any 
 certainty, as there was no moonlight ; and so I set in to huntirig for 
 some dry brush to make me a Ught ; but I could find none, though I 
 could find that-the ground was torn mightily to pieces by the cracks. 
 
 At last I thought I could shoot by guess, and kill him ; so I pointed 
 as near the lump as I could, and fired away. But the bear didn't 
 come, he only clomb up higher, and got out on a limb, which helped 
 me to see bim better. I now loaded up again, and fired, but this time 
 he didn't move at all. I commenced loading for a third fire, but the 
 first thing I know'd, the bear was down among my dogs, and they 
 were fighting all around me. I had my big butcher in my belt, and I 
 had a pair of "dressed buckskin breeches on. So I took out my knife, 
 and stood, determined, if he should get hold of me, to defend myself 
 in the best way I could. I stood there for some time, and could now 
 and then see a white dog I had, but the rest of them, and the bear, 
 which were dark coloured, I couldn't gee at all, it was so miserable 
 dark. They still fought around me, and sometimes within three feet 
 of me ; but, at last, the bear got down into one of the cracks, that the 
 earthquakes had made in the ground, about four feet deep, and I could 
 tell the biting end of him by the hollering of my dogs. So I took my 
 gun and pushed the muzzle of it about, tiU I thought I had it against 
 the main part of his body and fired ; but it happened to be only the 
 fleshy part of his foreleg. With this he jumped out of the crack', and 
 he and the dogs had another hard fight around me, as before. At 
 last, however, they forced him back into the crack again, as he was 
 when I had shot. 
 
 I had laid down my gun in the dark, and I now began to. hunt for 
 
276 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 it ; and, while hunting, I got hold of a pole, and I concluded I would 
 punch him awhile with that, I did so, and when I would punch him, 
 the dogs would jump in on him, when he would bite them badly, and 
 they would jump out again. I concluded, as he would take punching 
 so patiently, it might be that he would lie still enough for me to get 
 down in the crack, and feel slowly along till I could find the right 
 place to give him a dig with my butcher, So I got down, and my 
 dogs got in before him and kept his head towards them, till I got 
 along easily up to him ; and placing my hand on his rump, felt for his 
 shoulder, just behind which I intended to stick him. I made a lunge 
 with my long knife, and fortunately stuck him right through the 
 heart ; at which he just sank down, and I crawled out in a hurry. 
 In a little time my dogs all come out too, and seemed satisfied, which 
 was the way they always had of telling me that they had finished him. 
 
 I suffered very much that night with cold, as my leather breeches, 
 and every thing else I had on, was wet and frozen, But I managed 
 to get my bear out of this crack after several hard trials, and so 
 I butchered him and laid down to try to sleep. — But my fire was very 
 bad, and I couldn't find any thing that would burn well to make it 
 any better; and so I concluded I should freeze, if I didn't warm 
 myself in some way by exercise. So I got up, and hollered a while, 
 and then I would just jump up and down with all my might, and 
 throw myself into all Sorts of motions. But all this wouldn't do ; 
 for my blood was now getting cold, and the chills coming all over me. 
 I was so tired, too, that I could hardly walk ; but I thought I would 
 do the best I could to save my life, and then, if I died, nobody would 
 be to blame. So I went to a tree about two feet through, and not a 
 limb on it for thirty feet, and I would climb up to the limbs, and then 
 lock my arms together around it, and slide down to the bottom again. 
 This would make the insides of my legs and arms feel mighty warm 
 and good. I continued this till daylight in the morning, and how 
 often I clomb up my tree and slid down I don't know, but I reckon at 
 least a hundred times. 
 
 In the morning I got my bear hung up so as to be safe, and then 
 set out to hunt for my camp. I found it after a while, and McDaniel 
 and my son were very much rejoiced to see me get back, for they were 
 about to give me up for lost. We got our breakfasts, and then secured 
 our meat by building a high scaffold, and covering it over. We had 
 no fear of its spoiling, for the weather was so cold that it couldn't. 
 
 We now started after my other bear, which had caused me so much 
 trouble and suffering ; and befor.e we. got him, we got a start after 
 another, and took him also. We went on to the creek I had crossed 
 the night before and camped, and then went to where my bear was 
 that I had killed in the crack. When we examined the place, 
 McDaniel said he wouldn't have gone into it, as I did, for all the bears 
 in the woods. 
 
 We took the meat down to our camp and salted it, and also the last 
 one we had killed ; intending in the morning, to make a hunt in the 
 harricane again. 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 277 
 
 We prepared for resting that night, and I can assure the reader I 
 was in need of it. We had laid down by our fire,' and about ten 
 o'clock there came a most terrible earthquake, which shook the earth 
 so, that we were rocked aboiit like we had been in a cradle. We were 
 very much alarmed ; for though we were accustomed to feel earth- 
 quakes, we were now right in the region which had been torn to 
 pieces by them in 1812, and we thought it might take a notion and 
 swallow us up, like the big fish did Jonah. 
 
 In the morning we packed up and moved to the harrieane, where 
 we made another camp, and turned out that evening and killed a very 
 large bear, which made eight we had now killed in this hunt. 
 
 The next morning we entered the harrieane again, and in a little or 
 no time my dogs were in full cry. We pursued them, and soon came 
 to a thick cane-brake, in which they had stop'd their bear, We got 
 up close to him, as the cane was so thick that we couldn't see more 
 than a few feet. Here I made my friend hold the cane a little open 
 with his gim till I shot the bear, which was a mighty large one. I 
 killed him dead in his tracks. We got him out and butchered him, 
 and in a little time'started another and killed him, which now made 
 ten we had killed ; and we know'd we couldn't pack any more home, 
 as we had only five horses along ; therefore we returned to the camp 
 and salted up aU our meat, to be ready for a start homeward next 
 morning. 
 
 The morning came, and we packed our horses with the meat, and 
 had as much as they could possibly carry, and sure enough cut out for 
 home. It was about thirty miles, and we reached home the second 
 day. I had now accommodated my neighbour with meat enough to 
 do him, and had killed in all, up to that time, fifty-eight bears, during 
 the fall and winter. 
 
 As soon as the time come for them to quit their houses and come 
 
 out again in the spring, I took a notion to hunt a little more, and in 
 
 about one month I killed forty-seven more, which made one hundred 
 
 and five bears which I had killed in less than one year from that 
 
 • time. 
 
CHAPTER XVL 
 
 HAVING now closed my hunting for that winter, I returned to my 
 hands, who were engaged about my boats and staves, and made 
 ready for a trip down the river. I had two boats and about thirty 
 thousand staves, and so I loaded with them, and set out for New 
 Orleans. I got out of the Obion river, in which I had loaded my 
 boats, very well ; but when I got into the Mississippi, I found all my 
 hands were bad scared, and in fact I believe I was scared a little the 
 worst of any ; for I had never been down the river, and I soon 
 discovered that my pilot was as ignorant of the business as myself. 
 I hadn't gone far before I determined to lash the two boats together ; 
 we did so, but it made them, so heavy and obstinate, that it was next 
 akin to impossible to do any thing at all with them, or to guide them 
 right in the river. 
 
 That evening we fell in company with some Ohio boats ; and about 
 night we tried to land, but we could not. The Ohio men hollered to 
 us to go on and run all night. We took their advice, though 'we had 
 a good deal rather not ; but we couldn't do any other way. In a short 
 distance we got into what is called the " Devil's Mlhoiv ; " and if any 
 place in the wide creation has its own proper name, I thought it was 
 this. Here we had about the hardest work that I ever was engaged 
 in, in my life, to keep out of danger ; and even then we were in it all 
 the while. We twice attempted to land at Wood-yards, which we 
 could see, but couldn't reach. 
 
 The people would run out with lights, and try to instruct us how to 
 get to shore ; but aU in vain. Our boats were so heavy that we 
 couldn't take them much any way, except the way they wanted to go, 
 and just the way the current would carry them. At last we quit 
 'fying to land, and concluded just to go ahead as well as we could, 
 we found we couldn't do any better. Some time in the night I 
 was down in the cabin of one of the boats, sitting by the fire, thinking 
 on what a hobble we had got into ; and how much better bear-hunting 
 was on hard land, than floating along on the water, when a fellow had 
 to go ahead whether he was exactly willing or not. 
 
 The hatchway into the cabin came slap down, right through the top 
 of the boat ; and it was the only way out except a small hole in the 
 side, which we had used for putting our arms through to dip up water 
 before we lashed the boats together. 
 
 We were now floating sideways, and the boat I was in was the 
 hindmost as we went. All at once I heard the hands begin to *un 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 279 
 
 over the top of the boat in great confusion, and pull with all their 
 might ; and the first thing I know'd after this we went broadside full 
 tut against the head of an island where a large raft of drift timber 
 had lodged. The nature of such a place would be, as every body- 
 knows, to suck the boats down, and turn them right under this raft ; 
 and the uppermost boat would, of course, be suck'd down and go 
 under first. As soon as we struck, I bulged for my hatchway, as the 
 boat was turning under sure enough. But when I got to it, the water 
 was pouring thro' in a current as large as the hole would let it, and 
 as strong as the weight of the river could force it. I found I couldn't 
 get out here, for the boat was now turned down in such a way, that it 
 was steeper than a house-top. I now thought of the hole in the side, 
 and made my way in a hurry for that. With difficulty I got to it, 
 and when I got there, I found it was too small for me to get out by 
 my own power, and I began to think that I was in a worse box than 
 ever. But I put my arms through and hollered as loud as I could 
 roar, as the boat I was in hadn't yet quite filled with water up to my 
 head, and the hands who were next to the raft, seeing my arms out, 
 and hearing me holler, seized them, and began to pull. I told them I 
 was sinking, and to pull my arms off, or force me through, for now I 
 know'd well enough it was neck or nothing, come out or sink. 
 
 By a violent effort they jerked me through ; but I was in a pretty 
 pickle, when I got through. I had been sitting without any clothing 
 over my shirt ; this was torn off, and I was literally skin'd like a 
 rabbit. I was,j however, weU pleased to get out in any way, even 
 without shirt or hide ; as before I could straighten myself on the boat 
 next to the raft, the one they pulled me out'of went entirely under, 
 and I have never seen it any more to this day. We all escaped on to 
 the raft, where we were compelled to sit all night, about a mile from 
 land on either side. Four of my company were bareheaded, and 
 three barefooted ; and of that rtumber I was one. I reckon I looked 
 like a pretty craoklin ever to get to Congress ! ! ! ' 
 
 We had now lost all our loading ; and every particle of our clothing, 
 except what little we had on ; but over all this, while I was setting 
 there, in the night, floating about on the drift, I felt happier and 
 better off than I hid ever in my hfe before, for I had just made 
 such a marvellous escape, that I had forgot almost every thing else in 
 that ; and so I felt prime. 
 
 In the morning about sunrise, we saw a boat coming down, and 
 we hailed her. They sent a large skiff, and took us all on board, and 
 carried us down as far as Memphis. Here I met with a friend, that 
 I never can forget as long as I am able to go ahead at any thing ; it 
 was a Major Winchester, a merchant of that place : he let us all 
 have hats, and shoes, and some little money to go upon, and so we 
 all parted. 
 
 A young man and myself concluded to go on down to Natchez, 
 to see if we could hear any thing of our boats ; for we supposed 
 they would float out from the raft, and keep on down the river. 
 We got on a boat at Memphis, that was going down, a,nd ^o ci;^ 
 
280 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 
 
 out. Our largest boat, we were informed, had been seen about fifty 
 miles below where we stove,- and an attempt had been made to land 
 her, but without suceess, as she was as hard-headed as ever. 
 
 This was the last of my boats, and of my boating ; for it went so 
 badly with me, along at the first, that I had not much mind to try it 
 any more. I now returned home again, and as the next August was 
 the Congressional election, I began to turn my attention a little to 
 that tnatter, as it was beginning to be talked of a good deal among 
 the people. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 I HAVE, heretofore, informed the reader that I had determined 
 to run this race to see what effect the price of cotton could 
 have again on it. I now had Colonel Alexander to run against once 
 more, and also General William Arnold. 
 
 I had difficulties enough to fight against this time, as every one will 
 suppose ; for I had no money, and a very bad prospect, so far as I 
 know'd, of getting any to help me along. I had, however, a good 
 friend, who sent for me to come and see him. I went, and he was 
 good enough to offer me some moaey to help me out. I borrowed 
 as much as I thought I needed at the start, and went ahead. My 
 friend also had a good' deal of business about over the district at the 
 different courts ; and if he now and then slip'd in a good word for 
 me, it is nobody's business. We frequently met at different places, 
 and, as he thought I needed, he would occasionally hand me a little 
 more cash; so I was able to buy a little of "the creature," to put 
 my friends in a good humour, aa well as the other gentlemen, for 
 they all treat in that country ; not to get elected, of course — for that 
 would be against the law ; but just, as I before said, to make them- 
 selves and their friends feel their keeping a little. 
 
 Nobody ever did know how I got money to get along on, till after 
 the election was over, and I had beat my competitors twenty-seven 
 hundred and forty-eight votes. Even the price of cotton couldn't save 
 my friend Aleck this time. My rich friend, who had been so good to 
 me in the way of money, now sent for me, and loaned me a hundred 
 dollars, and told me to go ahead ; that that amount would bear my 
 expenses to Congress, and I must then shift for myself. I came on 
 to Washington, and draw'd two hundred and fifty dollars, and pur- 
 chased with it a cheque on the bank at Nashville, and enclosed it to 
 my friend ; and I may say, in truth, I sent this money with a mighty 
 good will, for I reckon nobody in this world loves a friend better 
 than me, or remembers a kindness longer. 
 
 I have now given the close of the election, but I have skip'd entirely 
 over the canvass, of which I will say a very few things in this place ; as 
 I know very well how to tell the truth, but not much about placing 
 them in book order, so as to please critics. 
 
 Col. Alexander was a very clever fellow, and principal surveyor at 
 that time ; so much for one of the men I had to mn against. My 
 other competitor was a major-general in the militia, and an attorney- 
 general at the law, and quite a smart clever man also ; and so it will 
 
282 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 be seen I had war work as well as law trick, to stand up under. 
 Taking both together, they made a pre'tty considerable of a load for 
 any one man to carry. But for war claims, I consider myself behind 
 no man except " the government," and mighty little, if any, behind 
 him ; but this the people will have to determine hereafter, as I reckon 
 it won't do to quit the work of " reform and retrenchment '.' yet for 
 a spell. 
 
 But my two competitors seemed some little afraid of the influence 
 of each other, but not to think me in their way at all. They, there- 
 fore, were generally working against each other, while I was going 
 ahead for myself, and mixing ardong the people in the best way I 
 could. I was as cunning as a little red fox, and wouldn't risk my 
 tail in a " committal" trap. 
 
 I found the sign was good, almost every where 1 went. On one 
 occasion,' while we were in the eastern counties of the district, it hap- 
 pened that we all had to make a speech, and it fell on me to make 
 the first one. I did so . after my manner-, and it turned pretty 
 much on the old saying, " A short horse is soon curried," as I spoke 
 not very long. Colonel Alexander followed me, and then General 
 Arnold come on. 
 
 The general took much pains to reply to Alexander, but didn't so 
 much as let on that there was any such candidate_ as myself at all. 
 He had been speaking for a considerable time, when a large flock of 
 guinea-fowls came very near to where he was, and sat up the most 
 unmerciful chattering that ever was heard, for they are a noisy Httle 
 brute any way. They so confused the general, that he made a 
 stop, and requested that they might be driven away. I let him finish 
 his speech, and then walking up to him, said aloud, "Well, Colonel, 
 you are the first man I ever saw that understood the language of 
 fowls." I told him that he had not had the politeness to name me in 
 his speech, and that when my little friends, the guinea-fowls, had come 
 up andbegan to holler " Crockett, Crockett, Crockett," he -had been un- 
 generous enough to stop, and drive them all away. This raised a 
 universal shout among the people for me, and the general seemed 
 mighty bad' plagued. But he got more plagued than this at the polls 
 in August, as I have stated before. 
 
 This election was in 1827, and I can say, on my conscience, that I 
 was, without disguise, the friend and supporter of General Jackson, 
 upon his principles as he had laid them down, and as " I understood 
 them," before his election as President. — During my two first 
 sessions in Congress, Mr. Adams was president, and I worked along 
 with what was called the Jackson party pretty well. I was re-elected 
 to Congress in 1829, by an overwhelming majority ; and soon after 
 the commencement of this second term, I saw, or thought I did, that 
 it was expected of me that I, was to bow to' the name of Andrew 
 Jackson, and follow him in all his motions, and windings and 
 turnings, even at the expense of my conscience and judgment. Such 
 a thing was new to me, and a total stranger to my principles. 1 
 know'd well enough, though, that if I didn't ''hurra" for his name, 
 
OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 283 
 
 tlie hue and cry was to be raised against me, and I was to be sacri- 
 ficed if possible. His famous, or rather I should say his in-famious, 
 Indian bill was brought forward, and I opposed it from the purest 
 motives in the world. Several of my colleagues got round me, and 
 told me how well they loved me, and that I was ruining myself. 
 They said this was a favourite measure of the president, and I ought 
 to go for it. I told them I believed it was a wicked unjust measure, 
 and that I should go against it, let the cost to myself be what it 
 might ; that I was willing to go with General Jackson in every 
 thing that I believed was honest and right ; but, further than this, 
 I wouldn't go for him, or any other man in the whole creation ; that 
 I would sooner be honestly and politically d — nd, than hypocritically 
 immortalized. I had been elected by a majority of three thousand five 
 hundred and eighty-five votes, and I believed they were honest men 
 and wouldn't want me to vote for any unjust notion, to please 
 Jackson or any one else ; at any rate, I was of age, and deter- 
 mined to trust them. — I voted against this_ Indian bill, and my 
 conscience yet teUs me that I gave a good honest vote, and one that 
 I believe will not make me ashamed in the day of judgment. I 
 served out my term, and though many amusing things happened, I 
 am not disposed to swell my narrative by inserting them. 
 
 When it closed, and I returned home, I found the storm had raised 
 against me sure enough ; and it was echoed from side to side, and from 
 end to end of my district, that I had turned against Jackson. This 
 was considered the unpardonable sin. I was hunted down like a wild 
 varment, and in this hunt every little newspaper in the district, and 
 every little pin-hook lawyer was engaged. Indeed, they were ready 
 to print any and everything that the ingenuity .of man could invent 
 against me. Each editor was furnished with the journals of Congress 
 from head-quarters ; and hunted out every vote I had missed in four 
 sessions, whether from sickness or not, no matter : and each one was 
 charged against me at eight dollars. In all I had missed about seventy 
 votes, whicb they made amount to five hundred and sixty dollars ; and 
 they contended I had swindled the government out of this sum, as 
 I received my pay, as other members do. I was now again a can- 
 didate in 1830, while all the attempts were making against me ; and 
 every one of these little papers kept up a constant war on me, 
 fighting with every scurrilous report they could catch. 
 
 Over all. I should have been elected, if it hadn't been, that but a few 
 weeks before the election, the little four-pence-ha'penny limbs of. the 
 law fell on a plan to .defeat me, which had the desired effect. They 
 agreed to spread out over the district, and make appointments for me 
 to speak, almost every where, to clear up the Jackson question. They 
 would give me no notice of these appointments, and the people would 
 meet in great crowds to hear what excuse Crockett had to make for 
 quitting Jackson. 
 
 But instead of Crockett's being there, this small-fry of lawyers 
 would be there with their saddle-bags full of the little newspapers and 
 their journals of Congress ; and would get up and speak, and read 
 
284 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 
 
 their scurrilous attacks on me, and would tlien tell the people that I 
 was afraid to attend ; and in this way would turn many against me. . 
 All this intrigue was kept a profound secret from me, till it was too 
 late to counteract it ; and when the election came, I had a majority in 
 seventeen counties, putting all their votes together, hut the eighteenth 
 heat me ; and so I was left out of Congress during those two years. 
 The people of my district were induced, by these tricks, to take a 
 stay on me for that time ; but they have since found out that they 
 were imposed on, and on re -considering my case, have reversed thajt 
 decision; which, as the Dutchman said, "is as fair a ding as eber 
 was." 
 
 When I last declared myself a candidate, I knew that the district 
 would he divided by the Legislature before the election would come 
 on ; and I moreover knew, that from the geographical situation of 
 the country, the county of Madison, which was very strong, and which 
 was the county, that had given the majority that had heat me in the 
 former race, should be left off from my district. 
 
 But when the Legislature met, as I have been informed, and I have 
 no doubt of the fact, Mr. Fitzgerald, my competitor, went up, and 
 informed his friends in that body, that if Madison county was left off, 
 he wouldn't run ; for " that Crockett could beat Jackson himseK in 
 those parts, in any way they could fix it." 
 
 The liberal Legislature you know, of course, gave him that county; 
 and it is too clear to admit of dispute, that it was done to make a 
 mash of me. In order to make my district in this way, they had to ■ 
 form the southern district of a string of counties around three sides 
 of mine, or very nearly so. Had my old district been properly divided, 
 it would have made two nice ones, in convenient nice form. , But as 
 it is, they are certainly the most unreasonably laid off of any in the 
 State, or perhaps in the nation, or even in the te-total creation. 
 
 However, when the election came on, the people of the district, and 
 of Madison county among the rest, seemed disposed to prove to Mr. 
 Fitzgerald and the Jackson Legislature, that they were not to be 
 transferred like hogs, and horses, and cattle in the market ; and they 
 determined that I shouldn't be broke down, though I had to carry 
 Jackson, and the enemies of the bank, and the legislative works all at 
 once. I had Mr. Fitzgerald, it is true, for my open competitor, but he 
 was helped along by aU his little lawyers again, headed by old Black 
 Hawk, as he is sometimes called, (alias) Adam Huntsman, with all 
 his talents for writing " Chronicles," and such like foolish stuff. 
 
 But one good thing was, and I must record it, the papers in the 
 district were now beginning to say " fair play a little," and they 
 would publish on both sides the question. The contest was a warm 
 one, and the battle well-fought ; but I gained the day, and the Jackson 
 horse was left a little behind. When the polls were compared, it 
 turned out I had beat Fitz just two hundred and two votes, having 
 made a mash of all their intrigues. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TAUEING the session of this Congress, I thought I Would take a 
 ^ travel through the Northern States. I had braved the lonely- 
 forests of the West ; I had shouldered the warrior's rifle in the far 
 South ; but the North and East I had never seen. I seemed to like 
 members of Congress who came from these parts, and wished to know 
 what kind of constituents they had. These considerations, in addition 
 to my physician's advice to travel a little for my health, induced me 
 to leave Washington on the 25th day of April, 1834, and steer for. the 
 North. 
 
 I arrived the same evening at Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore. Uncle 
 Davy, as he is often called, was right glad to see me, perhaps 
 because we were namesakes ; or may be he always likes to see folks 
 patronize his house. He has a pleasant face, any how, and his acts 
 don't belie it. No one need look for better quarters : if they do, it 
 will be because they don't know when they are satisfied. 
 
 Shortly after I arrived I was called upon, and asked to eat supper 
 with a number of gentlemen. I went, and passed the evening 
 pleasantly with my friend Wilkes and others. 
 , Early next morning I started for Philadelphia, a place where I had 
 never been. I sort of felt lonesome as I went down to the steamboat. 
 The idea of going among a new people, where there are tens of thou- 
 sands who would pass me by, without knowing or caring who I was, 
 who are all taken up with their own pleasures, or their own business, 
 made me feel small : and indeed if any one who reads this book has 
 a grand idea of his own importance, let him go to a big city, and he 
 will find he is not higher valued than a coon skin. 
 
 The steamboat was the Carroll-of-Carrollton, a fine craft, with the 
 rum old commodore Chaytor for head man. A good fellow he is — all 
 sorts of a man — bowing and scraping to the ladies ; nodding to the 
 gentlemen ; cursing the crew ; and his right eye broad cast upon the 
 " opposition line," all at the same time, " Let go I " said the old one, 
 and off we walked in prime style. 
 
 We immediately came past Fort McHenry, justly celebrated for its 
 gallant defence under Armistead, Stewart, Nicholson, Newcomb, and 
 others, during the last war ; and shortly after we passed North Point, 
 where the British landed to make, what they nevCT dared, an attack 
 on Baltimore. 
 Our passage down the Chesapeake bay was very pleasant ; and in a 
 
286 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 very stiort run we came to the place where we were to get on board 
 of the railroad oars. 
 
 This was a clean new sight to me ; about a dozen big stages hung 
 on to one machine, and to start up hill. After a good deal of fuss we 
 all got seated, and moved -slowly off ; the engine wheezing as if she 
 had the tizziok. By and by she began to take short breaths, and away 
 we went with a blue streak after us. The whole distance is seventeen 
 miles, and it was run in fifty-five minutes. 
 
 WliUe I was whizzing along, I burst out laughing. One of the 
 passengers asked me what it was at. " Why," says I, "it's no wonder 
 the fellow's horses run off." A Carolina waggoner had just crossed 
 the railroad, from Charleston to Augusta, when the engine hove in 
 sight with the cars attached. It was growing dark, and the sparks 
 were flying in all directions. His horses ran off, broke his waggon, 
 and smashed his combustibles into items. He run to a house for help, 
 and when they asked him what scared his horses, he said he did not 
 jist know, but it must be hell in harness. 
 
 At Delaware City I again embarked on board of a splendid steam- 
 boat, which ran to Philadelphia. 
 
 When dinner was ready, I sat down with the rest of the passengers ; 
 among them was the Beverend O. B. Brown of the Post Office Depart- 
 ment, who sat near me. During dinner the parson called for a bottle 
 of wine, and called on me for a toast. Not knowing whether he 
 intended to compliment me, or abash me among so many strangers, 
 or have some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead, and give 
 him and his likes a blizzard. So our glasses being filled, the word 
 went round, " a toast from Colonel Crockett." I gave it as follows : 
 " Here's wishing the bones of tyrant kings may answer in hell, in 
 place of gridirons, to roast the souls of Tories on." At this the parson 
 appeared as if he was stump't. I said, " Never heed ; it was meant 
 for where it belonged." He did not repeat his invitation, and I eat 
 my dinner quietly. , 
 
 After dinner I went up on the deck, and saw the captain hoisting 
 three flags. Says I, " What does that mean ? " He repUed, that, he 
 was under promise to the citizens of Philadelphia, if I was on board, 
 to hoist his flags, as a friend of mine had said he expected I would be 
 along soon. 
 
 We went on till we came in sight of the city ; and as we advanced 
 towards the wharf, I saw the whole face of the earth covered with 
 people, all anxiously looking on towards the boat. The captain and 
 myself were standing on the bow-deck ; he pointed his finger at me, 
 and people slimg their hats, and huzzaed for Colonel Crockett. It 
 struck me with astonishment to hear a strange people huzzaing for 
 me, and made me feel sort of queer. It took me so uncommon un- 
 expected, as I had no idea of attracting attention. But I had to 
 meet it, and so I stepped on to the wharf, where the folks came 
 crowding round, saying, " Give me the hand of an honest man." I 
 did not know what all this meant ; but some gentlemen took hold of 
 me, and pressing through the crowd, put me up into an elegant 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 287 
 
 barouche, drawn by four fine horses ; they then told me to bow to 
 the people : I did so, and with much difficulty we moved off. The 
 streets were crowded to a great distance, and the windows full of 
 people, looking out, I supposed, to see the wild man. I thought I 
 had rather be in the wilderness with my gun and dogs, than to be 
 attracting all that fuss. I had never seen the like before, and did not 
 know exactly what to say or do. After some time we reached the 
 United States Hotel in Chesnut Street. 
 
 The crowd had followed me, filling, up the street, and pressing into 
 the house to shake hands. I was conducted upstairs, and walked out 
 on a platform, drew off my hat, and bowed round to the people. 
 They cried out from all quarters, "A speech, a speech. Colonel Crockett." 
 
 After the noise had quit, so I could be heard, I said to them the 
 following words : 
 
 " Gentlemen of Philadelphia,— 
 
 " My visit to yom- city is rather accidental. I bad no expectation 
 of attracting any uncommon attention. I am travelling for my healthi 
 without the least wish of exciting the people in such times of high 
 political feeling. I do not wish to encourage it. I am unable at this 
 time to find language suitable to return my gratitude to the citizens 
 of Philadelphia. However, I am almost induced to believe in flattery 
 — perhaps a burlesque. This is new to me, yet I see nothing but friend- 
 ship in your faces ; and if your curiosity is to hear the backwoodsman, 
 I win assure you I am illy prepared to address this most enlightened 
 people. However, gentlemen, if this is a curiosity to you, if you will 
 meet me to-morrow, at one o'clock, I will endeavour to address you 
 in my plain manner." So I made my obeisance to them, and retired 
 into the house. 
 
 After night, when I could walk out unknown, I went up street or 
 down, I don't know which, but took good care not to turn any corners, 
 for fear I might get lost. I soon found that the streets were laid off 
 square. This I thought was queer enough for a Quaker city, for they 
 don't generally come up square to nothing ; even their coats have a 
 kind of slope, at least so they have cut Mister Penn's coat in the Capitol. 
 This may be wrong, too, for I was told that when the man who made 
 him first knocked off " the kivers " of the house where, he worked at 
 him, he had cut out Mister Penn with a regular built continental cocked 
 hat on ; and it was so much laughed at to see such a hat on a Quaker, 
 that as soon as Congress rose, he out off his head, and worked on a 
 new one, with a rale sloped broad brim. Which is the honest George 
 Fox hat I leave for Philadelphia lawyers and persons to decide. 
 
 When I went to my room, and got to bed, I could not sleep, thinking 
 over all that passed, and my promise also to speak next day ; but 
 at last I composed myself with the reflection that I had got through 
 many a scrape before, so I thought I'd trust again to good luck.' 
 
 Next morning -I had the honour of being called on by some old 
 friends whom I knew at Washington — Judge Baldwin, Judge Hemp- 
 hill, John Sargeant, and others, and I took it right kind in them to 
 do so. 
 
288 . LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 Early after breakfast I was taken to the Water-works, -where I saw 
 several of the gentlemen managers. — This is a grand sight, and no 
 wonder the Philadelphians ask every one that comes, " have you seen 
 the Water-works ? " Just think of a few wheels throwing up more 
 than five hundred thousand people can use : yes, and waste, too ; for 
 such scrubbing of steps, and even the very pavements under your feet, 
 I never saw. Indeed, I looked close to see if ^the housemaids had not 
 web-feet, they walked so well in water ; and as for a fire, it has "no 
 chance at all ; they just screw on a long hollow leather with a brass 
 nose on it, dash up stairs, and seem to draw on Noah's flood. 
 
 The next place I visited was the Mint. Here I saw them coining 
 gold and silver in abundance, and they were the ral-e " e pluribus 
 unum ; " not this electioneering trash, that they sent out to cheat the 
 poor people, telhng them they would all be paid in gold and sUver, 
 when the poor deceived creatures had nothing coming to them. A 
 chip with a spit on the back of it is as good currency as an eagle, 
 provided you can't get the image of the bird. It's all nonsense. The 
 President, both cabinets and Congress to boot, can't enact poor men 
 into rich. Hard knocks, and plenty of them, can only build up a 
 fellow's self. 
 
 I asked if the workmen never stole any of the coin. They said not ; 
 they got used to it. Well, I thought, that was what my parson would 
 call heterdox doctrine ; that the longer a man was in temptation the 
 more he would not sin. But I let it pass, for I had heard that they 
 had got " new lights " in this city, and, of comse, new and genuine 
 doctrines — so that the Bible-doxy stood no chance. I could not help, 
 barring the doctrine, giving these honest men great credit ; especially 
 when I recollected an old sanctimoniouslyfied fellow, who made his 
 negroes whistle while' they were picking cherries, for fear they should 
 eat some. 
 
 From the Mint I was taken to the Asylum for insane persons, went 
 through different apartments, saw men and women, some quite dis- 
 tracted, others not so bad. This was a very unpleasant sight. ■ I am 
 not able, nor do I wish I was able, to describe it. I felt monstrous 
 solemn, and could not help thanking God I was not one of them ; and 
 I felt grateful in their stead, to that city for caring for those who could 
 not take care of themselves, and feeding them that heeded not the 
 hand and heart that provided for them. 
 
 On returning to the hotel the hour had nearly arrived when I was 
 to visit the Exchange. I asked Colonel Dorranoe, the landlord, to go 
 with me. He is a very clever man, and. made me feel quite at home 
 in his house. Whoever goes there once will go back again. So he 
 agreed, and off we started. 
 
 I had made set speeches in- Congress, and especially on my Tennes- 
 see land bill, when all my colleagues were against me ; I had made 
 stump speeches at home, in the face of all the little office yelpers who 
 were opposed to me ; but, indeed, when I got within sight of the 
 Exchange, and saw the streets crowded, I most wished to take back 
 my promise ; but I was brought up by hearing a youngster say, as I 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 passed by, " Go ahead, Davy Crockett !" I said to myself, "I have 
 faced the enemy ; these are friends. I have fronted the savage red 
 man of the forest; these are civiHzed. I'll keep cool, ana I'om 
 have it." 
 
 I was conducted to the house of a Mr. Neil, where I met several 
 gentlemen, and took some refreshment, not passing by a little Dutch 
 courage. Of the latter there was plenty ; and I observed the man of 
 the house, when he asked me to drink, he didn't stand by to see what 
 I took, but turned away, and told me to help myself. That's what I 
 call genteel. 
 
 Arrived at the Exchange, I crowded through, went up to the second 
 floor, and walked out on the porch, drew off my hat, and made my 
 bow ; speaking was out of the question, the huzzas for Crockett were 
 so loud and so long. 
 
 The time had come when my promise must be kept. There must 
 have been more than five, thousand people, and they were still gather- 
 ing from all parts. I spoke for about half an hour. 
 
 Three times three cheers closed the concern, and I came down to 
 the door, where it appeared as if all the world had a desire to shake 
 bands with me. I stood on the doorstep, and, as Major Jack Downing 
 said, shook hands as hard as I could spring for near an hour. After 
 this I returned to the hotel, and remained until night, when I was 
 asked to visit the theatre in Walnut street. The landlord, Dorrance, 
 and others were to go with me, to see Jim Crow. While we were 
 talking about it, one of them said he could go all over the world " Tu 
 crow juicy." Some laughed very hearty, and others did not. — I was 
 among the latter, for I considered it a dry joke, although there was 
 something juicy in it. Some of them said it was Latin ; and that 
 proved to me the reason why I did not laugh — I was tired of the " old 
 Eoman." But these Philadelphians are eternally cutting up jokes on 
 words ; so I puts a conundrum to them ; and says I, " Can you tell 
 me why the sacking of Jerusalem was like a cider-mill ? " Well, they 
 all were stumpt, and gave it up. " Because it made the Jews fly." 
 Seeing them so much pleased with this, says I, " Why is a. cow like a 
 razor-grinder ? " No one could answer. " Well," says'I, " I thought 
 you could find that out, for I don't know myself." 
 
 We started for the theatre, and found a very full house, and Jim a 
 playing for the dear life. Jim makes as good a nigger as if he was 
 clean black, except the bandy-legs. 
 
 Everybody seemed pleased, particularly when I laughed; they 
 appeared to act as if I knew exactly when to laugh, and then they all 
 followed. 
 
 What a pity it is that these theatres are not contrived that every- 
 body could go ; but the fact is, backwoodsman as I am, I have heard 
 some things in them that was a leetle too tough for good women and 
 modest men ; and that's a great pity, because there are thousands of 
 scenes of real life that naight be exhibited, both for amusement and 
 edification, without. offending. Folks pretend to say that high people 
 don't mind these things. Well, it may be that they are better ao- 
 
 20 
 
290 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 quainted with vice than we plain folks ; but I am yet to live and 
 see a woman polished out of tl;e natural feelings', or too high not to do 
 things that a'n't quite reputable in those of low degree. 
 
 Their fiddling was pretty good, considering every fellow played his 
 own piece ; and I would have known more about it if they had played 
 a tune, but it was all twee-wee-tadlum-tadlum-tum-tum, tadle-leedle- 
 tadle-leedle-lee. The " Twenty-second of February," or the " Cuckoo's 
 Nest," would have been a treat. 
 
 I do not think, however, from all I saw, that the people enjoyed 
 themselves better than we do at a country froKc, where we dance till 
 daylight, and pay off the score by giving one in our turn. It would 
 do you good to see our boys and girls dancing. None of your strad- 
 hng, mincing, sadying ; but a regular sifter, cut-the-buckle, chicken- 
 flutter set-to. It is good wholesome exercise ; and when one of our 
 boys put his arm round his partner, it is a good hug, and no harm 
 in it. 
 
 Next morning I was waited on by some gentlemen, who presented 
 me with a seal for my watch-chain, which cost forty dollars. I told 
 them I always accepted a present as a testimony of friendship. The 
 engraving on the stone represents the great match race, two horses in 
 fall speed, and over them the words, "Go ahead." It is the finest 
 seal lever saw; and when I returned to Washington, the members 
 almost used it up, making copies to send all over the country. 
 
 I was hardly done making my bow to these gentlemen, before Mr. 
 James M. Sanderson informed me that the young Whigs of Phila- 
 delphia had a desire to present me with a fine rifle, and had chosen 
 him to have her made agreeably to my wishes. I told hitn that was 
 an article that I knew somewhat about, and gave him the size, 
 weight, &c. 
 
 You can't imagine how I was crowded to get through every thing. 
 Colonel Pulaski called to take me in his carriage to the Naval Hospital, 
 where they stow away the old sailors on dry land, and a splendid 
 building it is ; all made of marble. I did not like the situation ; but 
 I suppose it was the best they could get with so much ground to it. 
 
 From there we went to the Navy Yard, and examined the largest 
 ship ever made in the United States. She was what they call " in 
 the stocks." 
 
 I then surveyed the artillery, and the balance of the shipping, not 
 forgetting to pay my respects to the officers of the yard, and then 
 returned home with the colonel, where I was kindly treated, both ia 
 eating and drinking ; and so ended another day. 
 
 Next morning the land admiral. Colonel Reeside, asked me to call 
 on him, and take a ride. I did so ; and he carried me out to the 
 railroad and Schuylkill bridge. I found that the railroad was finished 
 near a hundred miles into the interior of the state, and is only one 
 out of many ; yet they make no fass about it. 
 
 We drove in past the Girard school— that old man that give so 
 many millions to Philadelphia, and cut out his kin with a crumb. 
 Well, thinks I, blood is thicker than water, and the remembrance of 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 291 
 
 Mends better than a big name. I'd have made them all rich, and 
 give away the balance. But, maybe, French people don't think like 
 me. 
 
 This being my last night in Philadelphia, Dorrance gave me what 
 they call a " pick knick " supper ; which means as much as me and 
 all my company could eat and drink, and nothing to pay. 
 
 I forgot to say that I had spent part of the evening before this with 
 Colonel Saint. 
 
CHAPTEB XIX. 
 
 NEXT morning, Wednesday the 29th, I was invited by Captain 
 Jenkins, of the steamboat New Philadelphia, to go on with him 
 to New York. I accepted his offer and started. I saw nothing very 
 particular along the Delaware river, except the place where all the 
 hard stone coal comes to, from the interior of Pennsylvania ; where, 
 I am told, they have mountains of it. After some time, we got upon 
 a railroad, where they say we run twenty-five miles to the hour. I 
 can only judge of the speed by putting my head out to spit, which I 
 did, and overtook it so quick, that it hit me smack in the face. We 
 soon arrived at Amboy, and took the water again ; and soon came in 
 sight of the great city of New York, and a bulger of a place it is. The 
 number of the ships beat me all hollow, and looked for all the world 
 like a big clearing in the West, with the dead trees all standing. 
 
 When we swung round to the wharf, it was covered with people, 
 who inquired if I was on board ; and when the captain told them I 
 was, they slung their hats, and gave three cheers. 
 
 Immediately a committee came on board, representing the young 
 Whigs, and informed me they were appointed to wait upon me, and 
 invite me to the American Hotel. I accepted their offer, and went 
 with them to the hotel, where I was Mendly received ; conducted to 
 a large parlour, where I was introduced to a great many gentlemen. 
 
 I was invited to visit the new and elegant fire engine, and took 
 some refreshment with the managers, and returned in time to visit 
 the Park theatre, and see Miss Fanny Kemble play in grand style. The 
 house was better filled, and the fixings looked nicer, than the one in 
 Philadelphia ; but any of them is good enough, if they have such 
 pretty play-actors as Miss Kemble. In fact, she is like a handsome 
 piece of changeable silk ; first one colour, then another, but always 
 the clean thing. 
 
 I returned home, as I am told all great folks do, after the lady actor 
 was done ; and, sitting with my friends, the cry of " Fire, fire ! " struck 
 my ear. I bounced from my chair, and ran for my hat. " Sit down, 
 colonel," said one of the gentlemen, "it's not near us." — " A'n't you 
 going to help to put it out? " — "No," said he, laughmg, "we have fire 
 companies here, and we leave it to them." Well, to me this seemed 
 queer enough, for at home I would have jumped on the first horsfe at 
 hand, and rode full-flight bare-backed, to help put out a fire. 
 
 I forgot that I was in a city where you may live, as they tell me, 
 years, and not know who lives next door to you ; still, I felt curious to 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTTJBES OF DAVY OBOOKElT. 2§d 
 
 see how they managed ; and Colonel Jackson went with me. As it was 
 late, the engines were only assembling when we got there ; but when 
 they began to spirt, they put out a four-story house that was all in a 
 blaze, in less than no time. I asked the colonel where they got so 
 much water from. He said it was raised by the Manhattan Bank, out 
 of a charter got by Aaron Burr. 
 
 I returned to the hotel, where I found a great many gentlemen 
 waiting to see the wild man from the far West. After spending some 
 time with them, I was taken to Peale's museum. I shall not attempt 
 to describe the curiosities here ; it is above my bend. I could not help, 
 however, thinking what pleasure or curiosity folks could take in stick- 
 ing up whole rows of little bugs, and such like varmints. I saw a boy 
 there that had been born without any hands or arms ; and he took a 
 pair of scissors in his toes, and cut his name in full, and gave it to me. 
 This I called a miracle. 
 
 From thence I went to the City Hall, and was introduced to the 
 mayor of the city and several of the aldermen. The mayor is a plain, 
 common- sense-looking man. I was told he had been a tanner ; that 
 pleased me ; for I thought both him and me had olum up a long way 
 from where we had started : and it is truly said, " Honour and fame 
 from no condition rise." It's the grit of a fellow that makes the 
 man. 
 
 On my return, I received an invitation from Colonel Draper to dine 
 with him, informing me also, that the rale Major Jack Downing was 
 expected to be there. . . . Sure enough, when I got to Colonel Draper's, 
 I was introduced to the major. We sat down to a splendid dinner, 
 and amused OMselves with some good jokes. But as this was a private 
 party, I don't think it gentlemanly to tell what was said at this time, 
 and especially as this was not the only communication I had with the 
 major. One observation, however, was made by him, and I gave him 
 an answer which could not offend any body. " Colonel," said he, 
 "what d'ye sort o' think about gineral matters and things in pur- 
 ticlur ? " Knowing Viim to be a Yankee, I tried to answer him in his 
 own way. So, says I, " Major, the Ginneral's matters are all wrong ; 
 but some purticklar things are very well : such, for instance, as the 
 honour I have in dining with you at Colonel Draper's." — " Good I " 
 says the major, " and we'll talk about them there matters some other 
 time." — " Agreed," says I, " major, always at your sarvice." 
 
 I found a large company waiting for me when I got back to the 
 hotel, and invitation to sup with the young Whigs. Well, now, thinks 
 I, they had better keep some of these things to eat for somebody else, 
 for I'm sure I'm as fuU as a young cub. But right or wrong, I must 
 go in. There I met the Honourable Augustine S. Clayton, of Georgia, 
 and was right glad to see him, for I knew I could get him to take 
 some of the speaking off of me. He speaks prime, and is always 
 ready, and never goes off half-cock. 
 
 Upwards of one hundred sat down to supper. They were going to 
 toast me, but I told some of them near me to toast Judge Clayton 
 
294 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 first; that there should be more rejoicing over one that was lost and 
 found again, than over ninety-and-nine such as me, that had never 
 strayed away. They did so : and he made a speech that fairly made 
 the tumblers hop. He rowed the Tories up and over Salt river. 
 
 Then they toasted me as " the undeviating supporter of the consti- 
 tution and laws." I made a short speech, and concluded with the 
 story of " the Red Cow," which was, that as long as General Jackson 
 went strait, I followed him ; but when he began to go this way, and 
 that way, and every way, I wouldn't go after him : like the boy whose 
 master ordered him to plough across the field to the red cow. Well, 
 he began to plough and she began to walk ; and he ploughed aU fore- 
 noon after her. So when the master came, he swore at him for going 
 so crooked. " Why, sir," said the boy, " you told me to plough to the 
 red cow, and I kept after her, but she always kept moving." 
 
 On the same walk I was introduced to the Honourable Albert Galla- 
 tin. He had an old straw hat in his hand, and, like every body else, 
 was " mooving,'' and said he was sorry not to have more time to be 
 acquainted with me. He pointed to the house he was leaving, and 
 said it and several others were to be torn down to buUd a big tavern. It 
 was a very fine house, fit for any man to live in ; but in a few hours I 
 saw men on the top of it, and before the next evening the dayhght was 
 through it. This tavern is to be near the park, and is building by John 
 Jacob Astor. It is to cost seven hundred thousand dollars, and covers 
 a whole square. Mr. Astor, I am told, begun business in New York as 
 a dealer in furs, and is now worth millions. Lord help the beavers 
 and otters I they must have most got used to getting skinned by this 
 time. And what a meeting of friends and kin there must have been 
 in his warehouse. " Farewell," said the otter to the beaver, " I never 
 expect to see you again, my dear old friend." " Never mind, my dear 
 fellow," said the beaver, "don't be too much distressed, we'll soon 
 meet at the hatter's shop.'' 
 
 This day a new flag was to be hoisted, down on the Battery, and I 
 was invited to attend. The artillery, under command of General 
 Morton, paraded ; and he invited many of his friends to be present ; 
 among the rest, the mayor, Gideon Lee, was there, and addressed the 
 people. Among other things, he told them that that flag-staff was 
 placed where the old one stood when the British evacuated New 
 York ; that they left the flag flying, and greased the pole, so that it 
 could not be chm up ; but at last a sailor got up and tore it down, and 
 hoisted the American flag in its place ; and when he came down, the 
 people filled his hat with money. 
 
 General Morton is a revolutioner, and an officer in the society of old 
 soldiers, called the " Cincinnati Society," and wears its badge on his 
 breast. He gave an entertainment to his friends on this occasion ; for 
 you must know that nobody thinks any thing well done in this place, 
 without eating and drinking over it. 
 
 Next morning. Colonel Mapes told me he was requested to invite me 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 295 
 
 over to Jersey City, to see some shooting with a rifle. In the mean 
 time, I had been very kindly invited by Captain Comstock to go that 
 day, at half-past three o'clock, with him to, Boston. I ooicluded to 
 go, as I might never have another opportunity, and it took only 
 eighteen hours to go there. . . . 
 
 I started to Jersey City, where I found a great many gentlemen 
 shooting rifles, at the distance of one hundred yards, with a rest. One 
 gentleman gave me his gun, and asked me to shoot. I raised up, off- 
 hand, and cut within about two inches of the centre. I told him my 
 distance was forty yards, off-hand. He loaded hi? gun, and we walked 
 down to within forty yards when I fired, and was deep in the paper. 
 I shot a second time, and did the same. Colonel Mapes then put up 
 a quarter of a doUar in the middle of a black spot, and asked me to 
 shoot at it. I told him he had better mark the size of it and put his 
 money in his pocket. He said, "fire away.'' I did so, and made 
 slight-of-hand work with his quarter. 
 
 It was now time to return, and prepare for my trip to Boston. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AT three o'clock I left the hotel, and went over to where the steam- 
 boat lay. "When I went on board, the captain showed me into a 
 splendid state-room, which I was to occupy for the voyage. So, when 
 I had made my toilet (as great folks say), that is, combed nay hair and 
 taken a glass of brandy and water, I went on deck. There I saw 
 ahnoBt as many people as were when I landed ; and they kept gather- 
 ing mitU the whole ground was covered ; and when we started, they 
 cheered me for some time ; and all I could do was to stand and bow 
 to them. This brought me into new trouble ; for the passengers found 
 I was on board, and came round me, so that I missed seeing the city 
 until we got past it. 
 
 Soon, however, we came to the place called Hell's Gate ; so called, 
 I suppose, because the water boils, and foams, and bounces about as 
 if it was in a pot. I don't think, however, that this is a good name for 
 it, because we are told in the good book that hell's gate is a mighty slick 
 place, and easy to get into. Here I first saw a large square-sailed 
 British merchant ship, under full sail. She was coming in through 
 the channel, and I was glad to see that, for when we were voting for 
 an appropriation for a fort to defend this place, I heard it said that no 
 foreign ship ever attempted coming in that way. But these are the 
 kind.of arguments used most generally by those who oppose internal 
 improvements, harbours, &c., &c. ; they fancy things, and speak them 
 for truth. 
 
 We went on very pleasantly tUl night ; and the captain told me, if 
 I would lise afdayhght, we would be out of sight of land. So I went 
 to bed, and rose as soon as I could see. I walked out on deck, and sure 
 enough, there was no land to be seen. We were coming near Point 
 Juda, a place where, the captain informed me, people on board was 
 very often sea-sick. So I set myself down for a case, but was disap- 
 pointed ; it was quite calm, and a clear fine morning, and when the 
 sun rose, it came up like a ball of fire out of the water, and looked, for 
 aU the world, as if it had been made for the first time. We went 
 round Point Juda, and kept in sight of land on our left hand. There 
 was very little timber to be seen : the whole country appeared to be 
 laid off in fields, divided by stone fences. These were a great curiosity 
 to me, and I could not help thinking .that their cattle must be well 
 schooled here ; for one of my cows would pitch over a dozen such 
 fences, without flirting her tail. 
 
 We went by the great fort at the Naraganset bay, and landed at 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY OBOCEETT. 297 
 
 Newport for a short time. From thence we took our way again to 
 Providence. There I met a large number of the citizens. Tliey 
 cheered me on my arrival, and wanted me to stay and partake of a 
 dinner with them. I declined, and took my seat in the fast stage. 
 The driver was ordered to go ahead, and sure enough he did. It was 
 forty miles to Boston, and we run it down in four hours. 
 
 What mighty hard land it is on this road, and seems as if the whole 
 face of the earth had been covered over with stones, as thick as Ken- 
 tuck land titles ; but they have got them strung up into fences, as 
 many as they can, by picking of them off; but they won't stay picked, 
 for every time they plough, a new crop comes up. 
 
 It was somewhere away long here that the pilgrims landed at Ply- , 
 mouth, and begun to people this part of the world ; and a hard time 
 they must have had of it in this barren country ; and it seems odd that 
 they should come aU the way across the sea, and not look out for good 
 land. However, I suppose it was all right, or God would have given 
 them better pilots. If they had had fine land, they would not have 
 ventured so much on the ocean, and would have had less necessity to 
 work hard, and bring up their children to industry and give them such 
 cute teaching as makes them know how to make dacks and drakes of 
 us out yonder, when they come among us. . . . 
 
 But I must quit philosophy, and tell you where I stopped in Boston 
 — and that was just where any one that has plenty of cash, and plenty 
 of good-will for pleasure, would like— in a clean street, with a tavern 
 on one side, and the theatre on the other, and both called Tremont. 
 Mr. Boyden did not know me, nor me him ; but when I told him my 
 name, where they put it on the bar-book, he treated me like an old 
 friend, and continued to do so all the time I was there. He gave me 
 a good room and nice bed ; and did not, like many landlords, let a 
 stranger take care of himself, but attended to me the kindest in the 
 world. I had seen a great many fine taverns ; but take this out and 
 out, and Tremont-house is a smart chance ahead. It is lately built, 
 and has every new arrangement ; and for a house with a couple of 
 hundred people about it, is the quietest I ever was in. His head man 
 of the gap, in the bar, has eyes all round him ; and Will Scarlet, as he 
 is called by a friend of mine, has the sound of every beU in the house 
 by heart. When I arrived, I knew no one, but in a short time I made 
 many acquaintances, and, indeed, was very kindly treated by every 
 person I met. There is a great deal of friendly feeling with the 
 eastern people ; and folks need not go out of Boston to find rale hospi- 
 tahty. 
 
 Next morning I was invited by Mr. Harding to visit his gallery of 
 paintings, where he had a great many specimens of the fine arts ; and 
 finally he asked me to sit for him until he could get myhkeness, which 
 I did, during my stay, and he has it now, hung up among the rest of 
 the fine arts. From there I went to Fanuell Hall, where General 
 Davis showed me all the accoutrements of war for several companies 
 of infantry and riflemen, that was deposited in it. — These are in snug 
 rooms on each side of the second story; and in the middle is the 
 
298 XIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 parade-room, •where, summer and winter, the companies meet to drill. 
 This is doing things in true style, that is all for use, and no show about 
 it. So, instead of hearing a great fuss with volunteers, and drilling, 
 and all that, wheeling and marching, handle cartridge, eyes right — 
 you see a squad of fine soldiers coming out of this same place, and 
 squared up as if they were the rale breed. 
 
 General Davis informed me this was the house that was called the 
 " cradle of liberty." I reckon old King George thought they were 
 thundering fine children that was rocked in it, and a good many of 
 them ; and that no wonder his red-coats were licked, when the child- 
 ren came out with soldier clothes on, and muskets in their .hands. 
 God grant that the liberty-tree bough on which this cradle rocks may 
 never break. . . . 
 
 After returning home, I was invited over to Boxborough, where they 
 make the Indian-rubber clothing, shoes, &c. This is done by dissolving 
 the rubber, and putting it on silk and other cloth, which entirely turns 
 the rain, and still is pliable, and not heavy. The proprietor made me 
 a present of a hunting coat, which I have tried, and would risk my 
 powder under it for forty days and nights. It was a great curiosity 
 to see the young ladies cutting out the clothes, and sticking them 
 together without sewing them. I went also through the shoe factory, 
 where they make shoes in the same way without stitching them. — I 
 could not help thinking of the Philadelphia giAe — thought they ought 
 to have them, to keep their feet dry. 
 
 We often wonder how things are made so cheap among the Yankees. 
 Come here, and you will see women doing men's work, and happy and 
 cheerful as the day is long ; and why not ? Is it not much better for 
 themselves and families, instead of sitting up all day busy about 
 nothing? It a'n't hard work, neither, and "looked as queer to 
 me as it would to one of my countrywomen to see a man milking the 
 cows, as they do here. 
 
 After I had seen all that was to be seen here, I was taken to Colonel 
 Perkins' carpet factory. There I saw the widest web I ever saw, and 
 they were glossing and stamping it in handsome style. I was quite 
 friendly received by the colonel. He is said to be a very rich man ; is 
 quite old, but firm and healthy in appearance ; and uses his riches in 
 the best possible way — by keeping a great many people busy. And he 
 is not one of those foolish people, neither, that strive all their days to 
 see how rich they can die ; for he gives with his hands open. I saw 
 one house in Boston which he gave to keep the blind in, and was told 
 t was worth fifty thousand dollars. — What a comfort the old gentle- 
 man must have when he looks at his great possessions, and is calcu- 
 lating, not how much he can hoard up, but how much he can give 
 away. God never made such men to be envied, or I could begrudge 
 him a few of his blessings from the poor and destitute. 
 
 At the invitation of the owners of the Indian-rubber factory, I met a 
 number of the citizens of Boxborough, and passed a short time with 
 them very pleasantly. 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT . 299 
 
 They appear to me to live generally in New England more snugly, 
 and have more kind feelings to one another, and live in more peace 
 and harmony, than any people I ever was among. And another good 
 thing — they don't forget one another when they are among strangers ; 
 old New England binds them hard together ; and this gives them, as 
 it ought to do, strength, and confidence, and influence ; and with us 
 in the South, Yankee cmming is assuming the true name — Yankee 
 knowledge of business, and perseverance in wliatever they undertake. 
 
 I did not like the statue of General Washington in the state-house. 
 They have a Eoman .gown on him, and he was an American ; this 
 a'n't right. They did the thing better at Eiohmond, in Virginia, 
 where they have him in the old blue and buff. He belonged to this 
 country — heart, soul, and body: and I ^on't want any other to have 
 any part of him — not even his clothes. . . . 
 
 Here now comes a poser. I was invited to dine out ; but if I can 
 mind the gentleman's name I wish I may be shot. He lived near 
 Tremont ; and I hope if he has curiosity enough to read this here 
 book, that he will write me a letter, so that in my second edition, I 
 may give his name as large as life : and I beg him to recollect that it 
 an't every one that signs a letter that makes himself known. Let him 
 write it plain — none of your hirygliffict — or I won't put him in. 
 
 Some would say that they were mortified that they forgot this 
 gentleman's name. I a'n't; I'm sorry — but the truth is, I saw so 
 many folks, and so many new things, that it's no wonder I should iiot 
 mind every thing. He was a clever feUow, and I know he will forgive 
 me. 
 
 When I went home, there I met a young man that was stone blind. 
 , " Well,'' says you, " that's no new thing." Stop, if you please ; that 
 puts me in mind of an old parson and a scolding woman that belonged 
 to his church. She told him, in one of her tantrums, that she could 
 preach as well as he could, and he might select the text. " Well," 
 said the old man, " I'll give you one, and j'ou can study over it — ' It is 
 better to dwell on the house-top, than in a wide house with a brawling 
 woman.' " — " You good-for-nothing, impudent, old — what shall I say ? 
 do you go for to call me a brawling woman ? " — " Dear mistress," said 
 the good old man, " you'll have to study a while longer, for you come 
 to the apphcation of the text before you discuss the doctrine." 
 
 Now it was not that I met a blind boy in Tremont house that was 
 any curiosity : but it was his errand; He inquired of the bar-keeper 
 for me, as I was standing by him, and said he was sent by the teacher 
 of the blind, to invite me to visit the institution, and that he would 
 show me the way ! ! 
 
 I was told by the gentlemen present, that he could go all over 
 Boston. A gentleman accompanied me, and we went on tiU we came 
 to a fine house, where the institution was kept. We went, and were 
 introduced to the teacher. He asked me if I wished to hear some of 
 them read. I said I did : and he ordered a little girl, perhaps ten or 
 twelve years old, to get her book, asked her to find a certain chapter 
 
300 LIFE AND ADVENTVBES OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 in the Old Testament, and read it. She took up the book, and felt 
 with her fingers until she found it. He then told her to read : and she 
 did so, with a clear, distinct voice. This was truly astonishing : but 
 on examining their books, I found that the letters were stamped 
 on the under side of the paper, so as to raise them above the surface 
 of the upper side ; and such was the keenness of their touch, that by 
 passing the end of the finger over the word, it served them for sight, 
 and they pronounced the word. There was a little boy learning to 
 cipher in the same way. The teacher put several questions to him 
 aloud ; and, putting his fingers together and working with them for a 
 short' time, he answered all the questions correctly. 
 
 That kind of education astonished me more than any thing I ever 
 saw. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 I HAD promised next morning to go to Lowell with Mr. Lawrence, 
 Mr. Harding, and others ; but when I woke up, it was potiring down 
 rain, so that kept me in the house all day. 
 
 I was not idle, for I had a heap of talk with the folks in the house. 
 One gentleman asked me to come and see him ; but he gave me so 
 many directions about getting to where he lived, that I asked him to 
 write it down, and told him if ever he came to my part of the country, 
 I hoped he would call and see me. " Well," said he, " how wUl I 
 find where you live ? " — " Why, sir, run down the Mississippi tiU you 
 come to the Obion river, run a small streak up that, jump ashore any 
 where and inquire for me." 
 
 Says I to one of them, "Do you believe in the sea-sarpent?" — "If I 
 don't there's no snakes. I believe it to be as much true as there is lie 
 in our deacon when he says his red face a'n't made by drinking ' New 
 England.' " — " Do you consider him dangerous, or is he peaceable ? " 
 — " Well, now, to keep the truth, I never saw him ; but Capting 
 Hodijah Eolger said as how he considered the critter as a sort o' so, 
 and a sort o' not." — "Had he a long tail?" — "Tail, did you say? 
 You'd a died to hear Didge tell about that thar verming. Didge said 
 he was like skying a copper — head or tail— but you had to guess 
 which. Ses Didge to me, ' Don't you mind,' ses he, ' that are angel 
 what stood with one leg on the sea, and t'other on the dry land ? ' — 
 ' I guess I do.' — ' Well,' ses he to me, ' that are sarpint's skin was long 
 enough to 'a' queued his hair.' " 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WHEN I arrived in Philadelphia, I put up at the United States, 
 where I felt a kind of being at home. 
 
 Next morning I was informed that the rifle gun which was to be 
 presented to me by the young men of Philadelphia, was finished, and 
 would be delivered that evening ; and that a committee had been 
 appointed to wait on me and conduct me to where I was to receive it. 
 So, accordingly, in the evening the committee came and I walked 
 with them to a room nearly foment the old state-house : it was 
 crowded full, and there was a table in the centre, with the gun, a 
 tomahawk, and butcher-knife, both of fine razor metal, with all the 
 accoutrements necessary to the gun — the most bBautiful I ever saw, 
 or anybody else ; and I am now happy to add, as good as they are 
 handsome. My friend, John M. Sanderson, Esq., who had the whple 
 management of getting her made, was present, and dehvered the gun 
 into my hands. — Upon receiving her, I addressed the company as 
 follows : 
 
 " Gentlemen, — 
 " I receive this rifle from the young men of Philadelphia as a testi- 
 mony of friendship, which I hope never to live to forget. This is a 
 favourite article with me, and would have been my choice above all 
 presents that could have been selected. I love a good gun, for it 
 makes a man feel independent, and prepared either for war or peace. 
 
 " This rifle does honour to the gentleman who made it. I must 
 say, long as I have been accustomed to handle a gun, I have never 
 seen any thing that could come near a companion to het in beauty. 
 I cannot think that ever such a rifle was made, either in this or any 
 other country ; and how, gentlemen, to express my gratitude to you 
 for your splendid present, I am at a loss. This much, however, I wiU 
 say, that myself and my sons will not forget you while we use this 
 token of your kindness for our amusement. If it should become 
 necessary to use her in defence of the liberty of our country, in my 
 time, I will do as I have done before ; and if the struggle should come 
 when I am buried in the dust, I will leave her in the hands of some 
 who wiU honour your present, in company with your sons, in standing 
 for our country's rights. 
 
 " Accept my sincere thanks, therefore, gentlemen, for your valuable 
 present — one which I will keep as a testimony of your friendship, so 
 long as I am in existence." 
 
 I then received the gun and accoutrements, and returned to the 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 OF DAVT OBOCKETT. 303 
 
 hotel, where I made an agreement with Mr. Sanderson and Colonel 
 Pulaski, to go with them the next day to Jersey shore, at Camden, and 
 try my gun. 
 
 Next morning we went out. I had been long out of practice, so that I 
 could not give her a fair trial. I shot tolerable well, and was satisfied 
 that when we became better acquainted, the fault would be mine if 
 the varmints did not suffer. 
 
 Next morning I was introduced to the great powder-maker, Mr. 
 Dupont, who said to me, that he had been examining my fine gun, 
 and that he wished to make me a present of half a dozen canisters of 
 his best sportsman's powder. I thanked him, and he went off, and in 
 a short time returned with one dozen, nicely boxed up and directed to 
 me. I then made my arrangements to start the next morning. 
 
 While walking about that evening with a friend, we called in at a 
 China importer's store. I was introduced to him ; and after looking 
 at his splendid collection for some time, he told me he had a wish to 
 present me with a pitcher. I thought the gentleman was joking, at 
 first ; but he assured me, that if I would accept it, he would pack it 
 up in a box so that it could not break, and I could carry it home safely. 
 I thanked him sincerely for his friendship. It was sent to me, and I 
 carried it home and gave it to my wife, telling her that, when I was 
 away, that pitcher should remind her that folks get thirsty, and the 
 same spirit which prompted the gentleman to give, should make us use 
 it. I am sorry I have forgot his name. 
 
 I arrived in Pittsburg in the night, and early in the morning went 
 down to the wharf to inquire for a steamboat. I soon found Captain 
 Stone, who commanded the Hunter. He said he had been waiting a 
 day, thinking that I would like to go with him. That was true, and 
 I found him all sorts of a clever man. We were to start at ten o'clock. 
 I returned to the tavern where I had put up, and a great many 
 gentlemen called to see me, and among others, Mr. Grant, brother-in- 
 law of Governor Carroll, of Tennessee. He invited me to walk through 
 the city, and to visit his house, which I did, and he introduced me 
 to a great many of the citizens. I returned, and prepared for a start. 
 
 All passed off pleasantly, and next day I took the steamboat 
 Scotlcmd, commanded by Captain Buckner, a gentleman, every inch 
 of him. After a fine run, we arrived at Mills' Point, on the 22nd day 
 of July. Here I once more touched the soil of Tennessee, and found 
 my son William waiting to carry me home, which was distant thirty- 
 five miles. 
 
 When I landed, and took out my fine gun, the folks gathered round 
 me, to see the great curiosity. A large fellow stepped up, and asked 
 me why all the members did not get such guns given them. I told 
 him I got that gun for being honest, in supporting my country, in- 
 stead of bowing down and worshipping an idol. He looked at me 
 
304 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 
 
 and said, that was very strong. " No stronger than true, my friend," 
 Baid I. 
 
 In a short time I set out for my own home ; yes, my own home, my 
 own soil, my own humble dwelling, my own family, my own hearts, 
 my ocean of love and affection which neither circumstance nor time 
 can dry up. Here, like the wearied bird, let me settle down for 
 awhile, and shut out the world. . . . 
 
 In the course of a few days, I determined to try my new gun "upon 
 the living 'subject. I started for a hunt, and shortly came across a 
 fine buck. He fell at the distance of one hundred and thirty steps ! 
 Not a bad shot, you will say. I say, not a bad gun either. After a 
 little practice with her, she came up to the eye prime, and I deter- 
 mined to try her at the first shooting match for beef. 
 
 As this is a novelty to most of my readers, I will endeavour to give 
 a description of this western amusement. 
 
 In the latter part of summer our cattle get very fat, as the range is 
 remarkably fine ; and some one, desirous of raising money on one of 
 his cattle, advertises that on a particular day, and at a given place, a 
 first-rate beef will be shot for. 
 
 When the day comes, every marksman in the neighbourhood will 
 meet at the appointed place, with his gun. After the company has 
 assembled, a subscription paper is handed round, with the following 
 heading. 
 
 " A. B. offers a beef worth twenty dollars, to be shot for, at 
 twenty-five cents a shot." Then the names are put down by each 
 person, thus : 
 
 D. C. puts in four shots $1 00 
 
 E. F. „ eight „ 2 00 
 
 G. H. „ two , 50 
 
 And thus it goes round, until the price is made up. 
 
 Two persons are then selected, who have not entered for shots, to 
 act as judges of the match. Every shooter gets a board, and makes a 
 cross in the centre of his target. The shot that drives the centre, or 
 comes nearest to it, gets the hide cmd tallow, which is considered the 
 first choice. The next nearest gets his choice of the hind quarters ; 
 the third gets the other hind quarter ; the fourth takes choice of the 
 fore quarters ; the fifth the remaining quarter ; and the sixth gets the 
 lead in the tree against which we shoot. 
 
 The judges stand near the tree, and when a man fires they cry out, 
 " Who shot ? " and the shooter gives in his name ; and so on, till all 
 have shot. The judges then take all the boards, and go off by them- 
 selves, and decide what quarter each man has won. Sometimes one 
 will get nearly all. 
 
 This is one of our homely amusements — enjoyed as much by us, 
 and perhaps more, than most of your refined entertainments. Here 
 each man takes a part, if he pleases, and no one is excluded, unless 
 his improper conduct renders him unfit as an associate. 
 
CHAf TEE, XXlIi. 
 
 I BEGIN this chapter on the 8th day of July, 1835, at Some, 
 Weakley county, Tennessee. I have just returned from a two 
 weeks' electioneering canvass, and I have spoken every day to large 
 concourses of people with my competitor. I have him badly plagued, 
 for he does not know as much about " the Government," the deposites, 
 and the Little Plying Dutchman, whose life I wrote, as I can tell the 
 people ; and at times he is as much bothered as a fly in a tar pot to 
 get out of the mess. A candidate is often stumped in making stump 
 speeches. His name is Adam Huntsman ; he lost a leg in an Indian 
 fight, they say, during the last war, and the Government run him on 
 the score of his military services. I tell him in my speech that I 
 have great hopes of writing one more book, and that shall be the 
 second fall of Adam, for he is on the Eve of an almighty thrashing. 
 He relishes the joke about as much as a doctor does his own physic. 
 I handle the administration without gloves, and I do believe I wUl 
 double my competitor, if I have a fair shake, and he does not work 
 like a mole in the dark. . . . 
 
 While on the subject of election matters, I will just relate a little 
 anecdote, about myself, which will show the people to the east, how 
 we manage these things on the frontiers. It was when I first run for 
 Congress ; I was then in favour of the Hero, for he had chalked out 
 his course so sleek in his letter to the Tennessee legislature, that, like 
 Sam Patch, says I, "there can be no mistake in him," and so I went 
 ahead. No one dreamt about the monster and the deposites at that 
 time, and so, as I afterward found, many, like myself, were taken in 
 by these fair promises, which were worth about as much as a flash in 
 the pan when you have a fair shot at a fat bear. 
 
 But I am losing sight of my story. — Well, I started off to the Cross 
 Eoads, dressed in my hunting shirt, and my rifle on my shoulder. 
 Many of our constituents had assembled there to get a taste of the 
 quahty of the candidates at orating. Job Snelling, a gander-shanked 
 Yankee, who had been caught somewhere about Plymouth Bay, and 
 been shipped to the west with a cargo of cod fish and rum, erected a 
 large shantee, and set up shop for the occasion. A large posse of the 
 voters had assembled before I arrived, and my opponent had ah-eady 
 made considerable headway with his speechifying and his treating, 
 when they spied me about a rifle -shot fi:om the camp, sauntering 
 along as if I was not a party in the business. " There comes Crockett," 
 cried one. " Let us hear the colonel," cried another, and so I mounted 
 
 21 
 
S06 LIFM AND advmntuhes 
 
 the stump that had been out down for the oeoasion, and began to 
 bush-whack m the moet approved style. 
 
 I had not been up long before Uaere was such an uproar in the 
 crowd that I could not hear my own voice, and some of my con- 
 stituents let me know, that they could not listen to me on such a 
 dry subject as the welfare of the nation, until they had something to 
 drink, and that I must treat 'em. Accordingly I jumped down from 
 the rostrum, and led the way to the shantee, followed by my 
 constituents, shouting, " Huzza for Crockett," and " Crockett for 
 ever 1 " 
 
 When we entered the shantee. Job was busy deahng out his rum in 
 a style that showed he was making a good day's work of it, and I 
 called for a quart of the best, but the crooked oritur returned no other 
 answer than by pointing at a . board over the bar, on which he had 
 chalked in large letters, "Pay to-day and trust to-morrow." Now 
 that idea brought me aU up standing ; it was a sort of cornering in 
 which there was no back out, for ready money in the west, in those 
 times, was the shyest thing in all natur, and it was most particularly 
 shy with me on that occasion. 
 
 The voters, seeing my predicament, fell off to the other side, and I 
 was left deserted and alone, as the Government wiU be, when he no 
 longer has any offices to bestow. I saw, plain as day, that the tide 
 of popular opinion was against me, and that, unless I got some rum 
 speedily, I should lose my election as sure as there are snakes in Vir- 
 ginny — and it must be done soon, or even burnt brandy wouldn't save 
 me. So I walked away from the shantee, but in another guess sort from 
 the way I entered it, for on this occasion I had no train after me, and 
 not a voice shouted " Huzza for Crockett." Popularity sometimes 
 depends on a very small matter indeed ; in this particular it was 
 worth a quart of New England rum, and no more. 
 
 Well, knowing that a crisis was at hand, I struck into the woods 
 with my rifle on my shoulder, my best friend in time of need, and as 
 good fortune would have it, I had not been out more than a quarter 
 of an hour before I treed a fat coon, and in the pulling of a trigger he 
 lay dead at the root of the tree. I soon whipped his hairy jacket off 
 his back, and again bent my way towards the shantee, and walked up 
 to the bar, but not alone, for this time I had half a dozen of my con- 
 stituents at my heels. I threw down the coon skiu upon the counter, 
 and called for a quart, and Job, though busy in deaUng^out rum, for* 
 got to point, at his chalked rules and regulations, for he knew that a 
 oQon was as good a legal tender for a quart, iu the west, as a New 
 York shilling, any day in the year. 
 
 My constituents now flocked about me, and cried " Huzza for 
 Crockett," " Crockett for ever," and finding the tide had taken a turn, 
 I told them several yarns, to get them in a good humour, and having 
 soon despatched the value of the coon, I went out and mounted the 
 stump, without opposition,'and a clear majority of the voters followed 
 me to hear what I had to offer for the good of the nation. — Before I 
 was half through, one of my constituents moved that they would hear 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 307 
 
 the balance of my speech, after they had' washed down the first part 
 with some more of Job Snelling's extract of cornstalk and molasses, 
 and the question being put, it was carried unanimously. It wasn't 
 considered necessary to tell the yeas and nays, so we adjourned to the 
 shantee, and on the way I began to reckon that the fate of the nation 
 pretty much depended upon my shooting another coon. 
 
 While standing at the bar, feeling sort of bashful while Job's rules 
 and regulations stared me in the face, I cast down my eyes, and dis- 
 covered one end of the coon skin sticking between the logs that 
 supported the bar. Job had slung it there in the hurry of business. 
 I gave it a sort of quick jerk, and it followed my hand as natural as if 
 I had been the rightful owner. I slapped it on the counter, and Job, 
 little dreaming that he was barking up the wrong tree, shoved along 
 another bottle, which my constituents quickly disposed of with great 
 good humour, for some of them saw the trick, and then we withdrew 
 to the rostrum to discuss the affairs of the nation. 
 
 I don't know how it was, but the voters soon became dry again, 
 and nothing would do, but we must adjourn to the shantee, and as 
 luck would have it, the coon skin was still sticking between the logs, 
 as if Job had flung it there oil purpose to tempt me. I was not slow 
 in raising it to the counter, the rum followed of course, and I wish 
 I may be shot, if I didn't, before the day was over, get ten quarts 
 for the same identical skin, and from a fellow, too, who in those parts 
 was considered as sharp as a steel trap, and as bright as a pewter 
 button. 
 
 This joke secured me my election, for it soon circulated like smoke 
 among my constituents, and they allowed, with one accord, that the 
 man who could get the whip hand of Job Snelling in fair trade, could 
 outwit Old Nick himself, and was the real grit for them in Congress. 
 Job was by no means popular ; he boasted of always being wide 
 awake, and that any one who could take him in was free to do 
 BO, for he came from a stock that sleeping or waking had always one 
 eye open, and the other not more than half closed. The whole family 
 were geniuses. His father was the inventor of wooden nutmegs, by 
 which Job said he might have made a fortune, if he had only taken 
 out a patent and kept the business in his own hands ; his mother 
 Patience manufactured the first white oak pumpkin seeds of the 
 mammoth kind, and turned a pretty penny the first season ; and his 
 aunt Prudence was the first to discover that corn hiisks, steeped in 
 tobacco water, would make as handsome Spanish wrappers as ever 
 came from Havana, and that oak leaves would answer all the purposes 
 of filling, for no one could discover the difference except the man who 
 smoked them, and then it would be too late to make a stir about it. 
 Job, himself, bragged of having made some useful discoveries ; the 
 most profitable of which was the' art of converting mahogany sawdust 
 into cayenne pepper, which he said was a profitable and safe busi- 
 ness ; for the people have been so long accustomed to having dust 
 thrown in their eyes, that there wasn't much danger of being found 
 out. 
 
308 LIFE AND ADVENTVBES OF DAVY dBOCEETT. 
 
 The way I got to the blind side of the Yankee merchant was pretty 
 generally known before election day, and the result was, that my 
 opponent might as well have whistled jigs to a milestone, as attempt 
 to beat up for votes in that district. I beat him out and out, quite 
 back into the old year, and there was scarce enough left of him, after 
 the canvass was over, to make a small grease spot. He disappeared 
 without even leaving a mark behind ; and such will be the fate of 
 Adam Huntsman, if there is a fair fight and no gouging. 
 
 After the election was over, I sent Snelling the price of the rum, 
 but took good care to keep the fact from the knowledge of my 
 constituents. — Job refused the money, and sent me word, that it did 
 him good to be taken in occasionally, as it served to brighten his 
 ideas ; but I afterwards learnt that when he found out the trick that 
 had been played upon him, he put all the rum I had ordered, in his 
 bill against my opponent, who, being elated with the speeches he had 
 made on the affairs of the nation, could not descend to examine into 
 the particulars of a bill of a vendor of rum in the small way. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV, 
 
 AUGUST 11,1835. I am now at home in Weakley county. My 
 canvass is over, and the result is known. Contrary to all expec- 
 tation, I am heaten two hundred and thirty votes, from the best 
 information I can get .; and in this instance, I may say, bad is the 
 best. My mantle has fallen upon the shoulders of Adam, and I hope 
 he may wear it with becoming dignity, and never lose sight of the 
 welfare of the nation, for the purpose of elevating a few designing 
 pohticians to the head of the heap. The rotten poHcy pursued by 
 " the Government " cannot last long ; it will either work its own 
 downfall, or the downfall of the republic, soon, unless the people tear 
 the seal from their eyes, and behold their danger time enough to avert 
 the ruin. 
 
 I come within two hundred and thirty votes of being elected, not- 
 withstanding I had to contend against " the greatest and the best," 
 with the whole power of the Treasury against me. The Little Flying 
 Dutchman will no doubt calculate upon having a true -gamecock in 
 Mr. Huntsman, but if he doesn't show them the White feather before 
 the first session is over, I agree never to be set down for a prophet, 
 that's all. I am gratified that I have spoken the truth to the people 
 of my district regardless of consequences. I would not be compelled 
 to bow down to the idol for a seat in Congress during life. I have 
 never known what it wa;s to sacrifice my own judgment to gratify any 
 party, and I have no doubt of the time being close at hand when I 
 wiU be rewarded for letting my tongue speak what my heart thinks, 
 I have suffered myself to be politically sacrificed to save my country 
 from ruin and disgrace, and if I am never again elected, I will have 
 the gratification to know that I have done my duty. — Thus much I 
 say in relation to the manner in which my downfall was effected, and 
 in laying it before the public, " I take the responsibility." I may 
 add in the words of the man in the play, " Crockett's occupation's 
 gone." ^ 
 
 Two weeks and more have elapsed since I wrote the foregoing 
 account of my defeat, and I confess the thorn still rankles, not so 
 much on my own account as the nation's, for I had set pay heart on 
 
310 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 following up the travelling deposites until they should be fairly- 
 gathered to their proper nest, like young chickens, for I am aware of 
 the vermin that are on the constant look out to pounce upon thena, 
 like a cock at a blackberry, which they would have done long since, if 
 it had not been for a few such men as Webster, Clay, and myself.. It 
 is my parting advice, that this matter be attended to without delay, 
 for before long the little chickens will take wing, and even the power- 
 ful wand of the magician of Kinderhook will be unable to point out 
 the course they have flown. 
 
 As my country no longer requires my services, I have made up my 
 mind to go to Texas. My Hfe has been one of danger, toil, and priva- 
 tion, but these difficulties I had to encounter at a time when I con- 
 sidered it nothing more than right good sport to surmount them ; but 
 now I start anew upon my own hook, and God only grant that it may 
 be strong enough to support the weight that may be hung upon it. I 
 have a new row to ht>e, a long and rough one, but come what will I'll 
 go ahead. 
 
 A few days ago I went to a meeting of my constituents. My 
 appetite for politics was at one time just about as sharp set as a saw 
 mill, but late events has given me something of surfeit, — more than 
 I <!ould well digest; still habit they say is second natur, and so I 
 went, and gave them a piece of my mind touching "the Government" 
 and the succession, by way of a codicil to what I have often said 
 before. 
 
 I told them moreover of my services, pretty straight up and down, 
 for a man may be allowed to speak on such subjects when others are 
 about to forget them ; and I also told them of the manner in which I 
 had been knocked down and dragged out, and that I did not consider 
 it a fair fight any how they could fix it. I put the ingredients in the 
 cup pretty strong I tell you, and I concluded my speech by telling 
 them that I was done with politics for the present, and that they 
 might all go to hell, and I would go to Texas. 
 
 When I returned home I felt a sort of cast down at the change that 
 had taken place in my fortunes, and sorrow, it is said, will make even 
 an oyster feel poetical. I never tried my hand at that sort of writing, 
 but on this particular occasion such was my state of feeling, that I 
 began to fancy myself inspired,; so I took pen in hand, and as usual 
 I went ahead. When I had got fairly through, my poetry looked as 
 zigzag as a worm fence ; the _ Unes wouldn't tally, no how ; so I 
 showed them to Peleg Longfellow, who has a first-rate reputation 
 with us for that sort of writing, having some years ago made a 
 carrier's address for the Nashville Banner, and Peleg lopped off some 
 lines, and stretched out others ; but I wish I may be shot if I don't 
 rather think he has made it worse than it was when I placed it in his 
 hands. It being my first, and no doubt last piece of poetry, I will 
 print it in this place, as it wUl serve to express my feelings on leaving 
 my home, my neighbours, and friends and country, for a strange land, 
 ^s fully as I could in plain prose, 
 
OP DAVY CBOCKETT. 311 
 
 Farewell to the mountains whose mazes to me 
 
 Were more beautiful far than Eden could be ; 
 
 No fruit was forbidden, but Nature had spread 
 
 Her bountiful hoard, and her children were fed. 
 
 The hills were our garners — our herds wildly grew, 
 
 And Nature was shepherd and husbandman too. 
 
 I felt like a monarch, yet thought like a man. 
 
 As I thank'd the Great Giver, and worshipp'd His plan; 
 
 The home I forsake where my offspring arose : 
 The graves I forsake where my children repose. 
 The home I redeem' d from the savage and wild ; 
 The home I have loved as a father his child; 
 The com that I planted, the fields that I clear'd, 
 The flocks that I raised, and the cabin I rear'd ; 
 The wife of my bosom— Farewell to ye all ! 
 In the land of the stranger I rise— or I fall. 
 
 Farewell to my country !— I fought for thee well. 
 
 When the savage rush'd forth like the demons from hell. 
 
 In peace or in war I Tiave stood by thy side — 
 
 My country, for thee I have lived — would have died! 
 
 But I am cast off^my career now is run, 
 
 And I wander abroad like the prodigal son — 
 
 Where the wild savage roves, and the broad prairies spread. 
 
 The fallen— despised— will again go ahead ! ' 
 
OHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 IN my last chapter I made mention of my determination to cut and 
 quit the States until such time as honest and independent men 
 should again work their way to the head of the heap ; and as I should 
 probably have some idle time on hand before that state of affairs shall 
 be brought about, I promised to give the Tesians a helping hand, on 
 the high road to freedom. — Well, I was always fond of having my 
 spoon in a mess of that kind, for if there is any thing in this world 
 particularly worth Hving for, it is freedom ; any thing that would 
 render death to a brave man particularly pleasant, it is freedom. 
 
 I am now on my journey, and have already toitled along as far as 
 Little Eock on the Arkansas, about one hundred and twenty-five 
 miles from the mouth. I had promised to write another book, ex- 
 pecting, when I made that promise, to write about pohtics, and use 
 up "the Government," his successor, the- removal of the deposites, 
 and so on, matters and things that come as natural to me as bear 
 hunting ; but being rascalled out of my election, I am taken all 
 aback, and I must now strike into a- new path altogether. Still I will 
 redeem my promise, and make a book, and it shall be about my 
 adventures in Texas, hoping that my friends, Messrs. Webster and 
 Clay and Biddle, will keep a sharp look out upon " the Government " 
 during my absence, — I am told that every author of distinction writes 
 a book of travels now-a-days. 
 
 My thermometer stood somewhat below the freezing point as I left 
 my wife and children ; still there was some thawing about the eyeUds, 
 a thing that had not taken place since I first ran "away from my 
 father's house when a thoughtless vagabond boy. I dressed myself 
 in a clean hunting shirt, put on a new fox skin cap with the tail 
 hanging behind, took hold of my rifle Betsey, which all the world 
 knows was presented to me by the patriotic citizens of Philadelphia, 
 as a compliment for my unflinching opposition to the tyrannic 
 measures of " the Government," and thus equipped I started off, with 
 a heavy heart, for MiU's Point, to take steamboat down the Mississippi, 
 and go ahead in a new world. 
 
 While walking along, and thinking whether it was altogether the 
 right grit to leave my poor country at a time she most needed my 
 services, I came to a clearing, and I was slowly rising a slope, when 
 I was startled by loud, profane, and boisterous voices, (as loud and 
 profane as have been heard in the White House of late years), which 
 geenled to proceed from a thick covert of undergrowth, about two 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY CROCKETT. 313 
 
 hundred yards in advance of me, and about one hundred to the right 
 of my road. 
 
 " You kin, kin you ? " 
 
 " Yes I kin, and am able to do it ! Boo-oo-oo ! — O ! wake snakes, 
 
 and walk your chalks ! Brimstone and fire ! Don't hold me, 
 
 Nick Stoval ! The fight's made up, and let go at it. my soul if I 
 
 don't jump down his throat and gaUop every chitterhng out of him, 
 before you can say ' quit ! ' " 
 
 " Now, Nick, don't hold him ! Jist let the wild cat come, and I'll 
 tame him. Ned'll see me a fair fight — won't you, Ned ? " 
 
 " ! yes, I'll see you a fair fight ; blast my old shoes if I don't.'' 
 " That's suf&cient, as Tom Haynes said, when he saw the elephant. 
 Now let him come." 
 
 Thus they went on, with countless oaths interspersed, which I 
 dare not even hint at, and with much that I could not distinctly 
 hear. 
 
 In mercy's name ! thought I, what a band of ruffians is at work 
 here. I quickened my gait, and had come nearly opposite to the 
 thick grove whence the noise proceeded, when my eye caught in- 
 distinctly, through the foliage of the dwarf oaks and hickories that 
 intervened, glimpses of a man or men, who seemed to be on a violent 
 struggle ; and I could occasionally catch those deep drawn emphatic 
 oaths, which men in conflict utter, when they deal blows. I hurried 
 to the spot, but before I reached it, I saw the combatants come to the 
 ground, and after a short struggle, I saw the uppermost one (for I 
 could not see the other) make a heavy plunge with both his thumbs, 
 and at the sarae instant I heard a cry in the accent of keenest torture, 
 " Enough ! my eye is out ! " 
 
 I stood completely horroi^struok for a moment. The accomplices 
 in the brutal deed had all fled at my approach, at least I supposed so, 
 for they were not to be seen. 
 
 " Now blast your corn-shucking soul," said the victor, a lad of about 
 eighteen, as he rose from the ground, " come cuttin' your shines 'bout 
 me agin, next time I come to the Court House, will you ! — Get your 
 owl-eye in agin if you can." 
 
 At this moment he saw me for the first time. He looked as though 
 he couldn't help it, and was for making himself particularly scarce, 
 when I called to him, " Come back, you brute, and assist me in relieving 
 the poor critur you have ruined for ever." 
 
 Upon this rough salutation, he sort of collected himself, and with a 
 taunting curl of the nose he replied, " You needn't kick before you're 
 spurr'd. There an't nobody there, nor han't been nother. I was jist 
 seein' how I could a 'font." So saying he bounded to his plough, 
 which stood in the corner of the fence about fifty yards from the 
 battle ground. 
 
 Now would any man in his senses believe that a rational being 
 could make such a darned fool of himself ? but I wish I may be shot, 
 if his report was not as true as the last Post Office report, every word, 
 and a little more satisfactory. AH that I had heard and seen was 
 
314 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 nothing more nor less than what is called a rehearsal of a knock-down 
 and drag-out fight, in which the young man had played all the parts 
 for his own amusement, and by way of keeping his hand in. I went 
 to the ground from which he had risen, and there was the prints of 
 his two thumbs, plunged up to the balls in the mellow earth, about 
 the distance of a man's eyes apart, and the ground around was broken 
 up, as if two stags had been engaged upon it. 
 
 As I resumed my journey I laughed outright at this adventure, for 
 it reminded me of Andrew Jackson's attack upon the United States 
 Bank. He had magnified it into a monster, and then begun to rip 
 and tear and swear and gouge, until he thought he had the monster 
 on its back ; and when the fight was over, and he got up to look about 
 for his enemy, he could find none for the soul of him, for his enemy 
 was altogether in his heated imagination. These fighting characters 
 are never at peace, unless they have something to quarrel with, 
 and rather than have no fight at all, they will trample on their own 
 shadows. 
 
 The day I arrived at Little Eock, I had no sooner quit the steamer 
 than I streaked it straight ahead for the principal tavern, which is 
 nothing to boast of, nohow, unless a man happens to be like the 
 member of Congress from the south,' who was converted to Jacksonism, 
 and then made a speech as long as the longitude about his political 
 honesty. Some men it seems, take a pride in saying a great deal 
 about nothing — like windmills, their tongues must be going whether 
 they have any grist to grind or not. This is all very well in Congress, 
 where every member is expected to make a speech to let his consti- 
 tuents know that some things can be done as well as others ; but I 
 set it down as being rather an imposition upon good nature to be 
 compelled to listen, without receiving the consideration of eight 
 dollars per day, besides mileage, as we do in Congress. Many 
 members will do nothing else for their pay but listen, day in and day 
 out, and I wish I may be shot, if they do not earn every penny of it, 
 provided they don't sleep, or Benton or little Isaiao Hill will spin their 
 yarns but once in 3, week. No man who has not tried it can imagine 
 what dreadful hard work it is to listen. Splitting gum logs in the dog 
 days is child's play to it. I've tried both, and give the preference to 
 the gum logs. 
 
 Well, as I said, I made straight for the tavern, and as I drew nigh, 
 I saw a considerable crowd assembled before the door. So, thought I, 
 they have heard that Colonel Crockett intended to pay a visit to their 
 settlement, and they have already got together to receive him in due 
 form. I confess I felt a little elated at the idea, and commenced 
 ransacking the lumber room of my brain, to find some one of my 
 speeches that I might furbish up for the occasion; and then 'I 
 shouldered my Betsey, straightened myself, and walked up to the door, 
 charged to the muzzle and ready to let fly. 
 
 But strange as it may seem, no one took any more notice of me 
 than if I had been Martin Van Buren, or Dicjs Johnson, the cele- 
 brated wool grower. This took me somewhat aback, and I inquired 
 
OF DAVY CBOOKETT. 815 
 
 what was the meaning of the gathering ; and I learnt that a travelling 
 showman had just arrived, and was about to exhibit for the first time 
 the wonderful feats of Harlequin, and Punch and Judy, to the im- 
 patient natives. It was drawing towards nightfall, and expectation 
 was on tiptoe : the children were clinging to their mothers' aprons, 
 with their chubby faces dimpled with delight, and asking " What is it 
 like ? when will it begin ? " and similar questions, while the women, 
 as all good wives are m duty bound to do, appealed to their 
 husbands for information ; but the call for information was responded 
 -to in this instance, as is soinetimes the case in Congress ; their husbands 
 understood the matter about as well as " the Government " did the 
 Post Office accounts. 
 
 The showman at lengfth made his appearance, with a countenance 
 as woebegone as that of " the Government " when he found his batch 
 of dirty nominations rejected by the Senate, and mentioned the im- 
 possibility that any performance should take place that evening, as 
 the lame fiddler had over-charged his head, and having but one leg at 
 best, it did not require much to destroy his equilibrium. And as all 
 the world knows, a puppet show without a fiddle is like roast pork 
 and no apple sauce. This piece of intelligence was received with a 
 general murmur of dissatisfaction ; and such was the indignation of 
 his majesty, the sovereign people, at being thwarted in his rational 
 amusements; that according to the estabUshed custom in such cases 
 made and provided, there were some symptoms of a disposition to 
 kick up a row, break the show, and finish the amusements of the day 
 by putting Lynch's law in practice upon the poor showman. 
 
CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 THE public mind having been quieted by the exhibition of the 
 puppet show, and allowed to return to its usual channel, it was 
 not long before the good people of Little Rook began to inquire what 
 distinguished stranger had come among them ; and learning that it 
 was neither more nor less than the identical Colonel Crockett, the 
 champion of the fugitive deposites, than straight they went ahead at 
 getting up another tempest in a teapot ; and I wish I may be shot, 
 if I wasn't looked upon as almost as great a sight as Punch and 
 Judy. 
 
 Nothing would answer but I must accept of an invitation to a 
 public dinner. Now as public dinners have become so common, that 
 it is enough to take away the appetite of any man, who has a proper 
 sense of his own importance, to sit down and play his part in the 
 humbug business, I had made up my mind to write a letter declining 
 the honour, expressing myregret, and winding up with a flourish of 
 trumpets about the patriotism of the citizens of Little Eock, and all 
 that sort of thing, when^he landlord came in, and says he, " Colonel, 
 just obhge me by stepping into the back yard a moment." 
 
 I followed the landlord in silence, twisting and tm-ning over in my 
 brain, all the while, what I shotdd say in my letter to the patriotic 
 citizens of Little Eock, who were bent on eating a dinner for the good 
 of their country ; when he conducted me to a shed in the yard, where 
 I beheld, hanging up, a fine fat cub bear, several haunches of venison, 
 a wUd turkey as big as a young ostrich, and small game too tedious to 
 mention. " Well, Colonel, what do you think of my larder ? " says he. 
 — " Kne ! " says I : " Let us liquor." We walked back to the bar, I 
 took a horn, and without loss of time I wrote to the committee, that I 
 accepted of the invitation to a public dinner with pleasure, — that I 
 would always be found ready to serve my country either by eating or 
 fasting ; and that the honour the patriotic citizens of Little Eock had 
 conferred upon me rendered it the proudest moment of my eventful 
 life. The ehaii-man of the committee was standing by while I wrote 
 the letter, which I handed to him ; and so his important business was 
 soon settled. 
 
 As there was considerable time to be killed, or got rid of in some 
 way, before the dinner could be cooked, it was proposed that we 
 should go beyond the vUlage, and shoot at a mark, for they had heard 
 that I was a first-rate shot, and they wanted to see for themselves 
 whether fame had not blown her trumpet a little too strong in my 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY CROCKETT. 317 
 
 favour : for since she had represented " the Government " as being a 
 first-rate statesman, and Colonel Benton as a first-rate orator, they 
 could not receive such reports without proper allowance, as Congress 
 thought of the Post Office report. 
 
 Well, I shouldered my Betsey, and she is just about as beautiful a 
 piece as ever came out of Philadelphia, and I went out to the shooting 
 ground, followed by all the leading men in Little Bock, and that was 
 a clear majority of the town, for it is remarkable that there are always 
 more leading men in small villages than there are followers. 
 
 I was in prime order. My eye was as keen as a lizard, and my 
 nerves were as steady and unshaken as the political course of Henry 
 Clay ; so at it we went, the distance one hundred yards. The prin- 
 cipal marksmen, and such as had never been beat, led the way, and 
 there was some pretty fair shooting, I tell you. At length it came to 
 my turn. I squared myself, raised my beautiful Betsey to my shoul- 
 der, took deliberate aim, and smack I sent the bullet right into the 
 centre of the bull's eye. "There's no mistake in Betsey," said I, in a 
 sort of careless way, as they were all looking at the target, sort of 
 amazed, and not at all over pleased. 
 
 " That's a chance shot. Colonel," said one who had the reputation 
 of being the best marksman in those parts. 
 
 " Not as much chance as there was," said I, " when Dick Johnson 
 took his darkle for better for worse. I can do it five times out of six 
 any day in the week." This I said in as confident a tone as " the 
 Government " did when he protested that he forgave Colonel Benton 
 for shooting him and he was now the best friend he had in the world. 
 I knew it was not altogether as correct as it might be, but when a 
 man sets about going the big figure, half-way measures won't answer 
 no how ; and " the greatest and the best " had set me the example, 
 that swaggering will answer a good purpose at times. 
 
 They now proposed that we should have a second trial ; but knowing 
 that I had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, I was for backing 
 out and fighting shy ; but there was no let-off, for the cock of the 
 village, though whipped, determined not to stay whipped ; so to it 
 again we went. They were now put upon their mettle, and they fired 
 much better than the first time : and it was what might be called 
 pretty sharp shooting. When it came to my turn, I squared myself, 
 and turning to the prime shot, I gave him a knowing nod, by way of 
 showing my confidence; and says I, "Look-out for the buU's eye, 
 stranger." I blazed away, and I wish I may be shot if I didn't miss 
 the target. They examined it aU over, and could find neither hair nor 
 hide of my bullet, and pronounced it a dead miss; when says I, 
 " Stand aside and let me look, and I war'nt you I get on the right 
 traU of the critter.'' They stood aside, and I examined the bull's eye 
 pretty particular, and at, length cried put, "Here it is; there is no 
 snakes if it ha'n't followed the very track of the other." They said it 
 was utterly impossible, but I insisted on their searching the hole, and 
 I agreed to be stuck up as a mark myseK, if they did not find two 
 bullets there. They searched for my satisfaction, and sure enough it 
 
318 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 all came out just as 1 had told them ; for I had picked up a bullet thai 
 had been fired, and stuck it deep into the hole, without any one per- 
 ceiving it. They were all perfectly satisfied, that fame had not made 
 too great a flourish of trumpets when speaking of me as a marksman ; 
 and they all said they had enough of shooting for that day, and they 
 moved, that we adjourn to the tavern and liquor. 
 
 We had scarcely taken drinks round before the landlord announced 
 that dinner was ready, and I was escorted into the dining room by the 
 committee, to the tune of " See the conquering hero come," played 
 upon a drum, which had been beaten until it -got a fit of the suUens, 
 and refused to send forth any sound ; and it was accompanied by the 
 weaziug of a fife that was sadly troubled with a spell of the asthma. 
 I was escorted into the dining room, I say, somewhat after the same 
 fashion that " the G-overnment " was escorted into the different cities 
 when he made his northern tour ; the only difference was, that I had no 
 sycophants about me, but true hearted hospitable friends, for it was 
 pretty well known that I had, for the present, abandoned all intention 
 of running for the Presidency against the Little Flying Dutchman. 
 
 The dinner was first rate. The bear meat, the venison, and wild 
 turkey would have tempted a man who had given over the business of 
 eating altogether ; and every thing was cooked to the notch precisely. 
 The enterprising landlord did himself immortal honour on this momen- 
 tous occasion ; and the committee, thinking that he merited pubhc 
 thanks for his patriotic services, handed his name to posterity to look 
 at in the lasting columns of the Little Bock Gazette ; and when our 
 children's children behold it, they will think of the pure patriots who 
 sat down in good fellowship to feast on the bear meat and venison ; 
 and the enthusiasm the occasion is calculated to awaken will induce 
 them to bless the patriot who, in a cause so glorious, spared no pains 
 in cooking the dinner, and serving it in a becoming manner. And this 
 is fame ! 
 
 The fragments of the meats being cleared off, we went through the 
 customary evolution of drinking thirteen regular toasts, after every one 
 of which our drum with the loose skin grumbled like an old horsewith 
 an empty stomach ; and our asthmatic fife squeaked like a stuck pig, 
 a spirit-stirring tune, which we put off christening until we should 
 come to prepare om: proceedings for posterity. — The fife appeared to 
 have but one tune in it ; possibly it miught have had more, but the 
 poor fifer, with all his puffing and blowing, his too-too-too-ing, and 
 shaking his head and elbow, could not, for the body and soul of him, 
 get more than one out of it. If the fife had had an extra tune to its 
 name, sartin it wouldn't have been quite so hide bound on such an 
 occasion, but have let us have it, good, bad, or indifferent. We warn't 
 particular by no means. 
 
 Having gone through with the regular toasts, the president of the 
 day drank, " Our distinguished guest, Col. Crockett," which called 
 forth a prodigious clattering all around the table, and I soon saw that 
 nothing would do, but I must get up and make them a speech. I had 
 no sooner elongated my outward Adam, than they at it again, with 
 
OF DAVY GBOCKSTf. 319 
 
 renewed vigour, wliich made me sort of feel that I was still somebody, 
 though no longer a member of Congress. 
 
 In my speech I went over the whole history of the present admini- 
 stration ; took a long shot at the flying deposites, and gave an outline, 
 a sort of charcoal sketch, of the political life of " the Government's " 
 heir-presumptive. 
 
 My speech was received with three times three, and all that ; and 
 we continued speechifying and drinking until nightfall, when it was 
 put to vote, that we would have the puppet show over again, which 
 was carried nem. con. The showman set his wires to work, just as 
 " the Government " does the machinery in his big puppet show ; and 
 we spent a delightful and rational evening. We raised a subscription 
 for the poor showman ; and I went to bed, pleased and gratified with 
 the hospitality and kindness of the citizens of Little Eock. There are 
 some first-rate men there, of the real half-horse half-alligator breed, 
 with a sprinkling of the steamboat, and such as grow no where on the 
 face of the universal earth, but just about the backbone of North 
 America. 
 
CHAPTER XXVll. 
 
 THE day after our public dinner I determined to leave my hospitable 
 friends at Little Book, and cross Arkansas to Fulton on the Bed 
 river, a distance of about one hundred and twenty miles. They 
 wanted me to stay longer ; and the gentleman who had the reputa- 
 tion of being the best marksman in those parts was most particularly 
 anxious that we should have another trial of skill ; but says I to 
 myself, " Crockett, you've had just about glory enough for one day, so 
 take my advice, and leave well enough alone." I declined shooting, 
 for there was nothing at all to be gained by it, and I might possibly 
 lose some little of the reputation I had acquired. I have always found 
 that it is a very important thing for a man who is fairly going ahead, 
 to know exactly how far to go, and when to stop. . . . 
 
 Finding that I was bent on going, for I became impatient to get into 
 Texas, my kind friends at Little Eock procured me a good horse to 
 carry me across to Eed river. There are no bounds to the good feel- 
 ing of the pioneers of the west ; they consider nothing a trouble that 
 will confer a favour upon a stranger that they chance to take a fancy 
 to ; true, we are something like chestnut burs on the outside, rather 
 prickly if touched roughly, but there's good fruit within. 
 
 My horse was brought to the door of the tavern, around which many 
 of the villagers were assembled. The drum and fife were playing 
 what was intended for a lively tune, but the skin of the drum still 
 hung as loose as the hide of a fat man far gone in a consumption ; and 
 the fife had not yet recovered from the asthma. The music sounded 
 something like a fellow singing, " Away with melancholy," on the way 
 to the gallows. I took my leave of the landlord, shook hands with 
 the showman, who had done more than an average business, kissed his 
 wife, who had recovered, and bidding farewell to all my kind hearted 
 friends, I mounted my horse, and left the village, accompanied by four 
 or five gentlemen. The drum and fife now appeared to exert them- 
 selves, and made more noise than usual, while the crowd sent forth 
 three cheers to encourage me on my way. 
 
 I tiied to raise some recruits for Texas among my companions but 
 they said they had their own affairs to attend to, which would keep 
 them at home for the present, but no doubt they would come over and 
 see us as soon as the disturbances should be settled. They looked upon 
 Texas as being part of the United States, though the Mexicans did 
 claim it ; and they had no doubt the time was not very distant when 
 it would be received into the glorious Union. 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 321 
 
 My companions did not intend seeing me farther on my way than 
 the Washita river, near fifty miles. Conversation was pretty brisk, for 
 we talked about the affairs of the nation and Texas ; subjects that are 
 by no means to be exhausted, if one may judge by the long speeches 
 .made in Congress, where they talk year in and year out ; and it would 
 seem that as much still remains to be said as ever. As we drew nigh 
 to the Washita, the silence was broken alone by our own talk and the 
 clattering of our horses' hoofs ; and we imagined om-selves pretty 
 much the only travellers, when we were suddenly somewhat startled 
 by the sound of music. We checked our horses, and listened, and the 
 music continued. " What can all that mean ?" says I. "Blast my 
 old shoes if I know, Colonel," says one of the party. We listened 
 again, and we now heard, " Hail, Columbia, happy land ! " played in 
 first-rate style. "That's fine," says I. "Fine as silk, Colonel, and 
 leetle finer," says the other ; "but hark, the tune's changed." We 
 took another spell of listening, and now the musician struck up, in a 
 brisk and lively manner, " Over the water to Charley." " That's 
 mighty mysterious," says one ; " Can't cipher it out no how,'' says 
 another ; " A notch beyant my measure,'' says a third. " Then let us 
 go ahead," says I, and off we dashed at a pretty rapid gait, I tell you 
 — by no means slow. 
 
 As we approached the river we saw to the right of the road a new 
 clearing on a hill, where several men were at work, and they running 
 down the hill like wild Indians, or rather like the office holders in pur- 
 suit of the deposites. There appeared to be no time to be lost, so they 
 ran, and we cut ahead for the crossing. The music continued in all 
 this time stronger and stronger, and the very notes appeared to speak 
 distinctly, " Over the water to Charley." 
 
 When we reached the crossing we were struck all of a heap, at 
 beholding a man seated in a sulky in the middle of the river, and 
 playing for life on a fiddle. The horse was up to his middle in the 
 water ; and it seemed as if the flimsy vehicle was ready to be swept 
 away by the current. Still the fiddler fiddled on composedly, as if his 
 life had been insured, and he was nothing more than a passenger. We 
 thought he was mad, and shouted to him. He heard us, and stopped 
 his music. " You have missed the crossing," shouted one of the men 
 from the clearing. " I know I have," returned the fiddler. "If you 
 go ten feet farther you will be drowned." " I know I shall," returned 
 the fiddler. " Turn back," said the man. "I can't,'' said the other 
 " Then how the devil will you get out ? " " I'm sure I don't know ; 
 come you and help me." 
 
 The men from the cleai'ing, who understood the river, took our 
 horses and rode up to the sulky, and after some difficulty, succeeded 
 in bringing the traveller safe to shore, when we recognized the worthy 
 parson who had fiddled for us at the puppet show at Little Eock. 
 They told him that he had had a narrow escape, and he replied, that 
 he had found that out an hour ago. He said he had been fiddling to 
 the fishes for a full hour, and had exhausted all the tunes that he 
 could play without notes. We then asked him what could have 
 
 22 
 
322 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 induced him to think of fiddling at a time of such peril ; and he 
 replied, that he had- remarked in his progress through life, that there 
 was nothing in universal natur so well calculated to draw people 
 together as the sound of a fiddle ; and he knew, that he might -bawl 
 until he was hoarse for assistance, and no one would stir a peg ; but 
 they would no sooner hear the scraping of his catgut, than they would 
 quit aE. other business, and come to the spot in flocks. We laughed 
 heartily at the knowledge the parson showed of human natur. — And 
 he was right. 
 
 Having fixed up the old gentleman's sulky right and tight, and after 
 rubbing down his poor jaded animal, the company insisted on having 
 a dance before we separated. We all had our flasks of whisky ; we 
 took a drink all round, and though the parson said he had had about 
 enough fiddling for one day, he struck up with great good humour ; at 
 it we went and danced straight fours for an hour and better. We all 
 enjoyed ourselves very much, but came to the conclusion, that 
 dancing wasn't altogether the thing without a few petticoats to give 
 it variety. 
 
 The dance being over, our new friends pointed out the right fording, 
 and assisted the parson across the river. We took another drink all 
 round, and after shaking each other cordially by the hand, we sepa- 
 rated, wishing each other all the good fortune that the rugged lot that 
 has been assigned us will afford. My friends retraced the road to 
 Little Eock, and I pursued my journey; and as I thought of their 
 disinterested kindness to an entire stranger, I felt that the world is 
 not quite as heartless and selfish as some grumblers would have us 
 think. 
 
 I kept in company with the parson until we arrived at Greenville, 
 and I do say, he was just about as pleasant an old gentleman to travel 
 with, as any man who wasn't too darned particular, could ask for. 
 We talked about politics, religion, and natur, farming and bear hunt- 
 ing, and the many blessings that an all bountiful Providence has 
 bestowed upon our happy country. He continued to talk upon this 
 subject, travelling over the whole ground as it were, untU his imagina- 
 tion glowed, and his soul became full to overflowing ; and he checked 
 his horse, and I stopped mine also, and a stream of eloquence burst 
 forth from his aged lips, such as I have seldom listened to : it came 
 from the overflowing fountain of a pure and grateful heart. We were 
 alone in the wilderness, but as he propeeded, it seemed to me as if the 
 tall trees bent their tops to listen ; — that the mountain stream laughed 
 out joyfully as it bounded on like some living thing ; that the fading 
 flowers of autumn smiled, and sent forth fresher tragrance, as if 
 conscious that they would revive in spring ; and even the sterile rocks 
 seemed to be endued with some mysterious influence. We were alone 
 in the wilderness, but all things told me that God was there. That 
 thought renewed my strength and courage. I had left my country, 
 felt somewhat like an outcast, believed that I had been neglected and 
 lost sight of; but I was now conscious that there was still one watch- 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 323 
 
 ful Eye over me ; no matter whether I dwelt in the populous cities, 
 or threaded the pathless forest alone-; no matter whether I stood in 
 the high places among men, or made my solitary lair in the untrodden 
 wild, that Eye was still upon me. My very soul leaped joyfully at 
 the thought ; I never felt so grateful in all my life ; I never loved my 
 God so sincerely in all my life. I felt that I still had a friend. 
 
 When the old man finished I found that my eyes were wet with 
 tears. I approached and pressed his hand, and thanked him, and 
 says I, " Now let us take a drink." I set him the example, and he 
 followed it, and in a style too that satisfied nae, that if he had ever 
 belonged to the Temperance society, he had either renounced member- 
 ship or obtained a dispensation. Having liquored, we proceeded on 
 our journey, keeping a sharp look-out for mill-seats and plantations as 
 we rode along. 
 
 I left the worthy old man at GrreenviUe, and sorry enough I was to 
 part with him, for he talked a great deal, and he seemed to know a 
 little about everything. He knew all about the history of the country ; 
 was well acquainted with all the leading men ; knew where all the 
 good lands lay in most of the western states, as well as the cutest clerk 
 in the Land Office ; and had traced most of the rivers to their sources. 
 He was very cheerful and happy, though to all appearances very poor. 
 I thought that he would make a first-rate agent for taking up lands, 
 and mentioned it to him ; he smiled, and pointing above, said, " My 
 wealth lies not in this world." 
 
 I mounted my horse and pushed forward on my road to Fulton. 
 When I reached Washington, a village a few miles from the Red 
 river, I rode up to the Black Bear tavern, when the following conver- 
 sation took place between me and the landlord, which is a pretty fair 
 sample of the curiosity of some folks : — 
 
 " Good morning, mister— I don't exactly recollect your name now," 
 said the landlord as I aUghted. 
 
 " It's of no consequence," said I. 
 
 " I'm pretty sure I've seen ye somewhere." 
 
 " Very likely you may, I've been there frequently.'' 
 
 " I was sure 'twas so ; but strange I should forget your name," 
 says he. 
 
 " It is indeed somewhat strange that you should forget what you 
 never knew," says I. 
 
 " It is unaccountable strange. It's what I'm not often in the habit 
 of, I assure you. I have, for the most part, a remarkably detentive 
 memory. In the power of people that pass along this way, I've scarce 
 ever made, as the doctors say,' a slapsus slvnJcum of this kind afore." 
 
 "Eh heh I " I shouted, while the critter continued. 
 
 " Travelling to thg western country, I presume, mister ? " 
 
 "Presume any thing you please, sir," says I, "but don't trouble me 
 with your presumptions." 
 
 "O Lord, no, sir — I won't do that. I've no ideer of that — not the 
 least ideer in the world," says he; "I suppose you've been to the 
 westward afore now ? " 
 
324 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 " Well, suppose I have ? " 
 
 " Why, on that supposition, I was going to say you must be pretty 
 well — that is to say, you must know something about the place." 
 
 " Eh heh ! " I ejaculated, looking sort of mazed full in his face. 
 The tamel critter still went ahead. 
 
 " I take it your a married man, mister ? " 
 
 " Take it as you will, that is no affair of mine," says I. 
 
 " Well, after all, a married life is the most happiest way of Uving ; 
 don't you think so, mister ? " 
 
 " Very possible," says I. 
 
 ■' I conclude you have a family of children, sir? " 
 
 " I don't know what reason you have to conclude so." 
 
 " Oh, no reason in the world, mister, not the least," says he ; " hut 
 I thought I might just take the hberty to make the presumption, you 
 know, that's all, sir. I take it mister your a man about my age ? " 
 
 "Eh heh !" 
 
 " How old do you call yourself, if I may be so bold ? " 
 
 "You're bold enough, the devU knows," says I; and as I spoke 
 rather sharp, the' varment seemed rather staggered, but he soon re- 
 covered himself, and came up to the chalk again. 
 
 " No offence I hope — I — I — I-^ wouldn't be thought uncivil by any 
 means ; I always calculate to treat every body with civility." 
 
 " You have a very strange way of showing it." 
 
 " True, as you say, I ginerally take my own way in these ere mat- 
 ters. — Do you practise law,' mister, or farming, or mechanicals ? " 
 
 " Perhaps so," says I. 
 
 " Ah, I judge so ; I was pretty certain it must be the case. Well, 
 it's as good business as any there is followed now-a-days." 
 
 " Eh heh ! " I shouted, and my lower jaw fell in amazement at his 
 perseverance. 
 
 " I take it you've money at interest, mister ? " continued, the var- 
 ment, without allowing himself time to take breath. 
 
 " Would it be of any particular interest to you to find out ? " says I. 
 
 "0, not at all, not the least in the world, sir, I'm not at all inquisitive 
 about other people's matters; I mind's my own business — that's my 
 way." 
 
 " And a very odd way you have of doing it too." 
 
 " I've been thinking what persuasion you're of — whether you're a 
 Unitarian or Baptist, or whether you belong to the Methodisses." 
 
 " Well, what's the conclusion ? " 
 
 " Why, I have concluded that I'm pretty near right in my con- 
 jectures. Well, after all, I'm inclined to think they're the nearest 
 right of any persuasion — though some folks think differently." 
 
 " Eh heh I " I shouted again, 
 
 " As to poUyticks, I take it, you — that is to say, I suppose you " 
 
 " Very hkely." 
 
 " Ah I I could have sworn it was so from the moment I saw you. 
 I have a knack at finding out a man's sentiments. I dare say, mister 
 you're a justice in your own country ? " 
 
OF DAVY atlOOKBTT. 825 
 
 " And if I may return the compliment, I should say you're a just 
 ass, every where." By this time I began to get weary of his imperti- 
 nence, and led my horse to the trough to water, but the darned critter 
 followed me up. 
 
 " Why, yes," said he, " I'm in the commission of the peace, to be 
 sure — and an officer in the mihtia — though between you and I, I 
 wouldn't wish to boast of it." 
 
 M;^ horse having finished drinking, I put one foot in the stirrup, 
 and was preparing to mount — " Any more enquiries to make ? " said I. 
 
 "Why, no, nothing to speak on," said he, "When do you return, 
 mister ? " 
 
 "About the time I come back," said I ; and leaping into the saddle 
 galloped off. The pestiferous varment bawled after me, at the top of 
 his voice, — 
 
 " Well, I shall look for ye then. I hope you won't fail to call." 
 
 Now, who in all natur do you reckon the critter was, who afforded 
 so fine a sample of the impertinent curiosity that some people have 
 to pry into other people's affairs ? 
 
 I knew him well enough at first sight, though he seemed to have 
 forgotten me. It was no other than Job Snelling, the manufacturer 
 of cayenne pepper out of mahogany sawdust, and upon whom I played 
 the trick with 'the coon skin. I pursued my journey to Fulton, and 
 laughed heartily to think what a swither I had left poor Job in, at not 
 gratifying his curiosity ; for I knew he was one of those fellows who 
 would peep down your throat just to ascertain what you had eaten for 
 dinner. 
 
 When I arrived at Fulton, I inquired for a gentlemen to whom my 
 friends at Little Eock had given me a letter of introduction. I was 
 received in the most hospitable manner ; and as the steamboat did not 
 start for Natchitoches until the next day, I spent the afternoon in 
 seeing all that was to be seen. I left the horse with the gentleman, 
 who promised to have him safely returned to the owner ; and I took 
 the steamboat, and started on my way down the Bed river, right well 
 pleased with my reception at Fulton. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THERE was a considerable numlDer of passengers on board the 
 boat, and our assortment was somewhat like the Yankee mer- 
 chant's cargo of notions, pretty particularly miscellaneous, I tell you. 
 I moved through the crowd from stem to stern, to see if I could 
 discover any face that was not altogether strange to me ; but after a 
 general survey, I concluded that I had never seen one of them before. 
 There were merchants and emigrants and gamblers, but none who 
 seemed to have embarked in the particular business that for the time 
 being occupied my raind — I could find none who were going to Texas. 
 All seemed to have their hands full enough of their own affairs, with- 
 out meddling with the cause of freedom. The greater share of glory 
 will be mine, thought I, so go ahead, Crockett. 
 
 I saw a smaU cluster of passengers at one end of the boat, and 
 hearing an occasional burst of laughter, thinks I, there's some sport 
 started in that quarter, and having nothing better to do, I'll go in for 
 my share of it. Accordingly I drew nigh to the cluster, and seated on 
 the chest was a tail lank sea sarpent looking blackleg, who had crawled 
 over from Natchez under the hill, and was amusing the passengers 
 with his skill at thimblerig ; at the same time he was picking up their , 
 shillings just about as expeditiously as a hungry gobbler would a pint 
 of corn. He was doing what might be called an average business in a 
 small way, and lost no time in gathering up the fragments. 
 
 I watched the whole process for some time and found that he had 
 adopted the example set by the old tempter himself, to get the weather- 
 gauge of us poor weak mortals. He made it a point to let his victims 
 always win the first stake, that they might be tempted to go ahead ; 
 and then, when they least suspected it, he would come down upon 
 them like a hurricane in a cornfield, sweeping all before it. 
 
 I stood looking on, seeing him pick up the chicken feed from the 
 greenhorns, and thought if men are such darned fools as to be cheated 
 out of their hard earning by a fellow who had just brains enough to 
 pass a pea from one thimble to another, with such slight of hand, that 
 you could not tell under which he had deposited it ; it is not astonish- 
 ing that the magician of Kinderhook should play thimblerig upon the 
 big figure, and attempt to cheat the whole nation. . . . 
 
 The thimble conjurer saw me looking on, and eyeing me as if he 
 thought I would be a good subject, said carelessly, " Come, stranger 
 won't you take a chance ? " the whole time passing the pea from one 
 thimble to the other, by way of throwing out a bait for the gudgeons 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 3-27 
 
 to bite at. " I never gamble, stranger," says I, " principled against 
 it; think it a slippery way of getting through the world at best." 
 " Them are my sentiments to a notch," says he ; " but this is not 
 gambling by no means. A little innocent pastime, nothing more. 
 Better take a hack by way of trying your luck at guessing." All this 
 time he continiied working with his thimbles ; first putting the pea 
 under one, which was plain to be seen, and then uncovering it, would 
 show that the pea was there ; he would then put it under the second 
 thimble, and do the same, and then under the third ; all of which he 
 did to show how easy it would be to guess where the pea was de- 
 posited, if one would only keep a sharp look-out. 
 
 "Come, stranger," says he to me again, "you had better take a 
 chance. Stake a trifle, I don't care how small, just for the fun of the 
 thing." 
 
 " I am principled against betting money," says I, " but I don't 
 mind going in for drinks for the present company, for I'm as dry as 
 one of little Isaac HiU's regular set speeches." 
 
 " I admire your principles," says he, " and to show that I play with 
 these here thimbles just for the sake of pastime, I will take that 
 bet, though I am a whole hog temperance man. Just say when, 
 stranger." 
 
 He continued all the time slipping the pea from one thimble to 
 another ; my eye was as keen as a lizard's, and when he stopped, I 
 cried out, "Now; the pea is under' the middle thimble." He was 
 going to raise it to show that it wasn't there, when I interfered, and 
 said, " Stop, if you please," and raised it myself, and sure enough 
 the pea was there ; but it mought have been otherwise if he had had 
 the uncovering of it. 
 
 " Sure enough you've won the bet," says he. " You've a sharp eye, 
 but I Son't care if I give you another chance. Let us go fifty cents 
 this bout; I'm sure you'll win." 
 
 " Then you're a darned fool to bet, stranger," says I ; " and since 
 that is the case, it would be little better than picking your pocket to 
 bet with you ; so I'll let it alone." 
 
 "I don't mind running the lisk," said he. 
 
 "But I do," says I; " and since I always let well enough alone, 
 and I have had just about glory enough for one day, let us all got to 
 the bar and liquor." 
 
 This called forth a loud laugh at the thimble conjurer's expense ; 
 and he tried hard to induce me to take just one chance more, but he 
 mought just as well have sung psalms to a dead horse, for my mind 
 was made up, and I told him, that I looked upon gambling aa 
 about the dirtiest way that a man could adopt to get through this dirty 
 world ; and that I would never bet anything beyond a quart of whisky 
 upon a rifie shot, which I considered a legal bet, and gentlemanly and 
 .rational amusement. " But all this cackling," says I, " makes me 
 very thirsty, so let us adjourn to the bar and liquor." 
 
 He gathered up his thimbles, and the whole company followed us 
 to the bar, laughing heartily at the conjurer ; for, as he had won 
 
528 ■ LJPE AND AbVSNTUBES 
 
 Bome of their money, they were sort of delighted to see him beaten 
 with his own cudgel. He tried to laugh too, but his laugh wasn't _ at 
 all pleasant, and rather forced. The barkeeper placed a big-beUied 
 bottle before us ; and after mixing our liquor, I was called on for a 
 toast, by one of the company, a chap just about as rough hewn as n 
 he had been cut out of a gum log with a broad axe, and sent into the 
 market without even being smoothed off with a jack plane,— one of 
 them chaps who, in their journey through life, are always ready for a 
 fight or a frohc, and don't care the toss of a copper which. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," says I, "being called upon for a toast, and being 
 in a slave-holding state, in order to avoid giving offence, and running 
 the risk of being Lynched, it may be necessary to premise that I am 
 neither an abolitionist nor a colonizationist, but simply Colonel Croc- 
 kett, of Tennessee, now bound for Texas." "When they heard my 
 name they gave three cheers for Colonel Crockett ; and silence being 
 restored, I continued, ''Now, gentlemen, I will offer you a toast, 
 hoping, after what I have stated, that it will give offence to no one 
 present ; but should I be mistaken, I must imitate the' old Koman, 
 and take the responsibility. I offer, gentlemen, The abolition of 
 slavery : Let the work first begin in the two houses of Congress. 
 There are no slaves in the country more servile than the party slaves 
 iu Congress. The wink or the nod of their masters is all sufficient for 
 the accomplishment of the most dirty work." . . . 
 
 The thimble conjurer having asked the barkeeper how much there 
 was to pay, was told that there were sixteen smallers, which amounted 
 to one dollar. He was about to lay down the blunt, but not in Ben- 
 ton's metallic currency, which- 1 find has already become as shy as 
 honesty with an office holder, but he planked down one of Biddle's 
 notes, when I interfered, and told him that the barkeeper had made a 
 mistake. 
 
 " How so ? " demanded the barkeeper. 
 
 " How much do you charge," says I, " when you retail your 
 liquor ? " 
 
 "A fip a glass." 
 
 " Well, then," says I, " as Thimblerig here, who belongs to the 
 temperance society, took it in wholesale, I reckon you can afford to 
 let him have it at half price ? " 
 
 Now, as they had aU notice that the conjurer went what is called 
 the heavy wet, they laughed outright, and we heard no more about 
 temperance from that quarter. When we returned to the deck the black- 
 leg set to work with his thimbles again, and bantered me to bet ; but 
 I told him that it was against my principle, and as I had already 
 reaped glory enough for one day, I would just let well enough alope 
 for the present. . . . 
 
 One of the passengers, hearing that I was on board of the boat 
 came up to me, and began to talk about the affairs of the nation, and 
 said a good deal in favour of "the Magician," and wished to hear 
 what I had to say against him. He talked loud, which is the way 
 with all politicians educated in the Jackson school ; and by his slang- 
 
OF DAVY CBOGEETT. 329 
 
 whanging, drew a considerable crowd around us. Now, this was the 
 very thing I wanted, as I knew I should not soon have another 
 opportunity of making a political speech ; he no sooner asked to hear 
 what I had to say against his candidate, than I let him have it, strong 
 and hot as he could take, I tell you. 
 
 My speech was received with great applause, and the politician, 
 finding that I was better acquainted with his candidate thfm. he was 
 himself, for I wrote his Ufe, shut his fly trap, and turned on his heel 
 without saying a word. He found that he had barked up the wrong 
 tree. I afterward learnt that he was a mail contractor in those parts, 
 and that he also had large dealings in the Land Office, and therefore 
 thought it necessary to chime in with his penny whistle, in the 
 universal chorus. There's a large band of the same description, but 
 I'm thinking Uncle Sam will some day find out that he has paid too 
 much for the piper. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 AFTEE my speech, and settiog my face against gambling, poor 
 Thimblerig was obliged to break off conjuring for want of 
 customers, and call it half a day. He came and entered into con- 
 versation with me, and I found him a good-natured, intelligent fellow, 
 with a keen eye for the main chance. He belonged to that numerous 
 class, that it is perfectly safe to trust as far as a tailor can sling a bull 
 by the tail — but no farther. He told me that he had been brought up 
 a gentleman ; that is to say, he was not instructed in any useful 
 pursuit by which he could obtain a livelihood, so that when he found 
 he had to depend upon himself for the necessaries of life, he began to 
 suspect that dame nature would have conferred a particular favour if 
 she had consigned him to the care of any one else. She had made 
 a very injudicious choice when she selected him to sustain the dignity 
 of a gentleman. 
 
 The first bright idea that occurred to him as a speedy means of 
 bettering his fortune, would be to marry an heiress. Accordingly he 
 looked about himself pretty sharp, and after glancing from one fair 
 object to another, finally, his hawk's eye rested upon the young and 
 pretty daughter of a wealthy planter. Thimblerig run his brazen 
 face wth his tailor for a new suit, for he abounded more in that 
 metallic currency than he did in either Benton's mint drops or in 
 Biddle's notes ; and having the gentility of his outward Adam thus 
 endorsed by his tailor — an important endorsement, by-the-way, as 
 times go — he managed to obtain an introduction to the planter's 
 daughter. 
 
 Our worthy had the principle of going ahead strongly developed. 
 He was possessed of considerable address, and had brass enough in 
 his face to make a wash-kettle : and having once got access to the 
 planter's house, it was no easy matter to dislodge him. In this he 
 resembled those politicians who commence life as office holders ; they 
 will hang on tooth and nail, and even when death shakes them off, 
 you'll find a commission of some kind crumpled up in their clenched 
 fingers. Little Van appears to belong to this class — there's no beating 
 his snout from the public crib. He'll feed there while there's a grain 
 of corn left, and even then, from long habit, he'll set to work and 
 gnaw at the manger. 
 
 Thimblerig got the bhnd side of the planter, and every thine to 
 outward appearances went on swimmingly. Our worthy boasted to 
 his cronies that the business was settled, and that in a few weeks he 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY GBOCKETT. 831 
 
 should occupy the elevated station in society that nature had designed 
 him to adorn. He swelled like the frog in the fable, or rather, like 
 Johnson's wife, of Kentucky, when the idea occurred to her of figuring 
 away at Washington. — But there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the 
 lip, says the proverb, and suddenly Thimblerig discontinued his visits 
 at the planter's house. His friends inquired of him the meaning of 
 this abrupt termination of his devotions. 
 
 " I have been treated with disrespect," replied the worthy, indig- 
 nantly. 
 
 " Disrespect ! in what way ? " 
 " My visits, it seems, are not altogether agreeable." 
 " But how have you ascertained that ? " 
 
 " I received a hint to that effect ; and I can take a hint as soon as 
 another." 
 
 " A hint ! — and liave you allowed a hint to drive you from the 
 pursuit? Por shame. Go back again." 
 
 " No, no, never ! a hint is sufficient for a man of my gentlemanly 
 feelings. I asked the old man for -his daughter." 
 " Well, what followed ? what did he say ? " 
 " Didn't say a word." 
 " Silence gives consent all the world over." 
 " So I thought. I then told him to fix the day." 
 " Well, what then ? " 
 
 " Why, then he kicked me down stairs, and ordered his slaves to 
 pump upon me. That's hint enough for me, that my visits are not 
 properly appreciated ; and blast my old shoes if I condescend to 
 renew the acquaintance, or notice them in any way until they send 
 for nae." 
 
 As Thimblerig's new coat became rather too seedy to play the part 
 of a gentleman much longer in real life, he determined to sustain that 
 character upon the stage, and accordingly joined a company of 
 players. He began, according to custom, at the top of the ladder, 
 and was regularly hissed and pelted through every gradation until he 
 found himself at the lowest rowel. " This," said he, " was a dreadful 
 check to proud ambition ; " but he consoled himself with the idea of 
 peace and quietness in his present obscure walk ; and though he had 
 no prospect of being elated by the applause of admiring multitudes, 
 he no longer trod the scene of mimic gloiy in constant dread of 
 becoming a target for rotten eggs and oranges. — " And there was 
 much in that," said Thimblerig. But this calm cotild not continue 
 or ever. 
 
 The manager, who, like all managers who pay salaries regularly, 
 was as absolute behind the scenes as the "old Koman" is in the 
 White House, had fixed upon getting up an eastern spectacle, called 
 the Cataract of the Ganges. He intended to introduce a fine pro- 
 cession, in which an elephant was to be the principal feature. Here a 
 difficulty occurred. What was to be done for an elephant ? Alli- 
 gators were plenty in those parts, but an elephant was not to be had 
 for love or money. But an alhgator would not answer the pm'pose, 
 
332 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 so he determined to make a pasteboard elephant as large as life, and 
 twice as natural. The next difficulty was to find members of the 
 company of suitable dimensions to perform the several members of 
 the pasteboard star. The manager cast his eye upon the long, gaunt 
 figure of the unfortunate Thimblerig, and cast him for the hinder 
 legs, the rump, and part of the back of the elephant. The poor 
 player expostulated, and the manager replied, that he would appear 
 as a star on the occasion, and would no doubt receive more applause 
 than he had during his whole career. " But I shall not be seen," 
 said the player. — " All the better," replied the manager, " as in that 
 case you wUl have nothing to apprehend from eggs and oranges." 
 
 Thimblerig, finding that mild expostulation availed nothing, swore 
 that he would not study the part, and accordingly threw it up in digni- 
 fied disgust. He said that it was an outrage upon the feehngs of the 
 proud representative of Shakespeare's heroes, to be compelled to play 
 pantomime in the hinder parts of the noblest animal that ever trod 
 the stage. If it had been the fore quarters of the elephant, it might 
 possibly have been made a speaking part ; at any rate, he might have 
 snorted through the trunk, if nothing more ; but from the position he 
 was to occupy, damned the word could he utter, or even roar with 
 propriety. He therefore positively refused to act, as he considered it 
 an insult to his reputation to tread the stage in such a character ; and 
 he looked upon the whole affair as a profanation of the legitimate 
 drama. The result was, our worthy was discharged from the 
 company, and compelled to commence hoeing another row. 
 
 He drifted to New Orleans, and hired himself as marker to a 
 gambling table. Here he remained but a few months, for his idea of 
 arithmetic differed widely from those of his employer, and accordingly 
 they had some difficulty in balancing their cash account ; for when his 
 employer, in adding up the receipts, made it nought and carry two, 
 Thimblerig insisted that it should be nought and carry one ; and in 
 order to prove that he was correct, he carried himself off, and left 
 nothing behind him. 
 
 He now commenced professional blackleg on his own hook, and 
 took up his quarters in Natchez under the hill. Here he remained, 
 doing business in a small way, 'until Judge Lynch commenced his 
 practice in that quarter, and made the place too hot for his comfort. 
 He shifted his habitation, but not having sufficient capital to go the 
 big figure, he practised the game of thimblerig until he acquired 
 considerable skUl, and then commenced passing up and down the 
 river in the steamboats ; and managed, by close attention to business, 
 to' pick up a decent livelihood in the small way, from such as had 
 more pence in their pockets than sense in their noddles. 
 
 I found Thimblerig to be a pleasant talkative fellow. He com- 
 municated the foregoing facts with as much indifference as if there 
 had been nothing disgraceful in his career ; and at times he would 
 chuckle with an air of triumph at the adroitness he had displayed in 
 some of the knavish tricks he had practised. He looked upon this 
 world as one vast stage, crowded with empirics and jugglers ; and 
 
OF DAVY OBOOKETT. 333 
 
 that he who could practise his deceptions with the greatest skill was 
 entitled to the greatest applause. 
 
 I asked him to give me an account of Natchez and his adventures 
 there, and I would put it in the book I intended to write, when he 
 gave me the following, which betrays that his feelings were still 
 somewhat irritated at being obliged to give them leg bail when Judge 
 Lynch made his appearance. I give it in his own words : 
 
 " Natchez is a land of fevers, alligators, niggers, and cotton bales : 
 where the sun shines with force sufficient to melt the diamond, and 
 the word ice is expunged from the dietiona,ry, for its definition cannot 
 be comprehended by the natives : where to refuse grog before break- 
 fast would degrade you below the brute creation ; and where a good 
 dinner is looked upon as an angel's visit, and voted a miracle ; where 
 the evergreen and majestic magnolia tree, with its superb flower, 
 unknown to the northern climes, and its fragrance unsurpassed, calls 
 forth the admiration of every beholder ; and the dark naoss hangs in 
 festoons from. the forest trees like the drapery of a funeral pall : where 
 bears, the size of young jackasses, are fondled in lieu of pet dogs ; 
 and knives, the length of a barber's pole, usurp the place of tooth- 
 picks : where the filth of the town is carried off by buzzards, and the 
 inhabitants are carried off by fevers : . . . where the poorest slave 
 has plenty of yellow boys, but not of Benton's mintage ; and indeed 
 the shades of colour are so varied and mixed, that a nigger is fre- 
 quently seen black and blue at the same time. And such is Natchez. 
 
 " The town is divided into two parts, as distinct in character as they 
 are in appearance. Natchez on the hill, situated upon a high bluff 
 overlooking the Mississippi, is a pretty little town with streets 
 regularly laid out, and ornamented with divers handsome public 
 buildings. Natchez under the hill, — where, 1 where, shall I find 
 words suitable to describe the peculiarities of that unholy spot ? 'Tis, 
 in fact, the jumping off place. Satan looks on it with glee, and 
 chuckles as he beholds the orgies of his votaries." 
 
 • a • • I 
 
 Thimblerig had also been at Vicksburg in his time, and entertained 
 as little liking for that place as he did for Natchez. He had luckily 
 made his escape a short time before the recent clearing-out of the 
 slight-of-hand gentry ; and he reckoned some time would elapse before 
 he would pay them another visit. He said they must become. more 
 civilized first. All the time he was talking to me he was seated on a 
 chest, and playing mechanically with his pea and thimbles, as if he 
 was afraid that he would lose the slight unless ho kept his hand in 
 constant practice. Nothing of any consequence occurred in our 
 passage down the river, and I arrived at Natchitoches in perfect 
 health, and in good spirits. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 NATCHITOCHES is a post town and seat of justice for the parish 
 of Natchitoches, Louisiana, and is situated on the right bank of 
 the Bed river. The houses are chiefly contained in one street, running 
 parallel to the river ; and the population I shoiild reckon at about 
 eight hundred. The soil in this parish is generally sterile, and covered 
 with pine timber, except near the margin of Red river, where the 
 greatest part of the inhabitants are settled on the alluvial banks. 
 Some other, though comparatively small, tracts of productive soil 
 skirt the streams. An extensive body of low ground, subject to 
 annual submersion, extends along the Bed river, which, it is said, will 
 produce forty bushels of frogs to the acre, and alligators enough to 
 fence it. 
 
 I stayed two days at Natchitoches, during which time I procured a 
 horse to carry me across Texas to the seat of war. Thimblerig 
 remained with me, and I found his conversation very amusing ; for 
 he is possessed of humour and observation, and has seen something 
 of the world. Between whiles he would amuse himself with . his 
 thirables, to which he appeared greatly attached, and occasionally he 
 would pick up a few shillings from the tavern loungers. He no longer 
 asked me to play with him, for he felt somewhat ashamed to do so, 
 and he knew it would be no go. 
 
 I took him to task in a friendly manner, and tried to shame him 
 out of his' evil practices. I fold him that it was a burlesque on human 
 nature, that an able bodied man, possessed of his full share of good 
 sense, should voluntarily debase himself, and be indebted for sub- 
 sistence to such pitiful artifice. 
 
 "But what's to be- done. Colonel? " says he. " I'm in the slough 
 of despond, up to the very chin. A miry and slippery path to 
 travel." 
 
 " Then hold your head up," says I, " before the slough reaches your 
 lips." 
 
 "But what's the use? "says he; " it's utterly impossible for me to 
 wade through ; and even if I could, I should be in such a du-ty 
 plight, that it would defy all the waters in the Mississippi to wash me 
 clean again. No," he added, in a desponding tone, " I should be like 
 a live eel in a frying pan. Colonel, sort of out of my element, if I 
 attempted to live like an honest man at this time o' day." 
 
 "That I deny. It is never too late to become honest," said I. 
 "But even admit what you say to be true— that you cannot live like 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 OF DAVY CROCKETT. 335 
 
 an honest man, you have at least the next best thing in your power, 
 and no one can say nay to it." 
 
 " And what is that ? " 
 
 ' " Die like a bravfe one. And I know not whether, in the eyes of 
 
 the world, a brilliant death is not preferred to an obscure life of rec- 
 
 ■ titude. Most men are remembered as they died, and not as they 
 
 lived. We gaze with admiration upon the-glories of the setting sun, 
 
 yet scarcely bestow a passing glance hpon its noonday splendour." 
 
 " You are right ; but how is this to be done ? " 
 
 "Accompany me to Texas. Cut aloof from your degrading habits 
 and associates here, and in fighting for their freedom, regain your 
 own." 
 
 He started from the table, and hastily gathering up the thimbles 
 with which he had been playing all the time I was talking to him, he 
 thrust them into his pocket, and after striding two or three times 
 across the room, suddenly stopped, his leaden eye kindled, and 
 grasping me by the hand violently, he exclaimed with an oath, 
 
 " By I'U be a man again. Live honestly, or die bravely. I 
 
 go with you to Texas." 
 
 I said what I could to confirm him in his resolution, and finding 
 that the idea had taken fast hold of his mind, I asked him to liquor, 
 which he did not decline, notwithstanding the temperance habits that 
 he boasted of; we then took a walk on the banks of the river.. 
 
 I descended to the street in front of the inn. The stars were 
 faintly ghmmering in the heavens, and the first beams of the morning 
 sun were strngghng through the dim clouds that skirted the eastern 
 horizon. I thought myself felone in the street, when the hush of 
 morning was suddenly broken by a clear, joyful, and musical voice, 
 which sang, as near as I could catch it, the following scrap of a song : 
 
 " Oh, what is the time of the merry round year, 
 That is fittest and sweetest for love ? 
 Ere sucks the bee, ere buds the tree ; 
 And primroses by two, by three, 
 Faintly shine in the path of the lonely deer, 
 Like the few stars of twilight above." 
 
 I turned towards the spot whence the sounds proceeded, and dis- 
 covered a tall figure leaning against the sign post. His eyes were 
 fixed on the streaks of light in the east ; his mind was absorbed, and 
 he was clearly tmconsoious of any one being near him. He con- 
 tinued his song in so full and clear atone, that the street re-echoed — 
 
 " "When the blackbird and thrush, at early dawn, 
 Preloide from leafy spray — 
 Amid dewy scents and blandishments, 
 Like a choir attuning their instruments. 
 Ere the curtain of nature aside be drawn 
 For the concert the live long day." 
 
336 LIFE AND ABVEN TUBES 
 
 I now drew nigh enough to see him distinctly. He was a young 
 man, not more than twenty-two. -His figure was light and graceful, 
 and at the same time it indicated strength and activity. He was 
 dressed in a hunting shirt, which was made with uncommon neatness, 
 and ornamented tastily with fringe. He held a highly finished rifle 
 in his right hand, and a hunting pouch, covered with Indian orna- 
 ments, was slung across his shoulders. His clean shirt collar was 
 open, secured only by a black riband around his neck. His boots 
 .were polished without a soil upon them ; and on his head was a neat 
 
 fur cap, tossed on in a manner which said, "I don't care ad n," 
 
 just as plainly as any cap could speak it. I thought it must be some 
 popinjay of a lark, until I took a look at his countenance. It was 
 handsome, bright, and manly. There was no mistake in that face. 
 From the eyes down to his breast he was sunburnt as dark as 
 mahogany, whUe the upper part of his high forehead was as white 
 and polished as marble. Thick clusters of black hair curled ii-om under 
 his cap. Tpassed on unperceived, and he continued his song : — 
 
 " In the green spring-tide, all tender and bright, 
 When the sun sheds a kindlier gleam 
 O'er the velvet bank, that sweet flowers prank — 
 That have fresh dews and sunbeams drank — 
 Softest and most chaste, as enchanted light 
 In the visions of maiden's dream." 
 
 The stranger now came to me, calUng me by name. I expressed 
 some astonishment at being known to him, and he said that he had 
 heard of my being in the village, and had sought me out for the pur- 
 pose of accompanying me to Texas. He told me that he was a bee 
 hunter ; that he had travelled pretty much over that country in the 
 way of his business, and that I would find him of considerable use 
 in navigating through the ocean of prairies. 
 
 He told me that honey trees are abxmdant in Texas, and that honey of 
 an excellent quality, and in any quantity, may be obtained from them. 
 There are persons who have a peculiar tact in coursing the bee, and 
 thus discovering their deposites of the luscious food. This employ- 
 ment is not a mere pastime, but is profitable. The wax alone, thus 
 obtained, is a valuable article of commerce in Mexico, and commands 
 a high price. It is much used in churches, where some of the 
 candles made use of are as long as a man's arm. It often happens 
 that the hunters throw away the honey, and save only the wax. 
 
 " It is a curious fact," said the Bee hunter, " in the natural history 
 of the bee, that it is never found in a wild country, but always pre- 
 cedes civilization, forming a kind of advance guard between the white 
 man and the savage. The Indians, at least, are perfeetly convinced 
 of this fact, for it is a common remark among them, when they 
 observe these insects — ' there come the white men.' " 
 
 Thimblerig came up, and the Bee hunter spoke to him, calling him 
 by name, for he had met with him in New Orleans. I told him that 
 
OP DAVY CSOdKEft. 33f 
 
 the conjurer had determined to accompany me also, at which he 
 seemed well pleased, and encouraged the poor fellow to adhere to that 
 resolution ; for he would he a man among men in Texas, and no one 
 would be very particular in inquiring about his fortunes in the States. 
 If once there, he might boldly stand up and feed out of the same rack 
 with the best. ... 
 
 With the assistance of »ur new friend, who was a generous, 
 pleasant fellow, we procured a horse and rifle for Thimblerig ; and 
 we started for Nacogdoches, which is about one hundred and twenty 
 miles west of Natchitoches, under the guidance of the Bee hunter. 
 
CHAPTEB XXXI. 
 
 OUB route, which lay along what is called the old Spanish road, 
 we found to be much better defined on the map, than upon the 
 face of the country. We had, in many instances, no other guide to 
 the path than the blazes on the trees. The Bee hunter was a cheerful 
 communicative companion, and by his pleasant conversation rendered 
 our journey anything but fatiguing. He knew all about the country ; 
 had undergone a variety of adventure, and described what he had 
 witnessed with such freshness and so graphically, that if I could 
 only remember one-half he told me about the droves of wild horses, 
 buffalo, vaiSous birds, beautiful scenery of the wide spreading and 
 fertile prairies, and his adventures with the roving tribes of Indians, 
 I should fill my book, I am sure, much more agreeably than I shall 
 be able to do on my own hook. When he'd get tired of talking, he'd 
 commence singing, and his list of songs seemed to be as long as a 
 rainy Sunday. He had a fine clear voice, and though I have heard 
 the Woods sing at the Park Theatre, in New York, I must give the 
 Bee hunter the preference over all I have ever heard, except my 
 friend Jim Crow, who, it must be allowed, is a real steamboat at the 
 business, and goes a leetle ahead of any thing that vidll come 
 after him. 
 
 He gave me, among other matters, the following account of a 
 rencounter between one of the early settlers and the Indians : — 
 
 " Andrew Tumlinson," said he, " belonged to a family which the 
 colonists of De Witt will long remember as one of their chief stays 
 in the dangers of setthng those wilds, trod only by the children of 
 the forest. This indefatigable champion of revenge for his father's 
 death, who had fallen some years before by Indian treachery, had 
 vowed never to rest until he had received satisfaction. In order the 
 better to accomplish his end, he was one of the foremost, if possible, 
 in every skirmish with the Indians ; and that he might be enabled to 
 do so without restraint, he placed his wife under the care of his 
 brother-in-law, shouldered his rifle, and headed a ranging party, who 
 were resolved to secure peace to those who followed them, though 
 purchased by their own death. 
 
 '' He had been frequently victorious in the most desperate fights 
 where the odds were greatly against him, and at last fell a victim to 
 his own imprudence. A Caddo had been seized as a spy and 
 threatened with death, in order to compel him to deliver up his 
 knife The fellow never moved a muscle, or even winked, as he beheld 
 
LIFE AND ALVENTVBES OF DAVY CMOOKETT. 339 
 
 the rifles pointed at him. He had been found lurking in the yard 
 attached to the house of a solitary and unprotected family, and he 
 knew that the whites were exasperated at his tribe for injuries that, 
 they had oorhmitted. "When discovered he was accompanied by his 
 little son. 
 
 " Tumhrison spoke to him in Spanish, to learn what had brought 
 him there at such a time, but instead of giving any satisfaction, he 
 sprung to his feet, from the log where he was seated, at the same 
 time seizing his rifle which was lying beside him. The owner of the 
 house, with whom the Indian had been on a friendly footing, 
 expostulated with him, and got him to surrender the gun, telhng him 
 that the whites only wished to be satisfied of his friendly intentions, 
 and had no desire to injure one who might be useful in conciliating 
 his red brethren. 
 
 "He appeared to acquiesce, and wrapping his blanket more closely 
 around his body, m'oved on in silence ahead of the whites. Turn- 
 linson approached him, and though the rest of the party privately 
 cautioned him not to go too nigh, as they believed the Indian had a 
 knife under his blanket, he disregarded the warning, trusting for 
 safety to his rifle and dexterity. 
 
 " He continued to interrogate the captive until he awakened his 
 suspicions that his life was not safe. The, Indian returned no answer 
 but a short caustic laugh at the end of every question. Tumlinson 
 at length beheld his countenance become more savage, which was 
 followed by a sudden movement of the right hand beneath his 
 blanket. He fired, and the next instant the Caddo's knife was in his 
 heart, for the savage sprung with the quickness of the wild cat upon 
 his prey. The rifle ball had passed through the Indian's body, yet 
 his victim appeared to be no more in his grasp than a sparrow in 
 the talons of an eagle, for he was a man of gigantic frame, and he 
 knew that not only his own life, but that of his little son, would be 
 taken on the spot. He called to the boy to fly, while he continued to 
 plunge his knife into the bosom of his prostrate victim. The rest of 
 the party levelled their rifles, and the victor shouted, with an air of 
 triumph, ' Do your worst. I have sacririced another pale face to the 
 spirits of my fathers.' They fired, and he fell dead across the 
 body of the unfortunate Tumlinson. The poor boy fell also. He 
 had sprung forward some distance, when his father was shot, and 
 was running in a zig-zag manner, taught them in their youth, to 
 avoid the balls of their enemies, by rendering it difiicult for the best 
 marksman to draw a sight upon them.'' 
 
 In order to afford me some idea of the state of society in the more 
 thickly settled parts of Texas, the Bee hunter told me that he had set 
 down to the breakfast table, one morning at an inn, at San Fehpe, 
 and among the small party around the board were eleven who had 
 fled from the States charged with having committed murder. So 
 accustomed are the inhabitants to the appearance of fugitives from 
 justice that they are particularly careful to make inquiries of the 
 characters of new-comers, and generally obtain early and circum- 
 
340 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 Btantial information concerning strangers. " Indeed," said he, " it is 
 very common to hear the inquiry made, ' What did he do that made 
 him leave home ? ' or ' What.have you come to Texas for? ' intimatmg 
 almost an assurance of one's being a criminal. Notwithstanding this 
 state of things, however, the good of the public, and of each 
 individual, is so evidently dependent on the public morals, that all 
 appear ready to discountenance and punish crime. Even men who 
 have been expatriated by fear of justice, are here among the last who 
 would be disposed to shield a culprit guilty of a crime- against life or 
 property." 
 
 Thimblerig was delighted at this favourable account of the state_ o± 
 society, and said that it would be the very place for him to flourish 
 in ; he liked their liberal way of thinldng, for it did not at all taUy 
 with his ideas of natural law, that a man who happened to give offence 
 to the straight laced rules of action established by a set of people 
 contracted in their notions, should be hunted out of all society, even 
 though -willing to conform to their regulations. He was lawyer 
 enough, he said, to know that every offence should be tried on the 
 spot where it was committed ; and if he had stolen the pennies from 
 his grandmother's eyes in Louisiana, the people in Texas would have 
 nothing to do with that affair, nohow they could fix it. The dejected 
 conjurer pricked up his ears, and from that moment was as gay and 
 cheerful as a blue bird in spring. 
 
 As we approached Nacogdoches, the first object that struck our view 
 was a flag flying at the top of a high liberty pole. Drums were 
 beating, and fifes playing,- giving an indication, not to be misunder- 
 stood, of the spirit that had been awakened in a comparative desert. 
 The people of the town no sooner saw us than many came out to 
 meet us. The Bee hunter, who was known to them, introduced me ; 
 and it seems that they had already received the news of my in- 
 tended visit, and its object, and I met with a cordial and friendly 
 reception. 
 
 Nacogdoches is the capital of the department of t,hat name, and is 
 situated about sixty miles west, of the river Sabine, in a romantic dell, 
 surrounded by woody bluffs of considerable eminence, within whose 
 inner borders, in a semicircle embracing the town, flow the two forks 
 of the Nana, a branch of the Naches. It is a flourishing town, con- 
 taining about one thousand actual citizens, although it generally 
 presents twice that number on a,coount of its extensive inland trade, 
 one-half of which is supported by the friendly Indians. The healthi- 
 ness of this town 3delds to none in the province, except Bexar, and to 
 none whatsoever south of the same latitude, between the Sabine and 
 the Mississippi. There was a fort established here, by the French, as 
 far back as the year 1717, in order to overawe the wandering tribes 
 of red men, between their borders and the colonists of Great Britain. 
 The soil around it is of an easy nature and well adapted to culti- 
 vation. 
 
 I passed the day at Nacogdoches in getting information from the 
 principal patriots as to the grievances imposed upon them by the 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 341 
 
 Mexican government ; and I passed the time very pleasantly, but I 
 rather reckon not quite so much so as my friend the Bee hunter. In 
 the evening, as I had missed him for several hours while I was 
 attending to the affairs of the patriots, I inquired for my companion, 
 and was directed, by the landlord, to an apartment appropriated to 
 his family, and accordingly I pushed ahead. Before I reached the 
 door, I heard the joyous and musical voice of the young rover singing 
 as usual. 
 
 " I'd like to have a little farm, 
 
 And leave such scenes as these, 
 Where I could live without a care, 
 
 Completely at my ease. 
 I'd like to have a pleasant house 
 
 Upon my little farm. 
 Airy and cool in summer time 
 
 In winter close and warm." 
 
 " And is there nothing else you'd like to have to make you happy, 
 Edward ? " demanded a gentle voice, which sounded even more 
 musical in my ear than that of the Bee hunter. 
 
 " Yes, in good faith there is, my gentle Kate ; and I'll tell you what 
 it is," he exclaimed, and resumed his song : — 
 
 " I'd like to have a little wife — 
 
 I reckon I know who ; 
 I'd like to have a little son — 
 
 A little daughter too ; 
 And when they'd chmb upon my knee, 
 
 I'd like a Uttle toy 
 To give my pretty little girl, 
 
 Another for my boy." 
 
 " O, fie, for shame of you to talk so, Edward ! " exclaimed the same 
 gentle voice. 
 
 " Well, my pretty Kate, if you'll only listen, now, I'll tell you what 
 I wouldn't like." 
 
 " Let me hear that, by all means." 
 
 " I should not like my wife to shake 
 A broomstick at my head — 
 Tor then I might begin to think 
 
 She did not love her Ned ; 
 But I should always like to see 
 
 Her gentle as a dove ; 
 I should not like to have her scold — 
 But be all joy and love." 
 / 
 
 "-And there is not much danger, Edward, of her ever being other- 
 wise." 
 
 "Bless your sweet lips, that I am certain of," exclaimed the Bee 
 
342 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 hunter, and I heard something that sounded marvellously like a kiss. 
 But he resumed his song : — 
 
 " If I had these I would not ask 
 For anything beside ; 
 I'd be content thus smoothly through 
 
 The tedious world to glided 
 My little wife and I would then 
 
 No earthly troubles see — 
 Surrounded by our little enea, 
 , How happy we would be." 
 
 I have always endeavoured to aot up to the golden rule of doing as 
 I would he done by, and as I never liked to he interrupted on such 
 occasions, I returned to the bar-room, where I found Thimhlerig 
 seated on a table practising with his thimbles, his large white Vicks- 
 burg hat stuck in a most independent manner on the side of his head. 
 About half a dozen men were looking on with amazement at his skill, 
 but he got no bets. When he caught my eye his countenance became 
 sort of confused, and he hastily thrust the thimbles into his pocket, 
 saying, as he jumped from the table, " Just amusing myself a little. 
 Colonel, to kill time, and show the natives that some things can be 
 done as well as others. — Let us take an ideer." So we walked up to 
 the bar, took a nip, and let the matter drop. 
 
 My horse had become lame, and I found I would not be able to 
 proceed with him, so I concluded to sell him and get another. A 
 gentleman offered to give me a mustang in exchange, and I gladly 
 accepted of his kindness. The mustangs are the wild horses, that are 
 to be seen in droves of thousands pasturing on the prairies. They 
 are taken by means of a lazo, a long rope with a noose, which is 
 thrown around their necks, and they are dragged to the ground with 
 violence, and then secured. These horses, which are considerably 
 smaller than those in the States, are very cheap, and are in such 
 numbers that in times' of scarcity of game the settlers and the Indians 
 have made use of them as food. Thousands have been destroyed for 
 this purpose. 
 
 I saw nothing of the Bee hunter until bed-time, and then I said 
 nothing to him about what I had overheard. The next morning, as 
 we were preparing for an early start, I went into the private apart- 
 ment where my companion was, but he did not appear quite as 
 cheerful as usual. — Shortly afterward, a young woman, about eighteen, 
 entered the room. — She. was as healthy and blooming as the wild 
 flowers of the prairie. My^companion introduced me, she eourtesied 
 modestly, and turning to the Bee hunter, said, " Edward, I have made 
 you a new deer skin sack since you were last here. Will you take it 
 with you? Your old one is so soiled." 
 
 " No, no, dear Kate, I shall not have leisure to gather wax this 
 time." 
 
 " I have not yet shown you the fine large gourd that I have slung 
 for you.— It will hold near a gallon of water." She went to a closet 
 fi;id producing it, suspended if; around his shoulders, 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 843 
 
 " My own kind Kate ! " he exclaimed, and looked as if he would 
 devour her with his eyes. 
 
 " Have I forgotten anything ? — Ah 1 yes, your books." She ran to 
 the closet, and brought out two small volumes. 
 
 " One is sufficient this time, Kate — my Bible. I will leave the poet 
 with you." She placed it in his hunting bag, saying, 
 
 " You will find here some biscuit and deer sinews, in case you should 
 get bewildered in the prairies. You know you lost your way the last 
 time, and were nearly famished." 
 
 " Kind and considerate Kate." 
 
 I began to find out that I was a sort of fifth wheel to a waggon, so 
 I went to the front of the tavern to see about starting. There was a 
 considerable crowd there, and I made them a short address on the 
 occasion. I told them, among other things, that " I will die with my 
 Betsey in my arms. No, I will not die — -I'll grin down the walls of 
 the Alamo, and the Americans will lick up the Mexicans like fine 
 salt." 
 
 I mounted my little mustang, and my legs nearly reached the 
 ground. The thimble conjuret was also ready ; at length the Bee 
 hunter made his appearance, followed by his sweetheart, whose eyes 
 looked as though she had been weeping. He took a cordial leave of 
 all his friends, for he appeared to be a general favourite ; he then 
 approached Kate, kissed her, and leaped upon his horse. He tried to 
 conceal his emotion by singing, carelessly 
 
 " Saddled and bridled, and booted rode Tie, 
 A plume in his helmet, a sword at his knee.'' 
 
 The tremulous and plaintive voice of Kate took up the next two 
 lines of the song, which sounded like a prophecy : 
 
 " But toom cam' the saddle, all bluidy to see, 
 And hame cam' the steed, but hams never cam' he." 
 
 We started off rapidly, and left NaoogdocheB amid the cheering of 
 true patriots and kind friends. 
 
A' 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 N hour or two elapsed before the Bee hunter recovered his usual 
 k- spirits, after parting from his kind little Kate of Nacogdoches. 
 The conjurer rallied him good humouredly, and had become quite a 
 different man from what he was on the west side of the Sabine. He 
 sat erect in his saddle, stuck his large white Vicksburger conceitedly 
 on his bushy head, carried his rifle with as much ease and grace as if 
 he had been used to the weapon, and altogether he assumed an air of 
 impudence and independence which showed that he had now a soul 
 above thimbles. The Bee hunter at length recovered his spirits, and 
 commenced talking very pleasantly, for the matters he related were 
 for the most part new to me. 
 
 My companions, byway of beguiling the tediousness of our journey, 
 
 repeatedly played tricks upon each other, which were taken in good 
 
 part. One of them I will relate. We had observed that the Bee 
 
 hunter always disappeared on stopping at a house, running in to talk 
 
 with the inhabitants and ingratiate himself with the women, leaving 
 
 us to take care of the horses. On reaching our stopping place at 
 
 night he left us as usual, and while we were rubbing down our 
 
 mustangs, and hobbling them, a negro boy came out of the house with 
 
 orders from our companion within to see to his horse. Thimblerig, 
 
 who possessed a good share of roguish ingenuity, after some inquiries 
 
 about the gentleman in the house, how he looked and what he was 
 
 doing, told the boy, in rather a low voice, that he had better not come 
 
 nearer to him than was necessary, for it was possible he might hurt 
 
 him, though still he didn't think he would. The boy asked why he 
 
 need be afraid of him. He replied, he did not certainly know that 
 
 there was any reason— he hoped there was none- — but the man had 
 
 been bitten by a mad dog, and it was rather uncertain whether he 
 
 was not growing mad himself. Still he would not alarm the boy, but 
 
 cautioned him not to be afraid, for there might be no danger, though 
 
 there was something rather strange in the conduct of his poor friend. 
 
 This was enough for the boy ; he was almost afraid to touch the horse 
 
 of such a man ; and when, a moment afterward, our companion came 
 
 out of the house, he slunk away behind the horse, and though he was 
 
 in a great hurry to get him unsaddled, kept his eyes fixed steadily on 
 
 the owner, closely watching his motions. 
 
 " Take off that bridle," exclaimed the impatient Bee hunter, in a 
 stern voice : and the black boy sprung off, and darted away as fast as 
 llis feet could carry hipa, much to the vcxatioji and surprise of gur 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 OF DAVY CBOOEETT. 345 
 
 companion, who ran after him a little distance, but could in no way 
 account for his singular and provoking conduct. "When we entered 
 the house things appeared a, great deal more strange ; for the negro 
 had rushed hastily into the midst of the family, and in his terrified 
 state communicated the alarming tale, that the gentleman had beSh 
 bitten by a mad dog. He, unconscious all the time of the trick that 
 was playing off, endeavoured, as usual, to render himself as agreeable 
 as possible, especially to the females with whom he had already formed 
 a partial aoqitaintanoe. We could see that they looked on him with 
 apprehension, and retreated whenever he approached them. One of 
 them took an opportunity to inquire of Thimblerig the truth of the 
 charge ; and his answer confirmed their fears, and redoubled their 
 caution ; though, after confessing with apparent candour, that his 
 friend had been bitten, he stated that there was no certainty of evil 
 consequences, and it was a thing which of course could not be men- 
 tioned to the sufferer. 
 
 As bed time approached the mistress of the house expressed her 
 fears, lest trouble should arise in the night ; for the house, according 
 to custom, contained but two rooms, and was not built for security. 
 She therefore urged us to sleep between him and the door, and by no 
 means to let him pass us. It so happened, however, that he chose to 
 sleep next the door, and it was with great difticulty that we could 
 keep their fears within bounds. The ill-disguised alarm of the whole 
 family was not less a source of merriment to him who had been the 
 cause, than of surprise and wonder of the subject of it. Whatever 
 member of the household he approached promptly withdrew, and as 
 for the negro, whenever he was spoken to by him, he would jump and 
 roll his eyes. In the morning, when we were about to depart, we 
 commissioned our belied companion to pay our bill ; but as he 
 approached the hostess she fled fi-om him, and shut the door in his 
 face. " I want to pay our bill," said he. " O ! if you will only 
 leave the house," cried she, in terror, " you are welcome to your 
 lodging." 
 
 The jest, however, did not end here. The Bee hunter found out 
 the trick that had been played upon him, and determined to retaliate. 
 As we were about mounting, the conjurer's big white Vicksburger 
 was unaccountably missing, and nowhere to be found. He was not 
 altogether pleased with the liberty that had been taken with him, and 
 after searching some time in vain, he tied a handkerchief round his 
 head, sprang upon his horse, and rode off with more gravity than 
 usual. We liad rode aboiit two miles, the Bee hunter bantering the 
 other with a story of his hat lying in pawn at the house we bad left, 
 and urged upon him to return and redeem it ; but finding Thimblerig 
 out of humour, and resolved not to return, he began to repent of his 
 jest, and offered to go back and bring it, on condition that the past 
 should be forgotten and there should be no more retaliation. The 
 other consented to the terms, so lighting a cigar with his sun glass, he 
 set off at a rapid rate on his return. He had not been gone long 
 befoye I presented Thifliblerig with big hat, for I had seen the Beg 
 
846 LIFE AND ADVENTVBES 
 
 hunter conceal it, and had secretly brought it along with me. It was 
 some time before our absent friend overtook us, having frightened all 
 the family away by his sudden return, and searched the whole house 
 without success. When he perceived the object of his ride upon the 
 head of the conjurer, and recollected the promise by which he had' 
 bound himself not to have any more jesting, he could only exclaim, 
 " Well, it's hard, but it's fair." We all laughed heartily, and good 
 humour was once again restored. 
 
 Cane brakes are common in some parts of Texas. Our way led us 
 through one of considerable extent. The frequent passage of men and 
 horses had kept ojpen a narrow path not wide enough for two mustangs 
 to pass with convenience. The reeds, the same as are used in the 
 northern states as fishing rods, had grown to the height of about 
 twenty feet, and were so slender, that having no support directly 
 over the path, they drooped a little inward, and intermingled their 
 tops, forming a complete covering overhead. We rode about a 
 quarter of a mile along this singular arched avenue with the view of 
 the sky completely shut out. The Bee hunter told me that the largest 
 brake is that which lines the banks of Caney Creek, and is seventy 
 miles in length, with scarcely a tree to be seen the whole distance. 
 The reeds are eaten by cattle and horses in the winter when the 
 prairies yield little or no other food. 
 
 When we came out of the brake we saw three black wolves jogging 
 like dogs ahead of us, but at too great a distance to reach them with 
 a rifle. Wild turkeys and deer repeatedly crossed our path, and we 
 saw several droves of wild horses pasturing in the prairies. These 
 sights awakened the ruling passion strong within me, and I longed to 
 have a hunt upon a large scale ; for though I had killed many bears 
 and deers in my time, I had never brought down a buffalo in all my 
 life, and so I told my friends ; but they tried to dissuade me from it, 
 by telling nae that I would certainly lose my way, and perhaps perish ; 
 for though it appeared as a cultivated garden to the eye, it was stUl a 
 wilderness. I said little more on the subject, until we crossed the 
 Trinidad river, but every mile we travelled I found the temptation 
 grow stronger and stronger. 
 
 The night after we crossed the river we fortunately found shelter in 
 the house of a poor woman, who had little but the barest necessaries 
 to offer us. While we were securing our horses for the night we 
 beheld two men .approaching the house on foot. They were both 
 armed with rifles and hunting knives, and though I have been accus- 
 tomed to the sight of men who have not stepped far over the line of 
 civilization, I must say these were just about the roughest samples I 
 had seen anywhere. One was a man of about fifty years old, tall and 
 raw-boned. He was dressed in a sailor's round jacket, with a tar- 
 paulin on his head. His whiskers nearly covered his face ; his hair 
 Vas coal black and long, and there was a deep scar across his fore- 
 head, and another on the back of his right hand. His companion 
 who was considerably younger, was bare-headed, and clad in a deer 
 skin dress made after our fashion. Though he was not muchdai'ker 
 
OF DAVY CBOCEETT. 347 
 
 than the old man, X perceived that he was an Indian. They spoke 
 friendly to the Bee hunter, for they both knew him, and said they 
 were on their way to join the Texian forces, at that time near the San 
 Antonio river. Though they had started without horses, they 
 reckoned they would come across a couple before they went much 
 farther. The right of ownership to horse flesh is not much regarded 
 in Texas, for those that have been taken from the wild droves are soon 
 after turned out to graze on the prairies, the owner having first branded 
 them with his mark, and hobbled them by tying their fore feet 
 together, which will enable another to capture them just as readily as 
 himself. 
 
 The old woman set about preparing our supper, and apologized for 
 the homely fare, which consisted of bacon, and fried onions, when the 
 Indians went to a bag and produced a number of eggs of wild fowls, 
 and a brace of fat rabbits, which were speedily dressed, and we made 
 as good a meal as a hungry man need wish to set down to. The old 
 man spoke very little ; but the Indian, who had lived much among 
 the whites, was talkative, and manifested much impatience to arrive 
 at the army. The first opportunity that occurred I inquired of the 
 Bee hunter who our new friends were, and he told me that the old 
 man had been for many years a pirate with the famous Lafitte, and 
 that the Indian was a hunter belonging to a settler near Galveston 
 Bay. I had seen enough of land rats at Washington, but this was 
 the first time that I was ever in company with a water rat to my 
 knowledge ; however, baiting that black spot on his escutcheon, he 
 was a well behaved and inoffensive man. Vice does not appear so 
 shocking when we are familiar with the perpetrator of it. 
 
 Thimblerig was for taking airs upon himself after learning who our 
 companions were, and protested to me, that he would not sit down at 
 the same table with a man who had outraged the laws in such a 
 manner ; — for it was due to society that honest men should dis- 
 countenance such unprincipled characters, and much more to the 
 same effect ; when the old man speedily dissipated the gamblei-'s in- 
 dignant feelings by calmly saying, " Stranger, you had better take a 
 seat at the table, I think," at the same time drawing a long hunting 
 knife from his belt, and laying it on the table. " I think you had 
 better take some supper with us," he added, in a mUd tone, but fixing 
 his eye sternly upon Thimblerig. The conjurer first eyed the knife, 
 and then the fierce whiskers of the pirate, and, unlike some politicians, 
 he wasn't long in majsing up his mind what course to pursue, but he 
 determined to vote as the pirate voted, and said, " I second that 
 motion, stranger," at the same time seating himself on the bench 
 beside me. The old man then commenced cutting up the meat, for 
 which purpose he had drawn his hunting knife, though the gambler 
 had thought it was for a different purpose ; and being relieved from 
 his fears, every thing passed off quite sociable. 
 
 Early the following morning we compensated the old woman for the 
 trouble she had been at, and we mounted our horses and pursued our 
 journey, our new friends following on foot, but promising to arrive at 
 
348 LIFE AND ADVEN TUBES 
 
 the Alamo as soon as we should. About noon we stopped to refresh 
 our horses beneath a cluster of trees that stood in the open prairie, and 
 I again spoke of my longing for a buffalo hunt.— We were all seated 
 on the grass, and they tried hard to dissuade me from the folly of 
 allowing a ruling passion to lead me into such imminent danger and 
 difficulty as I must necessarily encounter. At this time, while they 
 were running down my weakness, as they called it, Thimblerig was 
 amusing himself with his eternal thimbles and pea upon the crown 
 of his big white hat. I could not refrain from laughing outright to 
 see with what gravity and apparent interest he slipped the pea from 
 one thimble to another while in the midst of a desert. . . . 
 
 The Bee hunter told me, that if I was determined to leave them, he 
 had in his bag a paper of ground coffee, and biscuit, which little Kate 
 of Nacogdoches had desired him to carry for my use, which he handed 
 to me, and proposed drinking her health, saying that she was one of 
 the kindest and purest of God's creatures.— We drank her health, and 
 wished him all happiness when she should be his own, which time he 
 looked forward to with impatience. He still continued to dissuade 
 me from leaving them, and all the time he was talking his eyes were 
 wandering above, when suddenly he stopped, sprang to his feet, 
 looked around for a moment, then leaped on his mustang, and with- 
 out saying a word, started off like mad, and scoured along the prairie. 
 We watched him, gradually diminishing in size, until he seemed no 
 larger than a rat, and finally disappeared in the distance. I was 
 amazed, and thought to be sure the man was crazy ; and Thimblerig, 
 who continued his game, responded that he was unquestionably out 
 of his head. 
 
 Shortly after the Bee hunter had disappeared, we heard a noise hke 
 the rumbling of distant thunder. The sky were clear, there were no 
 signs of a storm, and we concluded it could not proceed from that 
 cause. On turning to the west we saw an immense cloud of dust in 
 the distance, but could perceive no object distinctly, and still the 
 roaring continued. — " What can aU. this mean ? " said I. " Burn 
 my old shoes if I know," said the conjurer, gathering up his thimbles, 
 and at the same time cocking his large Vicksburger fiercely on his 
 head. We continued looking in the direction whence the sound pro- 
 ceeded, the cloud of dust became thicker and thicker, and the roaring 
 more distinct — much louder than was ever heard in the White House 
 at Washington. 
 
 We at first imagined that it was a tornado, but whatever it was, it 
 was coming directly toward the spot where we stood. Our mustangs 
 had ceased to graze, and cocked up their ears in evident alarm. We 
 ran and caught them, took off the hobbles, and rode into the grove of 
 trees ; — still the noise grew louder and louder. We had scarcely got 
 under the shelter of the grove before the object approached near 
 enough for us to ascertain what it was. It was a herd of buffalo at 
 least four or five hundred in number, dashing along as swift as the 
 wind, and roaring as if so many devils had broke loose. — They passed 
 near the grove, and if we had not taken shelter there, we should have 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 349 
 
 been in great clanger of being trampled to death. My poor little 
 mustang shook- worse than a politician about to be turned out of 
 offtoe, as the drove came sweeping by. At their head, apart from the 
 I'est, was a black bull, who appeared to be their leader ; he came 
 roaring along, his tail straight on an end, and at times tossing up the 
 earth with his horns. T never felt such a desire to have a crack at 
 any thing, in aU my life. He drew nigh the place where I was stand- 
 ing ; I raised my beautiful Betsey to my shoulder, took deliberate aim, 
 blazed away, and he roared and suddenly stopped. Those that were 
 near him did so likewise, and the concussion occasioned by the impetus 
 of those in the rear was such, that it was a miracle that some of them 
 did not break theu- legs or necks. The black bull stood for a few 
 moments pawing the gi'ound after he was shot, then darted off around 
 the cluster of trees, and made for the uplands of the prairies. The 
 whole herd followed, sweeping by like a tornado, and I do say, I never 
 witnessed a more beautiful sight to the eye of a hunter in all my life. 
 Bear hunting is no more to be compared to it than Colonel Benton 
 is to Henry Clay. J. watched them for a few moments, then clapped 
 spurs to my mustang and followed in their wake, leaving Thim.blerig 
 behind me. 
 
 I followed on the trail of the herd for at least two hours, by which 
 time the moving mass appeared like a small cloud in the distant 
 horizon. StiU, I followed, my whole mind absorbed by the excite- 
 ment of the chase, until the object was entirely lost in the distance. 
 I now paused to allow my mustang to breathe, who did not altogether 
 fancy the rapidity of my movements, and to consider which course I 
 would have to take to regain the path I had abandoned. I might 
 have retraced my steps by following the trail of the buffaloes, but it 
 had always been my principle to go ahead, and so I turned to the west 
 and pushed forward. 
 
 I had not rode more than an hour before I found I was as com- 
 pletely bewildered as " the Government " was when. he entered upon 
 an examination of the Post Office accounts. I looked around, and 
 there was, as far as the eye could reach, spread before me a country 
 apparently in the highest state of cultivation. Extended fields, 
 beautiful and productive, groves of trees cleared from the underwood, 
 and whose margins were as regular as if the art and taste of man had 
 been employed upon them. But there was no other evidence that the 
 sound of the axe, or the voice of man, had ever here disturbed the 
 solitude of nature. My eyes would have cheated my senses into 
 the belief that I was in an earthly paradise, but my fears told me that 
 I was in a wilderness. 
 
 I pushed along, following the sun, for I had no compass to guide 
 me, and there was no other path than that which my mustang made. 
 Indeed, if I had found a beaten track, I should have been almost 
 afraid to have followed it ; for my friend the Bee hunter had told me, 
 that once, when he had been lost in the prairies, he had accidentally 
 struck into his own path, and had travelled around and around for a 
 whole day before he discovered his error. This I thought was a poor 
 
850 MFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 way of going ahead ; so I determined to make for the first large stream, 
 and follow its course. 
 
 I had travelled several hours without seeing the trace of a human 
 being, and even game was almost as scarce as Benton's mint drops, 
 except just about election time, and I began to wish that I had followed 
 the advice of my companions. I was a good deal bothered to account 
 for the abrupt manner in which the Bee hunter had absconded ; and 
 I felt concerned for the poor thimble conjurer, who was left alone, and 
 altogether unaccustomed to the diificulties that he would have to 
 encounter. While my mind was occupied with these unpleasant re- 
 flections, I was suddenly startled by another novelty quite as great as 
 ■that I have just described. 
 
 I had just emerged from a beautiful grove of trees, and was entering 
 upon an extended prairie, which looked like the luxuriant meadows of 
 a thrifty farmer ; and as if nothing should be wanting to complete the 
 delusion, but a short distance before me, there was a drove of about 
 one hundred beautiful horses quietly pasturing. It required some 
 effort to convince my mind that man had no agency in this. But 
 when I looked around, and fully realized it all, I thought of him who 
 had preached to me in the wUdB of the Arkansas, and involuntary ex- 
 claimed, " ©od what hast thou not done for man, and yet how little 
 he does for thee I Not even repays thee with gratitude ! " 
 
 I entered upon the prairie. The mustangs no sooner espied me 
 than they raised their heads, whinnied, and began coursing around 
 me in an extended circle, which gradually became smaller and 
 smaller, until they closely surrounded me. My little rascally mustang 
 enjoyed the sport, and felt disposed to renew his acquaintance with 
 his wild companions ; first turning his head to one, then to another, 
 playfully biting the neck of this one, rubbing noses with that one, and 
 kickiog up his heels at a third. I began to feel rather uncomfortable, 
 and plied the spur pretty briskly to get out of the mess, but he was as 
 obstinate as the" old Boman " himself, who will be neither led nor 
 driven. I kicked, and he kicked, but fortunately he became tired 
 first, and he made one start, intending to escape fi'om the annoyance 
 if possible. As I had an annoyance to escape from likewise, I beat 
 the devil's tattoo on his ribs, that he might have some music to dance 
 to, and we went ahead right merrily, the whole drove following in our 
 wake, head up, and tail and mane streaming. My little critter, who 
 was both blood and bottom, seemed delighted at being the head of the 
 .heap ; and having once got fairly started, I wish I may be shot if I 
 did not find it impossible to stop him. He kept along, tossing his 
 head proudly, and occasionally neighing, as much as to say, " Come 
 on, my hearties, you see I ha'n't forgot our old amusement yet." 
 And they did come on with a vengeance, clatter, clatter, clatter, as if 
 so many fiends had broke loose. The prairie lay extended before me 
 as far as the eye could reach, and I began to think that there would 
 be no end to the race. 
 
 My little animal was full of fire and metal, and as it was the first 
 bit of genuine sport that he had had for some time, he appeared deter- 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 351 
 
 mined to make the most of it. He kept the lead for full half an hour, 
 frequently neighing as if in triumph and derision. I thought of John 
 Gilpin's celebrated ride, but that was child's play to this. The proverb 
 says, " The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the 
 strong," and so it proved in the present instance. My mufftang was 
 obliged to carry weight, while his competitors were as free as nature 
 had made them. A beautiful bay, who had trod close upon my heels 
 the whole way, now came side by side with my mustang, and we had 
 it hip and thigh for about ten minutes, in such style as would have 
 delighted the heart of a true lover of the turf. I now felt an interest 
 in the race myself, and for the credit of my bit of blood, determined 
 to win it if it was at all in the natui-e of things. I plied the lash and 
 spur, and the little critter took it quite kindly, and tossed his head, 
 and neighed, as much as to say, " Colonel, I know what you're after-r— 
 Go ahead 1 " — and he cut dirt in beautiful style, I tell you. 
 
 This could not last for ever. At length my competitor darted 
 ahead, somewhat the same way that Adam Huntsman served me last 
 election, except that there was no gouging ; and my little fellow yfas 
 compelled to clatter after his tail, like a needy politician after an office 
 holder when he wants his influence, and which my mustang found it 
 quite as difficult to reach. He hung on like grim death for some time 
 longer, but at last his ambition began to flag; and having lost 'his 
 ground, others seemed to think that he was not the mighty critter he 
 was cracked up to be, no how, and they tried to outstrip him also. A 
 second shot ahead, and he kicked up his heels in derision as he passed 
 us ; then a third, a fourth, and so on, and even the scrubbiest little 
 rascal in the whole drove was disposed to have a fling at their broken 
 down leader. A true picture of pohticians and their truckling 
 followers, thought I. We now followed among the last of the drove 
 until we came to the banks of the Navasola river. The foremost 
 leaped from the margin into the rushing stream, the others, politician 
 like, followed him, though he would lead them to destruction ; but 
 my wearied animal feU on the banks, completely exhausted with 
 fatigue. It was a beautiful sight to see them stemming the torrent, 
 ascend the opposite bank, and scour over the plain, having been re- 
 freshed by the water. I relieved my wearied animal from the saddle, 
 and employed what means were in my power to restore him. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 AFTEE toiling for more than an hour to get my mustang upon Ms 
 feet again, I gave it up as a bad job, as little Van did when he 
 attempted to raise himself to the moon by the waistband of his 
 breeches. Night was fast closing in, and as I began to think that I 
 had just about sport enough for one day, I might as well look around 
 for a place of shelter for the night, and take a fresh start in the morn- 
 ing, by which time I was in hopes my horse would be recruited. 
 Near the margin of the river a large tree had been blown down, and 
 I thought of making my lair in its top, and approached it for that 
 purpose. WhUe beating among the branches I heard a low growl, as 
 much as to say, " Stranger, the apartments are already taken." 
 Looking about to see what sort of a bed-fellow I was likely to have, 
 I discovered, not more than five or six paces from me, an enormous 
 Mexican cougar eyeing me as an epicure surveys the table before he 
 selects his dish, for I have no doubt the cougar looked upon me as 
 the subject of a future supper. Eays of hght darted from his large 
 eyes, he showed his teeth like a negro in hysterics, and he was crouch- 
 ing on his haunches, ready for a spring ; all of which convinced me 
 that unless I was pretty quick upon the trigger, posterity would know 
 little of the termination of my eventful career, and it would be far less 
 glorious and useful than I intend to make it. 
 
 One glance satisfied me that there was no time to be lost, as Pat 
 thought when falling from a church- steeple and exclaimed, " This 
 would be mighty pleasant, now, if it would only last," — but there was 
 no retreat either for me or the cougar, so I levelled my Betsey, and 
 blazed away. The report was followed by a furious growl, (which is 
 sometimes the case in Congress), and the next moment, when I ex- 
 pected to find the tarnal critter struggling with death, I beheld him 
 shaking his head as if nothing more than a bee had stung him. The 
 ball had struck him on the forehead, and glanced off, doing no other 
 injury than stunning him for an instant, and tearing off the skin, 
 which tended to infuriate him the more. The cougar wasn't long in 
 making up his mind what to do, nor was I neither ; but he would 
 have it all his own way, and vetoed my motion to back out. I had 
 not retreated three steps before he sprang at me like a steamboat ; I 
 stepped aside, and as he lit upon the ground, I struck him violently 
 with the barrel of my rifle, but he didn't mind that, but wheeled round 
 and made at me again. The gun was now of no use, so I threw it 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVY CROCKETT. 853 
 
 away, and drew my hunting knife, for I knew we should oome to close 
 quarters before the fight would be over. This time he succeeded in 
 fastening on my left arm, and was just beginning to amuse himself 
 by tearing the flesh off with his fangs, when I ripped my knife into 
 his side, and he let go his hold much to my satisfaction. 
 
 He wheeled about and came at me with increased fury, occasioned 
 by the smarting of his wounds. I now tried to blind him, knowing 
 that if I succeeded he would become an easy prey ; so as he approached 
 me I watched my opportunity, and aimed a blow at his eyes with my 
 knife, but unfortunately it struck him on the nose, and he paid no 
 other attention to it than by a shake of the head and a low growl. 
 He pressed me close, and as I was stepping backward my foot tripped 
 in a vine, and I fell to the ground. He was down upon me like a 
 night-hawk upon a June bug. He seized hold of the outer part of my 
 right thigh, which afforded him considerable amusement ; the hinder 
 part of his body was toward my face ; I grasped his tail with my left 
 hand, and tickled his ribs with my hunting knife, which I held in my 
 . right. StiU, the critter wouldn't let go his hold ; and as I found that 
 he would lacerate my leg dreadfully unless he was speedily shaken off, 
 I tried to hurl him down the bank into the river, for our scuflSe had 
 already brought us to the edge of the bank. I stuck my knife into his 
 side, and summoned all my strength to throw him over. He resisted, 
 was desperate heavy ; but at last I got him so far down the dechvity 
 that he lost his balance, and he rolled over and over until he landed 
 on the margin of the river ; but in his fall he dragged me along with 
 him. Fortunately I fell uppermost, and his neck presented a fair 
 mark for my hunting knife. Without allowing myself time even to 
 draw breath, I aimed one desperate blow at his neck, and the knife 
 entered his gullet up to the handle, and reached his heart. He 
 struggled for a few moments, and died. I have had many fights 
 with bears, but that was mere child's play ; this was the first fight 
 ever I had with a cougar, and I hope it may be the last. 
 
 I now returned to the tree top to see if any one else would dispute 
 my lodging ; but now I could take peaceable and quiet possession. I 
 parted s'ome of the branches, and cut away others to make a bed in 
 the opening ; I then gathered a quantity of moss, which hung in 
 festoons from the trees, which I spread on the litter, and over this I 
 spread my horse blanket ; and I had as comfortable a bed as a weary 
 man need ask for. I now took another look at my mustang, and from 
 all appearances he would not hve untU morning. I ate some of the 
 cakes that little Kate of Nacogdoches had made for me, and then 
 carried my saddle into my tree top, and threw myself down upon my 
 bed, with no very pleasant reflections at the prospect before me. 
 
 I was weary, and soon fell asleep, and did not awake until daybreak 
 the next day. I felt somewhat stiff and sore from the wounds I had 
 received in the conflict with the cougar ; but I considered myself as 
 having made a lucky escape. I looked over the bank, and as I saw 
 the carcass of the cougar lying there, I thought that it was an even 
 chance that we had not exchanged conditions ; and I felt grateful 
 
 24 
 
354 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 that the fight had ended as it did. I now went to look after my 
 mustang, fuUy expecting to find him as dead as the eougar ; but what 
 was my astonishment to find that he had disappeared without leaviiig 
 trace of hair or hide of him. I first supposed that some beasts of 
 prey had consumed the poor critter; but then they wouldn't have 
 eaten his bones ; and he had vanished as effectually as the deposites, 
 without leaving any mark of the course they had taken. This bothered 
 me amazing ; I couldn't figure it out by any rule that I had ever heard 
 of, so I concluded to think no more about it. 
 
 I felt a craving for something to eat, and looking around for some 
 game, I saw a flock of geese on the shore of the river. I shot a fine 
 fat gander and soon stripped him of his feathers : and gathering some ' 
 light wood, I kindled a fire, run a long stick through my goose, for a 
 spit, and put it down to roast, supported by two sticks with prongs. 
 I had a desire for some coffee ; and having a tin cup with me, I 
 poured the paper of ground coffee that I had received from the Bee 
 hunter into it, and made a strong cup, which was very refireshing. 
 Off of my goose and biscuit I made a hearty meal, and was preparing 
 to depart, without clearing up the breakfast things, or knowing whicb 
 direction to pursue, when I was somewhat taken aback by another of 
 the wild scenes of the west. I heard a sound hke the trampling of 
 many horses, and I thought to be sure the mustangs or buffaloes were 
 coming upon me again ; but on raising my head I beheld in the 
 distance about fifty mounted Cumanches, with their spears glittering 
 in the morning sun, dashing toward the spot where I stood at full speed. 
 As the column advanced it divided, according to their usual practice, 
 into two semicircles, and in an instant I was surrounded. Quicker 
 than thought I sprang to my rifle, but as my hand grasped it, I felt 
 that resistance against so many would be of as little use as pumping 
 for thunder in dry weather. 
 
 The chief was for making love to my beautiful Betsey, but I olxmg 
 fast to her, and assuming an air of composure, I demanded whether 
 their nation was at war with the Americans. " No," was the reply. 
 "Do you Kke the Americans?" "Yes, they are our firiends." 
 " "Where do you get your spear heads, your rifles, your blankets, and 
 your knives from ? " " Get them from our friends, the Americans." 
 " WeU, do you think if you were passing through their nation, as I 
 am passing through yours, they would attempt to rob you of your 
 property ? " " No, they would feed me, and protect me ; and the 
 Oumanche will do the same by his white brother," 
 
 I now asked him what it was had directed him to the spot where I 
 was, and he told me, that they had seen the smoke from a great 
 distance, and had come to see the cause of it. He inquired what had 
 brought me there alone; and I told him that I had come to 
 hunt, and that my mustang had become exhausted, and though I 
 thought he was about to die, that he had escaped from me ; at which 
 the chief gave a low chuckling laugh, and said it was aU a trick of 
 the mustang, which is the most wily and cunning of aU animals. 
 But he said that as I was a brave hunter he would furnish me with 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 355 
 
 another ; lie gave orders, and a fine young horse was immediately 
 brought forward. 
 
 When the party approached there were three old e(iuaws at their 
 head, who made a noise with their mouths, and served as trumpeters. 
 I now told the chief that, as I now had a horse, I would go for my 
 saddle, which was in the place where I had slept. As I approached 
 the spot I discovered one of the squaws devouring the remains of my 
 roasted goose, but my saddle and bridle were nowhere to be found. 
 Almost in despair of seeing them again, I observed, in a thicket at a 
 little distance, one of the trumpeters kicking and belabouring her 
 horse to make him move off, while the sagacious beast would not 
 move a step from the troop. I followed her, and, thanks to her 
 restive mustang, secured my property, which the chief made her 
 restore to me. Some of the warriors had by this time discovered the 
 body of the cougar, and had already commenced skinning it ; and 
 seeing how many stabs were about it, I related to the chief the 
 desperate struggle I had had ; he said, " Brave hunter, brave man," 
 and wished me to be adopted into his tribe, but I respectfully declined 
 the honour. He then offered to see me on my way ; and I asked him 
 to accompany me to the Colorado river, if he was going in that 
 direction, which he agreed to do. I put my saddle on my fresh horse, 
 mounted, and wo darted off, at a rate not much slower than I had 
 rode the day previous with the wild herd, the old squaws at the head 
 of the troop braying like young jackasses the whole way. 
 
 About three hours after starting we saw a drove of mustangs quietly 
 pasttiring in the prairie at a distance. One of the Indians immediately 
 got his lasso ready, which was a long rope made of hide plaited like 
 whip cord, with an iron ring at one end, through which the rope was 
 passed so as to form a noose ; and thus prepared, he darted ahead of 
 the troop to make a capture. They allowed him to approach pretty 
 nigh, he aU the time flourishing his lasso ; but before he got within 
 reaching distance, they started off at a brisk canter, made two or 
 three wide circuits around him, as if they would spy out what he was 
 after, then abruptly changed their course and disappeared. One 
 mustang out of all the drove remained standing quietly ; the Indian 
 made up to him, threw the lasso, but the mustang dodged his head 
 between his fore legs, and escaped the noose, but did not attempt to 
 escape. The Indian then rode up to him, and the horse very patiently 
 ■ submitted while he put a bridle on him, and secured him. When I 
 approached, I immediately recognized in the captive the pestilent 
 little animal that had shammed sickness and escaped from me the day 
 before ; and when he caught my eye he cast down his head and 
 looked rather sheepish, as if he were sensible and ashamed of the 
 dirty trick he had played me. I expressed my astonishment to the 
 Indian chief at the mustang's allowing himself to be captured without 
 an effort to escape ; and he told me, that they are generally buried to 
 the ground with such violence when first taken with the lasso, that 
 they remember it ever after, and that the sight of it will subdue them 
 to submission, though they may have run wild for years. Just so 
 
856 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 with an e^ee holder, who, being kicked out, turns patriot— shake 
 a commission at him, and the fire of his patriotism usually escapes in 
 smoke. 
 
 "We travelled all day, and toward evening we came across a small 
 drove of buffaloes ; and it was a beautiful sight to behold with what 
 skill the Indians hunted down this noble game. There are no horse- 
 men who ride more gracefully that the Cumanches ; and they sit so 
 closely, and hold such absolute control over the horse, that he seems 
 to be part of their own person. I had the good fortune to bring down 
 a young heifer, and as it was the only beef that we killed, the chief 
 again complimented me as being a brave hunter ; ani while they 
 were preparing the heifer for our supper I related to him many of my 
 hunting exploits, at which he manifested pleasure and much astonish- 
 ment for an Indian. He again urged upon me to become one of the 
 tribe. 
 
 We made a hearty supper, hobbled our mustangs, which we turned 
 into the prairie to graze, and then encamped for the night. I awoke 
 about two hours before daybreak, and looking over the tract of country 
 through which we had travelled, the sky was as bright and clear as if 
 the sun had already risen. I watched it for some time without being 
 able to account for it, and asked my friend, the chief, to explain, who 
 told me that the prairie was on fire, and that it must have caught 
 when we cooked our dinner. I have seen hundreds of acres of 
 mountain timber on fire in my time, but this is the first time that I 
 ever saw a prairie burning. 
 
 Nothing of interest occurred until we reached the Colorado, and 
 were following the river to the place where it crosses the road to 
 Bexar, which place the Indians promised to conduct me to. We saw 
 a light column of smoke ascending in the clear sky, and hastened 
 toward it. It proceeded from a small cluster of trees near the river. 
 When we came within five hundred yards of it, the warriors extended 
 their line around the object, and the chief and myself cautiously 
 approached it. When we came within eyeshot, what was my 
 astonishment to discover a solitary man seated on the ground near 
 the fire, so intent upon some pursuit that he did not perceive our 
 approach. We drew nigh to him, and still he was unconscious of our 
 approach. It was poor Thimblerig, practising his game of thimbles 
 upon the crown of his white Vicksburger. This is what I call the 
 ruhng passion most amazing strong. The chief shouted the war 
 whoop, and suddenly the warriors came rushing in from all quarters, 
 preceded by the old squaw trumpeters squalling hke mad. The 
 conjurer sprang to his feet, and was ready to sink into the earth when 
 he beheld the ferocious looking fellows that surrounded him. I 
 stepped up, took him by the hand, and quieted his fears. I told the 
 chief that he was a friend of mine, and I was very glad to have found 
 him, for I was afraid that he had perished. I now thanked him for 
 his kindness in guiding me over the prakies, and gave him a large 
 Bowie knife, which he said he would keep for the sake of the brave 
 hunter. The whole squadron then wheeled off, and I saw them no 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT, 357 
 
 more. I have met with many polite men in my time, but no one who 
 possessed in a greater degree what maybe called true spontaneous 
 politeness than this Cumanche chief, always excepting Philip Hone, 
 Esq., of New York, whom I look upon as the politest man I ever did 
 see ; for when he asked me to take a drink at his own side-board he 
 turned his back upon me, that I mightn't be ashamed to fill as much 
 as I wanted. That was what I call doing the fair thing. 
 
 Thimblerig was delighted at meeting me again, but it was some 
 time before he recovered sufficiently from the cold sweat into which 
 the sudden appearance of the Indians had thrown him to recount his 
 adventures to me. He said that he felt rather downhearted when he 
 found himself abandoned both by the Bee hunter and myself, and he 
 knew not which course to pursue ; but after thinking about the matter 
 for two hours, he had made up his mind to retrace the road we had 
 travelled over, and had mounted his mustang for that purpose, when 
 he spied the Bee hunter laden with honey. The mystery of his 
 abrupt departure was now fully accounted for ; he had spied a solitary 
 bee shaping its coiu'se to its hive, and at the moment he couldn't 
 control the ruling passion, but followed the bee without reflecting for 
 a moment upon the difficulties and dangers that his thoughtlessness 
 might occasion his friends. 
 
 I now asked him what had become of' the Bee hunter, and he said 
 that he had gone out in pursuit of game for their supper, and he 
 expected that he would return shortly, as he had been absent at least 
 an hour. While we were stiU speaking our friend appeared, bending 
 under the weight of a wild turkey. He manifested great joy at 
 meeting with me so unexpectedly ; and desiring the conjurer to pluck 
 the feathers of the bird, which he cheerfully undertook, for he said 
 he had been accustomed to plucking pigeons, we set about preparing 
 our supper. 
 
 The position we occupied was directly on the route leading to Bexar, 
 and at the crossings of the Colorado. We were about to commence 
 our supper, for the turkey was done in beautiful style, when the sound 
 of a horse neighing startled us. We looked over the prairie, and 
 beheld two men approaching on horseback, and both armed with 
 rifles and knives. The Bee hunter said that it was time for us to be 
 on our guard, for we should meet, perhaps, more enemies than friends 
 as soon as we crossed the river, and the new-comers were making 
 directly for the spot we occupied ; but, as they were only two, it 
 occasioned no uneasiness. 
 
 As they drew nigh we recognised the strangers ; they turned out to 
 be the old pirate and the Indian hunter who had lodged with us a few 
 nights before. We hailed them, and on seeing us they alighted and 
 asked permission to join our party, which we gladly agreed to, as our 
 journey was becoming rather more perilous every mile we advanced. 
 They partook of our turkey, and as they had some small cakes of 
 bread, which they threw into the general stock, we made a hearty 
 supper : and, after a battle song from the Bee himter, we prepared to 
 rest for the night. 
 
858 LIFE AND ADVENTUBMS OF DAVY- CBOGKETT. 
 
 Early next morning we crossed, the river, and pushed forward for 
 the fortress of Alamo. The old pirate was still as taciturn as ever, 
 but his companion was talkative and in good spirits. I asked him 
 where he had procured their mustangs, and he said that he had found 
 them hobbled in Burnet's Grant just at a time that he felt very tired ; 
 and as he believed that no one would lay claim to them at Bexar, he 
 couldn't resist mounting one, and persuading his friend to mount 'the 
 other. 
 
 Nothing of interest occurred until we came within about twenty 
 miles of San Antonio. We were in the open prairie, and beheld 
 a band of about fifteen or twenty armed men approaching us at full 
 speed. "Look out for squalls," said the old. pirate, who had not 
 spoken for an hour ; " they are a scouting party of Mexicans." " fsJiA 
 are three or four times our number," s^id Thimblerig. " No matter," 
 replied the old man; "they are convicts, jail birds, and cowardly 
 rufiians, no doubt, who would tremble at a loud word as much as a 
 mustang at the sight of the lasso.^Let us spread ourselves, dismount, 
 and trust to our arms." 
 
 We followed his orders, and stood beside our horses, which served 
 to protect our persons, and we awaited the approach of the enemy. 
 When they perceived this movement of ours, they checked their 
 speed, appeared to consult together for a few minutes, then spread 
 their line, and came within rifle shot of us. The leader called out to 
 us in Spanish, but as I did not understand him, I asked the old man 
 what it was, who said he called upon us to surrender. 
 
 " There will be a brush with those blackguards," continued the 
 pirate. " Now each of you single out your man for the first fire, and 
 they are greater fools than I take them for if they give us a chance at 
 a second. — Colonel, as you are a good shot, just settle the business for 
 that talking fellow with the red feather ; he's worth any three of the 
 party." 
 
 " Surrender, or we fire," shouted the fellow with the red feather in 
 Spanish. 
 
 "Fire, and be d d," returned the pirate, at tlie top of his voice, 
 
 in plain EngUsh. 
 
 And sure enough they took his advice, for the next minute we were 
 saluted with a discharge of musketry, the report of which was so loud 
 that we were convinced they aU had fired. Before the smoke had 
 cleared away we had each selected our man, fired, and I never did 
 see such a scattering among their ranks as followed. We beheld 
 several mustangs running wild without their riders over the prairie, 
 and the balance of the company were already retreating at a more 
 rapid gait than they approached. We hastily mounted, and com- 
 menced pursuit, which we kept up until we beheld the independent 
 flag flying firom the battlements of the fortress of Alamo, our place of 
 destination. The fugitives succeeded in evading our pursuit, and we 
 rode up to the gates of the fortress, announced to the sentinel who we. 
 were, and the gates were thrown open ; and we entered amid shouts 
 of welcome bestowed upon us by the patriots. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 '"PHB fortress of Alamo is at the town of Bexar, on iihe San 
 ^ Antonio river, which flows -through the town. Bexar is about 
 one hundred and forty miles from the coast, and contains upward of 
 twelve hundred citizens, all native Mexicans, with the exception of a 
 few American families who have settled there. Besides these there is 
 a garrison of soldiers, and trading pedlars of every description, who 
 resort to it from the borders of the Eio Grande, as their nearest depot 
 of American goods. A military outpost was established at this spot 
 by the Spanish government in 1718. In 1721 the town was settled by 
 emigrants sent out from the Canary Islands by the King of Spain. It 
 became a flourishing settlement, and so- continued until the revolution 
 in 1812, since which period the Cumanche and other Indians have 
 greatly harassed the inhabitants, producing much individual suffering, 
 and totally destroying, for a season at least, the prospects of the town. 
 Its site is one of the most beautiful in the western world. The air is 
 salubrious, the water delightful, especially when mixed with a little of 
 the ardent, and the health of the citizens is proverbial. The soil 
 around it is highly fertile, and well calculated for cotton and grain. 
 
 The gallant young Colonel Travis, who commands the Texian forces 
 in the fortress of Alamo, received me like a man ; and though he can 
 barely muster one hundred and fifty efficient men, should Santa 
 , Anna make an attack upon us, with the whole host of ruffians that 
 the Mexican prisons can disgorge, he will have snakes to eat before he 
 gets over the wall, I tell you. But one spirit appears to animate the 
 little band of patriots— and that is liberty, or death. To worship God 
 according to the dictates of their own conscience, and govern them- 
 selves as freemen should be governed. 
 
 All the world knows, by this time, that the town of Bexar, or, as 
 some call it, San Antonio, was captured from the Mexicans by General 
 Burlison, on the 10th day of December, 1835, after a severe struggle 
 of five days and five nights, during which he sustained a loss of four 
 men only, but the brave old Colonel Milam was among them. There 
 were seventeen hundred men in the town, and the Texian force con- 
 sisted of but two hundred and sixteen. The Mexicans had walled up 
 the streets leading from the public square, intending to make a 
 desperate resistance ; the Texians however made an entrance, and 
 vaUantly drove them from house to house, until General Cos retreated 
 to the castle of Alamo, without the city, and there hoisted the white 
 flag, and sent out the terms of capitulation, which were as follows : 
 
360 LIFM AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 General Cos is to retire within six days, with his of&oers, arms, and 
 private property, on parole of honour. He is not to oppose the re- 
 estabHshment of the constitution of 1824. 
 
 The infantry, and the cavalry, the remnant of Morale's battalion, 
 and tlie convicts, to return, taking with them ten rounds of cartridge 
 for safety against the Indians. 
 
 AU public property, money, arms, and ammunition, to be delivered up 
 to General Burlison, of the Texian army, — with Some other stipulation 
 in relation to the sick and wounded, private property, and prisoners 
 of war. The Texians would not have acceded to them, preferring to 
 storm him in his stronghold, but at this critical juncture they hadn't 
 a single round of ammunition left, having fought from the 5th to the 
 9th of the month. General Ugartechea had arrived but the day before 
 with three hundred troops, and the four hundred convicts mentioned 
 above, making a reinforcement of seven hundred men ; but such rub- 
 bish was no gre^t obstacle to the march of freedom. The Mexicans 
 lost about three hundred men during the siege, and the Texians had 
 only four killed and twenty wounded. The articles of capitulation 
 being signed, we marched into the town, took possession of the fortress, 
 hoisted the independent flag, and told the late proprietors to pack up 
 their moveables and clear out in the snapping of a trigger, as we did 
 not think our pockets quite safe with so many jail birds around us. 
 And this is the way the Alamo came into our possession ; but the way 
 we shall maintain our possession of it will be a subject for the future- 
 historian to record, or my name's not Crockett.- — I wish I may be shot 
 if I don't go ahead to the last. 
 
 I found Colonel Bowie, of Louisiana, in the fortress, a man celebrated 
 for having been in more desperate personal conflicts than any other in 
 the country, and whose name has been given to a knife of a peculiar 
 construction, which is now in general use in the south-west. I was 
 introduced to him by Colonel Travis, and he gave me a friendly wel- 
 come, and appeared to be mightily pleased that I had arrived safe. 
 While we were conversing he had occasion to draw his famous knife 
 to cut a strap, and I wish I may be shot if the bare sight of it wasn't 
 enough to give a man of a squeamish stomach the chohc, specially 
 before breakfast. . . . 
 
 My companions, the Bee hunter and the conjurer, joined us, and the 
 colonel appeared to know them both very well. He had a high opinion 
 of the Bee hunter, for turning to me, he said, " Colonel, you could not 
 have had a braver, better, or more pleasant fellow for a companion 
 than honest Ned here. With fifteen hundred such men I would 
 undertake to march to the city of Mexico, and occupy the seat of Santa 
 Anna myself before three months should elapse." 
 
 The colonel's life has been marked by constant peril and deeds of 
 daring. A few years ago he went on a hunting excursion into the 
 prairies of Texas, with nine companions. They were attacked by a 
 roving party of Cumanches, about two hundred strong, and such was 
 the science of the colonel in this sort of wild warfare, that after killing 
 a considerable number of the enemy, he fairly frightened the remain- 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT. 361 
 
 der from the field of action, and they fied in utter dismay. The fight 
 took place among the high grass in the open prairie. He ordered iiis 
 men to dismount from their horses and scatter ; to take deliberate aim 
 before they fired, but as soon as they had discharged their rifles, to 
 fall flat on the ground and "crawl away from the spot, and reload their 
 pieces, — By this scheme, they not only escaped the fire of the Indians, 
 but by suddenly discharging their guns from another quarter, they 
 created the impression that their party was a numerous one ; and the 
 Indians, finding that they were fighting against an invisible enemy, 
 after losing about thirty of their men, took to flight, believing them- 
 selves lucky in having escaped with no greater loss. But one of the 
 Colonel's party was slightly wounded, and that was owing to his 
 remaining to reload his rifle without having first shifted his position. 
 
 Santa Anna, it is said, roars like an angry lion at the disgraceful 
 defeat that his brother-in-law, General Cos, lately met with at this 
 place. It is rumoured that he has recruited a large force, and com- 
 menced his march to San Louis de !f otosi, and he is determined to 
 carry on a war of extermination. He is liberal in applying his 
 epithets to our countrymen in Texas, and denounces them as a set of 
 perfidious wretches, whom the compassion of the generous Mexicans 
 has permitted to take refuge in their country ; and who, hke the ser- 
 pent in the fable, no sooner warmed themselves than they stung then? 
 benefactors. This is a good joke. — By what title does Mexico lay 
 claim to all the territory which belonged to Spain in North America ? 
 Each province or state of New Spain contended separately or jointly, 
 just as it happened, for their independence, as we did, and were not 
 united under a general government representing the whole of the 
 Spanish possessions, which was only done afterward by mutual agree- 
 ment or federation. Let it be remembered that the Spanish authori- 
 ties were first expelled from Texas by the American settlers, who, 
 from the treachery of their Mexican associates, were unable to retain 
 it ; but the second time they were more suecessfnl. They certainly 
 had as good a right to the soil thus conquered by them, as the inhabi- 
 tants of other provinces who succeeded against Spain. The Mexicans 
 talk of the ingratitude of the Americans ; the truth is, that the ingrati- 
 tude has been on the other side. What was the war of Texas, in 1818, 
 when the revolutionary spark was almost extinguished in Mexico ? 
 What was the exp'edition of Mina, and his three hundred American 
 Spartans, who perished heroically in the very heart of Mexico, in the 
 vain attempt to resuscitate and keep alive the spark of independence 
 which has at this time kindled such an ungrateful blaze ? If a just 
 estimate could be made of the lives and the treasures contributed by 
 American enterprise in that cause, it would appear incredible. How 
 did the Mexicans obtain their independence at last ? Was it by their 
 own virtue and courage ? " No, it was by the treachery of one of the 
 king's generals, who established himself by successful treason, and 
 they have been in constant commotion ever since, which proves they 
 are unfit to govern themselves, much less a free and enlightened 
 people at a distance of twelve hundred miles from them. 
 
362 LIFB AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 But Santa Anna charges the Americans with ingratitude ! This is 
 something like Satan revUing sin. I have gathered some particulars 
 of the life of this moral personage from a gentleman at present in the 
 Alamo, and who is intimately acquainted with him, which I wUl copy 
 into my hook exactly as he wrote it. 
 
 Santa Anna is about forty-two years of age, and was horn in the city 
 of Vera Cruz. His father was a Spaniard, of old Spain, of respectable 
 standing, though poor ; his mother was a Mexican. He received a 
 common education, and at the age of thirteen or fourteen was taken 
 into the military family of the then Intendant of Vera Cruz, General 
 Davila, who took a great fancy to him, and brought him up. He re- 
 mained with General Davila until about the year 1820. While with 
 Davila he was made a major, and when installed he took the honours 
 very coolly, and on some of his friends congratulating him, he said, 
 " If you were to make me a god, I should desire to be something 
 greater." This trait, devoloped at so early a period of his life, indi- 
 cated the existence of that vaulting ambition which has ever since 
 characterized his life. 
 
 After serving the Spanish royal cause untU 1821, he left Vera Cruz, 
 turned against his old master and benefactor, and placed himself at the 
 head of some irregular troops which he raised on the sea-coast near 
 Vera Cruz, and which are called Jarochos in their language, and which 
 were denominated by him his Cossacks, as they were all mounted and 
 armed with spears. With this rude cavalry he besieged Vera Cruz, 
 drove Davila into the castle of San Juan d'UUoa, and after having been 
 repulsed again entered at a subsequent period, and got entire posses- 
 sion of the city, expelling therefrom the old Spanish troops, and 
 reducing the power of the mother country in Mexico to the walls of 
 the castle. 
 
 His manners are extremely affable; he is full of anecdote and 
 humour, and makes himself exceedingly fascinating and agreeable to 
 all who come into his company ; he is about five feet ten, rather spare, 
 has a moderately high forehead, with black hair, short black whiskers, 
 without mustachios, and an eye large, black, and expressive of a lurk- 
 ing devil in his look ; he is a man of genteel and dignified deportment, 
 hut of a disposition perfectly heartless. He married a Spanish lady 
 of property, a native of Alvarado, and through that marriage obtained 
 the first part of his estate, called Manga de Clavo, six leagues from 
 Vera Cruz. He has three fine children, yet quite young. 
 
 The following striking anecdote of Santa Anna illustrates his peculiar 
 quickness and management : During the revolution of 1829, while he 
 was shut up in Oxaca, and surrounded by the government troops, and 
 reduced to the utmost straits for the want of money and provisions ; 
 having a very small force, there had been, in consequence of the siege 
 and firing every day through the streets, no mass for several weeks. 
 He had no money, and hit upon the following expedient to get it : he 
 took possession of one of the convents, got hoW of the wardrobe of the 
 friars, dressed his officers and some of his soldiers in it, and early in 
 the morning had the bells rung for the mass. The people, dehghted at 
 
OF DAVY CROCKETT. 363 
 
 having again an opportunity of adoring the Supreme Being, flocked to 
 the church where he was ; and after the house was pretty well filled, 
 his friars showed their side-arms and bayonets from beneath their 
 cowls, and closed the doors upon the assembled multitude. 
 
 At this unexpected denouement there was a tremendous shrieking, 
 when one of his, officers ascended the pulpit, and told the people that 
 he wanted ten thousand dollars, and must have it. He finally suc- 
 ceeded in getting about thirty-six hundred dollars, when he dismissed 
 the congregation. 
 
 Many similar facts are related of him. He is, in fact, aU things to 
 all men ; and yet, after his treachery to Davila, he has the impudence 
 to talk about ingratitude. He never was out of Mexico. If I only 
 live to tree him, and take him prisoner, I shall ask for no more glory 
 in this life. 
 
OHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 I WRITE this on the nineteenth of February, 1836, at San Antonio. 
 We are all in high spirits, though we are rather short of provisions, 
 for men who have appetites that could digest any thing but oppres- 
 sion ; but no matter, we have a prospect of soon getting our bellies 
 full of fighting, and that is victuals and drink to a true patriot any 
 day. We had a little sort of convivial party last evening ; just about 
 a dozen of us set to work, most patriotically, to see whether we could 
 not get rid of that curse of the land, whisky, and we made consider- 
 able progress ; but my poor friend, Thimblerig, got sewed up just 
 about as tight as the eyelet-hole in a lady's corset, and a little tighter 
 too, I reckon ; for when he went to bed he called for a bootjack, which 
 was brought to him, and he bent down on his hands and knees, and 
 very gravely pulled off his hat with it, for the darned critter was so 
 thoroughly swiped that he didn't know his head from his heels. But 
 this wasn't all the folly he committed ; he pulled off his coat and laid 
 it on the bed, and then hung himself over the back of a chair ; and I 
 wish I may be shot if he didn't go to sleep in that position, thinking 
 every thing had been done according to Gunter's late scale. Seeing 
 the poor fellow completely used up, I carried him to bed, though he 
 did belong to the Temperance society ; and he knew nothing about 
 what had occurred until I told him the next morning. The Bee 
 hunter didn't join us in this blow-out. Indeed, he will seldom drink 
 more than just enough to prevent his being called a total abstinence 
 man. But then he is the most jovial fellow for a water drinker I ever 
 did see. 
 
 This morning I saw a caravan of about fifty mules passing by Bexar, 
 and bound for Santa Fe. They were loaded with different articles to 
 such a degree that it was, astonishing how they could travel at all, and 
 they were nearly worn out by their labours. They were without 
 bridle or halter, and yet proceeded with perfect regularity in a single 
 line ; and the owners of tlie caravan rode their mustangs with their 
 enormous spurs, weighing at least a pound a piece, with rowels an 
 inch and a half in length, and lever bits of the harshest description, 
 able to break the jaws of their animals under a very gentle pressure. 
 The men were dressed in the costumes of Mexicans. Colonel Travis 
 sent out a guard to see that they were not laden with munitions of 
 war for the enemy. I went out with the party. The poor mules 
 were bending under a burden of more than three hundred pounds, 
 without including the panniers, which were bound so tight as almost 
 
LIFE AND ADVENTUBES OF DAVY CROCKETT. 365 
 
 to stop the "breath of the poor animal. Each of the sorrowful line 
 came up, spontaneously, in turn to have his girth unbound and his 
 load removed. They seemed scarcely able to keep upon their feet; and 
 as they successively obtained reHef, one after another heaved a long 
 deep sigh, -which it was painful to hear, because it proved that the 
 poor brutes had been worked beyond their strength. What a world of 
 misery man inflicts upon the rest of creation in his brief passage 
 through life ! 
 
 Finding that the caravan contained nothing intended for the enemy, 
 we assisted the owners to replace the heavy burdens on the backs of 
 the patient but dejected mules, and allowed them to pursue their 
 weary and lonely way. For full two hours we could see them slowly 
 winding along the narrow path, a faint line that ran like a thread 
 through the extended prairie ; and finally they were whittled down to 
 the little end of nothing in the distance, and were blotted out from the 
 horizon. 
 
 The caravan had no sooner disappeared than one of the hunters, 
 who had been absent several days, came in. 
 
 He stated that he had met some Indians on the banks of the Bio 
 Frio, who informed him that Santa Anna, with a large force, had 
 already crossed the Neuoes, and might be expected to arrive before 
 San Antonio in a few days. We immediately set about preparing to 
 give liim a warm reception, for we are all well aware, if our little 
 band is overwhelmed by numbers, there is httle mercy to be expected 
 from the cowardly Mexicans — it is war to the knife. 
 
 I jocosely asked the ragged hunter, who was a smart, active young 
 fellow, of the steamboat and alligator breed, whether he was a rhino- 
 cerous or a hyena, as he was so eager for a fight with the invaders. 
 " Neither the one, nor t'other, Colonel," says he, " but a whole mena- 
 gerie in myself. I'm shaggy as a bear, wolfish about the head, active 
 as a cougar, and can grin like a hyena, until the bark wiU curl off a 
 gum log. There's a sprinkhng of all sorts in me, from the lion down 
 to the skunk; and before the war is over you'll pronounce me an 
 entire zoological institute, or I miss a figure in my calculation. I 
 promise to swallow Santa Anna without gagging, if you will only 
 skewer back his ears, and grease his head a little." 
 
 He told me that he was one in the fatal expedition fitted out from 
 New Orleans, in November last, to join the contemplated attack upon 
 Tampico by Mehia and Peraza. They were, in all, about one hundred 
 and thirty men, who embarked as emigrants to Texas ; and the terms 
 agreed upon were, that it was optional whether the party took up arms 
 in defence of Texas, or not, on landmg. They were at full liberty to 
 act as they pleased. But the truth was, Tampico was their destina- 
 tion, and an attack on that city the covert design, which was not 
 made known before land was in sight. The emigrants were landed, 
 some fifty, who doubtless had a previous understanding, joined the 
 standard of General Mehia, and the following day a formidable fort 
 surrendered without an attack. 
 
366 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 The whole party were now tendered arms and ammunition, which 
 even those who liad been decoyed accepted ; and, the line being 
 formed, they commenced the attack ^npon the city. The hunter 
 continued : " On the 15th of November our little army, consisting of 
 one hundred and fifty men, marched into Tampioo, garrisoned by two 
 thousand Mexicans, who were drawn up in battle array in the, public 
 square of the city. We charged them at the point of the bayonet, 
 and although they so greatly outnumbered us, in two minutes we 
 completely routed them ; and they fled, taking refuge on the house 
 tops, from which they poured a destructive fire upon our gallant little 
 band. We fought them until daylight, when we found our number 
 decreased to fifty or sixty broken down and disheartened men. With- 
 out ammunition, and deserted by the officers, twenty-eight immediately 
 surrendered. But a few of us out our way through, and fortunately 
 escaped to the mouth of the river, where we got on board a vessel and 
 sailed for Texas. 
 
 " The twenty-eight prisoners wished to be considered as prisoners 
 of war ; they made known the manner in which they had been 
 deceived, but they were tried by a couM-martialof Mexican soldiers, 
 and condemned to be shot on the 14th day of December, 1835, which 
 sentence was carried into execution." 
 
 After receiving this account from my new friend, the old pirate and 
 the Indian hunter came up, and they went off to liquor together, and 
 I went to see a wild Mexican hog, which one of the hunters had 
 brought in. These animals have become scarce, which circumstance 
 is not to be deplored, for their flesh is of Httle value ; and there will 
 still be hogs enough left in Mexico, from all I can learn, even though 
 these should be extirpated. 
 
 Februa/ry 22. — The Mexicans, about sixteen hundred strong, with 
 their President Santa Anna at their head, aided by Generals Almonte, 
 Cos, Sesma, and Oastrillon, are within two leagues of Bexar. General 
 Cos, it seems, has already forgot his parole of honouTj and is come 
 back to retrieve the credit he lost in this place in December last. If 
 he is captured a second time, I dont think he can have the impudence 
 to ask to go at large again without giving better bail than on the 
 former occasion. Some of the scouts came in, and bring reports that 
 Santa Anna has been endeavouring to excite the Indians to hostilities 
 against the Texians, but so far without effect. The Cumanches, in 
 particular, entertain such hatred for the Mexicans, and at the same 
 time hold them in such contempt, that they would rather turn their 
 tomahawks against them, and drive them from the land than lend a 
 helping hand. We are up and doing, and as lively as Dutch cheese 
 in the dog-days. The two hunters that I have abeady introduced 
 to the reader left the town this afternoon, for the purpose of recon- 
 noitring. 
 
 Fehrua/ry 23. — Early this morning the enemy came in sight, 
 marching in regular order, and displaying their strength to the greatest 
 advantage, in order to strike us with terror. But that was no go ; 
 they'll find that they have to do with men who will never lay down 
 
OF DAVY OBOCKETT. 367 
 
 their arms as long as they can stand on their legs. We held a short 
 •CBUnoil of war, and, finding that we should be completely surrounded, 
 and overwhelmed by numbers, if we remained in the town, we con- 
 cluded to withdraw to the fortress of Alamo, and defend it to the last 
 extremity. We accordingly filed off, in good order, having some days 
 before placed all the surplus provisions, arms, and ammunition in the 
 fortress. We have had a large national flag made ; it is composed 
 of thirteen stripes, red and white, alternately, on a blue ground with 
 a large white star, of five points, in the centre, and between the 
 points the letter Texas. As soon as all our little band, about one 
 hundred and fifty in number, had entered and secured the fortress in 
 the best possible manner, we set about raising our flag on the battle- 
 ments ; on which occasion there was no one more active than my 
 young friend, the Bee hunter. He had been all along sprightly, 
 cheerful, and spirited, but now, notwithstanding the control that he 
 usually maintained over himself, it was with difficulty that he kept 
 his enthusiasm within bounds. As soon as we commenced raising the 
 flag he burst forth, in a clear, full tone of voice, that made the blood 
 tingle in the veins of all who heard him : — 
 
 " Up with your 'batiner, Freedom, 
 
 Thy champions cling to thee ; 
 They'll follow where'er you lead 'em. 
 
 To death, or victory ; — 
 Tip with your banner, Freedom. 
 
 Tyrants and slaves are rushing 
 
 To tread thee in the dust; 
 Their blood will soon he gushing, 
 
 And stain our knives with rust ;^- 
 But not thy banner. Freedom. 
 
 While stars and stripes are flying. 
 
 Our blood we'll freely shed ; 
 No groan will 'scape the dying. 
 
 Seeing thee o'er his head ; — 
 Up with your banner. Freedom." 
 
 This song was followed by three cheers from all within the fortress, 
 and the drums and trumpets commenced playing. The enemy 
 marched into Bexar, and took possession of the town, . a- blood red 
 flag flying at their head, to indicate that we need not expect quarters 
 if we should fall into their clutches. In the afternoon a messenger 
 was sent from the enemy to Colonel Travis, demanding an uncondi- 
 tional and absolute surrender of the garrison, threatening to put every 
 man to the sword in case of refusa,!. The only answer he received 
 was a cannon shot, so the messenger left us with a flea in his ear, 
 and the Mexicans commenced firing grenades at us, hut without doing 
 any mischief. At night Colonel Travis sent an express to Colonel 
 > Fanning, at Goliad, about three or four dftys' march from this place, 
 to let him know that we are besieged. The old pirate volunteered 
 to go on this expedition, and accordingly left the fort after nightfall. 
 
368 LIFE AND ADVENTUBES 
 
 Felrua/ry 24.— Very early this morning the enemy commenced a 
 new battery on the banks of the river,' about three hundred and fifty 
 yards from the fort, and by afternoon they amused themselves by 
 firing at us fi'om that quarter. Our Indian scout came in this eveniiig, 
 and with him a reinforcement of thirty men fi:om Gonzales, who are 
 just in the nick of time to reap a harvest of glory ; but there is some 
 prospect of sweating blood before we gather it in. An accident 
 happened to my friend Thimblerig this afternoon. He was intent on 
 his eternal game of thimbles, in a somewhat exposed position, while 
 the enemy were bombarding us from the new redoubt. A three ounce 
 ball glanced from the parapet and struck him on the breast, inflicting 
 a painful but not dangerous woimd. I extracted the ball, which was 
 of lead, and recommended to him to drill a hole through it, and carry 
 it for a watch seal. " No," he replied, with energy, " May I be shot 
 six times if I do : that, would be making a bauble for an idle boast. 
 No, Colonel, lead is getting scarce, and I'll lend it out at compound 
 interest. — Curse the thimbLes I " he rauttered, and went his way, and 
 I saw no more of him that evening. 
 
 February 25. — The firing commenced early this morning, but the 
 Mexicans are poor engineers, for we haven't lost a single man, and 
 our outworks have sustained no injury. Our sharp shooters have 
 brought down a considerable number of stragglers at a long shot." I 
 got up before the peep of day, hearing an occasional discharge of a 
 rifle just over the place where I' was sleeping, and I was somewhat 
 amazed to see Thimblerig mounted alone on the battlement, no one 
 being on duty at the time but the sentries. " What are you doing 
 there ? " says I. " Paying my debts," says he, " interest and all." 
 " And how do you make out ? " says I. " I've nearly got through," 
 says he ; " stop a moment, Colonel, and I'll close the account." He 
 clapped his rifle to his shoulder, and blazed away, then jumped down 
 from his perch, and said, " That account's settled ; them chaps will 
 let me play out my game in quiet next time." I looked over the wall, 
 and saw four Mexicans lying dead on the plain. I asked him to 
 explain what he meant by paying his debts, and he told me that he 
 had run the grape shot into four rifle balls, and that he had taken an 
 early stand to have a chance of picking off stragglers. " Now, 
 Colonel, let's go take our bitters," said he ; — and so we did. The 
 enemy have been busy during the night, and have thrown up two 
 batteries on the opposite side of the river. The battalion of Matamoras 
 is posted there, and cavalry occupy the hills to the east and on the 
 road to Gonzales. — They are determined to surround us, and cut us 
 off from reinforcement, or the possibility of escape by a sortie. Well, 
 there's one thing they cannot prevent ; we'll still go ahead, and sell 
 our lives at a high price. 
 
 February 26. — Colonel Bciwie has been taken sick from over exertion 
 and exposure. He did not leave his bed to-day until twelve o'clock. 
 He is worth a dozen common men in a situation like ours. The Bee 
 hunter keeps the whole garrison in good heart with his songs and his 
 jests, and his daring and determined spirit.— He is about the quickest, 
 
OF DAVY OBOOEETT. 869 
 
 on the trigger, and the best rifle shot we have in the fort. I have 
 already seen him bring down eleven of ;the' enemy, and at such a 
 distance that we all thought it would be a. waste of ammunition to 
 attempt it. His gun is first rate, quite equal to my Betsey, though 
 she has not quite as many trinkets about her. This day a small party 
 salHed out of the fort for wood and water, and had a slight skirmish 
 with three times their number from the division under G-eneral Sesma. 
 The Bee hunter headed them, and beat the enemy off, after killing 
 three. On opening his Bible at night, of which he always reads a 
 portion before going to rest, he found a musket ball in the middle of 
 it. " See here. Colonel," said he, " how they have treated the valued 
 present of my dear little Kate of Nacogdoches." " It has saved your 
 hfe," said I. " True," replied he, more seriously than usual, " and I 
 am not the first sinner whose hfe has been saved by this book." He 
 prepared for bed, and before retiring he prayed, and returned thanks 
 for his providential escape ; and I heard the name of Catherine mingled 
 in his prayer. 
 
 Februwry 27. — The cannonading began early this morning, and ten 
 bombs were thrown into the fort, but fortunately exploded without 
 doing any mischief. So far it has been a sort of tempest in a teapot ; 
 not unlike a pitched battle in the Hall of .Congress, where the parties 
 array their forces, make fearful demonstrations on both sides, then 
 fire away with loud sounding speeches, which contain about as much 
 meaning as the report of a howitzer charged with a blank cartridge. 
 Provisions are becoming scarce, and the enemy are endeavouring to 
 cut off our water. If they attempt to stop our grog in that manner, 
 let them look out, for we shall become too wrathy for our shirts to 
 hold us. We are not prepared to submit to an excise of that nature, 
 and they'U find it out. This discovery has created considerable ex- 
 citement in the fort. 
 
 February 28. — Last night our hunters brought in some corn and 
 had a brush with a scout firom the enemy beyond gun-shot of the fort. 
 They put the scout to flight, and got in without injury. They bring 
 accounts that the settlers are flying in all quarters, in dismay, leaving 
 their possessions to the mercy of the ruthless invader, who is literally 
 engaged in a war of extermination, more brutal than the untutored 
 savage of the desert could be guilty of. Slaughter is indiscriminate, 
 sparing neither sex, age, nor condition. Buildings have been burnt 
 down, farms laid waste, and Santa Anna appears determined to verify 
 his threat, and convert the blooming paradise into a howhng wilder- 
 ness. For just one fair crack at that rascal, even at a hundred yards 
 distance, I would bargain to break my Betsey, and never pull trigger 
 again. My name's not Crockett if I wouldn't get glory enough to 
 appease my stomach for the remainder of my life. The scouts report 
 that a settler, by the name of Johnson, flying with his wife and three 
 httle children, when they reached the Colorado, left his family on the 
 shore, and waded into the river to see whether it would be safe to ford 
 with his waggon.- When about the middle of the river he was seized 
 by an alligator, and after a struggle, was dragged under the water. 
 
 25 
 
370 LIFE AND ADVENTUBE8 
 
 and perished. The helpless woman and her babes were discovered, 
 gazing in agony on the spot, by other fugitives who happily passed 
 that way, and relieved them. Those who fight the battles experience 
 but a small part of the privation, suffering and anguish that follow in 
 the train of ruthless .war. The cannonading continued, at intervals, 
 throughout the day, and aU hands were kept up to their work. The 
 enemy, somewhat imboldened, draws nigher to the fort. So much 
 the better. — There was a move in General Sesma's division toward ' 
 evening. 
 
 February 29. — Before daybreak we saw General Sesma leave his 
 camp with a large body of cavalry and infantry, and move off in the 
 direction of Gohad. We think that he must have received news of 
 Colonel Fanning's coming to om* relief. We are all in high spirits at 
 the prospect of being able to give the rascals a fair shake on the plain. 
 This business of being shut up makes a man wolfish. — I had a little 
 sport this morning before breakfast. The enemy had planted a piece 
 of ordnance within gun-shot of the fort during the night, and the first 
 thing in the morning they commenced a brisk cannonade, point-blank, 
 against the spot where I was snoring. I turned out pretty smart, and 
 mounted the rampart. The gun was charged again, a fellow stepped 
 forth to touch her off, but before he could apply the match I let him 
 have it, and he keeled over, A second stepped up, snatched the 
 match from the hand of the dying man, but Thimblerig, who had 
 followed me, handed me his rifle, and the next instant the Mexican 
 was stretched on the earth beside the first. A third came up to the 
 cannon, my coinpanion handed me another gun, and I fixed him off 
 in like manner. A fourth, then a fifth, seized the match, who both 
 met with the same fate, and then the whole party gave it up as a bad 
 job, and hurried off to the camp, leaving the cannon ready charged 
 where they had planted it. I came down, took my bitters and went 
 to breakfast. Thimblerig told me that the. place from which I had 
 been firing was one of the snuggest stands in the whole fort, fophe 
 never failed picking off two or three stragglers before breakfast, when 
 perched up there. 
 
 And I recollect, now, having seen him there, ever since he was 
 wounded, the first thing in the morning, and the last at night, — and 
 at times thoughtlessly playing at his eternal game. 
 
 March 1. — The enemy's forces have been increasing in numbers 
 daily, notwithstanding they have already lost about three hundred 
 men in the several assaults they have made upon us. I neglected 
 to mention in the proper place, that when the enemy came in sight 
 we had but three bushels of corn in the garrison, but have since found 
 eighty bushels in a deserted house. Colonel Bowie's iUness still 
 continues, but he manages to crawl from his bed every day, that his 
 comrades may see him. His presence alone is a tower of strength. — 
 The enemy becomes more daring as his numbers increase. 
 
 March 2. — This day the delegates meet in general convention, at . 
 the town of Washington, to firame our Declaration of Independence. 
 That the sacred instrument may never be trampled on by the children 
 
OF DAVY, OBOOEETT. 371 
 
 of those who had freely shed their blood to establish it, is the sincere 
 wish of David Crockett. Universal independence is an almighty ideai 
 far too extensive for some brains to comprehend. It is a beautiful 
 seed that germinates rapidly, and brings forth a large and vigorous 
 tree, but li!ke the deadly Upas, we sometimes find the smaller plants 
 wither and die in its shades. Its blooming branches spread far and 
 wide, offering a perch of safety to aU. alike, but even among its protect- 
 ing branches we find the eagle, the kite, and the owl preying upon the 
 helpless dove and sparrow. Beneath its shades myriads congregate 
 in goodly fellowship, but the lamb and the fawn find but frail security 
 from the lion and the jackal, though the tree of independence waves 
 over them. Some imagine independence to be a natural charter, to 
 exercise without restraint, and to their fullest extent, all the energies, 
 both physical and mental, with which they have been endowed ; and 
 for their individual aggrandizement alone, without regard to the 
 rights of others, provided they extend to all the same privilege and 
 freedom of action. Such independence is the worst of tyranny. 
 
 March 3. — We have given over all hopes of receiving assistance 
 from GroUad or Befugio. Colonel Travis harangued the garrison, and 
 concluded by exhorting them, in case the enemy should carry the fort, 
 to fight to the last gasp, and render their victory even more serious 
 to them than to us. This was followed by three cheers. 
 
 March 4. — Shells have been falling into the fort like haU during 
 the day, but without effect. About dusk, in the evening, we observed 
 a man running towards the fort, pursued by about a dozen Mexican 
 cavalry. The Bee hunter immediately knew him to be the old pirate 
 who had gone to Goliad, and, calling to the two hunters, he saUied 
 out of the fort to the relief of the old man, who was hard pressed. 
 I followed close after. Before we reached the spot the Mexicans 
 were close on the heel of the old man, who stopped suddenly, turned 
 short upon his pursuers, discharged his rifle, and one of the enemy 
 fell from his horse. The chase was renewed, but finding that. he 
 would be overtaken and cut to pieces, he now turned again, and to 
 the amazement of the enemy, became the assailant hi his turn. He 
 clubbed his gun, and dashed among them like a wounded tiger, and 
 they fled like sparrows. By this time we reached the spot, and in 
 the ardour of the moment, followed some distance before we saw that 
 our retreat to the fort was cut off by another detatchment of cavalry. 
 Nothing was to be done but to fight our way through. We were all of 
 the same mmd. " Go ahead 1 " cried I; and they shouted, " Go ahead, 
 Colonel I" We dashed among them, and a bloody conflict ensued. 
 They were about twenty in number and they -stood their ground. 
 After the fight had continued about five minutes, a detachment was 
 seen issuing from the fort to our rehef, and the Mexicans scampered 
 off, leaving eight of their comrades dead upon the field. But we did 
 not escape unscathed, for both the pirate and the Bee hunter were 
 mortally wounded, and I received a sabre cut across the forehead. 
 The old man died, without speaking, as soon as we entered the fort. 
 We bore my young iriend to his bed, dressed his wounds, and I 
 
372 LIFB AND ADVENTVBES 
 
 watched beside him. He lay, without complaint or manifesting pain, 
 until about midnight, when he spoke, and I asked him if he wanted 
 any thing. " Nothing," he replied, but drew a sigh that seemed to rend 
 his heart, as he added, " Poor Kate of Nacogdoches ! " His eyes were 
 filled with tears, as he continued, " Her words were prophetic, Colo- 
 nel ; " and then he sang, in a low voice that resembled the sweet notes 
 of his own devoted Kate : 
 
 "But toom' cam' the saddle, all bluidy to see, 
 And hame cam' the steed, but hame never cam' he." 
 
 He spoke no more, and a few minutes after died. Poor Kate, who 
 will tell this to thee ! 
 
 March 5. — Pop, pop, pop ! Bom, bom, bom ! throughout the 
 day. — No time for memorandums now. — Go ahead ! — Liberty and 
 independence for ever ! 
 
 " Here," says the editor of the original edition, "ends Col. Crockett's 
 manuscript." The hand is cold that wrote the foregoing pages, and it 
 devolvesupon another to record the subsequent evenis. Before daybreak, 
 on the 6th of March, the Alamo was assaulted by the whole force of 
 the Mexican army, commanded by Santa Anna in person. The battle 
 was desperate imtil daylight, when only six men belonging to the 
 Texian garrison was found alive. They were instantly surrounded, 
 and ordered, by General Castrillon, to surrender, which they did, 
 under a promise of bis protection, finding that resistance any longer 
 would be madness. Colonel Crockett was of the number. He stood i 
 alone in an angle of the fort, the barrel of his shattered rifle in his 
 right hand, in his left his huge Bowie knife dripping blood. There 
 was a frightful gash across his forehead, while' around him there was 
 a complete barrier of about twenty Mexicans, lying pell meU, dead, 
 and dying. At his feet lay the dead body of that well known cha- 
 racter, designated in the Colonel's narrative by the assumed name 
 of Thimblerig, his knife driven to the haft in the throat of a Mexican, 
 and his left hand clenched in his hair. Poor fellow, I knew him well, 
 at a time when he was possessed of many virtues, but of late years 
 the weeds had choked up the flowers ; however, Colonel Crockett 
 had succeeded in awakening in his bosom a sense of better things, 
 and the poor feUow was grateful to the last, and stood beside his 
 friend throughout the desperate havoc. 
 
 " General Ca.strilLon was brave and not cruel, and disposed to save 
 the prisoners. He marched them up to that part of the fort where 
 stood Santa Anna and bis murderous crew. The steady, fearless step 
 and undaunted tread of Colonel Crockett, on this occasion, together 
 with the bold demeanour of the hardy veteran, had a powerful effect 
 on all present. Nothing daunted he marched up boldly in front of 
 Santa Anna, and looked him sternly in the face, while Castrillon 
 addressed ' his Excellency,'—' Sir, here are six prisoners I have taken 
 alive ; how shall I dispose of them ? ' Santa Anna looked at Castrillon 
 
OF DAVY CBOCKETT., 373 
 
 fiercely, flew into a violent rage, and replied, ' Have I not told you 
 before how to dispose of them ? ' ' Why do you bring them to me ? ' 
 At the same time his brave officers plunged their swords into the 
 bosoms of their defenceless prisoners. Colonel Crockett, seeing the 
 act of treachery, instantly sprung like a tiger at the ruffian chief, but 
 before he could reach him a dozen swords were sheathed in his 
 indomitable heart ; and he fell, and died without a groan, a frown on 
 his brow, and a smile of scorn and defiance on his lips. Castrillon 
 rushed from the scene, apparently horror-struck, sought his quarters, 
 and did not leave them for several days, and hardly spoke to Santa 
 Anna after." 
 
 This crowning brutality of Santa Anna is denied by some autho- 
 rities, who say Crockett and the rest of the garrison perished in the 
 hand-to-hand fight. Santa Anna may be given the benefit of the 
 doubt, without^etraWng from his bloody laurels in that struggle. 
 
 The memory of David Crockett is held in high honour by the 
 citizens of the great empire State, for whose freedom he gave up his 
 life. The anniversary of his birth is celebrated with becoming cere- 
 monies ; his deeds have been commemorated in song and story, and 
 even made the theme of a popular drama. Most enduring monument 
 of all, his " motto" has become a household word with sixty millions 
 of people, who know very little, and that little wrongly, about the 
 philosophical filibuster who gave them the watchword — 
 
 " Be sure you're right : then go ahead." 
 
UHWIN BROTHBES, 
 CHUiWDRTH AMD LONDON. 
 
\m 
 
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 '1