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A^ .^blAJN CHIEF. 
 
DARING ADVENTURES 
 
 AMONG THE 
 
 INDIANS, 
 
 BEING 
 
 A Narrative of Border Warfare, 
 
 AND TnE 
 
 EXPLOITS OF FAMOUS HUNTERS 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY, 
 
 142 to 150 Worth St. ; Mission Place. 
 

 * ° (. 3 0(o 
 » 2. 
 
 LC Control Number 
 
 tmp96 026027 
 
no 
 
 v. 5 
 
MR. BRUCE DISCOVERING THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 
 
JAMES BRUCE. 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 HUNTERS AND TRAVELLERS. 
 
 JKscobeH) of fi]c §oi\Hc of ii;c ^ile. 
 
 This great discovery was effected in the 
 year 17G8, by James Bruce, a Scotch gentle- 
 man of education and fortune, and a most 
 indefatigable traveller. After various travels 
 and adventures in the north of Africa, and 
 west of Asia, he determined to discover the 
 
 en 
 
b ADVENTURES OP MR. BRUCE. 
 
 source of the Nile, of which the situation 
 had been previously unknown to the civil- 
 ized world. He formed the design while 
 lying sick of a fever, at Aleppo. 
 
 On his recovery, he left that place for 
 Alexandria, where he arrived on the 20th 
 of June, 1768. From hence he proceeded 
 by land to Rosetta, where he embarked on 
 the Nile for Cairo. 
 
 After impressing the bey of the city with 
 an idea of his skill in medicine and pro- 
 phecy, he sailed to Syene, visiting in his 
 way thither, the ruins of Thebes; and, on 
 the 16th of February, 1769, set out from 
 Kenne, through the Thebaid desert, to Cor- 
 seir, on the Red Sea; and from thence pro- 
 ceeded to Tor and Jidda, where he landed 
 on the 5th of May. After making several 
 excursions in Arabia Felix, he quitted Lo- 
 heia, on the 3d of September for Masuah ; 
 where, on his arrival, he was detained for 
 some weeks, by the treachery and avarice 
 of the governor of that place, who attempted 
 to murder him, in consequence of his refusal 
 to make him an enormous present. In Fe- 
 
DISCOVERS THE SOURCE OP THE NILE. ( J 
 
 binary, 1770, he entered Gondar, the capital 
 of Abyssinia, the ras of which city appointed 
 him gentleman-usher of the king's bed- 
 chamber, commander of the household ca- 
 valry, and governor of a province. 
 
 On the 27th of October, after having 
 taken an active part in the councils of the 
 the sovereign, and effected several cures of 
 persons about the court attacked with the 
 small-pox, he left the capital and set out 
 in search of the source of the Nile, which 
 he discovered at Saccala, on the 14th of the 
 following November. The joy he felt on 
 this occasion, is thus described by himself: 
 "It is easier to guess, than to describe the 
 situation of my mind at that moment; 
 standing on that spot which had baffled the 
 genius, history, and inquiry of both ancients 
 and moderns, for the course of nearly three 
 thousand years. Kings had attempted this 
 discovery at the head of armies, and each 
 expedition was distinguished from the last 
 only by the difference of the numbers which 
 had perished, and agreed alone in the dis- 
 appointment which had uniformly, and 
 
10 ADVENTURES OF MR. BRUCE. 
 
 without exception, followed them all. Fame, 
 riches, and honor, had been held out, for a 
 series of ages, to every individual of the 
 myriads those princes commanded, without 
 having produced one man capable of grati- 
 fying the curiosity of his sovereign, or wiping 
 off the stain upon the enterprize and abili- 
 ties of mankind, or adding this desideratum 
 for the encouragement of geography. Though 
 a mere private Briton, I triumphed here in 
 my own mind over kings and their armies ; 
 and every comparison was leading nearer 
 and nearer to the presumption, when the 
 place itself where I stood, the object of my 
 vain-glory, suggested what depressed my 
 short-lived triumphs. I was but a few mi- 
 nutes arrived at the source of the Nile, 
 through numberless dangers and sufferings, 
 the least of which would have overwhelmed 
 me, but for the continual goodness and 
 and protection of Providence ; I was, how- 
 ever, then but half through my journey, 
 and all those dangers which I had already 
 passed, awaited me again on my return. I 
 found despondency gaining ground fast 
 
TAKES PART IN TIIE WAR. 11 
 
 upon me, and blasting the crown of laurels 
 I had rashly woven for myself." 
 
 After returning to Gondar, our traveller 
 found much difficuly in obtaining permission 
 to proceed on his way homeward ; it being 
 a rule with the inhabitants never to allow 
 a stranger to quit Abyssinia. A civil war 
 breaking out in the country about the pe- 
 riod of his intended departure, he was com- 
 pelled to remain in it till December of the 
 following year, and took part in one of their 
 battles, in which his valiant conduct was 
 such that the king presented him with a 
 rich suit of apparel, and a gold chain of 
 immense value. At length, at the end of 
 1771, he set out from Gondar, and, in the 
 February of the following year, arrived at 
 Senaar, where he remained two months, 
 suffering under the most inhospitable treat- 
 ment, and deceived in his supplies of mo- 
 ney, which compelled him to sell the gold 
 chain he had been presented with. He then 
 proceeded by Chiendi, and Gooz, through 
 the Nubian desert, and on the 29th of No- 
 vember, reached Assouan, on the Nile, after 
 
12 ADVENTURES OP MR. BRUCE. 
 
 a most dreadful and dangerous journey, in 
 the course of which he lost all his camels 
 and baggage, and twice laid himself down, 
 in the expectation of death. Having pro- 
 cured, however, fresh camels, he returned 
 to the desert, and recovered most part of 
 his baggage, with which, on the 10th of 
 January, he arrived at Cairo; where, in- 
 gratiating himself with the bey, he ob- 
 tained permission for English commanders 
 to bring their vessels and merchandize to 
 Suez, as well as to Jidda, an advantage no 
 other European nation had before been able 
 to acquire. 
 
 In the beginning of March he arrived at 
 Alexandria, whence he sailed to Marseilles ; 
 where he landed about the end of the month, 
 suffering under great agony from a dis- 
 ease called the Guinea worm, which totally 
 disabled him from walking, and had nearly 
 proved fatal to him during his voyage. Not- 
 withstanding, however, the perils he under- 
 went, and the barbarities he witnessed in 
 the course of his travels, and particularly 
 at Abyssinia, yet even that country he left 
 
ADVENTURES OP MR. BRUCE. 
 
 13 
 
 with some regret, and would often recall, 
 with a feeling of tenderness, the kindnesses 
 he had received there, especially from the 
 ras's wife, Ozoro Esther, between himself 
 and whom, a very affectionate intimacy had 
 existed. 
 
The great island of Australia is claimed 
 by the British government, which has a 
 colony, called New South Wales, upon its 
 southern coast. Many attempts have been 
 made by bold traders to explore the interior 
 of the island, but as yet, very little is known 
 about it. Major Mitchell was engaged about 
 seven months in exploring the wild country 
 north-west of New South Wales. He en- 
 countered many dangers and endured many 
 hardships. Among his party was a gentle- 
 (14) 
 
-«5sr 
 
 A HATXVS OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
FATAL ADVENTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 1? 
 
 man named Richard Cunningham, who was 
 & botanist. While in pursuit of his favorite 
 study he met a most awful fate. 
 
 On the 17th of April, at the close of a 
 very hot day, it was reported that Mr. Cun- 
 ningham was missing. At first his absence 
 did not create much uneasiness. But as 
 the night passed, and nothing was heard 
 of him, Major Mitchell was fearful that he 
 would perish for want of water, in the arid 
 region, which he was traversing. Two par- 
 ties started in search of the missing bota- 
 nist. But they sought in vain. Upon the 
 23d, two whites came into the camp, and 
 reported that they had found the track of 
 Mr. Cunningham's horse, and had followed it 
 for many miles, until it entered a thicket, 
 and was lost. The humane major imme- 
 diately set out in the direction it was sup- 
 posed Mr. Cunningham would take. For 
 several days the search was continued. 
 Every device was resorted to, to guide the 
 unfortunate man to the camp, if he was still 
 alive. All was fruitless. His friends re- 
 mained uncertain of his fate. 
 b 2 * 
 
IS FATAL ADVENTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 At length, the mystery was solved. A 
 party sent for the express purpose to the 
 Bogan country, in October, 1835, captured 
 a band of forty natives, men, women, and 
 children, who gave up three men of their 
 tribe, as the murderers of Mr. Cunningham. 
 A knife, a glove, and a cigar-case, belong- 
 ing to that gentleman, were found in the 
 bags of the tribe. The three murderers 
 confessed the deed. 
 
 Cunningham had come up to them on the 
 Bogan one evening, and made signs for 
 food. They gave it to him, and he en- 
 camped with them that night. The bota- 
 nist got up repeatedly in the night, and 
 this, said the natives, excited their suspi- 
 cions, and they resolved to destroy him, 
 which they effected by coming behind him, 
 and striking him with a heavy weapon on 
 the head. The truth of this confession was 
 made evident, by the natives taking the 
 party to the spot, and showing them poor 
 Cunningham's bleaching bones. They were 
 gathered up, laid in the earth, and a humble 
 inound erected over them. Unfortunately, 
 
I ATAL ADVENTURE IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 19 
 
 two of the murderers escaped from their 
 captors, and only one was brought down to 
 the white settlements to pay for his crime. 
 A fourth man had been present at the 
 murder, but he never fell into the hands of 
 the white party. 
 
Ifye S^lof ^K|9 the |>eoi\ 
 
 A Hull whaler was moored to a field of 
 ice, on which, at a considerable distance, a 
 large bear was observed prowling about for 
 prey. One of the ship's company, embold- 
 ened by an artificial courage — derived from 
 the free use of his rum, which in his econo- 
 my he had stored for special occasions — 
 (20) 
 
SCENE IN THE ARTIC REGIONS, 
 
MARCHES TO ATTACK THE BEAR. 23 
 
 undertook to pursue and attack the bear 
 that was within view. Armed only with a 
 whale-lance, he resolutely, and against all 
 persuasion, set out on his adventurous ex- 
 ploit. A fatiguing journey of about half a 
 league, over a surface of yielding snow and 
 rucked hammocks, brought him within a 
 few yards of the enemy, which to his sur- 
 prise, undauntedly faced him, and seemed 
 to invite him to the combat. 
 
 His courage being, by this time, greatly 
 subdued, partly by the evaporation of the 
 stimulus he had employed, and partly by 
 the undismayed and even threatening aspect 
 of the bear, he levelled his lance in an atti- 
 tude suited either to offensive or defensive 
 action, and stopped. The bear also stood 
 still. In vain the adventurer tried to rally 
 courage to make the attack; his enemy 
 was too formidable, and his appearance too 
 imposing. In vain also he shouted, ad- 
 vanced his lance, and made feints of attack; 
 the enemy, either not understanding them, 
 or despising such unmanliness, obstinately 
 stood his ground. Already the limbs of 
 
21 THE SAILOR AND TIIE BEAR, 
 
 the sailor began to snake, the lance trem- 
 bled in the rest, and his gaze, which had 
 hither been steadfast, began to quiver; but 
 Hie fear of ridicule from his messmates still 
 had its influence, and he yet scarcely dared 
 to retreat. 
 
 Bruin, however, possessing less reflection, 
 or being more regardless of consequences, 
 began, with the most audacious boldness, 
 to advance. His near approach, and un- 
 shaken step subdued the spark of bravery 
 and dread of ridicule that had hitherto up- 
 held our adventurer; he turned and fled. 
 But now was the time of danger. The 
 sailor's flight encouraged the bear in his 
 turn to pursue ; and being better practised 
 in snow travelling, and better provided for 
 it, he rapidly gained upon the fugitive. The 
 whale-lance, his only defence encumbered 
 him in his retreat, he threw it down and 
 kept on. This fortunately excited the bear's 
 attention ; he stopped, pawed it, bit it, and 
 then resumed the chace. Again he was at; 
 the heels of the panting seaman, who, con- 
 scions of the favorable effect of the lance, 
 
THRILLING ESCAPE FROM TUE BEAS, 2v 
 
 dropped a mitten ; the stratagem succeeded, 
 and while Bruin again stopped to examine 
 it, the fugitive, improving the interval, 
 made considerable progress ahead. 
 
 Still the bear resumed the pursuit, with 
 the most provoking perseverance, excepting 
 when arrested by another mitten, and finally 
 by a hat, which he tore to shreds between 
 his teeth and his paws, and would no doubt 
 have soon made the incautious adventurer 
 his victim, who was rapidly losing strength 
 and heart, but for the prompt, and well- 
 timed assistance of his shipmates, who, ob- 
 serving that the affair had assumed a dan- 
 gerous aspect, sallied out to his rescue. 
 
 The little phalanx opened him a passage, 
 and then closed to receive the bold assail- 
 ant. Though now beyond the reach of his 
 adversary, the dismayed fugitive continued 
 onward, impelled by his fears, and never 
 relaxed his exertions until he fairly reached 
 the shelter of the ship. 
 
 Bruin once more prudently came to a 
 stand, and for a moment seemed to survey 
 his enemies with all the consideration of 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 THE SAILOR AND THE BEAR. 
 
 an experienced general ; when, finding them 
 too numerous for any reasonable hope of 
 success, he very wisely wheeled about, and 
 succeeded in making a safe and honorable 
 retreat 
 
a 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 CO 
 
 < 
 
 n 
 
 H 
 « 
 
 P* 
 
asffta 
 
 Ji9beK)ft|i*e5 toiii] 3I/oibe& 
 
 Wolves are still numerous in some parts 
 of France, where* they commit dreadful de- 
 vastations. Even in the thickly inhabited 
 districts, these ferocious animals are some- 
 times seen, and the people are forced to be 
 on their guard. 
 
 A few winters ago, Monsieur de B., an 
 advocate of Dijon, was returning rather lato 
 
 3* (29) 
 
SO ADVENTURES WITH WOLVES. 
 
 from a shooting excursion, near that town, 
 when his dog, a small pointer, who was a 
 few paces in advance, ran suddenly back, 
 as if terrified. 
 
 The spot was a long hollow, formed by 
 two sandbanks ; and as far as his eye could 
 reach, he could discover no cause for the 
 animal's sudden terror, which sent him 
 crouching to his feet. He proceeded cau- 
 tiously, however, cocking both barrels of 
 his gun ; for upwards of two hundred yards 
 no cause of alarm presented itself. Indeed, 
 he had forgotten the circumstance, and 
 rested the gun across his shoulder, when 
 the dog again fell behind him with an af- 
 frightened yell. A wolf stood on the sand- 
 bank, about thirty yards before him. 
 
 Armed only with partridge shot. Monsieur 
 de B. considered it most prudent to retreat, 
 and gain a cross road in the rear. He had 
 not returned many yards, when to his horror 
 and astonishment, he beheld another wolf 
 barring his path on that side. 
 
 Neither as yet had ventured to attack 
 him, and as he advanced, each retired ; but 
 
HARROW ESCAPE OF A FRENCH HUNTER. 31 
 
 the other would draw closer to his heels. 
 His situation became critical, for night was 
 approaching, and he feared that with it 
 more assailants would be down upon him ; 
 and to this they both howled as if to call a 
 reinforcement, and the sportsman at length 
 felt certain they were answered from the 
 hills. No time was to be lost ; he rapidly 
 advanced on one, and within twenty paces 
 fired both barrels at him. The wolf fell, 
 wounded, and the other cleared the bank, 
 Monsieur B., following his example, took to 
 his heels, and never drew breath till he had 
 entered Dijon. 
 
 On examining the snow the next morn 
 ing, it was ascertained that he had been 
 hotly pursued to the very gates. As for 
 the wounded wolf, a few bones were all that 
 his comrades had left of him. 
 
 The wolves of Russia are noted for their 
 sagacity. In the thinly settled districts, 
 they are very abundant. The public roads 
 are rendered dangerous by the number and 
 daring character of these fierce animals. 
 Travellers are very often attacked, and if 
 
32 ADVENTURES WITH WOLYK.. 
 
 they are not well-armed, or near to some 
 village, their destruction is certain. 
 
 One day some peasants were travelling, 
 in a sleigh, when they were suddenly at- 
 tacked by a large number of wolves. The 
 house, at which they intended to stop, 
 was about two miles from the place where 
 they were attacked. They were without 
 weapons of any kind, and their only hope 
 was in flight. Keeping the wolves back as 
 well as they could, they whipped the horses, 
 and drove for the house with the utmost 
 speed. The savage beasts pursued, occa- 
 sionally jumping upon the sleigh, and 
 snapping their greedy jaws as they ran by 
 the side of the horses. The party reached 
 the house. The gate of the yard happened 
 to be closed. But the almost maddened 
 horses dashed it open, and the party en- 
 tered the yard. Nine wolves entered with 
 them. Fortunately the gate swung shut, 
 and the wolves were caught in a trap. From 
 being the most ferocious of beasts, the na- 
 ture of the animals, now that they found 
 escape impossible, completely changed. So 
 
WOLVES AXD VULTURES. 
 
 35 
 
 far, indeed, from attempting to molest any 
 one, they slunk into holes, and allowed 
 themselves to be slaughtered without re- 
 sistance. This escape was miraculous. 
 
 The wolf shares with the vulture in feast- 
 ing upon the bodies of those who are slain 
 in battle, and left unburied on the field. 
 Sometimes they will scratch away the earth, 
 and tear the bodies from their rude graves. 
 It is an awful sight to see these fierce ani- 
 mals making a meal at midnight upon 
 human flesh and bones. 
 
The following account of a tiger bunt in 
 Java, is given by a sailor, in a letter to his 
 brothei, dated December 19th, 1832. 
 
 At seven o'clock, on the morning of Oc- 
 tober 2d, I set out with my two sons, a 
 Berzoekie man in my service, and about 
 fifty natives, armed with pikes and hog- 
 spears; I was armed with a gun and a 
 spear. The tiger for which we were on the 
 look-out was in a valley about two miles 
 and a half distant from our port. The mo- 
 ment we arrived near him we commenced 
 operations. About nine o'clock we effec- 
 tually drove him out of his den of under- 
 wood ; and while he was doubling the brow 
 of a hill, I had a rap at him, which took 
 effect. He now made over to the west side 
 of the valley, and into a thorny bush. In 
 half an hour we started him again ; he then 
 (36) 
 
THE Tlflim 
 
REMARKABLE TIGER HUNT. 39 
 
 ran along the western side of the valley into 
 another bush : several spears were now 
 thrown at him, but without effect. 
 
 We followed, and soon roused him again ; 
 he now made a start for his old station on 
 the east side of the valley ; he seemed to 
 be very much fagged on account of the heat 
 and a want of water, and it became difficult 
 to arouse him ; several spears flew after 
 him, but they fell short. All this time, 
 although pretty close, I could not get a shot 
 at him, sometimes on account of my people, 
 and at others not wishing to throw a shot 
 away, not knowing how soon I might re- 
 quire it in self-defence. Close to his heels, 
 we followed him across the valley. 
 
 He now took shelter in a bush on the side 
 of a hill, where he remained growling for 
 some time. He saw that he was in danger, 
 go he made a start from that bush to an- 
 other, just at my feet, and lay for at least 
 ten minutes, not ten yards from where I 
 was with one of my sons, who was making 
 an opening into the bush, so that at length 
 I got a clear sight of him ; but before we 
 
40 REMARKABLE TIGER HUNT. 
 
 could finish our task, he made a spring with 
 an intention to clear the heads of three men 
 who were to my right at about a fathom 
 distance, but they received and put three 
 pikes and a hogspear into him : the former 
 entered his belly, the latter entered his 
 right shoulder ; this he took with him, but 
 the pike staves all broke. 
 
 This shock to his frame brought him 
 down on one of the men, on whom he left 
 the marks of three of his paws, but he got 
 into a bush before I could turn round to 
 have a rap at him. This was his last move. 
 It was now just twelve at noon. We ga- 
 thered up our broken pike-staves, bound up 
 the wounds of our man, and sent him off 
 to the mill, to await our arrival ; but de- 
 termined not to give up our prize, we re- 
 mained quiet for about an hour, to rest our- 
 selves. During this time he growled once, 
 but faintly ; he was at that time drawing 
 the hogspear out of his right shoulder. This 
 gave him much pain, and made him growl. 
 We now saw the bush shake very much, so 
 again we bogan operations, by cutting down 
 
REMARKABLE TIGER HUNT. 
 
 41 
 
 the small bushes to got a sight of him; this 
 was soon done, and I put a shot into his 
 head. Our work was now done, so we went 
 up to him. 
 
 I had him carried home. His weight was 
 three hundred and thirty-three pounds ; ho 
 stood three feet three inches high ; length 
 of body six feet, tail two feet four inches. I 
 then dressed the wounded hunter. He was 
 fourteen days under my hands. He had 
 ten wounds on his body, left arm and head. 
 This, you will say is no children's play. 
 
J^c^pe of iboo bop ftoty % fych'^s. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1793, two boys, 
 named John and Henry Johnson, whose pa- 
 rents lived near Carpenter's station, on the 
 east side of the Ohio river, were captured 
 by two Indians, who lay in ambush near 
 the house. After travelling nearly all day, 
 the Indians halted, and kindled a fire. 
 
 When night came on the fire was covered 
 up, the boys pinioned, and made to lie down 
 together. The Indians then placed the 
 hoppis straps over them, and lay down, one 
 on each side of them, on the ends of the 
 
A> T ISDIAN CHIEF. 
 
THE boys' stratagem. 45 
 
 straps. Pretty late in the night the In- 
 dians fell asleep ; and one of them becom- 
 ing cold, caught hold of John in his arms, 
 and turned him over on the outside. In this 
 situation, the boy, who had kept awake, 
 found means to get his hands loose. He 
 then whispered to his brother, made him 
 get up, and untied his arms. This done, 
 Henry thought of nothing but running off 
 as fast as possible ; but when about to start, 
 John caught hold of him, saying, " We must 
 kill these Indians before we go." After 
 some hesitation, Henry agreed to make the 
 attempt. John then took one of the rifles 
 of the Indians, and placed it on a log, with 
 the muzzle close to the head of one of them. 
 He then cocked the gun, and placed his 
 little brother at the breech, with his finger 
 on the trigger, with instructions to pull it 
 as soon as he should strike the other Indian. 
 He then took one of the Indian's toma- 
 hawks, and, standing astride of the other 
 Indian, struck him with it. The blow, how- 
 ever fell on the back of the neck and to one 
 Bide, so as not to be fatal. The Indian then 
 
46 ESCAPE OF TWO BOYS FROM THE IXDIAX3. <- 
 
 attempted to spring up, but the little fellow 
 repeated the blow with such force and ra- 
 pidity on the skull, that, as he expressed it, 
 " the Indian lay still and began to quiver." 
 
 At the moment of the first stroke given 
 by the elder brother with the tomahawk, 
 the younger one pulled the trigger, and 
 shot away a considerable portion of the In- 
 dian's lower jaw. This Indian, a moment 
 after receiving the shot, began to flounce 
 about and yell in the most frightful manner. 
 The boys then made the best of their way 
 to the fort, and reached it a little before 
 daybreak. On getting near the fort they 
 found the people all up and in- great agita- 
 tion on their account. On hearing a woman 
 exclaim, "Poor little fellows they are killed 
 or taken prisoners I" the oldest one an- 
 swered, "No, mother, we are here. yet." 
 
 Having brought nothing away with them 
 from the Indian camp, their relation of what 
 had taken place between them and the In- 
 dians was not fully credited. A small party 
 was soon made up to go and ascertain the 
 truth or falsehood of their report. 
 
INDIAN PERSEVERANCE. * 47 
 
 On arriving at the place they fonnd the 
 Indian whom the oldest brother had toma- 
 hawked, lying dead in the camp : the other 
 had crawled away, and taken his gun and 
 shot-pouch with him. After scalping the 
 Indian, the party returned to the fort ; and 
 the same day a larger party went out to 
 look after the wounded Indian, who had 
 crawled some distance from the camp, and 
 concealed himself in the top of a fallen tree> 
 where, notwithstanding the severity of the 
 wound, he determined to sell his life as 
 dearly as possible. 
 
 Having fixed his gun for the purpose, on 
 the approach of the men to a proper dis- 
 tance, he took aim at one of them, and 
 pulled the trigger, but his gun missed lire. 
 The party, concluding that the Indian 
 would die at any rate, thought best to re- 
 treat, and return and look for him after 
 some time. On returning, however, he 
 could not be found, having crawled away 
 and concealed himself in some other place. 
 His skeleton and gun were found some time 
 afterwards. 
 
fitypftjft of ^i\ ?jJoofe ? 5 F#i)iJy. 
 
 Mr. Moore resided in the north-western 
 part of Virginia, which was frequently over- 
 run by parties of Indians from the Shawnese 
 towns. 
 
 On the 14th of July, 1786, early in the 
 morning, a gang of horses had come in from 
 the lick-blocks, about one hundred yards 
 from the house, and Mr. Moore had gone 
 out to salt them. Two men also, who were 
 living with him, had gone out, and were 
 reaping wheat. The Indians, about thirty 
 (f8) 
 
fQLST HIBQ?S SSSIND THE RA2JUKA 
 
MR. MOORE SCALPED. 51 
 
 in number, who were lying in ambush, 
 watching the house, supposing that all tho 
 men were absent, availed themselves of the 
 opportunity, and rushed forward with all 
 speed. As they advanced they commenced 
 firing, and killed three of the children, viz. 
 William and Eebecca, who were returning 
 from the spring, and Alexander in the yard. 
 
 Mr. Moore attempted to get to the house-. 
 but finding it surrounded, ran past it 
 through a small pasture in which the house 
 stood. When he reached the fence he made 
 a halt, and was shot through with seven 
 bullets. The Indians said he might have 
 escaped if he had not stopped on the fence. 
 After he was shot he ran about forty yards, 
 and fell. He was then scalped by the In- 
 dians, and afterwards buried by the whites 
 at the place where the body lay, and where 
 his grave may yet be seen. It was thought 
 that when he saw his family about to bo 
 massacred, without the possibility of ren- 
 dering them any assistance, he chose to 
 share a like fate. 
 
 There were two fierce dogs, which fought 
 
52 CAPTURE OF MR. MOORE's FAMILY. 
 
 like heroes until the fiercest cne was killed. 
 The two men who were reaping, hearing 
 the alarm and seeing the house surrounded, 
 fled, and alarmed the settlement. At that 
 time the nearest family was six miles dis- 
 tant. As soon as the alarm was given, Mrs. 
 Moore and Miss Martha Ivins, who was 
 living in the family, helping them to spin, 
 barred the door, but this was of no avail. 
 There was no man in the house except John 
 Simpson, an old Englishman, and he was 
 on the loft sick, and in bed. There were 
 five or six guns in the house, but having 
 been shot off the evening before, they where 
 then empty. It was intended to have 
 loaded them after breakfast. Martha Ivins 
 took two of them and went up stairs were 
 Simpson was, and, handing them to him, 
 told him to shoot. He looked up, but had 
 been shot in the head through a crack, and 
 was then near his end. 
 
 Martha then went to a far end of tho 
 house, lifted up a loose plank, and went 
 under the floor. Polly Moore, a child of 
 about eight years, hid behind some barrols 
 
BURNING OF THE DWELLING. 53 
 
 in the loft. In the meantime, the Indians 
 cut down the door, and entered the house. 
 Mrs. Moore and her children, John, Jane, 
 Peggy, and were soon secured. An Indian 
 then went up into the loft, where he found 
 Polly, almost frightened to death, huddled 
 behind the barrels. 
 
 The Indians then left the house, with 
 their prisoners ; and Martha, thinking they 
 had gone away entirely, came from her 
 hiding-place, ran out and got behind a log, 
 not far from the house. The Indians were 
 still about, trying to catch the horses, and 
 preparing to set the dwelling and out-houses 
 on fire. Martha believing that one of them 
 saw her behind the log, got up and ran to- 
 towards a small building, near the dwelling, 
 used as a tool-house. As she reached the 
 door, an Indian thre^ his tomahawk at her. 
 The weapon buried itself in the door, near 
 Martha's head,, and she was uninjured. She 
 then reflected that escape was impossible, 
 and gave herself up, at which the Indian 
 Bcemed very much pleased. The houses 
 were then set on fire. 
 
 5* 
 
54 CAPTURE OF MR. MOORE'S FAMILY. 
 
 The whole party then set out for the In- 
 dian towns. Pereeiving that John Moore 
 was a boy, weak in body and mind, and 
 unable to travel, they hilled him the first 
 day. The babe, Margaret, they took two or 
 three days, but it being fretful, on account 
 of a wound it had received, they dashed its 
 brains out against a tree. They then moved 
 on with haste to their towns. For some 
 time it was usual to tie very securely each 
 of the prisoners at night, and for a warrior 
 to lie beside each of them with tomahawk 
 in hand, so that in case of pursuit, the pri- 
 soners might be speedily dispatched. 
 
 Not unfrequently they were several days 
 without food, and when they killed game, 
 their habit was to make broth. When they 
 reach their town, they were soon assembled 
 in council, when an old man made a long 
 speech to them dissuading them from war; 
 but at the close of it the warriors shoot 
 their heads and retired. The old man after- 
 wards took Polly Moore into his family, 
 where he and his wife seemed greatly to 
 commiserate her situation, and showed all 
 
JUXTHA 
 
 8 ESCAPE TO THE TOOL-HOUSE.. 
 
TWO PRISONERS BURNED AT THE STAKE. 57 
 
 possible kindness. Shortly after they ar- 
 rived at the towns, Mrs. Moore and her 
 daughter Jane were put to death, being 
 burned at the stake. This lasted some 
 time, during which she manifested the ut- 
 most Christian fortitude, and bore it with- 
 out a murmur — at intervals conversing with 
 her daughter, Polly, and Martha Ivins, and 
 expressing great anxiety for the moment to 
 arrive when her soul should wing its way 
 to the bosom of her Saviour. At length an 
 old squaw, more humane than the rest, dis- 
 patched her with a tomahawk. 
 
 This tribe of Indians proving very trou- 
 blesome to the whites, it was repeatedly 
 contemplated to send an expedition to their 
 town. This it is probable, Martha Ivins in 
 some measure postponed, by sending com- 
 munications through the traders, urging the 
 probable fate of the prisoners, if it were 
 done immediately. In November, two years 
 afterwards, however, such an expedition 
 did go out. The Indians were aware of it 
 from about the time it started, and when it 
 drew near they concealed what they could 
 
58 CA-rTCiiE of mr. moore's family. 
 
 not carry off, and, with the prisoners, left 
 their towns. About this time Polly Moore 
 had serious thoughts of concealing herself 
 until the arrival of the whites ; but fearing 
 the consequences of a greater delay in their 
 arrival than she might anticipate, she did 
 not attempt it. 
 
 Late in November, however, the expedi- 
 tion did arrive, and after having burned 
 their towns, destroyed their corn, &c, re- 
 turned home. After this the Indians re- 
 turned to their towns ; but winter having 
 set in, and finding themselves without 
 houses or food, they were greatly dispirited, 
 and went to Detroit, where, giving them- 
 selves up to great excess in drinking, they 
 sold Polly Moore to a man living in or near 
 a little village named French Town, near 
 the western end of Lake Erie, for half a 
 gallon of rum. Though at this time the 
 winter was very severe, the released captive 
 had nothing to protect her feet but a pair 
 of deerskin moccasins. 
 
 Martha Ivins, and Polly and Peggy Moore, 
 were ransomed Rome months after this time. 
 
SURVIVORS RETURN HOME. 
 
 50 
 
 They displayed much fortitude amid the 
 dreadful suffering they were compelled tc 
 undergo, yet it was very long before they 
 could shake off the remembrance of the 
 horrible fate of the other members of their 
 family. 
 
^escqe of 6^%K*)e &\\f\f\. 
 
 In 1764, a party of about fifty Indians 
 entered the northern part of Virginia, and 
 then dividing into two, one went towards 
 the Koanoke and Catawba settlements, and 
 the other in the direction of Jackson's river, 
 where each committed murders and depre- 
 dations. Captain Paul was then in com- 
 mand of the garrison of Fort Dinwiddie, 
 Hearing of the depredations of the Indians 
 who visited Jackson's river, he went in pur- 
 
IHI MASSACRI. 
 
CAPTAIN PAUL SURPRISES THE INDIANS. 63 
 
 suit of them. After a long and rapid 
 march, in the direction it was supposed the 
 red men had taken, the captain accidentally 
 came upon them at midnight, as they were 
 encamped on New Eivcr, at the mouth of 
 Indian creek. 
 
 The whites delivered their fire, and then 
 rushed in upon the startled foe. The 
 struggle was short. Most of the Indians 
 fled, or were killed or captured. One of 
 them went up to a woman, who sat com- 
 posed upon the ground, and was about to 
 strike his tomahawk into her head, when a 
 bold ranger rushed between and took the 
 Indian . by the throat. He was about to 
 draw his knife and stab him, when Captain 
 Paul interfered and took the man from him. 
 Paul was ever anxious to . save life. lie 
 never slew when he could capture. Another 
 one of his men was about to strike his tom- 
 ahawk into the head of the supposed squaw p 
 when the captain threw himself between, 
 and received the blow upon his arm. " It's 
 a shame to hurt a woman, even a squaw." 
 She proved to be Mrs, Catharine Guixb, &b 
 
64 - KESCUE OF CATHARINE GCTftf. 
 
 English woman, an acquaintance of Captain 
 Paul, made prisoner on the Catawba a few 
 days before, when her husband and two 
 children were killed. 
 
 The captain asked her why she did not 
 make known that she was a prisoner, by 
 crying out. The poor woman replied : " I 
 had as soon be killed as not— my husband 
 is murdered — my children arc slain — my 
 parents are dead. I have not a relation in 
 America — every thing dear to me is gone ; 
 I have no wishes, no hopes, no fears — I 
 would not have risen to my feet to have 
 saved my life." These words are the simple 
 expression of utter despair — of a spirit dead 
 to the world before its time had come to 
 seek another sphere. Having punished the 
 savages for their atrocities, Captain Paul 
 returned to Fort Dinwiddie. 
 
ftfyft) foe's f igitf toifi] itoo fydtyrjs. 
 
 About the middle of July, 1782, seven 
 Wyandotts crossed the Ohio a few miles 
 above Wheeling, and committed great de- 
 predations upon the southern shore, killing 
 an old man whom they found alone in his 
 cabin, and spreading terror throughout the 
 neighborhood Within a few hours after 
 their retreat, eight men assembled from dif- 
 ferent parts of the small settlement, and 
 
G8 ADAM FOE'S FIGHT WJTII TWO INDIANS 
 
 pursued the enemy with great expedition, 
 Among the most active and efficient of the 
 party, were two brothers, Adam and Andrew 
 Foe. They had not followed the trail far, 
 before they became satisfied that the de- 
 predators were conducted by Big Foot, a 
 lenowned chief of the Wyandott tribe, who 
 derived his name from the immense size of 
 his feet. 
 
 Adam Poe was overjoyed at the idea of 
 measuring his strength with that of so cele- 
 brated a chief, and urged the pursuit with 
 a keenness that soon brought him in the 
 vicinity of the enemy. For the last few 
 miles, the trail had led them up the southern 
 bank of the Ohio, where the footprints in 
 the sand were deep and obvious, but when 
 within a few hundred yards of the point at 
 which the whites as well as the Indians 
 were in the habit of crossing, it suddenly 
 diverged from the stream, and stretched 
 along a rocky ridge. Here Adam halted, 
 for a moment, and directed his brother and 
 the other young men to follow the trail with 
 proper caution, while he himself still ad- 
 
rOE DISCOVERS BIO FOOT. 69 
 
 hercd to the river path, which led through a 
 cluster of willows directly to the point where 
 he supposed the enemy to lie. Having ex- 
 amined the priming of his gun, he crept 
 cautiously through the bushes, until he had 
 a view of the point of embarkation. Here 
 lay two canoes, showing that the Indians 
 were close at hand, lie relaxed nothing of 
 his vigilance, and gaining a jutting cliff, 
 which hung immediately over the canoes, 
 lie peered cautiously over, and beheld the 
 object of his search. 
 
 The gigantic Big Foot, lay below him in 
 the shade of a willow, and was talking in 
 a low deep tone to another warrior, who 
 seemed a mere pigmy by his side. Adam 
 cautiously drew back and cocked his gun. 
 The mark was fair — the distance did not 
 exceed twenty feet, and his aim was unerring. 
 Raising his rifle slowly and cautiously, he 
 took a steady aim at Big Foot's breast, and 
 drew the trigger. His gun flashed. Both 
 Indians sprung to their feet with a deep 
 interjection of surprise. Adam was too 
 much hampered by the bushes to retreat, 
 
70 ADAM POE'S FIGHT WITH TWO INDIANS. 
 
 and setting his life upon a cast of the die, 
 lie sprung over the bush which had shel- 
 tered him, and summoning all his powers, 
 leaped boldly down the precipice upon the 
 breast of Big Foot with a shock that bore 
 him to the earth. 
 
 At the moment of contact, Adam had 
 thrown his right arm around the neck of 
 the smaller Indian, so that all three came 
 to the earth at once. At that moment a 
 sharp tiring was heard among the bushes 
 above, announcing that the other parties 
 were engaged, but the trio below were too 
 busy to attend to any thing but themselves. 
 Big Foot was for an instant stunned by the 
 violence of the shock, and Adam was ena- 
 bled to keep them both down. But the 
 exertion necessary for that purpose was so 
 great, that he had no leisure to use his 
 knife. Big Foot quickly recovered, and 
 without attempting to rise, wrapped his 
 long arms around Adam's body, and pressed 
 him to his breast with the crushing force 
 of a boa constrictor. 
 
 Adam instantly relaxed his hold of the 
 
THRILLING SITUATION OF FOE. 71 
 
 small Indian, who sprung to Lis feet. Big 
 Foot then ordered him to run for his toma- 
 hawk, which lay within ten steps, and kill 
 the white man while he held him in his 
 arms. Adam, seeing his danger, struggled 
 manfully to extricate himself from the folds 
 of the giant, but in vain. The lesser In- 
 dian approached with his uplifted toma- 
 hawk, but Adam watched him closely, and 
 as he was about to strike, gave him a kick 
 so sudden and violent, as to knock the tom- 
 ahawk out of his hand, and send him stag- 
 gering back into the water. But the lesser . 
 Indian again approached, carefully avoiding 
 Adam's heels, and making many motions 
 with his tomahawk, in order to deceive him 
 as to the point where the blow would fall. 
 
 Such was Adam's dexterity and vigilance, 
 however, that he managed to receive the 
 tomahawk in a glancing direction upon the 
 left wrist, wounding him deeply, but not 
 disabling him. He now made a sudden and 
 desperate effort to free himself from the 
 arms of the giant, and succeeded. Instantly 
 snatching up a rifle, for the Indian could 
 
72 ADAM POE'S FIGHT WITH TWO INDIANS. 
 
 not venture to shoot for fear of hurting his 
 companion, he shot the lesser Indian through 
 the body. But scarcely had he done so, 
 when Big Foot arose, and placing one hand 
 upon his collar, and the other upon his hip, 
 pitched him into the air, as he himself 
 would have pitched a child. 
 
 Adam fell upon his back at the edge of 
 the water, but before his antagonist could 
 spring upon him, he was again upon his 
 feet, and stung with rage at the idea of 
 being handled so easily, he attacked his 
 gigantic antagonist with a fury which for a 
 time compensated for inferiority of strength. 
 It was now a fair list tight between them, 
 for in the hurry of the struggle neither had 
 leisure to draw their knives. Adam's supe- 
 rior activity and experience as a pugilist, 
 gave him great advantage. The Indian 
 struck awkwardly, and finding himself ra- 
 pidly dropping to leeward, he closed with 
 his antagonist, and a^ain hurled him to tlr 
 ground. They quickly rolled into the rivei, 
 and the struggle continued with unabated 
 fury, each attempting to drown the othei. 
 
THRILLING SITUATION OF POE. 73 
 
 The Indian being unused to such violent 
 exertion, and having been much injured by 
 the first shock in his stomach, was unable 
 to exert the same powers which had given 
 him such a superiority at first; and Adam, 
 seizing him by the scalp-lock, put his head 
 under water, and held it there until the 
 faint struggles of the Indian induced hiir 
 to believe that he was drowned, when he 
 relaxed his hold and attempted to draw his 
 knife. The Indian, however, instantly re- 
 gained his feet, and in his turn put his ad- 
 versary under. 
 
 In the struggle, both were carried out in 
 the current beyond their depth, and each 
 was compelled to relax his hold and swim 
 for his life. There was still one loaded rifle 
 upon the shore, and each swam hard in 
 order to reach it, but the Indian proved the 
 most expert swimmer, and Adam seeing 
 that he should be too late, turned and swam 
 out into the stream, intending to dive, and 
 thus frustrate his enemy's intention. 
 
 At this instant, Andrew, having heard 
 that his brother was alone in a struggle 
 
 7 
 
74 ADAM POE'S FIGHT WITH TWO INDIANS. 
 
 with two Indians, and in great danger, ran 
 np hastily to the bank above, in order to 
 assist him. Another white man followed 
 him closely, and seeing Adam in the river, 
 covered with blood, and swimming rapidly 
 from shore, mistook him for an Indian and 
 fired upon him, wounding him dangerously 
 in the shoulder. 
 
 Adam turned, and seeing his brother, 
 called loudly upon him " to shoot the big 
 Indian upon shore." Andrew's gun, how- 
 ever, was empty, having just been dis^ 
 charged. Fortunately, Big Foot had also 
 seized the gun with which Adam had shot 
 the Indian, so that both were upon equality. 
 The contest was now who should load first. 
 Fig Foot poured in his powder first, and 
 drawing his ramrod out of its sheath in too 
 great a hurry, threw it into the river, and 
 while he ran to recover it, Andrew gained 
 an advantage. Still the Indian was but a 
 second too late, for his gun was at his 
 shoulder, when Andrew's ball entered his 
 breast. The gun dropped from his hands 
 and he fell forward upon his face upon the 
 
ADAM POE'S RESCUE. 
 
 75 
 
 very margin of the river. Andrew, now 
 alarmed for his brother, who was scarcely 
 able to swim, threw down his gun and 
 rushed into the river and brought him 
 ashore. Adam Poe recovered of his wounds, 
 and lived many years after his conflict; but 
 never forgot the tremendous hug which he 
 sustained in the arms of Big Foot. 
 
MEXICAN MULETEERS. 
 
 Mixico is a very interesting country. TLe 
 manners, customs, and institutions of the 
 people are very different from those of the 
 people of the United States. Since the war 
 between the two great republics, many tra- 
 vellers from the States have visited Mexico, 
 to see its grand and beautiful scenery, and 
 to gain a knowledge of the condition of the 
 people. Some of their adventures are amus- 
 ing and instructive. The means of travelling 
 (76) 
 
MEXICAN BRIGANDS, . 79 
 
 are very defective, and nearly all the roads 
 are infested with brigands, who do not 
 scruple to murder, if that is necessary to 
 obtain plunder. 
 
 Not long ago a traveller was proceeding 
 along the great road, which leads from the 
 city of Vera Cruz to the capital. lie rode 
 upon a mule, and was attended by two 
 Mexicans, also upon mules. The natives 
 had assured the traveller that there was no 
 danger of the brigands attacking him— 
 that the troops had routed them, and broken 
 up their strongest band. Under the guid- 
 ance of these men, the traveller proceeded, 
 in the full confidence of safety. But it seems 
 that the guides were brigands themselves, 
 who had offered their services, for the pur- 
 pose of lulling the suspicions of the gentle- 
 man. Not many miles from Puebla de los 
 Angelos, one of the largest cities in Mexico, 
 the road wound through a deep ravine, upon 
 each side of which were dense thickets. 
 One of the guides suddenly gave a signal, 
 by a shrill whistle, when the traveller found 
 himself surrounded. 
 
;o 
 
 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO. 
 
 BANDITS PLUNDERING. 
 
 All thought of defence was useless. 
 Twenty pieces were at once leveled at him. 
 He made signs of submission, and the 
 pieces were lowered. As quick as thought, 
 the baggage was removed from the mules, 
 and ransacked. The traveller had much 
 that was valuable — a large sum of money, 
 fine clothes, and some jewelry. The rob- 
 bers took all that promised to be of the 
 least use to them. When the traveller at- 
 tempted to remonstrate, they pointed their 
 weapons at him, and intimated that he was 
 fort-ajirite* to escape with his life. They even 
 
THE CARNIVAL IN MEXICO* 83 
 
 stripped the fine coat from his back. Then, 
 having collected the plunder, they mounted 
 it upon the mules, and ordered some of the 
 party to drive them swiftly in one direction, 
 while they took a by-path through the 
 thicket. The traveller was then forced to 
 walk to Puebla, stripped of all that he had 
 brought with to pay his way. In that city, 
 he told his tale, and found kind friends 
 among the priests, one of whom took him 
 into his house to live, until he could write 
 home to his family in the United States, to 
 send him money. He was but one of many 
 sufferers from the attacks of the brigands. 
 
 The city of Mexico is beautifully situated 
 in a valley, almost surrounded by lofty 
 mountains. Its buildings are generally of 
 a substantial and elegant construction. The 
 inhabitants are lively, intelligent, and fond 
 of pleasure. The great square, or "Plaza," 
 is thronged at evening, with promenaders 
 and pleasure-seekers. Upon one side of 
 this square is the National Palace, 8 
 splendid edifice, where the members of the 
 government hold their meetings. 
 
84 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO. 
 
 The great celebration of the Carnival is 
 one of the most remarkable features of 
 Mexican life. Mr. W. W. Carpenter, thus 
 narrates what he saw of this festival : "The 
 Mexicans go round at night, breaking egg- 
 shells on the heads of persons. These are 
 filled with flour, and scented with Cologne, 
 or rose water, or some other rich odor. 
 When it commenced I was standing in the 
 the street, idling away the time as best I 
 could, when, all of a sudden, my hat was 
 removed, and a number of these odious 
 shells were broken on my devoted head. 
 Not being aware of the custom, I quickly 
 turned, and, before I was aware of it, had 
 knocked down the man who was guilty of 
 what I considered this insult. A tumult 
 was raised ; they threatened to kill me, and 
 perhaps would have done so, had not some 
 one gone after the alcalde. He came and 
 inquired into the matter, then ordered them 
 to let me alone for the future, and took me 
 back to his house. Were it not for my 
 friend, Don Jesus Murguir, and the alcalde, 
 I fear I would not have been long in this 
 
THE MOUNTED PRIEST. 8< r ) 
 
 world ; but when I was in difficulty, right 
 or wrong, I was sure of their protection. 
 
 This diversion is practised several nights 
 in succession, varied occasionally by throw- 
 ing flour in person's faces. It is followed 
 by the religious season of Lent, which con- 
 tinues forty days; and it is the custom 
 throughout Mexico to have mass, or at least 
 religious service, every morning during all 
 (hat time. When the festival commenced, 
 the people assembled as usual in the morn- 
 ing. When they came out of the church, I 
 noticed, with curiosity, that all the people 
 had a cross painted upon their foreheads. 
 For what purpose this was done I could not 
 ascertain. This they wore for one week; 
 and then commenced the processions. 
 
 One morning I resolved to observe one 
 of these closely, to see all that could be 
 seen. The procession formed in the suburbs 
 of the town, so thither I went. On coming 
 up, I saw the priest mounting a donkey, 
 richly comparisoned, and led by two boys. 
 The streets were strewed with flowers, ever- 
 greens, and the finest blankets. This, I 
 
86 ADVENTMES IN MEXICO. 
 
 suppose, was intended to represent the entry 
 of Christ into Jerusalem. 
 
 They were attended with music, banners 
 were flying, and rockets were fired. They 
 went through the principal streets, then 
 turned np to the church ; but as they were 
 going through the Plaza, some other donkeys 
 commenced braying, when the one that was 
 rode by the representative of Christ an- 
 swered it, and started off, notwithstanding 
 the exertions of the boys to prevent him. 
 When he found he had some difficulty in 
 getting away, he began to kick and plunge, 
 and, finally, he threw his priestship off. 
 This scene w T as so comical and ridiculous, 
 that, had it broken his neck, 1 could not 
 have avoided smiling, and laughing when 
 I had a better chance. Not so with them, 
 however, for not a smile could be seen on a 
 single face. People Avere coming from all 
 parts of the country to witness the cere- 
 monies and to confess, this being the time 
 for a general confession. 
 
AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT. 
 
 fJtn) ftfyb Xotjhflfc}4ii)f. 
 
 Sir George Temple, an English traveller 
 who spent some time among the Arabs, 
 thus describes one of their tournaments, 
 such as lie frequently witnessed : The tour- 
 nament field is oblong, and bordered by 
 rows of spectators, who form its boundaries, 
 by sitting cross-legged round the open 
 space. 
 
H 
 
 AN ARAB TOURNAMENT. 
 
 The best riders of the tribe, mounted on 
 the most active horses, are then introduced 
 into the arena, the men being clothed with 
 as much splendor as their means will per- 
 mit them, while the chargers are covered 
 with large silk housings of different colors, 
 reaching to the ground, and resembling 
 those of ancient knights, as represented iv 
 Froissart. 
 
 Some of the Arabs then commence mak- 
 ing their horses dance to the sound of drums 
 and trumpets, whilst men on foot occasion- 
 ally rush forward and discharge their mus- 
 ketry close to the horses' ears. Others dash 
 forward at full speed along the line of seated 
 spectators, as close to their feet as they 
 possibly can, without actually trampling on 
 them : and every now and then suddenly 
 throw their horses on their haunches, spin 
 them round on their hind legs, and resume 
 in the opposite direction their wild career. 
 
 It is a nervous sight to behold ; for you 
 momentarily expect to sec some person or 
 child crushed beneath the horses' hoofs; 
 but no accident ever happens, and men, 
 
AX ARAB TOURNAMENT. 89 
 
 women, and children, maintain their seats 
 with the greatest calmness and feeling of 
 security, saluting any well-executed point 
 of horsemanship with loud and exulting 
 shouts of approbation, whilst the women 
 accompany them with the usual but inde- 
 scribable cries of the quick-repeated lu-lti- 
 lu-lu ; in return for which they arc covered 
 with clouds of sand and dust, which the 
 impetuous coursers throw up behind them. 
 
 Three or four others, dashing their sharp 
 stirrups into the flanks of their impatient 
 steeds, rush madly along the length of the 
 arena, shouting forth their tekbir, or war- 
 cries, and whirling round their heads the long 
 and silver adorned Arab guns, which they 
 discharge at the spectators when they have 
 reached the farthest extremity of the lists. 
 
 Others engage with swords soldiers on 
 foot, galloping round their adversaries in 
 incredibly small circles, twisting their horses 
 suddenly round, and then circling to tho 
 other hand ; and I know not which most to 
 admire, the activity and suppleness of the 
 rider, or of his horse. Others, whilst at 
 
90 
 
 AN ARAB TOURNAMENT. 
 
 full speed, will lean over, and without in tha 
 least reducing their pace, pick up from tho 
 ground a piastre or any other equally small 
 object, thrown for the purpose. 
 
 These sports form on the whole one of 
 gayest and most animated scenes I ever 
 beheld, increased as it is by the waving of 
 many silken sanjaks of the brightest colors, 
 by the music, and the report of fire-arms, 
 the war-cries of the performers, and the 
 shouts of the spectators. 
 
The following account of a singular dis- 
 play of ferocity, by a herd of swine in Italy, 
 is given by an English tourist: I will tell 
 you of a narrow escape I had some years 
 ago, in Tuscany. R — and myself having 
 heard of a flight of cocks, had gone down 
 into the Maremma to shoot. You have 
 heard of the Maremma. It possesses an 
 almost interminable extent of morasses, 
 " overgrown with long, rank grasses," a 
 wilderness of putridity and desolation. It 
 was the month of November; before which 
 time it is dangerous to set foot there, for 
 until the first frost even many of the fever- 
 stricken serfs forsake it. In the eagerness 
 of sport we had been led farther than we 
 calculated from our albergo, a solitary, 
 wretched hovel, bordering on the marsh, 
 the abode of the most ghostly, yellow, ema- 
 
 (91) 
 
92 AN ADVENTURE IN ITALY. 
 
 ciatcd objects in human form I ever beheld, 
 except some of the cayenned, curry-dried, 
 liver-worn Anglo-East Indians we left at 
 Cheltenham. The sun was fast setting, and 
 we had still two miles to make, and were 
 coasting along the edge of a knoll, thickly 
 set with huge and speckled aloes, inter- 
 mingled here and there with stunted ilexes, 
 and with the strawberry tree, then bright 
 with its globes of deep red gold, when me- 
 thought I heard a rustling among the 
 branches, and a sound like that of the 
 grinding of teeth. I noticed it to my com- 
 panion. He suddenly turned ashy-pale, 
 and whispered hysterically, " AVe are near 
 a herd of swine." 
 
 Vast numbers, I should have told you, 
 are turned out in the fall of the leaf, to fatten 
 here, and become so savage and wild, that 
 none but their keepers dare approach them, 
 und cased as they are in an almost impene- 
 trable mail of leather, even they sometimes 
 fall victims to the ferocity of these brutes. 
 
 "It is well for us," continued my friend 
 " that there is a hut within a few hundred 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN ITALY. 93 
 
 yards. Let us lose no time in making fbr 
 it." As he spake, the sounds became 
 louder, and I saw some hundred hogs 
 emerging from the brushwood, grunting 
 fiercely, and gnashing their teeth in unison. 
 They were huge, gaunt, long-legged, long- 
 headed, and long-backed creatures, giants 
 of their species — spectral monsters, more 
 like starved bloodhounds than swine. 
 
 They now mustered their forces in battle 
 array, outside the thicket, and commenced 
 the attack in a systematic and regularly 
 concerted manner ; the veterans of the herd 
 directing the movements of the hostile band, 
 and one, by a deeper grunt, not ill-resem- 
 bling the word of command of a certain 
 general, de grege porcus, of our acquaintance, 
 giving dreadful notes of preparation, as if 
 to spirit on. the line to a charge. 
 
 We made our way with difficulty through 
 the rotten and yielding morass, leaping from 
 tuft to tuft, and risking, by a false slip, to 
 plunge into a bottomless abyss, while our 
 bloodthirsty pursers, whh their long legs 
 and lanky sides, and tucked-up bellies, ad- 
 
9*1 AN ADVENTURE IN ITALY. 
 
 vanced — a fearful phalanx, in semilunar 
 curve, momently gained ground ! My friend, 
 who was more accustomed to the bogs than 
 myself, soon outstripped me, not daring to 
 look behind. Once, and only once, did I, 
 and beheld them coming on like a pack of 
 hounds in full cry, and with the scent breast 
 high, and to my horror, perceived the two 
 horns or wings of the troop, making an 
 echellon movement in an ever-narrowing 
 circle, like a regiment of cavalry bringing 
 their right and left shoulders forward, to 
 outflank, and then enclose us. I dared not 
 risk a second glance at my foes, but the 
 hoarse voices of the ringleaders ran through 
 the ranks, and I heard and saw the plash 
 of their many feet, as they turned up the 
 mud but a few yards in my rear. 
 
 How I reached the hut I know not, but 
 reach it I did, where I found my friend lean- 
 ing against the wall, breathless with terror, 
 The shed was rudely constructed of peatj, 
 and appeared to have been long deserted, 
 consisting only of bare walls and a few 
 rafters; but 5 providentially, there was a 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN ITALY. VO 
 
 door banging by one hinge ; this I contrived 
 to shut just as the centre of the herd ar- 
 rived at the threshold. They made a halt, 
 retired a few paces, and collected together, 
 as if to hold a council of war. While they 
 were undecided how to act, we discharged 
 our four barrels loaded with small shot, 
 from the window, at the nearest, which 
 slowly limping, with a sullen grunt of dis- 
 appointment, the whole of their comrades 
 at their heels, retreated into the covert. 
 
 "Thank God!" said K— , when he saw 
 the last disappear among the aloes. " It 
 is but a year since a traveller crossing the 
 Maremma, paid for the journey with his 
 life. There was not a tree to shelter him ; 
 and though he was a determined man, and 
 well-armed, and no doubt made a gallant 
 resistance, they hemmed him in and de- 
 voured him. I could show you the spot 
 where the swineherds drove them from his 
 mangled remains; it was pointed out to 
 mo tlie last time I came here. 
 
I never was down-hearted but once in 
 in my life, and that was on seeing the death 
 of a faithful friend, who lost his life in try- 
 ing to save mine. The fact is, I was one day 
 making tracks homeward, after a long 
 tramp through one of our forests — my rifle 
 carelessly resting on my shoulder — when 
 my favorite dog, Sport, who was trotting 
 quietly a-head of me, suddenly stopped 
 stock still, gazed into a big oak tree, bristled 
 up his back, and fetched a loud growl. I 
 looked up, and saw upon a quivering limb, 
 
A PAKTKEE FIGIIT. 97 
 
 a half-grown panther, crouching down 
 close, and in the very act of springing upon 
 him. With a motion quicke" than chain- 
 lightning I levelled my rifle, blazed away, 
 and shot him clean through and through 
 the heart. The varmint, with teeth all set 
 and claws spread, pitched sprawling head 
 foremost to the ground, as dead as Julius 
 Ca3sar ! That was all fair enoueh ; but mark, 
 afore I had hardly dropped my rifle, I found 
 myself thrown down on my profile by the 
 old she-panther, who that minute sprung 
 from an opposite tree and lit upon my 
 shoulders, heavier than all creation I I feel 
 the print of her teeth and nails now ! My 
 dog grew mighty loving— he jumped a-top 
 and seized her by the neck ; so we all rolled 
 and clawed, and a pretty considerable tight 
 scratch we had of it. 
 
 I began to think my right arm was about 
 chawed up ; when the varmint finding the 
 dog's teeth rayther hurt her feelings, let me 
 go altogether, and clenched him. Seeing 
 at once that the dog was undermost, and 
 that there was no two ways about a chance 
 9 
 
98 A KENTUCKIAN'S FIGHT WITH A PANTHER. 
 
 of a choke-off, or let up about her, I just 
 out jack-knife, and with one slash, prehapa 
 I didn't cut the panther's throat deep 
 enough for her to breathe the rest of hci 
 life without nostrils. I did feel mighty sa« 
 vagerous, and, big as she was, I laid hold 
 of her hide by the back with an alligator- 
 grip, and slung her against the nearest tree, 
 hard enough to make every bone in her 
 body flash fire. "Thar," says I, "you tar- 
 nal varmint, root and branch, you arc what 
 I call used up!" 
 
 But I turned round to look for my dog, 
 and— and — and tears gushed into my eyes, 
 as I see the poor affectionate cretur— all of 
 a gore of blood — half raised on his fore legs, 
 and trying to drag his mangled body to- 
 wards me ; down he dropped — I run up to 
 him, whistled loud, and gave him a friendly 
 shake of the paws, (for I loved my dog.) But 
 he was too far gone; he had just strength 
 enough to wag his tail feebly — fixed his 
 closing eyes upon me wishfully- — then gave 
 a gasp or two, and— all was over I 
 
N1TURJLL TUNNSL. 
 
The Natural Tunnel is in the sou th-w ast- 
 ern part of Virginia, three hundred and 
 fifty-six miles from llichmond, near the 
 line of Tennessee. It is about four hundred 
 and fifty feet in length. A stream of water 
 passes through it, and a stage road over it. 
 In some places the roof is estimated to be 
 about nine hundred feet above the stream ; 
 and it bears a striking resemblance to a 
 dome. The tunnel has entrances very dif- 
 ferent in appearance. At the lower en- 
 trance, the deep gorge through which the 
 creek passes, is bounded on three sides by 
 a perpendicular wall of rock, over three 
 hundred feet in height; the fourth side 
 being open to allow the passage of the 
 creek after it leaves the tunnel. The rocks 
 at this place have several small caves or 
 9* (101) 
 
102 THE NATURAL TUNNEL. 
 
 fissures, in which the nitrous earth, from 
 which salt pctre is extracted, have been 
 found. One or more of these are in the 
 sides of the tunnel itself. During the war 
 of 1812, when saltpetre was very scarce, a 
 small fissure in the wall of rock, attracted 
 attention, and it was determined to ex- 
 plore it. An adventurous individual, by 
 the name of George Dotson, was accordingly 
 lowered from the top by a rope running 
 over a log, and held by several men. The 
 rope not being sufficiently long, the last 
 length, which was tied around his waist, 
 was made of the bark of leatherwood. When 
 down to the level of the fissure, he was still 
 twelve or fifteen feet from it horizontally, 
 being thrown so by the overhanging of the 
 wall of rock. With a long pole, to which 
 was attached a hook, he attempted to pull 
 himself to the fissure. He had nearly suc- 
 ceeded, when the hook slipped, and lie 
 swung out into the middle of the ravine, 
 pendulum-like, on a rope of perhaps one 
 hundred and fifty feet in length. Return- 
 ing on his fearful vibration, he but managed 
 
THE NATURAL TUNNEL. 103 
 
 to ward himself off with his pole from being 
 dashed against the rock, when away he 
 swung again. 
 
 One of his companions, stationed on the 
 opposite side of the ravine to give directions, 
 instinctively drew back, for it appeared to 
 him that he was slung at him across the 
 abyss. At length the vibrations ceased. 
 At that juncture, Dotson heard something 
 crack above his head : he looked, and saw 
 that a strand of his bark rope had parted. 
 Grasping, with both hands, the rope imme- 
 diately above the spot, he cried out hastily, 
 "Pull, for — -sake pull!" 
 
 On reaching the top he fainted. On 
 another occasion, the bark rope being re- 
 placed by a hempen one, he went down 
 again and explored the cave. His only re- 
 ward was the satisfaction of his curiosity. 
 The hole extended only a few feet. 
 
 The natural Tunnel is much visited by 
 travellers. The grandeur of the surround- 
 ing scenery attracts many who have not 
 tne curiosity to explore the tunnel. 
 
The manner in which dogs have exerted 
 themselves to save the lives of their masters 
 is very remarkable. The following occurs 
 in a work called "Random Sketches of a 
 Kentuckian." 
 
THRILLING CONTEST WITH A STAG. 105 
 
 This Kentuckian sportsman bad a favo- 
 rite stag-hound, strong and of first-rate 
 qualities, named Bravo, which he on one 
 occasion in going on a hunting expedition 
 left at home; taking in his stead on trial a 
 line-looking hound which had been pre- 
 sented to him a few days before. Having 
 gone a certain length into the woodlands 
 in quest of game, he fired at a powerful 
 stag, which he brought down after a con- 
 siderable run, and believed to be dead. The 
 animal, however, was only stunned by the 
 shot. On stooping down to bleed him, he 
 was no sooner touched with the keen edge 
 of the knife, than he rose with a sudden 
 bound, " threw me from his body," says the 
 hunter, "and hurled my knife from my 
 hand. I at once saw my danger, but it was 
 too late. With one bound he was upon me, 
 wounding and almost disabling me with his 
 sharp horns and feet. 
 
 " I seized him by his wide-spread antlers, 
 and sought to regain possession of my knife, 
 but in vain; each new struggle drew us 
 farther from it. My horse, frightened at 
 
106 IIAIR-BREADTII ESCAPE OF A KENTCCK1AN. 
 
 the unusual scene, bad madly fled to an ad- 
 joining ridge, were be stood looking down 
 upon the combat, trembling and quivering 
 in every limb. My dog had not come up, 
 and his bay I could not now hear. The 
 struggles of the furious animal had become 
 dreadful, and every moment I could feel his 
 sharp hoofs cutting deep into my flesh ; my 
 grasp upon his antlers were growing less 
 tirm, and yet I relinquished not my hold. 
 The struggle had brought us near a deep 
 ditch, washed by autumn rains, and into 
 this I endeavored to force my adversary; 
 but my strength was unequal to the effort: 
 when we approached to the very brink, he 
 leaped over the drain. I relinquished my 
 hold and rolled in, hoping thus to escape 
 him ; but he returned to the attack, and 
 throwing himself upon me, inflicted nume- 
 rous severe cuts upon my face and breast 
 before I could again seize him. Locking 
 my arms round his antlers, I drew his head 
 close to my breast, and was thus, by great 
 effort, enabled to prevent his doing me any 
 gerions injury. But I felt that this could 
 
THRILLING CONTEST WITH A STAG. 107 
 
 not last long ; every muscle and fibre of my 
 frame was called into action, and human 
 nature could not long bear up under such 
 exertion. Faltering a silent prayer to Hea- 
 ven, I prepared to meet my fate. 
 
 At this moment of despair I heard the 
 faint bayings of the hound ; the stag too 
 heard the sound, and, springing from the 
 ditch, drew me with him. His efforts were 
 now redoubled, and I could scarcely cling 
 to him. Yet that blessed sound came nearer. 
 how wildly beat my heart as I saw the 
 hound emerge from the ravine, and spring 
 forward with a short, quick bark, as his 
 eye rested on his game. I released my 
 hold of the stag, who tinned upon the new 
 enemy. Exhausted, and unable to rise, I 
 still cheered the dog that, dastard like, fled 
 before the infuriated animal, which, seem- 
 ingly despising such an enemy, again threw 
 himself upon me. Again did I succeed in 
 throwing my arms around his antlers, but 
 but not until he had inflicted several dan- 
 gerous wounds upon my head and face, 
 cutting to the very bone. 
 
108 HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE OF A KENTUCKIAN. 
 
 " Blinded by the flowing blood, exhausted 
 and despairing, I cursed the coward dog, 
 which stood near, baying furiously, yet re- 
 fusing to seize his game. how I prayed 
 for Bravo ! The thoughts of death were 
 bitter. To die thus in the wild forest, alone, 
 with none to help ! Thoughts of home and 
 friends coursed like lightning through my 
 brain. At that moment, when hope herself 
 had fled, deep and clear over the neighbor- 
 ing hill came the baying of my gallant 
 Bravo! I should have known his voice 
 among a thousand. I pealed forth, in one 
 faint shout, "On, Bravo, on!" The next 
 moment, with tiger-like, bounds, the noble 
 dog come leaping down the declivity, scat- 
 tering the dried autumnal leaves like a 
 whirlwind in his path. No pause he knew ; 
 but, fixing his fangs in the stag's throat, 
 he at once commenced the struggle. 
 
 " I fell back, completely exhausted. 
 Blinded with blood, I only knew that a ter- 
 rific struggle was going on. In a few mo- 
 ments all was still, and I felt the warm 
 breath of my faithful dog as he licked 1113? 
 
THRILLING CONTEST WITH A STAG 
 
 109 
 
 wounds. Clearing my eyes from gore, I 
 saw my late adversary dead at my feet, and 
 Bravo, ' my own Bravo,' as the heroine of a 
 modern novel would say, standing over me. 
 He yet bore around his neck a fragment of 
 the rope with which I had tied him. He 
 had gnawed it in two, and following his 
 master through all his windings, arrived 
 in time to rescue him from a most horrible 
 death," 
 
Ii]e Toi 5ft|i/iete. 
 
 Among the gentry of England, fox hunt- 
 ing has long been a favorite amusement. 
 Most of those who have country seats, keep 
 packs of dogs, and horses of noble breed ; 
 and occasionally in the proper season, get 
 up large hunting parties. The sport re- 
 quires line horsemanship, and a complete 
 knowledge of the habits and inclination of 
 the fox. Nothing can be more invigorating 
 fllC.) 
 
THE FOX HUNTERS. 113 
 
 than the fleet chase, through the woods 
 and over the fields, with the hounds in full 
 cry, and the scampering game often ir 
 sight. The blood bounds through the veins, 
 and every nerve is strained in the exercise. 
 
 Mr. Kobert Higginson, or rather Squire 
 Higginson, as- he was generally called, was 
 one of the wealthiest landlords of the county 
 of Kent, in England. He was in the prime 
 of life, with plenty of leisure, and plenty of 
 every thing at command. He always had 
 his mansion filled with company, feasting, 
 dancing, and arranging and prosecuting all 
 sorts of schemes for recreation. Fox hunt- 
 ing was the Squire's favorite sport. He 
 preferred it beyond all in-door amusements, 
 and was ever delighted when the season 
 for fox hunting came round. No one had 
 a better breed of dogs, or fleeter horses, 
 and no one took more pride in displaying 
 them. 
 
 One morning, in October, a numerous 
 party was assembled at the Squire's man- 
 sion, preparatory to starting upon a hunt. 
 
 A finer day for the sport could not have 
 h 10* 
 
Hi THE FOX HUNTERS. 
 
 been desired. It was clear, cool, and bracing. 
 The gentlemen were soon upon horseback, 
 and the game-keeper was sent forward tc 
 start the fox. Presently, the dogs caught 
 sight of the animal as it flew across a field 
 not far from the mansion, and set off, with 
 their usual chorus. Away went the hunters 
 upon their noble steeds, skimming across 
 the meadows, leaping fences and ditches, 
 and running a hundred risks, without the 
 slightest dread. Miles were traversed within 
 a very short time. At length the fox was 
 earthed, and the most violent part of the 
 pursuit was over. But an accident some- 
 what marred the delight of the hunters. 
 By a sudden plunge of his horse, the Squire 
 was thrown off against a tree, and not only 
 stunned but severely bruised. The fox was 
 forgotten in the anxiety for the Squire, but 
 sonic of the attendants managed to secure 
 it, after ascertaining that their master was 
 not dangerously injured. Happily, old John 
 Barnes's house was near the place where 
 the accident occurred. Barnes was one of 
 the eldest of the Squire's tenants, and bcrs 
 
THE FOX HUNTERS. 115 
 
 the reputation of keeping an open door, a 
 good table, and the best ale. Thither the 
 Squire was led, while the rest of the party 
 returned to the mansion, at his request. 
 
 A cheerful scene was soon presented in 
 the cottage of old John Barnes. A blazing 
 fire was upon the hearth, near which sat 
 the hale old man and his wife, while their 
 children and grandchildren were crowding 
 into the small room, to get a sight of the 
 Squire, and to hear what he had to say. Hig- 
 ginson felt rather sore about the head and 
 shoulder, but as he looked upon the scene 
 before him, a smile lit up his face, indicat- 
 ing that the view of such comfort and hap- 
 piness touched his warm heart. He refused 
 to eat any thing, in spite of the pressing 
 invitation of Barnes and his wife, and the 
 children in chorus. But the ale he took 
 with thanks. He would have all the grown 
 ones drink a toast w T ith him. When the 
 glasses were filled, he proposed, "Health 
 and comfort — a cheerful blaze and a well- 
 filled board — to honest industry." This 
 was drunk with enthusiasm by the grate- 
 
116 THE FOX HUNTERS. 
 
 ful cotters. The Squire then chatted awhile, 
 about the condition of things in the cottage, 
 but suddenly seemed to fall into serious re- 
 flection. No one ventured to ask for the 
 cause, though nearly all marked the change 
 in his manner. 
 
 Some friends of the Squire now arrived, 
 and he accompanied them to his mansion. 
 From that time forward, there was a great 
 change at Higginson's house. Parties were 
 less frequent; and the Squire remained 
 more at home. Very soon a wife was added 
 to the attractions of that home. The tenants 
 were treated with care and generosity, and 
 the Squire seemed to lind his chief pleasure 
 in rendering every fireside cheerful. 
 
 What had worked this change? The 
 visit to the cottage of old John Barnes. The 
 sight of so much quiet comfort had induced 
 him to seek to find an imitation of it in his 
 own mansion. He ever regarded the acci- 
 dent upon the fox-hunt as a real blessing — 
 as a key that opened to him purer joys than 
 any he had before known. Riot and revelry 
 were excluded from Higginson's house, 
 
THE FOX HUNTERS. 
 
 117 
 
 during his life, and thus a fine estate was 
 saved from ruin ; and the time which had 
 been thus spent was given to the improve- 
 ment of his fellow creatures. 
 
 i'1| ,;'* ?.> t, 
 
 
 ■■■■■■■■■'■ : % : "Wm 
 
jfye 5fqK)fei*'5 FKe^iiifx 
 
 Joshua Fleeiiart was one of the earliest 
 white hunters upon the north side of the 
 Ohio river. A more fearless and skilful 
 woodsman never roamed the wilderness. He 
 wished for no other companion than his 
 dog; and with him he would traverse dis- 
 tricts swarming with enemies, as recklessly 
 as if he was in the midst of friends. Flee- 
 hart was a man of laro;e frame, with sinews 
 (113) 
 
DESEFOOT A PRISONER. 
 
THE HUNTER'S FRIENDSHIP. 121 
 
 like steel. He was almost as swift of foot 
 as the deer. His rifle was too heavy for 
 the use of common hunters. He was well- 
 known to the Indians of various tribes, and 
 they dreaded and respected his courage and 
 woodcraft. 
 
 Fleehart never had the highest opinion 
 of the red men. He considered himself 
 equal to a whole tribe of them. But there 
 was one young Shawanee, named Deerfoot, 
 who by a timely service, when the life of 
 Fleehart was in danger, had won the hunter's 
 heart. Whenever he would bring himself 
 to seek a companion for long hunting ex- 
 cursions, he invited Deerfoot, who never re- 
 fused to take advantage of the opportunity 
 thus offered to learn the mysteries of hunt- 
 ing, and renew the ties of friendship. Flee- 
 hart never liked the Shawanee tribe ; the 
 Delawares were his constant friends. He 
 often visited their village, and partook of 
 their hospitality. His attachment to Deer- 
 foot thus became the more remarkable. 
 
 In the height of this singular friendship^ 
 war was kindled between the Delawares 
 
 11 
 
122 the hunter's friendship. 
 
 and the Shawanees. Deerfoot, of courso, 
 had to fight upon the side of his tribe. After 
 a short struggle with his feelings of hatred 
 of the Shawanees, and love for Deerfoot, 
 Flcchart determined to remain neutral, and 
 so took occasion to inform both tribes, in 
 order to secure himself from surprise. The 
 war was carried on with various success. 
 Many brave warriors won fame by display- 
 ing their prowess, and many sank upon the 
 earth to rise no more. Deerfoot astonished 
 both tribes by his activity and success. He 
 became a terrible foe to the Dclawares, and 
 they were very anxious to take or destroy 
 him. At length their vindictive feelings 
 were gratified. In a daring attack upon a 
 Delaware village, Deerfoot was repulsed ; 
 and he fell into the hands of his foes. His 
 doom was certain. He was to be tortured 
 to death at the stake. But he determined 
 tc die like an Indian hero, defying the tor- 
 ments of the hated Delawares. He was 
 brought to the stake, and old and young, 
 male and female, crowded round, and tried 
 to provoke a complaint from him. But the 
 
the hunter's friends nip. 123 
 
 lips of Dcerfoot was curled in scorn, and bis 
 eye glanced nothing but resolute defiance. 
 He was painted and tied to the post, there 
 to remain till the next day, when the work 
 of death was to begin. 
 
 But a friend was nigh — a priceless friend 
 in time of need. Fleehart heard of the cap- 
 ture of Deerfoot, and determined, even at 
 the risk of sacrificing the terms on which 
 he lived with the Delawares, to save his 
 life. Having formed this resolution, it was 
 necessary for the hunter to devise a plan 
 and put it into instant execution. Persua- 
 sion he knew would fail to touch the hearts 
 of the Delawares. Their captive was too 
 important for them to listen to arguments 
 for his release. A bold movement was 
 necessary. 
 
 The hunter was intimately acquainted 
 with the Indian custom, and he calculated 
 that he could reach the village before day- 
 break, upon the morning intended for the 
 torture. He hurried from his hunting 
 ground ; and by a march astonishingly 
 rapid, arrived at the village about tbreo 
 
12-1 THE HUNTEIVS FRIENDSHIP 
 
 hours before day might be expected to dawn. 
 The Delawarcs were wrapped in slumber. 
 
 A few of the stoutest, who had been com- 
 missioned to guard the captive, lay upon 
 the ground not far from the fatal stake. 
 Feeling secure from attack, they had fallen 
 into a dose. Deerfoot appeared to be sunk 
 in meditation upon his approaching death. 
 He had lost all hope. Occasionally, he would 
 look up at the star-sown sky, as if to bid it 
 farewell, or to seek in its depths, a confir- 
 mation of his creed of a future life in the 
 "happy hunting grounds." Suddenly a 
 man sprang up beside him, cut the thongs 
 that bound him — almost as quick as 
 thought, bade him fly for his life, and thrust 
 a tomahawk into his hands. The man was 
 Fleehart. Deerfoot recognised him, gave 
 him an embrace, took the offered weapon, 
 and sprang towards the woods, followed by 
 the bold hunter. The sound of flying feet 
 aroused the guards. They jumped up just in 
 time to see the skirt of Fieehart's hunting 
 shirt, as he plunged into the wood. A yell 
 rang through the air, and the village started 
 
the hunter's friendship. 125 
 
 into life. Twenty warriors were soon in 
 pursuit. But Fleehart and his friend wero 
 not only too far in advance, but they knew 
 the country, and how to mislead an enemy 
 in it much better than their pursuers. The 
 friends were soon beyond the reach of 
 danger. 
 
 The Delawares returned to their village, 
 vowing to make Fleehart feel how danger- 
 ous it was thus to tear an enemy from their 
 power. The hunter was careful to keep out 
 of their way, until the war was over, when 
 an explanation of his motives for saving 
 Deerfoot secured him the attachment of the 
 Indians, whose nature it was to admire a 
 firm and devoted friendship. 
 
 ir 
 
§If Robert Siiiespie ^3 iije Jigef. 
 
 Courage is a quality of great importance 
 in a horse, and some possess it in a high 
 degree. It is worthy, too, of remark, that 
 there is often something more than mere 
 natural indifference to danger, something 
 of an intellectual character in the courage 
 of the horse. lie learns to overcome his 
 fears. At the sight of a tiger, a horse has 
 been known to become wholly paralysed 
 with terror, and incapable of resistance, or 
 even of flight; and yet this instinctive 
 dread of mortal foes can be eradicated by 
 education, and a reliance on the protection 
 of man. 
 
 A remarkable proof of this is, that the 
 hunting leopard is allowed by the well- 
 trained horse to spring on his back, either 
 behind or before his master, when he goes 
 (126) 
 
EXCITING FEAT OF HORSEMANSHIP. 129 
 
 a-fieid in pursuit of game. One of the most 
 signal instances of courage on the part of 
 horse and rider, and of perfect concert be- 
 tween both, is that recorded of the late Sir 
 Robert Gillespie and his Arab. Sir Robert 
 being present on the race-course of Calcutta 
 during one of the great Hindoo festivals, 
 when many thousands are assembled to 
 witness all sorts of shows, was suddenly 
 alarmed by the shrieks and commotion of 
 the crowd. 
 
 On being informed that a tiger had es- 
 caped from his keepers, he immediately 
 called for his horse, and, with no other 
 weapon than a boar-spear snatched from 
 one of the by-standers, he rode to attack 
 this formidable enemy. The tiger was pro- 
 bably amazed a.t finding himself in the 
 middle of such a number of shrieking beings 
 flying from him in all directions ; but the 
 moment he perceived Sir Robert, he crouched 
 in the attitude of preparing to spring upon 
 him; and that instant the gallant soldier 
 passed his horse in a leap over the tiger's 
 back, and struck the spear through his 
 
130 SIR ROBERT GILLESPIE AND T1IE TIGER. 
 
 spine. It was a feat requiring the utmost 
 conceivable unity of purpose and movement 
 on the part of horse and rider, almost 
 realising for the moment the fable of the 
 centaur. Had either swerved or wavered 
 for a second, both had been lost. But the 
 brave steed knew his rider. The animal 
 was a small grey, and was afterwards sent 
 home as a present to the Prince Regent. 
 
 Sir Robert fell subsequently at the storm- 
 ing of Kalunga. Another horse of his, a 
 favorite black charger, bred at the Cape of 
 Good Hope, and carried by him to India, 
 was at the sale of his effects, competed for 
 by several officers of his division, and finally 
 knocked down to the privates of the 8th 
 dragoons, who contributed their prize mo- 
 ney, to the amount of £500 sterling, to re- 
 tain this commemoration of their beloved 
 commander. 
 
 The charger was always led at the head 
 of the regiment on a march, and at the 
 station of Cawnpore was usually indulged 
 with taking his ancient post at the color 
 stand, where the salute of passing squad- 
 
SINGULAR FORCE OF HAIIT. 131 
 
 rons was given at drill and on reviews. 
 When the regiment was ordered home, the 
 funds of the privates running low, he was 
 bought for the same sum by a gentleman, 
 who provided funds and a paddock for him, 
 where he might end his days in comfort ; 
 but when the corps had marched, and the 
 sound of the drum had departed, he refused 
 to eat, and on the first opportunity, being 
 led out to exercise, he broke from his groom, 
 and galloping to his ancient station on the 
 parade, after neighing aloud, dropped down 
 and died. 
 
StfiftJtyjg off ^Teto Zeqi^d. 
 
 Dieffenbacii, a German traveller, who 
 visited New Zealand, some years ago, thus 
 speaks of the whaling off those islands : — 
 The whale-boats are admirably adapted for 
 the purpose for which they are intended. 
 They are of various construction, and are 
 designated as English, French, or American : 
 each has some peculiarity to recommend it. 
 They are capable of resisting the rough sea 
 of Cook's Straits, but are at the same timo 
 (132) 
 
WHALING OFF NEW ZEALAND. 133 
 
 swift and buoyant. When starting on a 
 whaling expedition, the boats leave Te-awa- 
 iti before the dawn of the morning. Each 
 has live or six oars, and a crew accordingly. 
 The boat-stearer and the headsman are the 
 principal men in the boat, and are generally 
 Europeans ; the rest are natives. They 
 pull to the entrance of Tory Channel, where 
 a view opens over Cooa's Straits and Cloudy 
 Bay from the southern headland, where they 
 keep a "look-out" for the spouting of a 
 whale. The boat which kills the calf claims 
 the cow, even though it should have been 
 killed by another boat's crew. 
 
 If a whale has been killed, the different 
 boats assist each other in towing it to Te- 
 awa-iti. I once saw ten or twelve boats 
 towing in a whale. Each boat had a little 
 flag, and the whole scene was gay and ani- 
 mated. One day a calf had been killed, and 
 the cow, having been fastened upon, but not 
 despatched, was towed inside the channel. 
 Gasping in the agonies of death, the tor- 
 tured animal, when close to our ship, threw 
 up jets of blood, which dyed the sea all 
 
 12 
 
134 WHALING OFF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 around ; and, beating about with its tail, 
 it broke a boat right in the middle, and 
 threw the crew into the water; but it at 
 length died, exhausted from the many 
 wounds which the irons and harpoons had 
 inflicted. The calf was stated by the whalers 
 to be six weeks old, and was twenty-four 
 feet long. It was cut up in a few minutes, 
 and gave several barrels of oil. The pro- 
 cess was so rapid, that when I came ashore 
 I found only the head. I cut out- the brains, 
 the weight of which, amounting to live 
 pounds and one ounce, astonished me greatly. 
 The whalebone was very soft, and therefore 
 useless. There were two hundred plates of 
 it on each side of the roof of the upper jaw. 
 I got the whole roof cut off, and, intending 
 to dry and preserve, I placed it on the roof 
 of a native house ; but on the following 
 morning I had the mortification to find that 
 the rats and native dogs had found their 
 way to it in the night, and had eaten all 
 the soft parts, so that the rest fell to pieces. 
 A portion of the heart of this calf was 
 roasted and sent to our table. In tasto I 
 
WHALING OFF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 135 
 
 found it very like beef, but it was darker 
 in color. The cow was sixty feet long, and 
 measured between the fins on the belly 
 eighty-two inches. Her skin was a velvet- 
 like black, with the exception of a milk- 
 white spot round the navel. 
 
Jije ftfrefy, oi* ftb^clje. 
 
 The following account of a well-known 
 and much dreaded plienomenon in Switzer- 
 land, is given by Mrs. Strutt. The Jaman 
 is sometimes in the winter and spring a 
 dangerous passage, as well on account of 
 the depth of the snow, as in being subject 
 to avalanches, and to the peculiar tourmente, 
 as the mountaineers expressively term the 
 snowy winds or wirdy snows, called the 
 arein, a word which signifies in the patois 
 of the country a sandy snow, the particles 
 thereof being dry and brittle. These areins 
 are formed by one layer of snow falling 
 upon another, already frozen and hard, and 
 a strong wind forcing its way between the 
 two, slicing off, if I may be allowed so 
 homely an expression, the latest fallen and 
 uppermost, and driving it down the inclined 
 and icy plain on which it has sought its 
 short repose, with a fury that sweeps bei to 
 (136) 
 
THE AREIN. 
 
 it trees, chalets, herds, human beings, all 
 in one bewildering, blinding hurricane, con- 
 demning the unfortunate passenger to 
 death. 
 
 In 1767, one of these arcins swept away, 
 between the Jamcn and the village of Al- 
 lieres, in Fribourg, on which we were now 
 looking down in all the serenity of a sum- 
 mer's day, a number of large firs and seve- 
 ral houses, which it carried to the verge of 
 the precipices washed by the Hongrin in 
 the Gruyeres, sawing the cabaret of Allieres 
 literally in two, and carrying away the 
 upper story, to the amazement of the in- 
 mates, who were thus ejected from the attics 
 to the ground-floor without a moment's no- 
 tice to quit. When any accident fatal to 
 life occurs on the Jamen, it is forbidden to 
 remove the body until the arrival of a ma- 
 gistrate, excepting the mother be present, 
 in which case her sanction is deemed suffi- 
 cient. The presence of the father is not 
 considered equal authority. There is some- 
 thing very touching in this deference to 
 maternal feeling. 
 
 19* 
 
ft f^itfe XHJltyg 6tytyb^}. 
 
 Council Grove derives its name from the 
 practice among the traders, from the com- 
 mencement of the overland commerce be- 
 tween the United States and Mexico, of as- 
 sembling there for the appointment of 
 officers, and the establishment of rules and 
 regulations to govern their march through 
 the country to the south of it. Mr. Farn- 
 ham, a diligent traveller in the western 
 country, gives the following description of 
 the proceedings at this place : — The party 
 first elect their commander-in-chief. His 
 duty is to appoint subordinate leaders, and 
 to divide the owners and men into watches, 
 and to assign them their several hours of 
 duty in guarding the camp during the re- 
 mainder of the perilous journey. He also 
 divides the caravan into two parts, each of 
 which forms a column when on the march. 
 (138) 
 
A PRAIRIE TRADING CARATAN. 141 
 
 In these lines he assigns each team the 
 place in which it must always bo found. 
 Having arranged these several matters, the 
 council breaks up; and the commander, 
 with the guard on duty, moves off in ad- 
 vance to select the track and anticipate ap- 
 proaching danger. After this guard the 
 head teams of each column lead off about 
 thirty feet apart, and the others follow in 
 regular lines, rising and dipping gloriously ; 
 two hundred men, one hundred wagons, 
 eight hundred mules ; shoutings and whip- 
 pings, and whistlings and cheerings, are 
 all there; and, amidst them all, the hardy 
 Yankee moves rapidly onward to the siege 
 of the mines of Montezuma. Several ob- 
 jects are gained by this arrangement of 
 the wagons. If they are attacked by the 
 Cumanche cavalry or other foes, the leading 
 teams file to the right and left, and close 
 the front; and the hindmost by a similar 
 movement, close the rear; and thus they 
 form an oblong rampart of wagons laden 
 with cotton goods, that effectually shield 
 teams and men from the small arms of the 
 
142 A PRAIRIE TRADING CARAVAN. 
 
 Indians. The same arrangement is made 
 when they halt for the night. Within the 
 area thus formed are put, after they arc 
 fed, many of the more valuable horses and 
 oxen. The remainder of the animals are 
 "staked," that is, tied to stakes, at a dis- 
 tance of twenty or thirty yards around the 
 line. The ropes by which they are fastened 
 are from thirty to forty feet in length, and 
 the stakes to which they are attached are 
 carefully driven, at such distances apart as 
 shall prevent their being entangled one with 
 another. Among these animals the guard 
 on duty is stationed, standing motionless 
 near them, or crouching so as to discover 
 every moving spot upon the horizon of 
 night. 
 
 The reasons assigned for this are, that a 
 guard in motion would be discovered and 
 fired upon by the cautious savage before 
 his presence could be known ; and further, 
 that it is impossible to discern the approach 
 of an Indian creeping among the grass in 
 the dark, unless the eye of the observer be 
 so close to the ground as to bring the whole 
 
A PRAIRIE TRADING CARAVAH. 
 
 143 
 
 surface lying within the range of vision be- 
 tween it and the line of light around the 
 lower edge of the horizon. If the camp be 
 attacked, the guard tire and retreat to the 
 wagons. The whole body take positions 
 for defence ; at one time sallying out, rescue 
 their animals from the grasp of the Indians, 
 and at another, concealed behind their 
 wagons, load and fire upon the intruders 
 with all possible skill and rapidity. Many 
 were the bloo.dy battles fought on the trail, 
 and such were some of the anxieties and 
 dangers that attended and still attend the 
 " Santa Fe trade." Many are the graves, 
 along the track, of those who have fallen 
 before the terrible cavalry of the Cumanches. 
 
%i*)S q$ ?\§p$ sliegef^fioij. 
 
 Yucatan is the most interesting portion 
 of Central America. The ruins of cities, 
 which once must have been splendid and 
 populous, are found in many parts of this 
 territory, and afford subjects for investiga- 
 tion to the contemplative and the curious. 
 Mr. Stevens gives the following account of 
 a visit to the remains of the past. 
 
 On the 15th, at eleven o'clock, we ar- 
 rived at the hacienda of Uxmal. It stood 
 in its suit of sombre grey, with cattle-yard, 
 large trees, and tanks, the same as when 
 we left it ; but there were no friends of old 
 to welcome us; the Dclmonico major-domo 
 had gone to Tobasco, and the other had 
 been obliged to leave on account of illness. 
 The mayoral remembered us, but we did 
 not know him ; and we determined to pass 
 (HI) 
 
II 
 
 
 9K!\1 i 
 
RUINS AND RAPID VEGETATION. 147 
 
 on and take up our abode immediately in 
 the ruins. Stopping a few minutes to give 
 directions about the luggage, we mounted 
 again, and in ten minutes, emerging from 
 the wood, came out again from the open 
 field, in which, grand and lofty as when we 
 saw it before, stood the House of the Dwarf, 
 but the first glance showed us that a year 
 had made great changes. The sides of the 
 lofty structure, then bare and naked, were 
 now covered with high grass, bushes, and 
 weeds, and on the top were bushes and 
 weeds twenty feet high. The Ilouse of the 
 Nuns was almost smothered, and the whole 
 field was covered with a rank growth of 
 grass and weeds, over which we could barely 
 look as we rode through. The foundations, 
 terraces, and tops of the buildings were 
 overgrown ; weeds and vines were rioting 
 and creeping on the facades ; and mounds, 
 terraces, and ruins were a mass of destroy- 
 ing verdure. A strong and vigorous nature 
 was struggling for mastery over art ; wrap- 
 ping the city in its suffocating embraces, 
 and burying it from sight. It seemed as 
 
148 RUINS AND RAPID VEGETATION. 
 
 if the grave was closing over a friend, and 
 we had arrived barely in time to take our 
 farewell. Amid this mass of desolation, 
 grand and stately as it was when we left it, 
 stood the Casa del Gobernador, but with all 
 its terraces covered, and separated from us 
 by a mass of impenetrable verdure. On the 
 left of the field was an overgrown milpa, 
 along the edge of which a path led in front 
 of this building. Following this path, we 
 turned the corner of the terrace, and on the 
 farthest side dismounted, and tied our 
 horses. The grass and weeds were above 
 our heads, and we could see nothing. The 
 mayoral broke a way through them, and 
 we reached the foot of the terrace. Work- 
 ing our way over the stones with much toil, 
 we reached the top of the highest terrace. 
 Here, too, the grass and weeds were of the 
 same rank growth. We moved directly to 
 the wall at the cast end, and entered the 
 first open door. Here the mayoral wished 
 us to take up our abode ; but we knew the 
 localities better than he did, and, creeping 
 along the front as close to the wall as pes- 
 
RUINS AND RAPID VEGETATION. 
 
 119 
 
 Bible, cutting some of the bushes and tear- 
 ing apart and trampling down others, wo 
 reached the central apartment. Here wo 
 stopped. Swarms of bats, roused by our 
 approach, fluttered and flew through the 
 long chamber, and passed out of the doors. 
 These ruins belong to an unknown period 
 of antiquity. They were probably erected 
 by a race of men greatly superior in civili- 
 zation and art to the Indians who were 
 found in Central America, at the time of 
 Spanish invasion. 
 
The Tyrol is one of the most picturesque 
 regions in Europe. The valleys are fertile, 
 beautiful, and healthy ; the mountains, bold, 
 lofty, and grand. The country is inhabited 
 by a rough, hardy, and industrious pea- 
 santry. The religion of the Tyrolians is 
 Catholic, and the people are remarkably 
 devout, and are accustomed to keep all the 
 feasts of the church as holidays. Rifle- 
 shooting and dancing form their principal 
 amusements. "No fete-day/' says Mur- 
 ray's 'Hand-Book,' "holiday, or marriage 
 passes off without a rustic ball ; such enter- 
 tainments afford the traveller insight into 
 the manners and customs of the people, 
 and an opportunity of observing the varie- 
 ties of costume. Those, however, who have 
 formed their notions of a Ty ro ^ cse &&&0& 
 (150) 
 
TH3 TYROUANg. 153 
 
 from a ballet at the opera, will bo much 
 disappointed. They will find the dancers 
 assembled in the close low room of an inn, 
 so thronged that it would appear impossible 
 to move, much less dance among the throng ; 
 yet no sooner does the music strike up, 
 than the whole is in a whirl ; no jostling and 
 confusion occur, and the time of the waltz 
 is kept with the most unerring precision. 
 Instead of the elegant costume of the theatre, 
 with its short petticoats and flying ribands, 
 they will find the lasses decked out in pointed 
 hats, or round fur or woollen caps, or in 
 handkerchiefs tied under their chins, and 
 waists reaching up nearly to their necks. 
 The men often wear Hessian boots, which 
 they strike together with great clatter by 
 way of beating time, every now and then 
 uttering a shrill cry, and leaping round in 
 the air, exactly in the manner of the 
 Highland fling. The enthusiasm, almost 
 most approaching to frenzy, with which the 
 dance is kept up, in spite of the heat and 
 crowd, from noon till night, ia truly sur- 
 pfiiixsg. The partners often seise m&k 
 
TEE TTBOLLLKS. 
 
 other by the shoulders, in an sttitode not 
 unlike hugging ; they do not always follow 
 the same monotonous revolution, bnt at one 
 time the man steps round his partner; at 
 another, lifting her high in the air, he twirls 
 her round on her heel with a rapidity that 
 makes her appear to spin, and then, quickly 
 re-uniting, they resume their circular evo- 
 lutions with an agility and perseverance 
 truly marvellous. 
 
 The Tyrolian boys, with hand organ and 
 marmot, are seen wandering about most of 
 the great cities of Europe. 
 
OSTRICHES. 
 
Hunting upon the plains of South Ame- 
 rica is the most exciting sport. But it re- 
 quires fine horsemanship and sure skill in 
 the use of the lasso, or noose, which is 
 thrown over the heads of the game. Ko- 
 bertson, an English traveller, gives the fol- 
 
158 HUNTING OSTRICHES AXD WILD HORSES. 
 
 lowing account of his hunting adventures 
 upon the plains of Paraguay. 
 
 We had taken three brace of birds, when, 
 an ostrich starting before us, Candioti, Jun., 
 gave the war-whoop . of pursuit to his 
 Gaucho followers, and to me the well-known 
 intimation of " Vamos, Senor Don Juan." 
 Off went, or rather flew, the Gauchos; my 
 steed bounded away in their company, and 
 we were now, instead of tracking an invi- 
 sible bird through tufted grass, in full cry 
 after the nimble, conspicuous, and athletic 
 ostrich. With his erect and angry eye, 
 towering above all herbage, our game flew 
 from us, by the combined air of wings and 
 limbs, at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. 
 The chase lasted half that time; when an 
 Indian peon, starting a head of the close 
 phalanx of his mounted competitors, whirled 
 his balos, with admirable grace and dex- 
 terity, around his head, and with deadly 
 aim flung them over the half-running, half- 
 flying, but now devoted ostrich. Irretriev- 
 ably entangled, down came the giant bird, 
 rolling, fluttering, panting; and being in 
 
HUNTING OSTRICHES AND WILD HORSES. 159 
 
 an instant despatched, the company or the 
 field stripped him of his feathers, struck 
 them in their girdles, and left the plucked 
 and mangled carcass in the plain, a prey 
 to the vultures, which were already hover- 
 ing around us. We now came upon an im- 
 mense herd of wild horses, and Canclioti, 
 Jan., said, "Now Senor Don Juan, I must 
 show how we tame a eolt." So saying, the 
 word was given for the pursuit of the herd, 
 and off, once more, like lightning started 
 the Gaucho horsemen, Candioti and myself 
 keeping up with them. The herd consisted 
 of about two thousand horses, neighing and 
 snorting, with ears erect and flowing tails, 
 their manes outspread to the wind, affrighted 
 the moment they were conscious of pursuit. 
 The Gauchos set up their usual cry ; the 
 dogs were left in the distance, and it was 
 not till we had followed the flock at full 
 speed, and without a check, for live miles, 
 that the two headmost peons launched their 
 balos at the horse which each had respec- 
 tively singled out of the herd. Down to the 
 ground, with frightful somersets, came two 
 
160 HUNTING OSTRICHES AND WILD HORSES, 
 
 gallant colts. The herd continued its head- 
 long flight, leaving behind their two pros- 
 trate companions. Upon these the whole 
 band of Guachos now ran in ; lazos were 
 applied to tie their legs; one man held 
 down the head of each horse, and another 
 the hind quarters, while with singular ra- 
 pidity and dexterity other two Gauchos put 
 the saddles and bridles on their fallen, 
 trembling, and nearly frantic victims. 
 This done, the two men who had brought 
 down the colts bestrode them as they still 
 lay on the ground. In a moment the lazos 
 which bound their legs were loosed, and at 
 the same time a shout from the field so 
 frightened the potros, that up they started 
 on all fours, but to their astonishment, each 
 with a rider on his back, ri vetted, as it were, 
 to the saddle, and controlling them by 
 means of a never-before-dreamed-of bit in 
 his mouth. The animals made a simulta- 
 neous and most surprising vault: they 
 reared, plunged, and kicked ; now they 
 started off at full gallop, and anon stopped 
 short in their career, with their heads be- 
 
HUNTING OSTRICHES AND WILD HORSES. 1G1 
 
 tween their legs, endeavoring to throw their 
 riders. " Que esperanza," " vain hope, in- 
 deed!" Immoveable sat the two Tape In- 
 dians; they smiled at the unavailing at- 
 tempts of the turbulent and outrageous ani- 
 mals to unseat them ; and in less than an 
 hour from the time of their mounting, it was 
 very evident who were to be the masters. 
 
 The horses did their very worst, the In- 
 dians never lost either the security or the 
 grace of their seats ; till, after two hours of 
 the most violent efforts to rid themselves of 
 their burden, the horses were so exhausted, 
 that, drenched in sweat, with gored and 
 palpitating sides, and hanging down their 
 heads, they stood for five minutes together, 
 panting and confounded, but they made not 
 a single effort to move. Then came the 
 Gaucho's turn to exercise his more positive 
 authority. Hitherto he had been entirely 
 upon the defensive. His object was simply 
 to keep his seat and tire out the horse. He 
 now wanted to move it in a given direction, 
 wayward, zigzag ; often interrupted was his 
 course at first, still the Gauche made for a 
 
162 HUNTING OSTRICHES AND WILD HORSES. 
 
 given point; and they advanced towards it, 
 till at the end of about three hours the now 
 mastered animals moved in nearly a direct 
 line, and in company with the other horses, 
 to the questo, or small subordinate esta- 
 blishment, on the estate to which we were 
 repairing. When we got there, the two 
 horses, which so shortly before had been 
 free as the wind, they tied to a stake of the 
 corral, the slaves of lordly man, and all hope 
 of emancipation was at an end. 
 
The following lively description of a kan- 
 garoo hunt, in Australia, is given by one 
 who had much experience in that singular 
 sport, and whose "Tales of the Colonies" 
 has been widely read. The hunt is some- 
 times pursued on foot, and sometimes on 
 horseback. The former is generally preferred. 
 
 It was just light when the stock-keeper 
 called me, and I wasn't long dressing. 1 
 took one of the large' pistols that father 
 
IGi A KANOAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 said I might have, and the stock-keeper had 
 a musket, and we had half a damper and a 
 paper of salt, and I had my big hack-knife, 
 and so off we went. I do think Hector 
 knew he was going to have some kangaroo ; 
 for he seemed so glad, and licked his chops, 
 and Fly wagged her tail, and the morning 
 was so beautiful, and what do you think, 
 father? the bird that mother likes to hear 
 so much is a magpie ! it is indeed ; for I 
 saw it, and it's just like an English magpie, 
 only it sings so beautifully. We walked 
 over the plain till we came to the hills ; the 
 dogs kept quiet behind us. The stock- 
 keeper said I might see they had been well 
 trained ; they kept their heads low and their 
 tails hanging down behind them, as if they 
 had no life in them ; but you should have 
 seen them when they got sight of a kanga- 
 roo, didn't they pluck up! We went on 
 till we got about four or five miles from the 
 tents, and then we did not talk, for the 
 kangaroos are startled at the least noise ; 
 they are just like hares for that. 
 Then the stock-keeper stood still. He 
 
A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 165 
 
 said to the dogs, "Go find," and then the 
 dogs cantered about around us, going fur- 
 ther and further off, till Hector began to 
 smell about very earnestly. " He has got 
 scent," said the stock-keeper; and so he 
 had, for he galloped off with his nose to the 
 ground straight ahead. Fly saw him, and 
 she galloped after. " I think it's a big one," 
 said the stock-keeper, " the dogs seem so 
 warm at it." I was running after them as 
 fast as I could, when the stock-keeper 
 called me to stop. "Stop," said he, "it's 
 of no use for you to run, you could not keep 
 up with them." 
 
 "Why, what are we to do?" said I; "if 
 they kill a kangaroo, how can we find it?" 
 "Wait, a bit," said he; "all in good time. 
 If the dogs kill a kangaroo, we shall find 
 him, I'll warrant." So we waited and 
 waited till I was quite tired ; and a good 
 while after Hector came back quite slowly, 
 as if he was tired, with Fly following after. 
 The stock-keeper looked at his mouth. 
 "What's that for?" said I. "To see if he 
 has killed," said he; "look here, his mouth 
 
166 A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 is bloody, and that's come by killing a kan- 
 garoo, you may be sure of it." 
 
 Then the stock-keeper stood up, and said 
 to Hector, " Show ;" and then Hector trotted 
 off, not fast, but pretty fast, so that I was 
 obliged to trot too to keep up with him ; 
 and he trotted on and on till 1 was rather 
 tired, I dare say for three miles from where 
 we were at first; and on he went, and we 
 following him, till he brought us to a dead 
 kangaroo, close to a little pond of water. 
 
 It was a- monstrous big one, with such 
 claws on each side of his hind legs ; a claw 
 that would rip up a dog in a moment,, or a 
 man too, if he got at him. "Good dog," 
 said the stock-keeper ; and Hector wagged 
 his tail, and seemed to like to be praised. 
 Then the stock-keeper gave me his gun to 
 hold, and he cut open the kangaroo, and 
 gave the inside to the dogs. Then he 
 skinned the upper part down to the loins, 
 and cut the kangaroo in half, and hung it 
 up in a tree, noting the place ; the other 
 half he left on the ground ; that is, when 
 he v~^**% away from the place, for he would 
 
A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 167 
 
 LJt let the dogs have more than a taste of 
 the blood, lest it should spoil their hunting. 
 
 What's to be done now ?" said I. " We'll 
 kill another/' said the stock-keeper, "if you 
 are not tired." I said I was not tired a bit ; 
 so after we had rested a little while, we 
 went on again, the dogs following us as at 
 first. 
 
 We saw plenty of brush-kangaroos, but 
 we would not touch them. After we had 
 got a mile or two, the stock-keeper, who 
 had been examining the ground all the way 
 along, said, "I think there are some big 
 ones hereabouts, by the look of the marks ; 
 bo he said to the dogs, " Go find," as he had 
 said before. Almost directly we saw such 
 a large fellow— I'm sure he was six feet 
 high — he looked at us and at the dogs for 
 a moment, and then off he went. 
 
 My gracious ! what hops he did give ! he 
 hopped with his two hind-legs, with his 
 fore legs in the air, and his tail straight 
 out behind — and wasn't it a tail! it was as 
 thick as a bed-post; and this great tail 
 went wag, wag, up and down, as he jumped, 
 
1G8 A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 and seemed to balance him behind. But 
 Hector and Fly were after him. This time 
 the stock-keeper ran too, for the ground was 
 level and clear of fallen timber, and you 
 could see a good way before you. I had 
 begun to feel a little tired, but I didn't feel 
 tired then. Hop, hop, went the kangaroo, 
 and the dogs after him, and we after the 
 dogs; and we scampered on till I was quite 
 out of breath ; and the kangaroo was a good 
 bit before the dogs, when he turned up a 
 hill. "Now we shall have him," said the 
 stock-keeper; " the clogs will beat him up- 
 hill." I wanted my breath, but I kept up, 
 and we scrambled up the hill, and I thought 
 the dogs would get him ; but the kangaroo 
 got to the top of the hill first-, and when we 
 got a sight of him, he was bounding down 
 the hill making such prodigious leaps at 
 every jump, over every thing, that you could 
 not believe it if you didn't see it. The dogs 
 had no chance with him down-hill. "It's 
 of no use," said the stock-keeper, " for us to 
 try to keep up with him ; we may as well 
 gtay here. He'll lead the dogs a pretty 
 
KANGAROO HUNT. 
 
A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 171 
 
 chase, will that fellow ; he's a Boomer, and 
 one of the biggest rascals I ever saw." 
 
 So we sat down at the top of the hill, 
 under a gum tree, and there we sat a long 
 time, I don't know how long, until we saw 
 Hector coming up. The stock-keeper looked 
 at his mouth. "He has killed," said he; 
 " but he has got a little scratch in the tussle, 
 and so has Fly. That big chap was almost 
 too much for two dogs." Then he said, " Go 
 show!" and Hector and Fly trotted along 
 straight to where the kangaroo lay, without 
 turning to the right or left, but going over 
 every thing, just as if they knew the road 
 quite well. 
 
 We came to a hollow, and there we saw 
 the kangaroo lying dead. Just as the 
 stock-keeper was going to cut him open, 1 
 saw another kangaroo not a hundred yards 
 off. "There's another," said I, and the dogs, 
 although they had had a hard battle with 
 the kangaroo lying dead, started off directly. 
 Close to us was a large pond of water, like 
 a little lake. The kangaroo was between 
 the dogs and the lake. Js T ot knowing how 
 
172 A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 to get past, I suppose, he bopped right into 
 the lake, and the dogs went after him. Ho 
 hopped further into the lake, where the 
 water got deeper, and then the dogs were 
 obliged to swim ; but they were game and 
 would not leave their work. When the 
 kangaroo found himself getting pretty deep 
 in the water, he stopped and turned on the 
 doo;s ; but he could not use his terrible hind- 
 claws : so when one of the dogs made a rise 
 at his throat, (they always try to get hold 
 of the throat.) he took hold of him with his 
 fore-legs, and ducked him under the water. 
 Then the other dog made a spring at him, 
 and the kangaroo ducked him in the same 
 way. "Well," said the stock-keeper, "I 
 never saw the like of that before; this is a 
 new game." And all the while the dogs 
 kept springing at the kangaroo's throat, 
 and the kangaroo kept ducking them under 
 the water. But it was plain that the clogs 
 were getting exhausted, for they were 
 obliged to swim and be ducked too ; while 
 the kangaroo stood with his head and fore- 
 legs out of the water. 
 
A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 173 
 
 "This will never do," said the stock- 
 keeper ; " he'll drown the dogs at this rate." 
 So he took his gun from me and put a ball 
 in it. "Now," said lie, "for a good shot; 
 I must take care not to hit the dogs." He 
 put his gun over the branch of a dead tree, 
 and watching his time, he fired and hit the 
 kangaroo in the neck, and down it came in 
 the water. 
 
 He then called off the dogs, and they 
 swam back to us. " He is such a prime 
 one," said he, " it would be a pity to lose 
 his skin ;" so he waded in after him, and 
 dragged him out. "It's a pity," said he, 
 "to lose so much meat, but his hind-quar- 
 ters would be a bigger load than I should 
 like to carry home ; but I must have his 
 skin, and I tell you what, young fellow, you 
 shall have his tail, though I'm thinking it's 
 rather more than you can carry home." 
 
 This roused me a bit, to think I couldn't 
 carry a kangaroo's tail ; so 1 determined to 
 take it home, if I dropped, though I must 
 6ay it was so heavy that I was obliged to 
 rest now and then, and the stock-keeper 
 
 15* 
 
174 A KANGAROO HUNT, IX AUSTRALIA. 
 
 carried it a good part of the way for mc. 
 " What shall we do with the meat?" said I. 
 "What shall we do with it?" said he; "are 
 you hungry?" "I believe you," said I. 
 "Then we'll make a dinner off him," said 
 the stock-keeper. 
 
 With that we got together some dry sticks, 
 and made a fire, and the stock-keeper took 
 the ram-rod of his musket, and first he cut 
 a slice of the lean off the loins, which he 
 said was the tenderest part, and put the 
 ramrod through it, and then he cut out a 
 bit of fat, and slid it on after the lean, and 
 so on a bit of fat and a bit of lean, till he 
 had put on lots of slices, and so he roasted 
 them over the fire. 
 
 He gave me the ramrod to hold, and 
 cutting a long slice of bark out of a gum- 
 tree, made two plates, capital plates, he 
 said, for a bush dinner. I told you we had 
 got some salt and some damper, and I was 
 pretty hungry, as you may suppose, and I 
 thought it the most delicious dinner I ever 
 ate. When I had done, I lay down on the 
 grass, and Hector and Fly came and laid 
 
A KANGAROO HUNT, IN AUSTRALIA. 175 
 
 themselves down beside me, and somehow, 
 I don't know how it was, I fell asleep, I was 
 so tired. I slept a good while, for the stock- 
 keepe'r said it would have been a sin to wake 
 me, I was in such a sweet sleep. I woke up, 
 however, after a good nap, and felt as if I 
 could eat a bit more kangaroo. But it was 
 getting late, and so we made the best of 
 our way home. We passed by the place 
 where we had killed the kangaroo; so the 
 stock-keeper brought home the hind- 
 quarters and the three skins, and I brought 
 home a tail ; and I really don't know which is 
 best, kangaroo steaks or kangaroo steamer.* 
 
 * Kangaroo steamer is a stew, made of kangaroo me&S 
 and bacon. 
 
Azorc 1510, Helena, the Queen of Abys- 
 sinia, anxious to obtain the alliance of Por- 
 tugal against the Turks, sent Matthew, an 
 Armenian merchant, ambassador to Lisbon. 
 He went by the circuitous route of India, 
 where his dignity not being at first recog- 
 nised, he was somewhat _ roughly treated, 
 and detained several years. When at last, 
 in 1513, he reached Lisbon. After the 
 most favorable reception, he was sent back 
 with a fleet, which, in 1515, proceeded to 
 India under Lope Soarcz. The governor, 
 soon after his arrival in India sailed for the 
 Red Sea. The ships, meanwhile, met with 
 so many disasters, that they never reached 
 the port of Masuah. 
 
 Soarcz quitted the gulf, and the enter- 
 prise was not resumed till he was succeeded 
 by a more able commander, named Lope 
 
 (IT*) 
 
t\\\ 
 
 A2YSSINIAH CHXII . 
 
 M 
 
ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA. 179 
 
 Sequcira. This officer sailed from Goa on 
 the 13th of February, 1520, and arrived at 
 Masuah on the 21th of April. At the neigh- 
 boring port of Arkeeko he had an interview 
 with the Baharnagash, who, as vassal to the 
 monarch of Abyssinia, held sway over a 
 wide extent of maritime territory. He gave 
 the Portuguese a cordial welcome, and un- 
 dertook to convey to court both Matthew 
 and an European embassy. At the head 
 of this mission Sequeira placed Kodrigo de 
 Lima. 
 
 The embassy left Arkeeko on the 30th of 
 April, and on the 4th of May arrived at the 
 monastery of St. Michael, which was de- 
 pendent on a more extensive establishment 
 called Bisan, or that of the Vision. Here 
 they were attacked by an epidemic malady, 
 which proved fatal to the merchant and to 
 one of his countrymen. To escape its ma- 
 lignant influence they hastened forward, 
 first to Bisan and then to Dobarwa, the re- 
 sidence of the Baharnagash, to which he 
 had now returned. On this occasion he re- 
 ceived them rather coldly, and not without 
 
180 ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA. 
 
 reluctance afforded them the means of pro- 
 ceeding. The passage, too, of the high and 
 rugged mountains of Tigre was found rather 
 formidable. Violent storms of rain and 
 wind often compelled them to seek shelter 
 under the rocks; while the fury of the tor- 
 rents and the roaring of the gale through 
 the immense woods could not be heard with- 
 out alarm. Numerous wild animals stalked 
 around, showing no fear at the presence of 
 man ; apes were sometimes seen in bands 
 of several hundreds. On descending into 
 the plain, they found it desolated by the 
 more dreadful scourge of locusts. When 
 the inhabitants saw the air darkened by 
 those destructive insects, they became, it is 
 said, " as dead men," crying out, "We are 
 undone, for the locusts come!" Great num- 
 bers of both sexes were observed flying to 
 other districts in search of Tood, their own 
 lands having been entirely consumed by 
 this dreadful visitation. 
 
 Amidst these difficulties and annoyances, 
 the mission slowly reached the southern 
 province of Angote, which they found a do- 
 
ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA. 181 
 
 lightful region, watered by many streams, 
 and having seedtime and harvest through- 
 out the year. The viceroy invited them to 
 a feast, where they found neither chair, 
 table-cloth, nor towel. Mats were spread 
 on the floor, and a wooden board was co- 
 vered with round cakes; over which was 
 placed the delicate dish, which Alvarez 
 scarcely dares to mention, — " pieces of raw 
 flesh, with warm blood," — which the gover- 
 nor and his ladies devoured with delight. 
 But the Portuguese could not allow these 
 dainties to enter their lips. The wine also, 
 or rather hydromel, " walked about with 
 great fury;" the mistress of the house, 
 though concealed behind a curtain, taking 
 an ample share. 
 
 While proceeding to the court or camp 
 of the Abyssinian monarch, Alvarez saw 
 the lofty hill on which, by a singular and 
 jealous policy, the princesses of the blood- 
 royal are constantly confined. It was of 
 great extent, begirt by a circuit of lofty and 
 perpendicular cliffs appearing to reach al- 
 most to the sky. On its summit was a 
 
 16 
 
182 XDTKNTURES IN ABYSSItflA. 
 
 large plain, whence other hills are inter- 
 spersed with valleys, of which the most 
 beautiful was chosen as the retreat of the 
 august prisoners. The strangers having 
 approached too near it, were notified of their 
 error by a shower of stones. 
 
 After passing through the province of 
 Amhara and Shoa, the embassy, on the 19th 
 of October, came in view of- an almost end- 
 less range of tents and pavilions over- 
 spreading an immense plain. This was 
 the grand array or regal camp of the King 
 of Abyssinia, who, engaged in continual war, 
 had at this time no other capital. They 
 forthwith advanced between two rows of 
 about forty thousand persons, among whom 
 a hundred were constantly employed with 
 whips in their hands to maintain order. On 
 this occasion they saw only the cabcata, or 
 chief priest and minister, who conveyed 
 several courteous messages between them 
 and the monarch, whom, however, they 
 neither saw nor heard. But on the 20th 
 they were again sent for, when they ob- 
 served an elevated seat, which they .call a 
 
 (7) 
 
ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA. 183 
 
 bed, with rich curtains of silk and gold 
 concealing the king from their view, but 
 not preventing their holding some conver- 
 sation with him. His first address was 
 not altogether cordial ; he even showed 
 some jealousy of their motives in coming 
 to Abyssinia ; but he listened to their ex- 
 planations, and at length showed a more 
 friendly disposition. Finally, on the 1st 
 of November, they were admitted to a more 
 formal audience, when a series of large 
 curtains were raised, each richer than the 
 other, till at last the richest of all, was 
 lifted, behind which appeared Prester John 
 seated, in a splendid dress of silk and gold, 
 and holding in his hand a silver cross. 
 This prince, who was David III., is described 
 as a young man of about twenty-three, of 
 low stature, and "of the color of ruddy- 
 apples." 
 
 The embassy remained five years in Abys- 
 sinia, and then having secured good feeling 
 between the two courts, and induced the 
 emperor to embrace the Catholic religion, it 
 sailed for Europe, with presents and a letter 
 
184 
 
 ADVENTURES IN ABYSSINIA. 
 
 for the King of Portugal. The Portuguese 
 were the first European people to visit the 
 eastern coast of Africa, and their enterprise 
 brought them much wealth. 
 
 AS XSTSSIKIiJf FAMILY, 
 
.^^^S^^sSS^W^ 
 
 Hie ]$iqti qqd li?e $e^fs. 
 
 In the neighborhood of the Bed river, the 
 grisly bears are very numerous. The chief 
 of a tribe of Indians was returning home 
 from a general council, and had lingered 
 behind his men. When not very far from 
 his hut, he met a bear and two cubs, and 
 knowing the ferocious nature of the animals, 
 was considerably alarmed. 
 
 They were so close, however, that ho 
 16* (185) 
 
186 THE INDIAN AND THE BEARS. 
 
 could not escape ; and having no alterna- 
 tive, he attacked them, thinking that if he 
 should be so fortunate as -to shoot the mo- 
 ther, he might succeed in killing the cubs 
 with the butt-end of his gun. He therefore 
 took aim, but the gun missed fire, although 
 he had put in a new flint that morning; 
 and before he could cock again, the bear 
 rushed upon him, and struck bim such a 
 blow with one of her paws as to throw him 
 a distance of several yards. She then ran 
 op, and seizing his head in her mouth, 
 stood still. He had the presence of mind 
 to grasp her throat, and with a sudden 
 wrench rescued his head from her jaws; 
 but while he was striving to choke her, one 
 of the cubs struck clown his arm, when for- 
 tunately he remembered that he had stuck 
 a knife into his girdle behind. This he 
 drew with the quickness of thought ; but 
 while in the act of striking the bear with it, 
 the same cub caught his hand in its mouth, 
 and held it fast. He seized the knife, how- 
 ever, with his left hand, and wounded the 
 old bear in several places, until becoming 
 
TflE INDIAN AND THE BEARS. 1ST 
 
 exasperated, she struck him down sense 
 less. When he recovered from his swoon 
 he found himself alone, with his bowels 
 partly protruding, and both his temples 
 lacerated. He bound in his intestines with 
 his belt, and, after staying the bleeding of 
 his many wounds, raised himself with. diffi- 
 culty, cocked his gun and began to move 
 slowly away. But he had not proceeded 
 ten steps, when the bears, which had been 
 watching him all the time, sprung upon him. 
 His gun snapped once more, and he was 
 entirely at their mercy. The mother again 
 knocked him down with her paw, and seizing 
 him, dragged him along, when, from loss of 
 blood and the concussion of the last bl.ow, 
 he fainted. On regaining his sensibility, 
 he bound up his wounds, and believing 
 himself injured beyo.nd recovery, became 
 inspired by revenge, and resolved to die in 
 the attempt to destroy some of his savage- 
 foes. With great difficulty he got on his 
 feet, cleaned the Hint of his gun, drew his 
 knife, and looking round, stood resolved to 
 conquer or perish. 
 
188 THE INDIAN AND THE BEARS. 
 
 The bears rushed upon him. Unable to 
 take aim, he dropped on one knee, and sup- 
 ported his gun on the other, when the old 
 bear seizing the muzzle in her mouth, he 
 drew the triircrer and shot her dead. The 
 cubs, however, remained, and they were 
 scarcely less dangerous, as very little 
 strength now remained in him. However, 
 he succeeded, after inflicting several wounds, 
 in driving them off, and sunk down, de- 
 spairing of ever rising again. But having 
 lain for some time, he found himself slightly 
 refreshed, and succeeded in crawling to his 
 hut, where he related what had befallen 
 him, and bidding farewell to his family, 
 laid himself down to die. 
 
 His friends went in search of the bears, 
 and found the mother dead, and the grass 
 all round clotted with blood. The cubs 
 were traced, and having been severely 
 wounded, were easily destroyed. The man- 
 gled Indian having enjoyed a sound sleep 
 for several hours, awoke greatly refreshed, 
 and having been persuaded to allow his 
 wounds to be bound, ultimately recovered. 
 
ifwftyg ft9be»)fqfe3 fy §oi|ff| StfKcq, 
 
 TnE interior of South Africa teems with 
 game of all kinds and sizes. Elephants, 
 rhinoceroses, giraffes, lions, hyenas, ante- 
 lopes of various sorts, buffaloes, and many 
 other animals are there found in their per- 
 fection. Adventurous hunters from the 
 Cape colony frequently make long excur- 
 
 (191) 
 
192 HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 sions into this region, and though they aro 
 forced to encounter many dangers, their 
 toils arc better rewarded than in any other- 
 part of the world. Some of these bold men 
 have given to the world narratives of their 
 expeditions. Of these the most conspicu- 
 ous, is Koualeyn Gordon Gumming, whose 
 exploits stamp him as the first of hunters. 
 His first meeting and battle with wild ele- 
 phants is thus narrated. 
 
 I resolved at night to watch the water, 
 and try what could be done with elephants 
 by night-shooting. I accordingly ordered 
 the usual watching hole to be constructed ; 
 and having placed my bedding in it, re- 
 paired thither shortly after sundown. I 
 had lain about two hours in the hole, when 
 I heard a low rumbling noise like distant 
 thunder, caused, as the Bechuanas affirmed, 
 by the bowels of the elephants which were 
 approaching the fountain. I lay on my 
 back, with my mouth open, attentively lis- 
 tening, and could hear them ploughing up 
 tho earth with their tusks. 
 
 Piesently they walked up to the water, 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 193 
 
 and commenced drinking within fifty yards 
 of me. They approached with so quiet a 
 step, that I fancied it was the footsteps of 
 jackals which I heard ; and I was not 
 aware of their presence until I heard the 
 water, which they had drawn up in their 
 trunks and were pouring into their mouths, 
 dropping into the fountain. I then peeped 
 from my sconce with a beating heart, and 
 beheld two enormous bull elephants, which 
 looked like two great castles, standing be- 
 fore me. I could not see very distinctly, 
 for there was only starlight. 
 
 Having lain on my breast some time 
 taking my aim, I let fly at one of the ele- 
 phants, using the Dutch rifle carrying six 
 to the pound. The ball told loudly on his 
 shoulder, and uttering a loud cry, he stum- 
 bled through the fountain, when both made 
 off in different directions. All night large 
 herds of zebras and blue wildebeests capered 
 around me, coming sometimes within a few 
 yards. Several parties of rhinoceroses also 
 made their appearance. I felt a little ap- 
 prehensive that lions might visit the foun- 
 N 17 
 
194 HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 tain, and every time that hyenas or jackals 
 lapped the water I looked forth, but no 
 lions appeared. At length I fell into a 
 sound sleep, nor did I again raise my head 
 until the bright star of morn had shot far 
 above the eastern horizon. 
 
 On the 27th, as day dawned, I left my 
 shooting-hole, and proceeded to inspect the 
 track of my wounded elephant. After fol- 
 lowing it for some distance I came to an 
 abrupt hillock, and fancying that from the 
 summit a good view might be obtained of 
 the surrounding country, I left my followers 
 to seek the track, while I ascended. I did 
 not raise my eyes from the ground until I 
 had reached the highest pinnacle of rock. 
 I then looked east, and to my inexpressible 
 gratification I beheld a troop of nine or ten 
 elephants quietly browsing within a quarter 
 of a mile of me. I allowed myself only one 
 glance at them, and then rushed down to 
 warn my followers to be silent. 
 
 A council of war was hastily held, the 
 result of which was my ordering Isaac to 
 ride hard to camp, with instructions to re- 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH A7JUCA. 195 
 
 turn as quickly as possible, accompanied by 
 Kleinboy, and to bring me my dogs, the 
 large Dutch rifle, and a fresh horse. I once 
 more ascended the hillock to feast my eyes 
 upon the enchanting sight before me; and 
 drawing out my spyglass, I narrowly ob- 
 served the motions of the elephants. The 
 herd consisted entirely of females, several 
 of which were followed by small calves. 
 
 Presently, on reconnoitring the surround- 
 ing country, I discovered a second herd, 
 consisting of five bull elephants, which were 
 quietly feeding about a mile to the north- 
 ward. The cows were feeding towards a 
 rocky ridge that stretched away from the 
 base of the hillock on which I stood. Burn- 
 ing with impatience to commence the at- 
 tack, I resolved to try the stalking-system 
 with these, and to hunt the troop of bulls 
 with clogs and horses. Having thus de- 
 cided, I directed the guides to watch the 
 elephants from the summit of the hillock, 
 and with a beating heart I approached 
 them. The ground and wind favoring Die, 
 i soon gained the rocky ridga towards 
 
19G HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 which they were feeding. They were now 
 within one hundred yards, and I resolved 
 to enjoy the pleasure of watching their 
 movements for a little before I fired. They 
 continued to feed slowly towards me, 
 breaking the branches from the trees with 
 their trunks, and eating the leaves and 
 tender shoots. I soon selected the finest in 
 the herd, and kept my eye on her in par- 
 ticular. At length two of the troop had 
 walked slowly past at about sixty yards, 
 and the one which I had selected was feed- 
 ing with two others on a thorny tree in front 
 of me. 
 
 My hand was now as steady as the rock 
 on which it rested, so taking a deliberate 
 aim, I let fly at her a little behind the eye. 
 She got it hard and sharp just where I 
 aimed, but it did not seem to affect her 
 much. Uttering a loud cry, she wheeled 
 about, when I gave her the second ball, 
 close behind the shoulder. All the ele- 
 phants uttered a strange rumbling noise, 
 and made off in a line to the northward at 
 a brisk ambling pace, their huge fan-liko 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 197 
 
 ears flapping in the ratio of their speed. I 
 did not wait to load, but ran back to the 
 hillock to obtain a view. On gaining its 
 summit, the guides pointed out the ele- 
 phants ; they were standing in a grove of 
 shady trees, but the wounded one was some 
 distance behind with another elephant, 
 doubtless its particular friend, who was 
 endeavoring to assist it. 
 
 These elephants had probably never be- 
 fore heard the report of a gun ; and, having 
 neither seen nor smelt me, they were una- 
 ware of the presence of man, and did not 
 seem inclined to go any farther. Presently 
 my men hove in sight, bringing the dogs ; 
 and when these came up I waited some 
 time before commencing the attack, that 
 the dogs and horses might recover their 
 wind. We then rode slowly towards the 
 elephants, and had advanced within two 
 hundred yards of them when, the ground 
 being open, they observed us, and made off 
 in an easterly direction ; but the wounded 
 one immediately dropped astern, and the 
 next moment she was surrounded by the 
 
 17* 
 
198 IirNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 dogs, which, barking angrily, seemed to 
 engross her attention. 
 
 Having placed myself between her and 
 the retreating troop, I dismounted to lire 
 within forty yards of her, in open ground. 
 My horse, Colesburg. was afraid of the ele- 
 phants, and gave me much trouble, jerking 
 my arm when I tried to fire. At length I 
 let fly; but, on endeavoring to regain my 
 saddle, Colesberg declined to allow me to 
 mount ; and when I tried to lead him, and 
 run for it, he only backed towards the 
 wounded elephant. 
 
 At this moment I heard another elephant 
 close behind ; and on looking about 1 be- 
 held the " friend," with uplifted trunk, 
 charging down upon me at top speed, shrilly 
 trumpeting and following an old black 
 pointer named Schwart, that was perfectly 
 cleaf, and trotted along before the enraged 
 elephant quite unaware of what was behind 
 him. I felt certain that she would have 
 cither me or my horse. I however deter- 
 mined not to relinquish my steed, but to 
 hold on to my bridle. My men, who of course 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 201 
 
 kept at a safe distance, stood aghast with 
 their inouths open, and for a few seconds 
 my position was not an enviable one. For- 
 tunately, however, the dogs took off the at- 
 tention of the elephants; and just as they 
 were upon me I managed to spring into the 
 saddle, where I was safe. As I turned my 
 back to mount, the elephants were so very 
 near that I really expected to feel one of 
 their trunks lay hold of me. I rode up to 
 Kleinboy for my double-barrelled tw T o- 
 grooved rifle ; he and Isaac w T ere pale and 
 almost speechless w 7 ith fright. Returning 
 to the charge, I was soon once more along- 
 side, and, firing from the saddle, I sent 
 another brace of bullets into the wounded 
 elephant. Colesburg was extremely un- 
 steady, and destroyed the correctness of 
 my aim. 
 
 The friend now seemed resolved to do 
 some mischief, and charged me furiously, 
 pursuing me to a distance of several hun- 
 dred yards. I therefore deemed it proper 
 to give her a gentle hint to act less officiously, 
 and accordingly, having loaded, I ap- 
 
202 HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 proached within thirty yards, and gave it 
 her sharp, right and left, behind the 
 shoulder, upon which she at once made off 
 with drooping trunk, evidently with a 
 mortal wound. I never recur to this my 
 first day's elephant shooting without re- 
 gretting my folly in securing only one ele- 
 phant. The first was now dying and could 
 not leave the ground, and the second was 
 also mortally wounded, and I had only to 
 follow and finish her ; but I foolishly allowed 
 her to escape, while I amused myself with 
 the first, which kept walking backwards, 
 and standing by every tree she passed. 
 Two more shots finished her; on receiving 
 them she tossed her trunk up and down 
 two or three times, and, fulling on her broad- 
 side against a thorny tree, which yielded 
 like grass before her enormous weight, she 
 uttered a deep hoarse groan and expired. 
 This was a very handsome old cow elephant, 
 and was decidedly the best in the troop. 
 She was in excellent condition, and carried 
 a pair of long and perfect tusks. 1 was in 
 high spirits at my success, and felt so per- 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 203 
 
 fectly satisfied with having killed one, that 
 although it was still early in the day, and 
 my horses were fresh, I allowed the troop 
 of five bulls to remain unmolested, foolishly 
 trusting to fall in with them next day, 
 How little did I then know of the habits 
 of elephants, or the rules to be adopted in 
 hunting them, or deem it probable that I 
 should never see them more. 
 
 Having knee-haltered our horses, we set 
 to work with our knives and assagais to 
 prepare the skull for the hatchet, in order 
 to cut out the tusks, nearly half the length 
 of which, I may mention, is embedded in 
 bone sockets in the fore part of the skull. 
 To cut out the tusks of a cow elephant re- 
 quires barely one-fifth of the labor requisite 
 to cut out those of a bull; and when the 
 sun went down we had managed by our 
 combined efforts to cut out one of the tusks 
 of my first elephant, with which we trium- 
 phantly returned, having left the guides in 
 charge of the carcass, where they volun- 
 teered to take up their quarters for the 
 night. 
 
ft3beif)f qhs ^3 fitysfotys of the 6tyih)i|cl(s 
 
 The Calmucks, a principal branch of the 
 great Mongol stock, are more widely dis- 
 persed over the globe than any other, even 
 the Arabs are not excepted. Tribes of this 
 people occur over all the countries of Upper 
 Asia, between 38° and 52° north latitude, 
 and from the most northern bend of the 
 Hoang-ho to the banks of the Yolga. They 
 are the " Hippophagi," or eaters of horse- 
 flesh, of Pliny, and the more ancient histo- 
 rians. They have very large settlements 
 in the neighborhood of Taganrok, and there 
 Dr. Clarke had an opportunity of studying 
 their habits and appearance. Calmuck 
 men and women were continually galloping 
 their horses through the streets of the towD, 
 or lounging in the public places. 
 (204) 9* 
 
mm 
 
 is 
 
CALMUCK COURTSHIP. 20 7 
 
 The women, bo says, ride better tban the 
 men, and a male Calmuck on horseback 
 looks as if he was intoxicated, and likely to 
 
 fall off every instant, though he never loses 
 his seat ; but the women sit with much ease, 
 and ride with extraordinary skill. We shall 
 see, however, by and by, that the men are 
 better equestrians than the traveller sup- 
 posed. The ceremony of marriage among 
 the Calm ticks is performed on horseback, 
 A girl is first mounted and rides off at full 
 speed. Tier lover pursues, and if he over- 
 take her she becomes his wife on the spot, 
 and then returns with him to his tent. But 
 it sometimes happens that the woman does 
 not wish to marry the person by whom she 
 is pursued, in which case she will not suffer 
 him to overtake her; and Dr. Clarke was 
 assured that l^o instance occurs of a Cal- 
 muck girl being thus caught unless she bad 
 a partiality for her pursuer. If she dis- 
 likes him she rides, in English sporting 
 phrase, "neck or nothing," until she has 
 completely escaped, or until the pursuer's 
 horse is tired out, leaving her at liberty to 
 
205 CUSTOMS OF THE CALMUCKS. 
 
 return, to be afterwards chased by some 
 more favored admirer. 
 
 Of all the inhabitants of the Eussian 
 empire, the Calmucks arc the most distin- 
 guished by peculiarity of features and man- 
 ners. In their personal appearance they 
 are athletic, and very forbidding. Their 
 hair is coarse and black, their language 
 harsh and guttural. The Cossacks alone 
 esteem, and intermarry with them ; and 
 these unions sometimes produce women of 
 very great beauty, although nothing is more 
 hideous than a Calmuck. High, prominent, 
 broad cheek bones, widely separated from 
 each other ; a flat and broad nose ; coarse, 
 greasy, jet black hair; scarcely any eye- 
 brows ; and enormous prominent ears, con- 
 stitute no very inviting portrait. Their 
 persons are indescribably filthy, and their 
 habits loathsome. They eat raw horseflesh, 
 and may be seen tearing it like wild beasts 
 from large bones which they hold in their 
 hands. Sometimes they cook their meat, 
 but not in a manner that would make it 
 much more inviting to an English stomach. 
 

 m ■ 
 
 ^^^^^^wl^Sr^ K 'I * 
 
 
MANITFACTUKE OF LIQUOR, 211 
 
 They cut the muscular parts into steaks 
 which they place under their saddles, and 
 after they have galloped thirty or forty 
 miles, they find the meat tender and pala- 
 table. This is a common practice with 
 them on their journeys. The author of Hu- 
 dibras alludes to this culinary process in 
 terms more pointed than decorous. 
 
 Every body has heard of the fermented 
 liquor called koumiss, which the Calmucks, 
 the Tartars, &c, manufacture from the 
 milk of the mare. It is produced by com- 
 bining with six of warm milk, one part of 
 warm water, and a very little sour milk or 
 old koumiss. The vessel is then covered 
 with a thick cloth and left in a moderately 
 warm place for twenty-four hours, until the 
 whole mass becomes sour. After this it is 
 twice beaten with a stick in the shape of a 
 churn staff, so as perfectly to mix together 
 the thick parts and the thin. This being 
 done the process is complete, and the liquor 
 is ready for drinking. 
 
 A subsequent process of distillation ob- 
 tains from this koumiss an ardent spirit 
 
212 CUSTOMS OF THE CALMUCKS. 
 
 called rack or racky, a name identical with 
 that given to the spirit manufactured in the 
 East Indies. Dr. Clarke found some women 
 in the act of making it. " The still," he 
 says, " was composed of mud or very close 
 clay. For a neck of the retort a cane was 
 used ; and the receiver was entirely covered 
 by a coating of wet clay. The brandy had 
 passed over. The woman who had the 
 management of the distillery, wishing to 
 give us a small taste of the spirit, thrust a 
 stick with a small tuft of camel's hair into 
 the receiver, dropped a portion of it on the 
 retort, and waving the instrument above 
 her head, scattered the remaining liquor in 
 the air. 
 
 " I asked the meaning of this ceremony, 
 and was told it was a religious custom to 
 give always the first of the brandy which 
 they drew from the receiver to their god. 
 The stick was then plunged "into the liquor 
 a second time, when more brandy adhering 
 to the camel's hair, she squeezed it into the 
 palm of her dirty hand, and having tasted 
 the liquor, presented it to our lips." 
 
CAUSIUCK HORSEMANSHIP. 21 
 
 o 
 
 A recent traveller, Madame de'IIcll, gives 
 a more pleasing picture of the Cal mucks, 
 whom she saw under more favorable circum- 
 stances, being the guest of one of their 
 princes. The following is her account of an 
 equestrian entertainment she witnessed : 
 
 " The moment we were perceived, five or 
 six mounted men, armed with long lassoos 
 (strong flexible thongs with running nooses) 
 rushed into the middle of the taboon (herd 
 of half wild horses,) keeping their eyes con- 
 stantly fixed on the young prince, who wa? 
 to point out the animal they should seize. 
 The signal being given, they instantly gal- 
 loped forward and noosed a young horse 
 with a long dishevelled mane, whose dilated 
 eyes and smoking nostrils betokened inex- 
 pressible terror. 
 
 " A light clad Calmuck, who followed 
 them on foot, immediately sprang upon the 
 stallion, cut the thongs that were throttling 
 him, and engaged with him in an incredible 
 contest of daring and agility. It would be 
 impossible, I think, for any spectacle more 
 vividly to affect the mind than that which 
 
21 4 CTBTOMS 0? TIT2 CALMUCXS. 
 
 now met our eyes. Sometimes the rider 
 and his horse rolled together on the grass: 
 sometimes they shot through the air with 
 the speed of an arrow, and then stopped 
 abruptly, as if a wall had all at once risen 
 up before them. On a sudden the furious 
 animal would crawl on its belly, or rear in 
 a manner that made us shriek with terror, 
 then plunging forward again in his mad 
 gallop, he would clash through the taboon, 
 and endeavor in every possible way to shake 
 off his novel burden. 
 
 " But this exercise, violent and dangerous 
 as it appeared to us, seemed but sport to 
 the Calmuck, whose body followed all the 
 movements of the animal with so much 
 suppleness, that one would have fancied that 
 the same spirit animated both bodies. The 
 sweat poured in foaming streams from the 
 stallion's flanks, and he trembled in every 
 limb. As for the rider, his coolness would 
 have put to shame the most accomplished 
 horsemen in Europe. In the most critical 
 moments he still found himself at liberty 
 to wave his arms in token of triumph ; and 
 
THRILLING FEAT OF HORSEMANSHIP. 215 
 
 In spite of the indomitable humor of his 
 steed, he had sufficient command over it to 
 keep it almost within the circle of our 
 vision. At a signal from the prince, two 
 horsemen, who kept as close to the daring 
 centaur as possible, seized him with amaz- 
 ing quickness, and galloped away with him, 
 before we had time to comprehend this new 
 manoeuvre. The horse, for a moment, stupi- 
 fied, soon made off at full speed, and was 
 lost in the midst of the herd. These per- 
 formances were repeated several times with- 
 out a single rider suffering himself to be 
 thrown. 
 
 " But what was our amazement when we 
 saw a boy of ten years come forward to un- 
 dertake the same exploit! They selected 
 for him a young white stallion of great size, 
 whose fiery bounds and desperate efforts to 
 break his bonds, indicated a most violent 
 temper. 
 
 " I will not attempt to depict our intense 
 emotions during this new conflict. This 
 child, who, like other riders, had only the 
 horse's inane to cling to, afforded an ex- 
 
216 
 
 0U5TOMS OF THE CALMXJCK8. 
 
 ample of the power of reasoning over in* 
 stinct and brute force. For some minutes 
 lie maintained bis difficult position with he- 
 roic intrepidity. At last to our great relief, 
 a horseman rode up to him, caught him up 
 in his outstretched arm, and threw him on 
 the croup behind him/' 
 
 m4 m 
 
 Ft*M 
 
 1 I 
 
*J^- 
 
 JOS LOQSTON'S FIGHT. 
 
jfoe jLogsfoKf's Flgbf. 
 
 Among the many hunters and rangers 
 ivlio figured in the early history of Ken 
 luck}, Joe Logston, or "Big Joe Logston." 
 as he was sometimes called, on account oi 
 his great size, was conspicuous for daring 
 and success. As a hunter he had lew su- 
 periors — and as a warrior, after the Indian 
 fashion, a series of exploits secured him 
 reputation. 
 
 (219) 
 
220 joe loqston's fight. 
 
 The following is an account of one of his 
 most desperate fights. He had stopped for 
 awhile at one of the stations in Kentucky ; 
 but becoming tired of such a confined life, 
 he resolved to take to the woods, although 
 he knew the hostile Indians were thick in 
 the neighborhood. 
 
 Eiding along a path which led to a fort, 
 he came to a fine vine of grapes. He laid 
 his gun across the pommel of his saddle, 
 set his hat on it, and filled it with grapes. 
 He turned into the path, and rode carelessly 
 along, eating his grapes ; and the first inti- 
 mation he had of danger, was the crack of 
 two rifles, one from each side of the road. 
 One of the balls passed through the paps 
 of his breast, which, for a male, were re- 
 markably prominent, almost as much so as 
 those of many nurses. The ball just grazed 
 the skin between the paps, but did not in- 
 jure the breast-bone. The other ball struck 
 his horse behind the saddle, and he 
 sunk in his tracks. Thus was Joe eased 
 off his horse in a manner more rare than 
 welcome. Still he was on his feet in an in- 
 
JOE logston's fight. 221 
 
 stant, with his rifle in his hands, and might 
 have taken to his heels ; and I will venture 
 the opinion that no Indian could have 
 caught him. That, he said, was not his 
 sort. He had never left a battle-ground 
 without leaving his mark, and he had re- 
 solved that that should not be the first. 
 
 The moment the guns were fired, one 
 very athletic Indian sprang towards him 
 with tomahawk in hand. His eye was on 
 him, and his gun to his eye, ready, as soon 
 as he approached near enough to make a 
 sure shot, to let him have it. As soon as 
 the Indian discovered this, he jumped be- 
 hind two pretty large saplings, some small 
 distance apart, neither of which was large 
 enough to cover his body, and, to save him- 
 self as well as he could, he kept springing 
 from one to the other. 
 
 Joe, knowing he had two enemies on the 
 ground, kept a look-out for the other by a 
 quick glance of the eye. He presently dis- 
 covered him behind a tree loading his gun. 
 The tree was not quite large enough to hide 
 him. When in the act of pushing down his 
 
222 joe looston's fight. 
 
 bullet, he exposed pretty fairly his hips, 
 Joe, in the twinkling of an eye, wheeled, 
 and let him have his load in the part exposed. 
 The big Indian then with a mighty "Tgh!" 
 rushed towards him with his raised toma- 
 hawk. Here were two warriors met, each 
 determined to conquer or die — each the Go- 
 liath of his nation. The Indian had rather 
 the advantage in size of frame, but Joe in 
 weight and muscular strength. The Indian 
 made a halt at the distance of fifteen or 
 twenty feet, and threw his tomahawk with 
 all his force, but Joe had his eye on him 
 and dodged it. It flew quite out; of the 
 reach of either of them. Joe then clubbed 
 his gun and made at the Indian, thinking 
 to knock him down. The Indian sprang 
 tnto some brush or saplings, to avoid his 
 blows. The Indian depended entirely on 
 dodging, with the help of the saplings. At 
 length, Joe thinking he had a pretty fair 
 chance, made a side blow with such force, 
 that, missing the dodging Indian, the gun, 
 now reduced to the naked barrel, was drawn 
 quite out of his hands, and flew quite out 
 
jos logstqn's fight. 223 
 
 of his reach. The Indian now gave another 
 exulting "Ugh!" and sprang upon him 
 with all the savage fury he was master of. 
 Neither of them had a weapon in his hands, 
 and the Indian, seeing Logston bleeding 
 freely, thought he could throw him down 
 and despatch him. 
 
 In this he was mistaken. They seized 
 each other, and a desperate scuffle ensued. 
 Joe could throw him down, but could not hold 
 him there. The Indian being naked, with 
 his hide oiled, had greatly the advantage it 
 a ground scuffle, and would still slip out ot 
 Joe's grasp and rise. After throwing him 
 five or six times, Joe found, that between 
 loss of blood and violent exertions, his wind 
 was leaving him, and that he must change 
 his mode of warfare or lose his scalp, which 
 he was not yet willing to spare. He threw 
 the Indian again, and without attempting 
 to hold him, jumped from him, and as he 
 rose, aimed a list blow at his head, which 
 caused him to fall back, and as he would 
 rise, Joe gave him several blows in succes- 
 sion, the Indian rising slower each time 
 
22-1 joe logston's fight. 
 
 He at last succeeded in giving him a pretty 
 fair blow in the burr of the ear, with all his 
 force, and he fell, as Joe thought, pretty 
 near dead. Joe jumped on him, and think- 
 ing he could despatch him by choking, 
 grasped his neck with his left hand, keep- 
 ing his right one free for contingencies. Joe 
 soon found the Indian was not so dead as 
 he thought, and that he was making some 
 use of his right arm, which lay across his 
 body, and, on casting his eyes down, dis- 
 covered the Indian was making an effort to 
 un sheath a knife that was hanging at his 
 belt. The knife was short, and so sunk in 
 the sheath that it was necessary to force it 
 up by pressing against the point. This the 
 Indian was trying to effect, and with good 
 success. Joe kept his eye on it, and let the 
 Indian work the handle out, when he sud- 
 denly grabbed it, jerked it out of the sheath, 
 and sunk it up to the handle in the Indian's 
 breast, who gave a death groan and expired. 
 Joe now thought of the other Indian, and 
 not knowing how far he had succeeded in 
 killing or crippling him, sprang to his feet. 
 
JOE LOGSTON'd FIGHT. 225 
 
 He found the crippled Indian bad crawled 
 some distance towards them, and had placed 
 his broken back against a log, and was 1 ly- 
 ing to raise his gun to shoot him, but in at- 
 tempting to do which he would fall forward, 
 and had to push against his gun to raise 
 himself again. 
 
 Joe, seeing that he was safe, concluded 
 he had fought long enough for healthy 
 exercise that day, and not liking to be 
 killed by a crippled Indian, he made for the 
 fort. He got in about nightfall, and a hard 
 looking case he was — blood and dirt from 
 the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, 
 no horse, no hat, no gun — with an account 
 of the battle that some of his comrades 
 could scarce believe to be much else than 
 one of his stories in which he would some- 
 times indulge. He told them to go and 
 judge for themselves. Next morning a com- 
 pany was made up to go to Joe's battle- 
 ground. When they approached it, Joe's 
 accusers became more confirmed, as there 
 was no appearance of dead Indians, and 
 Dothing Joe had talked of but the dead 
 
226 JOE LOOSTON'S FIGHT. 
 
 horse. They, however, found a trail, as if 
 something had been dragged away. On 
 pursuing it they found the big Indian, at a 
 little distance, beside a log, covered up with 
 leaves. Still pursuing the trail, some hun- 
 dred yards further, they found the broken- 
 backed Indian, lying on his back, with his 
 own knife sticking up to the hilt in his body, 
 just below the breast bone, evidently to 
 show that he had killed himself, and that 
 he had not come to his end by the hand of 
 an enemy. 
 
 They had a long search before they found 
 the knife with which Joe killed the big In- 
 dian. They at last found it forced down 
 into the ground below the surface, appa- 
 rently by the weight of a person's heel. 
 This had been done by the crippled Indian. 
 The great efforts he must have made, alone, 
 in that condition, show, among thousands 
 of other instances, what Indians are capable 
 of under the greatest extremities. 
 
6MZ2LY BEAE, 
 
ft3ber/ft^e biff) q &tizzty Se^K 
 
 [from kelly's excursion to California.] 
 
 I now took a long farewell of the horses, 
 and turned northward, selecting a line close 
 in by the base of the hills, going along at 
 an improved pace, with a view of reaching 
 the trading-post the same night; but halt- 
 ing in a gully to look for water, I found a 
 little pool, evidently scratched out by a 
 bear, as there were foot-prints and claw- 
 marks about it; and I was aware instinct 
 prompts that brute where water is nearest 
 the surface, when he scratches until he 
 comes to it. This was one of very large 
 size, the foot-mark behind the toes being 
 full nine inches ; and although I had my 
 misgivings about the prudence of a tete-a- 
 tete with a great grizzly bear, still the " bet- 
 ter part of valor" was overcome, as it often 
 
 20 (229) 
 
230 ADVENTERE WITH A BEAR. 
 
 is, by the anticipated honor and glory of a 
 single combat, and conquest of such a fero- 
 cious beast. I was well armed, too, with 
 my favorite rifle, a Colt's revolver, that 
 never disappointed me, and a nondescript 
 weapon, a sort of cross between a claymore 
 and a bowie-knife ; so, after capping afresh, 
 hanging the bridle on the horn of the sad- 
 dle, and, staking my mule, I followed the 
 trail up a gully, and much sooner than 1 
 expected came within view and good shoot- 
 ing distance of Bruin, who was seated erect, 
 with his side toward me, in front of a man- 
 zanita bush, making a repast on his favorite 
 berry. 
 
 The sharp click, of the cock causing him 
 to turn quickly round, left little time for 
 deliberation ; so, taking a ready good aim 
 at the region of the heart, I let drive, the 
 ball, as I subsequently found, glancing 
 along the ribs, entering the armpit, and 
 shattering smartly some of the shoulder 
 bones. 1 exulted as I saw him stagger 
 and come to his side ; the next glance, how- 
 ever, revealed him, to my dismay, on all 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. 231 
 
 fours, in direct pursuit, but going lame ; so 
 I bolted for the mule, sadly encumbered 
 with a huge pair of Mexican spurs, the ner- 
 vous noise of the crushing brush close in 
 my rear convinced me that he was fast 
 gaining on me; I therefore dropped my 
 rifle, putting on fresh steam, and reaching 
 the rope, pulled up the picket-pin, and 
 springing into the saddle with merely a hold 
 of the lariat, plunged the spurs into the 
 mule, which, much to my affright produced 
 a kick and a retrograde movement; but in 
 the exertion having got a glimpse of my 
 pursuer, uttering a snort of terror, he went 
 off at a pace I did not think him capable 
 of, soon widening the distance between us 
 and the bear; but having no means of 
 guiding his motions, he brought me violently 
 in contact with the arm of a tree, which un- 
 horsed and stunned me exceedingly. Scram- 
 bling to my feet as well as I could, I saw 
 my relentless enemy close at hand, leaving 
 me the only alternative of ascending a tree ; 
 but, in my hurried and nervous efforts, I 
 had scarcely my feet above his reach, when 
 
232 ^ ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. 
 
 he was right under, evidently enfeebled by 
 the loss of blood, as the exertion made it 
 well out copiously. 
 
 After a moment's pause, and a fierce 
 glare upwards from his blood-shot eyes, he 
 clasped the trunk ; but I saw his endeavors 
 to climb were crippled by the wounded 
 shoulder. However, by the aid of his jaws, 
 he just succeeded in reaching the first 
 branch with his sound arm, and was work- 
 ing convulsively to bring up the body, when, 
 with a well-directed blow from my cutlass, 
 I completely severed the tendons of the foot, 
 and he instantly fell with a dreadful souse 
 and horrific growl, the blood spouting up as 
 if impelled from a jet; he rose again some- 
 what tardily, and limping round the tree 
 with upturned eyes, kept tearing off the 
 bark with his tusks. However, watching 
 my opportunity, and leaning downward, 1 
 sent a ball from my revolver with such good 
 effect immediately behind the head, that he 
 dropped ; and my nerves being rather more 
 composed, I leisurely distributed the remain- 
 ing five balls in his body. 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. 233 
 
 By this time I saw the muscular system 
 totally relaxed, so I descended with confi- 
 dence, and found him quite dead, and my- 
 self not a little enervated with the excite- 
 ment and the effects of my wound, which 
 bled profusely from the temple ; so much 
 so, that I thought an artery was ruptured. 
 I bound up my head as well as I could, 
 loaded my revolver anew, and returned for 
 my rifle ; but as evening was approaching, 
 and my mule gone, I had little time to sur- 
 vey the dimensions of my fallen foe, and no 
 means of packing much of his flesh. I 
 therefore hacked off a few steaks from his 
 thigh, and hewing off one of his hind feet 
 as a sure trophy of victory, I set out toward 
 the trading-post, which I reached about 
 midnight, my friend and my truant mule 
 being there before me, but no horses. 
 
 I exhibited the foot of my fallen foe in 
 great triumph, and described the conflict 
 with due emphasis and effect to the com- 
 pany, who arose to listen ; after which I 
 made a transfer of the flesh to the traders, 
 on condition that there was not to be any 
 
 20* 
 
234 ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. 
 
 charge for the hotel or the use of the mule. 
 There was an old experienced French trap- 
 per belonged to the party, who, judging 
 from the size of the foot, set down the weight 
 of the bear at fifteen hundred pounds, which, 
 he said, they frequently overrun ; he him- 
 self, as well as Colonel Fremont's exploring 
 party, having killed several that came to 
 two thousand pounds. 
 
 He advised me, should I again be pursued 
 by a bear, and have no other means of es- 
 cape, to ascend a small girthed tree, which 
 they cannot get up, for, not having any 
 central joint in the fore-legs, they cannot 
 climb any with a branchless stem that does 
 not fully fill their embrace; and in the 
 event of not being able to accomplish the 
 ascent before my pursuer overtook me, to 
 place my back against it, when, if it and I 
 did not constitute a bulk capable of filling 
 his hug, I might have time to rip out his 
 entrails before he could kill me, being in 
 a favorable posture for the operation. They 
 do not generally use their mouth in the de- 
 struction of their victims, but, hugging them 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A BEAU. 
 
 235 
 
 closely, lift one of the hind feet, which are 
 armed with tremendous claws, and tear out 
 the bowels. 
 
 The Frenchman's advice reads rationally 
 enough, and is a feasible theory on the art 
 of evading unbearable compression; but, 
 unfortunately, in the haunts of that animal 
 those slim juvenile saplings are rarely met 
 with, and a person closely confronted with 
 such a grizzly vis-a-vis is not exactly in a 
 tone of nerve for surgical operations. 
 
One day Don Philippe insisted upon tak- 
 ing us to witness a bull fight, which was 
 about to take place, and which it was re- 
 ported, the queen herself was expected to 
 attend. This was a spectacle we had never 
 yet beheld, and our curiosity was therefore 
 aroused to the highest possible pitch of ex- 
 citement. Visions of blood floated before 
 our fancy, and flashing steel glanced across 
 our sight. Anxiety stood on tip-toe, and 
 the moments flew slowly by, until the 
 wished-for hour arrived. We left the busi- 
 ness of securing scats in the arena to Phi- 
 lippe, who, by early application, succeeded 
 in obtaining for us as eligible positions for 
 witnessing the spectacle as we could rea- 
 sonably desire. 
 (236) 
 
A SPANISH BULL FIQET. 239 
 
 The critical moment was now at hand, 
 our hearts almost leaped from our mouths, 
 so deeply were we excited in contemplation 
 of the sanguinary event. At length the 
 trumpets sounded, and forthwith entered, 
 in martial array, the entire body of comba- 
 tants, gayly dressed, and presenting to- 
 gether a most striking and brilliant effect 
 Marching to the opposite side of the ring, 
 they respectfully bowed to the appointed 
 authorities, and then took their places in 
 complete readiness for action. 
 
 At a given signal, a small iron gate was 
 suddenly opened, and in an instant a fu- 
 rious bull bounded frantically into the 
 arena ; and then, as if pretrified with asto- 
 nishment at the wonderful scene around 
 him, he stood motionless for a few seconds, 
 staring wildly at the the immense assembly, 
 and pawing vehemently the ground beneath 
 his feet It was a solemn and critical mo- 
 ment, and I can truly say I never before 
 experienced such an intense degree of cu- 
 riosity and interest. My feelings were 
 wound up to the highest pitch of excitement, 
 
240 A SFAKI8H BULL FIGHT. 
 
 and I can scarcely believe that even that 
 terrible human tragedy, a bloody gladiatorial 
 scene, could have affected mc more deeply. 
 The compressed fury of the bull lasted but 
 an instant; suddenly his glaring eye 
 caught sight of a red flag, which one of the 
 chdos, or foot combatants, had waved before 
 him, and immediately he rushed after his 
 nimble adversary, who evaded his pursuit 
 by jumping skilfully over the lower en- 
 closure of the ring. The herculean animal, 
 thus balked in his rage, next plunged des- 
 perately toward one of the picadores, or 
 mounted horsemen, who calmly and fear- 
 lessly awaited his approach, and then turned 
 off his attack by the masterly management 
 of his long and steel-capped pike. Thwarted 
 once more in his purpose, he became still 
 more frantic than before, while his low and 
 suppressed roar, expressive of the concen- 
 trated passion and rage which burned within 
 him, sounded like distant thunder to my 
 cars. Half closing his eyes, and lowering 
 Ids formidable horns, he darted again at 
 cae of tha pioadores, and with such tremen- 
 
A SPANISH BULL FIGHT. 211 
 
 dous power, that he completely unhorsed 
 him. Then shouts of applause from the 
 spectators filled the arena: "Bravo toro!" 
 "Viva toro!" and other exclamations of en- 
 couragement for the bull broke from every 
 mouth. 
 
 The picador lost no time in springing to 
 his feet and regaining his horse, which, 
 however, could scarcely stand, so weak was 
 the poor creature from the stream of blood 
 issuing from the deep wound in his breast. 
 As soon as the enraged bull, whose attention 
 had been purposely withdrawn by the chulos, 
 beheld his former adversary now crimsoned 
 with gore, he rushed at him with the most 
 terrific fury, and, thrusting his horns sa- 
 vagely into the lower parts of the tottering 
 animal, he almost raised him from his feet, 
 and so lacerated and tore open his abdomen, 
 that his bowels gushed out upon the ground. 
 Unable any longer to sustain himself, the 
 pitiable animal fell down in the awful ago- 
 nies of death, and in a few moments expired* 
 Two other horses shortly shared the same 
 miserable fate, and their mangled bodies 
 Q 21 
 
242 A SPANISH BULL FIGHT. 
 
 were lying covered with blood, in the centre 
 of the arena. The bull himself was now 
 becoming perceptibly exhausted, and his 
 own end was drawing nigh. 
 
 For the purpose of stimulating and 
 arousing into momentary action his rapidly 
 waning strength, the assailants on foot at- 
 tacked him with barbed darts, called bande- 
 rillos, which they thrust with skill into each 
 side of his brawny neck. Sometimes these 
 little javelins are charged with a prepared 
 powder, which explodes the instant that the 
 sharp steel sinks into the flesh. The tor- 
 ture thus produced drives the wretched 
 animal to the extreme of madness, who bel- 
 lows and bounds in his agony, as if endued 
 with the energy of a new life. 
 
 On the present occasion, the arrows used 
 were not of an explosive character, yet they 
 served scarcely less effectually to enrage 
 the furious monster. But hark! the last 
 trumpet is sounding the awful death-knell 
 of the warrior-beast. The ring becomes in- 
 stantly cleared, and the foaming animal 
 stands motionless and alone, sole monarch 
 
A SPANISH BULL FIGHT. - 213 
 
 of the arena. But the fiat has gone forth, 
 and the doom of death is impending over 
 him. The matador enters the ring by a se- 
 cret door, and, after bowing to the presi- 
 dent, and throwing down his cap in token 
 of respect, slowly and deliberately ap- 
 proaches his terrific adversary, who stands 
 as if enchained to the spot by a conscious- 
 ness of the fearful destiny that awaits him. 
 The matador, undismayed by the ferocious 
 aspect of the bull, cautiously advances, 
 with his eyes fixed firmly and magnetically 
 upon him ; a bright Toledo blade glistens 
 in his right hand, while in his left he car- 
 ries the muleta, or crimson flag, with which 
 to exasperate the declining spirit of his foe. 
 An intense stillness reigns throughout 
 the vast assemblage, the most critical 
 point of the tragedy is at hand, and every 
 glance is ri vetted upon the person and 
 movements of the matador. A single fatal 
 thrust may launch him into eternity, yet 
 no expression of fear escapes him; cool, 
 and self-possessed, he stands before his 
 victim, studious of every motion, and pre- 
 
214 A SPANISU BOLL FIGHT. 
 
 pared to take advantage of any chance ioi 
 the decisive blow. 
 
 It is this wonderful display of skill and 
 bravery that fascinates the attention of a 
 Spanish audience, and not the shedding of 
 blood or the sufferings of the animal, which 
 are as much lost sight of in the excitement 
 of the moment as the gasping of a fish or 
 the quivering of a worm upon the hook is 
 disregarded by the humane disciple of Izaak 
 Walton. 
 
 The bull and matador, as motionless as if 
 carved in marble, present a fearfully artistic 
 effect. At length, like an electric flash, 
 the polished steel of the matador flies into 
 the air, and descends with tremendous force 
 into the neck of the doomed animal, bury- 
 ing itself in the flesh, even up to the hilt. 
 The blow is well made, and from the mouth 
 of the bull gushes forth a crimson stream • 
 he staggers, drops on his knees, recovers 
 himself for an instant, and then falls dead 
 at the feet of his conqueror, amid the tumul- 
 tuous plaudits of the excited throng of 
 spectators. 
 
The following adventure occurred during 
 the residence of Captain Stedman in Suri- 
 nam : — The captain was lying in his ham- 
 mock, as his vessel floated down the river, 
 when his sentinel told him he had seen and 
 challenged something black, moving in the 
 brushwood on the beach, which gave no 
 answer. Up rose the captain, manned the 
 canoe that accompanied his vessel, and 
 rowed to the shore to ascertain what it was. 
 One of his slaves cried out that it was no 
 negro, but a great snake that the captain 
 might shoot if he pleased. The captain 
 having no such inclination, ordered all hands 
 to return on board. The slave, David, who 
 had first challenged the snake, then begged 
 leave to step forward and shoot it. This 
 seems to have roused the captain, for he 
 
 21* (245) 
 
216 UIK CAPTAIN AND THE BOA CONSTHIOTOR. 
 
 determined to kill it himself, and loaded 
 with ball cartridge. 
 
 The master and slave then proceeded. 
 David cut a path with a bill-hook, and be- 
 hind him came a marine with three more 
 loaded guns. They had not got above 
 twenty yards through mud and water, the 
 negro looking every way with uncommon 
 vivacity, when he suddenly called out, "Me 
 see snakee!" and, sure enough there the 
 reptile lay, coiled up under the fallen leaves 
 and rubbish of the trees. So well covered 
 was it, that some time elapsed before the 
 captain could perceive its head, not above 
 sixteen feet from him, moving its forked 
 tongue, while its vividly-bright eyes ap- 
 peared to emit sparks of fire. The captain 
 now rested his piece upon a branch, to se- 
 cure a surer aim, and fired. The ball missed 
 the head, but went through the body, when 
 the snake struck round with such astonish- 
 ing force as to cut away all the underwood 
 around it, with the facility of a scythe mow- 
 ing grass, and, flouncing with its tail, made 
 the mud and dirt fly over their heads to a 
 
A 10 & OONBTEIOTOEo 
 
THE CAPTAIN AND THE BOA CONSTKICTOR. 49 
 
 considerable distance. This commotion 
 seems to have sent the party to the right 
 about; for they -took to their heels, and 
 crawled into the canoes. David, however, 
 entreated the captain to renew the charge, 
 assuring him that the snake would be quiet 
 in a few minutes, and that it was neither 
 able nor inclined to pursue them, support- 
 ing his opinion by walking before the cap- 
 tain till the latter should be ready to fire. 
 
 They now found the snake a little re- 
 moved from its former station, very quiet, 
 with its head as before, lying out among 
 the fallen leaves, rotten bark, and old moss. 
 Stedman fired at it immediately, but with 
 no better success than at first ; and the en- 
 raged animal, being but slightly wounded 
 by the second shot, sent up such a cloud of 
 dust and dirt as the captain had never seen, 
 except in a whirlwind ; and away they all 
 again retreated to their canoe. Tired of 
 the exploit, Stedman gave orders to row to- 
 wards the barge ; but the persevering David 
 still entreating that he might be permitted 
 to kill the reptile, the captain determined 
 
250 THE CAPTAIN AND THE BOA CONSTRICTOR, 
 
 to make a third and last attempt in his 
 company ; and they this time directed their 
 lire with such effect that the snake was 
 shot by one of them through the head. 
 
 The vanquished monster was then secured 
 by a running-noose passed over its head, 
 not without some difficulty, however; for, 
 though it was mortally wounded, it still 
 continued to writhe and twist itself about 
 so as to render a near approach dange- 
 rous. The serpent was dragged to the 
 shore, and made fast to the canoe, in order 
 that" it might be towed to the vessel, and 
 continued swimming like an eel till the 
 party arrived on board, when it was finally 
 determined that the snake should be again 
 taken on shore, and there skinned for the 
 sake of its oil. 
 
 This was accordingly done; and David 
 having climbed a tree with the end of a rope 
 in his hand, let it down over a strong-forked 
 bough, the other negroes hoisted away, and 
 the serpent was suspended from the tree. 
 Then, David quitting the tree, with a sharp 
 knife between his teeth, clung fast upon the 
 
THE CAPTAIN AND THE BOA CONSTRICTOR. 251 
 
 suspended snake, still twisting and twining, 
 and commenced ripping the subject up ; ho 
 then stripped down the skin as he came 
 down. 
 
 Captain Stedman acknowledges, that 
 though he perceived that the snake was 
 no longer able to do the operator any 
 harm, he could not, without emotion, see a 
 naked man, black and bloody, clinging 
 with arms and legs round the slimy and 
 yet living monster. The skin and above 
 four gallons of clarified fat, or rather oil, 
 were the spoils secured on this occasion ; 
 full as many gallons more seem to have 
 been wasted. The negroes cut the flesh 
 into pieces, intending to feast on it; but 
 the captain would not permit them to eat 
 what he considered disgusting food, though 
 they declared that it was exceedingly good 
 and wholesome. The negroes were right, 
 and the captain was wrong; the flesh of 
 most serpents is very good and nourishing, 
 to say nothing of the restorative qualities 
 attributed to it. 
 
- — -""vTVw^S?- 
 
 ei)03 of ftje ^ft)p3& 
 
 Where there is such a profusion of horses, 
 the people cannot fail to be all riders ; and 
 such they are, bold and expert beyond all 
 comparison with other nations. The In- 
 dians of the Pampas and the Prairies, whose 
 fathers fled in horror and dismay from the 
 fatal 'apparition of the Spanish horses, are 
 now literally " incorporated and demi-na- 
 tured with the brave beast." 
 (252) 
 
22 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCHO INDIANS. 255 
 
 Many of the tribes, from being constantly 
 on horseback from their infancy, can scarcely 
 walk. Their legs have become too weak, 
 from long disuse, for that kind of progression, 
 and they loathe and despise it. The proudest 
 attitude of the human figure, as they de- 
 clare, is when a man, bending over his horse, 
 lance in hand, is riding at his enemy. The 
 occupation of their lives is war, especially 
 against " the Christians," and they pursue 
 it for two objects,— to steal cattle, and for 
 the pleasure of murdering the people ; and 
 they will even leave the cattle to massacre 
 and torture their enemies, such is their fe- 
 rocity, and their hereditary hatred to the 
 descendants of the cruel oppressors of their 
 fathers. 
 
 The Gauchos, who themselves ride so 
 beautifully, declare that it is impossible to 
 vie with a mounted Indian ; for that the 
 Indian's horses are better than their own, 
 and also that they have such a way of urg- 
 ing them on by their cries, and by a pecn 
 liar motion of their bodies, that even if they 
 were to change horses, the Indians would 
 
256 ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCHO INDIANS. 
 
 beat them. Mr. Darwin relates a case in 
 which this fact was proved. 
 
 At Cholechel, Bahia-Blanca, General Ro- 
 sas' troops encountered a tribe of Indians, 
 of whom they killed twenty or thirty. The 
 cacique escaped in a manner which sur- 
 prised every one; the chief Indians have 
 always one or two picked horses, which they 
 keep ready for any urgent occasion. 
 
 On one of these, an old white horse, the 
 cacique sprung, taking with him his little 
 son ; the horse had neither saddle nor bridle. 
 To avoid the shots the Indian rode in the 
 peculiar method of his nation, namely, with 
 an arm round the horse's neck, and one leg 
 on its back. Thus hanging on one side he 
 was seen patting the horse's head, and talk- 
 ing with him. The pursuers urged every 
 effort in the chase ; the commandant three 
 times changed his horse, but all in vain ; 
 the old Indian father and his son escaped, 
 and were free. 
 
 What a line picture one can form in one's 
 mind ; the naked bronze-like figure of the 
 old man with his little boy, riding like a 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCHO INDIANS. 257 
 
 Mazeppa on the white horse, thus leaving 
 far behind him the host of his pursuers ! 
 
 Colt breaking is managed by the Gau- 
 chos, or Guassos, as they are called in Chili, 
 with the lasso, much in the same way as by 
 the Calmucks. Their skill in the use of 
 this instrument is extraordinary, and it was 
 a weapon of great power in their hands dur- 
 ing the war of independence. They never 
 failed to dismount cavalry with it, or to 
 throw down the horses of those who came 
 within their reach. There is a well authen- 
 ticated story of eight or ten Gauchos who 
 had never seen a piece of artillery until one 
 was fired at them in the streets of Buenos 
 Ayres. Notwithstanding the effect of the 
 fire they galloped fiercely ud to it, placed 
 their lassos over the cannon, and by their 
 united strength fairly overturned it. 
 
 Another anecdote is related of them, 
 which may be true, though it does not rest 
 on such good authority. A number of 
 armed boats were sent to effect a landing 
 at a certain point on the coast guarded 
 solely by these horsemen. The party in 
 R 22* 
 
258 ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCIIO INDIANS. 
 
 the boats caring little for an enemy unpro- 
 vided with fire-arms, rowed confidently 
 along the shore. The Gauchos meanwhile 
 were watching their opportunity, and the 
 moment the boats came sufficiently near, 
 dashed into the water, and throwing their 
 lassos round the necks of the officers, fairly 
 dragged every one of them out of their 
 boats. 
 
 The idea of being thrown, let the horse 
 do what it likes, never enters the head of 
 a Gaucho ; a good rider, according to them, 
 is a man who can manage an untamed colt, 
 or who, if his horse falls, alights unhurt on 
 his own feet. "I have heard," says Mr. 
 Darwin, "of a man betting that he would 
 throw his horse down twenty times, and 
 that nineteen out of these he w r ould not fall 
 himself. I recollect seeing a Gaucho riding 
 sc very stubborn a horse, which three times 
 reared so excessively high as to fall back- 
 wards with great violence. The man judged 
 ■with uncommon coolness the proper mo- 
 ment for slipping off, not an instant before 
 or after the right time. Directly the horse 
 
ADVENTURES AMOXG THE GAUC110 INDIANS. 250 
 
 rose, the man jumped on bis back, and at 
 ast they started on a gallop. The Gaucho 
 never appears to exert any muscular force. 
 I was one day watching a good rider, as we 
 were galloping along at a rapid pace, and 
 thought to myself, surely if the horse starts, 
 you appear so careless on your seat, you 
 must fall. At this moment a male ostrich 
 sprang from its nest right beneath the nose 
 of the horse. The young colt bounded on 
 one side like a stag ; but as for the man, 
 all that could be said was, that he started 
 and took fright as part of his horse. 
 
 il In Chili and Peru more pains are taken 
 with the mouth of the horse than in La 
 Plata, and this is evidently in consequence 
 of the more intricate nature of the country. 
 In Chili, a horse is not considered perfectly 
 broken till he can be brought up standing, 
 in the midst of his full speed, on any par- 
 ticular spot ; for instance, on a cloak thrown 
 on the ground ; or until he will charge a 
 wall, and, rearing, scrape the surface with 
 his hoofs. I have seen an animal bound- 
 ing with spirit, yet merely reined by a 
 
260 ADVENTURES AMONG THE OAUCHO INDIANS. 
 
 fore-finger and thumb, taken at full gallop 
 across a court-yard, and then made to wheel 
 round the post of a verandah with great 
 speed, but at so equal a distance, that the 
 rider, with outstretched arm all the while, 
 kept one finger rubbing the post; then 
 making a demivolte in the air, with the 
 other arm outstretched in a like manner, he 
 wheeled round in an astonishing force in an 
 opposite direction. 
 
 " Such a horse is well broken, and though 
 this at first may appear useless, it is far 
 otherwise ; it is only carrying that which 
 is daily necessary into perfection. When 
 a bullock is checked and caught by the lasso, 
 it will sometimes gollop round and round 
 in a circle, and the horse being alarmed at 
 the great strain, if not well broken, will not 
 readily turn like the pivot of a wheel. In 
 consequence many men have been killed ; 
 for if the lasso once makes a twist round 
 a man's body, it will instantly, from the 
 power of the two opposed animals, almost 
 cut him in two. 
 
 " In Chili, I was told an anecdote which 
 
INDIA* HUNT1S, 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCHO INDIANS. 263 
 
 I believe was true, and it offers a good illus- 
 tration of the use of a well broken animal. 
 A respectable man, riding one day, met 
 two others, one of whom was mounted on a 
 horse which he knew to have been stolen 
 from himself. He challenged them ; they 
 answered by drawing their sabres and giving 
 chase. The man on his good and fleet 
 beast kept just ahead ; as he passed a thick 
 bush he wheeled round it, and brought up 
 his horse to a dead check. The pursuers 
 were obliged to shoot on one side and ahead. 
 Then instantly dashing on right behind 
 them, he buried his knife in the back of 
 one, wounded the other, recovered his horse 
 from the dying robber, and rode home. 
 
 "For these feats in horsemanship two 
 things are necessary; a most severe bit, 
 like the Mameluke, the power of which, 
 though seldom used, the horse knows full 
 well; and large blunt spurs, that can be 
 applied either as a mere touch, or as an in- 
 strument of mere pain. I conceive that 
 with English spurs, the slightest touch of 
 which pricks the skin, it would be impos- 
 
264: ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUQHO INDIANS. 
 
 sible to break a horse after the South Ame- 
 rican fashion. " 
 
 Nothing is done on foot by the Gauehoa 
 that can possibly be done on horseback. 
 Even mounted beggarmen are to be seen in 
 the streets of Buenos Ay res and Mendoza. 
 The butcher, of course, plies his trade on 
 horseback, in the manner thus described by 
 Basil Hall ; " The cattle had been driven 
 into an enclosure, or corral, whence they 
 were now let out one by one, and killed ; 
 but not in the manner practised in England, 
 where they are dragged into a house, and 
 despatched by blows on the forehead with 
 a poleaxe. Here the whole took place in 
 the open air, and resembled rather the ca- 
 tastrophe of a grand field-sport than a de- 
 liberate slaughter. On a level space of 
 ground before the corral were ranged, in a 
 line, four or five Gauchos on horseback, 
 with their lassos in their hands, and oppo- 
 site them another set of men, similarly 
 equipped, so as to form a wide lane, ex- 
 tending from the gate of the corral to the 
 distance of thirty or forty yards. When 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCHO INDIANS. 265 
 
 all was prepared, the leader of the Gauchos 
 drew out the bars closing the entrance to 
 the corral, and, riding in, separated one 
 from the drove, which he goaded till it es- 
 caped at the opening. The reluctance of 
 the cattle to quit the corral was evident, 
 but when at length forced to do so, they 
 dashed forward with the utmost impetuosity. 
 It is said, that in this country, even the 
 wildest animals have an instinctive horror 
 of the lasso ; those in a domestic state cer- 
 tainly have, and betray fear whenever they 
 see it. Be this as it may, the moment they 
 pass the gate, they spring forward at full 
 speed with all the appearance of terror. 
 But were they to go ten times faster, it 
 would avail them nothing against the irre- 
 sistible lasso, which, in the midst of dust 
 and confusion seemingly inextricable, is 
 placed by the Gauchos, with the most per- 
 fect correctness, over the parts aimed at. 
 
 " There cannot be conceived a more spi- 
 rited or more picturesque scene than was 
 now presented to us. Let the furious beast 
 
 be imagined driven almost to madness by 
 23 
 
266 ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCTIO INDIANS. 
 
 thirst and a variety of irritations, and in 
 the utmost terror at the multitude of lassos 
 whirling all around him; he rushes wildly 
 forward, his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils 
 almost touching the ground, and his breath 
 driving off the dust in his course. For one 
 short instant he is free, and full of life and 
 strength, defying, as it were, all the world 
 to restrain him in his headlong course ; the 
 next moment he is covered with lassos ; his 
 horns, his neck, his legs are all encircled 
 by those inevitable cords, hanging loose, in 
 long festoons, from the hands of the horse- 
 men, galloping in all directions, but the 
 next instant as tight as bars of iron, and 
 the noble animal lying prostrate on the 
 ground motionless and helpless. He is im- 
 mediately despatched by a man on foot, 
 who stands ready for this purpose with a 
 long sharp knife in his hand ; and as soon 
 as the body is disentangled from the lassos, 
 it is drawn on one side, and another beast 
 is driven out of the corral, and caught in 
 the same manner. 
 While the mora serious business was 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCIIO INDIANS. 269 
 
 going on, a parcel of mischievous boys had 
 perched themselves on a pile of firewood 
 close to the corral; and being each armed 
 in his way, with a lasso made of a small strip 
 of hide, or of whipcord, got the first chance 
 to noose the animals as they rushed out. 
 They seldom failed to throw successfully, 
 but their slender cords broke like cobwebs. 
 One wicked urchin, indeed, more bold than 
 the rest, mounted himself on a donkey that 
 happened to be on the spot; and taking 
 the lasso which belonged to it — for no de- 
 scription of animal that is ever mounted is 
 without this essential equipment — and 
 placing himself so as not to be detected by 
 the men, he threw it gallantly over the first 
 bullock's neck. As soon as it became tight, 
 away flew the astonished donkey and his 
 rider: the terrified boy soon tumbled off; 
 but poor Neddy was dragged along the 
 ground, till a more efficient force was made 
 to co-operate with his unavailing resistance. 
 The immense abundance of horses in 
 South America cannot be more strongly 
 exemplified than by the following account : 
 
 23* 
 
270 ADVENTURES AMONG THE GAUCIIO INDIANS. 
 
 " I have still in my possession," says Mr, 
 Robertson, " a contract which I made in 
 Goya, with an estancierq, for twenty thou- 
 sand wild horses, to be taken on his estate, 
 at the price of a medio each ; that is to say, 
 three pence for each horse or mare ! The 
 slaughter of them cost three pence a head 
 more; the staking and cleaning of the hides, 
 once more, three pence ; and lastly, a like 
 sum for the carting to Goya: making the 
 whole not one shilling for each skin. Of 
 this contract ten thousand animals were 
 delivered ; the skins were packed in bales 
 and sold in Buenos Ayres at six rials, or 
 three shillings each, and they sold ulti- 
 mately in England for seven or eight shil- 
 lings, that is, for about twenty-eight or 
 thirty times the first cost of the horse from 
 which the skin was taken. Such is the ac- 
 cumulative value sometimes of the produce 
 which is taken from the hands of the grower 
 in one country before it gets into the hands 
 of the consumer in another." 
 
jflb 
 
 wKr 
 
 Ms 
 
 
 -wC 
 
 The sheltie, or pony of the Shetland isles, 
 is a very diminutive animal, sometimes 
 not more than thirty inches high, and rarely 
 exceedingly thirty-eight. He is often exceed- 
 ing beautiful, with a small head, good tem- 
 pered countenance, a short neck, fine to- 
 ward the throttle, shoulders low and thick, 
 in so little a creature far from being a ble- 
 
 (271) 
 
272 HUNTING THE SHETLAND PONT. 
 
 mish— -back short, quarters expanded and 
 powerful, legs flat and fine, and pretty 
 round feet. These ponies, possess immense 
 strength for their size ; will fatten upon al- 
 most any thing, and are perfectly docile. 
 Mr. Youatt says that one of them, three feet 
 in height, carried a man of twelve stone 
 forty miles in one day. 
 
 Pony hunting used to be one of the favo- 
 rite amusements of the Welsh farmers and 
 peasantry a century and a half ago, and it 
 has not even now fallen into disuse. The 
 following story of one of these expeditions 
 is related in the Cambrian Magazine. 
 
 A farmer, named Hugo Garonwy, lived 
 in the neighborhood of Llewyn Georgie. 
 Although he handled the small tilt plough, 
 and other farming tools in their due season, 
 yet the catching of the merlin, the fox, and 
 the hare ; were pursuits more congenial to 
 his tastes ; and the tumbles and thumps 
 which he received, and from which no pony 
 hunter was exempt, served but to attach 
 him to the sport. Kugged, however, as were 
 the Merioneddshire coast and its environs, 
 
HUNTING THE SHETLAND PONY. 273 
 
 and abounding with precipices and mo- 
 rasses, the hunter sometimes experienced 
 worse mishaps, and so it happened with 
 Garonwy. 
 
 He set out one morning with his lasso 
 coiled round his waist, and attended- by 
 two hardy dependents and their greyhounds. 
 The lasso was then familiar to the Welsh- 
 man, and as adroitly managed by him as 
 by any Gaucho on the plains of South 
 America. As the hunters climbed the 
 mountain's brow, the distant herd of ponies 
 took alarm — sometimes galloping onwards, 
 and then suddenly halting and wheeling 
 round, snorting as if in defiance of the in- 
 truders, and furiously pawing the ground. 
 Garonwy, with the assistance of his ser- 
 vants and his greyhounds, contrived to coop 
 them up in the corner of the hills, where 
 perpendicular rocks prevented their escape. 
 
 Already had he captured three of tho 
 most beautiful little fellows in the world, 
 which he expected to sell for £4 or £o each 
 at the next Bala fair, to him a considerable 
 
 sum, and amounting to a fourth of the an« 
 
 s 
 
274 HUNTING THE SHETLAND FONT. 
 
 mial rent which he paid for his sheep walk. 
 There remained, however, one most untame- 
 able creature, whose crested , mane and flow- 
 ing tail, and wild eye, and distended nos- 
 tril showed that he was a perfect Bucepha- 
 lus of the hills ; nor, indeed, was it safe to 
 attack him in the ordinary way. Many of 
 the three year olds had been known to break 
 the legs of their pursuers, and some had 
 been dismounted and trampled to death. 
 
 Garonwy was determined to give the no- 
 ble fellow a chase over the hills, and so 
 overcome him by fatigue before the lasso 
 was flung. The dogs were unslipped, 
 and off they went swift as the winds, Ga- 
 ronwy following, and the two assistants 
 posted in a neighboring eminence. Yain 
 was the effort to tire the merlin. Hugo, 
 naturally impatient, and without waiting 
 to ascertain that the coils were all clear, 
 flung the lasso over the head of the wild 
 horse. The extremity of the cord was 
 twisted round his own body, and tightening 
 as the animal struggled, the compression 
 became insupportable, and at length, in 
 
HUNTING THE SHETLAND PONT. . 275 
 
 spite of every effort to disengage himself, 
 Garonwy was dragged from his horse. 
 
 The affrighted merlin, finding himself 
 manacled by the rope, darted off with all 
 the speed of which he was capable, dragging 
 poor Garonwy over the rocky ground and 
 stunted brushwood. This occurred at some 
 distance from the men. They called in 
 their dogs that the speed of the merlin 
 might not be increased ; but ere they could 
 arrive at the spot at which the accident 
 happened, the horse and the man had va- 
 nished. Whether the sufferings of the 
 hunter were protracted, or he was dashed 
 against a rock at the commencement of tho 
 horrible race, was never known ; but the 
 wild animal, frenzied and blinded by terror, 
 rushed over a beetling cliff, at a considerable 
 distance, overhanging the sea-shore, and 
 ihe hunter and the horse were found at the 
 bottom, a misshapen semblance of what 
 they had been when living. 
 
ft8be$(|fre bitty 3 ?Jjit|OK/. 
 
 There is a species of snake called the 
 python, which closely resembles the true 
 boa, but is larger and more terrible. 
 Pythons are found in India, Africa, and 
 Australia. Wild hogs, antelopes, and even 
 men fall victims to these monsters. They 
 are not poisonous, but strangle and crush 
 their large victims by powerful compression. 
 The ular sawa, or great python of the Sunda 
 Isles is said to exceed, when full grown, 
 thirty feet in length. But the pythons of 
 India have excited the most dread, by their 
 awful depredations. 
 
 Some years ago, an Indian ship was 
 passing near the Sunderlands, and the cap- 
 tain sent a boat into one of the creeks to 
 obtain some fresh fruits. The inhabitants 
 (276) 
 
24 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON. 279 
 
 of tbis inhospitable region are few and mi- 
 serable. They have but little communica- 
 tion with the rest of the world, and that 
 only occurs, when passing vessels send to 
 purchase some of their fruits, which they 
 are chiefly engaged in cultivating. Having 
 reached the shore, the crew, six in number, 
 moored the boat under a bank. A lascar 
 was left to take care of it, while the rest of 
 the party went after the fruit. 
 
 The day was very hot. Not a breath 
 stirred the trees, whose branches overhung 
 the water. The birds had sought the cool 
 groves farther inland. The sky was with- 
 out a cloud, and like burnished brass — the 
 water its reflection. The air seemed stand- 
 ing still and panting for a cool breath. The 
 lascar waited patiently. The party did not 
 return. Probably, they were forced to pro- 
 ceed farther to get the fruit than they ex- 
 pected. A half-hour passed and they did 
 not appear. The lascar, made listless by 
 the intense heat, sank down under the seats 
 of the boat, and gradually yielded to the 
 soft soo things of sleep. In a few moments 
 
280 * ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON. 
 
 after lying down, he was dead to all exter* 
 nal things. He did not feel the heat. 
 
 Suddenly, the head —eager and dreadful— 
 of an enormous snake, of the python sp'e* 
 cies, peered over the branch of a tree, near 
 the boat. It quickly glanced around, as if 
 to assure itself that no wakeful foes were 
 near, and slowly stretched its head down- 
 ward toward the boat Good heavens ! the 
 lascar remains unconscious of the monster's 
 advance. How it licks its slimy chops in 
 anticipation of a good meal ! What length ! 
 Many feet are stretched forward, and many 
 remain coiled around the trunks of the trees. 
 Its skin is glossy, variegated, and very 
 beautiful ; but, oh ! how deadly will be the 
 enormous folds ! It has reached the boat, 
 and has begun to coil itself around the body 
 of the sleeping lascar. Its jaws, foul and 
 slimy, are extended ; its forked tongue pro- 
 trudes. Soon the coil will crush the bones 
 of the man. A yell of fear and surprise 
 pierces the air. The lascar awakes to ?eel 
 his awful situation, and to know that his 
 friends have arrived, and are at work for 
 
ADVENTURE WITH A PTTH05. 
 
 231 
 
 deliverance. A portion of the monster's 
 tail is severed with a hatchet, and he lost 
 the power of doing mischief. The poor 
 lascar shrieks to his companions to save 
 him. 
 
 A few more blows with oars and hatchets 
 and the serpent is despatched, its head be- 
 ing severed and thrown into the water. The 
 lascar is rescued, and is but slightly bruised. 
 Filled with joy and gratitude he embraces 
 his preservers. Upon measurement, this 
 serpent was found to be sixty-two feet and 
 some inches in length. With the skin and 
 some of the fat, which the natives esteem 
 for its curative properties, and the fruit 
 which they had purchased, the crew of the 
 boat returned to the ship. 
 
&%ph{H of Slices. 
 
 The Zoological Society having made 
 known its wish to possess living specimena 
 of the giraffe, the task of procuring them 
 was undertaken by M. Thibaut, who, having 
 had twelve years' experience in African 
 travel, was well qualified for the arduous 
 pursuit. 
 
 M. Thibaut quitted Cairo in April, 1834, 
 and after sailing up the Nile as far as Wadi 
 
sxrsn^a tee giraffe. 
 
CAPTURE OF GIRAFFES. 285 
 
 Haifa, the second cataract, took camels and 
 proceeded to Debbat, a province of Dongo- 
 lah, whence he started for the Desert of 
 Kordofan. Being perfectly acquainted with 
 the locality, and on friendly terms with the 
 Arabs, he attached them still more by the 
 desire of profit ; all were desirous of accom- 
 panying him in pursuit of the giraffes, for 
 up to that time, they had hunted them 
 solely for the sake of the flesh, which they 
 ate, and the skin, of w T hich they made 
 bucklers and sandals. The party proceeded 
 to the south-west of Kordofan, and in Au- 
 gust were rewarded by the sight of two 
 beautiful giraffes; a rapid chase of three 
 hours, on horses accustomed to the fatigues 
 of the desert, put them in possession of the 
 largest of these noble animals ; unable to 
 take her alive, the Arabs killed her with 
 blows of the sabre, and cutting her to pieces, 
 carried the meat to their head-quarters, 
 which had been established in a wooded 
 situation, an arrangement necessary for 
 their own comfort, and to secure pasturage 
 for their camels. They deferred till the fol- 
 
286 CAPTURE OF GIRAFFES. 
 
 lowing day tbe motherless young one, which 
 the Arabs knew they w T ould have no diffi- 
 culty in again discovering. The Arabs 
 quickly covered the live embers with slices 
 of the meat, which M. Thibaut pronounced 
 to be excellent. 
 
 On the following morning the party 
 started at daybreak in search of the young 
 giraffe, of which they had lost sight not far 
 from the camp. The sandy desert is well 
 adapted to afford indications to a hunter^ 
 and in a very short time they were on the 
 track of the object of their pursuit : they 
 followed the traces with rapidity and in si- 
 lence, lest the creature should be alarmed 
 while yet at a distance ; but after a labo- 
 rious chase of several hours through bram- 
 bles and thorny trees, they at last succeeded 
 in capturing the coveted prize. 
 
 It was now necessary to rest for three or 
 four days, in order to render the giraffe 
 sufficiently tame, during which period an 
 Arab constantly held it at the end of a long 
 cord ; by degrees it became accustomed to 
 she presence of man, and was induced to 
 
CAPTiJRE OF GIRAFFES, 287 
 
 take nourishment, but it was found neces- 
 sary to insert a finger into its mouth to de- 
 ceive it into the idea that it was with its 
 dam ; it then sucked freely. When cap- 
 tured, its age was about nineteen months. 
 Five giraffes were taken by the party, but 
 the cold weather of December, 1834, killed 
 four of them in the desert, on the route to 
 Dongolah ; happily that first taken survived, 
 and reached Dongolah in January, 1835, 
 after a sojourn of twenty-two days in the 
 desert. 
 
 Unwilling to leave with a solitary speci° 
 men, M. Thibaut returned to the desert, 
 where he remained three months, crossing it 
 in all directions, and frequently exposed to 
 great hardships and privations ; but he was 
 eventually rewarded by obtaining three gi- 
 raffes, all smaller than the first. A great 
 trial awaited them, as they had to proceed 
 by water the whole distance from Wadi 
 Hafa to Cairo, and thence to Alexandria 
 and Malta, besides the voyage to England. 
 They suffered considerably at sea during a 
 passage of twenty-four days in very tern- 
 
288 CAPTURE OF GIRAFFES. 
 
 pestuous weather, and on reaching Malta, 
 in November, were detained in quarantine 
 twenty-five days more ; but despite of all 
 these difficulties, they reached England in 
 safety, and on the 25th of May were con- 
 ducted to the Gardens. 
 
 At daybreak, the keepers and several 
 gentlemen of scientific distinction arrived 
 at the Brunswick wharf, and the animals 
 were handed over to them. The distance 
 to the Gardens was not less than six miles, 
 and some curiosity, not unmingled with 
 anxiety, was felt as to how this would be 
 accomplished. Each giraffe was led be- 
 tween two keepers, by means of long reins 
 attached to the head ; the animals walked 
 at a rapid pace, generally in advance of 
 their conductors, but were perfectly tract- 
 able. It being so early in the morning, few 
 persons were about, but the astonishment 
 of those who did behold the unlooked-for 
 procession, was ludicrous in the extreme. 
 As the giraffes stalked by, followed by M. 
 Thibaut and others, in Eastern costume, 
 tlie worthy policemen and early coffee-sellers 
 
CAPTURE OP GIRAFFES. 289 
 
 stared with amazement, and a few revellers, 
 whose reeling steps proclaimed their dissi- 
 pation, evidently doubted whether the sin- 
 gular figures they beheld were real flesh 
 and bone, or fictions conjured up by their 
 potations ; their gaze of stupid wonder in- 
 dicating that of the two they inclined to the 
 latter opinion. 
 
 When the giraffes entered the park, and 
 first caught sight of the green trees, they 
 became excited, and hauled upon the reins, 
 waving the head and neck from side to side, 
 with an occasional caracole and kick out of 
 the hind legs, but M. Thibaut contrived to 
 coax them along with pieces of sugar, of 
 which they were very fond, and he had the 
 satisfaction of depositing his valuable 
 charges, without accident or misadventure, 
 in the sanded paddock prepared for their 
 reception. 
 
 25 
 
ft 3£h$I) teiit; 3 Sfeoif. 
 
 BY JOHN MILLS, ESQ. 
 
 Pkeviously to the introduction of Birming- 
 ham and Sheffield manufactures into the 
 Indian market, the weapons used in war 
 and hunting were of an exceedingly primi- 
 tive kind. Instead of rifles, scalping knives, 
 tomahawks, and two-edged lances of po- 
 lished steel, the North American brave pos- 
 sessed but a short bow made of bone with 
 (290) 
 
TRADING WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 293 
 
 twisted sinews for strings, and a quiver of 
 flint-tipped arrows, with a stone hatchet, 
 comprised his whole stand-of-arms. As a 
 matter of course, the more destructive kinds 
 of instruments introduced at once increased 
 the slaughter of game, and from the eager- 
 ness of the traders to exchange their goods 
 for skins, led the Indians to destroy those 
 animals by wholesale which formerly were 
 killed only for food and clothing for them- 
 selves. Even at certain seasons of the year, 
 when the fur of the buffalo is in the worst 
 possible condition, it has been known for 
 vast herds to be exterminated merely for 
 their tongues, which would be bartered for 
 a few gallons of villainous whisky. 
 
 The numbers still raging over the prai- 
 ries are, doubtless, very great, extending 
 from the western frontier to the western 
 verge of the Rocky Mountains, and from the 
 30th to the 55th degree of northern latitude ; 
 but, as if the end was fixed for the exter- 
 mination of this the principal provision of 
 the Indian, with the Indian himself, they 
 are rapidly becoming thinned, and in a few 
 
 25* 
 
294 A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 
 
 years it is highly probable that a buffalo, 
 in its native state, will be a rare animal 
 on the American continent. 
 
 It is worthy of a passing reflection to 
 glance at the particular purposes for which 
 the buffalo was assigned : to supply the 
 three chief wants of the Indian, as they are 
 those of the white man — food, raiment, and 
 lodging. The flesh affords ample provision, 
 the skin robes for clothing, bedding, and 
 covering to his wigwam, while, as a further 
 utility, the hoofs are melted into a glue to 
 assist him in fabricating his shield, arrows, 
 and other necessary articles for savage life. 
 It may, therefore be imagined that the buf- 
 falo is indispensable to the Indian's simple 
 existence ; for whatever may have been said 
 and written concerning schemes for his 
 civilization, I am quite certain that, from 
 his innate indolence, love of roving, fierce 
 passions, and unconquerable desire for the 
 excitement of war and hunting, nothing 
 can be more impossible than that any such 
 attempts should meet with a different result 
 than positive defeat 
 
A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 295 
 
 We were now on the verge of the upper 
 prairies, no longer enameled with flowers 
 and flowering plants, but covered with a 
 short, coarse herbage, called " buffalo grass," 
 on which the buffalo loves to feed. These 
 hunting grounds are far easier to ride over, 
 from being free of vines and entangling 
 shrubs which interlace each other in impen- 
 etrable masses, although the yawning clefts, 
 made by the water courses, the wallows 
 caused by the buffaloes forming baths for 
 themselves by ripping the earth open with 
 their heads in soft, oozy spots, and the bur- 
 rowing of that sharp and watchful little 
 animal the prairie dog, cause both horse 
 and horseman to run considerable risk when 
 taking a spin over the flat. 
 
 The serious object of the expedition was 
 now on the eve of being realized, and the 
 land of promise being gained, every prepa- 
 ration had been made the succeeding morn- 
 ing for a regular buffalo hunt In addition 
 to my rifle and pistols, I carried a long 
 lance with the shaft made of the toughest 
 ash. This weapon I found rather unwieldy 
 
296 A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 
 
 and awkward, and saw how different it 
 looked in the hands of my companions; 
 but Hawkeye insisted that it was indispen- 
 sable, as I could not attempt the use of the 
 bow and arrow. 
 
 Stripped of all superfluous garments, and 
 fully equipped for the expedition, my com- 
 panions mounted their horses, with their 
 lassos uncoiled and trailing upon the ground, 
 as invariably is the rule in war or hunting, 
 for the purpose of facilitating the re-capture 
 of the animal should an unlucky separation 
 take place between the rider and his saddle. 
 In an extended line, or by the familiar de- 
 scription of Indian file, we began this 
 march as usual just at ruddy daybreak, and 
 were not far advanced on the great prairie 
 stretching before us like a vast and limit- 
 less ocean, when Blackwolf, who headed the 
 force, reined in his dark iron-grey steed with 
 a sudden jerk which sent him nearly upon 
 his haunches. In an instant all was com- 
 motion. Arrows were drawn from their 
 quivers, bow-strings tried and thrummed, 
 lances poised, and every eye directed to the 
 
muflri m v 
 
 BX^CKWOLF. 
 
A BRUSH WITH A LISON. 299 
 
 spot on which the chief fixed his earnest 
 and flashing gaze. 
 
 Not two miles distant, and grazing in 
 fancied security on a piece of table land as 
 level as a bowling-green, a large herd of 
 buffalo was descried, looking at the distance 
 like so many black specks on the waste. 
 Some I could perceive were lying down, and 
 the scene altogether may be compared, 
 without violence to the imagination, to what 
 the tourist may witness by the aid of rail- 
 roads, within a few hours of the metropolis, 
 in a canter across Dartmoor or Exmouth, 
 and where no dread exists of Pawnees and 
 Camanches. 
 
 It was decided that we should head tho 
 herd, and endeavor to drive them back to- 
 wards the encampment, in order to save as 
 little time and trouble as possible in getting 
 the meat and skins to that quarter. In 
 prosecuting this scheme we had to make a 
 wide circle from the direct course, and, in- 
 deed, it would have been impossible to ap- 
 proach them in any other way, as we were 
 down the wind, and their powers of scent, 
 
300 A BRUSn WITH A BISON. 
 
 like those given to the denizens of the wild 
 in general, are of the most acute order. 
 
 " You know, major," observed Hawkeye, 
 as he turned our horses considerably to the 
 left, for the purpose of covering our circum- 
 venting manoeuvre under the screen of two 
 lines of bluffs running parallel with each 
 other, "You know, major," repeated he, 
 with a sly twinkle of satire in his snake-like 
 eyes, "for all Britishers dat come here say 
 you know to every thing, dat buffalo smell 
 Indian mile off. No see far; but smell — ■ 
 Hah ! no saying how far hnffalo smell." 
 
 It was a moment of the most thrilling 
 excitement of my life, as with a swoop the 
 Indians dashed ahead, and with halter and 
 rein dangling free, to see their horses strain 
 their utmost powers to outstrip the fugi- 
 tives, and bring them within the reach of 
 bow and lance. Nigger, I may confidently 
 state, did his best, although in a very short 
 distance, it was conclusively obvious that 
 he could not long live the pace we were 
 going at. The pony, however, rattled away 
 with his ears thrown back like a racehorse, 
 
A BRU&ri WITH A BISON. 301 
 
 at nis final effort, and we were within a few 
 score yards at the moment of BlackwolPs 
 bearing close to the right side of the nearest 
 buffalo, and drawing his bow at the moment 
 of passing, buried the arrow to the feather. 
 In an instant the horse wheeled to avoid 
 the thrust which the wounded buffalo often 
 makes; but BlackwolPs victim was stricken 
 in a vital part, and he rolled over struggling 
 and bleeding in the throes of deadly agony. 
 Right and left the Indians scoured the plain 
 in hot pursuit of the doomed and frightened 
 animals, and never halting in the chase, 
 but rushing from one to another as the 
 huge beasts shouldered along in their un- 
 gainly gallop down the valleys and over 
 the bluffs, and across huge gaping rents in 
 the prairie, caused by the winter torrents, 
 brought them to the ground like skittles 
 from well-directed hands. 
 
 There appeared to be no chance for me 
 to flesh my maiden lance, and I began to 
 despair of adding a single head to the num- 
 ber slain, when I caught sight of a solitary 
 fugitive stealing away through a stony ra- 
 
 26 
 
302 A BRUSH Wlfn A BISON, 
 
 vine much to the left of the line which tho 
 rest had taken, and from his action I con- 
 cluded that he had met with a wound 
 >vhich materially interfered with his speed. 
 With an unequivocal disposition to refuse 
 taking any other course than the one he 
 was pursuing, Nigger began to wrestle for 
 the mastership, and being encumbered with 
 my lance, I had some little difficulty in 
 pricking him toward the point where the 
 buffalo, alone in his flight, was using his 
 best energies to escape. The pointed iron, 
 however, prevailed, and the plucky little 
 horse, seeing the animal scramble over a 
 conical shaped hillock in the distance, set- 
 tled himself again in his best pace, and car- 
 ried me forward in winning style. 
 
 After floundering through a spongy bot- 
 tom, in which were several wallows of some 
 dozen feet in diameter made by the buffa- 
 loes, I found myself near enough to try the 
 the effect of lead, and dropping my lance to 
 trail along the ground by a thong attached 
 to my wrist, for I was not expert enough to 
 handle both it and my rifle, as an Indian 
 
A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 303 
 
 would have done without inconvenience, 1 
 brought the barrels to bear and gave the 
 contents of both just as Nigger's nose was 
 on a level with the haunch of one of the 
 largest and blackest bulls that ever ranged 
 over a western plain. 
 
 With due regard for the preservation of 
 himself, and possibly his rider, Nigger made 
 an. abrupt curve, and sheering off, almost 
 at a right angle, avoiding an ugly, vicious 
 thrust, which the bull might have made 
 much more effective than my brace of bul- 
 lets, had not the sagacity of the pony taught 
 him to avoid it. Upon reining in my gal- 
 lant and discreet little steed, and turning 
 his head again toward the buffalo, I saw 
 that he was standing still, and giving as 
 bold a front as was ever offered to an enemy. 
 Coming to a corresponding attitude, I deli- 
 berately reloaded my rifle, and approached 
 him with the greatest caution ; for whether 
 he intended to await my second attack, or 
 plunge forward and send me and Nigger 
 skimming to some unknown corner of the 
 earth, appearing a matter of doubt not quito 
 
 26* 
 
304 A BRUSH WITn A BISON. 
 
 made up, After a few brief moments for 
 reconnoitring, I urged Nigger to advance 
 to within less than thirty paces of where 
 the bull stood glaring at us, with his curling 
 mane and beard sweeping below his knees, 
 and his distended jaws dropping foam, 
 scarlet dyed with blood. Nothing, indeed, 
 can be imagined more ferocious than the 
 wounded animal looked, fixing the peculiar 
 white ball and black iris of his eyes upon 
 us, under his shaggy frontlet, with the ex- 
 pression of the devil in a mood far from 
 funny. Thinking it expedient to bring the 
 contest to a conclusion without further 
 waste of time, I essayed a manoeuvre in 
 order to obtain a sight of a more vulnerable 
 part of my victim's carcass than that which, 
 as I had been given to understand by Hawk- 
 eye, his head presented. 
 
 But, as the baited grimalkin turns to the 
 worrying cur, so did the bull turn exactly 
 with my movements, ever presenting his 
 head, and nothing but his head. This prov- 
 ing exceedingly wearisome, and quickly ex- 
 hausting the slender stock of patience with 
 
A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 307 
 
 which nature supplied me at my birth, I 
 resolved to try what a shot would do in the 
 centre of his forehead, and steadying Nigger 
 for a moment, snapped my left barrel at 
 him, when with the crack down he dropped, 
 and spurring forward in the belief that I 
 had given him his coup de grace, I was not a 
 little surprised to see him stagger again to 
 his feet, ready to receive me on his two 
 short black horns, curved in the best pos- 
 sible shape for the ripping business. 
 
 Perceiving, however, that notwithstand- 
 ing that the last bullet had only flattened 
 on his os frontis, he was fast sinking from 
 the internal hemorrhage caused by the two 
 first, which brought him to a check, I de- 
 termined to expend no more valuable am- 
 munition upon him, but inflict a final 
 thrust or two of cold steel. Eeslinging my 
 rifle across my shoulders, I for the first time 
 couched a lance for a deadly object, and 
 rode at the bull's flank ; but he was too 
 quick for me, and turned as if upon a pivot. 
 Bound and round we went, Nigger, with 
 pricked ears and nimble limbs, keeping a 
 
308 A brush wi¥h a bison. 
 
 steady look upon the buffalo's movements, 
 and far from liking the loud snorts of min- 
 gled rage and pain which he momentarily 
 sent forth as we whirled about him. But 
 the attempts of the enemy to foil our pur- 
 pose grew gradually weaker, and at length, 
 failing to twist with his former adroitness, 
 I plunged the head of the lance to the shaft 
 in his body, and as I plucked it out, the 
 crimson current of his life poured forth, and 
 falling upon his knees, he rolled over dead 
 without a struggle. 
 
j 
 
019 953 593 6