us.

Our next day's journey was to the Esequia. The only American of our party was superstitious, which is a rare thing in an American, and told us that he should have no luck when hunting if he had not a gold or silver coin about him. One of the Scotsmen of the party loudly protested at hunting on a Sabbath; but yesterday, although it was Sunday, he could not resist a "crack" at a fine buck. He wounded it; but the animal got away. (Retribution!) Continuing our track the following day towards the Sabinas creeks, which take their names from the quantity of cypress woods in them, we got a glimpse of wild cattle, and anticipated some rough sport with them. The land and pasturage here would suit stock-raisers. In a thicket we camped under at noon, we found the wild summer and winter grape, mountain plum, black walnut, black and red haw, persimon, the nutritious peccan; hickory and other nuts, the Indian bread-plant, small red pepper, or chiltipin, sassafras, sumach (Indian tobacco), &c., &c. With fine weather, the sky being beautifully blue and clear, and abundance of sport amongst deer, antelope, and wild turkey on the wing, we arrived at the sources of the Sabinas creeks, where thousands of springs are seen rushing out of the rocks, forming rapid streams; and, where there are deep holes in the beds of the streams, we found a small species of turtle, trout, and fat cat-fish. The steep and rocky banks of these streams have a shelving appearance, as if recently formed by the retiring of waters. This same characteristic is perceived on the face of the different ranges of hills and mountains in the distance; and the ground is strewed with isolated angular masses of rock of all dimensions. We were now in the Comanche "range," or country, and had to keep a sharp look-out, and thought if we had been fifteen to twenty strong, it would have been safer.

The next morning we started for the Guadaloupe valley; and when traversing a small prairie, came upon a fresh Indian trail. We halted, and commenced an examination of it, when, from the number of horses that had apparently travelled this way, and other indications, we supposed that about twenty Indians

We continned on this Indian trail for a few miles, to one of the branches of the Guadaloupe, when we came to where the Indians had camped, and here, from further observations, satisfied ourselves that they had gone somewhat rapidly towards the north, into the heart of the mountains towards the San Saba, one of their favorite rendezvous. We camped in the temporary Comanche wigwams, composed of boughs bent over so as to form an alcove; and the best mounted of us went off on the trail some miles, with great caution, so as to be satisfied that the enemy was not in the vicinity, to hear the report of our rifles when we might be hunting. We saw occasionally wild cattle and buffalo roaming about the hills. Formerly, very large droves of the latter were to be met with here, but appear to have gone more to the north. Returning to our camp through a thick cypress "bottom," for the first time saw some recent bear-tracks. We were a little too soon for bruin; for he was still luxuriating and fattening upon nuts in the thick and almost impenetrable timbers and brush of the cypress bottoms. We did not think it prudent to use our rifles this day, and employed the afternoon in "bee-hunting. This was an easy affair in this vicinity; for in nearly all the hollows of the cypress-trees honeycomb was to be found. We got a considerable quantity, and sufficient wax to make it worth while taking it to San Antonio for sale. Indeed, ofttimes parties go out into the woods expressly for honey and wax; and instances are upon record of very large quantities of honeycomb being found in the clefts and fissures of rocks, and in caves.

After a few hours' travelling next day, keeping to leeward of the Comanche trail, and over high rocky ridges, we came down into the picturesque valley of the Guadaloupe; the river fordable in parts only. Some of its banks are high, and in places perpendicular; at others they are gentle and rolling prairies. The head-waters of the Guadaloupe rise in ranges of mountains about 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea, and which form a fine dark background to this part of the country. We selected a commodious spot for our camp, and entrenched it with fallen trees as well as time would permit, in case of a sudden attack from Indians. One-half of our party went out to look for bear-tracks, but saw none. Returning, we espied a fine wild black bull; hobbled our horses immediately under cover, and soon "circumvented" our prey. We made sure of him by giving him three shots, tied our lazos to him, and hauled him in triumph to our camp, which afforded us abundant occupation in cutting the flesh up into thin strips, so as to

dry them in the sun. This is called "jerking." When so prepared, it is designated "tasajo by the Mexicans, and "chargin" in other parts of Spanish America, and so rendered more portable than if fresh, and keeps for a long time. This wholesale addition to our stock of food was very seasonable; for late in the afternoon a party of Lipan Indians, under the chief Castro, with their squaws, children, horses, mules, and tents, joined us, from an unsuccessful buffalo-hunt in the mountains. Castro was known to the whole of our party as a firm ally of the Texans, both against Mexicans and Comanches; and we shared our beef and honey with him and his followers. This addition to our numbers was seasonable: for, from what our Indian friends told us, there was but little doubt of several parties of Comanches roaming about our vicinity. As yet, that warlike tribe had not forgotten the loss of so many of their chiefs in San Antonio in 1842, in what is generally known as the "fight of the Court-house;" and the scalp of a white man would have been considered a rich trophy in revenge for their fallen braves. About sunset, I wished indeed that I had been gifted with the painter's art, so as to have sketched the scene. It is now some time since but the impression of it remains strongly imprinted on my memory.

66

Our camp was on a small prairie, sloping gently towards the river, so as to afford an easy watering place for our horses. In our rear was a range of thick brush or underwood, with here and there natural recesses, which served us as a shelter from a tropical sun in the daytime and from the heavy dews at night. The larger of these recesses we termed our "kitchen, parlor, and hall," and in it there was some tall cooking" going on - roasts of all sorts and sizes, and in the iron pot there was a huge piece of beef destined for soup. The bread, already made, stood up on end near the fire; the contents of the coffee-pot fizzing away; one of our party, having watered the horses, was hobbling and tethering them round the camp; the dogs were capering about amongst the horses; others of our party attending to the cooking, and hanging up the slices of beef to fry, the rest cleaning their rifles and loading them carefully for the night, and, after a hard day's work, anticipating with gusto the feast upon "fat ribs," &c., that was

in store for us.

On the opposite side of this at-present murmuring stream, calcareous rocks rose abruptly 400 to 500 feet, ponderous masses of the same having fallen into the river, Cypress trees of all sizes studded the clefts of the rocks, surrounded with a rich dark green underwood,

and here and there the cactus and opuntia, and a few live oaks. On the cypress trees were perched a considerable number of Turkey buzzards, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to be our scavengers, when we might "break camp."

Near to us the Lipan chief Castro had planted his picturesque buffalo tents, and in front of each blazed a fire. Their iron pots were soon in requisition, cooking the beef we gave them, and we were glad to be able to share our maize meal, particularly with the squaw and children. The Indians, ere they had their supper, looked well to their guns, spears, bows and arrows, shields, pouches, and other gear, so that, in the event of an attack, all might be ready to repel assailants. At sunset the scene partook of rather a gorgeous character: all was bright and sunny for a short period, and soon afterwards it was dark; but still the scene was interesting, for the blazing fires gave sufficient light to distinguish objects about the Indian tents, and in our camp.

After the evening meal, the white and the red man joined company for awhile, the pipe of peace went round, and many were the stories told of Indian fights and hunters' adventures. Our whiskey by this time "had given out," so when thirsty we had the cool and refreshing stream of Guadaloupe to resort to. Good watch was kept during the night, and all we heard was now and then the howling of wolves and prairie dogs, who seldom or never enter a camp.

I felt but little desire to sleep during the first watches of the night, and as it had been arranged to have a bear hunt next day, I bethought me that I would compose a song for the occasion, to be sung on the following morning as a sort of reviellé. It was my morning watch, and a few minutes before our general time of rising I sung the following:

THE BEAR-HUNTER'S SONG.
I.

Up! rise! the sun's o'er the forest,

Bright is Guadaloupe's foaming spray. Hark! the stream 's loud roaring calls us; Gird on your arms, and haste away.

Then away! then away! bear-hunters, bear-hunt-
ers, away!

Black Bruin he 'll start from his lair.
Be ready, be steady. Away,

To chase the bonny black bear.

II.

The hunters are mounted, the bear-tracks they follow

The dogs in full cry-well poised are their spears. Onward they go, o'er mountain, thro' valley, Till Bruin, all bristled for battle, appears. To the fight! to the fight! bear-hunters, bearhunters, press on!

Aim your rifles with skill and with care.

III.

Now fill up every horn, my brave boys!
The chase it is over, now let us repose;
Let each fleeting moment heighten our joys,
Under the live-oak's wide-spreading boughs.
Then fill up! then fill up! bear-hunters, bear-

hunters, fill up!

Ay, old Bruin affords us good fare.

Let us drink, let us sing, care behind us let's fling,

Whilst we feast on the jolly fat bear. Although I say it (who should not say it); my companions voted me a "regular up-stree bear hunter," and doubted not but that, with the help of our patron, Saint Hubert, we should have luck. The gravity of our Indian friends was somewhat moved, and they joined in at the last verse with their peculiar howl, by hallooing and patting their mouths at the same time, and afterwards laughing heartily. Leaving one of our party to look after our camp, and accompanied by Castro and some of his followers, we started up the river, when, after a considerable ride, over a very rough and billy country, we got down into a thick "bottom" of peccan and hickory-nut trees. The first thing to be done was to look out for bear-tracks, and then follow such indications, which generally lead to the spot near which the bear might be feeding. After some time we came upon tracks which were pronounced by our party to be what we had been so anxiously looking for; but, on examination, Castro's opinion was, that the tracks were old ones, perhaps a year old; and so they proved, for, after beating about for some time, we saw no "bars" (bears). We got down to the Guadaloupe river to water our horses and take a snack, when Castro proposed fording the stream, and hunting down on the other side to our camp; this we did, and in about half an hour afterwards came upon fresh bear tracks. Our patron saint had heard our prayers, for, on entering a prairie, we got the sight of a pretty good sized black bear, shuffling heavily off into the bush. Once having sighted him to use a transatlantic term-"he was a gone coon." We gave our horses in charge of the Indian boys, when Castro and our backwoodsman led the way. We entered the bush, where now and then the rustling noise made by the bear progressing clumsily through the thorny underwood was heard by us, which told his whereabouts. The hunt now became exciting. For some minutes we heard nothing of bruin. Some of us had our doubts of success, but Castro was sure we should catch him. Onward we penetrated into the forest, which was strewn with huge masses of rock, fallen trees, and thorny vines, leaving rents and marks on our

head, at last began howling: they had caught sight of the bear, and now the hunt was interesting indeed. Old Castro was very active in jumping from rock to rock, balancing himself from one branch of a tree to another, jabbering away in Lipanese, and urging us to keep up with him. At last he got sight of bruin, who had tried to hide himself in a cul-de-sac formed by two huge pieces of rock, and we were close upon him ere he could beat a retreat with anything like a chance of escape. Castro fired first, but his gun, being only a Mexican carbine, merely tickled him. As a stranger, I had next shot, which took effect on the upper part of his neck; some other shots were fired, but our backwoodsman "did the deed”- -a mortal wound, the ball going in about the forepart. On receiving the wound. poor bruin roared, kicked, rolled, and writhed; his but-not-long-since bright eye became dim; there were groans, blood was running freely, when Castro gave him the coup-de-grace by piercing him with his spear, and there he lay, "the jolly fat bear."

True we had killed the bear, but now came rather a serious job-to get our prize out of the underwood. There was but one way— that of cutting a road. Hatchets and bowieknives went to work; and, thanks to our Indian friends-for without them I do not think we could have got him out of the wood whole-we did accomplish it; and, once out in the comparatively open country, we hitched our lazos on, dragging him to opposite our camp, and soon floated him across the river.

The bear was skinned, and then the dismembering commenced, and the celerity with which this was done was surprising. Now, for the first time in my life, I anointed my hair with the veritable bear's-grease. The roasts soon commenced of bear's flesh, and when done was eaten with honey as a sauce by the initiated; I prepared it au naturel, and my idea of it was, that it was very good, and that it partook of a flavor between pork and veal.

Having got one bear, there was but little doubt that his companions were not far off; but the following day being Sunday, we all remained in camp, cleaning our horses and guns, and strolling about in the vicinity with our Indian friends.

On the upper parts of the Guadaloupe are spots capable of cultivation, with plenty of grazing land for cattle; at present it is an Indian hunting country. There is no navigation on the upper parts of rivers in this district, but during "freshets" caused by heavy rains these rivers run torrents; the rains being over, they dwindle down into insignificant streams.

On Monday morning early we were off bearhunting, and succeeded, with but little difficulty, in getting another, and after dinner broke up our camp, our horses having eaten up all the good pasturage in the vicinity. We crossed the second Sabinas at the "Escalera " (the ladder pass) an almost perpendicular rocky ascent, which fatigued our horses very much. We got down upon the "Pinta's trail," having journied over several ranges of hills (divided ridges between the streams), camping for the night with our Lipan allies above the Cibolo river. The next morning we came down the Cibolo, crossed it, and camped at the Pinta's spring for the night, at the foot of the Lorna del Pinto.

The night being dark, we went "fire-hunting," or "shining deer's eyes," much resorted to in Texas and the Western States of America. Deer-stalkers in Europe from this may get a wrinkle. For this species of sport a dark night is chosen, when the hunter, added to all his other necessary gear, takes with him a frying-pan, fixed to a long wooden handle. Having got into the range of the deer, he lights a few pinewood chips, putting them into the frying-pan; placing it over the left shoulder, he commences walking gently and quietly, occasionally" sweeping the horizon"-that is, he moves the handle of the pan backwards and forwards; and should there be a deer near enough—that is, in his range of light the deer will immediately look at the light, the rays of which will then impinge upon his eyes, when the hunter will perceive two starlight spots. The hunter now keeps the pan steady, brings the rifle up to its position, rests it upon the end of the handle of the frying-pan; aim is then easily taken; and if the aim be well taken, down goes the deer.

This practice is not unattended with danger at times, as it is difficult to discriminate with certainty between the eyes of wild beasts and those of domestic animals; as examples, I offer two anecdotes. The first occurred near Galveston, and a ludicrous hunting party it was. The soldiers in the barracks and the hunters in the huts were awakened one night by the cries of the dogs, which had brought some animal to a stand near by. Numbers were soon out with muskets, fowling-pieces, and rifles, half dressed, scampering off to the spot. There they found a dog barking up a tree, where the shade was deep, and where they looked long before they could perceive anything. At length, by lighting a fire, they discovered a pair of eyes shining far above them, and the pieces were immediately raised, supposing they had treed a racoon. One of the party,

however, suddenly ordered all to lower their guns, and going up the tree, recovered a favorite kitten, which had strayed, and having been pursued by the dogs, had caused this muster, and incurred so narrow a risk of its life.

The following happened to myself. Leaving Houston on one occasion for Eastern Texas on horseback, with a friend who went in his gig, we lost our road, and were benighted in a prairie. After pondering for some time how we had best act, I perceived a light in the distance on our right, and, supposing it to be a settlement, went ahead of the gig, but, after travelling some time, did not appear to get any nearer to the light, and moreover it sometimes disappeared for a while. We nevertheless continued our track after the said light, and appeared now to approach it, when my old mustang came to an immovable halt, fixed his fore-feet firmly on the ground, and would go no farther; the spurs were applied, but to no use. The light now appeared approaching us. There was a moment of suspense, when I bethought me to give a yell, such as one gives when lost at night, and one supposes himself to be in the vicinity of settlements. My yell was returned, and in a few minutes some hunters came up to us, who were out "fire hunting," informing us that my horse, and perhaps myself, had narrowly escaped a shot, for "his eyes shone like diamonds." It was this rencontre that led me to study the philosophy of "fire hunting."

For the last two or three days we had observed "mustang trails," and, as a sort of wind-up to our hunting expedition, we determined on a wild-horse hunt. The mustang, or wild horse of Texas, has been described narrowly by the several persons who have written on the subject; some have drawn a very depreciating picture, whilst others have gone too far the other way. It cannot, I think, for symmetry, be put into competition with the wild horses of Buenos Ayres, and moreover has but little trace left of what we understand by the characteristics of the Spanish horse; still the mustang is a very useful animal, and although it is difficult to cure him of his "Indian tricks," he is strong, hardy, runs about fifteen or sixteen hands, and may be purchased for a trifle, compared to the price required for an American horse.

The mustang is ofttimes hunted for his hide by the settlers, which is used for various purposes, but more particularly for the manufacture of the larriet or lazo (noose). When buffalo and deer are scarce, the Indians hunt the mustang for food.